Grammy’s Singing Smiles

I am not just smiling….. I’m beaming from ear to ear. Our grandchildren never cease to amaze me. John and I are just two average people who are not especially talented at anything. I have no idea how we ended up with such beautiful and talented grandchildren. They did not inherit from me!

As you already know if you read my blog, our 11 year old granddaughter, Claire, auditioned for and got a main part in the LA Opera’s production of Noah’s Flood which was performed in April.

This is a community opera written by Benjamin Britten and is only to be performed in a cathedral. It gives community singers the opportunity to perform along side opera professionals. (I think Noah, his wife and God were the only professionals but I could be wrong. I know Noah’s wife flew in from New York to do the show.)

It was performed in the LA Cathedral.

We would not have been surprised if Claire (on the right) had gotten a part in the chorus or as one of the animals but it blew us away that she got a main part as of one of Noah’s daughter-in-laws with solo parts. (I guess they married young in Noah’s day???)

I got these pictures on line at www. laopera.com. We were not allowed to take pictures during the opera. The picture on the left is from a rehearsal were the two girls are helping Noah build the ark. The picture on the right is from the opera.

This is the LA Opera Orchestra. The opera and orchestra are directed by…

James Conlon. Claire was very excited to work with this famous conductor.

More pictures from the web site. Claire is standing on the right side.

Claire is on the left side of the door of the ark and standing in the front on the platform.

Pictures of the flood.

The curtain call. Claire is on the left with her hand up.

James Conlon with the principals of the cast.

These are pictures I took after the show. (Sorry about the blur)

Claire was really sad after the last performance of the Opera but we tried to cheer her up with a Teddy bear and some flowers…..

…and a late night Japanese dinner with a fancy dessert.

Now… you might think that this 11 year old girl is resting now after all the hard work of having a main part in this opera….. but….. no…no…no!

After James Conlon worked with Claire in the community opera he invited her to be in Tosca which is not a community opera…. it is a regular opera in the LA Opera 2013 season.

She does not have a principal part like she did in Noah’s Flood. She does not have a solo. She is a part of the choir….(Not that you can see her but she is the 3rd choir member on the left side on the stage.)  She is on stage of most of the first act and sings a lot (In Italian I think).

This is really a big deal for our little gal…. and it is a big sacrifice for her family. Mindy and Ernie drive her to LA almost every evening and Grampy has helped by taking her back in the day time to attend school at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (which is required by law for child performers.)

However, since Claire dreams of being a professional singer as a career, the family thinks this opportunity to sing with the famous LA Opera is too good to pass up.

And that my friends is why my heart is full of smiles tonight. Claire’s singing thrills my soul and blesses my life.

I’m going to be away from my computer for awhile but I will be back to visit you when I can.

Hugs and best wishes to all of my dear blog friends,  Grammy Lura

 

Grammy’s Racing Smiles

I know that we often hear that we need to slow down and…

take time to smell the flowers….. but….

SOMETIMES IT IS BETTER TO SPEED UP!!!!  That time is during

Pinewood Derby season!

Each year the Boy Scouts of America sponsor their Pinewood Derby contest.  Each cub scout builds a little car out of a block of pine wood.

Since I have 2 little 8 year old grandsons this year, we got involved with this race twice this spring.

Here Grampy and Dad get involved in helping Davey make the perfect racing car.

It is a highly scientific endeavor … each car must weigh no more than 5 oz (I think). They drilled holes in Davey’s car and added weights to get it exactly right. You can see that the “big boys” get just as involved as the young one did.

After lots of sanding, the car is painted, wheels are put on and the car is ready to race. Davey designed his own car on paper and dad and Grampy helped him build it to perfection.

We left Utah before the big racing day…. Darn… I wish that we could have been there… we heard that Davey’s car did well.

However, we made it back to CA just in time for our other 8 year old’s race.

While we were with Davey making his car in Utah, Austin and his dad were working hard on his car here in CA.

Austin and Ernie designed a razor thin car made for speed. Before the big race we met at In-N-Out Burgers to fill our tanks with fuel (and oil). Austin was happy that his cousin Jalen was visiting us from Utah, before he left on his mission, and could be here to cheer him on.

The competition was tough…. all the little scouts were revving their motors and were ready for their cars to race down the track.

I didn’t get a picture of Austin’s track but I found these on line to show you what they are like.

Round after round the cars sped down the derby track…. eliminating one racer after another until one boy… and one derby car was crowned the champion. This year the boy who came in 1st Place was……..

Austin!!!!

We are so happy for our boy. As far as I know, Austin is the first boy in our family to ever come in 1st place.

Way to go Austin and Ernie….you built a great derby car!!!

Now I need to race around and get some work done. Are you racing today too??

Hugs, Grammy Lura

Friday Fun… make a great grad gift

It is graduation time and many young people will be leaving home and heading out in the world. No matter where they are going…. college…. work…. military … or ( like my grandson Jalen)

away to be a missionary…. they are going to need a little sewing kit to take with them.

My friend Ruth gave me a little sewing kit book to take with me on trips. I think it is so cute that I’ve copied her idea to give to my grandkids as they leave home. I think you might like to make one too.

The supplies you will need are a hot pad, a little sewing kit from the dollar store, narrow ribbon, 2 pieces of felt, a few buttons,  needles, safety pins and straight pins.

Make sure that the hot pad is the kind that has it’s hanger loop on the side, not on a corner.

You are going to cut the 2 felt pieces to be a little smaller than the hot pad and sew them together down the middle…. but…

Before you do that you can embroider a title page if you want to. If you don’t have an embroidery machine you could paint a title , write a note card and glue it in or stitch it by hand.

Also sew ribbons on two of the pages before you sew them to the hot pad.

Put the little spools of thread from the sewing kit on the 2 ribbons. Secure the end of the ribbons with safety pins. On the opposite page pin in the needle threader and put in the needles.

Put straight pins and safety pins in the middle 2 felt pages.

On the last 2 felt pages put a little baggie of buttons and use the other ribbon you sewed on to tie on a pair of scissors.

Sew a button on the outside of the hot pad on the side opposite the hanger loop.

Fold the hot pad in half and secure by putting the hanging loop over the button….. and…. WAL..LA…   You have a little sewing kit book which is perfect for tucking away in your suitcase…  or that of your grad who is leaving home.

That is what I did for Friday Fun today…. What did you do?

Have a great weekend.  Hugs, Grammy Lura