Nathanael started the month of madness in New York. He went with the high school Chamber choir on tour. He was able to attend a couple of Broadway shows that he loves. He was able to go to his favorite of all time- "Les Miserables" and then he also was able to see, "The Phantom of the Opera". I saw "The Phantom of the Opera" on tour with my high school choir and so that was fun for me to have that connection with him. One of the highlights of the trip for him was singing in Carnegie Hall as the feature choir. He said it was "crazy" just before, but that they were able to pull themselves together and perform really well. Nat loves the city and he was able to see some things that really made an impression on him like the September 11 Memorial. After he got home from tour, he was here for a couple of days and then traveled to St. George, Utah to compete in the State Academic Decathlon competition. He has been the captain of the team this year and he has done a great job. Nat made the team an official club-which no one had done before. He gave them ample opportunities to study the material together, meet with teachers with expertise in each subject, and he had a very optimistic attitude that they could win state. However, he had a couple of people drop out the day before they went to St. George and they had to recruit at the last minute. Nathanael did not get upset or angry, he just tried to help the new recruits as best he could. His team won 3rd place in the large school category. Nathanael was able to win 8 different medals and scored the highest on his team and was able to win $100.00 toward his college education. (Maybe he can get a book with that money :) Nat had worked very hard and so we were really excited for him to be so successful. Overall, Nat's "March madness" was crazy but very good.
Lindsay also had a month of madness. She first performed in our stake "A Night on Broadway" with Clarissa and myself. She performed in "Lullaby on Broadway", "We Go Together", and "You Can't Stop the Beat". She is a natural performer and she sang and danced beautifully. A week later, Lindsay performed in their annual Irish dance recital with Clarissa. The first half of the show is performing their dances that they compete with, and the second half of the recital is a class dance based on an overall theme. The theme this year was Broadway musicals. Her class danced to a song from, "Peter Pan". Lindsay was selected to be Tiger Lily. When I went with her to her teacher's home to get fitted for a costume, her teacher asked me if she does musical theater because she danced and acted so well. She told me that Lindsay's example helped to make everyone else step up to a higher level and so she put their number towards the end because she thought it was well done. This was quite a compliment because her teacher graduated from BYU in musical theater. Lindsay did such a great job and it was so fun to watch her and Clarissa perform so well. Lindsay also played on her Young Women's basketball team and won Region!!!
Ethan's month of madness is mostly because soccer season is starting up again and he decided to participate in track at school. Track has challenged him a bit to push himself. He has track almost everyday after school and then a couple of times each week, he has to go right to soccer practice. I kind of miss seeing him in the afternoons. Ethan has been able to compete in a couple of track meets and he has done fairly well. He feels that track has helped him to get in shape for soccer-which I think it has. He still really enjoys soccer and is having a lot of fun playing with his friends and being coached by Travis and Nathanael. Ethan is growing in leaps and bounds and has passed Lindsay and I up recently.
Clarissa's month of madness was unusually busy. She also performed in the stake "A Night on Broadway" with Lindsay and I. She performed in "A Lullaby on Broadway", "It's a Hard Knock Life", "I Won't Grow Up", and "You Can't Stop the Beat". One night during rehearsal, the director had Clarissa come up in front of everyone and told us that we all need to sing like her. We had been told to sing louder and so Clarissa did. She could be heard over everyone else. She was just doing what she was told to do-she did sound marvelous though! Clarissa also performed in the annual Irish dance recital. She was a "lost girl" and she was so fun to watch! She really gets into character and makes it enjoyable. The week after the recital, Clarissa performed in the school play, "Robin Hood". She played a minstrel which was basically a narrator for the story. She had several lines and she performed really well. One of the directors of the play told her on closing night that she "lit up the stage" when she came on and that he was "blown away" by her performance each night- which made her feel really good. The play was a really good experience for her. She loved going to rehearsal and she loved performing. Clarissa told me that she was sad to have it come to an end.
Zachary's month of madness was going to all these performances!!! He is definitely turning into a little boy and is not just a toddler any more. It is amazing the difference that one year can make. He was very well-behaved during these performances and really seemed to enjoy seeing his siblings on stage.
My "moment of joy" this last month was actually performing with my girls. I had not done anything like that for over 20 years. I really enjoyed doing something with them and being able to spend time with them in a different way. I feel like I am always helping them get ready for their activities and making sure that they are ready for school and church responsibilities and so it was just a joy to actually do something with them and not just for them.
March went by really fast but I am excited to see what the future holds in these coming months!
Cathy
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