Well Hello My old Friend......

Well it's sure good to see you again!

Where have I been! I have neglected this sad little blog!
It's been a crazy, lazy, hot summer! And it's time to get back in a routine!

Here's what the Nelson's were up to since the last time I blogged!:

Paul went to Disneyland with us!!! We had a great time! And the girls loved having Daddy around! (me too!)


Riley and Taylor had their birthdays! Riley is now 6 and Taylor is 3!! My babies are getting big!!

I went and saw GLEE Live in Concert at Universal Studios with my sister Gabby and friend Angela. It was awesome. I sang, I danced. and we LAUGHED! "I don't think Amish people fly!"

Paul surprised me for my birthday at took me to Disneyland!! I have spent my last three birthdays at Disneyland, I hope to continue the tradition! We even stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel and it was Awesome! Gotta have a Monte Cristo Sandwich while at Disneyland. And I beat Paul at Toy Story Mania. He claims he had a faulty trigger...yeah right!

We had a nice evening with our friends and our kids got to ride horses and see cows and chickens. My picture of Hunter didn't turn out. Riley had a great time and keeps asking when we can go back!

Riley "graduated" from Kindergarten. It was a nice short and simple graduation. And she was super cute doing all of her songs and movements.

**As a side note - Paul was gone for the end of May and beginning of June. He was able to go to Mesquite and golf for three days. Then he helped Brent drive from Washington D.C. to Yuma and in the process had some of the best BBQ he's ever had in Nashville. Then he spent a week in Salinas for work (and also did a little golfing) and ending up with one more two day golfing trip to San Diego. Of course there are no pictures because he's a man and doesn't take any.

The New York Yankees were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix and we were able to get tickets and go see them play. It was really exciting to see Hunter get to watch players he's been watching for years on TV play live. The Yankees lost the game, but game back and beat the D-Backs in the next two nights.

Riley lost two teeth, which still have yet to come in!!

We had some fun cousin time!!! FRICKIN' FAMILY FUN TIME DANG IT!!!

I made some really big cookies, that have brownies in the middle. Yes, they were big. Yes, they were good. Yes, I ate more than one!

We went to Flagstaff with Paul's family and enjoyed a quick trip to cool weather. We didn't really enjoy the "quick" trip to the hot Grand Canyon, but it really is a sight to see. Maybe when I don't have small children we'll have to go back. There are NO RAILINGS people!!

I was lucky to get the chance to attend a 3 day music workshop in LA and had a great time singing a bunch of new music with a bunch of random music teachers. We also had a choreography day and I had FUN!! And I got to come home with all of this music...for FREEEEE!!!

We closed out our summer with our yearly trip to Carlsbad. WE LOVE IT THERE! I hate the beach, but love the relaxing, laid back attitude of Carlsbad. And of course, they have a Hot Dog On A Stick nearby! and that Never hurts!
Riley and Taylor got their end of summer/school starts haircuts. It was really sad to see all of Taylor's long curls drop to the floor, but she loves it and its easy to take care of!

Grandma and Grandpa's pool FINALLY got fixed! It was being repaired for most of the summer, but we got a good 4 days worth of swimming before school started. Riley has completely stopped using a life vest and swims really well on her own. Hunter is crazier than ever off the diving board, and I have to learn to calm down. Taylor will finally stick her head in the water, but only when she wants to. So hopefully next year's swimming lessons won't be such a pain like this summer's lessons were!

And the end of summer, beginning of the new school year. My 3rd grader and my 1st grader!!! And Taylor started pre-school 2 days a week!! Yipee for me!! And I cut down to only teaching one day of lessons!


I spent the last day reading Mockingjay. I liked it.

And Paul....well, I said good-bye to him this week. We won't be seeing much of him around here anymore. It's gonna be sad for us all. But hey that's what happens when you're a Produce Widow. Transplants start on Saturday and that's the beginning of the next 8 months!! It's a good thing he LOVES his job!!! We'll see him in April, and we'll pray for good weather and hope that the markets are good. So everyone....eat lots of Produce this winter!!! :-)

Glee *Spoiler Alert*

I love Glee.

Many of you know that.

I don't care who knows it.

I. LOVE. GLEE.

I am a fan of Glee on Facebook. So on Monday when they posted this:

Attn: LA area GLEE Fans! We have a limited # of audience seats available for the season finale taping this WED, 4/21, in L.A. Be one of the first people (18 years or older) to email your 1st & last name/date of birth/email address to FBCPUBLICITYEVENTS@fox.com we'll hook you up w/ 2 tickets! If you're confirmed to rece...ive tickets you will receive an email reply from FOX w/ more info. Thanks & Good Luck!

I did just that. (even though I'm not technically an LA area fan) I figured it couldn't hurt and I never win anything anyways. I sent my email off and forgot about it.

Well on Tuesday afternoon, Edna was leaving my house and I was waiting for my next piano student to show up when my phone alerted me of a new email. Being the OCD person that I am, I opened up my email to find:

FINALE TAPING

WHAT: You and a guest are confirmed to be in the balcony audience during the filming of the spring finale performance of GLEE.
If you can not come, please respond to this ASAP.

DATE: TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21

TIME: APPROX 2:30 PM

AGE: 18 & OVER. Please bring ID; we will be checking age at the door

LOCATION: SABAN THEATER (8440 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA). Please look for signs labeled “INVITED AUDIENCE” when you arrive; you will be entering the theater off of Hamilton Drive.

PARKING: Parking NOT provided. If possible, please carpool or take public transportation – as parking is limited in the area. There is some metered parking. DO NOT PARK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD BEHIND THE THEATER; all neighborhood streets are restricted “permit only” parking.

ATTIRE: No Shorts, No T-shirts or tank-tops, No Clothing with logos, No Bright Colors

IMPORTANT: Do NOT bring any cell phones, cameras, camera-phones, flip-cams, laptops, or recording devices of any kind. Any cameras or recording devices (including cell phones) will be confiscated at the door and returned to you when you leave at the end of the day.

NOTE: You will be asked to sign a photo release form before you enter the theater. We cannot guarantee that you will be on camera, but it is a possibility. Also note that we cannot guarantee which actors will be present during the time you are there.

I ran back outside to Edna who was still putting her girls in the car. And I told her what happened. We both started jumping and screaming like little girls! So we quickly made arrangements to go to LA the following day.

We left Yuma around 6:30am. We left with plenty of time to be able to get there eat and be on time and no rushing.

We got to the theatre and found a parking spot and had some lunch and went and got in line. We were only about 20 people back. This was about 1:00pm. Someone came by shortly there after to tell us that we would be let into the theatre around 2:30 - 3:00pm. That's a long time to wait. It was only a sign of things to come.

We were let into the theatre around 3:00, after our cell phones and cameras had been confiscated. Right as they were taking our phones away Sue Sylvester walked out of the theatre in a red track suit.

And then we waited and waited and waited. Did I mention we waited?!

We were given programs to the "2010 Midwest Regional Show Choir Championship." Here is what they looked like. Or some of it anyway...

Apparently Brittany has no last name and Tina is just C.

There was a high school choral group sitting behind us, and apparently they had connections with some guy named Dave, and Dave brought up the Vocal Contractor, Tim Davis, for Glee and he did a little Q&A with them, but we of course got to hear. I told him I wanted his job. He does the arrangments for Glee, all requests by creator Ryan Murphy. He told us that Vocal Adrenaline is comprised of session singers, and the actors on the show are all dancers that Lip Sync. His job is to make sure that the dancers are each assigned a part to lip sync and then he makes sure that they do it when taping. Session singers are singers that can sight sing on demand. He said that basically they come in to record. They go thru it once or twice. Then all of the women will sing the alto part, then soprano and so forth. He said that "Bohemian Rhapsody" took about 10 hours to record. It was really interesting to hear him talk about the Glee Cast - which he said NONE of them know how to read music, not even Lea Michelle. They record their parts and send them to the actors for them to learn by ear. He also said that sometimes they only get an hour to lay down their solos. He did say that Amber Riley (Mercedes) is really that good.

Next came Vocal Adrenaline. They were taping their song for Regionals which as you saw on the program was "Bohemian Rhapsody." First off...COOL costumes. Sure beats your everyday show choir cumberbund and bow tie (they were hot pink and black.) Secondly...the choreography was AWESOME! Speaking of Choreography, Zach Woodlee, was on set. He also did the choreography for Hairspray, which was also AWESOME!) I got chills several times with their routine. SO COOL! And also Jesse St. James (as you saw on the program) is back with Vocal Adrenaline. He was nice and waved to all of us as we WAITED! We, as the audience, were instructed to jump up at the end of the song and cheer like crazy...which we did. Vocal Adrenaline was on stage until about 7:00pm it was LONG! Just did the same thing over and over until they had used every camera and gotten every angle. They also filled in the bottom of the auditorium and everyone had glow sticks and we "rocked out" to Bohemian Rhapsody.

In the meantime between takes, we WAITED. BUT, while we waited, we got to meet:

*Matthew Morrison (Mr. Shuester) - who gave me a high five! He was litterally two feet away from me and only one foot away from Edna. She told him that she remembers him from "As the world turns" and he replied with "oh i'm sorry!" He forgot his glasses and Edna gave them back to the assitant person. She now wishes she'd have kept his glasses. Edna also pretended to grab his booty when he turned around! He was really nice. Super cute. yay!

*Amber Riley (Mercedes) - who by the way had an iPad and she says she loves it - I know that because I asked her!

*Kevin McHale (Artie) - who said he was jealous that he didn't get to dance for about two episodes, and then realized he was lucky he didn't have to do all the work!

*Ian Brennan - co-creator of Glee

*Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) - she gave me a high five. I asked her a question....she doesn't know if she will be doing any Christopher Guest movies, but that she loved working on those movies.

*Cory Monteith (Finn) - I touched him!

*Dianna Agron (Quinn) - She is very nice and apparently likes photography

*Heather Morris (Brittany) - is a dancer. She was a back up dancer for Beyonce.

*Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina C) - told us that she will be getting more solos and a story line.

*Chris Colfer (Kurt) - apparently he gets a boyfriend coming up!

*Naya Rivera (Santana)

*Dijon Talton (Matt Rutherford) - strictly a dancer

*Harry Shum Jr (Mike Chang) - strictly a dancer and apparently he is going to be doing some show coming up and helped direct some of it.

*Lea Michele (Rachel) - was the only one that was a little stuck-up. (true to character, I guess). She was all over Jonathan Groff, very awkward for us watching them, but I guess that's odd because supposedly Jonathan is gay (according to other sources). They did a Q&A together and I wonder if they even knew we were there.

*Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James) - again he was a little strange, but is cute and acted his part very well on the tapings of Bohemian Rhapsody with Vocal Adrenaline.

They were all very kind and took questions from the Audience. It was fun to hear them talk and learn a little bit about them. *I'm sure you can google glee finale taping and read other people's account of the Q&A*

At about 8:30pm, we taped a couple of ending of "Regionals." We taped an ending with New Directions winning and a taping with them losing. We did a taping of cheering for the judges, which are Josh Groban, Olivia Newton-John, and Sue Sylvester.

By this time, Edna and I were concerned with time because we were still going to drive the 5 hours home! So we only got to watch "New Directions" do the walk thru of their performance of a medley of Journey songs, ending with "Don't Stop Believing" and we left at 9:15pm. I read on someone elses's blog that New Directions didn't even begin taping their part until well after 10:00pm.

We quickly got some Chipotle (yum!) and drove home. We made it safely at 2:30am.

It was SUPER SUPER fun! It will be fun to see the end product. And if maybe, maybe, they show a shot of the balcony audience, Edna and I were in the front row off to the left (looking at the screen) right next to the aisle! So there is a CHANCE we might get to be on the Finale Episode!

Did I mention we waited around A LOT?

Did I mention I LOVE GLEE!!!!

Spring Break!

Two weeks of Spring Break!

I had set a project list (in my head) of things that I wanted to get done during Spring Break. I should have written it down because my list kept changing! But I did do the following:

1. Paint and decorate Master Bedroom. In the 11 years that Paul and I have been married we have never had a completely decorated Bedroom. We even had our mattresses on the FLOOR for a year while I shopped for the bedroom furniture. Enough! So I went on a rampage! OK that's not true entirely. I found some bedding that I liked at West Elm. I originally had purchased the Sea Spray, but after getting it, I couldn't figure out how to make it work. So I went to West Elm with the intention of getting the cream color, only to find it wasn't in stock. The only one they had in stock was the light Amethyst color. I turned to Paul and asked if it was OK if we had a purple bedroom. He said yes. I told him I would paint the walls Gray so that it was not so feminine. I have to say that I am really happy with it! It's not all the way done. I also got some fabric to make 3 more throw pillows for the bed and I would like to add some artwork on another wall, and get towels for the bathroom. AND even more importantly.....I have made my bed and kept my room laundry free for TWO WEEKS! (the laundry-free is not that big of a deal, but the making of the bed IS!)

In case you're wondering = bedding from West Elm. Gray Sheets from Kohl's. Wall Color is Cathedral Stone from Lowe's. Chair, pillow on chair, and lamps from IKEA. White bolster pillow on bed and Round accent table from Target. Iron Scroll from Pottery Barn (circa three years ago). Curtains from Ross (circa 8 years ago!)

2. Potty Train Taylor. I did the math. I have been changing diapers since September 2001. It is now April 2010. That's a long dang time people! I got a one month break in April-May of 2007. And now...if all goes right....I. AM. DONE. The Taylors is potty trained! I just need to get her to go through the night and I am home free. It's really a weird sight to see her on the toilet because she is so tiny, but it's exciting. And it's super cute because SHE is so excited! "Guys...GUYS!!! I went pee pee in the Big Toilet!" Every time. EVERY TIME she goes that's what we get to hear. Her two older siblings were just as excited to help potty train Taylor because there were trips to Dairy Queen and Target involved and they know their mom is a sucker for buying them presents. Now if she would only give up her bottle (I know, don't judge me.)

I didn't clean the carpets, or finish the office (again), or straighten up the garage....blah blah blah. Hey that's what summer is for.

Now some random pics of the last month:

The kids had their "Track and Field Day." Hunter got a couple of Ribbons, but the most important one to him was that his Class got 1st in the Tug-of-War. Apparently that's a big deal.

Riley had a great time as well. It was really strange to see her with her class and be a big girl. I still think she's two! But she got 1st place in the 50 yard dash! All of those times she would just take off running in our cul-de-sac (on the sidewalk and always with adult supervision) paid off! She loves to run! And she also had a great time with the Tug-of-War!

Hunter is still doing Soccer. His "on the floor" stats are much better than his first game. I think I only counted 4 times on the floor on his last two games. He is getting better about playing with a purpose instead of just hitting it as far or as hard as he can in any direction.

We usually try to stay out of Hunter's way during the game, but in this picture Hunter is the goalie....but he still wanted to play every other position. So we'd finally had enough of him being outside the goalie box so Paul went over and kindly reminded him to stay in his spot and to pay attention to the ball!

Hunter has really enjoyed Scouts. I on the other hand still have no clue what is going on! I'm glad his Cub Leaders do! I still haven't sewn his patches on his shirt. I really should do that. But he has earned a few belt loops (again, no clue) and he has a great time at scouts.

Hunter got to do a two day golf camp. It brings much joy to Paul's heart that his only son LOVES golf. He would love to be able to go play everyday. And true to Nelson form, he takes it so seriously. I hope he keeps liking it. This past Saturday Paul and Hunter went and had a day together and it was so awesome to see them walking away from the house with their golf bags over their shoulders. I'm glad they can share that together!

The girls were just excited to roll down the hills! Remember doing that when you were younger? I got all dizzy and itchy just watching them!

Legally Blonde! Some friends of mine were unable to use their tickets to see Legally Blonde in San Diego and so they gave them to me. Linsey, Edna, and I went. I gotta tell you, I probably wouldn't have picked that musical...but it was HILARIOUS! I totally loved it! We laughed a lot and it was wonderful!!! Beauty and the Beast and West Side Story are coming this coming year and I am going to try and go see those two shows...anyone want to go?

Easter!

This was the day of the 7.2 earthquake. I gotta tell you...earthquakes and Easter shouldn't mix. It was a scary moment, and all week has been a bit unsettling with all of the aftershocks. My family got together for an egg hunt and dinner. We had a great time! And the kids ate lots of candy.....OK so did I!

Ree-Roos loves her daddy!All the grandchildren that live in Yuma. And what holiday or family get-together wouldn't be complete without someone crying???