Act 2, Scene 11: Taking a Break and Eating Toast

Right now I need a little break from work.

For the next three hours or so I will be going through thousands of lines of data and importing them into the awesome HR system that I work for--BabmooHR (had to give a little plug :-) ).

As awesome and exciting as that sounds, I decided that first I wanted a break. Mostly because I really wanted a piece of Great Harvest Beehive white bread toasted with Cox's creamed honey. Mmmmmm. I love whole wheat bread, but sometimes Great Harvest white just really hits the spot.

A good thing about toast? The smell of it toasting is almost like the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven.

Almost.

My brother Luke loves toast. I mean, he L.O.V.E.S. it. He lives on it. Without fail, he eats at least four pieces of toast every morning for breakfast. He has been doing this since high school. In fact, I think Luke would die without toast. Of starvation.

So here's to breaks from work full of delicious toast. Happy toasting, all!

Act 2; Scene 10: It's Coming...It's Coming!

Aren't these just some of the cutest and funniest ways to decorate a tasty treat for Halloween? I love them.

 

Can you believe it? Only a few more days till October.

And now time for hint number 2 in the costume guessing contest: I am hoping to get some latex to use for our faces :-) Go here to see the last hint.

Act 2; Scene 9: The Joy of Shape Tag

I have discovered a game that kids of all ages adore in drama classes.

Shape Tag.

Not sure what it is about it--but my high school students loved it, my junior high students love it, my 5-7 year olds love it, and even in my college classes we loved playing it.

It goes like this: everyone gets into a circle. One person who is "it" goes in the middle and makes a creative "shape" with their body. The next person in line gets to go and make a creative shape, filling the negative space of the other person's shape. Basically, the second person makes the two of them into a statue. Then the first person goes back to the circle while the second person stays frozen in place. The next person in line gets to come and make a shape, and so on. Eventually you graduate to people just jumping in and making a shape in any random order. The goal is to work on going with your instinct--just jump in and make a crazy shape.

People love it.

People love excuses to be crazy and to go with instinct without thinking for hours about what to do. People like having permission to do crazy things. People like making "creative" shapes.

Here is a picture of my 5-7 year old class's shape tag statue. On the last round, everyone stays a part of the shape and becomes one big statue. They're pretty cute, aren't they?

Act 2; Scene 8: The Countdown Begins

Guess what?

It's fall! And it has officially been fall for about two weeks now, I would say.

Do you know what this means? 

It means Halloween is getting closer! In fact, it is only 41 days away. That means in the next 41 days we will window shop at ALL of the beautiful Halloween decorations, decorate the house, paint toenails orange and black, carve pumpkins, make tasty fall treats, make pumpkin shaped cakes, wear loads and loads of Halloween socks, make apple cider, host Halloween parties, wear Halloween jewelry, have a Halloween-themed birthday celebration, wear vampire teeth, and best of all--go to costume parties :-).

This also means that you have 41 days to guess what Robert and I will be sporting for Halloween costumes. I will occasionally give a hint about our costumes in the next 40 days, and you can guess by posting a comment! If we already told you (we can't remember exactly who we told...) please don't tell! Leave your guess, and on Halloween we'll reveal the amazing get up. 

Here is the first clue: we just ordered bald caps for each of us for our costumes. 

Happy Guessing, and Happy Haunting!

Act 2; Scene 7: What I will be doing this fall

I have been SOOO busy lately. And this is why:

This fall I am directing "Beauty and the Beast, Jr." at Oak Canyon Junior High. We had our first week of rehearsals last week. After learning lots of music and one dance, it's on to blocking next week! I can't believe how awesome these Jr. High kids are. Seriously, so much talent! And they all have so much...energy. Here we go!

Another thing I am doing this fall is working for Center Stage Youth Performers in Pleasant Grove.
I am an assistant for the oldest group in Performance Company, and the Director of the Broadway Bound group (5-7 years old).

Last week was my first week there. Those little 5-7 year olds are a HOOT! Here are a few of my favorite stories from the first day:
 Makylee calling out "Hey! Hey! I'm hungry." And then about 20 minutes later, "I'm hungry." And then fifteen minutes after that "Hey! I'm hungry." Oh man, what do you say? I'm hungry too! Haha hopefully she will eat a snack before she comes next time.
When I asked if anyone had any questions about the song we were learning, a girl raised her hand and said "You have really pretty earrings." And then Makylee (I have a feeling she's gonna give us lots of funny stories) calling out "Hey! You sing pretty"
These little guys sure do make you feel good. I'm excited for the rest of the year!

Act 2; Scene 6: Ohhhhh Sports...and Husbands

This morning I went to a big service project hosted by the Stake Relief Society. When I got home, I walked into our den (TV room/office/storage) and found Robert (still in his PJs) camped out on the couch with the Wisconsin vs. Oregon State football game playing on the TV, and the Manchester United vs. Bolton soccer game live streaming on the computer placed carefully next to him on the couch. I am actually surprised that he didn't have our other computer up on the ESPN web site. Probably because our internet prefers to only have one computer up to speed at a time :-). Fortunate for me, though! Because now I get to tell you all what is happening in the Center's den right now. And let me tell you, it's all about sports. :-)

Act 2; Scene 5: Bear Lake Night Over

We have sort of started a tradition in the McFarland family of visiting Bear Lake, where my grandmother grew up, every Labor Day weekend. We were so glad we could carry on the tradition this year, as a final tribute to summer. Here are a few pictures from our day at the lake.

Playing frisbee

On the air mattress--the best kind of floatie

Sharing the air mattress. Notice how close they are to shore...:-)

Love birds on the lake!

Luke sprawled out on the air mattress, with a shark-like Sam on a mission...

Summer of Picnics #15: FINALE!

THE CLOSING PICNIC OF SUMMER

Place: The first park up Provo Canyon
Menu: Wraps and home made lemonade blueberry sorbet
Description: Zing!

We started driving up the canyon for our last picnic of the summer, and stopped at this park. It was beautiful--such a great view!

Then we finished off the meal with a delicious (and really zingy--we were both making zingy faces the whole time we were eating it) lemonade blueberry sorbet. Good thing we had the blueberries to help us get down the tartness! :-)

This is a final farewell to our picnics of the summer. And now we are on to the fall season!

What should we do every week this fall? What do you plan on doing this fall?

Happy Picnicking!