It's a Wrap!

 

Another theatre camp is officially in the books!  Karson wanted to participate in Aladdin this summer at SKyPAC.  Theatre camp is something she looks forward to each year.  Playing sports doesn't allow her any extra time to participate in youth theatre during the school year, and this is the perfect avenue for her to get the opportunity to perform.

Karson was selected as a Palm Tree in the production.  I'm thinking it might have been because she was wearing a shirt with palm trees on it during her auditions.  Another girl named Malia was also selected, and the two of them were pretty much inseparable the whole week.  That's the cool thing about camp - meeting new people.

What exactly does a Palm Tree do in a production, you ask?  Karson and Malia had lots of puns basically centered around the word "date."  They were also in quite a few of the musical numbers and hid brothers Cassim and Ali Baba. 

 It's an amazing task to take 58 campers who have little or no stage experience and produce an entire production in one week.  The kids worked SO hard all week long!  It was a special week, and I got to spend it with not only Karson, but Evan, Elizabeth and Samuel.

 Missoula Children's Theatre residencies are "versions" of familiar stories.  In this version -

For Aladdin it’s not easy to find a magic lamp but it’s even harder to get a date! It’s a swirling sandstorm of famous Arabian Tales from Ali Baba to Scheherazade, and even Sinbad the Sailor, as Aladdin journeys to find a magic lamp in a Cave of (not-so-great) Wonders. Along his way Aladdin seeks answers and advice from wise Genies, a powerful Sultan, and his own Mother, to find a way to meet the Princess. However, even with the lamp in hand, Aladdin will have to learn that it takes more than a wish to make a good impression. Full of memorable characters, from lost Penguins to talking Palm Trees, this is an adventure worthy of 1001 laughs.

 When the kids weren't in rehearsal for their roles, they were in workshops with our intern playing games and learning fun theatre activities.  One of Karson's besties, Elizabeth Warder, was at camp this week.

The kids did their first dress rehearsal on Friday and only had a few small errors to correct.  I found that this particular show was a little harder to follow than shows from year's past. The script seemed complicated, and it was tricky for both our accompanist and our lighting people.  It was a treat letting the kids get to perform in the main hall.  Many actors/actresses would love to have the opportunity to do a production in our beautiful performance space.  

 The kids had a show on Friday night and a Saturday matinee.  Our family, of course, brought a large crowd both days.

 When I signed Karson up for camp back in the spring, we didn't have her volleyball schedule at that time.  She pulled double duty all week long being in camp for about 6-7 hours and then racing to grab dinner and heading out to South for volleyball practice.  She didn't get home until 8 and then crashed and started all over again the next day.  Karson's a trooper, and it was a great week!

Wanted!

 Isaac got to go to Taylor Christian church camp this year with the Greenwood Park for the very first time.  To say he was excited is an understatement!  He couldn't wait to go!  He's been at Karson's camp awards the last two years and watched the camp videos and seen all the pictures, heard all the stories, and been a part of the drop off/pick up during camp week.  I was a bit concerned because of Isaac's particular eating habits.  I made sure he was fully stocked with all of his favorite snacks and foods (everything from Pringles to Cheeze Its).  Evan and Gunnar were in his cabin which made it extra special!  It's always nice having your best buddies around in "new" situations. He was in cabin 4 which also had it's very own bathroom.  Karson was hopeful she'd be in the nice cabin with a bathroom this year but was not =(.  She was in cabin 12 which felt like closet-sized compared to Isaac's cabin.  Camp is an old-hat for her.  She's made lots of friends at Taylor and was glad to be reunited with them.


 One week with zero contact with two of your kids feels like an eternity.  Because of the rainy weather the week before, I was certain they probably wouldn't be able to get in the creek last week - it was super high.  The weather was nice though.  When we picked the kids up on Friday, I knew Karson would be tired and completely irritable (same as the last two years).  Isaac, however, talked non-stop from the moment he got in our car.  And, to my surprise, he had quite a few of his snacks left.  He told us he couldn't wait to come back.  That's music to our ears - so glad he had a blast! Camp awards are tonight!

 

Our youngest child was a only child this week and loved every single minute of it.  He and Matt spent a majority of their time at the golf course and playing Yahtzee.  I don't think there was any part of him (or the other two kids) that missed his siblings =).  He had our undivided attention all week long. 

  We spent yesterday afternoon at the Duncan Hines Festival at Chaney's Dairy Barn.  Miles got the wild-hair to enter the Brownie Eating Contest for 8 and under.  He had an entire minute to consume as much brownie from the 13 x 9 pie pan as quickly as possible.  Eating is completely his THING! 

 Stuffing his face full of brownie.

 

Miles WON!  He ate the most and won a trophy and a WKU t-shirt!  Made me SOOOO proud =)!  We're lucky at our house if the brownie batter actually makes it into the pan.  I'm a brownie fan!

 

 Our SKyPAC Youth Theatre and Education program was chosen as the recipient for this year's fund raised.  We're thankful to the Junior Women's Club for selecting us and plan to put those funds to good use towards our wonderful YT programs at SKyPAC.

Broken

I try not to take life too serious.  It's how I cope with it.  If you start to focus on everything that's "wrong or messed up in the world," you will find yourself going down a long, dark, rabbit hole with no end.   I realize there are lots of serious circumstances, but my natural disposition is trying to find something happy and humorous in the midst of serious.  All that being said, this week was a dark (rabbit hole) one and incredibly heavy emotionally.  There was little laughter.  We lost a special person, and the word "special" doesn't even touch the surface when it comes to Karen Lou.  She was exceptional.  When I met Matt 19 years ago, I met his entire family not long after.  Mamaw and Karen Lou were at the top of the list.  We spent many hours, days, holidays, celebrations on Broadview - everything from Halloween, wedding showers, huge Easter egg hunts, large Christmas's on Christmas Eve, birthday parties and sometimes getting together just because (no specific reason at all).  Because my grandparents were in Louisville, it was a unique experience getting to see how the Deaton family dynamic was.  Mamaw and Karen were there for every single event in my life since 1996 - college graduation, marrying their grandson/nephew, having their first set of great grandchildren - laughing with them, crying with them, kissing them - nothing they loved more than kissing people hello and goodbye.  The time we spent with them was never enough - "what's your hurry?" "come back and see us" - those were phrases you'd always hear.  So many memories.  We lost Mamaw in February of last year, and we lost our dear Karen Lou in the early hours of July 2, 2015.  Cancer took her life.  Watching someone dear to you suffer for months is simply difficult.  Karen essentially was the family matriarch with Mamaw's passing last year.  It's truly like losing another grandparent.  I ask for your prayers for our family during this time.  We will have a celebration of her life on Sunday, July 12 at the church from 2-4 p.m.

I am thankful the my children had a relationship with both Mamaw and Karen.  They made an imprint on their hearts and spoiled them immensely.  We are all better people because of their influence in our lives.  My hope and prayer is that my children are as close to each other as Karen and Colvin are - attached at the hip and the best of friends.  We will miss you Karen!  Our hearts are broken.

Peanut Butter Pie in July

All I can think about is how badly I want peanut butter pie right now.  In fact, during my lunch break on Wednesday, I went to the store and bought all the ingredients to make one.  Life is certainly better with peanut butter in it.  Thank goodness no one in our family has a peanut allergy.  PBJ's are Karson and Miles's primary food group.

Here's my recipe for those who are interested:

Chocolate Pie Shell

3 oz. Cream Cheese

12 oz. Whipped Topping

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Cup Confectioner's Sugar

1/4 Cup Milk

2 teaspoons Vanilla

Bag of Mini Chocolate Chips

*Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy.  Fold in other in ingredients and mix well and place in pie shell. Chill overnight.

June was over about as soon as it began.  Karson has been pulling double time duty with both volleyball and basketball open gyms.  She wasn't able to go to the beach with Matt and the boys because of tryouts.  She's officially a 7th grade Spartan Volleyball player.  (team pic below)

 I sometimes think the social side of volleyball is sometimes more fun than the actual sport.  Karson has made some wonderful friends already on her new team and has lots of "old" one's from playing last year.  Her group has their on instagram account and group text account.  One time I picked up her phone, and she had 150 missed texts.  Sheesh!  Smh!  I wish I had some pictures from the two-day basketball camp at South that Karson participated in.  I was able to sneak away from work some and see two of her games.  She's a tough little player and worked hard.  Her team lost most of their games though - the teams they played were club teams which have been playing for months together.  I am anxious to see what the district and regional teams look like - hopefully, more like our team.

Speaking of sports, Miles is completely obsessed with golf. It's his new passion.  Matt has taken him to Riverview a few times and Paul Walker.  When they aren't playing on a course, Miles is either at Otte Golf or practicing at home with foam balls.  He.loves.it!  I got home from work on Tuesday and he said, "it's almost Sunday."  I said, "yeah, I guess?!? What's on Sunday Miles?"  He says, "well, the day after that, me and dad are going golfing."  Matt mowed a fairway and putting green in our backyard for him to practice on.  And, while we are on the subject of golf, Matt has decided to accept the Boys Golf Coach position at South.  Look out high schooler's, lil Miles Deaton is going to be the assistant coach.  However, golf runs entirely parallel to Karson's volleyball season, so our lives are about to get super crazy in the next two weeks (once KHSAA dead period is lifted).

 

Pool parties and hanging out with friends pretty much monopolizes our summer months. Well, that, and loads of Popsicles and water balloon fights.

 I mentioned in my last post that Matt made the decision to step down from ministry after about 19 years.  We have taken a couple of Sundays off to try and relax and re-group.  Church is a big part of our lives and will continue to be.  We haven't really committed to a new church group, and honestly, I'm not sure if we will settle down in one place.  I did know that I wanted to spend Father's Day at my home church - Greenwood Park - with my dad.  I grew up going there and have many memories and loads of friends there.  It was like a family reunion when I went to service two weeks ago.  In fact, I don't think I even got to talk to my dad because I was catching up with so many friends.  Two of my very closest childhood friends were at GP that morning (which is rare because they both don't live in BG).  We decided to take some selfies. I put our old camp photos in the collage.  Both Karson and Isaac will be going to camp with the GP group next week.

 Community hosted a farewell party for our family, the Vernon's and Katie Colter our children's minister at Barren River State park in mid-June.  We're thankful for our time (and memories) with the church and love all of our friends, young and old.

Last Thursday was ultra exciting in the Deaton house -- the NBA draft.  I had two little boys glued to the television for hours and commentating the entire time.  We're looking forward to next season!