Nieces, Nephews, and Performances

Thursday morning, Jennifer dropped off all five of her kids. Claire, Ethan, Blythe, Owen, and Evelyn were staying with us for 5 days. That meant we'd have 8 kids at our house, and half of them would be 6 and under...that means we have a house full of chaos.

Thursday night, I had a show. It went well. Mrs. Heather and Catherine were there. I have to fall down onstage quite a few times in the play and I started noticing, that the bruises on my knees were growing bigger and darker each day....After a few months of rehearsal and a couple performances, my knees were really feeling the pain. Jay informed me, a little late, that for Shakespeare, he very cleverly wore knee pads all through the rehearsals, so he wasn't hurting himself again and again all throught those weeks. Pretty smart...but, to tell the truth, even if he would've told me before, I still probably wouldn't have used knee pads...I just don't like the way they look.

There's me and Natalie in our costumes. After the show, we end up taking lots of pictures. All these sweet, and usually timid little girls come up asking for our autographs and pictures with us. It's so cute!

Friday was a long boring day. We didn't do very much. We were pretty bored all day. Claire and I went with Natalie LaCombe to get her hair done. It was a waste of time and money. The lady didn't do the best job, and it costed alot. Natalie, who is going to cosmetology school was not satisfied...

Lydia and Natalie had a show that night. They are in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" at the Opelousas Little Theatre. That night Mr. Kent and Mrs. Tara Sibille worked at the door at the OLT for "Willy Wonka". On their way out of town, they picked me up to go spend the night over at the Sibille's house.

Natalie, Mikie, and I decided to watch "Rent". Michael is obsessed with "Rent". And I hate it. But I'd never actually watched it. So, I decided to give it a chance...

That was a mistake...

I didn't enjoy it at all. All I got out of it was people in bad clothes singing annoying songs...

So, before it was even half over, the disc started skipping alot. I was rather pleased. Mikie and Natalie were not.

We went to bed, but we talked for awhile in the dark, of course.

Saturday morning, we had a Theatre Workshop. Kids ages 8-12 came to the Eunice Players Theatre where we're performing "Dorothy Meets Alice". Most of the cast came. And we all dressed up in costume. Not our costumes from the play. Just any costume. We each had a character that we had to act like all morning. I dressed as a Southern Belle. Natalie was a flapper from the 1920's. Taylor was "Jacqueline" (Jack) Sparrow. Bradley was an 80's (I think) rockstar. Audrey was a hippie. Angie was a nerd. Holly was a belly dancer, I think. Chelsea was a cat. Duncan was a monk. And Mikie was Mark, a character from "Rent".

It was a very fun morning. I enjoyed playing the acting games and teaching the kids about the theatre. Saturday afternoon, we went back to Natalie's house for a little while. Then we went to the OLT to see our fellow thespians in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory".

We picked up Claire from my house on the way because she wanted to see the play too. As soon as we arrived, we went in the back to say hello. As soon as a got backstage, Mrs. Pitre came up to me. She said, "Gracie, can you do a huge, huge favor for me?"

I smiled big, and said, "Sure!" (even though I had no clue what she wanted)

She sent me across the street to Walgreens to get some glue sticks for a glue gun. They needed it to do something for the play. I needed a ride to get to Walgreens, so Natalie and I stopped Hannah Stewart (a friend from Showcase) as she was coming in the door. She drove us to Walgreens, but of course they didn't have any glue sticks.

We had approximately 30 minutes before the show started, so we decided we could risk going to Walmart. We headed down Creswell lane. Me, Hannah, Natalie, and Claire. It was crazy.

Hannah and Claire dropped off me and Natalie at the door. We ran through the store to the craft section. We grabbed the glue sticks and ran to a check out. We checked out and went back to the theatre. We made it! It was 6:51, I think. And the show was supposed to start at 7:00.

There were so many people there that I knew! I was so excited! Mr. Dirk and Mrs. Liz from church were there, to see their grandson, Connor perform. Kristi and Mrs. Diana Burleigh who are involved in "Dorothy Meets Alice" were there. Angie, Duncan, and Taylor were there. Jay and his son Jude were there. It was so fun! And there were other people there, too. Plus, all the people in the cast! It was a good night.

Willy Wonka was very cute. The singing wasn't the best. It was often off-key. But they had some very good actors and actresses! Their set was cute and clever. It was a very good night! After the show, I went with some of the cast to Casa Ole to hang out. That was fun, too.

Sunday morning, we had church. We had all the Stanford kids with us, so that was an adventure.

Sunday afternoon, I had a matinee performance. Mom and Dad were bringing all the grandkids to see it. Plus Grandma-Mona was coming. Oh and Jay was bringing his son to see it, too. So, I was excited. I love when I know people in the audience!

It was a wonderful performance. I think it was our best yet! We didn't have hardly any messups with our lines. Only a couple very insignificant ones. It was wonderful. I loved hearing my family and friends laughing at us. Especially Owen. He laughed with all his heart everytime anybody else laughed. Even when I know the jokes were over his head. He's so funny...

After the show and the chaos of seeing everybody was over and we went backstage again, I realized that my ankle was really hurting. Apparently on one of my falls throughout the play, I'd hurt it, and not really noticed during all the craziness. But, man, it was really hurting, then. It was swollen too! Everybody advised me to take it easy on my ankle until Wednesday, our next performance. I don't do very well with the whole "taking it easy" concept...

Today was another "stay at home" type of day. We just hung out around here. Lydia and Claire went to a Music day camp sort of thing that's going on all week. The rest of us stayed at home. Nathan and I had the responsibility of feeding all the kids their lunch. That wasn't as big of an operation as it could have been, which was nice. Then out of all the little kids that were there, it was Nathan who made a big mess by spilling my tea...

This afternoon was just hanging out around here. Me and Claire cooked some taco soup for supper. We went for a bike ride, even though I shouldn't have cause that's bad for my ankle...

Now, I'm sitting here while everybody else is going to bed. I talked to friends on facebook and watched some of "24" with my family...and had a nice dessert of Oreos and milk...I'm resting my ankle up on the top of the table (which feels very nice, it helps it not hurt as much) and I think that I'm kinda tired, so I'm gonna head to the bed....goodnight. :-)

Opening Night!!

We had a wonderful opening night! An almost sold out audience that was full of energy, everybody very into their characters, friends that came to see it, little girls who wanted to meet Dorothy and Alice (and take pictures!), milkshakes afterwards, and we get to do it five more times! :-)

Ahhh...I love the theatre....

And my stage makeup is pretty fabulous! Hahaha. I'll put some backstage pictures as soon as I can!

Father's Day and Chocolate Cake

Yesterday was a pretty good Father's Day, I think. We didn't do anything big. We just all stayed close to home. I baked a Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake for my dad. I made it from scratch...it took forever! And it made a big mess. Also, two of the 3 layers cracked in half. So when I put it all together, there was a crack the size of the Grand Canyon down the middle...

But, hey, it was one of the most scrumptiously deliciously yummy cake I've ever eaten...I also made a few facebook friends quite jealous! :-D

Dorothy Meets Alice

We've been rehearsing for a play called "Dorothy Meets Alice". It's a children's musical about the characters from "The Wizard Of Oz" and "Alice In Wonderland". We have a fun cast. Even though it's a children's musical and some of the jokes are really cheesy, we have a blast!

Our performances July 8, 9, 15, 16, and 17.

Our cast is:
Jessica- Taylor
Alice- Me
Dorothy- Natalie Sibille
Scarecrow- Bradley
Lion- Duncan
Tin Man- Michael
Wicked Witch- Angie
Doormouse- Kristi
Mad Hatter- Darrel
White Rabbit- Audrey
Red Queen- Holly

Busy, busy, busy

The last two weeks of my life have be so busy!

On Monday, June 8 Rachel Vander Molen and I went to go house sit for the Hudson's that live in Lafayette. It was a very interesting experience. They had 3 dogs that we had to take care of.

On Monday, we got there, fed the dogs, and let them outside. Then we went to Sheridan Productions where we go to dancing. I'm not actually taking the summer session of dancing, but Mrs. Meghan (0ur teacher) had invited me to come participate in class one day. After dancing, Rachel and I went to the house and hung out all evening. We watched "Jekyll and Hyde The Musical".

Tuesday, we got up, took care of the doggies, then went out to Chili's for lunch! :-D We both ordered something very yummy, but neither of us could eat all of our food, so we brought it back with us to eat for supper that night. Then we went shopping at Charlotte Russe in the mall. Rachel and I both got a dress and I got a giant black flower for my hair. Then we happened to stop by The Icing and I found the most amazing hat! So, I bought that too!

That afternoon neither of us had anything going on, so she worked on some schoolwork and a dance that she's choreographing while I read "Pride and Prejudice" and practiced my lines for "Dorothy Meets Alice". That night we watched "Legally Blonde: The Musical" while we ate our leftover Chili's food for supper.

Wednesday, we woke up and did a little hanging around. Then we went to eat lunch at Chick Fil A. That was yummy :-) Then we came back to the Hudson's house and took a bunch of pictures.

Wednesday night, Rachel had church and I had rehearsal. So, she brought me to Southern Tire Mart, where my dad works, so he could bring me to rehearsal, then she went to church. Then Dad brought me to the Sibilles, so Mikie and I could drive to Eunice together. Natalie was in New Orleans at a school called NOCCA. She went for a 3 week program to learn about musical theatre. So, she's taking dancing, singing, and acting classes all day, everyday...I'm not jealous at all.

After rehearsal, Rachel picked me up and we decided that we were gonna watch "Step Up 2", a movie that she likes that's about dancing. We started watching it, but then we started having trouble with the movie, so we quit watching it. We just hung out for awhile having fun and being friends. Then we decided that our last day, which was the next day, Thursday, would have to be a memorable one. Rachel came up with the idea that we go into Albertsons (the nearest grocery store) dressed like secret agents, and act like secret agents the whole time....

So, we did. I was Agent A04111991, AKA Alice, AKA Ding-Dong, AKA Kitty, AKA Tall-y. And Rachel was Agent F02261992, AKA Adle, AKA Ding-Dong, AKA Giraffe, AKA Shorty. We had a lovely time :-) We also recorded the whole thing with Rachel's camera, so we've got some great memories from it!

Thursday and Friday were pretty normal. Friday, Natalie Sibille was returning for the weekend, so me and the rest of her family decided to surprise her by me going to their house to spend the night. Well, it turns out that Natalie wasn't surprised at all, but still very happy!

Saturday, we hung out, then we had rehearsal.

Sunday, we had church, then Mom and I cut out the pattern for my Alice In Wonderland costume and started working on it a little! After that, it was time for Nathan and I to go to the Hope House, which is the house across the street from our church where mission teams stay when they come on mission trips to Opelousas. Our youth group has a mission week every year and the past few years our mission trips have been right in our own city. So, we all stayed in the Hope House Sunday-Thursday.

Sunday night we all hung out and had a good time. The people there were Me, Megan, Jill, Chloe, Austin, Sam, Ben, Isaac, Nathan, Ryan, Wilder, Catherine, Chris, Mrs. Heather, and Mr. Greg. We had a fun group, although I was a smidge dissapointed that none of the girls that are my age in the youth group were there...

All of the days were spent hard at work. Every morning, we went to a place for battered women. They have a donation room with lots of clothes for them. That room was really disorganized, so we went in and did some serious reorganizing. By the end of the week, it looked really good! Monday afternoon, we went to Mrs. Nan Mitchel's house and cleaned her windows, swept her floors. Tuesday, I left after lunch to babysit Mrs. Carrie's baby boys, but everybody else went to Mrs. Betty Jo's house. Wednesday afternoon, we went to the Bihm's house and did some work outside. We had gone there last summer, which was before Mr. Bihm passed away. He died 8 weeks after we went. Mrs. Lily, his wife told Mrs. Heather that us going over there was his last really happy memory of his life. That made me feel like God had really used us!

Thursday, we just cleaned up the Hope House and left around lunch time.

Here are some pictures:

Me and Rachel fixed our hair crazy and took funny pictures

Upside down Rachel

:-O

Aaaa! :-D

Smile :-)

I love this picture!

Joyful....

I love my hat....so much!

The girls from the mission trip.

Me, Chloe, Jill, Megan, and Nicole

Me, Jill, and Chloe

Me and Catherine

Me and Jill.......and Chloe

Up on my bed

New York Trip Days 4 and 5

Since I never posted anything about these days, I felt like my blog would be incomplete without them, so I am taking the responsibility to finish off my New York trip before I move on to further posts.

Sunday morning, I had a complete and total "Classic Dramatic Gracie Meltdown". I was having issues figuring out what to wear. I had 2 outfits and some missing accesessories. It was really stressful. And I ended up wearing my same dress that I wore for the wedding. Which is exactly what I wanted to do. So, after that crisis was over, we went to the Grand Chalet in Wayne, New Jersey.

It was lovely! We took pictures...and more and more and more and more pictures...And I was definetely freezing outside.

Finally we went inside and we, being the family of the bride got a special entrance. Then I sat at a table with all of Frank's brothers and their families. It was a very enjoyable event. The food was delicious! First there was breakfast on one side, then later, lunch on the other. There was a live band. They played some wonderful music! Including a Cajun song and "You Are My Sunshine" the Louisiana state song. It was such a beautiful day! And I don't mean the weather, because, if I remember correctly, it was overcast. But inside, it was georgeous.

I ate so much food, that I thought I wouldn't eat until the next week!! But of course, for supper that night, Mrs. Rosina and Mr. Giuseppe made some real Italian spaghetti....

Monday morning, we woke up, ate some delicious breakfast (of course there was plenty of it). Then we all squeezed in their car to go to the airport. It was time to go home.... :-(

Our trip home was very smooth. When we were on the plane we saw some amazing clouds. It looked like we were on Antarctica!! It was really pretty!

Then later, when we were about to land in Lafayette, I was listening to "Defying Gravity". It was almost at the climax, you know, "Tell them how I am defying gravity, I'm flying high deFYing gravity..." when they made the announcement that we were landing soon and all electronics needed to be turned off. Well, I decided that I just HAD to hear the end of the song! So, I kept listening, and they announced it again! So, I just listened to right past my favorite part, then I turned it off. Right after I turned it off, we hit some turbulence and the landing gear came out (and we were on the little Lafayette/Altlanta plane) and it made a big loud noise, and I thought, "Oh my gosh, I broke the plane!" But thankfully we landed safely.

When we got home, it was really good to be home. But I missed New York and all of it's Big City Beauty. Some people may think mountains are pretty, and other's might think crystal clear blue water is pretty, but for me, cement and sky scrapers and neon lights and best of all, theatres are simply georgeous!!

New York Trip Day 3

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Today was our shopping day! :-D

We went right over to Fifth Avenue! First we went to H&M. That's a cool store. I got some ADORABLE white sandals from there. And they weren't even very expensive!

Next, we went to a store called Strawberry. That one wasn't really my favorite. I didn't really find anything that I liked. It looked like the type of store that you have to hit at the right time...but I didn't like it too much.

Then Dad and I went to Forever 21. I like that store alot!! That's where I got my dress that I am in love with! Here's a picture of it:

Only it's a tad too long for me....

Now we're at the Crocco's house. Frank's parent's Mrs. Rosina and Mr. Guiseppe are so nice! And so is the rest of Frank's family. I got to meet his brothers and parents when they came down for the wedding, but none of his other family. Italian families are very fun! And they make you eat alot...I mean it...alot.

I got to meet Frank's sister in law, Erika. She is an actress! We talked for a really long time! She hasn't actually done anything on Broadway, but she's done some professional acting! It was SO COOL to talk to her. She had so much good advice for me, that I won't forget!

Tomorrow is the wedding reception! Should be quite lovely!