Party Like A Princess

One fall day I saw a post on FB by a lady who had just started her princess party business and was looking for girls to work as princesses. I sent her a message, just in case, including Katya’s resume and a headshot. Coincidentally, the lady turned out to be from our town! So Katya had a proper interview and got hired to be Belle! 

The business is just starting out, so they had arranged to do a couple of big events to get them noticed. One of them was a major photo shoot with all the princesses together and a few girls as special guests. They did a lot of video promo recordings and took a bunch of pictures. Katya had such a great time! 

Look at this BEAUTY!

The name of the company is Party like a Princess LLC. It’s pretty much a dream job and so many people are asking her about how in the world she got and found out about the job. It was just serendipity, for sure! 

Unfortunately, because of the pandemic that stopped the world in the middle of March, the next big event scheduled for April had to be postponed. It was supposed to be a princess party with all the princesses and activities, little girls and live performances. Since everything is shut down and we have a stay-at-home order right now, Katya has been busy with “princess phone calls and personal messages” orders! It’s interesting that this girl, who doesn’t love wearing make up now has to dress up and put make up on almost every day for her job. 

Before we all had to be quarantined though, Katya was able to help this little girl feel very special. She came to visit her as Belle on the night that the little girl was finding out she was going to Disney World as part of the Make A Wish Foundation gift! Katya sang to her and read a story to her. She came home almost in tears because the experience touched her heart so deeply. 

And these days Katya was also assigned to be a Cinderella and Ariel! We have three gowns and buckets with wigs and accessories stored in the basement bedroom;)

Here is her working from home pictures:) 

One day she had to sit in this costume for a couple of hours as her phone calls were back to back and then she had to transform herself into Ariel. 

I didn’t find any legit pictures of her being Ariel, so this is what we get for now! 

She is grateful to be able to make a difference at the time when things are kind of bonkers, and at the same time to be having so much fun while getting paid. It’s not always easy though as it includes  a lot of prep work and some nerves kind of like before going on stage. And everyone knows that when Katya is in our bedroom and says, “I am recording”, we all need to be as quiet as can be;) 

Good job, Katya!

Lyana. 

Emerald Isle Beach Getaway

Before things got a bit crazy with the stay at home order in the state of NC, we seized an opportunity and ran away to the beach for two nights with our friends, the Woolstenhulmes. Ever since the schools were cancelled and the state of emergency was announced in NC, we had been pretty much only hanging out at our house (Robert was still working though) and went on walks with the Woolies. Katya and Cameron were still hanging out but we didn’t allow any other friends in our homes or our kids to go anywhere else. So! We figured we could go quickly to the beach because it was still allowed and we knew that NC beaches in March were nothing like FL beaches during spring break. Besides, this was the weekend when the kids were supposed to be performing their musical Cinderella...and so they were all feeling a bit down.

We rented a house to fit us all in Emerald Isle. Since Robert didn’t have work on Friday, we were able to leave early and get to the house by 2 pm (it’s a 2 hour 40 min drive). We dropped off our bags and went straight to the beach which was super close from our house.

It was nice and sunny but super-duper windy!! 

Then a couple of hours later, the Woolstenhulmes arrived (Katya rode with them). And all the kids ran into the ocean! It was still soooo freezing!

Katya, Cameron, Emma and Alex.

The boys buried Mark who was loving life:)

Alex, Mark and Cameron. The optical illusion (I hope😂😂😂) makes Alex look huge. 

The boys digging the beach up;)

And a few family pictures--Katie, Cameron, Emma and Wes.

Alex, Katya, Robert, Lyana...and Mark.

Using the opportunity to take some sunny pictures! 

And of course sunny pictures with Cameron. These two are having the time of their lives! Cameron is such an awesome guy:) I was going to say “kid” but then...he just turned eighteen after all;).

So lucky our families are such good friends and these kids were given an opportunity to spend so much time together and with us. 

And laugh and goof around and talk till late on the porch.

The next day the weather was not as sunny but it was not rainy. We weren’t planning on going to the beach because the forecast called for rain, but then it was just cloudy so we did go. Mark played in the water and then lots of family pickle ball!

In the afternoon, we walked to the pier. It was drizzly/chilly but it was so nice to be out. We practiced social distancing:) And good thing our group was a group of 9 as groups of 10 or fewer were allowed.

On Sunday we had a wonderful Sacrament meeting with Wes and Cameron blessing the Sacrament and then Mark administering it. We had a Come Follow Me lesson, sang songs and read scriptures. Then we ate lunch and because the owner of the rental let us stay till 4 pm without an extra fee to pay, we were able to just clean up and relax at the beach for a bit. 

It was not pleasant to be on the beach then though as it got colder and windier! So we survived less than an hour and went home. 

Mark and I managed a walk down the beach before we were blown away.

It was so amazing to get away for two nights...I am so glad we did. We were careful and brought most our food with us. As I am writing this two weeks later, I think of those days with such fond memory. We are being optimistic here and hope that soon things will get back to normal.

Lyana. 

High School Musical 2020 “Cinderella"

When the kids auditioned for Cinderella Musical on Dec 1st, they had no idea what sort of crazy turn of events was in store for them... Alex got a role of a knight/carriage drive and Katya got ensemble.

Katya was, of course, disappointed, that she didn’t get her coveted lead role this year, but she made the best of it! Look how beautiful she looks! 

And the crazy/funny part is that the kids’ friend, Cameron, auditioned for the musical as well (first time in his high school career) and actually got the role of Prince Topher! Katya and Alex were both so happy for him! 

The kids worked so hard at every rehearsal. It’s weeks and weeks of staying home after school and dancing, singing and learning their parts. I was on the theatre booster board, so I was helping with a lot of the details that go into putting on a show. 

It was during the week before the musical was supposed to open that our school district started canceling the events. We all watched with despair as things were getting crazier and crazier by the hour. The musical was supposed to open to its patrons on March 18th but instead the tech rehearsal that was happening on March 13th had to become the kids’ one and only performance to an audience comprised of their immediate families. 

Because it was technically their rehearsal, we still ran into a few bloopers and fun moments with costume changes! The kids gave this performance their best effort and we all were so impressed! 

We got a ton of pictures, so here are they are. Both Alex and Katya had a few different costumes that they had to wear. 

Alex, the knight. 

Katya on the stairs:) 

And Katya, the village girl. 

This is where Katya says loudly,  “I wish I wear a bolder girl!"

She did a great job in the main song performed by one of the stepsisters and her loud girls. 

Alex had a bunch of scenes with the prince as well as a towns person. 

And this is where Alex is the driver (who used to be a raccoon).

Cameron did an amazing job as the prince! He has such a pleasant tenor--it was a perfect part for him. 

His face was also quite expressive;)

During the course of the musical, sometime in early Feb, Katya and Cameron started dating and everyone in the cast figured that out. To say that it was an easy task for her to watch her boyfriend sing love songs to another girl is an understatement. We won’t mention the three times that they had to kiss:)

This is one of the scenes where Katya had to watch the prince be all lovey-dovey with Cinderella. 

But everyone survived. Because that’s what theatre people do.

We LOVED the musical! Loved that it was shown to us under such unusual circumstances and loved that we still got a chance to see our kids’ hard work. 

The moment the show was over and we could take pictures, Cameron grabbed Katya to show his true devotion😉

Not being shy at all in front of everyone else;)

We had a chance to take A LOT of fun pictures with the cast, which is not usually the case, so this was very special! 

And here is the final picture! 

After the musical, the Woolstenhulmes and the Whites joined us at Five Guys for a very late dinner to celebrate our kids who were exhausted but happy!

Yes, of course, we wish and they all wish they had four real performances for a bigger audience. And of course, things didn’t go as planned which is so frustrating and sad for so many of these kids. But they made the best of it!