The Nutcracker and my GREAT Christmas Idea!!

When I look back on my childhood the one thing I remember about the Holiday season is going to the Nutcracker. I still think I could be graceful and a ballerina. Trouble is I am too accident prone and lets be real...I would be feeling pretty bad for the guy who had to lift me! Ha!

About 5 months ago Mil and I went to Dancing with the Stars. After the show my eyes got so big when I saw a poster saying the Moscow Ballet was coming to the City. Uhm!! The MOSCOW BALLET!!!! I didn't even care what they were going to do at first but then when my heart started to slow down I saw it was the Nutcracker. Someone...STAT...I need some heart medicine or something!

I knew at that moment that I was going. Ryan however didn't know, or MIL for that fact. I researched prices and seats. I knew the kids wouldn't be with us for Thanksgiving so it would be just Ryan and I or Mil, Ryan and I. I talked to Ryan and as usual he said ok if it was something I really wanted. Its kind of spendy at 65 dollars a ticket. Its worth it though. The ballet so beautiful. So Graceful. So Amazing.

I am sure not everyone feels the same way as me on the ballet. You have to kind of snow the story. The sets were really cool and the dancing amazing. I just kept thinking of when I was a child and I would watch The Nutcracker when we lived in Germany. When we left I knew I wanted to be a ballerina. I remember my mother touching my back to scoot me out the door because I was trying to dance down the aisle. I miss my mom. Going to the Nutcracker made me think of her and put a smile on my face. I am thankful I had parents who really took us to places, had us try new things, and tried to give us culture. That is not that easy to do now a days but I try to do the same with my children. Its important......open your eyes to new things. Go and SEE things. Have great memories or even so-so memories haha! I mean everything you go to you might not LOVE! You will still have the memory of it. I am sure Ryan didn't LOVE the Ballet. He enjoyed going and see something new though. Take a chance! Get out there.....go DO something:)

This Christmas I have set up the 5 days before Christmas. I want each day before Christmas to be something WE are doing as a FAMILY. We have already bought tickets to enjoy an event with the family. I cant tell you what yet as the kids might see this. We have three events planned and then one day we are going to go bowling as a family. The kids really wanted to do that and its been a long time. I cant wait till Christmas break.

Do they have presents under the tree? Yep...! Will they probably get everything off their list from us and all their family members? Probably! Will they remember that though in 20 years...doubtful. We will however remember going places as a family, seeing things and being all together to open those presents. This year I plan on making a big Christmas dinner of Turkey and Ham. Its going to be a family event as each child is going to help with the meal and a dish. Those are good memories.

As usual I start talking about one thing and go to another. Like I said in my disclaimer of my blog however. This is Everyday Rae Rae....you get what you get:)

The Nutcracker was amazing. I am so thankful that my husband and MIL went with me. Its a memory that I have tucked away now along with the memory of my mom pushing me along as I am dancing down the aisle. I will remember looking over at the end of the Ballet to my husband and MIL and they had a subtle smile on their face. All dressed up and trying something new. Love them! Love they always go along with my antics. I am truly blessed.

Just as I am so blessed and thankful for my mother and father who ALWAYS made us try new things. Traveled with us and opened our eyes to more than just our little town. Thank you! You raised us well! Love you!

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Freezing Feeding Frenzy! (PICS)

Jack and Leroy

California you think as great weather. Not this California ha! Ok so its Northern Cali that can be full of weird weather from sun to rain to snow to sun to rain to snow again. Today it happened to snow almost 8 inches. My animals were not ready for that but thankfully we were.

Its FREEZING outside. So doing our daily chores of feeding felt a little more like a FRENZY this time. All my babies were happy to see it. We checked their water to make sure not frozen. Pulled out the heating elements for their water so it doesn't freeze. They all have shelter to go to and lots of feed.

Our rescue bottle fed RJ

Minnie our Cow we bottle fed since birth

Jack in front and Leroy in back

It does amaze me though that they don't go into their shelter more. I mean if I was a horse or a cow I would be under that thing in a minute. But NOOOOOOO they think its more fun to be in the snow under a tree or something. What do they think they are? Animals? These are my babies....get under the cover ppl! :)

Suzy Q our bottle fed goat

Suzy Q

It was a long day. We moved some of the animals to different pens to be closer to one another. I happen to like being on the quad with my husband moving our calves closer to the horses. Just makes it easier to feed when its FREEZING outside. Its kind of romantic too I think. You know....freezing but making something better by putting heating lamps for the chickens or our goat Suzy Q. Making sure the horses and cows are doing okay and have everything they need. I love my animals. I would be upset if anything happened to them.

Fatty our Rescue Horse

Our Dogs thought the snow was the coolest thing ever. They have their own 15 by 20 room that is heated with a million dog beds that is attached to our house. Used to be our game room but with the weather like this it has become the dogs room. They love the snow. I keep telling them to go back into their room but they go out the doggy door and just have a grand ol time! As you can see.

Ninja...Jacksons Dog

Sebastian going crazy in the snow. Had to Warm up Cassies Dog

Maggie is Jasons Dog. She is a Rescue Whippet

Sassy is the youngest of the bunch. MILs Dog

Our oldest and very loved Princess Sierra

Can you see my dog Molly trying to be incognito

All in all it was a beautiful day! A busy day with snow as my husband had to plow at the ranches but a good day! We always wanted a white Christmas.....who knew it would be a White Thanksgiving.

Nope I don't wear make up in the snow

Ryan giving extra apple snacks

One of the barns

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Black Friday Shopping ! SALES!!!

Sales! Coupons! More Sales!!!! Oh My!!

As most of you know I have a lot of friends in other countries who do not have Black Friday Shopping. Its something they have only heard of from Americans. I decided to write a blog about it. As I am on the fence about Black Friday Shopping.

Am I going to do it this year? Yes. Have I done it the last couple years. No. For us (Ryan and I) it depends on if we have the kids or not that year for Thanksgiving. If we do we have a big family Thanksgiving and spend all that family time with them. We don't go Black Friday shopping as we don't have the kids for Christmas that year. However if we don't have them for Thanksgiving that means they are here with us on Christmas and THAT is the year we go shopping.

When you have four teenagers you can get a lot off of the items they want. Having four teenagers is pretty expensive and their tastes have gotten more expensive during the year. They know we have a budget for each of  them so they stick to that budget. We get them extras because who wants to already know everything they are getting? Not me!

Black Friday Shopping really depends more on where you are at. You can get things say 50-70 percent off. There are coupons galore. Don't expect that you will just go out and be able to get all of those things though. Its best to have a list of must haves and go to get those items. We aren't getting a TV for the kids but its a good example. If normally you cant afford a 50 in tv for your family because say its 500 dollars, on Black Friday it might be 150 dollars so that is worth standing in line for an hour for. Seriously....a 350 dollar savings. You can then spend that in other ways like Christmas decorations, winter clothes or fun events like going to visit family with that money. Its all in how you look at it.

Usually we are Cyber Monday people. Monday comes around and we are doing the deals online with free shipping. You don't have to leave the comforts of your own home. They have the same great deals, minus the crowds. You don't even have to get out of your pjs.

This year though since we are in the city for Thanksgiving and not going to our family house as everyone is 6 hours away or more, we are having dinner at a restaurant. I know!!!! I know!!! It sounds bad right? Since we don't have the kids though and the next day we are going to the Moscow Ballet The Nutcracker in the city we decided to just get a hotel, eat out and have some fun shopping.

So get ready, get set, and GO! I hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving with your family. If you go Black Friday shopping I hope that its a fun event for you. Make it fun. Get some Starbucks, put a smile on your face and remember.....its not really about the item you are trying to get. If you get it...BONUS SAVINGS. If you don't....its not the end of the world! Its just a thing:) Make memories....even if its shopping with your family. Ryan and I have some really funny moments of Black Friday shopping that are stored in our brain. Have a good time!

And latestly remember......YEAH go decorate your house.....Christmas is coming! (without kids here I went crazy and decorated two trees for them already! I am so bad!).

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BV Championship Game

Before Thanksgiving Break there is this one Friday that is so important to the Collins family. At least it has been for the last two years. Our sons have made it to the Division Championships in High School Football.

Last year it was Jackson and Joshua who were at the Championships. It was pouring down rain and I thought for sure everyone would end up with Bronchitis. Joshua was just a Freshman and Jackson a Junior. We play 8 man here, usually Seniors are doing the playing. It’s the whole team though that is winning or losing. You can see it from the sidelines….even if you are covered by some weird poncho thing to keep from being soaked.

This year was a very special year. Jackson is a Senior which makes this his year for football. Jason this year is playing as a Freshman. Freshman don’t get a lot of playtime but they are learning as they are in a Varsity team. I was excited to see my boys playing. They were going against the same people that we went to Championships and won last year too. It was an amazing game! This time it was a nice day! Thank God!

Watching the team play and cheering them on was amazing. The thing I kept thinking about though besides this is Jacks last game is how many people from our family drove up to root on the boys. Family is everything. Will they remember that game…..yes of course. Will they remember more that their family was there rooting them on….even more so!

Josh, Kelly, me with Mariah, Jason, Jackson, Cassie, MIL, Ryan

Boys with their Mom Theresa

Boys with Ryan

I was so proud of Jackson and Jason. They had their Grandma Sally cheering them on (MIL), their Aunt Kelly and cousin Mariah, then there was us (Ryan and I and their siblings Cassie and Joshua) and of course their mother was there too! That is a lot of people loving on them! We drove the shortest amount which was 2 hours. Everyone else came from 4plus hours away to see this event.

Aunt Kelly, Cassie, Me, Mariah, Ryan and Sally (MIL)

 

Cassie playing with her cousin Mariah

I am proud of the Cardinal team. They may not have won this year but they won in the hearts of Big Valley. They did a great job playing and I am so very proud of them all.

Jackson #15

Jackson looks MAD lol

Here are some highlights of my son playing and some good old fashioned family picturesJ

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Bob The Bubble Boy and Rae the Cushings Girl

Cushie Rae and Bob the Bubble Boy

The Amazing Venice Freak Show introduces Bob The Bubble Boy! Come one, Come all...Check out Larry the Wolfman, the two headed snake, Morgue the Shock Artist, the Beautiful Bearded Lady and more......

Famous Venice Freak Show on AMC and Netflix

This is some of what we heard from the Venice Beach Walkway. It was my daughters 17th Birthday and she wanted to go in. 5 Dollars each and you got to see a show, meet some people and also see a Museum of interesting Oddities.

Beautiful Bearded Lady. She has Adrenal problems that create too much Testosterone

We sat down kind of uncomfortable. Not because of the seats but because not sure what we would end up seeing. The show started with Bob the Bubble Boy. He showed how his skin had "bubbles" all over his body. He told us how he started getting them at puberty and how it wasnt easy on him. I felt so much for him it was unreal. Having my Rare Disease Cushings I know in a small form how it is to be stared at or looked at differently. Next they had the shock artist Morgue and his lovely lady do some incredible things like swallowing swords, putting a hook up his nose into his mouth, sitting in an electric chair and eating fire. All things that are not tricks but they are doing for real. I was amazed and also horrified as I had to look away a couple times thinking they were going to hurt themselves. They didnt. Applause was loud!

Eating Fire

Morgue swallowing sword

Amazing Painful things Morgue can do

After the show you are able to take pictures with anyone and see the Museum. Honestly all I wanted to do was talk to Bob The Bubble Boy. I wanted to get to know HIM. He had talked during the show how people were afraid he was contagious and how they wouldnt touch what he touched. I was so saddened by how people treated him but amazed by what a positive guy he was. I had to talk to him.

My Daughter Cassie and Bob! Give him a hug from us

What I thought would be a couple minutes slowly turned into an hour where he had to excuse himself and go on stage then come back and talk to my husband, daughter and I.

Bob is Bob Heslip. He is a 50 year old man who has a very lovely wife who works their counters at the Venice Freak Show. Bob has 3 children of which one is still at home as she is 15. He is also a grandfather to two beautiful Grandchildren. Bob has NF.

Most Amazing Man who isn't afraid to show you more about Neurofibromatosis. Its not contagious! Educate yourselves

What is NF? Its Neurofibromatosis. Its a condition that ecnopasses a set of distinct genetic disorders that cause tumors to grow along various types of nerves. It causes tumors to grow on or in the body. It is hereditary and half of all people who have this have gotten it from their parents. It can be VERY painful as it is at nerve endings. IT IS NOT CONTAGIOUS! This is the same condition that the Elephant Man had. Bob thankfully is blessed to not have the pain part of NF. If you would like to learn more about NF please visit www.ninds.nih.gov


Bob is an amazing person with an amazing attitude of life. He has gone through a lot of things in his life. So much he said that he should write a book about it one day. I was saddened when he told me some of those stories as no one should be treated the way he was in some of the situations. Like being at work and a lady saying she wouldnt touch something that he had touched. Or people who are afraid to shake his hand or give Bob a hug. Bob just has this glow about him. He talked to my daughter about bullying and how she should just be happy every morning that she is alive and well. Our family loves Bob Heslip. I wanted to know about the real guy behind Bob the Bubble Boy.

We did talk a lot about the Freak Show aspect of things. Todd Ray runs the Venice Freak Show. It has been on AMC and also is now on Netflix too. We went home and watched many episodes of it and loved seeing the same people but in a different light. In Todds Ray words from the first episode he redefines the work FREAK by CELEBRATING the differences. He said it doesnt mean monster or ugly. Its Celebrating the differences that you have. Bob told us he feels comfortable with his new second family there at the Freak Show. He told us about how many of the people there have a medical condition. They fit here and are working for a living all while unbenost to you they are teaching you how others can be different in what people percieve as "normal". Each person was so kind to us. Amazing people who want you to understand them. They really can open up a lot of peoples eyes to differrent things as they see hundreds of people a day. I wish there was a way for me to tell hundreds of people about Cushings Disease everyday.

Two headed lamb

Bob really changed a lot of our thinking. At first I was almost worried about going into the Venice Freak Show. Not because of what I would see but because I didnt think it was necessarily right to be looking at someone in a certain way. However.....please do go! It will be a learning experience for you. Its fun and it helps let us all celebrate the differences in our lives. Lets us all learn that everyone has their things that they contend with whether its something that you can see or something you cant see.

Two headed live snake

Bob and I talked a lot about Cushings. The Rare Disease that I have that makes you gain weight, lose muscle, not sleep, mood swings, bruise, lose hair, gain facial hair and gives you the image of a buffalo hump. We talked about how its hard with this disease as people stare at you because they just think you eat too much. I told him how I gained 120 pounds in 2 years and how I had a buffalo hump. I am now 5 weeks in remission and things are turning around for me. We had a little bit of being able to talk about how we are different. I think that is why I wanted to talk to Bob so bad. He was this really intellegent gracious man. He talked so loveling about his wife and kids. He talked to my husband about how he could see the pain in his eyes for watching me struggle to walk and happiness to see me recovering. Ryan talked to his wife about how wonderful it is to be married to people like us. My daughter was so changed by Bob. She wants to be his daughters friend as she is 15 and my daughter is 17.

Cassie before Freak Show

Bob the Bubble Boy changed our way of thinking and lives in the couple minutes he was on stage. Please go to the Venice Freak Show. The whole crew there wants you to see them and to meet them. Let it change your life also and celebrate the differences that people have. Be shocked by the stunts they do in there and check out the museum. Its pretty neat and its only 5 dollars to get in. Make sure you shake Bobs hand and give him a hug from us.

Ryan with Morgue and Electric Girl

In the end of this all I just wanted to say something that is very close to my heart. Dont judge others! You know we all do it. I do, you do, we all do. We dont know what someone is going through in their life. We dont know what they may have been having to deal with since birth or what they might be dealing with just today. Each person is unique and should be celebrated. I know I get stares when I am eating even if its just a salad because I am bigger. I get stared at when I walk with a limp because of my muscle wasting the last couple years with Cushings Disease. Bob gets stared at for the tumors that have grown all over his skin. He gets treated unfairly because people arent knowledgable of the disease. Some wont even shake his hand or touch something he has touched. Doesnt make a person feel good. However these diseases have made us stronger too. It has made our outlooks on life better too. I agree wholeheartedly with Bob. When you wake up in the morning you should be thankful. That is a good day! Thank you Bob the Bubble Boy for letting me write about you and for forever changing our lives.

Hollywood actor and Mexican acrobat Larry Gomez was born with congenital terminal hypertrichosis, a rare condition that produces excessive hair growth

To help Bob please check out his video. This video shows him in all his glory and talks so much more indepth on NF and what he has gone through. Please SHARE it and also THUMBS up his video as it helps him make a little bit of money to go towards his medical bills. Also come visit the Venice Freak Show on Venice Beach to support the guy and gals that are there! They would appreciate it!

Bob the Bubble Boy video... Click here... https://youtu.be/VEVgp4wmxOs

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