Lilah's First Audition!

It was a text that I wasn't expecting from a friend. She said something to the effect of, "Hey, just wanted to let you know that there are a few audition dates for the production "Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs" at Attic Productions, if Lilah is interested." My friend has mentioned several times that she sees talent in Lilah. This friend, Zayne, has seen Lilah's talent just through exploring our family blog. Zayne recently moved here from Florida, AFTER connecting with me through my blog, to ask me questions about Roanoke.  The story is truly unbelievable and I will have to share it with you one day. Since moving to Roanoke, she has been in a few productions of her own at the Mill Mountain Theatre.  So, needless to say, she knows what it takes.  

I asked Lilah if she was interested in auditioning and without hesitation... she said, "YES!" I was super excited because I never want to force ANYTHING on my children or try and live vicariously through them.  So aside from offering up the dates and times, this was ALL with Lilah's approval and willingness.  

The day before she was really excited and even had me print out some monologues for her to practice.  The day of, she was slightly nervous.  I thought she was going to change her mind, but she pushed through, knowing that if she ever wanted to have her own Disney show... she HAS TO START somewhere.  Hahahahaha.

We arrived! With true excitement and undoubtedly some butterflies. We filled out a sheet with our personal information on it and then checked the boxes of characters that Lilah would be interested performing as.  She did NOT check Snow White, LOL!

The theatre is adorable: a good size, clean, charismatic, and intimate.  

They asked each person auditioning to take a still photo with their name. I guess this was simply to help trigger the faces, for those who would have the final say, as to whether or not someone had what it took to be in this particular play. I mean how could they possibly remember who was who without snapping their faces/names?

And then the auditioning began...

There was (16) kids auditioning.  The groups were split in (2) and each group had to do two cold reads in front of everyone who was present.  I was really hoping Lilah would make it to the second round, so she could see what she was up against, but she was called on the first round.  Eeeeekkk! Her cold reads went smooth.  She read with intentionality, infliction, and got into character. The kids also had to memorize a dance and a song.  The dance was performed on stage and the song had to be sung as a solo.  If I share any of her audition footage, it will be in the next post, but I am debating. Her audition was excellent, considering she had ZERO experience of a cold read and considering her butterflies, but it didn't depict even a 1/4 of her talent.  I was still pretty pleased though.

AND so was the director, Ms. Georgia. 

On Wednesday, December 6th @ 9:25 pm, we received "the call."  Ms. Georgia bypassed ME  and asked to speak to Lilah. She told Lilah that she made the cut and asked Lilah if she would accept a spot on the stage. Lilah of course said "YES" with a BIG SMILE.  I was over here like, "What?! What?! What's going on?"  I was blown away that I wasn't told first being Lilah is a minor, haha.  I am so glad that Lilah was still up WHEN, on a school night, she ordinarily would be in bed. I am guessing the director wants these children to take full ownership of their role in the production.  For two straight days we had to hold in the good news.  We weren't allowed to tell anyone because she hadn't broken the news to the kids that didn't make it.  That was Ms. Georgia's next step.  Out of 60 children who auditioned, Lilah made the cut of 25.  The musical will be on February 2nd, 3rd, 9th (my birthday), and 10th. Tickets are $8.00.  Please let me know if you are interested in coming to watch this sweet play.  For now, we drive to Fincastle 2-3 days a week (two for play practice and once for set performance).

Oh my Liley, you are going to go places.  You are a performer, a dancer, and an actress to say the least. My favorite hashtag for you is #shescaresme (in a good way), because it's true. As one of your teachers once said to me, "That girl is a natural born leader!". You're feisty and sweet.  Strong willed, yet tender.  Pretty much fearless. Your personality is larger than life. You are so outgoing. I am watching you and wishing I had half your ability. I can't wait to see how the Lord shapes and molds you with all the talents he has gifted to you.  This play is a great beginning! A huge honor.  I am so excited I get to spend my 41st birthday watching you perform!

#Cloud9 #ProudMommy

Football Spirit Bags!

This year, Ty was eligible to play for his middle school football team.  I was asked to be responsible for the team's, of 35 players and 4 coaches, "Spirit Bags".  I had no footsteps to follow in.  I have no idea if I am keeping up with the status of what was done last year OR if I am setting newer precedents. Haha.  But... I had my own visions of what "Spirit Bags" should contain.  I was ONLY asked to do bags for the AWAY games.  Fortunately, we only had (3) away games, so it was doable.  I wanted to keep the items in the bags MOSTLY healthy, but I recognize NOT ALL KIDS see the value or have tastes buds for healthy things, so I did include some processed and junky snacks too.  I also wanted to give the boys something to do on their bus ride away.

We had a very small budget to work with.  Several parents from the team donated a total of $150.00, but divided by 39 people that was literally ONLY $1.01 per player/coach, PER game.  Ummm.... I'm no genius, BUT that type of budget could NOT fill a bag.  So... I made about 50 phone calls to local vendors and at this time... I would LIKE to thank those companies for all of their generous contributions.  See below...

Game 1/ Bag 1

Thank you LifeWay Christian BookStore for your generous scripture cards, offering the boys encouragement.

Captain Party, a store I have shopped at since I have been 16, donated these football flingers...

Football poppers...

Mystery Flavor AirHeads...

GREEN blowpipes... and a few other candy items.  

The Vitamin Shoppe donated packets of fruits/veggies in powder form, for the boys to add to their water.  Funny story behind that is... they didn't read what it was and a few boys put it directly in their mouth thinking it was gatorade sugar packets. Needless to say.... they had to run to the bathroom when the bus arrived.  I thought that was both funny and well... STINKY!

Darren and I donated these LaraBars.  I bought them from Sam's Club.

Mission BBQ donated a card good for ONE SANDWICH.  This is incredible.  

Sports Haven donated water bottles, koozies, and ....

A coupon for $3.00 off anything in their NEW Salem Store.

Sports Haven also went above and beyond and treated the football coaches to these AWESOME Packers Glenvar drawstring bags. I thought it was cool that the bags didn't say Packers.  

Carmen, a parent of a middle school cheerleader, has her own side business called Four Seasons Gifts, and she was kind enough to donate paper FOOTBALLS.  I used them to help decorate the outside of the boys' bags.

I made the boys' names.  I feel like personalizing the bags made them EXTRA special. These bags also contained a Sunny Delight.

Game 2/Bag 2

Above: I designed and printed the cutest labels on my computer for the exterior of the bags.

Below: Stuffed footballs were donated by FUN TIMES Party Store.  They also donated...

Cry Baby candy...

Blow Pops....

Bouncing Balls...

Colorful AirHeads...

And Darren and I spotted these adorable balloons at their store and treated the boys EACH to one.

The parents' donations bought these Ritz Bits crackers filled with cheese.  Thanks Sam's Club.

And peanuts....

All Sports Cafe, in Salem, donated 42 BLONDE brownies.  These brownies are AMAZING and served with the most delicious butterscotch sauce and the best vanilla bean ice cream. They are made at a bakery in downtown Roanoke.  

I found some football paper at JoannFabrics and decided to turn their boring water bottles into FOOTBALL field like water bottles.  

I just LOVE the way their turned out.

These bags also contained canned drinks for the boys to choose from: Yoohoo, Lemonade, Fruit Punch, and Iced Tea.  I tried to stay away from soft drinks.

The Fresh Market donated a $25 gift card towards the purchase of anything I wanted.  I was able to buy several packers of assorted fruit crisps.   

Game 3/Bag 3

I passed off the items, I collected, to another mom to fill and deliver, so I am not sure what the FINAL bag looks like, but here's what was inside:

Darren and I bought these for the boys: tabletop, NFL footballs.  I found them on Amazon.

I put them in little baggies and inflated them, so they wouldn't get LOST in their Spirit Bag.

I thought this would be so fun to have on the bus.  They can spend some time trading for their favorite team.

Another local sports store called Tailgaters donated a FULL punch card, giving the boys $10.00 off of any purchase. 

Five Below donated 35 jars of FLARP in GREEN AND GOLD!

I'm sure whoever is driving the bus will need a back massage and a cold beer after hearing FARTING  noises x 35 players for a full hour there and a full hour back.

 

With the parents' money, I purchased both "mystery 2-flavored" Laffy Taffy...

And over-sized sour patch kids from Five Below.

Food Lion donated a $10 gift card, so I was able to buy several boxes of these Lance cracker packets.

Darren and I donated (2) Slim Jims EACH, per player.

ALL of the bags also contained DRINKS and string cheese.  There were other additional food items, but nothing worth really photographing, LOL! I was thankful I got to be a part of this responsibility.  I know the boys really appreciated it and it helped get them PUMPED up for their away games.

Happy 12th Birthday Tyson!

Ty's morning started off being woken up and serenaded by our family. It's hard to believe that in less than a year, I will be a momma to a teenager.  

Then, he came down for breakfast and was greeted with a little creativity.  Now that I look at this, his meal appears to read "812".  Haha.  But it is a bagel with bacon shaped out in the #12.  

His lunch box was a little festive and filled with some birthday love.

A birthday joke!

AND A HUGE filled cookie from our local Cookie Store.  It's TY's FAVORITE!

 

The birthday boy loves the Golden State Warriors, so I decided to decorate the table with that color scheme.  

We offered to take Ty to a dinner of his choice, but he wanted mommy's homemade lasagna and garlic knots (those are compliments of Momma Marias).

This year was SOOOOO hard coming up with GIFT ideas because our children are VERY blessed! Mom to the rescue..... I decided to purchase gifts that color coordinated with his three favorite teams. I LOVE the way this gift idea turned out.

  

Each basket came with a BIG gift.  The Steeler's basket game with an Apple Watch.

His Virginia Tech basket came with a NEW and very handsome pair of VT color shoes!

His Golden State Warriors basket came with a NEW Stephen Curry basketball.  

Ty's best friend Gabe joined in on all of the festivities for Ty! He's like one of our own.

Ty's birthday cake was simply from Sam's Club.  I know how to make cake, but sometimes TIME is a factor.  AND seriously, you can't beat this nice looking cake for $15. Even a simple cake like this would have taken me a good 5 hours.  Who has time for that these days! LOL! The candles... uh- Dollar Tree.  Seriously, if you were to buy those at a party store, you would have paid $6.99.  

We took one goofy self-timed photo.  

These two! GOOFIES!

Such a cool pic.

Blowing out candles and making wishes.

We love you Tyson Willis Bolling.  You are growing up so fast!  We are so extra proud of you this year.  Middle school looks so good on you.  Perfect grades, working out daily, involved in church, building friendships, and so very handsome!!! We hope the Lord continues to tug at your heartstrings and you turn to HIM soon!

Happy 12th Birthday!