April Showers

We have been on over drive with busy these past two weeks. We began April with a bang! The week started with a recruiting concert for all the 5th graders in the district. The middle school and high school bands and choirs get together to do a concert for the 5th graders attempting to get them interested in music classes when they get to 5th grade at the middle school. As I recall, they ask some funny questions. Sadly, i did not write them down. The next day I had Ash Creek Elementary School in the house for their spring concert for 1st and 2nd graders. They are pretty cute. This one little girl just danced around, no matter what anybody said. I’d like to be that free someday, when I grow up.

The last part of the week Lilli and I were at the State Thespian Conference. Day One I judged Stage Management. Lilli and friends competed in the Large Group Musical Auditions and Zach, one of my vocal students was in Solo Musical Auditions. The first night we all watched “… Spelling Bee…” It was a cute little show. I had lots of memories of taking Hannah to see Jeff in that show at Pentacle Theatre and being “called” up on stage as a “participant.” Day Two we went to some workshops. I went to a great workshop on movement and a workshop on subtext with Lilli and Ethan. I learned some good things that I hope will make me a better teacher. We also saw “She Kills Monsters” and “Mamma Mia.” The “Mamma Mia” we saw was different than our “Mamma Mia,” but I think they did a great job. It was super fun that that school sat next to us in the theatre and the kids all got excited sharing who was who and cheering them on. In fact, the best part of the whole conference was just how genuine, kind, supportive, and engaged the whole group of kids we took were this year. It was so refreshing! Day Three was more workshops and I visited all the booths for colleges, bought a teaching design curriculum, bought some souvenirs, and supported kids. I really loved their “getting to know you” game they played. It was also a fund raiser. You could buy a duck and then you ran around looking for your matching duck and posting pictures on social media if you found your match. Lilli and Ethan on found the match for one of their ducks. Jeff was the typical drama teacher and did the drama teacher flash move dance. He also got himself elected to the State Thespian Educator’s Board.

That last day I was a little distracted. First, I tried real hard to listen to General Conference while I “babysat” the blocks and stools for the One Act we took to State. I really did need to sit there with our stuff. More than once I had to chase it down because people would just take stuff. I think they were mostly looking to have a place to sit, but still, we couldn’t have our stools disappearing. General Conference listening was a bust. My ear buds died. Then, I accidentally stepped on them. My phone died too. Then I was distracted with what was happening with my parents. My dad ended up in the ER due to a blood clot in his leg. They put in a stint. The day after he went home, he was back in the ER because of back pain. They were worried the blood clot had broken up and was moving around his body. They were mostly worried about it being in his lung. I can tell you. That kind of worry, with the accompanying texts and phone calls, can be very distracting. The good news is, he is all good now and on the mend.

The next day everyone came for dinner. Since I wasn’t home all of Saturday, we kind of “loaves and fishes” together a meal and a peach cobbler to celebrate all the April birthdays and the March birthdays we had somehow missed. Pay particular attention to the first picture of Beckett. He saw a picture of Papa on his mom’s phone and rushed in for a kiss. That kid loves his Papa. Lenayah is such a big girl. She is struggling a little with moving, new school, 2 new siblings, and just finding her place in the world. I am hoping she finds her groove soon.

The little people that live at my house are keeping us all busy… especially Holland. He climbs. He takes things off shelves and desks and walks them around the house. He dumps out the dog water and sometimes eats the dog food. Seriously, he keeps us all busy. Ben is a master of his video games. Freya is a princess and loves going to her pre-school.

In school, we just finished a unit on Commedia del Arte. This is the second time I’ve tried this unit. This time is was so fun! The kids in the class made a big effort and created fun masks and great little skits. I am so proud of them and so happy to see them succeed.

Spring is here. Tulips and daffodils are up. Trees are blooming. Everything is so pretty! But April showers are bringing more than flowers. It’s bringing floods.

Lilli cut her hair! And look how curly it is! She is super excited about it.

We went to the beach after school on Lilli’s birthday. We shared a fire with a homeless guy. We got rained on. The kids made smores. We finally gave up and went to a restaurant for dinner. Lilli was super happy. She got to spend the afternoon and evening with her favorite people (minus Hannah) and doing one of her favorite things.

This week I was sick in bed most of the week. But I did get up to work on Pageant.

I also worked a set build. We didn’t get many people at the set build. I didn’t get anything done on the School House Rock set. However, we did finish the structure for the Midsummer Night’s Dream set. I have one more set build to get the Schoolhouse Rock set done. I hope I get more help then.

Chad is hanging in there in Utah. I don’t get pictures from him, but he calls regularly. I love Mondays because we get to chat with Hannah. I really miss that girl. This week she got bangs! She also went on a one day assignment to Oklahoma. She is such a nerd. She ran around telling the people how excited she was to be there because she was in the musical. LOL. I am sure they thought she was a nut.