Paw Patrol Live!

In effort to keep our toy collection minimal, Christmas and birthdays are pretty much the only time our kids get new toys. We don't bribe them with new toys (often anyway . . . it has happened before), and they know when they go with us to the store that they will not be getting toys. Even toys that come in kids meals often get thrown out after just a few days. I even did a major toy clean out when we moved. Despite this, somehow we still have SO MANY toys in our house. We have many generous friends and family members, and with four children it's easy for the toys to multiply quickly. 

This year for Christmas, we decided that we'd keep the toys to a minimum, even from us. Each of the children did get two or three new toys, but they also received clothing, learning resources, and tickets to Paw Patrol Live! This is something we knew they'd all enjoy, and Bren especially is a HUGE Paw Patrol fan (which is kind of funny because we don't really watch it on TV). We've seen just a few episodes, but Bren loves all the pups. 

The kids were excited about the tickets, but felt like the show was SO far away, haha. It wasn't until this past weekend, so I'm sure it did feel like a long time to them. 

Brianna is really the only child who has been to anything like this . . . Bren hasn't even been to the movies yet. When we first got there, there was a lot of commotion and hundreds of kids, so it was a little overwhelming. However, we soon found our seats and were able to settle in a bit. 

The primary reason that Bren has never been to a live show or to the movies is the noise factor. He's very sensitive to noise! He was certainly concerned about the show being loud, so we told him he could bring his ear muffs. He forgot them, but it didn't end up being a problem. 

He was SUPER excited for the show!

Brianna was excited, too!

The lady sitting next to us kindly offered to take a family photo for us. You know I'll never turn that down!

Once the show began, all the kids were mesmerized. It was a really cute show!

I knew that Brenson and Brianna would be fine, but I wasn't sure about how Brooke and Brecklyn would do as far as sitting still and being interested in the show goes. They don't have any type of screentime at all, and even when we've tried to have them sit and watch TV, they are not interested. However, they were still and quiet and definitely enjoyed this show!

Bren and Brooke

Brecklyn and Brianna

After the first 15ish minutes, Brecklyn really began to enjoy herself.

Brooke was serious pretty much the entire time, but she didn't take her eyes off the stage. 

Along with her little serious face, we also saw a lot of Brooke's little pointer finger. So cute!

The show was right at an hour long with a fifteen minute intermission. That was about perfect for my crew! At the end, the kids were able to get up and join in on the singing and dancing which was something they all enjoyed. 

When it was over, Bren asked if we could just stay for the next performance :-). I think it's safe to say he enjoyed himself! However, it was about lunchtime, so we headed to our van to go eat. We were in downtown for the performance - which is where Chris works - so it was neat to have the kiddos down there walking around. We don't make it down there as a family much, for sure!

Brenson & Brianna, Brooke & Daddy 

Brecklyn holding Momma's hand walking to our van

Dining out for a Saturday lunch is also something we don't often do, so the children were feeling like it was a super special day all around. We went to Chuy's (also somewhere we don't often eat), and everyone enjoyed their meals. By the time we headed for home, it was after 1:00pm, so the little girls fell asleep in the van. Thankfully, they transferred to their cribs when we got home, so the rest of us were able to rest, as well.

This was definitely a fun experience for the whole family, and something we hope to do more of in the future!

Memorial Day Gala

I know that you all will be shocked to hear this, but I'm a bit behind on my blogging. I always have the best of intentions . . .

So, on Memorial Day, Chris and I attended a Gala and concert with our friends, Ross & Tia. The Gala was black-tie, and we (well, I anyway) had fun getting all fussed up to go out!


The Gala was held in support of the Folds of Honor Foundation, a scholarship program that benefits the families of fallen military service members.

I would like to insert here that I really wanted a family photo before we left for the evening. Every. single. take. was horrible. In fact, I'll dedicate an entire blog-post to those photos. They are worth it. *grin*

Back to the Gala, there were probably about 1000 people in attendance. We were assigned seats at tables of 12. When we arrived at our table, Chris leaned in and whispered "Urologist" to me in my ear. Out of all the people at the Gala, we coincidentally ended up being seated right next to Chris's Urologist (that he sees for his kidney stone issues)! I was cracking up at the luck!

But, the Urologist provided quite a bit of entertainment for the evening. That man could really use a lesson in table manners. I look over at him at one point and he's eating like it's his last meal on earth. He has cheesecake on the table, his tux, his face, his napkin, etc. Definitely a quirky personality!

After a yummy dinner of fish and steak, an apple cheesecake dessert, and a few presentations, we headed to another room for a concert.
I was SO EXCITED about this because Darius Rucker was performing! Love him!

He did not disappoint! This was without a doubt the highlight of the evening for me!

Of course, Tia knew how much I loved Darius and that's one of the reasons they invited us to go with them. She told me that I had one of his albums playing in my car when she was riding with me once, then like 6 months later she rode with me again and I was still playing his album. Ha! That sounds just like me actually. I tend to get a little obsessed with whatever music I am liking at the time.


Thanks Ross & Tia for inviting us! We had a great time!

A night with Celine

For Christmas, Tracy's husband, Chris, gave Tracy, me, and Tia concert tickets to Celine Dion. That way, Tracy was happy that she got to see Celine, and he was happy that he didn't have to take her!

I was SO EXCITED!!! I think Celine Dion has a phenomenal voice and I love her music!

Tia, who was a little less excited than Tracy and me, kept teasing us Sunday night that she was going to be sick and not have to go to the concert.

And do you know what happened?

Poor Tia did get sick... pretty bad... sick enough that she really couldn't go :-(.

Tracy's 7 year-old daughter, Kennedy, had been begging to go with us (Tracy is training her young to appreciate Celine). So, Tracy decided that we'd take Kennedy in Tia's place.In Kennedy's words, she was "psyched"! Right as we were walking in, we gave Kennedy her ticket and told her to hang on to it and not let it go. When the ticket taker tried to take it to scan it, Kennedy did exactly what she was told and wouldn't let go! It was so cute.

We all admired how beautiful Celine is, cheered at the top of our lungs, and sang our hearts out! Kennedy did great for being out so late. Hopefully, she'll always remember our night with Celine!

Celine really catered to the audience. She is truly a performer, but at the same, she would talk to us like she was the girl next door. She made you feel like you could sit down and have a casual conversation, like about the weather or something, with her.

And her voice. WOW! I couldn't get over how amazing it is. I just had to record a short clip, and this is one of my favorite songs!

And even after changing her outfit six times and singing for almost two hours, she still looked beautiful!

Trans-siberian Orchestra

I'm behind on my blogging...

A few days after Christmas, Chris and I went to the Trans-siberian Orchestra with Ross and Tia.

It was quite a show! We had really good seats so we could see everything going on on-stage so clearly.
They performed for a little more than three hours. The music was impressive and the lighting effects were amazing. Between the strobe lights, the flames, and the miniature explosions, there was no way anyone could sleep through this concert!

It is quite possible that I may have some permanent hearing damage due to the vicinity of our seats to the speakers, but the show was fun!

Another concert... anything but just another night!

My friends Angie, Kendall, Amy, and I have been planning to go see Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift in concert since April.

We braved the crowds and Kendall's bronchitis on a school-night (the three of them are teachers) to enjoy our much needed girls-night-out. Although we all had a great time, it didn't quite turn out like we had planned...


Taylor Swift was the opening act, so when she took the stage we were all SO excited!

We immediately jumped to our feet (along with most of the crowd) and started singing along. It was concert, after all, and we were having FUN!


About a minute into Taylor's first song, Amy and I feel a hand on our shoulders. It was a lady sitting a couple rows behind us and about 6 seats to the left. She aggressively demanded that we sit down immediately. She couldn't see.

Although this startled (and puzzled!) us a bit, we just rolled our eyes and sat down. I wondered to myself if she was going to ask everyone else in the entire arena to sit down as well.


Since when are people not allowed to stand at a concert?


However, this was more than my dear friend Angie could take. As the lady walked away, Angie screamed, "You need to grow up!" I immediately said, "Angie! Don't!"


But it was too late.


The lady was mad, mad, mad now and there was no stopping her. She marched up behind Angie, grabbed Angie's shoulder, and said, "ARE YOU TALKING TO ME???"

Uh-oh.

Angie said, "Yes I am."

The lady started to lecture Angie about how she had paid such-and-such amount for the tickets, and how she had the right to see and enjoy herself... all the while shaking Angie's shoulders!

Angie threatened to call the police on the lady if she continued to touch her. Amy and I were really scared now!

BUT, the lady went back to her seat and we continued to enjoy the concert.After Taylor Swift opened, Rascal Flatts took the stage. The folks in front of us (who had missed our run-in with crazy-lady) got really excited when Rascal Flatts began performing and did the unthinkable...

They stood up.

Uh-oh (again!)

Crazy-lady started yelling and cussing at them, telling them from 3 rows back that they needed to sit down. They probably could not hear her, or maybe they chose not to listen to her, but either way crazy-lady was getting madder and madder until she finally took a handful of ice out of her drink and pelted them (and everyone sitting around them, including me and Amy) with ice!

Since when is that appropriate behavior?

Our entire section sat through the entire concert because of one bully. That just stinks.

But, the concert was really good.

After the concert, the four of us walked to Amy's car. Angie had driven separately, so our plan was to drive Angie to where her car was parked (for safety reasons). However, after all the excitement that had taken place, Angie couldn't exactly remember where she had parked. It was late and dark and the streets around the arena can be very confusing (lots of one-ways). We drove around and around and around until the area had cleared out of the concert-goers and the homeless started coming out of the woodwork. It was well past midnight and we were beginning to worry that maybe Angie's car had been stolen.

So, we called the police, only to be told that they were too busy to mess with a problem like that.

We didn't know what else to do. We had been driving around for well over an hour, with no luck finding the car. We decided to flag down an officer.

He couldn't help us either.

We decided to do one more drive through every single street in the area, and FINALLY found Angie's car! It was hiding in a dark parking lot and had been hidden by bigger vehicles (her car is very small). WE WERE SO RELIEVED!

After all the commotion, it was 1:30am before I got home. I thought I was so tired that I would just crash, but I couldn't seem to unwind.

It's always a crazy time with my girls!

Last weekend's good times

This past weekend, we joined some of our friends and spent a night out on the town.After a good meal at Olive Garden where we ate TOO MUCH (especially Ross!) and Chris shamelessly flirted with the waitress,we headed in the pouring rain to our local concert arena. Chris made up for the flirting when he gave me his raincoat so I wouldn't be soaked all night. I think he dried out in time for us to leave!

We had tickets to watch last season's American Idol top ten perform. It was a great concert! I think what made it so much fun was that there were 10 different performers, each singing their own style and genre of music.

It was also particularly entertaining to watch Ross continue to put away food all night long. He really got into the songs, singing each one to Tia. Every song was a fun surprise!

There were only a couple performers that we didn't love. Overall, we were impressed!

Shot Through the Heart... And You're to Blame!

A week ago today, my college girl friends and I went and saw Bon Jovi in concert... for the second time! We had gone to see them about 2 years ago when they made their way through our state on their Have a Nice Day tour. It was an excellent concert, so we decided that we just HAD to go again! Despite the merciless teasing from my husband, family (namely you, Jeremy), and Ross, we had SO MUCH FUN!!! Bon Jovi Rocks!!!

We drove 2 1/2 hours to see Jon sing... AND made t-shirts!

Kendall, Chelley, Amy, Angie, and Brandy

Yay for friends and concerts!!!

I was SO excited... can you tell???

Actually, we were ALL so excited!!!

Hello there, Jon...Chris Daughtry opened for Jon and the Boys, and then came out later and sang with them! It was great!!! This pic is for you, Holley :-)!

We drove back that night after the concert, so I didn't get home until about 2:30 am! Five years ago, this wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but let me tell you, I'm getting OLD now! And I felt only 3 hours of sleep on Wednesday and Thursday at work! Totally worth it though... totally.