Sing Loud, Sing Proud

Ella and Abby, front and center.  No surprises there.

Hey guys.

So here's another tally mark in the 'Brian is a Bad Parent' column, folks:  I had no idea Abby was in choir this year.

Orchestra, sure.  I knew that.  But choir?  I don't think she's ever spoken with me about it before, and I sure as hell don't remember being told about it by Nagatha Christie.

Well, anyway, one day at work I'm sitting there, minding my own business, when my buddy Erik sends a group text out to Kris and I, as well as to his wife Courtney, about how he was able to skip work for a bit in order to catch the girls' outdoors performance at school.  He talked about how he was able to take some pics and video for all of us (see below), and would be uploading it to a shared Google Photos album later on in the day.

Kris and Courtney were both super appreciative.  Me?  I was confused.

"Choir?  What the f*** is that dude talking about?"

Well, turns out, not only is Abby in choir with the Johnson's kid, Ella, but the two of them clearly dominate the program.  As you can see in the videos and pictures that follow (courtesy of Erik), you can see them front and center, and Erik was even telling us that it was evident that they run the ensemble.

So here you go, folks.  My daughter's random choir thing.  Who knew. . .

- Brian

A Mighty Noise

Hey gang.

I'm pretty sure I've shared all this before, but the Cannonball took it upon herself to join yet another extra-curricular activity this year.  Aside from her involvement in Choir, the Recycling Club, Safety Patrol, and Girl Scouts, she's also a member of the Chestnut Hill Orchestra.  She's picked back up the violin - which she used to play when she was little down in Orlando - and has since taken to it pretty fast.

Granted, it's still her first year and she more or less still sounds like she's skinning a cat, but she's improved a lot and Kris and I are both grateful that she didn't opt for the Band, where she'd end up playing something like the frickin' tuba or clarinet.

With Christina and Makara

Her sister Abby, by the way, wants to play the coronet.  We'll see what we can do to dissuade her from that shit-show when the time comes.

Anyway, the Orchestra gave a performance alongside the Band and Choir this evening, with choir going first, then Orchestra, and then finally Band.  This meant that we got to watch Alayna in two different capacities, which was cool. . . buuuuut then we had to sit through an entire band performance that had nothing whatsoever to do with my kid.

My kid's not in band, I didn't need to be there.  I tried to leave, but Kris wasn't having it.

Of course.

So first, here's a couple pictures Abby took using Kris' phone:

The Choir, belting out a couple jams (Alayna's towards the right side of the stage, wearing a cream-colored dress, in the front.)

After two songs, the Orchestra took the stage.  Alayna's at Far Left, now.

(You could tell she was pretty nervous.)

This is Alayna's Orchestra teacher (forget his name), who taught these kids how to play their various string instruments three days a week for a half an hour before school started.  He was pretty funny, and the kids clearly like him a lot.

Still, he CLEARLY has an identical twin.

This is what I do now at these events.  I got sick of shooting in gym lighting, and the videos of these events are more fun to look at later, anyway.  And yes, we nabbed front/center seats.  'Cmon, now.

Watching the Band perform.  The Choir only had two songs, and the Orchestra and Band each played for about twenty minutes.  That band performance was a loooooong twenty, people.

Alayna and Dwight

And now here's the show, folks:

- Brian

The Ides of March

Hey guys.

No, this one doesn't have much of anything to do with the assassination of Julius Caesar, it just so happened that the girls had their Spring Concerts at Chestnut Hill this afternoon, and Yours Truly had to take the day off so that at least one parent could be in attendance (Kris had to work, and it's a hell of a lot easier for me to take the time off than it is for her to do so.)

I mean, c'mon.  I'm not sure what genius is responsible for scheduling these stupid kids productions at Chestnut Hill, but why the hell can't they have them in the evening, so people can attend without having to take a frickin' day off of work?  Is that too difficult for elementary school staff to coordinate?  . . .Idiots.

Anyway.

2nd Grade takes the stage. . .

Abby's grade put on their concert around 1pm, so I made sure to get to the school and into the gym by 12:30 in order to grab a front row seat.  Unfortunately, each grade level's production was only about twenty minutes long, so, once 2nd grade wrapped up, I was forced to remain where I was for about 40 minutes before Alayna and the 4th graders took the stage.  Honestly, this was kind of a small price to pay for keeping such a good seat - the pics and video turned out pretty good (no fat ladies in front of me this year, so I had that going for me.)

Nevertheless, had these showtimes been pushed back even a half an hour, I could have gotten by taking a half-day off of work instead of a full-day, but NOOOO - while I sat in a crowded gymnasium surrounded by other parents, some random substitute was wrangling my 8th graders, all damn day.

So, all in all, I guess I should have left a note for the substitute that said 'Beware the Ides of March' somewhere in my lesson plans.

Oh well.

Here we go. . .

Waiting to start.  Abby seemed pretty excited with her position in the stands - her pseudo-beau, Jackson (in the glasses and green shirt) and BFF Larkin (the blonde standing directly in front of her) were right by her.

Belting out some jams about. . . bees.  Or Spring, or something - you couldn't really follow the lyrics well.

I took a hell of a lot more video than pictures for both of the girls' concerts, but Blogger only allows uploads of up to 100mb, so you're stuck with a few short clips today.  Deal with it.

After 40 minutes of screwing around on my phone and weathering the grumpy sideways glances of soccer moms and grandmas that desperately wanted my seat, the Cannonball and the rest of the 4th grade finally took the stage. . . 

Front row this year (at least for the first few songs) - it was good seeing more than her forehead this year.

The fourth graders moved around a lot, so their positions were constantly changing.  For the most part, Alayna was able to stay in the limelight (it doesn't help things that she's hobbit-sized.)

Not at all paying attention - which is pretty much the norm for her.

. . . aaaand now she's in the far back row.  Make up your damn mind, 4th Grade.

Exit, Stage Left.

Since Kris had to work during the concerts, she pestered me throughout the afternoon for pictures of the girls at their shows.  She also voiced concern that I had forgotten, in my typical male absent-mindedness, to take a picture of both kids before school (they had dressed up for their shows, and Kris spent extra time on their hair in the morning.)  So, once we got back from school that afternoon, we posed a quick set of pictures to satisfy the Warden. . .

They each bought these stupid plastic cases that were designed to look like smartphones from their School Store today, and, once we got our mandatory 'nice' pictures for Kris out of the way, they demanded I snap a few more pics of them 'using' their new phones.

So there you go, folks.  The Ides of March.

- Brian

Santa's New Look (Again)

Happy Holidays, America.

I'm starting the last few days of work before I take two weeks off for the Holidays, and I am really, really looking forward to it.  My students have all but completely shut down over the course of the last week or so, as we get closer and closer to the beginning of Winter Break, and I can hardly blame them.  I'm funned out as well - I think I'm rebelling against the confines of my classroom just as much as they are.

Anyway, today was a brief respite from the gauntlet of these last few days before Break:  we got to watch Abby's second-grade class put on their annual Christmas play.  Like her sister before her, Abby has Mrs. Larson this year as a teacher, so the play was one that we had all seen before:  Santa's New Look.  The music, costumes, and stage direction was all the exact same as it was when we had seen it two years ago, and so there weren't any surprises this time around.

I still had the songs stuck in my head from when Alayna performed it two years ago, so now it looks like I'll have another couple years of "Santa Claus/Santa Claus/You are much too fat-TTT" to look forward to.

Hooray for me. . .

All the kids played the role of Santa's elves, then a handful had additional roles they changed into throughout the play (again, like last time.)

The girl to the right of Abby is Ella, one of her friends and the daughter of some people we hang out with regularly.

Choreographed dance moves.  Par for the course in second grade.

We managed to snag front row seats for this play, just like last time, which was awesome - took some of the stress off of taking pictures for the evening.  I also got to play around with my new lens, which worked out a lot better than my old 18-55mm I used last time around.

Ella and her 'brother' hear a burglar in the house. . .

Suiting up in the 'wings' for the Courthouse Scene

The police arrive on the scene and take Santa into custody.  This play is weird.

Patiently waiting to drop the Hammer of Justice on Santa Claus. . . 

Judge Abby enters the courtroom. . .

Abby didn't seem nervous at all for this, which was pretty impressive.

She also remembered all of her lines flawlessly, just had to be reminded at one point in time to speak into the microphone instead of to the people she was interacting with.

"ORDER IN THE COURT" (she loved her gavel.)

More singing, more hand motions.  You know how these Christmas plays go.

Delivering handmade Christmas presents to the audience during one of the 'spirit of Christmas'-y jams.

Mrs. Larson and the Devil's Brigade, kindly reminding parents and grandparents to help stack some f***ing chairs on their way out of the school.

Abby's class.

- Brian