indoors

Although we've had gorgeous summer weather happening outside, I have mostly been stuck inside. This morning my children went to Church to participate in the Children's Music Camp Try Outs.

For five days in July the kids in Music Camp put together a musical that is performed in the evening of the final day. So today, the children gathered with the Directors to Try Out for different parts. Every one will be included in the musical, nobody is cut or turned away. The Directors make it fun by playing games; my kids' favorite was to stand in a long line and walk on stage together. The first person will introduce the person behind him/her ... but the Try Out part is that they have to act like a Royal Announcer, but with the twist that the person they are introducing is the Royal King whom nobody cares for ... hence comes in the drama and acting ... and every child had a different take on how to relate this to their audience. The directors also had the children sing in groups to locate potential soloists and group singing leads. But the majority of the time was spent actually reading lines in groups to see how well the kids put together acting and voice projection. It is an awesome experience and a great all inclusive project for the kids.

Then this week the Directors assign the parts to each child and next week we will receive the script with the character assignments, and the music CD. By July the campers are to have memorized their lines and all of the songs, so they just "put it together" during the week and add the choreography.

This is my son's first year eligible to Try Out and my daughter's third year. They are both excited. The title of the musical is Good Kings Come In Small Packages, which is the story of Josiah, the boy-king of Israel.

Then I came home and worked on burning all my piano student's CD's. I am not a computer savvy person, but I have learned a lot this year about my iPod, transferring the taped songs to my computer, organizing and labeling the songs so they each correspond to the correct student, and then burning each student's personal CD of songs. The art work will be completed by my husband who will design a neat CD sticker to attach. We ... are ... almost ... done ... my deadline is fast approaching; my end of the year recital is this Friday night.

But for now, I am headed outside to catch the last glimpse of the warm sun and spend time with my family. Firepit with S'mores are on the agenda (oh, and dinner). YUM!