The Mysterious Case of the Missing Ring

Tonight all of our hard work paid off!  Tonight was Plano Educational Association of Christian Homeschoolers (PEACH) 2012 Drama performance.  This year our drama club presented the Mysterious Case of the Missing Ring!  Abigail portrayed the brainy Rose Einstein and Caleb was the Stage Manger responsible for props, sound & set design.  So fun, such a great group of kids!

Stage Manager Caleb

Rose Einstein

Best buddies!

Frankie & Grandmother

My Mom drove down from Oklahoma for the special event.  It was so great to be able to share with her the excitement of the evening.  The kids had an outstanding performance and the props, costumes, everything was just fantastic!  We sent videos of the performance to each of the grandparents so they could share in the kids accomplishments.

Then all the people went away to eat and drink,
to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy

Nehemiah 8:12

Visit to DayStar

Caleb & Abigail on-set at DayStar

Outside of the studio



Joni & the DayStar Singers


 Homeschooling in the Dallas area gives us a lot of opportunities for fun field trips and today was one of those adventures! The DayStar television studios are nearby and many of their show tapings are during the day.  When they have a need for a youth audience they usually email out to the local home school groups.


Broderick Rice & Marcus Lamb

Today Marcus & Joni Lamb were having Christian comedian Broderick Rice on their show and we went to the taping.  The DayStar studios are incredible, to say the least!  It is always entertaining to see behind the scenes.  Today was also Israel's anniversary so we watched the live correspondent interviews and a tapes message from Benjamin Netanyahu, very cool! 

 “Laughter,” I said, “is madness.
And what does pleasure accomplish?”

Esslesiastes 2:2

Church Picnic

Dylan, Blake and Caleb

Sissy with the SnoCones





LTC Kids Chorus performed

One of the hallmarks of any church is the traditional potluck luncheon.  The potluck is where you often find the best recipes and an occasional deviled egg that has gone horribly wrong.  As a congregation grows larger the semantics of the potluck get slightly more difficult.

With the church of Christ on McDermott swelling to almost 1,000 members the potlucks are usually confined to the smaller Life Group venues, but today was an all church picnic!  Tables were set up in a portion of the parking lot.  All the food was filtered thru four double-sided lines in the fellowship hall. 

Abs playing volleyball

There were bounces houses for the kids, an snow-cone truck, volleyball, horseshoes all kinds of fun.  It was really special because we started the day off with a message from our former minister, Tim Pyles.  It was like no time had passed, it was great to see him in the pulpit and to get to visit with his sweet wife.   I'm sure it took a small army to put everything together, but it was a great day!

Mom's Tea

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While Jon and the girls were are the Mother/Son Date Night, I was attending PEACH's Annual Mom's Tea.  This year our theme was, "What Cup Have You Been Given?"~Seeking the Lord through Trials.

Three PEACH moms offered encouragement and inspiration as the talked about their victories thru Christ amidst trials.  I'm pretty sure there wasn't a dry eye among the 20+ moms! This year's tea was held at Plano's Chocolate Angel.  It is a sweet tea and pastry shop.  In addition to the fabulous messages the cucumber sandwiches and scones were yummy!

I was seated at a table with two other PEACH Board members and my sweet friends, Tami Cooke and Becky Keck.  These ladies are amazing moms and so encouraging to be around.  You know those moments when you know you are in the presence of God, this was one of those moments.

After Paul and Silas came out of the prison,they went to Lydia’s house,

where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them.

Acts 16:40

Mother / Son Date Night

Sarah and Abigail

Abigail & Sarah working on
the Duck Tape Wallet

the dads hard at work





Tonight our Children's Education Director hosted a Mom & Son Date Night for our Pre-K to 5th graders. The moms and sons created their own pizzas and then participated in various craft ideas.  I understand the Duct Tape Wallets were a BIG hit!  

Jon, Abigail and Frankie volunteered to assist with the evening. Jon helped out in the kitchen baking pizzas and scooping ice cream.  Abigail took photos of the Mom/Son partners.  And Frankie loved on Jack Jack, Ms. Jennifer's pretty boy!

Sissy and Baby Jack - Frankie has a way with the babies!

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
They are a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.

Proverbs 1:8-9

The Colony High School Softball

Tonight The Colony High School Softball hosted the recreation leagues from the city at their Varsity and Junior Varsity games.  The girls wore their jerseys and lined up on the field to create a walk thru tunnel for the Varsity team!   

Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,

and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.

Ecclesiastes 11:9

Appreciation Dinner

Towards the end of each school year our home school group, PEACH, holds an appreciation dinner for the volunteers who host the field trips throughout the school year.  It's always a lovely evening, we get together at Ms. Kathy's home and enjoy a dinner catered by the Olive Garden and lots of great conversation!

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These ladies pictured are so precious to me, we spend a lot of time together and so do our children!!!

In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever.

Psalm 44:8

Dallas Opera's the Magic Flute

Frankie, Abigail & Caleb at the Winspear

Pamina being rescued by Papageno

Tamino playing the flute



The Dallas Opera closes their with Mozart’s last opera, which premiered two months before he died, The Magic Flute.



the Queen of the Night!
Amazing vocals!

It is an absolutely WONDERFUL production.  If you haven't been to the opera before, or haven't shared the opera with your children, start here!  Pamina, the kidnapped daughter of the Queen of the Night.  Tamino is the love-struck prince who is compelled by the Queen to rescue her daughter from the allegedly evil new-age high priest.  The Queen of the Night has two arias and are the most difficult of the soprano repertoire.  She makes a run thru the Queen's trademark vocal runs seem effortless! 
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Papogeno

The role of Papageno, the buffoonish, down-to-earth bird catcher of the Queen, requires its performer to ham it up, big time. One of the most beloved scenes in The Magic Flute is the duet between Papageno and his bride, Papagena.  The scene is finished off with mini Papogenos & Papagenas running around in matching outfit, and a couple of Dallas Cowboy jerseys.

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The sets are among the most beautiful I have seen. The music is delightful, the performers are top-notch, and the stage production is exquisite. You will walk out of the theater with a smile on your face!  In preparation for this opera, the Dallas Opera puts out educational material, we also viewed The Magic Flute (produced in 1975, which paled in comparison to Dallas' presentation) and finally the Smurfs and the Magic Flute!

Your Majesty has issued a decree that everyone who

hears the sound of the flute and all kinds of music

must fall down and worship the image of gold,
Daniel 3:10

Drama Club

Ryan and Abigail

Like last year, Caleb and Abigail are both participating in PEACH's Drama Club again this year.  This year they will be performing The Mysterious Case of the Missing Ring.  All year we have been practicing at Calavary Chapel.  I snapped the photo above while the kids were doing improve exercise, as you can see Abigail has her mom's knack for the dramatic.

and all of them rushed into the theater together.

Acts 19:29

Casa Manana's Alice in Wonderland

Caleb, Richard & Blake F.

Blake F., Abs, & Ryan

Today we took a wild ride down the rabbit hole with our PEACH home school friends to  Disney's Alice in Wonderland Jr. at Casa Mañana. The show is faithful to the 1951 Lewis Carroll classics, The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, with a couple of exceptions: How did "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" from Song of the South and "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat" from The Aristocats make their way into Alice's story?

Alice has her ups and downs (and way ups) thanks to little bottles of potion and magic cookies. While on her journey, she meets Wonderland's familiar residents, the Cheshire Cat, the Caterpillar, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, the wacky and outrageous Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, and all manner of singing, dancing, talking mushrooms, door knockers, flowers, animals and playing cards.

As always, Casa Mañana offers the best in children’s live theater in the Metroplex.  They are ever creative in their story interpretations, but always family friendly!  The kids loved the Mad Hatter, and have been quoting several of his lines since the performance.  We even Netflixed Johnny Depp’s version, just for fun!

On of the funniest character in today's performance was the Tweedles, Dee and Dum.  It was one actor with split wardrobe and personality!  Very funny! 

 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

James 1:8

La Traviata at the Dallas Opera

Jon & Lisa

Violetta & Alfredo



Abs & Amelia

Caleb & David



The Dallas Opera’s latest production, La Traviata, held it’s student performance tonight at the  Winspear Opera House.  It is their rendition of Giuseppe Verdi’s tragic opera.

La Traviata (which translates roughly to “The Fallen Woman”), Violetta, a socialite suffering from tuberculosis who has taken a variety of wealthy lovers, eventually falls for the heroic, but poorer Alfredo Germont.

They live happily together on a country estate until Alfredo’s father  asks Violetta to leave so that Alfredo’s siblings are more desirable for marriage. She has brought shame to the family.

Violetta leaves so that Alfredo can have a better life and goes to a party with her old friends. Alfredo arrives and, in a flash of anger, embarrasses her in front of the entire party. Six months later, in her apartment in Paris, Violetta lies dying from tuberculosis. Alfredo and his father arrive to beg for forgiveness, and she dies in Alfredo’s arms.

All of the set is reminiscent of Victorian decadence, with elaborate gilded furniture. Costumes are also beautifully complex, particularly during the party scene, in which several of the chorus members break the staid, Victorian mold with exotic Eastern and African party attire.

La Traviata is everything you go to the opera for: the costumes, the stage design, the orchestra, the incredible voices and the tragedy of it all.

the men themselves consort with harlots

and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—

a people without understanding will come to ruin!
Hosea 4:14