Main Street at Midnight - Something New

I mentioned to Princess number six how dead main street is at night and on Sunday mornings when no one is out. She wanted to see this for herself and so one night after the play, we took to main street and had her stand in the middle of it and take a photo.

At first, I had her stand way down main and took a picture but it was so dark and didn't have the lights that are further down on main so we got Princess number four in the mix and headed further down main street where the street lights are closer together and took a picture there as well. 

Kinda funny that we can do that. I was down town in the capitol city at two a.m. last week and there were cars on all the streets. I guess there are some advantages to small towns. You can have a photo shoot in the middle of the street! 

Actually, I was at a girlfriends house this week and they took a family photo with them sitting on a couch in the middle of a street. It was a tree lined dirt road but I still thought the idea was cute. 

I may just have to try that sometime......   Pondering on ideas for when Princess number 2 comes home..... Sure do miss her.

Making a Glowing Fire on Set without Electricity - Oliver

I can't take credit for this amazing fire on set but it was such a creative idea that I thought I would share it with you. 

The set designer came up with this amazing fireplace made out of Styrofoam and glued it together and then painted it. It was easy to move on a piece of wood. 

The amazing part I am talking about is the way the fire glows without electricity or batteries.  We didn't want to deal with cords on set changes and so someone got online and looked up fire making ideas for sets and plays. 

He found the idea of using the red cellophane and using yellow and orange tissue as well as the cellophane if you can find it. The logs were used paper towel holders and then just ripping or cutting the cellophane and tissues and poking them out of the paper towel rolls. 

He twisted the paper towel rolls and put some black and brown paint on them. 

Now comes the most ingenious part...... Wait for it...... 

He bought glow sticks from the local dollar store and before each performance, he broke three of them and put them under the celephane and tissue to make it glow. 

In the play, they have a scene where the orphans go to sleep and the lights go down and the fire needed to glow as he is cooking on it in the morning as well.

I think it worked wonderfully. I wish the pictures could better show that but you can tell in two of the photos that it is glowing. I actually think if he put a few more in, it would have looked better with some orange and yellow cellophane but in a small town, you work with what you can find. 

For us, it was a wonderful addition to the set and it was quite creative on his part. Just thought I would share with the rest of you thespians out there who may need a powerless fire without much expense.

Wish-Bone Upper Hand - First again

I think from the start, Princess number six was set up. Look at the twinkle in Princess number five's eye. She looks like she is up to something in the top photo. 

I am not sure if other families have this tradition but our family has always had the tradition to save the wishbone from the turkey and have each player make a wish and then they each pull on the bottom of the "wish" bone and whoever gets the top bone of the wishbone wins their wish. 

However, if you tell what you wished for, the wish will no longer come true. 

So, we made a turkey while our exchange student was here and didn't think much of it as I set the bone out to dry once I boiled the carcass down to make turkey soup. Here is a link to that information as I have always made my own turkey and chicken soup stock.  

Princess number six asked one day what the bone was. My girls told her how we play a game with it and make a wish etc. So, Princess number five HAPPILY told her she would play with her. 

What Princess number six didn't know was that there is an "angle" to the game. If your fingers are placed higher on the bone base than your opponent, then you will always win. Also, if you have your hand placed higher in the air than your opponent, you will also win. 

Just look at the face Princess number five is making. :-) She totally knows she will win and if you notice in the picture, her hand is higher in the air. Of course, she won the pull and I do hope she gets her wish. I have no idea what she wished for but even with the added help, I know she deserves a good wish! 

Another first for Princess number six exchange student. We worked very hard to keep her having something new to try daily. That was hard having the play going on with practices, helping with set and performances but it was a well worth pursuit giving her the most of her time with us. 

What would you have wished for? I hope you get it as you deserve it I am sure!

Sleeping on the Trampoline - Another First

My Sweet little exchange daughter has a wonderful memory. I have been so busy with life I can't remember much other than what I am focused on at the time and even then I haven't been that great. 

We mentioned when she first arrived that we would have a sleep over on the trampoline. 

Since we were in the play nightly, that couldn't happen but she brought it up the other day and asked that we do it so after the play one night, we took out sleeping bags and pillows and set out for a trampoline sleep over.  

I was sad that by the time they got home, cleaned up and ate something after the play that it was almost 2 a.m. before they got out to sleep. Of course, it was a freezing night and they were all cold. Every other night had been warm. In the morning, we were needing to get up early and head out but I took this picture of them when I went out to wake them. They were all cold and huddled in the bags.

Still, it was another first for our darling exchange student and we are all about firsts. She said even though she was cold it was fun. Another memory made....

It's a Fine Life - Musical Summer

This summer, among all the other busy and crazy things going on, we decided to be in a community theater production of "Oliver." 

This put a very hectic nature to our day with some days being morning rehearsals and most days ended with an evening rehearsals. 
 
We rehearsed for months and when our exchange student, Princess number 6, came into our family, we recruited her to be in the play. It was an interesting experience as most times, the girls couldn't be in any summer plays due to schedule conflicts but this year, we were able to make it work. 

Princess number 5 was an orphan and a thief. Princess's number 3 and 6 were dancers and chorus members and in most of the group scenes. 

I am not sure how this worked out as I didn't really even want to be in the play but wanted to support the girls in it as they have wanted to participate for years. 

As it turned out, I got a lead as "Mrs. Sourberry." Yes, her personality is as her name suggests. As the undertakers wife, she feeds Oliver dog scraps, locks him in a coffin and makes him sleep with the coffins. 

I was however, the comic relief of the play. I got to sing a great song, get water thrown in my face and then get pushed into a coffin. It was awesome. I put on some crazy stripped socks and got to wag my feet in the air as I fell into the coffin. 

I also got to be a beggar woman with black teeth. It was wonderful. I also had a scene where I was just a street shopper. We all had fun doing the play and it was something Princess number four listed on her first letter to us was that she loved acting in school plays. 

I am not sure if I would do it again as it was so much work but we created memories that will last for some time. I still get people telling me how fun the play was and how "unlike" I am to my alter ego that I got to play.
 
We took one last photo with the four of us in costume to put on our gratitude frame. Isn't that just tooooooo much fun! Really though, we've loved having those experiences.

Running so Fast, She's Out of Gas

Princess number six looked so cute dressed up when we were to a wedding the other day that we thought we would do a photo shoot with her. 

The other princesses were tired and didn't want to get out of the car so I took her to a few places where we got some cute pictures of the girls at other times. 
 
I love this abandoned gas station for a back drop as I think it is creative and different. I took some of the girls here about a year ago. Here is a link to those pictures.

I had fun taking these and I know our exchange student enjoyed them as well. 

I love these two pictures with her in front of this large tree. I think she really looks happy  and I got the biggest smile when I told her to say "I miss my boyfriend." which I am sure she was at the time.


I have seen that smile a few more times and it make me smile knowing she is happy. 


Ok, so I started falling asleep again and end up with a ton of the letter "D" on the page. I don't think we need a repeat the sad post of the other day so with that, I'll just say how much fun we had having Princess number six in our midst and these pictures show her looking happy.


We miss you already princess number 6!

Sand Dune Jumping - Flying High Road Trip

Over the past few weeks, we took many road trips and during those trips, we passed several places where the road intersected some sand dunes. We usually go far off road to visit the sand dunes. See one of those posts here: 

So, with our past of sand dune jumping, I pulled over and wanted to let the exchange students have a go. 

Princess number six had several different opportunities. She got red and pink sand options. 

The students weren't used to the hot sand so they didn't like more than a few tries but they had fun and liked seeing the pictures after they jumped. I took several of each student so they could have some options.

I couldn't even get my princesses out of the car at these points since it was so hot. We go at Easter when the day and sand isn't as hot. We actually ran out of water this day as there was so much going on and my girls wanted to stay in the air conditioned car. 

 We started something however as we were getting back into the car, another car pulled up and some children got out and the mom got out with the camera and they started playing in the sand as well. 




 We had a great day and the students had fun trying something new. I apprciated the opportunity to give them new experiences. 


Flying high in a desert should be a must on the "Bucket List!"