Summertime Is Finally Here...

... You can tell, because the church drama/musical program has started up again!

For the past few years, it's been a teen ministry, and we've used younger or children only when we ran out of teens to press into service. This year we had a very low turnout (I have my suspicions why, and it makes me sad, but I won't go into that here) so we had to open it up to younger kids. I am not sure how I feel about this, lol! I do NOT - repeat, NOT! - work well with younger kids, so I am trying to think of this as a gigantic growing experience. And to be honest, things are going really well! I am impressed with all the talent we got this year, and how attentive everyone has been - so far, at least. :) I guess we'll see how it works out.

The musical we are producing is Majesty Music's "Kidnapped On I-Land" (one of the Patch The Pirate adventures). Last week we did a dramatic reading of "act one" (everything leading up to arriving on I-Land) and this week we did a dramatic reading of "act two" (everything beyond that point).

This past week, the teen in the church held a yard sale, and there was tons of stuff left over - clothes, toys, etc - so we warmed up by having everyone grab the craziest piece of clothing they could find, then taking a few seconds to "work the character" and the rest of us guessed who they were. It took maybe five minutes and really broke the ice. When we started our reading a few minutes later, I didn't have to do a lot of coaching. :)

In other news, we got back from HEAV last night. I will be doing a separate HEAV post telling about all the fun we had, but be assured that we had a great time and found a lot of encouragement and resources.

Right before we left for HEAV, my hair-cutting-wizard friend Tanya came over to give everyone a round of haircuts. She did a lot of dead-hair-removing on the three youngest girls, and cut flowing layers into Ruth and Lizzie's hair. Allen even got into the act and came away looking like a million bucks! Maggie arrived home from her Doctor's appointment just in time to get a trim (she got her hair styled last month) and Tanya trimmed my bangs for me. My neighbor even stopped by with her daughter for cuts! Everyone looks so nice now. :) The dead hair and split ends have been bugging me for awhile, and Tanya kept everything nice and long, so everyone is happy. :)

And... it's my birthday week! I know, most people celebrate their birth DAY, but I celebrate the whole WEEK! Sometimes the whole MONTH! Saying that out loud sounds terribly selfish. :( I am not saying that I treat myself like a princess the whole week, or that I expect other people to do so, but I do a lot of little things to celebrate being alive, and having a whole other year to live in. One of the ways I celebrated today, for instance, was buying a small mango-passionfruit slushie at Wawa on my way to rehearsal and enjoying it TO THE MAX (I was sooo thirsty, and I had stopped for bottled water, but there was this little kid walking out with one and... you get the rest). And finding a gigantic green velvet cape in a bin of clothes at church and taking it for a whirl. :) One of the "celebrations" I'm looking forward to this week is a night of stargazing (not quite sure when, but it's definitely going to happen!). I also may actually get to sleep in on my birthday, as Anna might be willing to take Abby in the morning for me. :) Things like that make everything a celebration!

But, okay, I'll be honest... there will be some shopping. :)

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far, and if you need a little celebration in your life, I invite you to come join me. :)