The Wolves

Cora excelled in her opening weekend of Wolves. Yes, opening weekend - they have a two week, 8-show run at the Main in Newhall. Her community theater debut!

Wolves tells the story of a teen girls indoor soccer team through the course of six weeks of their season. It's all told from the perspective of their warmup area, with the girls' conversations propelling the story forward.

Cora plays the very anxious goalie. She has very few lines for the first half of the play, as her character is super nervous pregame, and often runs offstage to puke.

And incident happens between these two friends on a ski trip, leading to a big fight.

And in Week 5 (one scene taking place each week), Cora takes the spotlight. The scene opens with her alone on stage, crumpled in a ball, sobbing. 

She then melts down, rips out her pony tail, throws off her shirt, screams, and then collapses in tears.

The audience was silent enough to hear a pin drop. No one knows what has happened to make 00 (characters are mainly known only by their jersey number) fall apart.

In the following (and final, long) scene, the next week, the girls slowly come on stage, one by one, and as the conversations unfold, you can gather that one of the players was hit by a car and killed.

Cora finally has a monologue - she no longer feels nervous about the game. (She doesn't need to say it outright, but it's clear that the loss of a loved one helped her realize that soccer games aren't life and death situations.)

Her acting throughout is impeccable. In fact, all the girls are outstanding. The best of their high schools or colleges, coming across as very real, relatable characters.

A new character shows up - we realize this is the Soccer Mom, whose daughter died in the crash. She has a long, meandering, grief-stricken speech, leaving most of the audience in tears. Cora is crying behind her - again, stellar acting. I can't watch her without tearing up.

It was a moving, heartfelt show. Not an easy watch, and a LOT of swearing from a couple of the characters, with more adult subject matter. Real, gritty.

We're all so proud of Cora for tackling this role (pun intended) and scoring.

Winner Winner Winner!!

These are the happy faces of Cora and her theatre classmates who had a great day at the Hart District Theater Festival on Friday. 

This was the first time for most of these kids to participate in this competition, which included all seven district high schools. It was a long day, and took place when we had that huge 7-inch rainstorm. 

Cora took part in two big acts - she was one of the ex-wives of Henry VIII in a musical number from Six. These girls took home the Best Supporting Actor award, and second place for overall musical number.

And, more importantly for us, Cora WON Best Supporting Actor for her role as Jaques in a scene from As You Like It. In this scene, she has the iconic "All the World's a Stage" monologue. She killed it! We are so, so proud of her. 

Week in Review

Stace, Violet and I went to visit with Eloise and the rest of the family on Monday night while Cora was at karate. Violet remains in love!

On Wednesday, I met up with JT in Montrose, and she planned a hike for us. We went up on the hills between the 2 Freeway and Descanso Gardens, with views of Downtown L.A. (behind my head here), just about to the Pacific.

 And here is part of Descanso Gardens behind us, and the San Gabriels beyond. It was beautiful, but SUPER windy! Like, walk with purpose, so you don't get blown over...

 It was also more hilly than JT realized when she planned the hike - the sign here says "Descanso Lateral," and we were questioning the choice of the word "lateral."

We enjoyed a lovely lunch after our hike - a day altogether.

 That evening, Stace and I took Cora out for a boba while Violet was at Pioneer Club to celebrate herstrong showing in the school's National Geographic Geography Bee, where students competed to answer the most geography/history questions. Out of nearly 70 students, Cora placed in the top 10!

On Thursday, I attended a training at Cora's school (where I got a free lunch!). I was asked to be the parent representative on a committee that is working to reward positive behavior on campus.

Time with Stace

 Stace and I had my parents come over to hang with the girls while we went to a dinner meeting held by the school district, to discuss goals and celebrate high test scores.

We celebrated further, by going to Chili's for a drink afterwards.

 While Vi and I were in Arizona, Stace and Cora went to a Hot Wheels touring event that happened to hit the parking lot of a local Walmart. Here's Cora with the Darth Vader car.

 Cora enjoyed some quality time with her cat... this time, outdoors. These two spend quality time together most nights, on her bed.

Cora also helped Stace tidy up the MG - they finished up the floor so he could lay the carpets he made, and then reinstall the seats.

They also watched movies and practiced karate together.

A Special Recognition

Cora hasn't had the easiest transition to junior high. She doesn't enjoy change at the best of times, and being around lots of new people makes her uncomfortable.

It's a difficult age, with kids growing in different ways, using awful language, trying to be "cool" in ways that seem mean and nasty. Cora would tell you that she really dislikes her new environment, despite enjoying some of her classes and loving a couple of her teachers.

After being such an amazing leader in elementary school, she didn't want to stand out at her new school. She's signed up for zero after school or in-school clubs, and would simply like to melt into the woodwork.

BUT...

This girl!

She cannot hide her light!

Her leadership. Her strength.

Her school held its first Student of the Month brunch Friday, and Cora was selected as one of just 11 out of 1,100 to receive special recognition for the character quality of trustworthiness.

Here she is with her Team Adventurer teachers, who selected her and had some beautiful things to say about her. Stace and I enjoyed chatting with them during the brunch, as you don't always get to know the teachers in junior high/high school.

About Cora, they wrote: "Cora exudes trustworthiness! Her teachers can rely on her to help other students, as well as count on her to help with various classroom tasks. She is a dedicated student who goes above and beyond what is expected of her. Cora is a student whom all her teachers praise, and she deserves this special recognition because she shows her good intentions on a daily basis. She has shown herself to be a genuine, honest person who can be trusted to do the right things. Congrats, Cora!"

Another honoree, 8th grader Sienna, was in Mrs. Shafarman's class with Cora; she was in fifth grade, and the class was a 4th/5th combo. 

We are so very proud of you, Cora. You are still being an awesome student and leader in class, even if you don't love every minute of it.

(Violet's school had a four-day weekend for Fall Break, so she was off and able to attend this special brunch. And we're so blessed to have Stace working in town, so he can pop over to be part of such things as well.)

Cora received some goodies, along with the certificate; free meals at two restaurants, plus $15 for Stone Fire, her favorite place.

Week in Review

Violet got her big back-to-school wish fulfilled this week, when she rode off with Cora to school.

She's been wanting to ride to school since that day last spring when I was sick and they had to ride together.

They rode together to school, and then Cora left her and moved on to the rest of her ride. Then, at the end of the day, Cora picked up Violet and they got home safely, in one piece and on two wheels. Four wheels.

Cora loves her school library, and checks out interesting reading material for her quiet moments at school. History is her favorite subject.

One day this week, Cora lost her electronics privileges. That afternoon, spent hours working on a new story she'd crafted in her head.

She pulled Violet in to draw some characters.

Clearly, we should ban video games and mindless YouTube watching more often.

Violet's class created their 3-D clay maps of California Friday, and for the first time, I got to help in her fourth grade class.

Later Friday, I took Violet and her friend Victoria to their school's movie night. They watched Secret Life of Pets 2.

Working Weekend

Violet got a little snuggle time with her sister and the big guy Friday morning, before she flew to Seattle to visit Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty. More on that later! This post will be about our weekend while she was away...

With Violet away, and our internet and phone service down for a week - long annoying story that I don't feel like blogging about - it was the perfect opportunity to tackle Cora's closet project. Here's the before shot - wish I had one with the books and stuffed animals still in place, but oh well.

Stace and Cora made quick work of dismantling the old unit, which was very well constructed, with good wood. Kind of a shame to take it apart, but our growing girl needs a real closet now.

Their progress ground to a swift halt when Stace, bent over to investigate this hole in the dry wall, stepped up into the nail you see here and got a gash in the head.

He washed the deep cut in the bathroom sink, and then off to urgent care we went. It was immediately clear he needed medical treatment.

Stace bravely accepted his staples without any anesthesia, because he knew from past experience that the numbing shot also hurts like heck.

Poor guy!

Later that evening, we went out for ramen.

And on Sunday, we went to Home Depot after church for supplies. Cora is taking a very active role in this project.

But she's not too old to play in the door displays.

Not a bad weekend's work!

Final GATE Musical for Cora

Cora was very excited for her day of performances in the school musical Wednesday! I thought she looked so grownup and pretty when she was ready to leave for school.

She performed twice in the school day, once for the younger grades and again for the upper grades. We returned to school in the evening for the performance for the families.

Cora was one of four "delivery people" in the play, which was called "The Great Western Movement." The Delivery People were the main roles, appearing throughout the show. Once again, Cora starred next to Violet, her sweet longtime friend.

At the climax of the play, Cora and crew are delivering the "Golden Spike" to Promontory Point, Utah, where newly built railroads are about to connect the East and West Coasts in 1869.

But, inside the package was... the Famous Golden BOWLING BALL?!? Um, oops!

Cora, as always, was a great little actress, delivering her lines loudly, clearly and with great expression.

Here's video of the exciting moment and song...

Sophia played Daniel Boone, and song his/her song very well. In fact, all the songs were sung well, and all the parts were well-acted.

Charlie had a role too, for the first time. (Jake wasn't interested in taking part.)

We're so proud of our girl! Who knows if she'll be on stage again, but she certainly thrived in her time with Mrs. Shafarman and the three GATE musicals she took part in.

Cora with Charlie and Cami, who played a pioneer girl.

Mrs. Shafarman has made clear that she is going to miss these sixth graders! Many of them have performed together all three years they were eligible. They presented Mrs. Shafarman with flowers and a special card.

I also gave Mrs. Shafarman and Ms. Sheen lovely bouquets and gift cards, through money I collected from the parents.

Cora, Cooper,Trent, Ryan and Christine goofing around after the show.

Cora and Sophia

Violet can't wait for her turn to be in the musical next year!

Cora will miss these ladies, but she says she's going to be back to help out next year!