Caleb's Preschool Graduation

Caleb finished up preschool yesterday and is now academically ready for Kindergarten!  I have really enjoyed teaching Caleb these last two years as well as his classmates.  It gave me a teaching fix, and I loved being apart of every aspect of Caleb's learning.  It's going to be hard to relinquish control to his Kindergarten teacher!  I had a really good group of kids who were well-behaved and did well with putting up with Carter's antics at times.

My 8 students singing their favorite song from the year: Apples and Bananas

Presenting Caleb with his graduation certificate and his award.  He got the "Good Listener" award for his ability to follow directions to a T.  Some parents say it would be difficult to teach their own child for behavior reasons, but Caleb is just the opposite.  He is so well-behaved!  He is also very competitive and wanted to do just as well as anyone else in all aspects of learning, especially reading.  He's turned into such a great reader!

Opening the present my students gave me.  Each student colored a picture and wrote something they learned from me this year. Then one of the parents assembled them all into a laminated book.  I gave each of my students a photo book of all the activities we did throughout the year.

Even though I only taught a few days a week, I'm excited to be done teaching and be able to focus on other areas of my life.  It's been a treat to work with all the students, and Caleb specifically, plus a really neat learning experience for me.

On the Farm

At preschool this month, we have been talking about farm animals.  We took a field trip about 35 minutes away from home to a farm that has lots of animals, a train ride, pony rides, and a nice big park.

Carter looking at a llama.

Carter's first pony ride!

Caleb's turn

Caleb with one of his preschool friends, Caitlyn.

Carter's "cheese" face.

We had a great time with all our preschool friends!

Family Bowling

Caleb has been begging to go bowling for about the last 6 months.  We decided to make it a family day and take Carter for the first time.

Carter's first bowl

Carter lost interest about halfway through, but he enjoyed it initially!

Acting Skills

One of the neatest experiences of my life so far was to be apart of this musical.  This is the first time our stake (several LDS local congregations form a stake) has put on a musical and it was of the parable of the 10 virgins from the book of Matthew in the New Testament.  Auditions came at a busy time in my life, but I felt like it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up to at least try-out.

I happened to play the piano for each woman as they tried out, and after the try-outs wrapped up, my confidence was low as the talent was so high.  I would not consider myself a soloist.  I don't think I have that great of a voice, although I was blessed with a really good ear for music.  (Play a note on the piano and I can tell you what it is...I'm not as good with other instruments, but still pretty accurate.)  Actually, my greater area of strength during the try-out I felt was the acting/reading portion.

So 10 virgin parts minus about 6 "shoe-ins" whose voices were amazing, minus the roles for 2 elderly women, the rest of us (about 20) were fighting for 2 spots.  I had already counted myself out and was planning on being a part of the choir.

I was completely shocked and humbled to be offered a role as one of the 10 virgins.  The play is called The Ten Virgins by Emily Freeman.  Each of the songs was written by a different artist.  The thought that went into each virgin was amazing.  Each virgin was a good woman, but some had stronger testimonies than others.  I played "Malka," a woman who is loyal, but my lamp was so beautiful that I was afraid to take it out in case it would break it.  Instead I put it on display in my home for all my friends to admire.  Malka is a young girl, 12-18 years old, who is pretty frivolous and silly.  I definitely would not consider myself a "silly" girl, so this role was a little intimidating.

Because I thought it was such a great honor to even be participating in the play, I took everything really seriously.  I had my parts and song memorized within 10 days, which was mostly due to a misunderstanding on my part of when we were supposed to have everything memorized.  Our director is a really talented singer and actress who has played major roles in local musicals, so I soaked in all her advice and thoughts.  Matt actually helped me quite a bit by letting me "perform" in front of him many, many times and giving me advice on how to loosen up more and "become Malka".

After several Saturday and some weeknight rehearsals, I was really happy with the end product of the whole show.  We performed twice; the first was a dress rehearsal in front of family members and the second night was in front of all the women in the stake.  I was the "comic relief" of the show with my twirling and dancing with my lamp.  For a story that is very serious as each virgin reflects on her worthiness to meet the Bridegroom, I think the role of Malka was a welcome reprieve from the seriousness and I got several laughs from the audience.

It was an unforgettable experience that I will always be glad I got the opportunity to be apart of.  I especially enjoyed really being able to reflect on each virgin's nature to look at my own personal worthiness at this time to meet my Savior again some day.  Especially with playing a "foolish" virgin, I got to experience what it might feel like to not be spiritually ready when the Savior comes again.

Overall, just an incredible experience!