Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Not perfect but STILL amazing!

A few weeks ago Thing 3 did a week long musical theater summer camp.  At the end of the week, the kids put on a "Showcase" for parents, friends and family so they can highlight everything they worked on at camp.  Thing 3 was chosen to sing a song and had a solo, duet and ensemble parts in the piece.  Usually she does really well but this time around she was either too excited or too nervous and missed her cue on the solo and duet portions at the beginning of the song.  Sitting in the 2nd row seeing her face and knowing what she had done, I got a bit embarrassed and upset for her.  But as she stood there fairly composed with a smile on her face and pushed through and relaxed, she came back at the end of the song and finished it beautifully.  After watching and re-watching the video taken of her, I was impressed and amazed at the maturity in the stage presence she had and how she handled herself knowing what happened.  My kid pushed through and didn't allow her missed cue ruin the remainder of her song experience.


Thursday, June 18, 2015

Who knew my kids have "Acting Chops!"

I can't believe this whole school year has flown by and we are now into Summer 2015.  Many changes have occurred and many opportunities for my kid to expand their horizons have happened.

Thing 1 promoted out of 8th Grade in May and will go on to be a budding new Freshman at Mountain View High School.  He had an amazing year and finished his Jr. High Career on a very high note.  He managed to maintain a 3.75 GPA while playing tennis, video games, and Legos.  He even picked up Swim Team and plans to try out for the swim team at MVHS in the Fall.

Thing 2 had a great 5th Grade year, he managed to achieve all A's every single grading period except for 1 in which he received a B and he missed that A by a few points.  We found out his nickname at school is "Squishy" and just about everyone knows of him.  I became known as "Squishy's Mom" when I would volunteer in his class.  His whole 5th Grade class ended their school year by participating in the school's talent show dancing and singing to "Counting Stars" by OneRepublic.  We can't wait to see what 6th Grade brings for him.

Thing 3 had a great 3rd Grade year.  She excelled in school and managed to juggle Musical Theatre with CYT as well as performances at school.  She and her good friend choreographed a dance for the talent show to "Dynomite" by Taio Cruz.  This school year she was in 2 CYT performances "High School Musical Jr." and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".  She also was in her school's production of "Cinderella Kids".  4th Grade will be even more magical for her as she picked up Ballet again as well as Swim Team.  I'm sure somewhere in there we will see her performing in another musical at school and quite possibly with CYT.

Thing 4 was a big Pre-Kindergartner this year.  She learned how to write her first and last name (correctly as well as backwards and mirroring her letters).  She learned to recognize all of her ABC's and Numbers and she even learned basic addition.  We all love the Saxon Math program!  She grew up so much and isn't a baby anymore!  Next year she will start Kindergarten and be with the "Middles" at Legacy.

This summer the kid's kicked off their days by playing tennis, swimming and the old 3 participated in Musical Theatre Camp at Legacy.  Each kid played a major role in the production of "The Lion King Jr."  Thing 3 auditioned and was cast in the role of "Young Nala".  Thing 2 decided at the last minute to audition and was cast in the rold of "Young Simba".  He was originally content in being in the cast but on the day of auditions decided to take a chance.  Thing 3 worked backstage crew with a few of his other Jr. High friends and during the production ran the spotlight.  Every night, the kids would come home full of stories and excited to run lines and go back to camp the next day.  Their performance was 30 minutes long and so great for having only 9 full days to work on the material.  I think we have a few performers in our family because the middles lit up the stage!  But of course I'm mommy biased!

The rest of this summer includes more Musical Theatre and Dance Camps for Things 3 and 4, golf for Thing 2, and tennis camp and swim team for Thing 1 and Thing 3.  The kids start back to school very early this year right at the end of July for the younger 3 and at the beginning of August for Thing 1.  As of today we have exactly 6 more Friday left of summer before the kids are back in school.