You Passed!

You know Beth is in the youth choir at church. Well, there's a member of the adult choir who comes and helps the kids with tone and pitch and just being able to sing their parts.

He told Chuck and I the other night that he's been teasing Beth. When he's there, he'll make fun comments to her and will joke around with her.

We had no idea. Beth doesn't talk to us about stuff like this!

He told us that on Sunday he was walking through the foyer and Beth was coming the other way. He didn't say anything to her but as they passed each other, she reached out and kind of hit him on the leg with the back of her hand. He said, "Hey!" and looked back at her. She had a huge smile on her face and kind of shrugged in a shy sort of way.

It made his day!

Chuck told him, "Your IN! You have passed the test and you're accepted!"

The Choir Entered the Sanctuary.... and I Panicked

I layed in bed at 4:00 this morning, writing a blog post. It was amazing! But now, actually sitting in front of the computer, I can't think of a thing to say! :)

This is our tree. Diana's dog Sugar has been sleeping on the tree skirt this year. Not sure why. Ours isn't a professional looking tree, as you can see. Every single ornament has a memory attached. I love opening up each box and remembering a family member, or pet, or arts and crafts created many years ago. The angel on top was made by a close friend of mine. I think we've had it for more than 15 years. I love the way our tree looks each year. Filled with all those memories, it almost becomes like one of the family.

 

The youth choir sang on Sunday. Sharaya and Allison came to our church to watch Beth sing. The two of them, plus Chuck and I are sitting in our seats as the choir begins to enter down the center isle. They are hustling. I mean, they are walking so fast, they're almost running. I began to panic. I leaned over to Chuck, "Beth can't move that fast!" I could feel the tears welling up as I realized she will probably be left behind. Then Sharaya leans over to me, "Is Beth gonna be able to move that fast?"

Then we see the ensemble come in on the platform from the back. They're walking a little slower than the choir and in the back is Beth. She was movin' I'll tell ya! For her it was pretty fast, but she was keeping up. The girl in front of her made sure she got up the stairs okay, then showed her where to stand.

That's when I lost it. I really felt Beth had found her place. She was keeping up. She finally belonged. And she loved it! And I loved it. And I cried. I was so proud of her. And proud of Melody, the girl who was now her friend.

You know that feeling when your child accomplishes something, no matter how small; that feeling that wells up inside your gut and you can feel it coming to a climax in your heart? Yea, that feeling never changes. It doesn't matter if your child is 7 or 27, you will always be overwhelmed at their achievements.

Beth is on the far right, bottom row.

Youth choir on the right.

Kids choir on the left.

She Did It!!

Beth sang with the youth choir for the first time on Sunday! We arrived a few minutes early for rehearsal to make sure she would be okay on the platform. (She's afraid of heights.) I took pics during rehearsal but didn't use flash. Didn't want to disrupt anything. So there are assistants and other non choir members in the pictures.

They end rehearsal a few minutes before service begins so they can go downstairs and lock up their purses and stuff. I sat down in the Sanctuary and the choir began to file in. (They come in from behind the choir loft.) I'm watching them all, knowing that Beth's position on the platform means she is the very last one to enter. The last girl comes in and there's no Beth. Even the two girls that stand next to her are looking around the corner wondering where she is. No Beth.

I go out to the foyer to see her entering the door where her regular seat is! I took her down the back hallway, realizing that no one has shown her this area. We went up the stairs, back behind the baptistry and I pointed her out to the platform. Heading back to my seat, I see Miss Wendy (all the leaders have titles so the kids learn respect) coming down the hallway. She said she didn't see Beth on the platform and came out to find her. I was thankful she did. It was good to know that they'll watch out for her in times like this. Now I need to remember to let her go and let them go look for her. :)

She did SO great for her first time!! She knew most of the words to the songs - she's been singing along with her CD for weeks - she usually clapped on beat, she smiled.... what a joy to see her up there again. So many people stopped her in the foyer afterward to tell her how great she did. She was beaming!!

Beth stands on the far right side (sopranos) in the front.

There are about 75 kids in the choir.

Main Floor

When we got home from the baby shower, Beth told us that Miss Terri put her on the main floor! Instead of starting the choir on the first step, the first row of choir members will just stand on the floor of the platform! Woohoo thank you Jesus! When we asked Beth how she did she said, "really great!" Now I'm so excited to see her sing next week! I've printed out the words to some of the songs and she has been practicing a lot!

Diana won't be there to see her sing because she leaves tomorrow for Europe. Her first stop is the Cannes Film Festival in the South of France. Then she's headed to Disneyland Paris. Then spending a few days in London before heading home. This is her third solo trip and I don't know how she does it.

Big Rehearsal

The youth choir sings next Sunday, May 22. Tomorrow they are rehearsing in the sanctuary, but unfortunately we won't be there to see it. Chuck and I will be at a baby shower for the daughter of some close friends of ours.

I was hoping to be at the rehearsal because Beth is afraid of heights. Even sitting up in the stands at the Special Olympics tournament a couple weeks ago proved to be too much. After about a half hour I noticed her leaning back on one elbow with her head behind my back. I kept asking her if everything was okay and she'd asnswer yes. It finally dawned on me and I asked her if she wanted to go down to the track and she said yes. We spent the rest of the day down there.

So tomorrow she'll need to be up 2 to 4 steps to get to her spot. I don't know what would be better, having her on the second step with no one in front of her, or being higher with someone in front. Hopfully I'll get a chance to talk to her choir director before we leave!

Did You Ever Spit Wash a Smudge?

Yesterday was the first day of Athletics! We were so excited! Even Sharaya and Allison decided to come watch Beth practice. (Diana had to work so couldn't come with us.) The pounding rain should have been our first clue. We hopped in the car and drove to the school. No one was there. The place was empty except for two people running on the track. We thought they were absolutely out of their minds. It was pouring!!

We decided to drive over to a far corner of the parkinglot where two guys were standing out in the rain next to their cars. I opened the door (our windows don't always roll down. Sometimes they do. But our windows don't always roll up) and asked if they knew where the Special Olympics were practicing. Turns out he was the coach! Given the pouring rain, they decided to cancel for today. We'll all meet again next week. Same bat time. Same bat channel. (Does anybody else get that?) Anyway, at least the seagulls were having a great time!

 

Today was youth choir rehearsal. I had a meeting after church for work (I work at our church) so Chuck brought Beth to choir. I waited in the foyer for her then walked her down. I should know better. She's grown up here. Why on earth would I think she wouldn't know where the room was?! As we're walking down the stairs she asked me, "Same room?" Um... yea. I felt like I was treating her like a 7 year old. Cause I was.

The door way was filled with kids in and out, lots of noise. I asked her if she wanted me to come in. She shook her head no and kept walking. I sort of yelled after her, "Remember to turn off your cell phone!" She looked back at me like I had just spit washed a smudge off her face in front of Nick Jonas.

Big Changes on the Way!

No, no I'm not pregnant. My kids are having kids. I'm a Nana, remember? :)

There are some big changes on the way for Beth.

Diana has recently lost about 30 pounds and is getting the rest of us excited about changing our food and exercising more. She bought Beth a food journal and she's writing in it every day. She's going on the treadmill a few times a week, she's sleeping in her bed again; she's starting to make good choices about her life.

The youth choir is singing in our Sunday services next week so Beth will start rehearsing the following week. You have to rehearse for a few weeks before you're able to sing on a Sunday. Too many people only want to sing in front of the congregation without putting in the work. She was a little disappointed that she couldn't practice with them tonight, but she understood. Her first rehearsal will be on March 6.

I called yesterday to sign Beth up for Special Olympics Athletics (Track). She says she wants to run and do the shot put. I'm afraid her weight will keep her from doing well in the relays, but if she wants to try, we'll definitely let her. So on March 12 she starts Athletics!

With her new diet and all the extra exercise I know we're gonna see a huge change in her. We're planning a trip to Colorado and California in September to visit family and I can't for them to see her! I know she's gonna feel better, her clothes will fit better and she'll have more energy. I'm hoping too that it'll get her out of her shell. She's so shy, maybe all the extra activity will make her talk more and she'll have more friends.

I am so absolutely excited about what this year is gonna hold for her!

She's Baaa-aaack!!

I saw 'Miss Terri' getting into the elevator yesterday and told her I wanted to talk with her about the possibility of Beth joining the youth choir again. She said we didn't have to talk, Beth could join. We would need to talk about the details, but Beth could definitely join.

I wanted to jump in the air and do a backflip but considering I'm pushing 50 and not very athletic, I settled on a big "Thank you!"

Our song bird is back. Beth loves to sing. L~O~V~E~S to sing. When I told her she could join again, she didn't say anything. She was speechless. But she's already asking about talking to Miss Terri.

I love to see my kids happy. L~O~.... well anyway. We plan to go to rehearsal this Sunday. I'll keep ya posted!