Drama Queen

...literally.

So this fall Miriam was part of her first official community musical theater performance.   Since we're not participating in the Charlotte Mason coop this year, Miriam needed another outlet for her dramatic energies.  And this particular theater group is specifically for homeschool families (the rehearsals being from noon to 3 a couple times a week).  We had seen a couple of their productions before and were really impressed with the quality and professionalism.  So Miriam auditioned in August and got in -- and we signed over our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to the all-consuming enterprise that is Musical Theatre.  Since she had been singing in our parish's church choir for a year, her voice had grown really strong and confident, plus she was able to sing harmony which landed her her specific role:

"Isn't it time for the lovely Boylan Sisters?"

So the company performed Annie Jr.  Do you remember the scene where Annie goes with Daddy Warbucks to the radio station to announce a coast-to-coast search for her parents?  Well, the Boylan sisters were the backup singers for the radio program.  A small part, but a fun one -- they were supposed to act ditsy and had to wear those ridiculous wigs.  (You can't tell in the photo, but they all had splitting headaches from them.  The show must go on!)

For the rest of the play Miriam was in the ensemble scenes.

Hooverville (not in the 1982 movie)

"Cecile will pick out all your clothes..."

I would like you to take note particularly of those amazing black skirts.  Aren't they just the best part of all the costumes?  Truly daring and revolutionary costume design.  (Why yes, I did make them all!  How did you guess??)

"You can't explain/ their yen for NYC......." (also not in the movie)

The performances completely took over our lives for two weeks in November, what with daily rehearsals and weekend shows.   (Miriam even had to miss Katie's birthday party!) :(  But it was great fun and a really positive experience, and Miriam made a lot of good friends.

One of the really fun things about the show was all the people we knew who came to the show.  A lot of our neighbors came to see Miriam in the show, which was so touching!

Some other VIPs who came: Grandma and Grandpa!!   They were making a Grand Eastern Tour, visiting friends-and-relations along the way.

Dad B celebrated his birthday with us

It was great to have them here, of course.  The grandkids were eating up all the attention.  One day we all went to our favorite toy store and the grandparents let the kids each pick out something.  (To Miriam they gave $$ for new skates, bless them!)

Andy bonding with Grandma

Dominic LOVED Grandpa.  My dad is a baby magnet.

yours looks yummier than mine.

Grandma also had glowy toys, which made her popular among the small male set.

like moths to a flame...

Unfortunately I was super-busy while they were here (looking at you, Tech Week!), so I personally didn't get to sit down with them much, but I was glad the grandkids got to spend so much time with them and build up those important relationships.  We don't get to see each other nearly as often as either party would like, so the times we are able to visit are precious.   And it was special that they got to see Miriam perform in her first honest-to-goodness stage play.

Thanks for coming, Mom and Dad!

Fall Birthdays!

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Before I can get to current events, we still have some old news to report.  And I can't POSSIBLY blog out of order.

Andy and Katie are our fall birthdays.  In October, Andy turned 4!  He's such a little guy that it's hard for me to think of him as such a big number.

lego candy!  what could be more awesome?

We kept his birthday simple.  Just invited some friends over for a birthday playdate.

ahh yes, the classic four-year-old picture face

he was very excited about all the green monies he got in his birthday cards

all the siblings chipped in to get him a set of giant Magformers (the boys all called them the Triforce Magformers)

At the end of the day, he said he had a good birthday -- thankfully he's at the age where it doesn't take much. :)

In November, Katie turned 12!

she wanted me to put rag curls in her hair the night before

She invited her two best friends to come over early to help with the party later that evening.

They had great fun decorating, and made plans to start their own party planning business.

The great thing about older kids is that they can do so much themselves.  For Katie's party, all I had to do was send out invites, and shop for requested food and decorations;  she handled everything else: making the cupcakes, decorating, planning the games and entertainments.  She had quite the detailed agenda, based primarily on what she figured her excited stomach would be able to handle.  (For example, she knew that the glory of all those presents waiting for her would interfere with her ability to eat, so she decided to have present-opening earlier in the evening.)

Evening entertainments included a judged fashion show, line-picture-line, and a movie (Zootopia) with popcorn.

line-picture-line.  much hilarity ensued when the final results were read

Happy Birthday, Kreative Kate!

All Hallows Eve

Basic Halloween this year.  Pumpkins, costumes, candy.

Ghouled Cheese Sandwiches and Gore Soup for dinner

We couldn't agree on a theme this year, so it was every man for himself.  My only requirement was that the costume involved as little sewing as possible for Mom, and preferably used pieces we already had.

Miriam

Queen of the Night (with a ghost in the background!) -- she was practicing the aria for days beforehand in case called upon to prove she really WAS the Queen of the Night

Katie

tap dancer (she finally fits into my stash of dance costumes)

Jojo

an archer, with an awesome bow made out of pvc pipe

Daniel

a ninja. he originally wanted to be Yoda, but we couldn't find the mask/wig at our local party store.

Daniel insisted on this sequence of pictures:

1.

2.

3.  (apparently he's not a very good ninja)

Andy

Darth Vader!

(he doesn't quite understand how light sabers work yet)

Dominic

an impish elf (who required help standing still for the camera)

(...because he kept trying to do this)

Trick-or-treating is WAY more fun with friends.

After we came home, Miriam had to separate out the orthodontist-approved items.  (Daniel very sweetly shared all his KitKats with her.)

I spy a little someone helping himself

caught in the act!

Once again the kids noted how much harder they have to work for their loot in our neighborhood now vs. the easy days at the townhouse -- more miles to cover to get a decent haul!  But thanks to the leftovers from the Costco bag of candy, we had enough to last us for a whole week this time.

Next day was, of course, All Saints Day.  Before Halloween we went on pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine in DC (I love that church more every time I go) in order to walk through the Holy Door.  At the Mass the priest gave a beautiful homily about Halloween, how the Christian ought to view death, and the spiritual symbolism of trick-or-treating.  On the Eve of All Hallows, father said, children knock on doors asking for a treat.  This reminds us of the truth that someday, at the moment of our death, we ourselves will be knocking on the door of Heaven, asking for the greatest treat of all -- admittance to the kingdom of light and sweetness, where we will be welcomed into the fellowship of saints.  It gave me goosebumps, I tell you. 

We have friends who don't like Halloween because of its more grisly trappings as perpetrated by secular culture, and for the most part I agree with them.  (I don't get zombies.  Why exactly are they cool?)  But I always love to see how grace builds upon nature; the church has always taken what was good in a culture and used it to teach us the truth.  At bedtime after trick-or-treating, we can use that moment to thank God for all the sweet things in the world, to be able to prepare us for the even greater sweetness of Heaven and the Communion of Saints.

And no, I'm not just trying to justify trick-or-treating so I can steal Snickers from my kids' candy buckets.

Dominic was here.

Beach Getaway

A few days after I returned from California, Mr. Pickles took us all on a real vacation to Bethany Beach, DE.  I say Mr. Pickles took us b/c my only requirement for this trip was that I wouldn't have to do any planning whatsoever, after already having to plan and execute two big trips.  Mr. Pickles is amazing, y'all.  He put this all together, with the only input from me being my opinion on a couple beach houses.  I helped the kids pack their clothes and got together the beach stuff, but that's the fun part.  He even made tons of food to bring (because allergies) and planned out meals (he grilled every day) and packed the coolers and everything.

A-maz-ing, I tell you.

There's not too much else to say about the days we were there.  September at the beach is the best.  The water is warm and the air is not too hot, and there are not many other people on the beach so it was quiet.  We had to miss a couple classes and drama rehearsals of Miriam's that week, and had to come back a little earlier than we wanted b/c we didn't want her to miss her ice skating class.  (High schooler's schedule pretty much dominates the family schedule.)  I had considered bringing some schoolwork to fill in extra time so we wouldn't get behind, but when it came to actually packing I just couldn't do it.  I decided we all just needed a total break from all responsibility (aside from keeping people fed, of course).

It was glorious.

California, here I come!

So in early September, my Uncle Ranger Dave became Uncle Deacon Dave!!  When I first heard that my retired California park ranger uncle was going to be ordained to the permanent diaconate in Sonoma, I hoped I would be able to make it.  And thanks to Mr. Pickles' superhero status, I was!  Sadly we are past the point where traveling by air all together as a family is within our normal means, so only a small representation of the Pickles was able to attend with me.  I decided to bring my bookend boys -- Jojo (oldest boy) and Dominic (youngest boy) -- while Mr. Pickles heroically stayed at home with the rest for the six days I was gone.

Summer Photodump

Because I'm too disorganized to post pictures as they happen, you get a whole bunch at once!

Well, I suppose technically I DID tell them to put the couch cushions back... just didn't specify which couches!

little miss instigator, right there.

How to entertain a baby in one easy step!

Step 1: Intend to bring the no-longer-used baby tub down to store in the basement, but get lazy and leave it outside the basement door, where the baby who loves climbing on/into things can find it.

Ta-da!  Instant entertainment!

wheeeee!  I'm going nowhere but I'm having SUCH a good time!

Make your voice heard!

On this most depressing of Election Days, please enjoy a political comic by our resident Humor Correspondent, Katie. (You'll probably need to click to read.)

I believe that's a candidate we can all get behind.