Holbrook Elementary presents BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Last week was a NIGHTMARE!!!  A good nightmare, I guess, in a way..... yeah, I don't really know how to describe it.  The girls had their play!!  Charity was in both casts, Kelly was in Cast B, so we were busy with it EVERY night!!  I couldn't believe what a great job they had done though!  It was very well put together and very worth all the trouble the practices caused ;).
Back on Friday morning I had signed up to work backstage for the school performance.  That was a little bit of a joke, but my friend Lisa was in there, so it worked out.
Tuesday morning, when Cast B performed for the school, Nate and I and the two littles decided it would be a fun time to watch the performance.  Noah and Erika seemed less than impressed... as I had expected... but Nate and I loved it!!  I couldn't believe how well done it was, and what fun they all seemed to be having. Charity surprised us by having way more lines than I had ever known.  Don't ask me why I didn't know what her lines were.  She did such a great job though!!  And cute little Kelly was so fun to watch as well!  She was hard to see from way in the back, since she's so little, but what a cute smile and fun little dancer she is!  They are both made to perform.  That's just fun for us as parents.  They made us so proud!
Tuesday night, Charity had to go alone.  I felt so bad when she said that everyone had people to hug and she didn't.
Wednesday night, I was asked to work in the activity room, babysitting all of the performers backstage.  What a nightmare that was!  Nate was working too, so I had all of my kids there as well.  Not that it really would have made much difference.  I can't believe how disrespectful some of those kids are!  Surprised me.  But either way, Sarah and her boys were there to show their support!  The girls loved that.  Kelly loved the concessions stand.  I'm still not sure where she got all her money....  And it was so cute when her friend Sariah sent her one of the little backstage notes with some candy attached!  What a great friend.  Being there was fun, but I wish I could have been able to watch it as planned.
Thursday night was Cast A, but I had purchased myself a ticket to see this one.  I had wanted to see what the girls were talking about when they would say that Cast A's Belle is a better singer, or Cast A's Gaston isn't as good.... Kelly wanted to come watch it with me as well, since her good friend Sariah was in that cast.  I only had one ticket, but I assumed we'd be able to buy one at the door.  Boy was I wrong!!  We got there an hour early and they were all sold out.  I figured Kelly could just sit on my lap at that point.  I wasn't about to take her home.  She spent enough time backstage anyway.  I did like Cast A's Belle a lot better.  The Gaston wasn't as good though, and I didn't feel like I knew as many of the kids in that one. I'm partial to B anyway I guess ;).  It was a good time with my Kelly.  Charity did fantastic!  I kept waiting for them to get tired, and mess up, but they never did!  They both rocked it every night!
Friday night was a lot of fun!  Steve, my Dad and Pam, and my Mom and Simon all came to the play.  While it can be awkward to have my Dad and Mom together sometimes, nothing is more awkward than having your daughter's 4th grade teacher turn around and ask your family to shhhh.  It was HILARIOUS actually.  Mrs. Davis was fun.  We chatted with her in line and then throughout the intermissions and stuff.  She's a great teacher, fun lady, cute grandma, and very forgiving of the chatty-pants' I was sitting by.  The girls were happy to get backstage cards sent to them from Grandpa, Pam and Steve, and Simon and Grandma gave them glowy roses at the end.  We all went out for ice cream and fries at Dairy Queen to celebrate.  It was actually lots of fun.
Saturday afternoon was the matinee and since I had to play the piano for our ward baptism, I was not able to go.  I left Kelly in charge of the three little ones, took Charity to the play, and Bradley with me to watch his friend get baptized.  It was such a hectic afternoon.  I do not wish to have another one of those anytime soon.  Charity and Kelly both had a cast party following Cast A's matinee performance.  That was an hour long, so it was to the school, and back two more times.  Then we got ready for that night's Cast B performance.  Heidi and John came for Bajio tacos before, and we met Aunt Jen, Aunt Becky, Uncle Darren, Casey, and Adam there, with Bradley and Luke in tow (I took Erika and Noah down to my Mom's.  They had seen the school performance on Tuesday afternoon and were not all that fond of the show, so I figured we'd all enjoy it better if they were not present).  This was a fun night, they were filming it, so we cheered really good, and enjoyed the fact that this was the last time they would have to do it.  Then we went out to ice cream and fries (again :) ) at Dairy Queen (again :) ), it was a lot of fun!
While I know the girls are sad and happy to have it over with, I for one, am just happy :).  They got to have a wonderful opportunity, they did fantastic, and we all were able to enjoy it.  And now we can get back to life!!  I will not miss the practices one single bit :).

Way to go Charity and Kelly!!!  You are both stars!!!  Thanks for making us proud!