Winter's Songs

Tanis had to run to the school to do an assessment type thing for band. Each band member had a time that they had to go play. I didn't realize it at the time, but he didn't even play for his band teacher. He was playing for strangers, who I think were actually college students.

He did a great job though and really overcame his nerves quite well. I was super proud of him.

The next night we found ourselves at the Jr. High for a world celebration. The school had different performers and activities that showcased life and languages in other countries. Shaylyn has been taking Chinese the past couple years and her teacher, this year, asked a few kids to sing, I'll Make A Man Out Of You from Disney's Mulan. 

If you watch the extra features, you'll see that Jackie Chan sings this song in Chinese and does some of his famous moves as well. The Chinese teacher decided to do both. So Shaylyn was selected to help sing the song and even got to do the quick line that Mulan sings in that song. It was fun and she was so excited. We were happy to be there to see it.

What Happens Next...

How The Grinch Stole The Show

I had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit, but one thing that always helps - is musical programs and the like. Thankfully the elementary school had a program of sorts that really made my day.

I was slightly worried about how they were going to get all the grades into one little auditorium, plus parents for such a thing - but someone in the school used their brains and did something awesome!

They had the parents sit like they would for any other program, but instead of having all the grades also sitting and watching and/or performing at the same time, each grade came one at a time. So yes, there were a couple minutes where one grade walked off stage while the other grade came on - but overall, I think it was a much better way to do things. They also had 2 seperate performances - one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Genius, I tell you!

We opted for the afternoon performance and when we got to the auditorium/gym, we found an unexpected visitor...

That's right, the Grinch had come to visit our little part of the world. He was even in an extra giving mood and was passing little candies out to the audience. Sadly, Ailey and Jace were super scared of him. 

The show started and the 5th grade was one of the first to perform...I looked high and low for Lex, but never found him. I was starting to get worried that I missed the kid until it occured to me that he was put in a 4th/5th grade split this year, so he was probably going to perform with the 4th graders - at least I hoped that's the way it was.

Before too long, the 1st graders were up. Nate was excited for their song and kept telling me about the song and performance for days leading up to the performance, so he was happy to see us there. They got up and did their song, and I didn't get a picture of Nate performing (did the video thing), but got a picture of him walking quietly back to class.

Then came the 4th grade to close out the show. It took a minute, but I finally found Lex. They performed their number and at the end the Grinch had a few surprises in store.

And if you'd like to hear the songs they performed, here's a cute little video for y'all! 

What Happens Next...

Hey There, Lil' Pilgrim

For almost the whole of November, Nathaniel couldn't stop talking about a program he had to do at school. He kept asking if his teacher had emailed me a date on when it would happen. I had to keep telling him 'no' until the day I actually got it.

The last day of school before Thankgiving break, his 1st grade class was doing a reader's theater. The time was later in the afternoon so I figured we'd have no issues getting there on time. I was wrong. We were only a few minutes behind and when we walked into the classroom they had already started. We barely got to hear Nate's part and then it was over.

I was feeling a bit frustrated, but then the teacher told the kids they'd take a quick break and then do it again for the parents who may have missed the 1st go around (I wasn't the only one, yay!). We then got to see the whole thing and it was cute, although my kid didn't speak very loudly and only had one quick little part.

(Turn Up The Volume....1st Graders Don't Speak Very Loudly)

Nate's teacher then said that the kids could leave if the parents were there. It was only 5 minutes before school really got out, but Nate was ecstatic that he got to leave early with Mommy and that he'd get a ride home.

When we got home he couldn't wait to show me his cute bracelet that they made during their 'party' and he made sure he named what each colored bead represented. I just thought he made the cutest little pilgrim!

What Happens Next...