Opus Arrives!

6:45 a.m. with Ms. Ghelf--Ready for the Day

The group on stage

Emmie with Ms. Ghelf and her friend Ashlynn (the other girl from her elementary school who made the choir)

Today was Emmie's big day at Opus. Ever since she found out she was selected for this honor choir, she has put in many hours of practice to be ready for this day--from getting up early several days each week to rehearse with her teacher to spending time at home memorizing her music. And today all her hard work paid off.

She started out at the middle school at 6:45 a.m. to board the bus to travel to Iowa State University for her day-long event. Her teacher, Ms. Ghelf, was there to greet her and share a treat bag with her for the day. Once she arrived at the university, they rehearsed all morning with a selected director. She was able to eat lunch in the dorm cafeteria with "the big people" (ie. the college kids) which she thought was quite a thrill. We got the whole run down of the wide array of eating choices, including the vast collection of desserts. She finally decided on a Philly Steak and Cheese wrap (if I remember correctly) and twist ice cream. Quite a highlight.

After lunch, they went back to rehearsing and going over the logistics of actually performing on the stage. Then they changed into dress clothes and awaited the program. Kris and I arrived at around 3:30 for the 4:00 start and had pretty good seats (pre-assigned, thankfully), considering the size of the auditorium.

Her group performed first, with three other choirs to follow. They told us that over 3,000 students auditioned to be part of the four 180-voice choirs.

Emmie did a great job. I was so proud of her as she stood there on the stage performing. She is growing up into such a lovely young women. It's hard to believe that I am already at the point where my children are starting to stretch their own wings and develop their own life experiences. What a thrill to watch as a mom.

Olivia Takes Disney World!

One of the very generous things my parents do for each of their grandkids is take them individually to Disney World during the year of their 8th birthday. It's a great opportunity for them to get to know their grandkids on a personal basis. And they get to see a whole new side of the kids, away from parents.

So after a whole week of running, running, running, my parents had a new name for Olivia--OLIVIA with a "A" for attitude. They said she was fine, but they saw a whole new side of her. And she ran them like crazy. When they got home, they were WIPED OUT! But I think they all had a great time. Here are a couple fun shots.

Friday Night Fun

What did you do last Friday night? We had fun learning the ins and outs of changing a tire on my car. I had been driving on it all day without any problem. So when Kris got home from work and asked, "How did you get a flat tire?" I replied, "What flat tire?" We went out to the garage to find the tire completely FLAT. So the boys headed outside to figure out how to remove our very dusty spare and put it on. Thank goodness for Jack and Josh. They helped figure the whole thing out. It was cold, but thankfully they got it done.

Apparently I had picked up a nail somewhere. Thankfully it hadn't gone flat as I drove to Omaha and back by myself that day. Better in the garage. After a patch on the old tire, we are back to business.

The Big, Freezing Cold Night!

Iowa, for some odd reason, chooses to celebrate Beggar's Night (trick-or-treating) the night before Halloween. So on October 30th, we prepared for the annual trek around the neighborhood asking for candy. This year the weather was awful. Cold, rainy, windy--the whole bit. But the kids wore lost of layers under their costumes, braved the elements, and had a great time.

To me Josh was the funniest part of the evening. For a couple years now, he has taken the post of passing out the candy. And he has done it with his typically stoic persona. So it was a laugh to me to see how excited he was for the festivities this year. (I think he was so thrilled with his pumpkin this year that it psyched him for the rest.) As we were getting ready to head out, he set up a candy station by the door. He hooked up Halloween music to some speakers, had a chair for the candy, and made paper decorations to put around the door. And he loved it!

Thanks, as always, to Grandma for the fabulous costumes. We really appreciate her willingness to do this for us every year. They always turn out great and are so personal. This year we had an army guy, a candy corn, and a Grecian Lady. The kids loved them and had a great time.

Never mind that on Halloween night (the real one) the weather was beautiful without a breath of wind or rain. When in Iowa . . .

Carving Pumpkins!

Halloween is fraught with traditions at this Tolman house. Here are pics from our pumpkin carving session. I obviously don't know how to work my camera very well, so I had a hard time getting pictures of each of the pumpkins in the dark. But overall, they turned out pretty well this year. Josh was especially proud of the dragon head he did all by himself. And Emmie designed her face and did it all by herself, letting her artistic side shine through. Olivia and Jack had a little help with their BOO and spider designs, but they had fun just the same.