Phantom Turns 22!

http://www.broadway.com/shows/the-phantom-of-the-opera/buzz/phantom-turns-22-record-breaking-run-continues/

Phantom celebrated 22 YEARS on Broadway this week!!!!!! Click on the link above and you can see some pictures from their party after the show.....Chris is in one of them!

January 2010

Since the calendar changed from December 2009 to January 2010, we haven't really been doing a whole lot!! And that's perfectly fine with me :) We have actually been taking it super easy so we could get Chris ready to go back to work. He has had epidural shots in his back a couple of times, most recently this week. They do seem to help ease the pain. He had a procedure done yesterday and is already reaping the benefits of it. He is just trying to take good care of himself :)

So we have spent alot of time at home.......and one of my favorite things to do everyday is watch the sweet little birds come eat out of our feeder. Some days they are all over the place! They swoop through the air, they hang out in the trees and they cover the ground. I look forward to seeing them everyday. For some reason they bring serenity to my day, even though they are working really hard to find their next meal.

The week after Christmas we picked up Jordan's new glasses (she broke her other ones being a goober!). This is the only close-up I have of her in them!!! She was playing in Daddy's makeup bag :) We also got her a pair of prescription sunglasses...they are light brown.



We found out at the beginning of the month that some of our closest friends would be moving away by the end of the month. They moved here from India just a couple of months before we did 2 years ago. They were also the first friends we made.

This Monday we had them over one more time, it was fun and very bittersweet. Jordan, Ameera, Jaron, Sarah (Ameer's sister) and Ananya had ALOT of fun playing. Ananya and her parents are the ones leaving us :(

Then today was the very last chance we had to give them a hug!!! We had to tell them goodbye for the very last time (for a while). I just can't hardly imagine what it will be like without them. They are very glad to be going back to India, but we will miss them alot. Ananya, Jordan and Ameera have been like the three musketeers since kindergarten. They can be so silly sometimes!


Fortunately I remembered to grab my camera before we met at the bus stop for the last time! This is me with Vandana (Ananya's mom) and Zenith (Ameera and Sarah's mom). Vandana and her husband have been ideal neighbors. They are the type of people I could call at anytime and they would help me out and vice versa. We had a wonderful time sharing our stories and sharing food!! They will be missed very, very, very much.

So, I have signed up to substitute teach in the Princeton school district. They better pay me well because we have had to shell-out several hundred dollars to get me signed up!!! I had to go get fingerprinted today and it cost me 70 bucks....sheesh! So, I am a little excited to see how these school districts up here are run. From a parent's point of view, it is very different from Lubbock. It will be interesting to see what it's like from an employee's perspective.

While I am waiting for my application to process, I have taken up a new hobby........knitting!!!! My wonderful friend, Tracey, and her friend Wendy have helped me learn the basics. My friend Corrinna has also helped me too, she fixes all my mistakes!

This is what I have so far......not perfect, but not too shabby either! Tracey had these awesome bamboo knitting needles the other day, and they felt so good to hold, so I took my 40% off coupon to Michael's and got some for myself....only had to spend $4! And I LOVE them!!!!!!


I also regularly drool over the things in the Pottery Barn catalogues. They have the coolest stuff!!!! It would be a dream come true if I won a shopping spree at Pottery Barn! So the other day I saw these adorable owl pillows in the kid's catalogue. I thought, "I bet I could make some of those." So I went to Joanne Fabrics, bought me some super cheap remnants and made a pillow. I gave this one to Vandana as part of her going away gift.


I am making this one for Jordan....she picked out this fabric remnant. It was ONE dollar!! I am not done, obviously, but it looks like it will be pretty cute.

So what have you been doing this month??

Then and Now

I found this picture of the Majestic Theatre the other day when I was home with Jaron and in one of my "cleaning modes". It was taken in the summer of 1999. Chris and I weren't even married. But we all piled into his parent's van and drove, yes drove, to New York City. Little did we know that 10 years later, Chris would be employed at this very theatre!!!!

So here is the Majestic now. Not much different, it seems. Remember, Phantom has been in this theatre for 22 years this month.....wild!

Phantom Video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click HERE to see a video of Chris in Phantom. They are performing "Prima Donna" trying to convince Carlotta to stay and be their star soprano. The lady playing Carlotta is our neighbor ;) Cool stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Happy Reunion with Texas

You probably thought we had a little trip back to Texas after reading the title of this post, huh? Well, I am sad to say we did not go back to Texas to indulge in wide open spaces and great Mexican food, but we did have some Texas visitors the week after Christmas!!!!!!!

Dad and Debbie, aka Grandad and Dee Dee came to see us for a few days. It was great!! They stepped off the plane in Philadelphia and into Independence Hall. We took the last tour of the day.

Independence Hall is surprisingly small. The buildings of downtown Philly tower over it. We got to see the two main rooms of the Hall. This was the first.....the courtroom.

And this was the second, and most recognized. The room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. And that chair in the back was the very chair that George Washington sat in!!



This is the place where the Declaration was read in public for the first time.

And we got to stand there and pretend we were patriots!!!!!!!!

In front of Independence Hall, there is the statue of G. Washington in the background, but the lighting was really bad because it gets dark here at 4:30 in the afternoon!!!!!!!!

After Independence Hall, we made the short drive back to our place and we exchanged Christmas gifts. Jaron was SO excited to get his new Orca and Northern Right whale. And Grandad and Dee Dee were so impressed that Jaron new exactly what they are called!!!!


Jordan is turning into a Littlest Pet Shop junkie. Grandad and Dee Dee made a good purchase ;)

The next day we got up and decided to go to the outlet mall close to us in Jackson, NJ. It was freeeeeeezing cold outside!!!! The wind was horrible! But Dee Dee and I had a blast digging through tubs of kid's stuff at Oshkosh, The Children's Place, the Gap and Gymboree. We found some of the cutest stuff at some of the best prices!!!! Shirts from Gymboree for $3.99! A new coat for Jordan from Oshkosh for $25.....regularly $80!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the cutest hats and shoes and clothes for Dee Dee's newest grandbabies. It was so fun! I wanna go back already!!! Who wants to go with me?!?!?!?!?!

We stopped at the Food Court and had a quick lunch. Then Grandad and Dee Dee treated us to some truffles from Harry and David!!!! Just for the record, we did NOT inhale them all. We only ate one a day and we still have some left. JUST KIDDING!!!!!! We DID inhale every last one of them, and Dad even snacked on them in the back of the car........

After the mall we drove to the Delaware River to see the place were George Washington crossed with his troops. We parked the car and literally ran to the site of the crossing, took a few pictures and ran back to the car because it was so cold!!!!!!


The Delaware is so pretty. And in the spring and summer and fall when the leaves are on the trees it's even better.

Jordan and Jaron kept Grandad busy playing Mancala over and over again. They were so cute!


Wednesday wasn't near as windy, but it was still really cold. We braved the cold and took Grandad and Dee Dee to Hogwarts, I mean Princeton!!!!

This is the entrance to the university.


Princeton Tigers!

I think Dad took a hundred pictures of this building!!!!! It is a theater.....I guess it brought out the inner architect :)


We also discovered another buried canon.........they have George Washington's canon roped off, but this one was over by one of the administration buildings. We had never seen it before.

My favorite part of our entire afternoon was the chapel. It was the first time I had seen it with all of the stained glass illuminated by the sun. So beautiful!!!






We also walked through part of the Art Museum. Jaron wanted to re-visit his mummy friend and I wanted to see their exhibit of the ivories from the Bering Strait. Princeton Univ and the art museum are one of my favorite places to go around here. For some reason I always feel like I step into a different world when I enter the campus. And it is so fun to share it with our family!!!!! We had a great time with Grandad and Dee Dee, hopefully next time it will just be a little warmer!

"On Christmas Day in the Morning....."

We made Gingerbread men for Santa. The kids decorated them and we all ate one, saved two for Santa and then gave the rest to some of our friends. They were yummy!!!!!





Jordan's finished product.......

And Jaron's........

Then, bright and early Christmas morning, the kids discovered the treasure that Santa left on his visit.

Land of the Lost Creatures Imaginext and Crocodile Playmobil........

Brachiosaurus stocking stuffer


"Chicken Soup with Rice" by Maurice Sendak. Jaron reads this book in his class, practically has it memorized.....so I found it, along with three other books by Maurice Sendak in a "Nutshell Library". It's these four tiny books with a box to keep them in...sooooooo cute!!!! And he was so excited that it was in his stocking ;)



A REAL artist's paint pallet.......

And a REAL easel to paint on.

Jordan's first masterpiece ;)

Daddy had been asking for a Spiderman mask for ages, so since he was on Santa's good list, he got one!!!! Just kidding.........guess who the mask really belongs to?!!?!?!?!?!


It was just the four of us on Christmas day, so we kept things lazy and simple. I made chicken and cornbread dressing and I didn't even cook my own chicken. I got a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Jordan wanted mashed sweet potatoes and rolls, and we had a nice, healthy tossed salad.

I wanted some sort of Christmas-y centerpiece for the table, so I found this real pine tree at Trader Joe's for $5. We are going to plant it in a few weeks-probably out in the woods on some of the reserved land so that it won't be dug up for a new strip mall or something stupid like that!

Aren't these plates cute? I found them at the grocery store on sale. I just loved looking at them, they made me happy!

And the balloons hanging above the table were for Jesus' birthday party!! We made him cupcakes and sang to him. It was a very meager way to express such thanks and gratitude for a priceless gift........the gift of Jesus!!!!

There he is!! He got his mask back!


And Jordan wore her new robe and slippers ALL day.........even on our trip to Shady Brook Farm to see the light show.




Christmas isn't complete without Spongebob and Patrick......yeah right!!!!!!!!!

Wouldn't it be nice if we all wished for peace on earth for Christmas? Instead of wanting more clothes or shoes or video game systems, maybe we could find a way to spread peace among the hurting. And by doing so, show what Christmas is all about...a baby being born one night in Bethlehem. A baby that was prophesied about from the beginning of time. A baby that was part Divinity, part human. And ultimately, a baby that became a man who knew all the sufferings of the flesh. He not only knew these sufferings but he comquered them once and for all!!!!! I don't ever want to forget what Christmas means, how deeply personal it is to me. Thank you God, for Your precious Son, JESUS!