Kid's Showcase

Earlier this month our home school group planned a special event. Most of the work, I'm sure, was done by Katie Updike who is another homeschooling mom in our area. It was called a "Kid's Showcase" that was presented at the local assisted living facility in Hot Springs. The idea was to give the kids a chance to do a special presentation of some kind in front of a group of people. This is often an opportunity missed by home schoolers so I was soooo thankful for the chance the kids had to do this....they were maybe not as thankful as I was, but I think after the fact they did appreciate it=) There weren't an over abundance of people there but, if you have to get up and stand in front a microphone and give a speech to them, it doesn't matter how many there are!! I was especially thankful for the fact that Jenna and Pastor Matt were able to come even if we only invited them last minute=)Logan had already been working on a poem throughout this semester so far, so we made it our goal to have it ready in time for the showcase. He did an EXCELLENT job reciting the entirety of Winken, Blinken, and Nod by Eugene Fields and this is the first time he's ever done public speaking like this and he had to go first!
Monica was the next one of our kids to have a turn...she was AMAZING!! She quoted an abridged version of Paul Revere's Ride that, just the same, was by far the longest piece any one recited at the showcase. One of the neatest things about it was to see some of the elderly people in the crowd saying some of the lines along with her, specifically a lady who was a retired teacher and had memorized hundreds of poems over the course of her lifetime.
Next it was Zachery's turn and he recited O Captain, My Captain - the thing that always gets me about Zach is what a SUPER job he does in putting expression and feeling into what he has to say. Both Monica and Zach had memorized their poems in school in years past so they had to work to relearn in in preparation for the big day.
After the kids were through they went around and greeted some of the residents that live there in Pine Hills, including veteran missionary, Edith LeBar Albers, who it is always a treat to see.
During that morning, while everyone at the house was getting ready, rehearsing their poems, and listening to my pep talks, Alana was deciding she really, really wanted to be a part of things. The night before we had a dress rehearsal in our living room and she and Jesse had participated with anything they could think of....Jesse invented a poem that seemed to have bits and pieces from the older three, Alana sang the alphabet, Jesse sang Jesus Loves Me, Alana sang the books of the New Testament. So when we arrived right before the programs was to start, and after Alana's assurance that she really would go through with it, we added her name to the list. We didn't practice hardly at all so we didn't exactly come ready....but here she is just the same=)

I was honestly so very, very proud of my kids. Others sang, read poems, quoted speeches...but, seriously, mine were the very best=) (Can I say that?)

"Good job guys, you did great!!!"