Us and it- The story of the Aiello's and Life.

November's almost over?

What the hell?  Seriously?  I remember when I was a kid and time passed by SOOOO SLOW.  Literally felt like an eternity until Christmas and my birthday came back around again.  Now that I'm an adult careening quickly toward "Middle Age", I find that time is going by so fast, I wish there were something I could do to bring it back to the snail's pace it used to be in the 1980's and 90's.  Looking at my children all I can think about is how it feels like yesterday when they were infants.  Especially Paige.  I feel like I can close my eyes and hear her crying in her swing, waiting for me to pick her up.  She's going to be THREE in just a couple months.  Cannot fathom it.  Caden is growing so tall, he's growing out of all his pants and he's READING.  Not just your three letter words typically done in Kindergarten, but reading full out chapter books.  He still has trouble with words here and there, but he's reading on an upper 2nd grade level.  He's really a smart, good kid.  Could not be prouder.    

  On a bummer note, he was diagnosed with Allergy-induced Asthma.  :(   About 6 or 7 months ago he started coughing constantly with no other real symptoms.  Occasionally there'd be a stuffy or runny nose but mostly just a dry, hacking constant cough.   After several trips to the pediatrician, she finally ran an allergy panel and discovered his cough was from an allergy to to Dust Mites, Mold, Dogs ( ack! ), Cats and Cow's Milk.  ( Double Ack! ).   We've started taking steps to lower his exposure to Dust- I am religiously dusting his room, no more stuffed animals in bed with him, we bought allergen pillow protectors and a plastic covering for his mattress.  We're also planning on taking the carpet out of his room and putting in laminate to help lower the dust and dander that can get in the carpet.   As for the dogs, well, they're old and I flat out refuse to give them up.  Caden started crying his eyes out when he thought we were going to have to get rid of them.  I assured him that wasn't going to happen, poor kid. 

Seriously look at this adorable face.   This is his school pic from this year.  I'm so glad he smiled "Nicely" as he put it.  

Mike is still working hard on a big project for Universal's 100th anniversary and also started on HHN for next year. He's also directing the Mannheim concerts this year for Christmas again.   I'm actually super excited about that since I'll be singing the part of Martha May in the Grinchmas portion of the show again this year.   I'm not doing the actual *show* this year- decided to take a year off from it and spend some time with my Horror Makeup family for the holidays.  I'm also going back to "Capones Dinner and Show"  after a 5 year leave of absence.   I actually go back in the show this Friday night.  I'm SUPER nervous but excited!!!  Out of all my roles I've played, Bunny June at Capones is one of my favorites. :)

   Thanksgiving is this week and I'm SO looking forward to spending time with family I don't always get to see.  My sister and her family, my cousins and their families, my Aunts and Uncles......hoping to get some great pics while we're all there in one place, though I'm sure three kiddos under three aren't going to want to cooperate very well!!!  

We're all healthy at the moment too, thank goodness.  We had a run of colds a few weeks back starting with Paige, then me, then Mike.  I got my flu shot though I have yet to schedule the kiddos for theirs.  Bad Mommy. :)

Anyhoo, here's hoping this week goes smoothly- I have to learn three songs and some script changes before Friday and all while working, going to Green Meadows on tuesday for Caden's field trip and Thanksgiving! 

xo

 

Paige and Alice :)

Curiouser and Curiouser.  :)  

November 5, 2011

Happy Halloween!!!!

We had a great time Trick or Treating last night.  Both kids had their Halloween parties at school that day, and then after work and school, we headed over to our friend's the Roddy's house to trick or treat in their awesome neighborhood with them and their kids. 

Paige of course was a Princess and Caden was Darth Vader. 

this was before he took off the helmet.....and the cape......and got rid of the lightsaber.    So he basically wound up looking like some sort of ninja.  It's okay, he still had fun.  And Oh the candy.   TONS AND TONS of candy was received.  Much of it is going to work with me tomorrow.  

 

Lots more going on with us, but I have to run to a Parent/Teacher conference for Caden's school.  

 

Happy November!! 

Summer

The Wand Chooses the Wizard...

 

Caden's wand is Birch; 14 inches, swishy with a core of Pheonix tail feather.  A wand of Birch says you are creative and disciplined.  It also is a *very* serious moment when you receive it. 

 

*Caden receiving his wand at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure- Sept. 24. 2011

 

A little catch up here.....

So when we last left off, we were awaiting with baited breath, the oncoming trip to " Disney Princesses on Ice! " -  I guess you can tell by the beaming smile, " Pwincess Paigey " was pretty darn excited to be there.  It was actually a *really* good show!  The last time I went to one of those, Caden was about Paige's age and it was a Disney on Ice show with Cars and the Tinkerbelle characters.  Honestly wasn't the best with big bulky cars just trudging around the ice and the kids couldn't really tell who was talking because the mouths on  the cars didn't move, and then the entire second act was the story on how Tinkerbelle became Tinkerbelle, but it was sort of long winded, lots of talking and not enough skating/dancing.  He was bored.  Paige, however, was completely enchanted.   This show was totally geared to little girls being ALL about the Princess and the Frog, Cinderella and Tangled.  We had also gotten a ticket for Maw Maw, who had come with us when Caden saw his first ice show.  Paige had such a great time.  She really sat still for the majority of it, the show moved along nicely keeping the kids engaged, and she clapped and clapped her hands at the end when EVERY princess came out with her prince.  It was so fun to watch her enjoy herself. :)

Mike left for Indianapolis and LA the next day.  :(  He's working on a new experience for Universal and it's been taking him out of town quite a bit.  This was his second two-week trip away.   Not going to lie, I HATE it.  I understand he needs to do this, I mean, it's his job, but I am not very well suited for being a single parent.  I barely sleep, the kids are missing their daddy so they test me constantly, and I go through tons of gas driving them all around town to school, appointments and lessons. It's tiring.  I have SO much respect for all single parents out there. 

Since Mike was gone and the kids were bouncing off the walls wondering what we were going to do on the weekend, I contacted my good friend Arin ( who's little girl Kyndall is Caden's on-again, off-again flame ) to see if she wanted to meet up with us at the Magic Kingdom on Saturday.  She thought it was an awesome idea, so last saturday we met up with her and Kydall and had a GRAND day.  :)

We started out at the Tiki Room, newly remodeled BACK to it's original state.  Apparently it had been changed to something different than what I remembered from my childhood, but it was now back.  Caden was pretty psyched since he'd never seen the Tiki Room show before.  He knew the song since his teacher has a Disney music CD she plays in his classroom, so he was happy to see the show it was attached to.  

Of course Paige had not seen it either.  :)  She loved it but got a tiny bit nervous when the volcano erupted and it got dark for a bit. 

We then moved on to Pirates of the Carribean which all the kids loved, and then grabbed a bite to eat before getting Fast passes to Thunder mountain.  During this time, Caden and Kyndall were obviously back "on".  Their relationship has had it's ups and downs, but for sure they were on an upswing.  Please look at some of these adorable photos....

Pretending to be a Superhero with his Superhero girlfriend...

Sweetly waiting in line at Pirates....

And on the monorail with Lei's from the Polynesian.........and oh, you get the idea!!!!  Cute, right?  They literally are so precious with each other; almost like a little teenage couple.  Arin and I have to watch them carefully to make sure they're not smooching each other all the time.  Seriously.  

We got to do lots of stuff- Haunted Mansion, which all the kids LOVE.  I remember being a  kid and feeling Super nervous walking into the building and being SO scared of the stretching room, but all of our kids, even little Paige, think it's cool. 

Ooooh SPOOOOKY!!  Lol! 

Kyndall also convinced Caden to see the Hall Of Presidents.  He actually liked it.  When they lifted the curtain to reveal all of the Presidents, he yelled out " HEY!  That's Barack Obama!!!!!! " LOL.  It was very funny.  Gotta think though, Caden was only 2 when President Obama was voted into office.  He's never known any other President.  Just like President Reagan was the first president I remembered. 

The Magic Kingdom was also decorated for Fall and for Halloween and I got a couple cute pics of the kiddos in front of some pumpkins...

Three Fall cuties. :)

Caden was *almost* done with squinting into the sun...

We then headed over to the castle for what would be Paige's FAVORITE part of the day:  Meeting the Princesses and Prince's of the Castle show.  Since Arin and I work with so many people who work at the Kingdom, we were very lucky to get a private Princess meet and greet. 

Hugging "Cindawewwa" 

Paige is like, " Um, is this really happening? "

 

Paige and Snow White have a heart to heart about " Pwincess things ". 

 

Princess Aurora tends to Paige's hair....while Caden watches.  He was being such a good big brother- he knew how much this meant to Paige. 

We really had such an amazing day, ending with watching the Main Street Electrical parade and Caden choosing a pre-birthday present. :)   Of course Paige got to choose something too...

Both kids were passed out before I even got onto the Turnpike on the way home.  Paige, who has NEVER transferred sleeping from the car to bed EVER in her life, didn't wake up at all, when I pulled her from the car and put her to bed.  Caden went to bed with minimal fussing, but sleepily murmured at me as I left his room, 

 " Hey Mom.  Thank you for the real good day today. " 

:)

I'm Pwincess.

A little blurry but you get the idea.  

A few weeks ago I heard on the radio about Disney's Princesses on Ice coming to town.  Of course, I knew immediately I would be taking our aspiring Princess.  Paige is desperately loving EVERYTHING Princess right now.  

" Wook mommy, dis my pwetty Pwincess hair! " ( when her hair's been done perfectly pretty ). 

" Mommy!  Dis my Pwincess bwacewet! ( Bracelet ) 

etc.... 

So of course when I mentioned it to her, she screamed with happiness and ran to the door.  Oops.  Forgot that two year olds have no concept of time.  So, pretty much every day I've had to deal with, "Mommy, we see Pwincesses today??? " and I"d have to answer " No, not today, but soon!  "  Now here we are on the eve of actually seeing the Princesses.  Of course she'll be wearing her new Cinderella dress I found for a steal in a kid consignment shop.  Oh, and her new black patent leather princess shoes also found at the consignment shop.  Look at her face.  Best 12 dollars I've ever spent. 

Can't wait to share pics from Saturday!!! 

 

xo

Singing stuff.

So you know I sing.  I mean, I am a singer.  I can freely say this with confidence now, because I can honestly say in the 13 years I've been working as a professional actress, many of those gigs have been singing roles.  So being hired for my voice makes me a SINGER.   

So often I forget this.  It's mostly when I'm in a funk and many of my peers are auditioning, performing and being cast in shows I would love to do, where I think " Ugh. I'm not as *good* as they are. " and then the confidence takes a serious nose dive.   It's weird to call myself that, because  if you knew some of the people I know and have worked with, and heard the amazing voices these people have,  you would be like " Um, I can carry a tune okay but...."  But apparently according to casting directors, show directors, show attendees and friends and family, I am truly a good singer.  

 It wasn't until just recently that I've started to really discover what my voice can do.   My friend Katie Hammond ( who possesses quite a wonderful voice herself ) introduced me to her friend, voice teacher and song writing partner about three years ago.  Katie was doing a cabaret and she really wanted me to sing a duet with her.   I met Elaine one night and was nervous as hell to sing in front of her since Katie had assured me that Elaine was painfully honest.  I worried she would tell Katie to not use me.  After the rehearsal, she told me that I had a very strong voice but needed some definite work- mostly in the confidence department and also with technique.  I wanted to take lessons with her at that point, but I was pregnant with Paige and learning to sing correctly wasn't in the forefront of my mind at that point.  

  After Paige was born  Elaine and Katie asked me if I would do a staged reading of their first collaboration, a musical called "Delayed".  I was thrilled.  I wasn't too horrible for them to ask me to come back!  It was during rehearsals for this particular show, ( some with Paige on my hip whilst singing ) 
 At that first performance I sang a gorgeous duet with Scott Whittmore who has a lovely voice.  Mike was there, and told me it was one of the best times he's heard me sing.   Buoyed with renewed confidence I met more with Elaine to work on some audition material for Grinchmas.  I felt like I had never been better in Grinchmas that year due to Elaine's teaching. 

Around April of this year I met with Elaine to work on some more of hers and Katie's music when Elaine said, " I really want to get my hands on your voice.   Like for real.  " So with that, I started going to class with Elaine every week and I cannot tell you how much my voice has improved.  

A couple weeks ago, we did another staged reading, this time for Katie and Elaine's new musical "Seasons".  

 And of course I had to sing a song that put me *usually* waaaay out of my comfort zone.  With weeks of working with Elaine ( in the center ) under my belt, I mustered up all of my confidence I could, knowing I COULD do this, and wound up feeling really, really good about my performance since the people I Was singing with, are essentially some of the BEST singers in Orlando hands down.  I was so blessed and honored to have been asked to be with such esteemed company.  The place was almost full and after it was done, people I didn't even know told me I had done a great job.  The best praise came from Elaine who told me she was going to use my version of that particular song as her demo on their website.  *That* felt awesome. 

 

xo

And Off he went....

To his first day of Kindergarten.   

( Mike took this pic since I didn't take him his first day.  I started crying in the driveway and we thought it best he be dropped off by his calmer parent. lol! ) 

He was like, " Um, I want to pose like I did LAST year. "  

Caden makes me laugh.  The fact that he remembers that tiny detail from his first day last year is insane to me.  The stuff he chooses to retain vs. the stuff we *want* him to retain is definitely varied!  

He was actually pretty excited to start Kindergarten though, never minding the fact that he knew not one kid in his class.  He did say that during one of the class switch overs he saw Sean, one of his classmates from his Pre-K class last year.   So at least there's one familiar face in the school!  Despite Caden's sillyness and ability to be very social with people he knows, he can be VERY shy with strangers.   He's gotten all good marks for conduct these past three days, and I laughed with Mike knowing that it's probably because he's not comfortable with anyone yet enough to act out or talk in class!  Course he *does* take after his Daddy in many things, and Mike was always stellar in his conduct so says his mother, so maybe he is just being really good.  :)  I Know he doesn't get it from ME- I had to sit next to the teacher for much of my first few years of school.  ( I was a talker.  Seriously, right?  )

Mike was excited to take him on his first day.  He said he walked in with him, making sure he noticed exactly how to get to his classroom since they were only allowing the parents until today ( weds ) to walk in with the kids.  Once he got to his class, his teacher Mrs. Krawchuk showed him his cubby and told him he could sit at his table.  Once he did that, he told Mike " It's okay.  You can go now. "  That's Caden.  He's Not really too worked over much except video games, theme park rides and getting shots.  That's about it. 

Mike's Gammom picked him up that day.  Since he was four months old, Vera ( Gammom ) has been keeping him for us on Monday and Weds while I worked. This is her last year of getting him.  We've been so incredibly blessed to have had her all these years and can never thank her enough.   Of course I called as soon as I got offstage to find out how his day went.   Caden in rare form, asked to talk to me on the phone.  He generally hates talking on the phone.   I asked him how was his day and he told me, " It was really Loooooong Mom.  I had fun though.  I ate my lunch.  I met one person.  I did all my work.  It was easy.  I was bored....No tired.  No it was just really loooooong.  " 

And there you have it.  Kindergarten is Looooong. :)

I am certain that we will have our bumps in the road but for now, things to be going well.  He's happy with his teacher and he really likes all the "specials" he gets to do like Art, music, drama and PE.   I'm wondering how much learning and work is in the curriculum since right now he's only brought home worksheets that looks like stuff he did last year.  I'll wait a bit and see before I contact the teacher and ask.  I don't want to be one of "those" parents.  :)

xo

Big Girl Bed.

YAAAAYYYY!!!!!!

Yeah I know, lots of days 'twixt postings.  I'm trying!!!!  Life is happening such as, Mike being gone for TWO weeks!!!!  He's got a new project he's working on for uni and he had to go out to L.A. to work on it, but.........back to the Big Girl Bed!!!!!

This past saturday my cousin Dawn parted with her daughter's daybed ( since Jennifer is grown and married and all.. ) and now Paige has it. :)  She LOVES it.   It takes up the majority of her room but who cares.  It's big, and comfy and she's sleeping wonderfully in it.   As Mike and my Dad were taking the crib apart it really struck me that my baby is well and truly gone and in her place is a preschooler evolving.  She's *this * close to being fully potty trained, she's learning her colors, shapes, numbers and is recognizing her name.  Growing up.   And it's exciting. 

 

xo

The sweet life. :)

Last weekend we took our annual trip to Cocoa Beach and it was LOVELY.  Really, it was a MUCH needed get away, and even though a trip with younger kids really isn't *quite* a relaxing vacation because you're constantly running after them and making sure they're not getting pulled under the ocean waves or going into a strangers hotel room.  :)  It was still awesomely fun. 

My sweet bathing beauty.  She LOVED LOVED LOVED the ocean.  We couldn't get her there fast enough in the mornings.  I went through 4 cans of sunscreen on she and Caden alone. 

Soooo close Mike.  Soo close.  I like how Caden's just watching it all happen...

My dedicated fisherman.  He never had bait or a hook on his line, he was just content to cast it out and reel it in....for almost an hour. 

Staying hydrated - I love how this shot perfectly captures the brightness and almost heat, of the beach.  The colors are gorgeous. 

Sassy Mister hanging out in the room- probably mock-pouting cause I told him he couldn't play on my iphone. 

Love this view- could have hung out here forever. 

We went crabbing on our second night there and we took in a pretty darn good haul.  See that big one?  Mike found it and started calling it, " King Kong ".  At one point he managed to jump out of the bucket which send Kylen, my nephew, screaming all the way back to his room.  It was hilarious. 

The adults searching for crabs as the kids laugh at us. 

I have more photos to upload but since my computer's super old, it's going to take forever and that's a project for another night.  Also, I might mention I'll have plenty of night time free time since Mike's in LA for two weeks with work.  Blah.  NOt my favorite thing but it can't be helped.  It's his job! 

x0