Yesterday was a great day. Just a really, really good day. No headaches, for one. I think I had too much adrenaline coursing through my veins due to my excitement over introducing the kids to the musical.
I was able to recruit two new members for the Children's Choir. Jordan and Erica are sisters and friends of Cathryn. Their mom was so excited when I asked them, because they both love to sing. What really pushed me to ask them was finding out that they don't have a church home. Naturally, I'd love for that home to be Screven.
When I arrived at church, Lil told me that my material for the musical had been delivered, and that fueled my excitement even more. I got complete lesson plans, an instructional DVD, a clip-art CDROM, a book for each child, and a DVD for each child. I am such a nerd for school supplies. I think I was like the only kid ever who got excited about the start of school, and buying school supplies. A blank notebook page and a pencil still get me excited.
Leslie and I had a great meeting before concerning the way we were going to handle the class this semester. (Though I know she had to be sick of meetings last night--she had a couple.) We also came to the conclusion that we would divide the teaching of the play--Leslie will teach the kids drama, and I will teach the music. I just can't help myself from being excited. I think this semester has an incredible opportunity to run smoothly.
We decided to have a class assistant. The class assistant is the line leader, and the designated person who prays at the beginning of class. The class assistant also marks the items off the agenda, and passes out and collects all of the materials for the class. The line the class assistant sits in is also the first line to leave class. It worked out beautifully last night. There was no fighting over who gets to pray, or lead the line, or do this that or the other. The agenda works really well, too, giving the kids a heads-up about what's coming next. We also tried some warm-up and vocal techniques that the kids weren't accustomed to, so it was new and fun for them.
They really seemed to like the music, and having lyric sheets for them really helped. We went around the room and let everyone recite in rhythm a couple of lines from the song. I think it really helps with memorization. There's also enough speaking and singing parts for everyone in the play, so no one is left out. They seemed really happy with the parts that they got, on the whole. I tried to be fair, but of course, you can't make everyone happy.
Coming home last night, Richie informed me that the gorgeous 1950s vintage dress that I had been looking at on eBay was now mine. He won it for me! I was just elated. I love vintage clothes so much, and have admired them in movies and online, but I never had the nerve to actually buy it for myself. It's pink and blue and has this full skirt and this cute neckline and I can't wait for spring to come so that I can wear it. He printed out the buying information for me, and I've just been staring at it. It's so pretty! I can't wait to go through my summer shoes and see what I can wear with it.
What a day! It's just hard to replicate days like those...but I'm all for trying!
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