The Jungle Book

On the heels of Snoball week at the high school was Catholic Schools Week. We were very fortunate this year to have Missoula Children's Theater come in to put on The Jungle Book with our students. The directors, Pablo and Alex, did a fantastic job. At the end of the week, Seth took Pablo (a North Carolina native) ice fishing for the first time. They didn't catch anything, but Pablo loved every second of this cultural experience - snapping pictures like a tourist at every opportunity. Unfortunately kids were getting sick left and right throughout the week so both our stage managers had to step in and play at the end - and Kaa (the snake) was about 3 kids shorter by the performance. But they pulled it off and the show went on! Here are a few pictures

Oliva was a monkey (3rd from the left)

 

Frank was part of Kaa (also 3rd from the left)

Charlie was the Father Wolf (in black). 

And with that, I'll share a few recent quotes!

Olivia (looking at a watercolor painting): Who painted this?

Me: Elena

Olivia: Wow! She's really good at painting. I wonder if she's secretly Bob Ross's wife...

Me: Let's ask her... (through the bathroom door) Elena! Are you secretly Bob's Wife?

Elena: How did you know???

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Olivia: Jesus isn't like Mr. Cardinal [the gym teacher]. He doesn't blow a whistle and make us run 5 laps. Jesus is like a ninja! He stays hidden and you can't see him and he's a hero who saves us.

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Olivia: These onions are sweet.

Me: Yeah, if you cook them it takes out the.....what do you call it?

Olivia: Cryingness?

Me: Yeah, that'll work.

It's been a busy few months for Sam. First, he was selected as the Junior attendant for Snoball week at the high school. Some of the activities were interrupted by snowstorms (which is pretty typical), but we were able to attend the coronation. Seth had to leave before we could get a picture, but I got one. I did not realize how short I look next to Sam until I looked at this photo. Yikes!

Shortly after Snoball, a group of the high school boys, including Sam and RJ spent all of Valentine's Day delivering Singing Telegrams to students around the school. It was quite entertaining. I got a few videos, which are at the end of the post. Here's the poster from the school hallway leading up to the big day.

February also wrapped up the wrestling season. It was an exciting end to the year with the team & several individuals going to state. The team got 4th place in a very close match! The first 2 photos are from earlier in the season. The ones below are at State. Sam was able to pin a kid from Chatfield in a very exciting match - you can see the pin and the reaction below. Oh yeah, and all of the wrestlers bleached their hair for state, thus the blonde hair. 

Frank and Olivia typically struggle to sit through wrestling tournaments, but we were lucky to have cousins there. We were also able to visit both the Children's Museum and the MN Zoo while we were up there. 

Right on the heels of coming back from State, Sam and Ian got confirmed into the Catholic Church. It was a beautiful Mass and a beautiful day. We celebrated with two other families who also had boys getting confirmed. The 4 of us have been good friends since before they were born, and these boys were all born within 5 months of each other. Each of our 4 boys had at least a sponsor or godparent (or both) from one of the other 3 families.

  

At the party, we dug up this old baby picture of the 4 of the boys together. Of course we had to re-create it. I don't think any of the boys were at all enthused about this, but they obliged for their mothers. We also made them take a picture all on our laps for old times sake. 

Since they were such good sports, we let them get one normal picture with us as well!

Here are the videos of the Singing Valentine's. Since Valentine's Day landed on the weekend, they had to sing early so it landed up Ian's birthday - thus the bonus song at the end.

We have another teenager

Charlie turned 13 this month, and right on cue he's growing up. Most noticeably, his voice is dropping. I entered the house a couple of weeks ago and was greeted with, "Mom! Bad news!!" I asked what was wrong, and Charlie informed me, "I can't do Michael Jackson's hee-hee anymore!"

He celebrated with a "Poker" Party out in our new (unfinished) tree house. We were able to get it warm enough with a space heater that the boys were comfortable. I believe they ended up playing Slap-Jack, but either way, they had fun. 

And lastly, here are are few quotes:

Charlie: Ha! I beat the system: I've never been rejected by a girl because I've never asked a girl out.

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Olivia: Mom! How do you spell "Uz"? 

Me: What?

Olivia: Uz.

Me: Uz?

Olivia: Yeah.

Me: Use it in a sentence.

Olivia: OliviA'S. 

Ebenezer Scrooge's Big Minneota Christmas Show!

We pulled off another fun musical this fall at the high school. The kids once again did an amazing job. They were able to put in a lot of their own ideas and talents since the script itself allowed for some flexibility. It was basically a comedic retelling of A Christmas Carol, told as though it happened in our town, finishing with a big Christmas show. 

I thought it would be easier than our past show because we were using all familiar Christmas songs, which in theory would cut down on the stress of learning new songs. Turns out, the Christmas songs were familiar to me but not necessarily the kid. I was shocked to discover how many kids had never heard songs like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Good King Wenceslaus," and "Baby, It's Cold Outside." 

Fortunately one song everyone know was "All I Want for Christmas is You." We choreographed a dance routine for the girls to do, and as we got to dress rehearsals Sam asked if he could join them. I told him he could not because I didn't want him to steal the spotlight. About 30 minutes later, the girls said they were worried the song would be too boring so we added Sam after all, and they all nailed it on the first try. Just as good as his performance are some of the girls' faces as they "react" to it. 

Charlie did a great job playing the hopeful yet pitiful Young Scrooge. He and the other boys in his scene threw in British accents as well - even though they weren't used by anyone else in the play. It wasn't the kind of show that requires historical accuracy as all so we just went with it. 

You also might notice a few pictures of our nephew, RJ, in a dress. During auditions, we didn't have many girls interested in auditioning for the Ghost of Christmas Present, so RJ read for it. He did such a good job, we gave him the part. I offered to change it to a guy and he insisted we leave it as a girl. Needless to say it got a lot of laughs. He did such a good job, several people didn't realize who he was (or even that he was a guy) at first. 

At any rate, we got through it! I'll share a bunch of pictures. The video is at the bottom. The sound is very echo-y so it's challenging to watch. The 2nd act has a lot of fun musical numbers that still come through ok. 

Football players (and managers)

Charlie as Young Scrooge (on the right)

RJ as the Ghost of Christmas Present

The 12 Days of Christmas (6 geese a-laying)

We pulled up a couple of audience members for Mele Kaliki Maka (with no prior warning). They did great!

Here's the video if you want to watch some or all of it: