And The Oscar Goes To...................

Every week since the beginning of September, Emily and Joe have been going to Up With Kids Performing Arts classes. They have been working the whole school year on learning how to act and sing and also learning how special and important they are. During the classes they worked on learning dances and songs for their final production.

May 1st was their theatrical debut, and they both did a great job.

The Show was a combination of "Wicked" and "The Wizard of Oz" with a little bit of "Grease," "Annie," "Cinderella," "Harry Potter," and a few other shows mixed in.

Emily looked so beautiful on stage. Her friend Lindsey was in her class, and they got to be witches together. That made it even more fun for them. It made it great for pictures too, because they stood by each other a lot during the play. Emily was in the oldest group. She did such a good job and had so much fun.

Each Child in the play got a speaking part and each group was in at least three of the 8 scenes. (Emily's group was in four.) This was good for me, because I had a child on the stage for all, but two scenes.

Joe was in the youngest class, and they made the cutest Munchkins. The teacher put the kids in groups according to their parts and then told them that the tallest kid in the group was in charge of making sure the rest of the group made it to the mic when it was their turn. Joe's little buddy was named Suehannie. (not sure about the spelling) She and Joe made the cutest little pair. Their lines were about Animal crackers, and the best thing was they both said "Aminal" The exact same way.

Their teacher Miss Nancy was Amazing. She made all of the kids feel special at every class and at the performance. She always had a smile on her face, and during the performance she was on the front row, acting out the entire performance from her seat so the kids knew exactly what to do. Her assistant is Nicole, and she was always so cute with the kids at the classes. She helped them with costumes backstage during the show

At the end of the show Miss Nancy introduced each child by name and each child was given an Oscar for their performance.

This was a great experience for my kids and one they will always remember. They left class each week feeling happy and good about themselves. Ever since the performance Joe has been asking me when class is going to start again, and he carried his Oscar around for days.

The After Party

We invited our family's to the show, and they were so nice to come. Ryan's parents, brother Kevin and his family, and my younger brother Jon and his family came. My parents drove down from Washington just for the show, and went and got my Grandma that morning so she could come. Emily's friend Tiana, was so sweet to come with us too.

After the show I had all of our great supporters over to our house for a Bar-B-Que. Luckily the weather cooperated. Joe was so hungry after the show, that Grandma helped him steel a couple of Strawberries to hold him over until the food was ready. He thought that was pretty funny.

Thanks to all of our family for supporting Emily and Joe in their very first performance. They were so excited to have you there. It made it even more special.