Melodrama Madness!

My son's 6th-grade melodrama performances last week went off well and the play was well-received by the audiences! It was a blast watching the kids' hard work (3 months' worth) pay off in this hysterical final product! They have only one more performance, at another grade school, and this saga will be over!

My in-laws even came for a visit just for this (they have a 7-hour drive to get here), and my son did them proud! LOL!

So, now that I FINALLY have decent photos of the melodrama backdrops... Here they are!

This is the BIG ONE! It is12' x 27' and was hung on the curtain track at the very back of the stage...














Here is one of the three smaller ones (9' x 12') we painted-- this one was used for the classroom and the wall behind the saloon bar:


















Here is the street scene:

















And here is the mercantile interior (the teacher's favorite!):

I wish I had gotten a less-fuzzy photo of the last one, and had better lighting for the big backdrop... But, oh well... Can't win them all!

So, as you can see, I've been plenty busy myself, creating the artwork for these backdrops and then helping paint them! I think it took us (the other parents and me) about 1.5 months' worth of work to get these done -- but it was sooooooooooooooooo worth it, and great fun!!!

The kids and the teacher loved the entire set! You should see the GREAT free-standing saloon doors that another mom made for the set! They actually swing just like the real thing! And other parents made the bar/mercantile counter, the PVC frame for the backdrops, "wagon wheels," "tree stumps," etc.! I tell you, these kids were SPOILED!!!! LOL!

Anyway, that is the result of my very first foray into the world of drama set production! Hope you like!

Amazing Grace

Wow! If you haven't seen the movie "Amazing Grace" yet, you MUST!!! It is an absolute tear-jerker! My family and I saw it this afternoon with some of the youth from our church (youth function) and, I must say, it is VERY powerful!!!

If you have any interest at all in human rights...

If you have any interest at all in history...

If you love to hear an authentic British accent...

If you want to see a great example of God working in people's lives...

GO SEE IT!!!

I want to hear what YOU think of it!!! (WOW!!! Have I said that enough yet?!? LOL!)

I know, I know...

...it's been a while since I've posted! But, hopefully, I can post more regularly, now that I'm finished with my latest HUGE project!!!

I'll even post some pics of it, once I get some!

"What project?" you might ask...

Okay... I'll share... Have you ever volunteered to do something that you thought would be an absolute "breeze," and would put NO crimps into your schedule, only to discover IT'S NOT, and it DID?!?!?

Well, I just did!!!

Who knew that assisting with stage props would consume three days a week (PLUS!), for a MONTH?!?

But, it was done for my oldest child... My darling, almost-12-year-old son, who is participating in the 6th-grade melodrama (performances THIS WEEK!!! YAY!!!)...

So, it turns out that no one else on the crew was comfortable drawing the backdrops... So I did.

And, no one else was comfortable tracing the drawings onto the backdrop cloths without guidance... So I gave the guidance.

And, no one else was comfortable painting the backdrops (without specific color guidance)... So I gave the guidance, and painted along with them...

...and then finished the job, when the shading had to be done...

Good thing one of the other moms was right in there, working right beside me, everytime!!! I would have been lost without her!!!

And, I "crashed" a week ago... Just got too overwhelmed with it all (that happens to me from time to time)... and decided I needed a break. From EVERYTHING. For one day only. (Had to finish the job, you know!) LOL!

But now IT'S DONE!!! Not only that, but I'm VERY HAPPY with the results! And, even MORE importantly, the KIDS in the play are, too!!!

I guess it was worth it, after all!

But, don't ever ask me again to create backdrops for a play, because my answer will be an instant and firm, "NO WAY!" (Unless, of course, there is no one else comfortable with drawing things out, etc...) LOL!!! (I'm such a sucker -- esp. when it comes to my kids!!!)