So, we are celebrating my husband's birthday today and throughout the weekend.
Tonight was chillin' at Starbucks after work then out for a nice supper at our favourite restaurant called Cravings.
Tomorrow night, dinner at his parents' house.
Friday night out to the condo in Canmore.
Saturday a nice long bike ride through the mountains on new bikes!!
And right now? Off to snuggle with the birthday boy on the couch with a cup of tea to watch the hockey game...
So, my youngest is off to Cuba.
She went with her school's Mission Team to build a playground for children in an orphanage. She has been counting down the days and this last week nearly did her in. She has such a big heart and so badly wants to help others.
Ashley went with a great group of kids who want to share God's love through their service to others.
They will be gone for 14 days.
I know she will come back changed.
God Bless you Baby!
So, the girls' high school play is over.
It has been the center of our lives for more than a couple of weeks. This week has actually felt a little strange with so much 'extra time'. Or rather, time to catch up on all the other things that were being put on the back burner due to the Cinderella play.
The girls poured their hearts and souls into this play and I couldn't be more proud. Jessica was the head stage manager. Her responsibilities included
scheduling and running rehearsals
communicating the director's wishes to cast and crew (approximately 60 people in all)
coordinating the work of the stage crew
calling cues and actors' entrances during performance
During the rehearsal phase, stage managers also
mark out the dimensions of the set on the floor of the rehearsal hall
make sure rehearsal props and furnishings are available for the actors
notify the designers and crafts people of changes made in rehearsal
As you can see, she had a lot of responsibility.
Ashley was the Head of Costumes. Because this was a period play, the costumes were very specific and could not be handmade (at least not with our small school budget). So, she had to oversee the rental of the costumes and then all of the alterations necessary to accommodate each of the individual actors...and there were about 30 actors! Even during the day of Opening Night, she was still making adjustments and solving issues for the cast members.
Over the past four months, the girls had rehearsals after school on an average of 3 times per week as well as all day on the Saturdays. The last two days before the play opened, they spent roughly 14 hours working at school on the play.
Oh, but what a glorious result! My husband and I attended on Opening Night, along with the girls' grandparents, and we were blown away. It meant so much to me to see it all come together, knowing the time and effort that everyone had put in, the problems that had to be ironed out, the unexpected surprises and realizations that arose and the intricacies of working with teenagers.
There was no photography allowed during the presentation, but being a teacher at the school, I am going to get my hands on the pictures taken by the tech crew at some point! So, I have no pictures to share now, but as soon as they are in my possession, I will share them here.
On the final night, Jessica presented roses (pictured above) to all of the teachers involved. And she, in return was honoured with flowers as well.
It is a good thing that our Spring Break begins this coming week as we all need to recuperate and destress from the play, but at the same time, we will look back on this experience as a highlight of our girls' last days in high school.
So, this fall my daughter is going to the same university I attended.
It doesn't seem like 20 years ago! But I guess since I have been teaching for 17 years already, it is entirely possible. Wow, time flies.
Last night we attended an information night at the university. I felt 20 years younger visiting my old stomping grounds. It sure brought back a lot of memories...all good ones!
I am excited for Jessica to make this transition from high school to post secondary education. I remember it being such a freeing experience. I felt so grown up. I was making my own decisions about everything.
Having grown up on the farm, this was quite a transition for me to come to the big city. But I remember loving every minute of it. I looked forward to going home to my parents during the holidays, but I loved having my independence too.
And now, I want those same positive feelings for my daughter. I want her to see how she is in control of her life, and not to be apprehensive, but to embrace the opportunity that this transition brings. I want her to feel the freedom and feel that she is entering adulthood and feel that she can do anything.
...and we will be right here to support and love her.
So, we celebrated with my Dad this past weekend.
I created this card for him and attached it to the top of the gift.
I made the manilla tag from a file folder and added woodgrain self-adhesive drawer liner for the reinforcement around the hole.
The strip along the right side is the same woodgrain adhesive and then I layered a strip of glitter tape in a star pattern (Michaels).
The little flag is simply kraft paper folded around a toothpick and stamped with the words 'Happy Birthday'.
Instead of hiding the card inside an envelope, I wrapped a thick piece of grosgrain ribbon around the gift and tucked the card over the ribbon to hold it in place.
Ashley made my Dad the cake. Since we had pooled our money to buy my Dad a Wii for Christmas, she came up with the idea of making a Wii remote for his cake! It is a marble cake topped with her own fondant.
Ashley is making a name for herself and her cakes. Every time she brings one to a party people ask her how much she charges...and can they call her to make them a cake?
I am encouraging her to take them up on it!
And, of course, when it came time to open gifts, my sister's little guys were right there to get in on the action.
I love this shot. The look on each of their faces was worth capturing.
I love celebrating.
So, we have been married 18 years.
It was our 'Golden Anniversary' since it was 18 years on the 18th. Or so my girls tell me.
All those years ago, we were advised not to get married...that we would not last more than 5 years.
Well, we showed them.
I've been just a bit busy with holiday preparations to get to my December Daily pages today. They are coming but I have catch up to do from my weekend away with my husband...
So, yesterday, our family went to see OVO, the current Cirque du Soleil show here in town.
It truly is a fantastic display of colours, costumes, various acts and performances. This particular show is based on the various phases of insect life. Intertwined in the vignettes of the different insects, are spectacular performances of talent, athletic ability and stamina that are enough to blow one's mind.
Of course, it is not a photographer's paradise as far as photos go. There is terrible lighting and so many people, and no photography allowed during the performance. But I did manage to snap a few. Even if the quality is not great they are enough to help me remember the moment.
This show was a gift to our eldest daughter who turned 17 on the 18th of September. The weekend was jam-packed with volleyball and family dinners, but we managed to slide this into the middle of the day somehow. Sean and I had attended our first Cirque du Soleil performance last fall and were completely mesmerized... so much so, that we decided we needed to share this experience with our girls. It was worth it for us all!
Now, it is on my Bucket List to take in every single show that Cirque du Soleil performs...somehow!
Have you ever seen a Cirque du Soleil performance? Which one?
So, I learned how to do ink splatters on a layout.
One of my favorite scrapbookers right now is Marcy Penner. Not only has she perfected layers, but she also employs these interesting ink splatters in her design. She has a great video tutorial to show you how.
Of course, I ran right out and bought myself some Sprinklers by October Afternoon to try out this technique.
So, I have a few more pages of my Scrapbook on the Road to share with you.
We made a stop in Golden, BC for lunch. I grabbed a map and a business card from the restaurant as well as snagged an Instax pic of my parents from across the table. I layered all the pics and info over the map. The orange hand is a stamp from my Vintage stamp set.
A few more hours down the road, we had arranged to stay at a hotel at 3 Valley Gap. Once again, I obtained this brochure from the gift shop to remind me of some of the history of the place...
...and inside, I attached some pics of us touring the Ghost Town right over the map of the town.
Two simple Instax pics as reminders of the 3 Valley Gap sign and our hotel keys in the very dated room!
One of the activities that Sean was anxious to try was a ride up in a helicopter. When I first met Sean, he was taking flying lessons. It was his dream to fly helicopters for such a long time, but realized that it was not going to come to pass. When he saw that 3 Valley Gap offered rides, Sean and my dad jumped at the chance. He smiled like a little kid.
More to come tomorrow!
So, the end of June means the end of school (here in Canada), which means time to finally relax!
This evening was the perfect moment to share as a family. Everyone had been going in high gear through exams and work and finally we all were able to meet back together for a meal.
We chose one of our favorite restaurants. It's Greek and we love it.
Let the summer begin!
Background paper: Stampin' Up, All patterned paper: Two Scoops by Basic Grey, Letter stickers: Basic Grey, Decorative Brads: Alphabet Soup by My Mind's Eye
