Memory Lane

Several of my friends have this on their blogs and it has been awesome to see their responses remembering great times that we've had together.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory you and I have together, whether you know me well or hardly at all. Just anything that comes to mind... that's nice and good and happy, please. ;o)

2. Next, repost these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me I'll assume you are playing and I will come post my memory about you on your blog. If you don't have a blog, I'll post my memory of you here on mine!

Different Day at the Zoo

July 3rd was Military Appreciation Day at Hogle Zoo. Even though we already have a membership, we really wanted to go on this day and participate in the military events. It's always a different experience when you're with other members of the military. The day at the zoo was no exception. As soon as we entered the gates we noticed the Humvee. The kids had a hard time waiting for their turn to sit inside.

Here's Donovan dreaming of driving.

Watch out for Matthew, he's manning the guns.

Oh, how cute. Nothing scary here.

Now we're getting serious.

Oh yeah, he's armed.

They had a High School Marching Band play for us.

It was awesome to see Donovan and Sean dreaming

of the day when they will have their chance to play

in a marching band.

These young men are members of CAP (Cival Air

Patrol).

This was the most fabulous picture during the entire day.

We attended the bird show and afterwards they invited

members of the military to come up and have their picture

taken with the Bald Eagle. How cool is that?

Sniffles

A couple months ago we got a hamster. On the way home from the pet store, Alayna came up with the name Sniffles. During the second to last week of school, Alayna was able to "teach" her class and she chose to teach on hamsters. At that time we took these pictures.

This is Sniffles cage.

Don't fall.

"Hello"

Some Girls

Here is a video of Donovan singing his solo. I recorded this on dress rehearsal night, so it's not the best recording. We had a lot of sound and microphone issues that night. But the performing nights, both of them, went so well. I was a very proud mom and director. These kids worked so hard and did such a fantastic job with very difficult music.

*FYI - In order to hear Donovan sing in this video you will need to pause the music playing on this website. Don't worry, it's easy. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit the pause button on the playlist, then scroll back up to this post and hit play on the video.*

Musical

It's been over a month now since we performed the middle school musical. So, finally, I am getting around to posting some pictures. This year I had the opportunity to be the music director. It was extremely stressful, but incredibly rewarding. I miss not being around these wonderfully talented kids everyday. I am looking forward to helping out with next year's musical though.


This year, the kids performed Once On This Island. A little information about the play:


Book & Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Music by Stephen Flaherty
Based on the novel "My Love, My Love" by Rosa Guy

Once On This Island, an enchanting musical fable, tells the story of forbidden love between people from two different worlds. Originally inspired by Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid, the Broadway show transports the story to a Caribbean island where social prejudice divides the island. Presented as a 'play within a play', a cast of village storytellers, attempting to calm a frightened young child, tell the romantic tale of a peasant girl who saves a rich city boy from death.


Both Sean and Donovan had lead parts this year. Donovan played the part of Daniel, the rich city boy, and Sean played Armand, Daniel's father. We always joke about Sean being Donovan's father even though Sean is younger than Donovan.


Enjoy the pictures.

Donovan's individual picture.

Donovan with Alexandra, who played Andrea,
the girl that Daniel married.

This is Donovan with Alexandra and Brittnee, who

played Ti Moune, the peasant girl who fell in love

with Daniel.

Sean's individual picture.

Another picture of Sean.

This is a picture of the entire cast. I've circled

Donovan, Sean, and myself.

This is what the set looked like.

Here Donovan is, close to death after crashing

his car in the peasant village.

I love this picture. The hand on bottom is Brittnee's

and the hand on top is Donovan's. No, they're not

in love in real life.

Here's Donovan and Brittnee singing

Forever Yours.

Still singing Forever Yours.

Here's Donovan, deadish again after

being thrown down by Papa Ge, the

Demon of Death.

Here's a picture of Sean, as a peasant, singing

Mama Will Provide.

Here's Sean again, this time singing

Some Say.

Here's Donovan, again next to Alexandra, singing

his solo Some Girls.

Donovan, again, this time singing and

dancing during The Ball.

Still dancing.

The very last song of the show,

Why We Tell The Story.

This is the Story of...

how Alayna got stitches. Alayna wanted to earn some money so she could purchase a book from her school's book order. So, after school, she kept asking me what she could do to earn money. I told her I would give her $1 for doing the dishes. She happily did them. After she was finished, she decided to clean the sink for $1 more. As she was cleaning the sink, perched up on the counter top, she fell and hit her chin on the counter top. I was in my room working when I heard her crying. It's just one of those cries where you know that something is really wrong. I went into the kitchen and she had her hand on her chin. I consoled her enough for her to remove her hand so I could see. Sure enough, she had cut open her chin. She was quite concerned that she was bleeding, so I got a paper towel and had her place it on her chin. After finding someone to watch the boys, a neighbor who is awesome by the way, I took Alayna to Instacare. Here are some picture I took with my phone, which means they're not very good.

After we checked in, a nurse put some numbing gel

and a makeshift bandage on Alayna's chin. After only

a couple of minutes, she couldn't feel a thing.

This is what her little chin looked like before the stitches.

See her 3 pretty blue stitches?

Alayna was such a trooper. The numbing gel worked

so well, the doctor didn't have to use Lidocaine. Alayna

didn't even cry, and she held so very still. She even got

this shiny metallic bandage as her reward. At least she

felt it was her reward.

Matthew's Birthday

Today was Matthew's 7th Birthday. I can't believe that my baby is 7 years old! He has grown way too quickly. We had a great day today. We went to the dollar theaters and saw National Treasure 2, then we headed back home for cake and ice cream. Matthew received several toys but his favorite was the one's he bought himself with the money that grandma and grandpa gave to him, his Bakugan toys. Then, and I hate to admit this, his next favorite was a transforming Power Ranger from his uncle and aunt (Stephen and Danielle). So, the presents that the kids and I gave him were last in line, but he really did love everything that he received, and he was very thankful for all his presents.

Matthew at 1 month old.

The Big 7

Yummy cake.

The Birthday Boy

His favorite toy.