O Hear the Angel Voices

MCO concert week! It’s game time! Let’s hear those angel voices! Amelia started out the week with her LAST Christmas concert at CHS. Amelia chose and directed a song the Treble choir sang! She had me critique her conducting skills, so far about 20 times better than my skill level. At the concert Amelia sang a little solo in one of the songs. We got to watch EVMS choirs perform their Christmas songs. I was a little shocked to see Henry Roundy up on the risers singing his little heart out, little stinker sat mute as a rock for years in Primary refusing to sing one syllable. Way to go Amelia! She is the cutest choir president ever. Justin’s cousin, Christiana, stopped by near the end of the concert for a short visit. She’s lived in Spain for the last 6 years unable to return home without ruining her Spanish residency. She was in Meridian to meet with her company after working remote for so many years. She gifted us a flask of genuine Spanish olive oil and some hot cocoa powder. Everett got a gleam in his eye, rushed off to the pantry, and came back with something hidden behind his back. He gifted Christiana a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, “we hope you enjoy this most rare and unique American delicacy!” Everett is so hilarious! Christiana promised to take the box home to Spain and treasure it. We hope her Spaniard husband enjoys the treat. 

Monday was the kick-off for Hour of Code week! I had 2 community volunteers come help me in the classroom as students worked on the Music Lab tutorial. My first volunteer came from PBS Kids, she is the coding expert for Idaho. After lunch the IDELA liaison came to help out 3rd grade. I emailed her quite a bit when my kids were homeschooling! It was fun to actually meet her. We had a fun week working on code. The teachers had a secret dress up theme each day. Monday was spy day. I hung battery operated Christmas lights from my ears and pretended to talk with Rudolph and Elves up at the North Pole. The students were completely convinced I was chatting with the North Pole. I even let some students say hello to Santa. That was a really fun day at school. One student said, “Mrs Call you are embarrassing!” YES! Next day was Disney day, my brain read Disney Princess day. So I wore a green dress with magnolias and a tiara, then talked all day with a southern drawl. 

Wednesday after a long day at work was a long night of MCO combined rehearsal at the Brandt center. Rita got a work out zipping here and there. Let me tell you the wide center auditorium aisle was really, really fun to zoom down. The magic of MCO continues. Evelyn was sick all week, stayed home from school M-W with a fever, cough, and headache. She was feeling well enough to attend the rehearsal. The trade off was Everett, Amelia, and Josie not feeling well. We tried to get to bed early but all the excitement of concert day kept us awake. Evelyn was mildly freaking out over not having enough time to get ready the next day. The little girls did not make into the shower before bed nor did they get to bed early, for once Justin did not get my text with those instructions. Ah well! 

CONCERT DAY! It is always a crazy morning no matter how early we start the day. The main event is always fixing hair followed by ironing. We were ready to go by 11 am, a short miracle. I wanted to leave early so we could stop by Walmart for cough drops, DayQuil, and hydration…and the ever popular BREAD. You know it’s cold season when each child gets their own package of cough drops. Amelia tried to order Jimmy John’s sandwiches for our dinner on the app, but I wanted all the toppings on the side to avoid the soggy sandwich. I had to actually call and talk to an employee. We picked up our order after Walmart then raced over to the Brandt Center. My cart was piled up with bags and attire stuff. One of the boys forgot to put my iron and sewing machine in the van when I asked, grrr. Justin had to drop those items off later in the afternoon. Everyone went off to their assigned spots to get ready for rehearsal. Cara helped me begin attire check while I set up my table. Imagine my dismay when all of my pocket squares were gone…and only 4 bowties left after 20 I had in my box at the end of the season. I did not have a chance to check my inventory before concert day. It was a good thing for those CCM, about 15 came up to me expecting me to have all the bowties and pocket squares, they had to call a parent to bring those items instead. It was a miracle how many bowties and pocket square suddenly appeared when I told them they would perform off stage if they did not get their complete attire. Cara and I had a very busy 3 hours switching knee high socks, jumpers, hemming dresses, removing earrings, wiping off make-up, and arranging hair to standard. I went through a roll of electrical tape covering up white stitching on soles of shoes. I wanted to jump on stage during the second concert and wipe off lipstick one young lady applied AFTER attire check. She was the only one with bright red lips. 

I got to photograph the concert last moment. Cara took over attire stuff while I photographed the last 45 minutes of rehearsal and the first concert. Josie was not feeling well at all. She wanted to sleep under the attire table. I let her rest under the table, did not realize she was still under the table when the concert started. She and I watched the concert from the upper mezzanine room. I enjoyed watching the concert with her. Josie’s nose was running something fierce. She decided to sing in the second concert for Ms Gingerich. During the first concert Mrs Camarda texted me that she was not going to attend. I knew she was not going to come, just a certain look in the eye! I wish she had just said, “I don’t want to attend!” Luckily, the Carney family agreed to come last moment. They have a daughter, I got Aria in the concert and had her sit on her parent’s lap. Thankfully, ticket collection is a joke at the Brandt center. Mrs Sene then texted that she also could not attend, gosh dang it! I did not want to tell Amelia because she talked for days about how excited she was that Mrs Sene was coming. I was happy Mrs Sene gave the tickets to Oscar and Annie. Ambree was not feeling well with a stomachache. Sara left for a couple songs to pep talk Ambree into finishing the concert. I am so glad she did. Each year the concerts get better. How is that possible? A famous YouTuber Charlie Smith attended the AZ locale and recorded the entire concert. You can view it on Patreon and YouTube. Brett’s daughter was the soloist for “O Holy Night.” What a thrill to hear her angelic voice filling the concert hall. Then the youth coming in all dressed in white. Amelia was a stage angel this year (stangel). We were so tired and yet on cloud nine all at the same time. Phillip invited his two best buddies, they are a strange group! Amelia was so cute and goofy with her choir friends from school, she was glad they got to attend the concert. I finally fell asleep around 1 am, my brain was wide-awake!

I was at work bright and early the next morning. Everett was up and at Lone Star MS for his first VEX robotics competition of this school year. He muscled through the fatigue and not feeling well to spend the entire day with his team. Everett is the driver this year, meaning he maneuvers the bot during their matches. He wanted to stay home was totally ok with skipping the competition. I was NOT ok with that at all. He is the backbone of the team, the 8th grader with the most experience and the driver. It was a very long for him but they did quite well. His bot is called Cyber Entity. His team won 5 out of 8 matches and ranked 7th out of 22. Not too shabby boys. I grocery shopped from the couch after work and edited some of the Lances family photos. Maisie and I went to the Humane Society hoping to get a better quote and/or financial assistance for her surgery. Their quote was actually more than the first one we got. Looks like Maisie is either going to be surrendered to the humane society or adopted, we can’t handle the price tag. I finally heard back from the Chinese lady (breeder) we got Maisie from. Since her husband passed his brother has taken control of all their assets and basically pushed her out leaving her penniless. So rude. She is looking for a home and place to survive until she can figure out life. It would be cheaper to get a new puppy than fix Maisie. 

Sunday we had choir practice. Linda wanted to change the youth song to “What Child is This.” We invaded the last few minutes of Sunday School to force the youth to practice. There was so much muttering that I got upset and decided to hand-choose 8 youth instead. Plus, Linda forgot about the practice and went home, we did our best. The adult practice at 3 went really well. Trey playing the flute made the music soar. I was impressed with all 8 choir members who rehearsed. Right after choir practice Evelyn had YW/YM preview. Say what?! She is going to YW in January. That is so crazy, we only have one kid left in Primary. It seems like yesterday I was excited to have no more kids in nursery. Fun times.