A Fall with Friends

Though you wouldn't know it from the silent blog, life has been full and busy through October and November!  Delia gives me regular reminders to write a new post! :)

I'll start with some small talk about the weather.  Our weather did its usual thing this year-- staying triple-digit hot late into the season, until one day it got dramatically cold for a few days!  I think the drastic drop in temp made our color-changing leaves extra beautiful this year.  Around Thanksgiving time is when we get the best color.  It always feels late, but it's always worth the wait.

Halloween weekend was busy for us, so the costumes were figured out at the last minute.  Delia threw this together and cracked us up!

Lots to be thankful for this year!  We thank God especially for the people he has brought into our lives this year-- for my reunion with an old teaching partner who I love, for the new church staff who have been such a blessing to Dave and our church, for new high school friends for the girls, and...for another who I will write about at a later time. ;)  We felt the Lord bless and keep us as we celebrated his goodness this season.  Thanksgiving in preschool is a sweet time.  One of my mom friends sent me this, showing I made their family's Thankful Pumpkin!  Thanksgiving Day was lovely for our family!  One of our new pastors preached, and then we shared a fabulous feast and a day of fellowship and games with some dear friends.

(When you are so in sync with your co-teachers that you unintentionally dress alike!)

But, mostly fall was full of friends!  Every weekend square on our calendar had some group activity written on it.  Ella learned to shoot rifles and handguns at a Harvest Party in her friend's orchard/barn (above).  She proved to be a good markswoman!  Delia donned pink with her friends for a football game (below).

Both girls hosted parties at our house.  Ella held a "Presentation Party" where everyone came with a Power Point slide show answering a goofy question she handed out in advance.  Topics like "Which of my friends would survive a zombie apocalypse" or "Predicting my friends' futures" or "My friends' arch-nemeses".  Dave and I hung out and enjoyed laughing hard with this creative, hilarious, super smart bunch!

Delia hosted a Friendsgiving Dip Party.  Everyone brought their favorite dip to share, with fondue as the dessert.  They too played silly games and filled my home with laughter.

Bowling dates, birthday sleepovers, a night of praise and worship in the cozy barn of one of Delia's friends, and Ella spending each Sunday through the month of November practicing the Messiah with the friends she decided to sing it with were a few of the other opportunities to connect this month!

Probably my favorite time of the day is after dinner-- when the girls sit down together at the dining room table to work on their homework with a mug of hot chocolate.  I'm washing dinner dishes and making the next day's lunches, we're playing "Crazy DJ" with Alexa, and we're laughing about the day's events, chatting about life, and dreaming about the future.  These sweet, everyday moments are numbered, I know, so I'm trying to take them in and cherish them.

Our biggest news this fall is that our March play is already cast!  It's a favorite: Pride and Prejudice!  When the girls auditioned, they had to fill out an application/contract stating what other commitments they had, etc.  When asked to identify what role they most were interested in, Ella wrote a whole page essay on her love for her all time favorite literary heroine, Elizabeth Bennet.   Annd...she landed the part!  This will be such a phenomenal way for Ella to end her high school drama career!  We're pretty delighted the Delia gets to play her SISTER, Kitty!  The cast is a fun one, and though practices won't start for a while, they are already working on their many lines and group texting about what fun off-stage shenanigans they plan. (A little documentary about the making of?  An in-character appearance on a float in our annual Almond Blossom parade??)  We can't wait to watch this one come together!

Theater Memories

I'm determined to make this Senior Season more sweet than bitter!  Yesterday the girls and I loved taking a walk down memory lane, looking back at all the old production pictures and videos.  Here are 14 little highlights of Ella on stage.

 

1.  5th grade

Tom Sawyer

Ella played Cousin Mary

2.  7th grade

Junie B. Jones

Ella learned the joy of being in the ensemble

3.  8th grade

Alice in Wonderland

Ella played Cheshire Cat 1, the narrator

4.  8th grade

Annie Get Your Gun

Ella played Little Nellie, LOVING her first high school production!

5. Freshman

Singin' In the Rain

Ella played Dora Bailey

6.  Freshman

Women In War

Ella played a Donut Gal

7.  Freshman

Meet Me in St. Louis

Ella played the grumpy Mrs. Waughop

8.  Sophomore

Anne of Green Gables

Ella played Anne Shirley!

9.  Sophomore

Aladdin

Ella served as a high school mentor for this middle school show that was lost to Covid

10.  Sophomore

Broadway Showcase

Ella sang and danced in most of the songs, including "Another Day of Sun", "She's in Love", "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat", "Status Quo", "Loathing", "One Day More" and "Believer".

11.  Junior

Hello Dolly

Ella played the hilarious Ernestina Money (and also danced in the ensemble)

12.  Junior

The Imaginary Invalid

Ella played Toinette and stole the show.  We still all say this was our favorite production!

13.  Junior

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Ella served as the stage manager and high school mentor for this middle school musical

14.  Senior

The Sound of Music

Ella was a nun/Nazi/partygoer

And....15?!  Our spring drama is Pride & Prejudice, Ella's FAVORITE book and movie!  She's so excited this was the choice for her final appearance on her high school stage.  Stay tuned!

Take a Bow!

After Friday's performance, one friend found us afterward and shared a funny story.  She brought her dad to the show and he said, "I can't believe how well those von Trapp kids move their mouths to the music!"  She said, "No Dad, they are actually singing!"  The vocals were that good.  No actor in this show was weak-- every single one nailed their character and met, even exceeded!, our expectations with the so-well-known songs!  The thunderous applause, and the after show accolades from friends were so well deserved!

  

Delia doing what she was born to do-- bow to an audience screaming for her! ;)

Our sweet von Trapp children, who would have stolen the show if Maria, the Captain, Elsa, the nun chorus, and Mother Abbess weren't also so phenomenal!

The 40+ cast and crew

Our special Seniors.  Their last big musical is the first of many lasts for them this year.  After bows, our director acknowledged them, cried over them, made a little speech about each of them, and blessed them.  In Ella's tribute, our director praised her for being the "Poster Child for Theater" at our school.  Ella was complimented for her onstage gifts (being an amazing character actor who can play both funny and serious) and for her offstage gifts (her eloquent leadership style, often the well-spoken voice for the whole group).  How I've loved watching this group tell stories these past 8 years; what joy it's given me to cheer for each of them shining in their own perfect-for-them part.  They will always be my favorite versions of Sheldon, Dolly, Tootie, Mother Abbess, Maria, and Anne Shirley!

Our dear director, Mrs. M., who has poured so much into my kids in this extra-curricular activity!

Best friends Kate and Tessa

Delia's larger friend group-- including 4 new friends she's "recruited" this year!  Delia loves collecting the new kids and giving them a place to belong in her friend group!

Some of the sister and Nazi friends Delia loved sharing a stage with this season!

Old and young fans!  Our dear friend Megan came in from college to root for the kids she used to mentor in drama.  And Delia's best little church buddy Jade was too cute finding her on the stage afterwards for a hug and picture.

Best friends Marina and Maya

Ruth, one of Ella's oldest and dearest friends, who KILLED it playing Maria!

Silly Senior picture recreations!

Ben

Lots of versions of sisters in this play. Here are the real ones!

I was expecting to weep at Closing Night, but the feeling has been one of JOY and it was my voice screaming cheers, more than my tear ducts, that got put to use!  This play is such a fun one and the cast had the best time together!  The von Trapp children became their own little family.  Delia told me the kids all went to the coffee shop one day after school and before practice and ordered their drinks in their character names, so the barista had to call out "Liesl!  Brigitta!  Louisa!" The final bows always ended with a rousing, whole-cast dance party to "Do a Deer" onstage.  And impromptu worship times around the piano, breakout games of Nitro Ball in the gym during down time, and compliment circles backstage before performances were a regular occurrence.  I love the community that grows as a show comes together!  And this was another special one.

My Heart Will Be Blessed

This year Ella's class, which contains arguably our school's most talented and seasoned actors, takes their final bows.  Because this class has been SO well represented in drama and has had a large part in building our program to the amazing thing it is today, our director wanted to give them a gift.  She said, "Every high schooler in drama should have the chance to perform in The Sound of Music."  This was Mrs. M.'s first play and one she holds dear to her heart.  She wanted to direct her beloved seniors in it before they graduated.  Ten of the cast members were seniors, all of them friends Ella has grown close to in the many productions she's shared with them over the years and all of them crazy gifted.

But, don't think Little Sister took a back seat to Ella's senior spotlight!  Delia, for the first time, landed the exact part she auditioned for and dreamed about-- Louisa von Trapp!  She just loved being a member of the family and finally getting her own lead role!  The family is the heart of this story, so most of the pictures are of her.  She only had a few minutes when she was not on stage with her siblings! 

The show opens in a BIG way with our jaw-droppingly talented nun chorus singing their Latin and "Alleluia" prelude.  They spread out around the auditorium, standing up and down the aisles, so the surround sound was just magnificent!

(The show is so familiar, I'm not going to spend lots of time recapping and posting pictures of every part.  We all know the nuns have a problem with Maria and we know she's sent away to be a governess...)  When she meets the von Trapp children, they are not so sweet.  Mischievous Louisa tries to trick Maria into thinking she is her sister.

When Maria tries to teach them to sing, they are skeptical.

But, they are won over by her kindness and music lessons about tea with jam and bread.

The kids grow to trust Maria enough to make a late night visit to her room when they get scared.

Musical shenanigans ensue!

Liesl also kisses Rolf while singing about how aging works and Maria's curtains give her fashion inspiration.

Their strict Captain Dad does not love that his kids have been running around wearing curtain clothes, no matter how much fun they are having with their new governess.

A beautiful song wins him over as his heart is blessed with the sound of music and memories.

The children meet the glamorous Elsa.  Louisa tries to tell her that she's Marta in a scene that gets a laugh.

And then it's time to party!  Ella gets to swap out her nun habit for a ballgown as she waltzes at the party with a special guest-- Ben returning to the stage for this little appearance!

The children sing goodbye to the party guests with lyrics and choreography featuring coo coo clocks, super high notes, champagne requests, and ballet moves. (Note the girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes! :)

"Goodbyyyyyyyeeee..." 

But then things take a sad turn when their beloved Maria has the Fear of Love put into her and she runs back to abbey.

Having received some encouragement from Mother Abbess in the form of a song about mountain climbing, though, she returns!  And yay!  A wedding, after a kissing scene that had everyone squealing!

Lots of changes for the von Trapps when they return from their honeymoon-- the Nazis are drafting the Captain and the children are singing in a festival.

For this scene, Ella throws off the habit once again and slides on the swastika as she changes into one of the Nazi guards at the concert.  The von Trapp Family Singers win the festival and use the opportunity to escape to the abbey, where they confront Rolf and are rescued by their sisters.

Mother Abbess and the nuns remind them that if they lift their eyes to the hills, their help comes from the Lord and the family bravely crosses the Alps on foot, marching out through the auditorium aisle.  

And then we swallow the lump in our throat.  Is it this powerful, familiar, inspiring, true story that triggers the tears?  Or is it watching my Delia absolutely shine on stage and exude the joy of doing the thing she most loves to do?  Or is it seeing Ella highlighted in the program and take the very last bow of the night being the senior with the longest drama resume; remembering the FOURTEEN plays she has been a part of and how each one molded her character, offstage even more than on, giving her challenges to conquer, leadership skills to develop, new friends, and opportunities to use her gifts to glorify God?  It's all these things combined, I believe.  My heart was blessed with this one and my Drama Mama pride soared as high as the mountains sung about!