MCO Silent Night
Our MCO concerts were Tuesday and Wednesday this year with a late curtain call of 3 pm. That meant we went to school at least Tuesday morning. Thankfully, the Tamiflu worked so we all were able to go to school on Monday and everyone performed in the concert. I allowed students to have free time for most of my classes that week, it’s easy for planning but can get a little crazy. Ambree brought the MCO singers home from school around 12:30 pm. I sent Josie home at 11:30 because she had another substitute teacher and her main work was completed, she walked home after I escorted her to the side gate. Mrs Hodges had quite a bad run of luck, she caught some crazy illness (probably the flu) that kept her home for a week then injured her back. She was in rough shape. I had to trust that the kids would use their time wisely to eat lunch, shower, and be ready for the concert without parental supervision. Evelyn and Josie came to my classroom at 12:55 while the 3rd graders had class so I could curl and manage their hair. Several students commented how embarrassing it was that I was fixing hair during school. Ah well, gotta do what you have to sometimes. I avoided getting a substitute teacher and using my precious personal leave. Mrs Harp took my last class so I could leave at 2:45 pm. Mr McGrath arranged the 1st-2nd grade concert so I could leave right after playing O Christmas Tree and Silent Night for 2nd grade. I booked it out of the school as soon as that obligation was filled. I ran home to grab the iron, small ironing board, and change into concert black. Justin took the kids and dropped them off at 2:45 to the Brandt center. During all of this Jared was making his way up to Idaho. He stopped in Burley to pick up Amelia and another gal from Nampa (Jenny Skeens). She brought her pet goldfish along…Amelia was annoyed a bit of fish tank water sloshed on some of her clothes. LOL, silly girl.
The insane tempo of logistics and rehearsal consumed the next 3 hours. Cara Hancock and a few other folks arrived at 10 am to iron and steam angel robes plus put batteries in 400 candles. She was exhausted before the concert crazy ever started. As always the attire snafus were present. The biggest attire issues included two 11 year old girls wearing size 8 jumpers, two hems taped to the inside of dresses with a 6-10 inch hem, and the usual lost bowties and pocket squares. A very prepared mom had thrifted two size 12 jumpers, she had her spouse bring the jumpers for the very tall singers with the very small jumpers. It makes me feel upset to switch around jumpers from other singers. It is embarrassing for the singers to change jumpers with another unprepared singer. I don’t understand how a mom (or Dad) could send their child with a jumper that landed upper-mid thigh?! I ended up not having time to fix the other issues. I did take down names so I can contact parents to fix the hem issues before next concert. In the middle of all this I had to nail down logistics for handing out angel robes and candles in 4 minutes between two songs. The preconcert run was quite crazy, we figured out a better way after the dry run. Jared and Amelia arrived ready to help collect robes after the rehearsal. Excellent timing. They helped collect candles and robes at the exit doors. My team had to resort all the robes into sizes so we could do it all over for the concert. Hooray! Justin picked up Evelyn at 6:30 because she had a mandatory school band concert. He got her to that concert and back to the Brandt center before the 8 pm concert started. Once the concert started Jared, Amelia, and I watched the first half of the concert from the balcony rooms. We snacked on bread, turkey lunchmeat, and cheese. Everett was getting down with his dance moves, groove on brother. Evelyn was also dancing and singing with her whole heart. It was darling. We left most of the concert stuff at the Brandt center after the concert ended. It took us a while to sort all the robes and candles before someone collected Evelyn and Josie. Josie was in tears because she was the last singer to get picked up. If the boys actually read their texts that situation would not have happened. Jared and Amelia cheered her up. We put up our aching feet before midnight rolled around.
I was at school bright and early Wednesday, ready for another crazy day. The kids opted to stay home and sleep in a bit. I hear Jared took the kids to Walmart for some Christmas shopping. He was very surprised when the kids decided to put the money together and get a Creami machine. We’ve had nonstop smoothies and ice cream since that day. The best experiments included a mandarin orange icee, a doughnut, and a pineapple creation. I left school after my lunch duty (12:30) so we had more time to get ready. The girl’s hair was mostly still fixed so that freed up some time. Josie said her shoes hurt, we made a quick trip to Walmart only to find no black shoes in stock. She made due with larger shoes stuffed with tissues to help them fit. Concert day two was much easier than the previous day. We had a later curtain call at 3:30 with the first concert starting at 5 pm. Basically, we had time to get checked-in, spots claimed in holding rooms, and a quick snack before it was time to line up. I had to deliver a stern lecture to the youth and concert choirs about treating the candles with care. The candles had a real wax shell that kids were biting, chipping off bits of wax, using the candle for spells, and even swordplay. Our group broke more candles than the previous 14 concerts combined. I snatched several candles away from singers not listening to the rules. Those singers had to shake my hand with a promise to not abuse the candles before I let them go on stage. Jared and Amelia picked up dinner for everyone, thank you Jared! Justin helped pass out robes and collect them during the 5 pm concert. Cara and I did our best to train the last set of volunteers for the 8 pm concert since we were both attending that concert. I was quite excited to watch the last 3 numbers, those were the ones we were busy with robes and candles. Everett got to be a stage shepherd with a lantern and special costume. Josie charmed me during Good King Wenceslas, she got bored during the 4 minutes the ChC had to wait. She started mouthing the words and waging her head with the music. Made us all giggle! She reminded me of Everett’s classic facial expressions from 2 years ago. That video is Call family lore. I had Justin pick up the girls and take them home right after the concert. The rest of us sorted, folded, and packed up the robes for transport back to Utah. We also removed batteries and more damaged candles before counting then packing up those props. Kurt was surprised I was able to fit all the robes into bins so efficiently we had 2 empty bins leftover. I was glad to hand over all the forms to Kurt before midnight rolled around. That post concert high felt so lovely. Brandon’s Silent Night version was so lovely.
Once again I was at school bright and early. It was PJ day so getting ready was a cinch. The 4th graders got to make ice cream with liquid nitrogen around 9 am. I had Justin wake up Josie and send her to school. He was in a meeting so I told her to walk and I’d meet her at the side door. She was quite uncomfortable with that arrangement but she did as I asked. She got to participate in their grade level ice cream party and Grinch party. Amelia took Everett and Evelyn to school so they could finish some projects that were due. We ended the day with an assembly, yuck. The silent hand shaking is much better than the screaming. I love all the thoughtful gifts from students. Warms my heart. We had a secret 4-day long gift exchange, I had Mrs Gaylor. She loves pigs, sticky notes, and pens. Check. I crocheted her a cute duck just for funsies. We decided to go the Giving Machine as a fun family activity. The machine was at the Village at Meridian. The kids each picked an item or two, a few more expensive items and a couple fun ones, before we paid. Everett paid for his own donation, he was quite excited to donate on his own. We walked around for a while, the main attraction was the Lego store. Oooooo. Josie spotted an Endor collection at a skiing store. The coat was only $700 to look like a Jedi on Endor. Gracious. We were on our way to look at the lights at the Scentsy plaza when Jared got a phone call, Mom and Dad were in a car accident. They stopped for some construction traffic and were rear-ended, another car rear-ended the car behind them and pushed their car into the car ahead of my parents. Dad’s noggin got rattled about and Mom’s sternum was cracked. OUCHIE. Thankfully, the car was quickly dealt with. Apparently, another crash happened at the same spot earlier and the clean up crew was still there. Mom’s breathing got worse so they took themselves to the ER where her cracked sternum was diagnosed. We are grateful they were not more seriously injured. We huddled together as a family to offer up a prayer for Mom and Dad. Meanwhile, the kids rattled their own brains rolling down the grassy decline at the Scentsy Commons. Whee. I had vouchers for Krispy Kreme doughnuts, that was our last stop! Hats and doughnuts. Jared had me open the gifts he got our family. He gifted us the game Carcassonne. We set up the game and played a couple rounds. My kids immediately (Phillip) discovered they could make calzone shaped cities. The next day Evelyn, Everett, and Phillip made an entire board of calzones in Carcassonne.
Friday Evelyn and Phillip met with Nina and Austin respectively. That took most of the day. We went to Caldwell wanting to ice skate and see the lights. I somehow scored a front row parking spot! Parking Fairy. The ice skating slots were filled until 9 pm so we decided to just walk around the riverwalk. The lights are so pretty! One guy was making huge bubbles over the river. The bubbles floated along reflecting the colorful lights until it dissolved or popped. We ran into Mr McGrath busking for money with his guitar. He invited us to sing Silent Night with him, that was really fun. Amelia said it was awkward, nah! It was a highlight for me. He is not (yet) a great educator but personally he is fine to chat with. We ended the evening with hot chocolate at a coffee shop with a really fun gift shop. I got tiny hands that fit my chubby fingers, bonus…they also had tinier hands for the tiny hands. Yeh! Anyone want a high 20? We played Carcassonne again once back at home. I enjoyed staying up late talking with Jared. He is going to join the electrician’s union and start down that path after New Years. He left for home the next day. Thank you for coming to visit us. I hear he brought home a cold. Darn it. Sorry dude. I finished editing the Cherry’s “JC Penny” photo session, they needed time to print before Christmas.
The ward Christmas sacrament program was on Sunday. We planned to arrive early at 9:15 to run through the songs with as many of the choir members as possible. I am so glad Linda suggested that Evelyn and Brian’s special number move to January. Brian was really sick and Evelyn was still not feeling 100%. There were 4 last minute changes due to illness. The choir sang a prelude piece after Logan played Silent Night, and a solo number. I felt relieved the music came together in spite of several hiccups. Josie sang Little Baby in a Manger with Amelia singing harmony on the 2nd verse. They sounded so pretty together. The program messages and songs explored the Savior’s life from birth to second coming. I loved that Primary children challenged us to serve in some capacity at the end of the program. The relief to finally have a clear slate was tangible. I had no pressing photo editing, all the concerts were done, gifts delivered, and a few days before Christmas arrived. Hallelujah.
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