The Way It Ought to Be

My son participates in a an extracurricular school for the arts and every year about this time they do a revue with the various age groups.  The theme this year was America, and this little group did some great little numbers

They were so sweet.  Each came forward and sang little solos, including "God Bless America."

I loved it, but it also made me cry.

These are kindergarteners.

This is the way kindergarteners should be spending a Saturday before Christmas.

cindy

Chance Encounters

This is Emma.

I was sitting in a local theater waiting for the show from the Do Re Mi School of the Arts.  (My son loves performing.)  I felt a little hand tap on my hand and looked over to see this adorable but serious little face standing in front of the seat next to me.  She said: "Would you mind holding my seat down while I sit?  The seat makes me nervous that I might fall on the floor."  She immediately made me smile.

She told me her name (Emma), that she is 4 years old, and was attending the performance with her sister and babysitter.  They were there to see Mary, the babysitter's sister.  "Do you know Mary?" she asked.

She kept talking. "I have definitely been here before.  I remember those chairs and that piano."  She pointed to the props on stage.  "Yes, I've definitely been here before."  I introduced her to my daughter, who was sitting to my left.  Mackenzie was immediately charmed by this little girl.

By this time Emma was becoming more comfortable with me, and asked if I would tie the ribbon on her dress.  Then she started to get silly.

She and Mackenzie got the giggles and then she wanted to make faces.

(By this time her big sister was having fun too.)

When the show was ready to start, the lights went down and Emma put her hand on my arm. "Is this going to be really loud?"  I told her no.  "Will the lights come back on?"  I told her yes.

For the next two hours, I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she giggled, bounced in her chair and clapped for the kids onstage.  Despite the length of the show, she never fidgeted, but sat in her seat watching intently.  When "Mary" finally came onstage, she turned to me: "That's Mary!"

By the end of the show, I couldn't tell which entertained me more, the kids on the stage or the one sitting next to me.  After the show, she turned to me and said "I have to go now.  Thanks for sitting with me."

My pleasure, Emma.  My pleasure.

cindy

The Happiest Place on Earth

There are some places that you know immediately by sound and smell even if you can't see them.  They instantaneously create feelings and memories that rush in like you just felt or experienced them.  For me, one of those places is Disneyland.

We made our first trip to Disneyland when our kids were 9 months and nearly 3.  They don't remember anything about that trip, but they do remember the subsequent trips we took nearly every year.  Now when we go back it feels like a comfortable sweater - someplace familiar.  Every ride, every store, every part of the park has a memory for me of my kids at various ages.

A couple of weeks ago we went there again.  The St. Bernard Choristers had the privilege of singing at Disneyland.  (This was the big trip we were fundraising for.)  It was a new experience and very special because it was a place we knew so well.  We did get to see a new part of Disneyland because we were able to go "backstage".   It seemed so . . . ordinary.  What was extraordinary was seeing my husband direct his children's choir and watch my daughter sing a solo.  Funny thing about that song - after the beginning of the song (which is my daughter's first solo) the music track suddenly stopped.  My clever and talented husband didn't miss a beat - he jumped over to the piano and finished the song!  Here's both parts of the song:

Life is not always perfect, but Disneyland is still the Happiest Place on Earth!

cindy

A Visit Back in Time

Some of you may have read that we traveled to California last week for a choral festival in San Juan Capistrano.  While the kids were in rehearsal, Christian and I toured the historic Mission of San Juan Capistrano.

Founded in 1776 by the Franciscan friars, it includes the oldest standing building in California, Father Serra's chapel.

 
This is the place the swallows fly to every March on St. Joseph's day (March 19).  I have seldom visited places so beautiful.

This is the original mission church, which collapsed in the 1800s.

Christian was not really interested in going in for the tour (he wanted to sit in the car with his iPod Touch), but once he was inside, he loved it!

My favorite part was that you could stay there forever, thinking about all the people of faith who lived there.

I could stay there for hours exploring the little corners and places that were so peaceful and serene.

There are so many other pictures I took, but they would fill a book.  In the meantime, if you're in southern California, this is someplace you must see.

cindy

Fundraising Follies

This weekend, we are going on a trip to California for my husband’s business.  He is a church music director and his children’s choir is singing at a festival and Disneyland!  Being the music director’s wife is like being a pastor’s wife – you’re expected to lead in supporting the ministry.  Sooo, I became the unofficial chair of the fundraising committee – a committee of two with my dear Katie to help.  We both work full time outside of the home so we were a bit handicapped out of the gate.  In fact, we didn’t start fundraising until after the first of the year.

Our big fundraiser was a multi-basket raffle.  We assembled baskets with themes and sold raffle tickets that the purchaser used to pick the basket(s) he or she wanted.  I enlisted the choir moms to either create entire baskets or donate items to include in a basket.  Some of the “complete” baskets were 25 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, a tool set, a spa basket, and a cooking basket complete with fancy kitchen supplies.  The other baskets were assembled by Katie and I and included individual items we put together.  We made a “Mom Relief “ basket that included perfume, jewelry, picture frames and thank you notes and a homemade teddy bear.  We also assembled a “Scrapbook” basket where we broke into our stashes and came up with albums, stickers, paper, tools, embellishments and a certificate for a day crop at a local scrapbook cottage. 

I learned several things about basket raffles: 
1.  If you ask people to put together a whole basket, let them choose the theme. 
2.  Ask people to donate items, group them together and create your own theme.  We had a “Religious Items” basket (complete with reserved parking and a front pew for Christmas and Easter). 
3.  Don’t be limited by the obvious themes – restaurant, manicure, movie gift certificates (although those are great), but use your imagination!  Our baskets included, among other things, a Scentsy warmer, homemade booties and a bag of Dove chocolate. 
4.  “Regifting” is encouraged!  It's best use of a gift you don’t want/need. 
5.  Don’t be afraid to ask local businesses!  We had donations from salons, a scrapbook cottage, a well-known Nascar driver, a photographer and a casino. 
6.  Think outside the box – what about a gift certificate for dry cleaning, grocery store, house cleaning services, the local hardware store, even babysitting from some teens at the church? 
7.  You don’t have to have a “big ticket” item in the baskets.  We did have a couple of baskets that included tickets to sporting events and a trip to Cancun, but those weren’t even the most popular baskets.  The most popular was the “Foodie” basket with bottles of wine, wine glasses, snacks and local restaurant gift certificates. 

The best part was that over a three week period of selling tickets after our masses, we raised over $6,000!  That was before the “tried and true” bake sale we had on Super Bowl Sunday.  Tomorrow I will give you some of the best tips I learned for bake sales.

cindy

Rush, Rush, Rush

We're in the thick of it now.  It's like a tidal wave that will carry you away if you're not careful, and you'll end up on that desert island, but you will get beat up getting there.  Of course I'm talking about Christmas season.  Are you under the tidal wave or riding the wave?

My husband is a church music director so the pressure of December has a whole different meaning.  There is no such thing as Christmas vacation.  He's busy preparing for 6 masses for Christmas (including 2 that occur at the same time!)  He has five choirs and two cantors.  There's a concert on Sunday and he's been working like a dog on it.  He just finished producing a CD featuring the two cantors and it goes on sale this weekend.  In addition to the concert on Sunday (in which both my daughter and I are singing), my son is in a holiday concert on Saturday completely unrelated to church. Yep, it's a little hectic.

I am having fun, though.  My kids are enjoying the Advent calendar and are looking forward to adding a person to our nativity every night.  Santa is still a big deal, but they recognize that mom and dad also give them gifts (so they have two lists for Christmas).  I'm going to write a Christmas letter for the first time in years and I should be mailing my Christmas cards before December 23.  I actually get to eat Christmas dinner!  Oh, and Jesus is coming too.  It's going to be a blessed Christmas!

I may not be riding on top of that tidal wave, but I think I'm body surfing without getting tossed on the beach.  Ho, ho, ho!

cindy