Last week I took the kids to The Center for Puppetry Arts. Yeah, we just went in January, but I can’t help it. It’s fun! This time we saw a really amazing show. It was all shadow puppetry and was performed by only one puppeteer, Hobey Ford. I don’t know if you’ve seen shadow puppets before but they are mesmerizing. It’s an old (ancient, even!) form of puppetry that is similar to the old hand in front of the flashlight thing you used to do as a kid.

Ford performed three stories and did all the voices and puppets for each one. When we first walked in the stage looked like a bunch of black curtains thrown over a box. But when the lights went down and the puppets came up, Lydia didn’t move. I even took Asa into the hall at one point (because he was so…happy), and Lydia sat in there by herself. (Don’t call DFACS, it was for 14 seconds.) Lydia was laughing, responding out loud to the puppets and cheering with the rest of the audience. Who knew shadows could be so entertaining?!

At the end, Ford performed some of his new puppets called Foamies. All I can say about the Foamies is…I literally thought the otter puppet was real. And the whale? If he had only been 20x bigger, I would have run for cover.

After the show, we headed to the Create-a-Puppet Workshop. This may be our favorite part of the Center for Puppetry Arts (as documented here and here and oh, here.). This time we made a really simple dolphin shadow puppet. They had a shadow puppet stage set up in the room and Lydia got to try her puppet out for the world to see!

When we got home, we also made some great shadow puppet shows on our wall!

The best part of the whole day is that I got the tickets to the show BUY ONE GET ONE FREE (that’s a $16 value)! And how did I get those you ask? You did, didn’t you? From Tropicana Juicy Rewards*! You collect points from your OJ cartons, enter them online and use them to redeem coupons. You know how most point thingies are for free stuff (ie. Pampers Gifts 2 Grow), well Juicy Rewards are for great DISCOUNTS. There are coupons for museums, fitness centers, home improvement, hair salons, theme parks and more. My fave? 20% off at Massage Envy! Oh, baby.

The cool part is you don’t need a lot of points. I bought some Tropicana 2 for $6 at Publix last week. (SCORE) and got 6 points. My Center for Puppetry Arts coupon was ONE point. That was SO worth the orange juice I would already buy!

I noticed when I was printing off the coupon that it was from Entertainment. You know, the coupon book? So, think of these Juicy Rewards as having the big fat coupon book WITHOUT buying it! I always buy those books and then they sit in my glove compartment forgotten until they all expire.

Want a free Juicy Reward point? theMotherhood.com has one for you…

1. Go to www.tropicana.com

2. Set-up your Tropicana Juicy Rewards account (just takes a minute!)

3. Visit the “Enter Codes” page within the site and get started with MOTHE-RHOOD*

*This one-time use code is valid for new accounts ONLY. Must be entered within 6 hours of creating your account.

*disclosure: I am a Tropicana Juicy Rewards Insider. I was given points to try out the rewards system. I was also compensated financially. But the love for puppetry and orange juice? All mine!

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I’m tired. It’s been raining for like 13 days here. (Well, two anyway.) Yesterday there was even thunder. And you may remember that Lydia is TERRIFIED of thunder. So, last night I was half awake listening for the thunder and her cry. (That’s some serious faith in my daughter, isn’t it?) Anyway, I heard thunder three times. She only called out once. My husband checked on her (love him!). Still, I couldn’t sleep. I kept hearing THIS NOISE.

It was kinda like the whining of a machine. Or maybe a baby? It was a weird high-pitched sound that crescendoed about 75 times a minute. Les and I laid in the bed contemplating what it might be…broken humidifier in the kids’ room? an animal howling outside? an alarm?

Finally I made asked my husband to get up and check it out. He opened our back door, immediately turned around and said, “It’s a frog.”

A FROG?

Frogs say RIBBIT. This was not RIBBIT. This was more like eeeEEERRRIIIIIIIIBBBBBBEEEeeeeEEEETTTttttTTTT. Every once in awhile that little froggie would take a break (probably ambling closer to my window) and I’d fall asleep. Then I’d slightly wake up to hear him in the background—far far away. I’d fight myself to go back to sleep, “DON’T LISTEN TO IT! DON’T LISTEN!” But it was too late, my mind would pinpoint the sound and suddenly it was so loud I couldn’t sleep. Again. I think when all was said and done, I spent about 4 hours sleeping and about 4 hours listening to that frog.

“It ain’t easy bein’ green.” Hmph. I’d like to deliver on that promise.

photo by kermit on tour, which is hilarious and worth a click.

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Agda and Hazel. Outside our old home in Oxford, MN. 1963.

Hazel is my Great-Grandmother. And Agda? Yes, she’s THE Agda.

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I’ve been writing this post since May. I knew I’d have to share it on a day I wasn’t actually aggravated with my husband. It’s just some little things I’ve collected that showcases what separates Mamas from Daddies. And of course, as anyone (who is normal) would know, I love my husband and can’t imagine parenting without him!

With that said, here are The Top Ten Things {Most} Dads Never Have To Do:

1. Take a shower while one child is pressing their nose against the glass door of the shower and asking 400 questions, while the other child is crying on the floor.

2. Give one child sustenance from your body while the other child is playing ride-a-little-pony on your leg.

3. Carry a diaper bag, a camera, a crying preschooler and an infant at the same time.

4. Give one kid a bath while putting pajamas on another kid all while cooking (and not burning) dinner.

5. Solve problems, dry tears and answer questions within 5 seconds of being awake.

6. Entertain a child at 5:15am.

7. Consider it a good day when you get a shower before noon AND brush your teeth.

8. Make three meals in one day AND do the dishes for said meals.

9. Live without even one minute of quiet or alone time for more than 10 hours.

10. Agree 100% with this: “I’ve witnessed every burp, smile, hiccup and whimper this baby has ever made, at the expense of my personal interests, career and social life. Good trade.” -Baby Blues

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Got a Top Ten list to share? Just write it up on your own blog—link back to me—then enter the link to your post below—then start visiting the other participants. And for extra brownie points leave them comments, tweet their posts (#toptentues) and stumble or otherwise share the love with everyone you know!

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I hope my own blog has gone through that metamorphosis. I hope I’ve made others aware of more than TV shows and special edition oreos. I want to use my blog to show others the things that are really important to me. As much as I think you should love LOST, I think you should love Jesus. I think everyone should plan elaborate birthday parties for their kids—but I want you to honor your children and show them the most love you can.

I’ve gone on bloggy trips to learn about diapers, chocolate and Mickey Mouse. And although I was pleased to do so, I am ecstatic to tell you that I’ve been invited on a missions trip with World Vision. Four other fabu bloggers (Andrea, Briana, Jill and Jessica) along with author Matthew Paul Turner will be traveling to the Dominican Republic the first week of May. We’ll be visiting World Visions’ community programs, the “river slums” and most importantly the children. Oh. The children.

I’m so honored. And nervous. I want to communicate effectively the amazing opportunity we have: to help children and their families, to bring them out of poverty and towards Jesus.

I’ll keep you updated with info as I get it. But for now, start praying for us. For World Vision and the kids that YOU will meet. If you’d like, you can meet some of them now.

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We went to the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta to see the theatrical version of Disney’s Mulan. And can I just say that it was like every single thing I loved all wrapped up into one?

Family time? CHECK. Theatre? CHECK. Musical Theatre? CHECK. Puppetry? CHECK! Cool Kids’ Activities? CHECK. Disney? CHECK.

The Alliance Theatre is one of my favorite places in Atlanta anyway. It’s part of the Woodruff Arts Center and it just feels metropolitan and swanky and Atlanta-ish. I love it. It’s a cozy theatre that doesn’t have a bad seat.

Our seats were row A. We walked straight down to the first row and felt a little stupid because we could not locate seat 130. We walked up and down the front row at least 3 times. And the whole time all I could think was, “Oh my goodness, we’re going to sit on the front row with a 1 and 4 year old. A 4 year old who hates loud noises, surprises and scary costumes.” Finally we realized our seats were row A on the BALCONY. Oops. But much better for our little girl who needs to be eased into new adventures.

However, I did not need to worry about the scariness. Every scary part was handled with such creativity! Let’s rewind a bit…in case you don’t know Mulan is the story of a Chinese girl who poses as a man to join the army and fight for the emperor. Mulan’s anscestors play a big role…but how do you show ghostly figures in a play?

How ’bout by using puppets?! The actors had huge backpack puppets that waved and glided above their heads while they spoke and manipulated the arms. I love this type of puppetry and love seeing it in theatre.

Each of the actors (except Mulan) played at least one other part. In fact, the entire show was done with just eight actors! EIGHT! They were are all very funny and great at jumping from character to character. Lydia’s favorite was Mushu and Mulan, of course. Because Mulan is basically a princess. And princesses are always a fave.

The show had some original songs in it that don’t appear in the movie. And they had to change some of the story line to make it work on stage. But I think it really added to the story. There was a whole male-female-yin-yang thing that really worked. And that’s not even my thing—but it kind of fleshed the story out even more.

It was a 70 minute show with no intermission but Lydia and Asa were mesmerized. (OK, I had to give Asa some pretzel sticks and a cup of milk to keep him quiet.) We laughed and I may have even had a tear in my eye when Mulan’s dad said, “The greatest honor is having you as a daughter.”

Then the best part came afterwards–since it was the opening day they had a huge Chinese celebration in the lobby. We got a passport and then had it stamped at every station. The Center for Puppetry Arts helped us make a shadow puppet dragon. The Atlanta Zoo let us pet a snake. The Atlanta Symphony let the kids try out any instrument they wanted. They had fan dancers, sword fighting demonstrations, face painting, animal balloons, actor autographs and more. We had an absolute blast. It made the story come even more alive for Lydia. And it totally made me want to have a Mulan birthday party!

If you are in Atlanta, you will want to take your kids to see Mulan. It’s a great story, told with such creativity and being at the Alliance Theatre will make it an adventure in itself!

Disclosure: Complimentary tickets were given for the sake of reviewing the play.

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7:32am Asked hubby if he would make the kids breakfast so I could write my Lost recap.

7:33am He said no.

7:35am I take a shower. (Yes, before noon.)

7:45am Hubby makes kids breakfast. He’s quite contrary.

8:00am I start to write LOST recap.

8:04am Check ew.com for Doc Jensen’s recap.

8:05am Continue to write. Wonder about Sayid’s body count.

8:10am Check ew.com again.

{this continues until 9:45am}

10am Hubby has to leave for work. I save my draft and hope a computer falls into my lap.

10:30am Have both kids dressed and strapped into the carseats. Race to the mall to bring my macbook to the Apple store.

11:15am Oil light comes on. And beeps. About 4 times.

11:16am Call hubby. He tells me to take the car to the mechanic.

1:00pm Leave mechanic with a new quart of oil or whatever it’s called. And the memories of an hour and a half in a waiting room with a 1 and 4 year old who have not had lunch or a nap.

1:30pm Meet an Mac Genius at the door. She says, “Do you have an appointment?”

1:31pm I try not to cry.

1:55pm I leave my macbook with the geniuses.

2:00pm Leave the mall. Drive towards home. Remember that ballet is in one hour.

2:45pm Arrive home. Leave sleeping kids in car to get leotard and tights. (And a chocolate chip cookie.)

2:55pm Arrive at ballet. Leave sleeping Asa in the car to get Lydia dressed in the bathroom.

3:20pm Genius calls to confirm that my  macbook was DOA. Suggests I buy a new one.

3:21pm I try not to cry.

4:15pm Stop at the library to finish Lost recap. Hope it doesn’t have too many typos or ridiculous insights.

4:55pm Pick up Atlanta Parent and see MYSELF on page 2!! Go Disney World Moms!!!

5:15pm Honk the horn while driving up the driveway so my husband will help me get the kids out of the car.

5:25pm Eat a dinner of raw veggies and hummus. (And maybe a chocolate chip cookie.)

6:30pm Bedtime for Asa and Lydia. I pray they sleep 13 hours.

6:32pm Lay on the couch with book and chocolate chip cookies.

The moral? There’s always chocolate chip cookies!

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1946. At Selma & Emmanuel Oker’s in Oxford, MN

I have no idea who the Okers are. The only person that looks familiar is the girl on the far left holding the little boy. I think that’s my grandmother.

Doesn’t it just look like one of those, “OK, Grandma in the middle. Now, all the aunts and uncles stand in the back. OK, cousins! Where are all the cousins? Get them all in the front! Look at me! Everyone smile! Don’t talk! Look over here! Say cheese!!!”

Nice to know some things never change.

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1. Due to my drowned computer

2. Mandi at Its Come 2 This

3. is hosting

4. Top Ten {Tuesday}.

5. So, don’t fail me now!

6. Head over to Mandi’s

7. and LINK UP!

8. And if you leave her a comment like, “YOU ARE AWESOME”, she will probably like that, too.

9. Oh yeah, don’t forget to leave comments/stumble/tweet everyone else’s posts, too!

10. {A “miss you, Amanda” comment wouldn’t go unappreciated, either.}

Read the officially official rules on my Top Ten {Tuesday} page!

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Lovely day.

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