Adventures with Ahrens loves us some Lamb Chop!

And just how did we use our essential oils today?  Let us start by Geoff waking up with a bad case of vertigo.  This is common for him.  We don't know if this has to do with his hearing loss or not, however, generally, this is a "sleep it off and wait until it passes" sort of event for him.  Today, I thought we might be proactive and see what research would afford us.  Turns out, there were a ton of options.  We started simple.  Frankincense behind his ears.  (As a Catholic, I figured this would be the logical route to go, seeing as we missed Mass today.)  Nothing.  Then, I applied lavender to the tops of his ears and massaged them for a few seconds each.  SUCCESS!  That might have been the quickest vertigo recovery in our house.

Good thing too, as we had plans to leave the house at 2:30 PM for a 3:00 PM "Mallory and Lamb Chop" show at the Falany Performaing Arts Center.   It was fantastic!  Mallory shares her mom, and her mom's legacy in such a touching way during the hour-long performance.  The vintage clips transcended time, and our seven and eight year old were mesmerized by a sock puppet for longer than they pay attention to their iPods in one sitting.  As a mom, I was in heaven to be able to share something from my past, and for all of us to enjoy it as much as we did.  Audience participation was a must, and I was shocked that my children, practically raised in a theater, chose to not go up on stage when Mallory invited ALL the children onstage for a sing-along.  It appears that Charlie will not go on stage unless Shayna goes, and Shayna won't go unless she has lines.  (I think she is ready for her own dressing room after the past two plays she was in.  Can you say "PRIMA DONNA?")

After the show, we were invited to make sock puppets, at no additional charge, while waiting to meet Mallory and Lamb Chop for a photo op.  The director of the Falany Performing Arts Center, Jessica Akers, goes above and beyond to make sure that families feel welcome, each and every time they come for a show.  We have been here enough to know that when we walk in, she remembers us, says "hi" to the migits, and is genuinely excited to see children come to experience the theater.  In general, the theater does not sell concessions, and we were pleasantly surprised to see that Mallory and Lamb Chop were selling Lamb Chop puppets as we entered the building.  That was a fun treat for the kidlets, and Mallory even signed Lamb Chop for us at our meet and greet!

I know you don't know my Aunt Rene, but I swear, she looked and almost talked just like her!   It might have been the New York Jew in her, but I swear, I was waiting for her to spew some random, yet highly useful information at some point.  Like, did you know that water is at its' hottest right before the point at which it boils?  When it boils, it releases heat.  Yes, an Aunt Rene-ism.  And Aunt Rene sends the most funny birthday cards of anyone I have ever gotten one from.  True story.  I don't even like cards, but if I see her return address on it, I know it is going to be good.

Isn't that the cutest?  Lamb Chop actually signs that ;o) 

It was like a smorgasbord of sock puppet making fun!  The Falany Performing Arts Center knows how to excite the art lover in all of us!  

I held the socks on my hands and they each chose to draw eyes, and then took wiggly eyes to glue on at home.  They had all the trimmings and tons of options to make different variations of puppets, but both were too excited and wanted to play with the one we purchased before the show.  I am sure they will be putting on little shows during our breaks from school in the morning.  I told Shay I might have her research and write a paper on ventriloquism.  That excited her.  Homeschool days can be as interesting as we allow them to be.  Tomorrow,  Lamb Chop will see how the Ahrens Academy does it.    

PS  I took great thought in naming Shayna.  Her full name is Shayna Rachel Ahrens.  Shayna, or "Shane" means beautiful, or pretty, in hebrew.  Rachel means "little lamb."  Since our "pretty little lamb" was a baby, she has always had a special fondness for anything lamb related.  Today was no exception.