Faffing about

As you can see, I'm trying a few things with the layout of the blog. I need to sort out the HTML so I can make the photo at the top a tad smaller (not that I don't love it, but it's a little in-your-face).

We've had a nice lazy weekend, the first of the school holidays. The weather played ball and was sunny for both days. Chris had a big night with the boys last night and so T-man and I dragged ourselves out of bed at 5am to pick him up. Fortunately this only occurs approximately twice a year, so for T it is an adventure and for me, a way to bargain for something I want :) To clear his head this afternoon, we took Pedro and headed out to Daffodil Bay and ran, walked, jogged and skipped our way around, managing in the main to avoid tripping over Pedro's lead.

I'm back to work tomorrow and the boys are planning a trip to the movies to see Kung Fu Panda 2. The next day T goes to the OSCAR holiday programme and the following day he's going to Kidzone with his schoolmate.

I'm finalising my repertoire for the Senior Vocal competitions at the end of the 3rd term. I'm going all out to win the Scholarship this year. I reckon I would have won last year if it wasn't for the dreadful test piece for sopranos which was twice as difficult as the tests set for altos, tenors and basses. Fortunately this year's is very straightforward - Music, When Soft Voices Die by Quilter. I have yet to decide what my contrasting piece will be. So far I'm doing Mahler for the Lieder, Handel for Oratorio, Duparc for French Art and Bach for the duet with my friend Ruth. Now if I can just figure out how to reliably get into my whistle register.....

Games

Tyler has really taken to board games and strategy games lately. We have been having endless sessions of Connect 4 and the little dude embarasses both his mother and father on a regular basis. He'll sit there, little yellow disc (he's always yellow) in hand muttering "What are you up to you? What were you thinking doing that?" And more often than not he figures us out and with a triumphant grin sends his disc sailing into the slot that prevents our line of four. He also likes card games such as Fish and Snap. He's mostly grown out of sulking when he doesn't win :)

Intense concentration

And just because I've always loved this photo and because I'm feeling sentimental as my little baby is turning 7 - seven! - next month....

No I haven't gone to Siberia......

....although with a heavy snow warning currently in force it may yet feel like that. Yes yes I know I've been a slack blogger again! I do have a few photos to download but it's so cold in the computer/music room that I tend not to spend to much time in there. But I shall try and gird my loins and get some loaded.

I'm hoping to get some of Tyler in his costume from his recent school production (he was a mad scientist) but I haven't seen any as yet. Apparently the school is creating a DVD which we can buy. (Tyler asked me if I wanted to 'buy the production').

Back soon - promise!

War wounds

Both my boys have recently received injuries in almost exactly the same place. First Chris at rugby from a random sprig at a ruck which dug a deep hole beside his left eye and then Tyler got a nice split at the corner of his left eye while playing at the pool with his wee mate.

Felix the cat has changed from being a mistrustful outside cat to an inside snugglepuss.

The kids are allowed to have a pair of slippers at school to change into in the classroom. Here's Tyler's choice. Note that he still has shorts on!

Tyler is really starting to get into his reading now and has discovered that he can read a book by himself. He came home from school on Friday and told me that he had read the first four chapters of his Zac Power book. He finished reading the book out loud to me at bedtime.

Random pretty picture :) Taken from the our house one morning.

Tyler is still obsessed with Bakugans and our lounge floor is constantly scattered with the little round toys and their cards. This makes for an interesting crossing from one side of the lounge to the other if one is not paying attention!

Winter has set in and we have the fire cranked up most days. Fortunately a lot of the days while being cold, are also sunny and calm so not unpleasant. Chris has had another couple of moles removed as a precaution - one on his back and another on his calf. I'm off to the doctor tomorrow to get my throat checked out. It hasn't been right since I lost it at the last opera performance. It's very frustrating especially because I have discovered an absolutely gorgeous piece by Mozart that I want to learn - Ora Pro Nobis from the Regina Coelis K108 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx2pnPI18yI (start at 6:40)

When I grow up I want to be....

A fireman! Tyler's class is working through the Firewise programme so he was very excited

when they had a visit from some firemen with their fire engine.

Full steam ahead! Stop!

So it was two weeks of full on rehearsals and performances and then.....nothing. No.Thing. After the last Hansel & Gretel (H&G) performance I looked at the family diary and for the week ahead there was nothing. Well no that's no quite true, we did have the A Capella Singers AGM but that doesn't count :)

H&G went really well and I loved it!! I even managed to add my own little spin onto a little bit of the Dew Fairy's dialogue and the director was hugely delighted as he had been encouraging me to add my own take on the characters I was playing. I didn't trip over my cloak, and I think I sang pretty well. Apart from the last performance where I had to do a 'Milli Vanilli'. I'd had a slight sniffle all week but it was no impediment to singing. However I woke up on the Saturday morning sounding like a strangled chicken! Application of a recommended gargle (warm water, salt, baking soda and maple syrup) failed to un-strangle the chicken and so I mimed and acted my two roles while the amazing Amanda Winfield sang from the wings, miked forward so it sounded like it was coming from me. She'd never sung those parts before, only heard me sing them. Not only that but because she was already playing two roles herself (mother and witch) she had to rearrange her costume changes to accommodate me. And she just took it in her stride. That's a professional for you. Oh and I wasn't as bad as the notorious Milli Vanilli duo, as the director advised the audience prior to the show beginning.

And so this Saturday morning I was able to have lie in, then amble up to the kitchen in my fluffy pink dressing-gown to make a cup of coffee in my favourite mug (no-one else is allowed to use it) read the paper and do the word puzzles.

Fun at the pool

Tyler, like most kids, loves going to the swimming pool and we are lucky that we have a school pool just along the road from us. Yesterday the boys headed down there and because I was due to sing that afternoon, I didn't get in, but took the opportunity to take a couple of photos.

Tyler doing a 'starfish'

Happy boys

Ready for the big throw

Daddy stalks Tyler

I tried to upload a video directly into here but it wouldn't play ball, so here's the link to it on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a3l5G8VqA4

I'm feeling a bit sung out after all the Easter Masses, and that was still after not doing two of them! I got to sing the Agnus Dei and Kyrie from Mozart's Coronation Mass on the Sunday morning, and then at the Solemn Vespers in the afternoon I sang the Laudate Dominum (Mozart again) which is a lovely piece which sounds deceptively easy. I felt that I did a reasonably good job (and did the Amen exactly as I had planned - yes!) but as always there were things which inwardly had me going 'Oh you didn't have enough support for that note' etc. Sometime I wish the little critic in my head would wait till after the performance to point out my short-comings!

Now I am full-on into rehearsals for Hansel & Gretel. All the soloists are professional singers or have had extensive theatre performance experience except for me. I am singing two roles, firstly the Sandman who puts H&G to sleep and the immediately I change into the Dew Fairy who wakes them up. There is a narrator who ties everything together (particularly important because there are some judicious cuts in order that the opera will be just over an hour long and therefore ideal for first-time opera attendees/children. There's a lot of humour in it and I think once I stop being anxious about my lack of experience I will have a great time. I only have a couple of minutes singing for each role but the Director has a whole back-story for my characters. I have to completely be that character. It's really hard to sing, act, watch the conductor and not trip over my voluminous Sandman cloak all at the same time! Who knew that the words 'I am!' could be said in such an endless variety of ways and with such different facial expressions?