So in case you didn't know... Cave Springs has a park. Ok, I'm not sure it really qualifies as a "park", but it has a tiny little sign at the entrance that says "CITY PARK"... so I guess that's all it takes. But it has a swing, a slide, a merry-go-round and a jungle gym thingy. Jamie and I took Audrie there for some fresh air this weekend and she loved it.Wednesday, April 29, 2009
push me higher, daddy!
So in case you didn't know... Cave Springs has a park. Ok, I'm not sure it really qualifies as a "park", but it has a tiny little sign at the entrance that says "CITY PARK"... so I guess that's all it takes. But it has a swing, a slide, a merry-go-round and a jungle gym thingy. Jamie and I took Audrie there for some fresh air this weekend and she loved it.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
bcc spring concert
Another concert down! (And it was a great one if I say so myself.) The Bentonville Children's Choir performed their Spring Concert this weekend at the Arend Art Center in Bentonville and I was so proud of these wonderful kiddos!
The BCC starts kids in second grade and goes up through high schoolers. It's so fun to watch them "grow up" in the BCC.
This amazing young lady has been in BCC since we first started almost five years ago. She's such a sweet girl!
And this talented singer is going to be senior next year and goes to a charter school that doesn't have a choir program. She has a gorgeous voice- we're so lucky to have her!
So I work these kids hard for months on the music, sweat blood and tears over their progress, get all the details of the performance ready and then the worst most horrifying moment of every concert is when I have to turn around and talk...! Ugh! I hate talking to the audience.
Becky created a new advanced level of the choir this semester and had a blast conducting them. They sounded so good. Becky is such a hoot to work with!
Big smiles after concert...!
Only three more concerts to go and then it will just be me singing "School's out for Summer"...
Becky created a new advanced level of the choir this semester and had a blast conducting them. They sounded so good. Becky is such a hoot to work with!
Big smiles after concert...!
Only three more concerts to go and then it will just be me singing "School's out for Summer"...Thursday, April 23, 2009
she's almost got it
I've had fun lately trying to figure out how to use Windows Movie Maker on our computer and so here is a little clip titled "Audrie and the Fork"...
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
summer is coming
Since it reached 80 degrees today we decided it was time to break out Audrie's newest toy...
She loved it of course. And I can't wait to spend my summer break sharing this 5 foot wide pool with her! 
Her favorite "inside toy" these days is her pink princess car. 
She loved it of course. And I can't wait to spend my summer break sharing this 5 foot wide pool with her! Her favorite "inside toy" these days is her pink princess car. 
She knows how to push herself, but of course that's not as much fun as mommy pushing you around a million laps through the house...!
Audrie really is our greatest source of entertainment and we love coming home from work to play with her.
I am SO excited about spending my summer hanging out with this little goofball... 
30 more days of teaching left!!
Audrie really is our greatest source of entertainment and we love coming home from work to play with her.
I am SO excited about spending my summer hanging out with this little goofball... 30 more days of teaching left!!Monday, April 20, 2009
midwest choral festival
Just in case you've ever wondered what you would do with 40 teenagers in Iowa...
The excited members of the Bentonville Children's Choir getting ready for our big Midwest Tour. Everyone had on their happy faces... 
Well, maybe not Becky... (it was her first experience being on a trip with teenagers) but she managed to put on a brave face...
We had to make a few pit stops on the way to Kansas City and since we have 32 girls and 8 boys we had to convince some of the girls to break down and use the men's room to save time!
Here's the gang on the steps of Stephen's Auditorium on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
This is where we performed in the choral festival.
Apparently this building is a big deal- voted the "Building of the Century" by some big architectural standards. It was a really neat building... lot of concrete, but very cool. 
We had a group of 12 wonderful chaperones that made the trip such a huge success!
As soon as we got to Iowa that morning the kids went straight into hours of rehearsals to get ready for the big concert that night.
I wandered backstage while they rehearsed and discovered I had my own dressing room! Well, ok the sign was printed on paper and taped to a door and I shared the room with my accompanist, but STILL... my very first dressing room!
So, naturally, I goofed off in there for awhile. Tried to pretend I was getting myself in character for my role on Broadway...
And my dressing room was next to the one and only Rene Clausen... ooh aah. (I know you have no idea who he is, but he's a big deal to choir nerds.) 
I was really excited that our singers got to work with him for a few hours. 
There were about 400 singers in the large festival choir...
But the BCC opened the concert with 5 songs by ourselves, which was nerve racking but amazing! (Here we are warming up before the concert...)
The excited members of the Bentonville Children's Choir getting ready for our big Midwest Tour. Everyone had on their happy faces... 
Well, maybe not Becky... (it was her first experience being on a trip with teenagers) but she managed to put on a brave face...
We had to make a few pit stops on the way to Kansas City and since we have 32 girls and 8 boys we had to convince some of the girls to break down and use the men's room to save time!
Here's the gang on the steps of Stephen's Auditorium on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
This is where we performed in the choral festival.
Apparently this building is a big deal- voted the "Building of the Century" by some big architectural standards. It was a really neat building... lot of concrete, but very cool. We had a group of 12 wonderful chaperones that made the trip such a huge success!
As soon as we got to Iowa that morning the kids went straight into hours of rehearsals to get ready for the big concert that night.
I wandered backstage while they rehearsed and discovered I had my own dressing room! Well, ok the sign was printed on paper and taped to a door and I shared the room with my accompanist, but STILL... my very first dressing room!
So, naturally, I goofed off in there for awhile. Tried to pretend I was getting myself in character for my role on Broadway...
And my dressing room was next to the one and only Rene Clausen... ooh aah. (I know you have no idea who he is, but he's a big deal to choir nerds.) 
I was really excited that our singers got to work with him for a few hours. There were about 400 singers in the large festival choir...But the BCC opened the concert with 5 songs by ourselves, which was nerve racking but amazing! (Here we are warming up before the concert...) Here's what Jamie thought of all the singing...
My accompanist, Lorrie, Becky and me... 
The kids really had a blast and I'm so glad that we were invited to this festival!
And the kids got to see their former director (and one of my bestest friends) Andrea.
Friday night we stayed in downtown Des Moines- a few blocks from the state capitol building. (This is the view from my hotel window...) 
And one I took from the bus as we were leaving Des Moines...
Traveling by charter bus really isn't so bad. We put in a couple movies for the kids to watch and head down the road.
Even Jamie was still smiling after way too many hours on the bus...
Though it did make the kids a little more stir crazy than normal...
But they really are great kids!
Saturday we took the kids to World's of Fun in Kansas City!
They were super excited!
And just for the record let me say that there was no way this trip could have happened without Mr. Jamie Cornett! I took care of the choral side of things, but he planned all the hotels, bus, meals, world's of fun, etc... he did an amazing job putting it all together! And here he is bossing the chaperone's around... I might have to give him a raise!
But he got to hug Snoopy, so it's not all bad.
Jamie and I ditched the kids with their chaperones and we spent the day riding so many roller coasters that we were sick. But we loved it!
We did run into the kids here and there, so we knew they were still alive.
Finally we got on the bus one last time and headed back to Arkansas. Here are a couple photos I snapped from the bus window as we were leaving...
I'm not sure Iowa is top on my list of places I have to visit again, but it really was a wonderful trip and I'm already looking forward to wherever the BCC Tour will take us next year.
My accompanist, Lorrie, Becky and me... 
The kids really had a blast and I'm so glad that we were invited to this festival!
And the kids got to see their former director (and one of my bestest friends) Andrea.
Friday night we stayed in downtown Des Moines- a few blocks from the state capitol building. (This is the view from my hotel window...) 
And one I took from the bus as we were leaving Des Moines...Traveling by charter bus really isn't so bad. We put in a couple movies for the kids to watch and head down the road.Even Jamie was still smiling after way too many hours on the bus...
Though it did make the kids a little more stir crazy than normal...
But they really are great kids!
Saturday we took the kids to World's of Fun in Kansas City!
They were super excited!
And just for the record let me say that there was no way this trip could have happened without Mr. Jamie Cornett! I took care of the choral side of things, but he planned all the hotels, bus, meals, world's of fun, etc... he did an amazing job putting it all together! And here he is bossing the chaperone's around... I might have to give him a raise!
But he got to hug Snoopy, so it's not all bad.Jamie and I ditched the kids with their chaperones and we spent the day riding so many roller coasters that we were sick. But we loved it!
We did run into the kids here and there, so we knew they were still alive.
Finally we got on the bus one last time and headed back to Arkansas. Here are a couple photos I snapped from the bus window as we were leaving...
I'm not sure Iowa is top on my list of places I have to visit again, but it really was a wonderful trip and I'm already looking forward to wherever the BCC Tour will take us next year.
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