After the Recital

I love 'em.

Dance Recital

Ellie's dance recital was right in the middle of summer. She had a tap routine and a ballet routine. It's just cute. She's taking a break from dance this year. More on that later.

4th of July

Blueberry Buckle Dessert

Red, White, and Blue Pancakes

Ellie marched in the parade. We all watched.

Tons of fireworks visible from our house-love that.
Emma at EFY.
Rainy day that got super hot.
Grateful for our great country!

Talent Show Winners

Maddie and her friends won first place at the high school talent show! It was sooooo good. They sang "I Know It's Today" from the Shrek musical. Of course, Maddie was the part of young Fiona. It just sounded so great! There were some talented kids there, but this performance was pure entertainment. The cash prize of $150 was split between them. They were some cute and happy girls. Way to go, Maddie!

The Tragedy. . .

called Hamlet.

An amazing woman in our ward has been doing an annual Shakespeare play for a few years now and this time my girls were able to be a part of it. It really was an amazingly well done production. I loved so much about it. I loved that the kids got a great understanding of the show and any of them could tell you the storyline. I loved that they got a feel for the Shakespearean language. I loved that they all felt the committment of being in a production and all did their parts to be prepared. I loved the costumes and the set. I loved the friendships that were formed. We just have so many super talented people around us and I can't give Erin enough praise on this. It was fabulous!

Lauren did a great job as Queen Gertrude. I was a little worried that it would be too much for her. It's a pretty heavy part, but she proved me wrong and did a fantastic job. Ellie was a fabulous Guildenstern. Not without accident however. Right before she was to go on for one of her parts I was backstage helping her get her hat on very quickly and poked her in the eye with one of her hat feathers. It was terrible. She missed that scene and I'm pretty sure the entire audience could hear her crying backstage. But, what memories we created! I'm sure she'll never forget it.

This is a picture of all of the dead in the cast. Sadly, most of the characters in this show die. . .and they all LOVED their death scenes the most. They're all so dramatic.

A special thanks to BlimBam photography for these great shots of the show.

Presenting Hamlet

Honk Jr.

Emma has just finished her musical, Honk Jr. It is the story of the ugly duckling. It's actually quite cute. Emma played the part of a flight attendent goose. She did a great job. Her song was very cute and well-done. Her moment in the spotlight was shared with her friend Kassidi. They were the lead geese. Her other friend, Anna, was Mother Duck. My little girls really liked this show and have been singing some of the songs almost non-stop. ". . . You can play with your lunch before you eat it. . ."

Clue, The Musical

Sadly (and lamely), this is the only photo I have of the musical that Maddie just participated in. Yeah, she's not in this photo. I do have some thumbnails that I stole from Facebook of her, but I can't seem to get them on here.
Anyway, the show was cute. Different. Well done. Maddie was in the chorus and did a great job. If you've never seen this musical, or heard of it, the cool thing about it is that it calls for audience participation and it has something like 29 different possible endings, depending on what the audience picks. Also, you are playing the game as the show goes along. They hand out a clue sheet with the program and you can actually be solving the game as the show continues. It's a pretty cool concept for a show. If I find some better pictures I will add them to this post later.

All-District Honors Choir

Maddie and Emma both auditioned for and were accepted into the all-district honors choirs for their schools. This meant many rehearsals, some at far away schools, for several weeks and culminated in a great day of music last week. The top orchestra, choir, and jazz band musicians in the district came together to give one fabulous performance. I was so proud of both of them. They worked hard to get their music memorized and perfected. I was crying tears of joy and pride for their accomplishments. Loved Every Minute Of It!!!!

Dance

 

Ellie finally had her dance recital, which they do right in the middle of summer here, which I think is strange. But she loved it and did a great job. Her ballet dance was to Once Upon a December and I have no pictures of it. Dang! Her tap dance was to New York, New York. It was adorable. Yay for Ellie!

Wicked

The big girls and I went on a date last week. We saw Wicked in St. Louis. It was fabulous, of course, but didn't have the same effect on me this time as it did the last. I didn't cry once. The girls were thrilled.

Annie

Lauren's big performance has finally come. She surprised me this year by wanting to participate in the extra-curricular 3rd grade choir. Then she surprised me by telling me she wanted to audition for a solo part. And then she surprised me again by getting one of the 6 solo parts in the show. And why does this all surprise me so much? Because every time we have a singing opportunity she insists on not participating. I really thought she just didn't like to sing. But, I guess she does like to sing, but only on her terms.
Of course, she did a fabulous job which didn't surprise me at all.
I just love that girl.

Be Our Guest

Emma's middle school production of Beauty and the Beast ran last night. Emma had several chorus parts and can bee seen here as a plate in the upper left picture. She was fabulous, of course. Two of her good friends were also in the show including Mrs. Potts and another chorus girl (who I don't seem to have a photo of). Everyone was worried that it wouldn't turn out very well, but as usually happens, it all came together in the end and they did a really cute show.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Maddie was in the High School Musical this year as a candy kid. I'm sure you all know by now about the almost-lead that she had. She was called back for Charlie along with one other kid, who they ended up going with mainly because he was a BOY. Imagine that! Still, she did a great job and had tons of fun meeting new people and making friends. And that's what it's all about. Right? P.S. I've been neglecting this post because I kept thinking we might get some better pictures, but this is what we've got. It's a racket they have going to get nice photos of the play. Seriously. Still considering it, but YIKES!

Mary Poppins

Last month The big girls and I had a chance to go see Mary Poppins at the Cadillac theater in Chicago. Mary Poppins is probably my very favorite Disney movie and I was expecting the show to be merely a theatrical performace of the movie. So, since I like it anyway, I was thrilled to be going, but had no great expectations, thinking that I already knew what was going to be there. Boy, was I wrong. While it did follow the basic story line there was so much more! The story stayed truer to the original storybook version and included some new songs while omitting others. There was magic (seriously--magic!) and some of the most amazing dances I have ever seen. It was sooooo worth it. I would see it again. In fact, if I get a chance I want to take the little girls too. I think they would like it. The new supercali. . . song is awesome. Buy it on itunes. No, just go ahead and buy the whole thing. You'll love it.

Piano Recital

Emma-Rodeo Roundup
Maddie-Baby Elephant Walk

They did great! I was super proud of them both.

We sing

Emma's choir and my choir got to sing at the same event the other day. It was cool.

Talent Show

Maddie and Emma had the guts to be a part of their school talent show this year. I was thrilled and impressed. Emma played a song on the piano. She wasn't very happy with her performance, but I was proud of her for doing it.











Maddie sang a song from Wicked (What is this Feeling?) with her friend Megan. She sang the Elphaba part. They had a few back up singers helping them, including Emma. They did a great job.

And then Richard found this little guy outside of the school that night. He kept saying, "Come here, hurry, there's a beaver over here." :0) While I'm pretty sure it's not a beaver, what is it? I'm saying prairie dog. Anyone know?

Once On This Island

The big show has finally come and gone. Months of preparation and rehearsal have come to an end. Phew! The Middle School musical this year starred Maddie as Ti Moune and Emma as a Storyteller. They did a fabulous job and I'm not just saying that because I'm the Mom. Truly, Maddie was outstanding in comparison to the other girls. She sings out loud and clear, her pitch was on, and her vocal quality was far and away the BEST! Emma had a lot of solo parts as well and she was just as good. She never seemed nervous and spoke and sang with confidence and clarity. I was so proud. They are like superstars! They got a lot of attention at school and are feeling like real celebrities. I think Maddie has had a good taste of it and seems to want more. Poor Emma did a great job, but just by nature of the roles they got, Maddie is getting a bit more attention. Emma was great too.
They are going to miss the show. I encouraged them to audition because I knew they needed some way to connect to other kids quickly and make new friends. That's exactly what has happened and now they are so sad that it's over because that's where all their friends are. Hopefully they will get to see them enough in the regular school day.
Way to go Girls. I love you!!!!

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

2nd Grade Americana Musical

Lauren's big musical show was this past week. The 2nd grade classes of her school have been practicing about 8 songs to perform for the night. Unlike my other girls, Lauren didn't sing her songs at home at all. It was a complete surprise for us. I didn't even know she knew 8 songs. There were actions and everything. She was just thrilled to be standing on a big stage. They got to use the high school's auditorium, so it felt like a really nice evening performance. We love Lauren!