Thankful!

Lovin' his Pie!

Thanksgiving started two nights early for the Beckers. An unexpected hall pass turned invitation brought our fairy godmother calling Tuesday evening. She always comes with something everyone will love. No there isn't one thing everything will love. FG comes in the door with at least 3 bags. In those bags range everything from paper products, to healthy vegan dishes, to alcoholic beverages. She does nothing in small ways.

We set up shop around the new dining room table which was purchased as a surprise by my amazing mom in law. The table was filled with food, drinks and people. It was so fun! The twins went to bed at 8 and the big girls stayed at th

e table and discussed all matter of topics. Super fun.

FG headed home at 9:30 (early for our usual hall pass activities). It was a bit sad to see her go. Fun times and love at the table are hard to put an end to. Even though I know there will be more.

Wednesday morning arrived with fog and the fresh attitude of a teacher with 5 days ahead and no school. #2 and #3 joined me on a surprise trip to the farm to see Nana on her birthday. We took Bagels, cream cheese and presents. Nana had no

idea. It was terrific. We stayed longer than we should have, but it was well worth it.

Our return home found pies needing to be made, a house needing to be cleaned up and packing to do. BUT by 2:30 we were in the car headed nor

th with sleepy little kids and a full tank of gas. Just as we planned, they slept the whole way to South Dakota.

We pulled in to Sweet Heart Sister In Law's house of chaos at 6:00p.m. and 4 sets of eyes and 4 noses were pressed to the front window. Lots of yelling and giggling could be heard as car and house doors opened to unleash the herd of cousins. The rest of that night was the best kind of Thanksgiving: the kind that involves no work, no dishes and tons of family together ness. We ordered pizza, ate off paper plates and watched the kids enjoy each other. Awesome! Sweet Heart Sis has a family that is a great match to ours and never seems to mind that we travel with more chaos than she has.

Thursday found us at another sis in laws and by 1:15 the entire Becker crew was together. (Cool college kid nephew arrived late and Retail Crime fighting brother in law in TN didn't make the trip, but the rest of us were together) More wild cousin playing commenced. I want them to be friends and have memories and funny stories to share. That is what these gatherings are truly about.

The day ended with exhausted, no nap kids being hauled to the car and left overs dished out among the family units. We almost made it out of the house without damaging anything when Bruiser decided to launch a christmas light across the yard. Why I have no idea. But it broke and our visit was complete.

Sweet Heart, #2 and I actually braved a couple stores for some deals at midnight. That was wild! I am paying for it today, but I wouldn't trade it for sleep. Sleep is overrated.

I was proud of my brood and lucky to be part of such a great family. You don't just marry the man and I lucked out with all the extras I gained through marriage.

Pride #2

#2 is on the far left, barely visible. Just how she likes it.

So I am basking in the glow of a successful fall play. One that I was pretty sure wasn't gonna make it. And yes, I always say this and yes they always come out ok. But this one was above my ability and truly I felt like I had blown it through out the course of the production. Right up till the curtain opened.

Then talented actors and a pretty darn good crew took over. And they mostly masked the flaws that I had created.

Leading those actors and crew members was none other than my #2. Stage manager of awesomeness. She has been managing shows for me since 5th grade. She was taught by a senior who was quite good and took over managing 5-8th graders as a 6th grade student. As a 7th grader she co managed with a senior for the combined musical. This year as an 8th grader she taught a freshmen and basically ran the whole thing.

Actors from 7th -12th grade sought #2 for answers, assistance, guidance. Actors from 7th -12th avoided and feared #2 when they had screwed up or forgotten something. She rules with an iron fist. She expects perfection. She is often crabbier than me and that is saying something. BUT she is knowledgable and the cast and crew trust her. Trust is a big deal in theater.

Bottom line, she is a pro: in perfect control and respected by those older and younger.

It is the worst job in the theater. Everything from broken costumes to slow light cues to getting actors on stage to finding missing props to trash clean up, falls on the stage manager. #2 often went home with a head ache. She often had to use my computer more than I did as she produced list and outline after list and outline in order to organize the back stage flow.

Here she is tucked in between Seniors last year.

She was every bit as responsible as they were and they accepted her as one of their own.

No one ever sees the stage manager. In the real theater world the director isn't even present for the majority of the performances. The SM runs the show and puts out all fires and keeps everything together. I honestly believe that aside from make up and wigs (thank you FG) I could have left the production on its own with #2 at the helm and it would have run fine.

The final night of production a junior boy stopped #2 in the dressing room and said, "You know what I just realized? Your job is harder than any other job in the whole production and you don't even get to go on stage." Then he hugged her. It was a highlight for her. And for me.

So the show is over but the compliments continue to come in. #2 and I have a lot more free time, though #2 went directly into basketball season. So I have more free time.

Thus ends two pretty tough weeks and two reasons to feel like a pretty proud mom.

Pride #1

Was Halloween only 2 weeks ago? It seems like years. The Becker household has been super busy mounting two shows (the eldest 4) and hanging on for dear life (the youngest 3.)

'Charlotte's Web' opened at DASH on November 4 with none other than #1 as Wilbur. She was admittedly nervous, which in turn made me nervous. She is never nervous! Then the husband began to get seriously nervous about the technical side. And I was even more nervous. The last 10 days of production ramped up the anxiety level for them both and all I could do was keep the home front rolling and hope for the best.

Opening night came and when my two theater folks returned home it was to say that the show was great! WHEW! The next morning I talked to my mom to get her opinion, she agreed it was great and even said that I should most definitely take the twins to the show.

Saturday arrived along with a slew of in laws and my technical rehearsal day. So hubby and I traded roles. #2 and #1 switched too. I was riddled with anxiety to the point of illness because I knew I wasn't ready for tech and only had one shot at it. Not to mention that my house would be full of relatives and children and my exhausted husband would be in charge.

Tech was as disastrous as I feared it would be. When I headed home I felt no better; in fact, I felt worse. But I enjoyed some time with a lovely sister in law and her little ones. I was almost too tired to go see a play but I had to see my #1.

Here is where the title of this blog comes in. I was completely overwhelmed, heart bursting the seams with pride. My #1 was a warm, charming, organic and engaging Wilbur. I sat amazed at her loveliness and talent. I held Bruiser on my lap and the little dynamo was still and mostly silent. Occasionally she would whisper, "mary beth a pig." It was so cute. Afterward she just wanted to be near her big sis.

My exhaustive efforts of the week and most particularly the day were rewarded after the play. Fairy Godmother, BFK and a teach friend all joined us at home for drinks and snacks. The in laws returned to South Dakota and it was time to unwind.

Fun was had. Perhaps too much considering I had to return to school for a full afternoon of Open House rehearsal. We gained an hour of sleep but someone forgot to explain that to the twins. I was up at 5:30. With rehearsal and a full tech week ahead of me.

I was energized through the day by the thoughts of the talent I had seen the night before. My dear husband is so talented in all areas theater. The set he created for this play was charming, inventive and lovely to look at. The work he put in to the show was grueling as usual and I am proud of him as an educator as well. The acting he got out of all the kids was impressive as well.

My little stage star was truly my pride and joy for the night. She loves the stage and the stage loves her. She has a natural warmth on stage that draws you to her. Her love of what she is doing radiates outward and draws the audience in. I spent before, during and after the show fielding compliments from so many people. I don't know what my dear #1 will do as an adult; I don't think theater is on her list for jobs. (that is probably just fine) But she does have talent and for as long as she wants to do it, I will happily watch her.

Halloween the Real Deal (part 2 of 2)

After a lovely evening of pumpkin carving Halloween arrived the next morning. Mr. Man jumped out of bed and yelled, "I get candy!" He had the holiday spirit down.

The kids all dressed in their Halloween duds from Fairy Godmother and looked darling. Unfortunately the chaos of the morning got the best of me and I did not get a photo of this.

#3 changed to her costume right away when we reached school. I did her make up. Another unfortunate event in the day. Poor kid. In all fairness to myself, I used make up she picked out and did the design she suggested. Probably not smart on my part. There were a lot of blue princesses and fairies but mine was most definitely the prettiest.

Fairy Godmother ran rehearsal so I could enjoy the evening with the kids. After picking them up from daycare we returned to the theater to trick or treat the cast. Mr Man ran through the doors and yelled, 'Hey look at me!' He was rewarded with oohs and aaahs. I know this is family centered blog and I really never write about work, but I have to say that they way my cast(s) embrace my children and vice versa is a thing of beauty and makes me very proud of both.

We left school and went trick or treating to Grama Rita. This meant parading the costumes through the old folks home. I think we brought a lot of joy. It wasn't easy. Those rooms are NOT meant for visiting groups of 5. Gram was thrilled and got a lot of hugs and kisses.

Halloween on the home front arrived as soon as we returned at 5:30. Nana and Papa were there waiting, #2's wild friend showed up shortly after. Surprise of all surprises, Stephen and Tucker showed up. Chaos ensued and laughter and love and chili were shared.

By 6:30 Papa, #2 and the Wild One were leading three happy kids off into the candy lined sunset.

Wine drinking and family chatter commenced with Nana, myself and my dear brother. The three of us are the most alike and we never get to sit and chat like that. We took turns handing out candy and petting the dog.

I was very proud of #2 and her friend for sticking with the little people and making the rounds. They were dressing as matching white unicorns and it was very cute. They planned their costumes together and needed very little help.

The evening ended with the twins switching costumes and racing around the house begging for candy. They flopped exhausted in to bed at 8:30. All guests left. Husband and #1 returned from dress rehearsal. The house shut down for the night. All was well. Whew.

Halloween Preparation (part 1 of 2)

A holiday like Halloween requires a certain amount of preparation. Actually all holidays do and some preparation is more fun than others. Like peeling 15 pounds of potatoes for Thanksgiving side dishes isn't really something I look forward too. Halloween however is mostly charming and adding little ones back in to the equation has returned us to full charm mode.

As such the house is full of cheesy Halloween decor, costumes or supplies to make costumes were purchased weeks ago and there are 7 GIANT pumpkins on the porch.

The pumpkins were gathered on our first trip to Ditmars Orchard and they were the biggest ones each kid could find. Costumes for the twins were found at Take 2 consignment sale: Mr. Man chose a big bird suit and proceeded to hug the suit for the rest of the shopping trip, while Bruiser chose a dragon. These choices seemed quite perfect and saved me from the plan I had that involved making costumes. #3 decided a Fairy princess was her dream costume and pieces and parts of that get up came from the costume dress up bin at home. Gotta love that! The big girls had plans and they were progressing with and without my help.

Sunday Oct 30 dawned clear and lovely. I decided on a new plan of attack for the pumpkins. I also informed everyone that we would all be attending the evenings event: pumpkin carving. No if ands or buts! The twins, #3 and I headed to the back patio with carving tools and the pumpkins at 11a.m. I sliced off tops and gave each kid a spoon and a trash bag. We gutted those melons in short order. Bruiser was especially good at it.

We left the pumpkins to dry and went on with our day.

With pizza in the oven we all convened on the patio again at 6. Both big girls and Dad joined us.

Dad decided to start a fire in the chimnea . I love fires! This was a bonus. Carving began in earnest and everyone got involved. Everyone was also well behaved.

For nearly an hour all 7 Beckers were together, working on one thing, enjoying each other's company and the activity. It was amazing and it was over too soon.

Definitely left me feeling excited and positive about the next day's festivities!