Sing, Sing, Sing!!!

Well, my frustrations over the Primary’s music number is not over. Sunday I had prepped for 20 minutes of learning the second verse…which I was asked to teach the kids since Mary’s Lullaby is a short song. Gah! I spent a good hour getting the prep work done, but the color copies were not even made. As I was scrambling to write the words down on the board I learned that I only had 10 minutes to teach the second verse so the kids could practice on stage for the ward Christmas Nativity before going to class. Next Sunday we are doing a special presentation so will not have singing time. So, we get what we get! I’m struggling to let go of my annoyance. I’m struggling to deal with the lack of planning, all these sudden changes and additions are stressful. I have a big surprise for the girls this coming Friday evening. I bought tickets back in October knowing the show would sell out quickly. The ward scheduled the Christmas party date three weeks ago! Folks in the ward are upset at me because I cannot suddenly do the music because of our special plans. I can’t complain too much since I am practically the queen of last minute plans. BUT…when lots of people are involved I do try to get dates out months in advance. My piano recital date was reserved and calendared back in August. I believe we often take advantage of people in the church setting, hoping/knowing that people will be extra accommodating fearing to be seen as uncharitable. Service is amazing, but we cause stress with our laissez-faire attitudes. 

Our Nelves are busy, busy watching the kids. We heard some jingle bells a few times this week right when emotions started to climb over cleaning…and as a reward for doing nice things. The kids loved finding an ornament kits with wooden squishmallows to paint or color. Evelyn and Everett chose to color the ornaments with me for our Wednesday “Mom and me” time. Amelia used alcohol markers to color hers, turned out so cute. I tried out colored pencils with great success. Everett was very proud of his shading skills after I showed him some shading techniques. He even shaded a pencil drawing of a water lily he brought home from school on Thursday. Phillip spent a good 2-3 hours meticulously painting his snowman squishmallow ornament. Josie chose to enjoy a spa night. She did not get all the conditioner out during her bath so I pretended to be an English hairstylist, I washed her hair in the sink, salon style. Then she got Christmas colors on her nails and toenails. We sure love our Wednesday evenings! Amelia went to a fancy restaurant with her YW group as a year end activity. She was excited to dress up and enjoy a meal several steps above fast food. 

The kids are working hard on their music. At any given time after school you can hear the piano, violin, trombone, drums, various percussion instruments, MCO music via iPad playing, ukulele…even an accordion filling the house. My heart is full with all the joyful noise of kids learning to use their brains. This past week was focused on nailing down my student’s piano recital pieces. Most kids went home with a recording of the accompaniment music and/or me playing their piece with the correct rhythm. I struggle finding a balance between being precise and just letting the kids play music. I really am interested in some training, music theory is not my forte. I am so proud of how far the kids are coming with their music this semester. Phillip was quite disappointed he was not chosen to play the drum kit for the travel band. Our MCO rehearsal was very low key on Thursday. This year our locale got a new local interim director, Mrs Cluff. She is talented with music, personality is on the meh side. On some levels I think the directors have given up on our locale. We always get the leftovers and are never included in the special opportunities the other locales are given to make recordings, special appearances, and videos. We are growing so hopefully, we can prove our locale’s dedication to making and building a top notch choir. My leading ropes worked out awesome! I had to laugh over how tightly the kids were clutching to the rope, it was difficult to get the kids to walk at a decent clip. Heather and my parent volunteers had quite the task of reworking the concert lines because the concert plans showed a different order on stage. We got the kids new colored stickers and the kids numbered according to height. Josie and Evelyn convinced me to take them to the 5th graders Christmas concert at Ronald Reagan. It was packed to standing room. Once again Mrs Benischek outdid herself. The kids sang their cute little hearts out. 

Columbia’s choirs hosted a fun dessert show on Friday night. I volunteered to help in the kitchen plating cheesecake. The students served their family and friends drinks and desserts. Justin and the kids quite enjoyed asking for more hot chocolate and Amelia acquiescing to their requests. Students had the option to do a solo or group number. The best was a duo that sang “Am I a Man or a Muppet?” Justin had the great idea to hold up his cell phone light like we were at a concert. The two girls quite appreciated the support…and giggles. The the choirs sang a few Christmas songs. Everyone got a laugh out of the two guys acting out the Twelve Days of Christmas. Becaw!

Early Saturday morning was another MCO dress rehearsal with Mendenhall. My group was the first to arrive at 8 am, so many tired kiddos. We got the kids quickly lined up and into the rehearsal site within 10 minutes. Skyview HS was conducting the ACT that same morning so we practiced being super quiet in the hallways. Professor Mendenhall asked us to be as distracting as possible while the kids had to keep their eyes on the conductor. My ladies went the extra mile. We leapt, danced, boogied, made faces, waved ribbons, acted like fools…the kids completely ignored us! Excellent work Young Singers. There is a rogue video of me prancing and leaping about…hope that doesn’t get leaked. My pockets were stuffed with tissues, stickers, and 43 rolls of candy, by the end those pockets were empty. I was amazed to watch the magic, two weeks ago was messy rehearsal, this week it all came together. It was beautiful to watch. One little boy did not get picked up when rehearsal was over for the Young Singers. I recited the mother's phone number out loud for my parent volunteer to call. David excitedly piped up, "Hey! That is my mom's Sodalicious code!" Oh gosh, we all laughed and laughed. Justin and I went to do a sealing session at the Boise temple. We finished Esther’s work after several months. She was finally sealed to her parents and spouse. 

Sunday was a busy day with Primary Temple Prep and Great to be Eight. Amelia gave a short talk about temple work. Everett is very excited to join the YM program and finally get a limited recommend. That is just a couple of weeks away now.  We ate a quick dinner of pot roast, potatoes, and green beans. After dinner we drove out to the Bayhill neighborhood we discovered our first Christmas in Idaho. Nearly 80% of the homes are decorated and quite festive. Evelyn and Josie counted 78 snowmen and 7 carriages. We had our devotional on Malachi during the drive to Boise. I shed a few tears recounting some of my parent’s financially difficult years while Dad was at BYU. The year I saw Santa doing cartwheels in the snow, large boxes of gifts and food left on our front porch. It was a miracle. The only blight was Jana eating my Strawberry Shortcake chapstick because it smelled so good. I remember the puppets Grandma Baerwaldt sent us made of yarn cones and wooden dowels.