You Got a Friend in Me!

A few weeks ago a friend of mine posted that she was purchasing tickets for Disney on Ice: Toy Story 3, which got me thinking that we should take the kids. After looking into it and looking at all the things going on with the kids in the month of September I decided we just didn't have the money for all four of us to go. I mentioned this to another friend of mine, who smiled and said "Let me call Jim. He might have a guy!"

Jim is her husband and from all the stories I hear knows just about everyone in Rhode Island. She asked him if he might be able to get some passes for one of the shows, and he said he would look into it. Like I said that was weeks ago. I had honestly forgot all about it, the tickets, "the guy" and most of all the show - until Thursday of this week. Jim sent me a message saying he had passes for us that he had gotten just that day. WOW! I couldn't remember when the show was, so I hopped online to see - THIS WEEKEND!

Since Mad Dog was heading down south with me yesterday (he was meeting a friend of ours) I thought we could make the Friday night show at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence. It was at 7PM, which meant I could work a little bit of overtime and then they could pick me up, grab a bite to eat and go! We didn't tell the kids, feeling it was better to keep it a surprise. Lex with his 50 questions, kept asking where we were going, what we were doing, why we were doing it. Once at the Providence Place Mall, Lex figured out that the "Surprise" was going to see Curious George Live! Mad Dog told him he wasn't exactly right. Why George live? Back in February (I think) I had taken him to see Curious George Live at the Hanover Theater in Worcester for a "Surprise". He linked the two in his head and came up with his guess.

We grabbed a quick bite at the food court and made our way to the Convention Center. Once inside we were surrounded by every Toy Story and non-Toy Story souvenir you could think of. I put Loki down, and she ran to a kiosk where she saw a huge picture of Woody! She got excited. We made our way to our seats, which the guy at the box office made Mad Dog believe were on the roof. That was not the case. The seats were perfect. We could see everything.

For the first ten minutes Lex kept asking Mad Dog when George was coming out. He finally got it when the main characters came out on the ice. Both kids sat and watched, with little trouble. Lex of course needed several bathroom breaks, which were a waste since he didn't go. Loki was so excited, watching very seriously at time and then clapping her hands or leg to the beat of the music. The show had the songs from the films as well as popular pop songs, such as:

• We Got the Beat - GO-GOs
• Barbie Girl - Aqua
• These Boots Are Made for Walkin - Jessica Simpson version
• Dream Weaver - Gary Wright
• Star Wars Cantina song 

It was a lot of fun. We stayed for the whole thing, which I was very surprised about since Lex usually asks to leave early. I was glad he didn't, since I doubt Loki would have been happy about that since she was so into it. At the end of the show we made our way slowly back to the car, dealing with the crowd. We made one last bathroom break at the mall before going back to the car. Yes, we made it out with NO souvenirs. I can think of about 20 different things I would like to do with that money. 

In the car, the kids were talking about it. Very excited and still wide awake for a while. I asked Lex how was his day. He said it was a "Good" Day. 

Me: What was your favorite part of your day? 

Lex: Playing with Loki. Loki good to play with. 

Me: (choked up). 

The Hand of God

Today was Little Man's Baptism. Let me start by saying we are not religious and because of this there was great debate prior to coming to the agreement to go through with the sacrament. I guess I never thought I would be questioning baptizing Little Man, but since I'm not his only parent Mad Dog and I had to come to an agreement. I don't know if its because I had it drilled into me or if I just don't want to upset my Grandmother and Mother, but it's just something I knew I wanted have for Little Man. This doesn't mean that I'm going to start going the mass every Sunday with Little Man in tow, but it does mean he has a stepping stone for any future spiritual pursuits. I have faith in God. I don't need to go to church each week or listen to the interpretations of Gods words or the actions of the prophets that walked the earth so long ago. I just have to have faith. I have faith that this was a good decision and can only help Little Man down the road.

He was Baptized at St. Mary's Church, the church where I received Communion and was Confirmed. My family has great history with St. Mary's. As I said I received Communion and was Confirmed there as did my brother's Sean & Kevin who both had been Baptized there. Sean was also married in the church 2 years ago and my Father's funeral was held there. For many years we attended masses and were apart of the church community from teaching CCD to being on the planning committee for the church fair, September Fest. Along with this being our family church, my brothers both stood up as Little Man's Godfathers and Little Man wore the Christening gown that my Mother and her brothers were baptized in, and my brothers and I were baptized in. The fabric came from Italy and is more than 100 years old and was made by my Great Grandmother who I grew-up with.

Though I am exhausted, I have a good feeling about today. I'm happy we made this event apart of Little Man's life.