It's Here!!!!

My birthday is finally here! Yes-- I get excited every year because despite whatever the previous year held, I choose to feel that being here is a blessing and when I get a card, a phone call, email or well-wishes I realize how lucky I am to have all these wonderful people in my life! I'm one of those people who never have enough people in my life to love, so the more, the merrier!

Well, this birthday turned out to be one of the most extraordinary I've ever had! We took the train from Lancaster to New York City early in the morning yesterday, which was my and the kids first ever train trip. Here's my cuties:

We got into the city at 11:00 am and went straight to Toys R Us on Times Square where the kids showed me their Christmas wishes...

We ate at Angus McIndoe's for lunch, which was right there on the Broadway strip. I got eggs and salmon, with caviar, mimosas and a banana pecan bread pudding...yum!!

Then we were off to the Minskoff Theatre to see the highlight of our trip:

The Lion King is celebrating it's 10th year on Broadway this year! It was PHENOMINAL!!!! If you ever get a chance to go, take it! I think it was the best show I will ever see!!! The costumes, the music, the props... it was the most creative production. At each scene we were at the edge of our seats, fascinated by everything that was going on! I can't describe it. Here's a photo from the book I got afterwards of Scar and Mufasa. This play was way better than the movie:

Afterwards we were lucky enough to go on a backstage tour with Halle Vargas Sullivan who played the young Nala!! The two children who played Nala and Simba were amazing at only 10 years old (the same age as my kids) and she was so great at explaining everything and showing us all the costumes and props and how they worked.

These were the shadow puppets that were made of thin plexiglass...

These were the masks for the hyenas:

Here is the Pumbaa costume that weighs 40lbs.!!! The actor wore this in his scenes...it is huge!

Here is the puppet for Zazu. We got to see Jeff Binder, who played him, show us how it worked...

The actors were totally amazing! They did have voices similiar to the actors who did the movie, but we thought they were better. Here's us in the dressing room....

Here is Halle and the kids:

And one more of the family on the stage!

That's the closest I'll ever get to the stage!!! I used to love putting on plays and puppet shows when I was young for my parents or the neighborhood. I hope my children realize how lucky they are to see such wonderful things at their age!

And the last birthday thing I want to share with you is the sweetest gift from my friend Becky-- she needle-pointed this beautiful sewing pouch for me!!! She hid "Happy 41" in it too ;). You're the best Becky!!!!

You might notice that my new Michael Buble cd is in this picture too!!! Dad got it for me!!

I'll leave you with these wonderful lyrics as this is what I've been listening to all day:

"Everything"

You're a falling star

You're the getaway car

You're the line in the sand when I go too far

You're the swimming pool on an August day

You're the perfect thing to say

And you play it coy

But it's kind of cute

When you smile at me, you know exactly what you do

Baby, don't pretend that you don't know it's true

'Cause you can see it when I look at you

And in this crazy life

And through these crazy times

It's you, it's you

You make me sing

Your every line

Your every word

You're everything

You're a carousel

You're a wishing well

And you light me up when you ring my bell

You're a mystery

You're from outerspace

You're every minute of my every day

And I can't believe that I'm your man

And I get to kiss ya baby just because I can

Whatever comes our way

We'll see it through

'Cause you know that's what our love can do

'Cause in this crazy life

And through these crazy times

It's you, it's you

Ya make me sing

Your every line

Your every word

You're everything