How the West Was Sung

I'll just describe the pictures in order, since I can't seem to make this post follow my orders...

Thursday evening we had our first grade program "How the West was Sung". We played to a packed house, and the kids were SO CUTE! (they were probably inspired by my own 'cuteness', so they just couldn't help themselves...)

Anyway, here we are singing the Canoe Song and playing xylophones and "boomfloppers" (a creation of mine using sewer pipe, end caps and a few precise measurements - not to mention a GREAT wooden 'holder' made by my son-in-law Lyle.)

Next is my line up of Cowhands singing "Cowboy's Lament" (aka 'Saddle Sore') while riding some of the cutest stick horses ever! Ms. Deyo the art teacher made about 7 of them for the program, and she even gave them names like 'Zeke' and 'Princess'! How cute!!!
Next is the opening scene: a backyard campfire with fake marshmallows on sticks 'roasting' over a flickering campfire. We dimmed the lights and turned on the disco ball for a 'starry' night effect and sang 'Home on the Range' and 'Little Old Cowboy'. Cute is a word I'll keep using to describe this show, I promise!

The next picture is of me and my 5th grade stage crew. They love doing their jobs, and I really give them stuff to do, to! They hand out and collect props, set the stage up, run sound and lights, and help clean up and get the music room put back together after the program. They are a bunch of great kids!

And the last one is a picture I tried and failed to turn right-side up! I am posing with one of the great "Deyo Horses". She really is an artist! We had a cardboard train, sheep, cow, pig, mountain and tunnel, too! What a fun show. I had lots of help from the parents, too, so it was fun working with them and getting to know them better. What a fun evening! OK, on to passing the Praxis in 6 weeks, and I'll only have school to worry about! YEEE-HAAAW!!!