Drama Class

During one day of Hannah's art class this summer, Claire asked if she too could take a class of some kind. Sure I wanted her to, but, you know me...I'm not ready to leave my 5yo just ANYWHERE. She was interested in Art (none to be found) or Drama (yes, I like that idea for you, my sweet daughter with momma's actress heart!) Well, once the idea was in her head...it was...in her head. "When is my drama class?" "How long until I take my drama class?" "I'm taking a drama class!" (Enough already...I'll make the call and sign you up...Oops, I missed the Community Arts sign-up date...Aha! I found one where mom can hang out and join in the fun.)


About the time I finalized the sign-up, Hannah decided that she too would like to take the class! With Claire's input they both had a fun week of warm-ups, vocalizing, enunciation practice, improv, character development & even puppetry. All in all...they had fun at drama class. I learned a lot, too--things that we can do in the car when we've heard all the CDs too many times and "my sister is bothering me" and mom needs relative quiet in order to drive through construction traffic! So, I'm glad that we stretched ourselves and found new ways to express our thoughts. Who knows, maybe they'll make it big someday...regardless...they already have with me!

(I'm sorry to say that I have NO pictures or video to share from this weeklong session. Maybe I'll get them to reenact some of the skits and put that on, but no promises.)

We're getting another cousin...make that two!

So about a month ago, I had the pleasure of watching my 18 month old nephew for an afternoon while his mom/my baby sister had a...I thought "routine"...doctor appointment. When she arrived home, however, she apologized for being so long and said, "but I've got pictures!" I totally came out of my chair...obviously I wasn't expecting that. She REALLY surprised me! So come Christmas time...I'll have another sweet baby to hold.

Then last week, on my way to coffee with girlfriends, I decided to place a call to my (hardest to catch) sister and, to my great surprise, she answered the phone! It was great to chat with her, but as I pulled in to my parking spot, I tried to gently end the conversation with something like, "It was great talking to you. I'll let you get on with your math lesson," when she interrupts with, "Well...do you want the red pill or the blue pill?" I quickly recognize the "Matrix" reference and, forgetting which is which, say, "Tell me, tell me!" This is how I found out that she is having her 4th child in January. (Funny, I wasn't surprised by this news at all!) She has a soon to be 10yo girl, nearly 8yo girl and almost 6yo boy...they are THRILLED, as am I.

I love being an aunt...it's the (second) best job in the world.

Claire writes!!

I found this in Claire's art journal...it is so cute!
(Translation: Today I found fossils. I had fun with my friends. Next year I will move to a different state?)
I guess she is thinking about what may come...I didn't realize she knew what a question mark was or how to put it in a sentence!

Family Date Night

Aaron & I took the girls on a Family Date Night last Saturday to hear the Voices of Unity. They are a youth choir and one of the boys from our middle school worship team sings with them. It was fantastic. This performance, "Midnight Train to Georgia," was a Tribute to Gladys Knight and the Temptations.

We thought it would be fun to get dressed up and, of course, take pictures!