The Soprano Who Now Sings Bass

Well, Andrew tried out for "The Music Man" this week for the coveted role of the barbershop quartet (the School Board). I was on pins and needles all week and I can't imagine how Andrew was feeling. I knew he wanted the part badly, but I also know that he is a Freshman and that sometimes these parts go to deserving upperclassmen who have put in the time and effort into the drama department. We told him that any part would be fun and that we wanted him to do whatever they cast him for.
He tried out on Tuesday, and callbacks were on Thursday which he went to after school. He said that at the last callback there were eight guys trying out. I talked to the choir director and she said that Andrew had done "very, very well." The cast list was posted early Friday morning, so I had Andrew call me from school. He was so thrilled to tell me that he got the bass part. Even our other kids were excited.
Now, I hear from the older sister of one of the high school boys that everyone is talking about that "Andrew Reay kid who got the part in the musical." At least it is good gossip!
Okay, enough bragging! I am just really happy for him.

Back to School!

Although I know that I should be totally happy to have my children back in school - and part of me is, since I worked all summer and did not get to stay home and play with them - it is with a little bit of sadness that I sent my children back to school last Monday.

Andrew is now a Freshman at Sunrise Mountain High School. He missed the bus his first day to come home (not bad considering he has never ridden a bus to or from school in his life.) But, since then, it has been pretty smooth sailing. He likes his classes, which are Algebra 1, Intro to Engineering and English/World Humanities and Chorus. He tried out for the show choir singing both bass and soprano just to show off. Only 9 boys tried out so he thinks he has a good chance of getting in. He will be trying out for the school musical this week which is "The Music Man." I am so glad he is jumping right in.

Marissa is in 6th grade this year and her teacher is someone that Grandpa Huber hired for the district when he was principal at Peoria High School. Small world. She is also taking Algebra 1 at school (although she says she doesn't like math), and she is excited because her teacher is going to put a lot of focus on writing. She is in the school chorus and we are going to try and find a new piano teacher for her, since hers is going to college in a couple of weeks.

Matthew has a teacher who is new to the school this year but he says she is really nice. They are going to be making a flashlight at some point in the year and he is really excited about that. Boys choir will not start until September when their first gig will be singing the National Anthem at a Diamondbacks game. Too bad it is on Sunday so he can't stay to watch.

Seth has moved over to Copperwood with Matthew and Marissa this year since he tested in, but also because I did not want to leave him at Apache since Andrew is gone. He seems to like school, but by Friday he fell asleep sitting in our rocking chair after he got home from school. It makes for long days for some of these little ones. He is in second grade and is excited because there is another boy named Seth in his class.

Lee is still teaching in the gifted program at 3 schools for 6-8th graders. He is busy as ever, but seems to enjoy it. He is learning a new math curriculum which is taking a lot of time though.

I am busy with work and other projects like Cub Scouts. I still love my job. However, one thing I hate about this time of year is that I have nothing to look forward to in big holidays or vacations. This summer our older kids had some fun trips, but our wonderful week at the cabin and a weekend at a resort were all we had. I know it is more than some, but it is sad to be back to routine.

Our World Travelers!

I am sorry it has been so long since I have updated this blog. My niece Emma (see Extinct Stinks) does a great job with hers and she implied that I had been a little negligent.

Our most exciting news is that right now we only have two children at home - no, we are not early "empty nesters"- Andrew is gone to Japan for a Phoenix Boys Choir Tour and Marissa is spending time with her Reay granparents and cousins in Utah. Both are having the time of their lives.

Andrew has been able to visit many historic sites and stayed with Japanese host families as well as performing both scheduled and impromptu concerts. They also got to ride the bullet train. We have gotten a few pictures and e-mails and he seems like he is having a great time.

As you can see they all look pretty happy. The director has been really good about keeping us updated on what they are doing, so we can vicariously experience Japan. I can't wait until Andrew gets home so that I can hear him talk about everything. He was able to e-mail us at one host family's house and he told us that his family lived 10 minutes from the beach and that they had 2 girls - one 15 and the other 12 - who both spoke English quite well. He also said that he was buying souvenirs. I hope he still has some money left at this point.

Marissa has been having her "dream" vacation. She has been horseback riding, hiking, doing crafts, swimming, going to see "Singin' in the Rain" and - one of the best parts - hanging out with her girl cousins. She gets enough of boys at our house and at Cub Scouts and Boys Choir. She does not really like to talk on the phone, but her Grandma Reay has kept us updated on things.

In the meantime, Lee and I have enjoyed a relatively quiet house and we went with Seth and Matthew to a local resort and spent 3 days playing in the pool with waterslides, a lazy river, etc. They are enjoying going to our community pool nearly every day and I am struggling to come up with different meals every night for my two pickiest eaters.

Andrew the Eldest

Today is Andrew's 14th birthday. He is not here to celebrate however, because he is at Scout Camp. We had the big bash Saturday before he left. He got an ice cream cake which he raved about (I'm glad, because it was my first attempt) and he had breakfast for dinner with all of the sausage and bacon he could eat (which is a lot!)

Andrew has really had some big challenges this year and he has largely risen to meet them. When he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (the shot kind) in September, I was so worried because he doesn't even tolerate getting out splinters well. But, he has really done well and does all of his own shots, blood tests, etc. and he keeps up with it without much prompting.

He also found his voice and found a new talent. He was privileged to sing a solo at one of the Boys Choir Christmas concert, which was a goal of his. He will finish his Choir experience this summer with a 16 day tour to Japan. He has spent 6 years in the choir and has given up many other opportunities and also relaxing on the weekends to do it. His new talent is....comedy. We watched a Victor Borge special on PBS and Andrew loved it. So, he worked up a routine based on the act and did it in the school variety show. He was a big hit. http://mediaserver.peoriaud.k12.az.us/ApacheElementaryMedia/media/movies/Andrew%20Reay's%20Comedy%20Routine%20-%20Variety%20Show%205-14-09%20video.wmv

He is looking forward to new challenges and excitement as he starts high school next year. I can't wait to see what happens.....

Birthdays in Bunches

You may have noticed that Marissa and Matthew have birthdays two days apart in November. Seth and Lee have birthdays 1 day apart in March. We did not plan that very well.

Lee is my wonderful husband of almost 15 years. He is great at playing with the kids, folding laundry, and keeping everything going when I am gone. He has a great sense of humor and he is a hard worker.

Seth is our youngest and he is still my "baby." He has a great imagination and he is often found in his own world. He loves to talk and loves to read and learn new things. He is still in the stage where he misses school when he has breaks and vacations.

I am grateful for my March birthday boys and I love them!

Wow! It's been a while.

Sorry we have been out of the loop for a while. I have been really busy trying to keep my job with the state budget cuts and also trying to keep services for the kids that I work with. I have also been doing some choir functions and everything has just ganged up on me.

Andrew did not advance past the regional spelling bee even though he made it through 4 rounds. He got out on the word "perfidy" which I had seen before but I couldn't tell you what it means. We were kind of glad to be done with that.

Other than that, life goes on.

A-N-D-R-E-W spells success!

For those of you who haven't heard already, Andrew won our school's spelling bee and a couple of weeks ago he took second place in the district bee, so now he is going to the regional bee on February 18th. Keep your fingers crossed for him. He has not really studied up to this point so I am not sure what will happen, but we will be cheering him on. (Too loudly, according to Andrew after the district bee.) I guess I have had too much experience at outdoor events where a well-placed "Woo-Woo" is appropriate.

The marquee was a complete surprise to us. They had misspelled "congrats" with a d instead of a t, but they changed it. We didn't even mention it to them.