Treasure Island

The past five days a considerable amount of time was invested in the kids' musical at church - Treasure Island. Nadia and Ian had a rehearsal on Wednesday night, and all three kids had a rehearsal from 4:00-6:30 on Friday night and 9:00-11:15 on Saturday morning. The choir sang one song from the musical in both of the services on Sunday morning. I didn't bring my camcorder that morning (in hindsight I wish I had), but I did record the second service with my phone. Their long awaited performance was at 7:00 last night. Ian played the part of a pirate named Bart. He did a GREAT job. He received numerous compliments afterward. He really got into his part. I think this boy should continue to pursue opportunities to be in theatrical or musical productions! Nadia also did a good job singing in the choir and playing the part of Becky. Oliver could have done a better job singing, but he definitely brought about laughter (and some tears because people were laughing so hard) from some of his "moves." The boy loves to dance! He definitely has his own distinct personality because neither Paul or I would have ever done anything like that when we were children (nor do we encourage this behavior), but he sure brought many smiles and laughter.

I think Nadia, Grace, and Baylee enjoyed the sleepover on Friday night! They played outside, played in the basement, played in Nadia's room, painted their fingernails several different colors in my bathroom, watched two episodes of Odd Squad, etc. I asked them what they wanted for breakfast, and Nadia wanted eggs and toast (no shock there!). Grace and Baylee asked for waffles, eggs, and bacon, which is what I made for them. Paul blew up two air mattresses, and all three girls slept in Nadia's bedroom. She normally has markers arranged in neat rows on the floor of her bedroom, but I managed to get her to clean it up on Friday afternoon (told her I needed to vacuum, and I did vacuum but the main reason was so the girls would have a place to sleep).

We had plans for Saturday afternoon, but after the dress rehearsal we decided to just stay at home. I had (free) tickets to see a pirate show in Wilkes Barre (which seemed very appropriate given the show the kids were doing) plus I was going to take the kids to a trampoline park (Sky Zone), which they have never been to before as I had free passes for the kids. Oliver really wanted to go. Nadia really wanted to stay home. Ian was on the fence. I was exhausted so I decided we'd just stay at home. Sometimes I am thankful when I push myself (such as the fish hatchery tour last Wednesday that I also contemplated skipping), but other times I just don't have the energy to force myself to go go go. We could have gone to a birthday party that afternoon, but I didn't tell the kids and we just stayed home. It was an outdoor pool party, and it was raining outside so that was another reason I decided to skip it (also I had sent our RSVP as no in light of the previous plans). I need to conserve my energy so I will be ready for our vacation next week as visiting places like Disneyland is fun but also exhausting!

I haven't heard anything from the Dean yet. She called me on the evening of May 10, and I wrote her back very early in the morning on May 11. I reached out to my department chair yesterday, and she said I should give it another week. I'm praying for a more reasonable offer! It's hard to be waiting in suspense, but I know worrying doesn't help one iota.

Paul's mom wasn't feeling very well yesterday morning (chemo side effects), but thankfully she was feeling a little better later in the day so they were able to come up for the play last night. I always think of my mom when events like this take place. She was almost always present at my kids' performances. At least I didn't break down and cry this time. I also knew that even if she were alive she wouldn't have made it to this one because she would have been in Austin, Texas at my brother's graduation which took place on Saturday morning. Nadia has been in as many as four musicals a year in the past, but this year this is the only one for the boys and Nadia will only be in two. In the past the kids' choir at church did two musicals a year, but they didn't do one at Christmas the past two years, and I'm assuming that's now the new norm. Nadia also was in the summer musical at the Alliance church (where they go to AWANA) the past six years, but they aren't doing a musical this summer for the first time in I think more than 20 years. Nadia will be in a musical in August in connection with the two week theater camp she's registered to attend. Our babysitter came to the program last night, and she brought a bunch of kids with her. That meant a lot to us, especially considering the only extended family who were able to attend were Paul's parents. I loved the programs they made this year. They included headshots of the main characters. I will file those away in the kids' file boxes!

The kids and I stayed for a luncheon after the second service yesterday, and when we got home I started mowing the lawn right away as it looked like it was about to rain. We have gotten a LOT of rain this spring so the grass is growing very fast. I will mow it once more toward the end of the week before we go on vacation. Paul removed two posts from the deck yesterday. It was the first time he had done anything on the deck project that he started more than 9 months ago. It's an eyesore right now as we have a partially dismantled deck in our backyard. The kids went home with Paul's parents last night to spend the day at their house today. Paul's dad got a programmable Lego robotics kit for Christmas, and the kids used it for the first time last Monday but they hadn't finished the project so Nadia and Ian are working on it some more today with Pop Pop. I still don't have anywhere near my usual energy level so I am not going to get an insane amount of work done today, but I am determined to get more work done than I did last Monday. And I am going to go for a 4 mile walk today! Exercise is one of the things that had been cut from my schedule, and I need to get back in the habit. I intended to resume exercising last week but due to back pain that didn't happen. One project I want to complete this week is getting caught up with editing my photos. I have some from as far back as April 18 that I haven't edited yet! I know I'll take more than usual next week on vacation so I want to be caught up before we go. I thought if I went back to work one of the first things I'd do was buy myself one new lens (a lens I've been eyeing for about 3 years), but in fact I haven't purchased any lenses or signed myself up for any photography classes because I have been using my camera far less than usual the past 9 months. Using my camera more is one of my goals for the next 14 weeks! Below you will find the first video I uploaded from the musical last night. Enjoy!