Track & Annie

Annie is over.  Track is over.  They were both amazing experiences for K.  Just a little too crazy to try to do simultaneously.  We are now wiser parents and will avoid that scenario in the future. 

I am happy to have my girl home again after school.  And my babysitter.  And my trusty craftaholic.  And my witty joke teller.  I am grateful that  a little piece of our crazy schedule has settled into normalcy.  As normal as it gets around here, that is.

I have also decided that May is quickly becoming one of my least favorite months.  It seems to get crazier and busier and less predictable every year.  Every kid in school has a handful of end-of-the-year performances and open houses and sporting events and awards ceremonies and field trips and graduations.  I cringe to think of what next year might be like with four in school--the eldest in high school.  I enjoy being witness to the growth the kids are making, I just wish it was spaced out a little better so it wasn't such tag team marathon for the whole family.  But from what I hear, there's no slowing down from here on out.  So I suppose I'll just have to increase my stride.

Speaking of which, check out that girl.  She was not about to let the girl in red beat her.  Which explains why she kept qualifying for all these extra Saturday meets.  Once she got over her initial "everything hurts" phase of track, she began to enjoy running.

She took great pride in besting her own personal record, trying to always out-perform herself.

It was really fun to watch that healthy competitive spirit grow, to see her "I can do better" determination increase.  I hope she always remembers that she can do hard things, that hard things give her the chance to progress and learn.

And I have no idea why her knees look so . . . bruised . . . or dirty.  But I am proud of my girl.

For Annie, I became the unofficial, volunteer digital designer and photographer.  I made the posters and the tickets and this fake logo.  Which is not, in fact, a copyright infringement because I designed it from scratch.  I just happened to use a similar font and similar colors.  And a photo of our adorable Annie and her trusty companion Sandy, who panted better than any junior high canine I have ever seen.  And the fact that she is the only junior high canine I have seen does not diminish her accomplishment one bit.

The cast for this production went through a ton of changes.  Because the actors would wander around campus instead of coming to rehearsal.  So what's left here are the dependable kids.  The ones who followed through and were willing to play multiple roles to make the show a success.

Dress rehearsal.  I volunteered to come to this so that I could help.  I sewed on a lot of patches and ironed lots and lots of aprons.  (For the record, there are way too many maids in this play.  Have I mentioned how much I hate ironing?)  But my secret agenda was to take pictures.  Which I was also able to accomplish.

I loved the orphans.  They were so good at being mean to each other.  And they totally rocked hard knock life.

One of my favorite candids.

Playing with imaginary cards.

Eating fake bugs.  Not during dress rehearsal, fortunately.  It's a dangerous thing to let 13-year-olds have carte blanche during a spontaneous photo session just before opening night.



K and one of her BFFs who is not so happy that we are moving.  These two girls have been friends for the last eight years.  They worked together in the cafeteria this whole school year.  This will be a tough separation.

My poor little happy orphan.  Who also doubled as a maid for Daddy Warbucks.  Who had some serious stage presence, I must say.  During opening night, a couple of the actors lapsed into a laughing fit during one of their scenes.  Major cringe, right?  But Daddy Warbucks stayed in character through it all and even made up a few lines to get everything back on track.

The whole cast.  Such a great bunch.  And Miss Hannigan had a show stopping voice.  That girl could really sing!

All set up for the dinner show.  I love the city skyline they made for the walls.  It was really quite the fancy affair.

This is during warm ups before one of the shows.

I can't say enough good things about the drama coach.  She was seriously amazing.  The things she had to put up with from both sides--the students and the administration--would have sent me running for the hills.  But she navigated through all the obstacles and brought the whole production together beautifully.  And she gave these kids an amazing experience that they will remember for the rest of their lives.  I LOVE teachers like that!!

The thing I love about this photo is how it captures the pre-show excitement.

And this one where she's hugging her daughter who successfully navigated her way into a non-speaking orphan role for closing night.

These are the days of K's life.  I hope she gets to be a part of many more positive activities during her years in high school.  And I hope that they don't run me ragged.