Ana and the Middle School Play

Ariana tried out for the school play. 

Don't worry. That's not the look of her being scared of tryouts, that's a picture of her on the tube for the first time into London. Random, though fitting.

Owen and I watched her audition. Correction: I watched, Owen ate chips. 

I was so very proud of her. I wrote her this note and left it for her to read in the morning before heading to school to find out if she landed a role in the play.

Bella,

First, I want to tell you how incredibly proud of you I am. The
bravery and courage it took for you to audition for that play in front
of so many people shows just how amazing you are. I want you to know
that no matter what, you should stand with your head held high
regardless of whether or not you land a part in the play. Second, I
want to tell you that you are one of my heroes. I have few, and you
are one of them. From the time you were in my belly you have had to
overcome obstacles but you are a fighter, you made it, you are here,
you are strong, you are alive. And I believe that one reason you are
so feisty and fearless is because perhaps unconsciously you are taking
every piece of this life and you are making the most of you. You are
being you. And that is a rare thing. A thing to be proud of. I admire
you for that. Lastly, you are beautiful. Inside and out. And you don't
even realize how physically beautiful you are which, to me, makes you
that much more stunning. You are beautiful, and smart, and brave, and
I'm proud to be your mom.

I love you princess,
Mommy

Then she came home and showed me this:

And we celebrated by doing random dance moves in the kitchen. It's how we roll. We're weird. Case in point:

Or evil. Or creepy. Or whatever you gather from the above photo. I dig it. Unless I look at it for longer than five seconds, at which point I get nervous to be alone with myself. And her. I'm sure she'd agree. 

And just to leave things on a less frightening note, take in the photo of my gangsta girl below. She's getting into character. No, seriously, she beat boxes at the end of one scene. What can I say, I make thugs...from scratch.