Last year I put Brynn in the East Valley Millenial Choir Organization (EVMCO). Marty and I have been to a bunch of their concerts and they are SO edifying. They sing in the the best concert halls available and the aim of the organization in excellence in music; classical, sacred, patriotic, etc. The main attraction is the adult choir which is truly just one step down from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. But several children's and youth choirs perform on their own and alongside the adults as well.
I think Brynn really enjoyed her time in it. The drive is the biggest downside, but it's only a once-weekly commitment so that was fine. At first she loved it and then she wasn't so sure she wanted to stick it out because the choir director was so strict. She got called out several times (for sneezing, having a frog in her throat, and raising her hand to use the bathroom!) in front of everyone and I think she was just starting to crumble under the weight of all the structure. She has a very can't-we-all-just-love-and-watch-the-butterflies type of personality. But you know, so did I as a kid, and being pushed and taught discipline in music was probably the best thing for me. But just as I predicted, it was all over for Brynn when it came time for the performances and she caught the bug. Now she's excited for the next semester in the choir.
This year they did they did Mendelssohn's Elijah Oratorio (there is Handel's Messiah and this is THE other oratorio). Mendelssohn is one of my absolute favorite composers so that was exciting for me. This was also somewhat of a historic performance of it because they transformed it to be a bit more like an opera (more staging, costumes, etc) which the director says there is considerable evidence that that's a bit more how Mendelssohn intended it to be. The other cool thing was that this was an opportunity for a rite of passage with Brynn in the Oldham family - I took her on a couple dates those Thursdays to buy her first two cheap classical CDs! My dad's and my favorite past-time! She picked Tchaikovsky. Yum. My kids, especially Brynn, can identify a number of classical composers and their works but I'm feeling like there is so much more I can do in that area. It's one of the greatest gifts my parents ever gave me.
Also in April Bryce finally had a friend birthday party! Two years ago we had the invitations all ready to go out and we got in the car and he threw up. So we decided to put it off a week to let a stomach flu run it's course and then Camille was born a week early, so we just bagged it. Last year we once again made up invitations and threw them out when we headed up to UT that weekend for my grandma's birthday. But we had a family bday party up there at a Carl's Jr and it was perfect and so much fun. But he still really wanted to have a friend party so we pulled out all the stops.
Well actually, just one of the stops. We got a dang bounce house. The thing I thought I'd never do. But I thought about all those boys running around my house and wondered what on Earth I was going to do with them. Then as I started researching prices I was really surprised at how affordable it actually was. So I asked him if this was what he wanted for his birthday present and he said yes! It was SO. Much. Fun.
They called me the day before and asked if they could set it up that night because it was going to be busy the next day. So when Marty and Brynn and I got home that night at 11:00 from her concert and saw that thing set up in the back yard...well, naturally we spent a fair amount of time jumping our hearts out. Then the next day they came back for it pretty late so we paid for 6 hours but had it for almost 24!
There's sweet Taylor being a great sport about being the only girl there.
It's so cool that we can easily invite cousins to things like this these days!
The Littles did pretty well with all the action.
Pizza, root beer, Star Wars cupcakes and ice cream.
The chameleon had a birthday 2 days later! I can't believe she's two. She is hard to shop for because I have a hard time going to the boy's section of the toy store for such a beautiful girl! But she does love this Frozen microphone from Grandma and Grandpa. She can sing all the songs. Brynn sang them with her every night in her crib.
She also loves to snuggle the daylights out of her new huge stuffed dog.
Her birthday was pretty laid back. My mom and I took her shopping for a couple presents and then to the Chick-fil-a play place. She HATED the playplace. She refused to step foot in there if I wasn't in there with her. So that part was a bit of a let-down but that's ok.
I said it's enough!! It's all too much for a brand new two year old!
Marty's mom, my dad, and I had April birthdays too (that's why we just refer to it as "cake month"). My birthday was on of my favorites I have ever had. My mom had only lived in AZ for a couple weeks at that point. We went shopping and I bought a couple cute things at DownEast Basics. Then my mom took the Littles home with her and I stayed to meet Marty on a LUNCH DATE. What?! What's that? Then after Marty got home from work we all went to dinner at my fave restaurant, Joe's Farm Grill and sat out by the trees. Then came home and had cake and ice cream. The next day I wanted to wake up and just pinch myself, it was all too good to be true. Dramatic, yes, but I think I had just started to repress hope and how much I actually did want to live closer to my parents someday and I couldn't believe it was actually happening.
Later that month while the boys were off on their father-son campout, the girls and I transformed my old dollhouse from this:
to this!! It was cheap and easy! The only thing we bought was a square of laminate and a rug for the upstairs carpet. The paint was leftovers from various parts of the house that I mixed and messed with and the wallpaper is just some scrapbook paper.
My favorite parts were the displays. Brynn is so sweet and imaginative and funny. This did exactly what I was hoping for; over summer break she totally got back into her dolls and lived right here in front of this house. But just like last year, now that she's back in school it doesn't get used as much (boo!).
An awesome Spring! And now I am going to skip some months and start putting summer vacations etc. on Throwback Thursdays or something.
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