Munchkins, Flying Monkeys and The Wizard of Oz

About a month ago I was waiting for my friend to bring her kids over as I was going to babysit them while she worked with a few others from the ward on a community service project at the clothing bank in Radford. She showed up, the kids piled out of the car and she proceeded to tell me that Bro. Turpin just called to let her know that at 10:30 the high school was holding auditions for Munchkins for the musical 'The Wizard of Oz'. She knew 2 of her children wanted to be in the play and I knew that some of mine would want to be in it too. I told her to go on to the clothing bank and I would corral 8 children to the high school so they could audition. (yes, I was overwhelmed with this thought, as 2 of the kids were age 2 and under, but it turned out fine, they all behaved very well.) Thus started a month long marathon of play practices (2 weeks) and performances (the remaining 2 weeks). They all had a great time. Delaney, Connor and Cailin were cast for different parts, Connor was in the Lollipop Guild and a flying monkey. Delaney was cast to be in the Lullabye League and Cailin got a speaking part during the Munchkin's scene. After a week or so of practicing Delaney became overly frightened of the Wicked Witch and no longer wanted to be in the play. She liked and grew attached to one of the high school students, Emily Landreth, who played Glenda, --she tried to convince Delaney that the wicked witch wasn't real. We took her to meet the witch with out costume and makeup--no luck, she wasn't go to budge. She was too frightended and no amount of logic was going to calm her fears. I thought she would change her mind later, but she never did. She was quite happy to watch the play and not be in the play. Everyone in the family attended the last performance Saturday night. A special suprise visitor came too...Cheri, who flew in from SLC for a suprise visit to all of us east coast family members, was able to come see the play too. (She and Elizabeth have been schemeing for a few months on this suprise. I knew Elizabeth was going to come for the weekend show--what a treat to have Cheri here too.)

Munchkin friends-- Maggie Taylor, Clarissa Mattson, Cailin, Jared Mattson, and Connor.

These guys all knew each other before the play as they go to church together. Another added bonus of participating in the play was the new friends Cailin and Connor got to make. During the performances, while waiting for turn to perform their scenes, they played hand held games with other 'muchkins' . They especially enjoyed playing with the 'mayor'.

"Come out, come out, where ever you are, and see the young lady who fell from a star" Sings Glenda to the Munchkins. Cailin and Clarissa creep from their hiding places as Glenda encourages them to come and meet Dorothy.

Dorothy explains to the Munchkins how her house came to land on the Wicked Witch of the East. The Munchkins then retell the story to us...."the house began to pitch, the kitchen to a slitch--it landed on the wicked witch in the middle of a ditch--which is not healthy situation for the wicked witch.....who began to twitch and was reduced to just a stitch of what was once a wicked witch!"

The Muchkins sing and dance about Dorothy..."Ding Dong the witch is dead, which o witch? The wicked witch. Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is dead! Wake up you sleepy head--rub your eyes get out of bed. Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is dead. She gone where the goblins go, below, below, below, yoho so open up and sing and ring the bells out...ding dong the merry o. Sing it high, sing it low--let them know the wicked witch is dead! "

The Mayor, Barrister and 2 Munchkins sing and welcome Dorothy and comtemplate the fact the the witch must be "certifiably dead" before more celebration could go on. Cailin's part was to sing.... that the witch was "spiritually, physically" dead. she had other 'one liners' to add. After one of the practices I asked both Connor and Cailin if they were enjoying themselves. Connor said he didn't want to do this again, he didn't like all the time contraints. Cailin however, said she loved being on stage, especially when the audience was big.

Okay, this picture is out of context, this is curtain call at the end of the show. Oops.

Here is the Lollipop Guild. "We represent Lollipop Guild, the lollipop guild, the lollipop guild and in the name of the lollipop guild, we welcome you today to muchkin land." (Technically this is out of order too, as this scene happened before the Mayor scene.)

Jared and Connor also got to play as one of the witch's flying monkey. They had a grand time running up and down the isles of the theather, jumping up and down from the stage, tearing apart the Scarecrow and harrasing the Tinman.

If you take all the improvisasion of the play going on here at the house and the contant singing of the songs by all the kids, I'd have to say this was a wonderful experience for them. Hopefully more will come our way....actually Cailin will be starting play practices for "Joesph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat" which will be performed in August. Stay tuned for more theathre fun. ( A special thanks to Jen and Toni for the extra pictures as mine didn't turn out so well.!)

Don't Eat Pete

This is a funny name for the kid's favorite Family Home Evening game....nevertheless, Don't Eat Pete is a winner in our house. (What makes this particular day of playing it so memorable was that our dog, Pete, tore into half of my tomato seedlings and I really did want to harm the furry version of Pete yesterday.)

How to play:
This game is played by placing a piece of candy on each of the squares on the game board. (ours is a 6 square by 4 square grid--you could add more squares) One person is selected to leave the room. Those remaining in the room agree on which square will be "Pete". The player who left the room is them brought back in. He/she gets to take the candy off any square, in any order. Nothing is said until he/she tries to take the candy off the square that has been designated as "Pete" then all the other players yell, "Don't eat Pete" That player's turn is then over and the next player leaves the room to start the game again.

I'm not sure what the allurement of this game is for the kids, probably the candy fest or the fact that some of the kids get scared half out of their whit's when they all shout "Don't eat Pete" (we've had tears a time or two because some of them were frightened, yet they want to play it over and over again.) We've used mini marshmallows, M&M's, chocolate chips and jellybeans. Such a simple game, but they love it.

Delaney discovers Pete and hides from the shouts.

Opportunities for Service

The past week has brought about a few opportunities of service that have been wonderful. On the 8th we headed to the hospital to share get well cards we had made with patients in the long term care unit. While there, we also had the opportunity to visit with 2 therapy dogs that frequently visit these patients as well. We enjoyed petting and learning about the training required for dogs to become therapy dogs.
May 14th, Ryan, Barry and I woke early...very early (3:15am) to travel to the Washington DC temple. There, along with Granny Hale we were able to do baptristy work for 20+ of Barry's ancestors. Although it was a very long day it was wonderful, especially because Ryan was with us. On the way home we stopped at Cracker Barrel for a late lunch, mmmm I love their potatoe casserole. Very Yummy. Barry enjoyed a wonderful steak and Ryan ate french toast. Beulah ate chicken dumplings, but I'd have to say hers are better. A day later, after we'd been home for a while, I asked Ryan if he had a good day. He said that he felt the spirit, that his chest was about to busrt within him while he was there. Ahh, that made me so happy to hear. A huge thanks to Jen and Chris Mattson, they gave up a good nights sleep (and the next day) so the other kids wouldn't have to wake up early to travel to their home for the day. Apparently Liam wasn't very happy to not be able to find me in the middle of the night and woke up the whole household for a hour or so. Chris was the lucky one and walked the floors--and even outside until he finally fell back to sleep. The lack of sleep apparently didn't affect the kids too terribly, as they were all up by 6 am, with their school work done by 8:30 am. During "normal school hours" they created nature books and discovered the wonders of trees, weeds and other plants. Connor especially liked this as he's interested in studying botany.

The latest big act of service was Connor making dinner for us tonight. It wasn't a ramean noodle or mac and cheese dinner, he made instant mashed potatoes with gravy (cooked and served in my tea kettle ;), stuffing, skillet fried chicken, green beans and milk. It tasted very good. I think I have a blooming chef on my hands. (yesterday he made a cake from a mix with scratch made cream cheese frosting.) And at this moment, as I write this entry, the kids are all working well together hand washing the dishes--we're out of dish washer detergent. I love these times when they all work and play so well together. I'll just have to remember this feeling when the fight breaks out later. :)

At the hospital delivering the hand made cards.
They each created 2 cards each. There was one gentleman who was very touched by the visit, I wish we could visit him more, he seemed so lonely.

Here the kids are introdued to the therapy dogs. They are Newfoundland dogs, and they were great.

Both Cailin and Delaney loved and hugged the dogs often.

Cinco de Mayo

Every Tuesday my friend and I present a preschool lesson for our younger kids. This is usually literature based however, this week's lesson came from a holiday celebrated in parts of Mexico. Cinco de Mayo. We had a muy bien fiesta!! We learned about some of the foods that are eaten in Mexico, some of their customs and history.

Enjoying some yummy freiole's de negro, queso, tortilla's, and a really yummy guacamole.....Mmmmm Nacho's! For dessert we had Tres Leches Cake.

A fiesta is not complete with out a pinata. Jared was the artist who created this one. A Sunny de Sol.

Liam's not one to be left out. The pinata may as well be 93,000,000 miles away, but he had fun trying to hit it anyway.

The hanger of the pinata didn't support a complete round of "hitters", Jen's a brave one to hold it so the older kids could have their chance. Connor was a great sport, he didn't get a chance, but they all had fun gathering the goodies from the broken remains.

After the pinata fun the kids make maraca's out of tissue paper, toilet paper rolls, beans and rice.

The girls showing off their maracas and goodies. What a fun way to learn some history of a neighboring country!

A Court of Honor

Ryan has been busy working for the past year and a half on many merit badges. Today, he was awarded them at a Court of Honor.

Here are them merit badges he has earned so far:

Emergency Prepardness
Hiking
Family Life
Basketry
Indian Lore
Drafting
Wood Carving
Riflery
Mammal Studies
Citizenship in the World
Leather Work
First Aid

He is now a 2nd class scout. After two more campouts he will be a 1st class scout.
He's and his friend Anthony are the only ones in the unit.
Above picture is with Scout Master Mike Turpin. Below he's with his Young Mens President Rick Fisher. These men are wonderful and have been a great influence on Ryan. Inspiring and encouraging him to achieve his Eagle and Duty to God award....and just being a wonderful young man. Ryan's doing that, he's so attentive to his duties of the priesthood. He's particularly attentive to the homebound families in our ward. A tender gentle side comes out when he is in their service.

A Stroll Through Geneology

Last Sunday, after church we took advantage of the wonderful weather and visited family of the past. Barry and his mother are diligently working to gather family names and dates to get needed temple work done for her side of the family. Many of these people were buried in a few cemeterys in Wythe County. That's not very far, so off we went. Connor fried some chicken. I made a yummy fruit coleslaw type salad and Beulah contibuted a delicious potato salad. Ohhh this is going to be a wonderful meal.

Here Delaney and Cailin meet their Great-Grandfather James Alanzo Hale, this is Paw-Paw's dad.

The more we talk about Grandpa Alanzo, Delaney's tender side came through. The kids got to "meet" many family members from both sides of Barry's family.

Cotton grew up in a little place called Cripple Creek, VA. Here's Cripple Creek, the drive through the area was especially beautiful, I loved the spring trees in bloom.

Here is the home Cotton lived in as a child. After their marriage, Cotton and Beulah spent their first year or so here too.

So many stories....I need to find a way to get them down on paper. I'm sure the kids will want to remember them and to share with their kids too.

This is an iron ore smellting building. This is a few hundred feet down the road from the childhood home. James Alanzo worked here.