Our Last Rehearsal before break!

Here's a little video of our last rehearsal before we hit Christmas break. I am VERY impressed with where we are at in this process. Especially when you consider that only ONE of our cast members has had any formal dance training and experience. I think my cast is AWESOME! They have really come a LONG way! Enjoy the video and tell me what you think!

Christmas Concert Over

Well, the day has finally arrived! Our school Christmas concert is over and went really well last night. My wife and I spent the entire day yesterday at the church getting the stage set and all of the technical things ready for the show. Rehearsals went well and the kids were all excited about it. Then I spent an hour and a half recording all of the light cues for the concert and everything was really looking nice!

At the last minute, I decided to call my Seussical cast and tell them to bring their cast shirts to the concert. We were going to give a little teaser for the musical and perform "Green Eggs and Ham" at the end of the concert. Everyone was a little nervous but they did an awesome job and it really got everyone excited about the full show in February.

The only thing that went REALLY wrong last night happened a half hour before the concert started. WE LOST ALL OF OUR LIGHT CUES FOR THE SHOW!! I couldn't believe it! So our light guy had to run the whole show manually. That was quite frustrating, but God still worked and everything went well.

Now, we have three days of finals next week and then Christmas break will finally be here. I am so ready for a break. I hope this post finds everyone doing well. I was finally able to upgrade to Beta Blogger! Now I am part of the "in" crowd. So have a great day Blogger world!

Christmas is COMING!

I am SOOOOO ready for Christmas break this year. Only a couple more big things to get done at school and then we are off for a quick week-and-a-half break. I am trying not to think about how fast it will go by. We are excited about getting to see "Grammy" and "Papa" St. Clair and all of the rest of the family.

Rennah is very "into" Christmas this year. She loves all of the lights, decorations, music, and basically anything that screams Christmas. It is a lot of fun to watch her light up when we turn on our lights at home, or pass someone's house that is all lit up.

This week, Thursday is our all-school Christmas program. I am ready to get this done. I love our music and the program, but with all of the rehearsals going into the concert, I have to admit it is getting old. But I am excited to see and hear the audience's reaction to the program. I know that it will be uplifting and enjoyable for all who attend.

After that, we have one more week of classes and then three days of finals. In the midst of it all, we continue working on Seussical and getting some final preparation done before we slam full-force into the show in January. Only 71 more days until opening night! AAAAHHHHHHH!


Anyway, I hope everyone is well. Enjoy the pictures below. Leave comments to show your love. Have a great week!

My rising "Seussical" stars! Photos from recent rehearsal.

Thanksgiving Break!

Quick Video

Here's a short video that I put together to promote my DRAMA WINTERIM class that I teach at the school in January. We spend most of the time with the cast of Seussical preparing our music and drama for the show. In the video you will get a quick sneek peak into our rehearsals and some of the choreography. You can also get your first look at my HUGE cast.

Enjoy!

Facebook . . . a WONDER!

So, maybe I am just totally slow and out of touch with technology on the web these days, but I keep discovering amazing communication tools and ways of staying in touch with people that I love. So, here comes the latest.

Facebook.com! I am so excited about this new tool for communication, and it is really quite simple to use. I am pretty sure that most of my readers here do not have a facebook account (since I have not come across any yet), so this may be new to most of you.

If you are like me, you get frustrated with trying upload pictures to a Slide.com or Rockyou.com in order to post pictures on your blog. Plus, you have a limited amount of pictures and sizes that you can upload. Well, probably my favorite thing about facebook, is the fact that you can upload and UNLIMITED amount of photos and in my experience, it is a LOT FASTER! That alone is a great reason to get a facebook.

Also, in the last three days or so that I have had one, I have gotten back in touch with people I haven't seen for years! All the way back to Life Action days! That has been amazing!

Other features:
* You can set the facebook to automatically upload your blogger posts into the facebook for a whole new group of readers and friends to see.
* When you upload photos, you can tag the names of the people in the photos and if they have a facebook (and are in your friend list) they will automatically get those photos as well. So it's a great tool for sharing photos with others.
*You get requests from people you know to be your friend and YOU CHOOSE if they are listed in your friends list or not. ONLY YOUR FRIENDS CAN SEE YOUR PROFILE, PICS, AND POSTS. Plus you can choose for certain friends to only see limited amounts of your profile and so on.
* You can post major events and the INVITE people to those events.
* Your friends can leave comments and such on your "Wall".
* You will be surprised at the friends you may find there that you haven't talked to in years.

Why am I telling you this? Because there are some great friends of mine out there that I would love to see join facebook, so that we can keep in touch even BETTER than a typical blog.

Let me stress that this is not a MYSPACE idea where anyone can see your information and stuff. Nor is there annoying pop-ups and questionable advertizements. The look of your facebook is neat and clean. This is very secure and let's you decide who can see what. I have only been at it for a few days and I have already found 52 friends from every different relm of my life! Life Action, Northland, Crusades, HOST FAMILIES!, and even people I work with around here. I also uploaded, captioned, and tagged over 100 photos in about twenty minutes! That's amazing.

So I can post a lot more pictures of my family and friends there and chances are, there are a lot of pictures you all haven't seen yet. Sign up, add me as your friend, and then enjoy all of the pictures and updates.

So click here to get your own facebook. Oh, did I mention that it is FREE?!!!

Retreats Over!

Well, our final retreat for the year is over and I'M NOT SICK! It's amazing, but God has spared me from my usual state of much sickness and sorrow. Two retreats done and I didn't lose my voice OR get sick! God's grace is amazing!

Now, I gear up for our all school Christmas Concert on December 7. Along with a full month of muscial rehearsals for "Seussical". We are in a crucial time of rehearsals, trying to nail down choreography and music for some of our bigger/full cast songs. Also, we are working on getting costumes made, set design done, and very soon will be starting our orchestra rehearsals with the instrumentalists. Plus, I am driving a huge promotional push with T-shirts, banners, posters, and bumper stickers and decals. So it is a fun stage of production.

In more personal life, Sarah has a doctor's appointment today. We are just seeking advice now from her doctor to make sure that everything is all right healthwise. We really desire to have another child and the waiting time is hard; and we want to do our part to make sure we are both healthy and that there is nothing hindering this process except for the Almighty. Please be praying for us.

Rennah is AMAZING! Whenever I get some time at home, I will post some more pictures of her here so you can see how much she is growing.

We love and pray for you our friends! Keep us updated on your lives as well.

One Down . . . One to Go!

Well, we got back from choir retreat #1. All in all, everything went well. This weekend, we took our entire high school (about 80 students) down to Life Action Retreat and Conference Center (my home stomping grounds) for a couple of days to learn our music for the year. The weather was cold and breezy, but we got a lot accomplished. Our worship time together on Thursday night was awesome and God worked in the hearts of the students through it.

Now, I am gearing up for one more choir retreat this coming weekend. This time out, we are taking our auditioned elementary choir (the Singing Crusaders) to a place called Camp Beechpoint. We will be there Friday and Saturday. You can pray that it goes well.

Good news! I didn't get really sick and lose my voice on our High School Retreat. That usually happens, but this year, God kept me healthy. So that is nice. Especially since we have another big weekend ahead.

Thursday, we teachers are headed to Grand Rapids for our annual teacher convention. No school once again for the kids. They like that a lot.

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I do need to clear up what might be some confusion from my last post. I mentioned that I was "in a state of depression and frustration" without really explaining what was going on. I understand that could have communicated the wrong thing to some of you who are faithful to read this blog. That was simply how I was feeling that particular day and I was really just spilling my feelings. I was only discouraged because a good friend on mine (my accountability partner, in fact) had been going through a rough time and really had no desire or passion for God. And nothing that I could say to him would change his heart. I was at a loss with really no one to talk to about it. Things seem to be getting a little better with him, but that is still a definite prayer need.

Just for clarification, that depression and frustration was not in relationship to my marriage or family. Sarah and I are doing well and loving life and what God is teaching us. Just keep praying for strength in the midst of business.

Thanks for reading. Love you all!

First Snow!

Well, it's official. Cold weather is here! I woke up today to see the first touches of winter on the ground . . . and my first morning of scraping the car windshield. I like the snow today . . . but by tomorrow, I will be tired of it . . .

Maybe not that soon, but I really don't like cold weather. So, why am I living in Michigan? Well, I am still trying to figure that out for myself. Maybe because I love our church and school . . . the people here . . . my friends. Just a few reasons. Although life is not without its ups and downs.

Recently, I have been in a state of depression and frustration. Just because of some things going on around here. Today, I am doing all right . . . though I am still worried about a couple of things. But I know that my God is bigger than any problem, worry, or frustration.

BIG weekend ahead. Actually, 3 big weekends ahead. Tomorrow is Grandparents day at our school, so that means all of my choirs are singing. Then we have two Big Play practices on Friday and Saturday. Next weekend is our High School Choir Retreat, and the following weekend is the Singing Crusader Choir Retreat (Elementary choir). So I will be busy.

If you read these posts, please be in prayer that God will keep me healthy and give me strength for what is ahead. I hope everyone has a great week.

Seussical Video Clip

Here's a clip of the show we will be doing at Calvary this year. The camera work is awful, but the high school cast here is extremely talented. I especially love the closing number of "Green Egs and Ham". We are planning on useing their choreography for our show! Enjoy!

Life for the St. Clairs?

I know, I haven't posted about our life for quite some time. In fact, what you have seen on our blog in recent days IS our life right now. Producing and directing a school musical is absolutely consuming! Both in time, energy, and thought. The show is not until February but in order to pull off such a big production, it is necessary for us to get a jump start on the process. With only a few rehearsals under our belt, the cast is getting fired up about the show and a good foundation has been set for this long journey. I am in charge of basically everything except for choreography and dance. That is left up to my wife and one other person. So, Sarah Dawn is really enjoying getting back into some of her roots with dance. In fact, she has started taking a ballet class again and is really thrilled about that.

In other news, life goes on. Our biggest burden right now is for another child. Sarah and I have been praying for another baby for quite some time now and God has chosen not to bless yet. So we are in the painful stage of waiting. And every month it gets harder for us, especially for Sarah. You guys can pray for us in that area.

We just recently celebrated Sarah's 27th birthday last Saturday. And part of that celebration was taking to family to "The Greatest Show on Earth" Barnum and Bailey Circus. Rennah totally ate up the whole experience! We had such an awesome time. Especially before the show, when they let everyone come down into the rings to meet the performers and the animals. Rennah wasn't sure what to think when a 6,000 pound elephant named Aisa walked into the arena and painted a picture for us! She loved the clowns, which was a comfort for me that they didn't scare her. And she danced and giggled the whole night.

Life goes on. It's OCTOBER already! And school and church ministry keeps us busy. But our hearts are full of Joy in Christ as we continue to serve him and trust him with our lives. Continue to pray for protection from the enemy this year as we are heavily involved in minstry and I know the devil loves to attack.

Thank you all for your support and prayers. I know that many of you read this blog (even if you don't make a comment) and it's encouraging to know that we can keep people updated to pray through the wonder of the blogger world.

Keep CHRIST as the center of your focus. We love you all!

Seussical Cast!

Well, I have gone through the very hard process of play auditions and the casting process. Yesterday, I posted the cast and created quite and excitement around school. Here is a list of the cast for the show this year. Not that any of these names will mean anything to most of you, I just want you to see the large amount of people that I have for the show.

Our Cast!

The Cat In the Hat- Brian Visscher

Horton the Elephant- Chad Adkins

JoJo- Kaleb Beelen

Gertrude McFuzz- Anna Edwards

Mayzie LaBird- Krysta Altvater

Sour Kangaroo- Leah Bartlett

Mayor of Whoville- Paul Hontz

Mayor’s Wife- Abbie Hagger

General Schimtz- Tyler Joldersma

Bird Girls-

Sarah Bartlett

Amelia Ozios

Julie Schultz

Wickersham Brothers-

Julianne Brown

Chevy Gilliam

Jordan Steele

The Grinch- Sean Little

The Whos-

Kallie Baumann

Leah Ebbers

Rachael Ozios

Shanice Taylor

Becky VandenBerg

Judge Yertle the Turtle- Stephen Field

Ensemble/Dancers-

Bethany Folkert

Hannah Hagger

Ashley Joldersma

Rhea Kosten

Lydia NyKamp

Rachel Renzema

Alissa Visscher

That's it! A total of 29 people! Auditions were awesome and we are all so excited to get started on this show. I will be posting a video from auditions soon! Stay tuned!

Musical in Audition Stage!

Yes, it's that time of year again for me! The audition stage for our next school musical. Last year's play was such a hit that our executive director here asked me to produce and direct another musical this year.

Unfortunately, there are not a lot of really good, family-friendly shows that have small casts like Charlie Brown. So we are having to go BIGGER this year.

"Seussical the Musical" is an extremely fun show and I am really excited about it. This past Wednesday, I had my first meeting for those students that are interested in auditioning this year. I was expecting 20 people tops from our little school. Much to my surprise, I walked into the meeting packed with 46 STUDENTS! I can't believe how many people are excited about this show! Last year, we had about 18 students audition for Charlie Brown, so this was a HUGE increase! I can only guess that it comes from the awesome show we had last year. People have a new excitement for our theater program. YAY!

Auditions are next Saturday, September 16, so you all can pray that God will give me wisdom in picking our final cast!

The first week of school is almost over and it has gone very well. Enrollment is up again at our school. We topped off the year with 261 students! Last year we had about 245, so this is a big increase! Lots of new students.

Thank you to all of you who left comments for the last post. I guess I was just feeling alone in the blogger world and comments always make me feel like people care and what I am writing and posting is being viewed. So thanks. Pray for Sarah and I as we begin this new school year. I am extrememly excited about what God has in store for us.

School is Coming!

Well, we are in our last week of teacher in-service. September 5 marks the beginning of classes. I am excited about getting things started.

I haven't updated in a while, I know . . . but I also haven't recieved many comments, so I assume that the blog is not being read. So here's the deal, if you visit this blog, leave a quick comment so I know. Comments make me happy, even if they are short.

Anyway, I will be posting some more pictures and updates on the family soon. Hang in there, blogger world, I am coming back soon.

Clips from "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown"

I have finally figured out how to post my videos online! So enjoy a few "behind the scenes" clips from our school's production last February! This was a lot of fun. Let me know what you think!

VBT Pics!

Check out some pictures from our exciting, and exaughsting VBT Program!

It's Official!

VBT has finally begun! We started off the program last night with a BANG! Literally! I launched two huge confetti cannons into the crowd of children to start off of evening. Then we proceeded to sing some crazy songs and perform puppet shows along with a pirate skit in which we (the pirates) were shipwrecked on a deserted island.

So the fun has begun and I am already exaughsted! It's only been one day and I feel like we should be done . . . Oh, boy . . . this will be a long week.

On another note, my birthday is on Saturday. I am going to be 27! My wife keeps reminding me that I am getting old . . . Oh, well, I can still love and enjoy life! I think we will be sleeping all day on Saturday 'cause we will be very tired . . . Oh, well . . . that's a fine way to celebrate for me!

Love you all! Please be in prayer for this week!

Pirates . . . the Story . . .

So, I finished the painstaking process of writing the script for our skit. I thought maybe some of you would enjoy just a small sample of what we will be doing so here's just an sampling. This is our opening night skit to introduce our characters and set the mood for what will be happening. First off, our cast of characters: (See if you can guess which character I will be playing.)

CAPTAIN-
The captain is a hard, weathered pirate. He is very set in his ways and very evil. His motivation comes from his for adventure, treasure, , and hard work. He is really a combination of all of his crew, though he doesn’t like to admit it much. He’s tough, carries a great air of authority and demands respect.

1st MATE-
The 1st mate is a student of the Captain. He longs to have the same qualities that he admires in his leader and would follow him anywhere. He is loyal, detail oriented, and responsible for charting the course of the ship. The Captain looks to him to have things planned out and “ship-shape”. The 1st Mate is also responsible for the cabin boy. He teaches the boy everything he knows and protects the boy from the other members of the crew.

“SMARTY-PANTS” PIRATE-
“Smarty-pants”, as most of the men call him, is the know-it-all of the bunch. He has a lot of book smarts, but not a lot of anything else. His books are his friends and he runs to them often. He is not prone to hard work and avoids it when he can. He looks at most of the crew as sloppy, immature, and a real bore. The captain simply refers to him as “Mr. S”.

“VIOLENT” PIRATE-
“Violent”, or Mr. Vile, as the Captain calls him, lives up to his name. He is a man bent on violent acts and raging tempers. He loves doing “piratey” things and plundering the seas. He and “Greedy” are best of friends (usually) and feed off of each other’s passions. “Violent” loves to get “Spastic” worked up and then really gets a kick out of knocking him unconscious. His answer to everything is usually walking the plank, or some other form of drastic action.

“GREEDY” PIRATE-
“Greedy” also lives up to his name. He has an insatiable for gold and always carries around a small bag filled with it, just to fulfill his passion. He hangs out with “Violent” a lot and loves to talk about “wickedness, covetousness, and maliciousness” with him. He also enjoys taunting “Spastic” and watching him go crazy.

“SPASTIC” PIRATE-
“Spastic” is usually quite and just goes about his business. That is until someone says a word that sets him off . . . then he turns into a raging, insane, screaming thing that can only be stopped by being knocked unconscious. The crew enjoys “setting him off’ and gets a kick out of knocking him out. Only “Macho” really cares and tries to protect “Spastic” from hurting himself. Every time “Spastic” is knocked unconscious, “Macho” is there to revive him . . . even though he is quite rough with him.

“MACHO” PIRATE-
“Macho” is a great big man of action. He is all heart and the biggest servant of them all. If anything needs to be done, he is the first to volunteer . . . usually with the phrase, “I’ll do it!” The crew calls him “Manly” because he is the strongest one in the bunch. The only problem is, he doesn’t know his own strength and usually causes more damage trying to revive “Spastic” than “Violent” did when he knocked him out. He sees “Spastic” as his “little buddy” and tries to protect him. There is not a lot that goes on in his brain.

ONE-EYED WILMA-
A stowaway on board, Wilma disguises herself as a man and tries to stay in the shadows. That is until she is discovered after the shipwreck. She is notorious as the only female pirate to have ever captained a ship. Her reputation precedes her and all of the crew knows who she is. She is able to hold her own against even against the toughest of them. She’s had a bit of bad luck recently and is seeking to get a new ship and crew to follow her. She loves to be in control.

CABIN BOY-
Our cabin boy has dreamed of life on the sea as long as he can remember. It was the 1st Mate who found him and brought him on board the ship. His duties are simple; serve the Captain first, then the crew. The crew likes to take advantage of his service and he complies quietly. He looks to the 1st Mate as a father figure and wants to learn everything he can from him. Though he is often quiet, he knows his job and performs it well.

CHIEF-
The Chief is really the whole reason why the pirates are even on the island. He knows the true Treasure and desires to share that with the pirates. The only problem is, he can’t speak English. So that makes it difficult.

NATIVES-
The natives follow the orders of their chief. They can often be seen sneaking through the jungle and delivering food and mysterious notes to the pirates.
********************************************
Now for the storyline. Make sure you read the lines out loud with a pirate voice!

DAY 1 (Monday)

Episode 1- Shipwrecked (Opening)
Romans 3:10

(Scene opens with the ship sailing across the ocean on a peaceful, quite day. We see four pirates on deck, VIOLENT, GREEDY, MACHO, and SPASTIC. They revel in the excitement of plundering and pillaging the earth.)

VIOLENT: Ah mates! This is the life! Sailing on the open seas with nothin’ but the wind are our backs and the smell of salt water on our flesh! I’m hankerin’ for a little excitement, if you know what I mean?

GREEDY: Aye shipmate! A little treasure hunting would do me some good. I’m longing to get my hands on some fresh gold. Untouched and priceless jewels!

MACHO: (working hard on something on the ship) I love workin’ on the ship!

(VIOLENT & GREEDY roll their eyes and laugh. SPASTIC just sits and watches the waves, almost obliterated to the fact that the men are speaking.)

VIOLENT: What do you say there? (slaps SPASTIC on the back, he doesn’t respond)

GREEDY: You know him . . . odd that one is! Only responds to certain words one might say. And then, what a frightful sight he is! All jumping and shouting and screaming like the devil is upon ‘em . . . and the only way to pull him out of his fearful state, is to knock ‘em down flat!

VIOLENT: (laughs) Aye, mate! (points)

TOGETHER: SPAZ! (pointing and laughing)

MACHO: Leave ‘em alone.

VIOLENT: Let’s set him off, mate! Let’s ‘ave some fun wit ‘em.

GREEDY: Yeah, let’s do it . . . (whispers in SPASTIC’s ear) Treasure . . .

(As they go, SPASTIC starts shaking and groaning . . . on the verge of exploding.)

VIOLENT: (joins in) Plunder.

GREEDY: Pillage.

VIOLENT: Danger.

GREEDY: Darkness!

VIOLENT: Curses!

GREEDY: Cats!

VIOLENT: Cats?!!

SMARTY: (entering) Gentlemen, your childish ways are so tiresome . . . and such a bore. Get back to your duties and quit lollygagging around the ship.

GREEDY: (disappointed) Oh, come off it, mate? All we wanted is a little fun!

SMARTY: Yes, a little fun (mocking) . . . it always leads to you doing something stupid! Why don’t you follow his example and get to work! (motioning to MACHO)

VIOLENT: Well, I don’t see YOU helping with the ship! All you do is read books and act like our mother! (Tears up at the thought of his mom.) Dear Mumsy . . .

GREEDY: Besides, the ship is on course and sailing just fine! There’s nothing left to do but enjoy the ride. So lay off us you sea urchin!

VIOLENT: OR YOU’LL WALK THE PLANK!!!!

GREEDY: YES! And DIE!

SPASTIC: (Awoken by the word.) DIE?!! !!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!

(Sudden chaos ensues as SPASTIC goes totally, well . . . spastic. He screams and flails his arms in some fruitless attempt to ward of some unseen enemy. The other pirates scream as they try to avoid him. After a few moments, VIOLENT finally finds a blunt object and knocks SPASTIC flat on his back. MACHO turns and tries to revive SPASTIC. Peace ensues once again.)

SMARTY: See what you’ve done?! Unbelievable!

VIOLENT: Well, at least we’ll ‘ave peace for a while and can speak freely.

GREEDY: So, about this voyage? What are we doing again?

SMARTY: Our intention is to commandeer this ship, raid, pillage, plunder and otherwise pilfer our weasely black guts out!

V & G: (very un-pirate like) COOL!

(MACHO finally gives up trying to revive SPASTIC and resumes his work.)

1st MATE: (enter) Avast! Ye, Lubbars! Make fast the ropes! There’ll be no lyin’ around on MY ship!

VIOLENT: But you ain’t the captain!

1st MATE: (angry) But I’m the first mate! And if you think I don’t have a say on who stays and who walks the plank—

CAPTAIN: (interrupts) That’ll be all Mr. Vast! (1st MATE cowers under the captain’s command.) Now, what seems to be the trouble here, lads?

GREEDY: Nothin’ cap’n. Just doin’ our duty.

CAPTAIN: And what would that be, Mr. G?

(GREEDY dumbfounded.)

VIOLENT: Uh, we’re preparin’ ta . . . go ashore and plunder, sir!

CAPTAIN: Ashore? Mr. Vile we are miles from any landmass, ain’t that right Mr. Vast?

1st MATE: Aye, sir! I charted the course myself and we are days from reaching shore, sir!

CAPTAIN: In that case, Mr. Vile—

VIOLENT: Uh, it’s Vile ‘Nt, sir . . .

CAPTAIN: (sighs) Mr. Vile . . . ‘Nt. I suggest you follow the example of Mr. Manly here and get back to your duties. And you, Mr. S, tend to the lookout, tell me if you spot any other ships!

V,G,& S: Aye-Aye, sir!

(SPASTIC stirs and begins waking up.)

CAPTAIN: What’s this?

GREEDY: Uh, he had another one of his spells, sir.

MACHO: ‘Ere now, it twern’t his fault cap’n

CAPTAIN: Oh, is see (knowingly) . . . and no more of this nonsense, or you’ll both be flogged!

SPASTIC: (The word starts to set him off again) Flogged?! Whipped?! Beat—

(VIOLENT knocks SPASTIC on the head before he can start again.)

CAPTAIN: Right. Back to work!

(Crew springs into action. Even though there’s not much to do . . . they at least act like they are busy.)

SMARTY: Well, men it appear you have everything together. So, I’ll just go back to my reading—(starts to leave)

VIOLENT: No you don’t, Mr. S. You’re going to stay right here and get your hands dirty with some good ol’ fashion, sailor work! Help Manly there scrub the deck.

SMARTY: Oh, I can’t get my hands dirty; it’ll ruin my books!

VIOLENT: Then you’ll watch as I slowly remove you fingernails—

MACHO: Enough, Vile . . . Mr. S is ‘spossed to be on the lookout for other ships.

GREEDY: Right, let’s just get back to talking about what we are going to do!

VIOLENT: Yes! Our evil dealings!

SMARTY: Your wickedness.

GREEDY: And covetousness.

VIOLENT: And maliciousness!

SMARTY: Oh my!

V&G: (look like they’ve just got a great idea)
Wickedness, and Covetousness, and Maliciousness!

SMARTY: Oh my!

V&G: Wickedness, and Covetousness, and Maliciousness!

SMARTY: Oh my!

V&G: Wickedness, and Covetousness, and Maliciousness!

SMARTY: Oh my!

CABIN BOY: Excuse me, sirs?

VIOLENT: You! Cabin boy, go and fetch me some water! I’m dryer than a hot beach in the blazin’ sun!

CABIN BOY: But, sir? I found this. (he holds up a dress)

GREEDY: Great galloping sea horse! Look at that!

MACHO: What kind of trousers are these?! All frills and no pockets!

SMARTY: It appears, sirs, to be a dress of some sort.

(Silent.)

SMARTY: A dress that a WOMAN would wear?

ALL: Ohhhhh!!

VIOLENT: What is a woman’s dress doing on our ship? Captain!

(CAPTAIN and 1st MATE enter. SPASTIC wakes up. ALL gather around the dress, along with another unknown “pirate” with a hat pulled over his face.)

GREEDY: It’s bad luck ‘aving a woman on board our ship!

CAPTAIN: We’ve got to search for her! No one can stowaway on MY boat!

(The chaos is interrupted by a loud thunderclap. Crew jumps in fear and a voice is heard over the noise.)

VOICE: “WHO AMONG YOU IS WITHOUT SIN? BECAUSE OF THE WICKEDNESS OF THE PEOPLE, I WILL POUR OUT MY JUDGMENT UPON THEM!!!”

(Suddenly, thunder and lightning strike the ship and the calm is interrupted by a terrible storm. The crew hastens to the ropes while the captain barks order. The effort is in vain as the ship strikes something in the darkness and crashes.)BLACKOUT/MUSIC
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Now if you actually read all of that, you probably are bored, or just don't have much to do right now, so hopefully that put a little smile on your face. Once VBT starts, I will begin updating on what happens. Stay tuned!

New LIVE Theatre Blog!

For those of you that are like me and love live theatre, check out the link to my new blog, "i LOVE Live Theare"! Or you can click here to go to the site. It is a place for me to review shows that I have seen and albums I have listened to. I will also post stuff from my own productions as I embark into the world of directing shows! Enjoy!

The Pirates are Coming!

So, as you can see by the counter above, our church's Vacation Bible Time is coming up very quickly! This year, we have a pirate theme and I just finished writing the script to our skit yesterday. It was so wonderful to get that HUGE task accomplished. Now, it's just a matter of getting my cast together and practicing before the big event.

I really love how our church runs the VBT program. They really go all out with the whole theme idea. We always have a huge, amazing set on stage, the music is awesome, the teaching and challenge times are so on target, and the funtime outside is nothing short of a spectacular carnival! Plus, we always have a great turn out in attendance from the community. We will reach upwards of 500 kids a night! And pack all that energy into our auditorium and it is really electrifying! So, I am super pumped about VBT and ready to get going.

On a more personal, family note. My brother-in-law Jonathan, has just been flown back to the states on an emergency medical jet. He has been in Haiti serving the people there and came down with a high fever and severe sickness. The doctors there were sure it was malaria, so they flew him back to the states. He has been in a hospital in Louisiana for three days and they just recently released him. So his dad flew down there and they have been driving back up here to Michigan so that he can rest and recover fully at home. Fortunately, he does not have malaria, but the high fever and stress of everything caused him to have yet another seizure. So he is just physically wiped.

They should be arriving home sometime this afternoon. I drove Sarah and Rennah down there yesterday so they can be there when he arrives. We would appreciate prayer on his behalf, that God would completely heal him and strengthen his body.

Thanks for reading. Post lots of comments because we all love them! Love you all! I will continue to update on Jonathan and VBT stuff. Bye for now!

Charlie Brown at the Tony's

So I found this video and thought it was awesome! For those of you that were unable to see our Charlie Brown musical this year at school, or those that don't know much about the show . . .watch this and it will give you an idea of what we did last February! Enjoy!

Vacation Pictures Part 2

Here's the second half of the pictures from our vacation. Virginia Beach was awesome and we really enjoyed hanging out with all of our college friends. What a great reunion!

Vacation Pictures Part 1

Here's some photos from some family time at Lake Michigan, and from our trip to Cedar Point with my family. Enjoy!

Back to Life . . .

So my wife and I arrived safely back from vacation last night. Boy, what a long drive we had. We left Virginia beach on Monday night around midnight or so, and drove straight through the night back home. Needless to say, we are wiped from the trip, but it was good to be home last night.

Today, I am back at work and cracking down on our church's VBT stuff. Lots to do before that event. I will post pics and stuff from our vacation later tonight. Until then, it's good to be back Blogger world!

Road Trip Vacation!

My wife and daughter and I are leaving on Wednesday for a week of vacation. Just to get away from it all . . . for a little while. So I will be off of blogging during that time. Keep the blogger world running while I am gone and I will catch up when we return.


We will be at Cedar Point Wednesday night and Thursday . . . and then we are driving out to Virginia beach to reunite with some college friends who I haven't seen since graduation. So that will be awesome. I am really excited about it!

While I'm gone, feel free to post all of those wonderful comments. You know I love them, and when I get back, I will return the favor. All of you in Virginia Beach, we are looking forward to seeing you all! When we return I am sure that I will have plenty of stories and pictures to share, until then . . . keep blogging!

Nintendo Accapella

This is Awesome! I've always wanted to put together a group that could do this! Enjoy!

Sad, Strange Little Man!

Watch this and laugh! It is hilarious and scary all at the same time!

June Photos

Picture Update!

Our family is enjoying June! Warmer weather . . . Summer . . . Swimming . . . Beach . . . and all that goes along with that. Our newest blessing is our "new" car! Our white station wagon died and we have been carless for about two months. But through E-bay, God provided us with another car. A '93 Buick Park Avenue. It's what you might call "Grandpa's Car", but let me tell you, Grandpa took great care of his car! It is in great condition and has lots of neat features like a CD player, sunroof, computerized temp controls, adjustable front seats (electronic of course), smooth ride, and a powerful engine. So we are more than happy.

Thanks to our parents for helping us find the car, flying out to Pennsylvania, and helping to cover some of the cost on it! What a blessing.

Enjoy the pictures. Our family keeps growing and Rennah keeps exploring everything! We love you all!

Awesome News!

So for those of you that have been reading this blog and been keeping up with life around the St. Clairs . . . you may recall a while back when I talked about our school working on accredidation. Remember that? All the stress and work that went into that project. Well, we got word back just the other day that our school received a 7 year accredidation status! So that is totally awesome! There was much celebration going on around school when we found out. All that work paid off and that will help our school continue to grow.

Well, for me, I have started work at the church. This is a HUGE task that I am undertaking, but I am excited about it. I am so thankful that summer is here and I feel like I can relax a little even in the midst of a new job.

I am already working on school stuff for next year. Picking out music, and planning events. I am hoping to get everything planned before school starts so I don't have to worry about it later. I hope that summer is going well for everyone. Some of you I hope to see soon in Virginia Beach for Amanda's reception. Have an awesome day!

School is Over! Glorious Summer Is Here!

O.K. I know that is a long title for a post, but that is how I feel right now! We just had our graduation ceremony last night and it went very well. Now, I am cleaning my room and finishing up the grading process . . . and our weekend will be packed with open houses for our Seniors. But next week, I will start my job at the church, so I am very excited about that.

This next week, Sarah and Rennah are going down to Buchanan to visit our families, and Rennah is going to be involved in a KinderMusic program for the week. So we are excited about that for her. She is already so musical and love to sing and dance. Her favorite song right now is "How Great Is Our God" by Chris Tomlin, so we sing it with her each night before bed and she just sings along with us. It is so cute!!

So, I will be home alone for the week, that will be sad . . . but I will make it.
We are looking forward to a relaxing summer (hopefully). In July we will be going to Virginia Beach for Amanda Lee's Reception and also visit Cedar Point with my family like we do every year. So that will be the extent of our vacation.

We love you all! Have a great summer.

Summer Days Are Here Again!

So it's finally June! Happy June everyone! June marks the beginning of what I am hoping to be a relaxing and enjoyable summer. In just about a week, school will be over and I will start my new job at our church. I am looking forward to a break from classes . . . not necessarily students, but just the monotony of the school schedule. My wife and I are hoping that we can stay connected with many of the students over the summer, so we will see what happens there.

So, what does summer hold for the St. Clairs? Well, for one thing, this is the first summer since we moved to Holland that I knew what I was doing for work over the summer weeks! This year, I will be working at our church to help develop our Children's Sunday School program. This includes designing a theme that will unify all the classes, analyzing our strengths and weakness in the class, repainting the basement of the church . . . stuff like that. I will also be helping with our VBT (Vacation Bible Time) program again this year, which is always HUGE and a lot of fun.

Sarah is taking a break from piano over the summer, which will be nice for her. The only exception would be a few High School students that wanted to learn some basic piano skills. I already know what Rennah will be doing all summer . . . SWIMMING! She loves being outside and swimming in her little pool. I think that she would do it all day if we let her. I will have to post some pictures later of her swimming. We also have a fun sprinkler that she likes to run through.

So I am looking foward to summer. What is everyone else doing over the summer break. Post and let me know.

P.S.- Northland people, who is planning on going to Amanda Lee(Jennings)wedding reception at Virginia beach? My wife and I are hoping to go.

Recent Photos

Here are some pictures from several events that our family has been involved in the past few months. We start with some more pictures from choir tour, then some photos from my Singing Crusader Music in the Parks competition (elementarty choir) in Chicago. Then we have a photo of our house and new kitten, "Boots" . . . and finally some pictures from our recent 3rd anniversary celebration in Chicago to watch the broadway show, "Wicked" . . . which has fast become my favorite broadway show ever!

Enjoy the pictures. We love you all.

Still Alive!

I just wanted to post real quick and let everyone know that we are still here. I haven't posted in a while because we have been so busy, but I will do so soon and update everyone on our lives. Real quick version . . .

We have a kitty named Boots, we just got back from Chicago competittion with Singing Crusaders (elementary choir), school is almost out, I have a summer job, and we are all sick!

More details later. Lots of love to everyone, we love reading comments from you! Have a great day.

We're Back!

We have returned from an awesome choir tour! God really blessed with safety and some wonderful experiences for everyone. I will try to sum up all that happened in this post. If you would like to see more pictures from our choir tour CLICK HERE.

We had a great choir concert last Tuesday night (May 2) and then left afterwards to drive through the night to New Jersey. The trip took us about 14 hours. We arrived in Little Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey around noon on Wednesday. After a quick lunch, we took the kids to the ocean and enjoyed the fresh air and salty water. Of course, the students were a little stir crazy from being cooped up in a bus for so long, so there was plenty of attempts to push each other into the cold water. Some were successful!

After a group picture, we headed back to the church to clean up and get ready for the youth rally that night. Our host church for the week was Calvary Baptist Church there in New Jersey and we had about 80 teens join us for an awesome supper and time of worship around a bonfire afterwards. The students sang two songs (one ended up being accapella after the track stopped midway through the song!), Pastor Paul shared a challenge, and a couple of our Seniors talked about how they saw the power of God through prayer on their last missions trip to Zambia Africa. We had an awesome time with the youth there.

On Thursday, we took all 40 of the group to New York City for a fun day of touring. We split into three groups and traveled throughout the city seeing whatever we wanted to. By God's grace, all of the groups stayed together well and had no problem meeting back at our rendevous point that evening. We all met at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater at 8:00 p.m. to watch Disney's Beauty and the Beast! It was fabulous! What a great ending to a wonderful day in the Big Apple.

On Friday, we went to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission to serve and sing for them. We spent the afternoon cleaning the entire mission, scrubbing walls, mopping, and sanatizing matresses. We also cooked supper for about 500 people and then served it to the people as they came in from off the streets. Then we had the most awesome chapel service that evening. The students sang, we shared testimonies and listend to some of the stories of the people there. I gave a gospel presentaion and afterwards, many of the students gathered around the people there and prayed for them. It was a great time of worship and ministry for us.

On Saturday, we went to Cezech Drug and Alcohol Rehab center. We spent the afternoon working on the grounds planting and potting flowers and other plants. I think we estimated that our group of 40 potted over 12,000 plants that day! Then we had another awesome service singing and ministering to the people there at the camp. The men and women in the program at Cezech were in tears as the students sang and prayed for them. The staff at the camp were very grateful for the student's hard work and awesome ministry.

Saturday night came quickly which meant the bus was back and we were loaded for our final 14 hour drive home. We arrived back in Holland about 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning, unloaded all the stuff and the kids and then went home and crashed!

I really enjoyed this trip and the students were such a blessing to me, Sarah, and Rennah. We love being able to take these kids out and let God work in and through them. Now, we are back to a somewhat normal life . . . it's Tulip Festival time here in Holland, which means lots of tourists and extra traffic around town. Tonight, we went and watched the dutch dancers. Tiffany and Melody are with us right now as the rest of my family are in London and on their way to visit in Dublin Ireland! Lucky them.

Now, I am preparing for my next trip in two weeks with the Singing Crusaders in Chicago. Life goes on . . . let us know how you all are. We love you!

Let the Fun Begin!

So this will probably be my last post until we return from NYC with the high school choir. Last Tuesday, I had my first Spring concert with the Elementary grades. We had a patriotic theme and the show went very well. Tomorrow night is the BIG one! Our middle & high school choir's Spring Concert '06 called, "Imagination". Last night we were at the church setting up extra stages, lights, and working on some special effects for the show. Then my wife and I went home and I finished up a video project on my computer for the concert. We didn't go to bed until 2:30 a.m. so I am a little tired this morning.

The Spring Concert tomorrow night is going to be amazing! God has truly gifted this school with a lot of talent! I am excited to see it displayed in the show tomorrow night. We have everything from worship, to theater, to dance in this concert and it is going to be awesome.

Be in prayer over the next week. We leave Tuesday night after the concert to drive through the night out to the east coast for our choir tour. Pray that God will use the students in a great way in New Jersey and NYC. I will be back next week with a full update from the trip and concert. Until then, keep your heart and mind fixed on Christ and let Him be your joy!

Aunt Charity was kind enough to let Rennah put makeup all over her face! 

A very concentrated Rennah . . . 

Say Cheese! 

Checking out their handywork! Beautiful! 

Special Visit from Papa & Grammy!

Well, my family is off the road for a little while which is great news for us! It means that they are close by and can visit some. We recently met up with them on Easter Sunday after church for lunch and spent a couple hours with them. Rennah loves having her "Papa & Grammy" around, along with all of her aunts and uncle.

This past weekend, we had another opportunity to have them for a visit. They came up on Friday and spent the evening and next day with us. It was such a treat! Rennah just eats up all of the attention she gets from my family. She and Aunt Charity got into her makeup and as you can see, it got everywhere!

NYC OR BUST!!

So my life has been consumed lately with finalizing our plans for the High School Choir Tour coming up the first week of May. We are headed to the east coast, specifically New Jersey. We will be ministering in a local church in Little Egg Harbor Township, singing, leading worship, and sharing testimonies. I am also planning on taking the students to NYC for a day of touring during the trip. I know that I have some students that like to read this blog, so I will not go into too much detail about what we are doing there since it is still a secret around school. But we are going to have a great time.

Things are finally and fully coming together for the trip and I am very excited about it. Be in prayer for that trip.

I also have an Elementary Spring Concert next week, the High School Spring Concert the following week, and then our tour right after. So it is a busy time for me. May gets pretty crazy. Hope everything is going well for everyone. Have an awesome day.

Good Report

Well, it's another Monday at school. Although today is an easy day for me as our students have SAT testing for the next couple of days. I just wanted to update you on our ACSI accredidation. Last Thursday after school our staff met with the ACSI team to hear the report. Unfortunately, they were unable to tell us what their final decision is (that's against the rules), but they were able to tell us what they loved about our school and some things that we needed to work on. They had a very positive report for us that was very encouraging, and the negative things that they had to say were things that we already knew needed some work. Like a library and media center with a staff person trained to run it. So, the overall experience was positive and encouraging, but we won't know the final decision until late June or July! So we have to wait some more . . . but that doesn't see to bother us, we just keep plugging along.

I hope that everyone is doing well. Post some comments to let us know how you all are. We love to hear from you!

Nerves or Not?!

That is the question for all teachers around our school these days. With the ACSI accredidation team here, everyone is on their best behavior. Members of the team have been taking turns coming in and observing our classes. Actually, I think that everyone is doing a great job. We are supposed to relax and just "do our teaching thing", but it is still a little awkward when you have someone new in your classroom watching YOU!

The two times that I have been observed have been completely stress free. In fact, the first time I was observed, I didn't even realize that one of the team members was in the room. It was during choir and I was working with the sopranos on a section of the song when the team member walked in. I turned around to help the basses and there he was, smiling and really enjoying himself. It surprised me at first, but I relaxed quickly . . . no big deal. He told me later that he really enjoyed listening to our choir, so that was nice. That was yesterday . . .

Today, one of the female ACSI team members joined my 1st Grade Music class and observed. We had a blast working on fun music theory games with the kids, so that observation was stress free as well. So for me, I have enjoyed having the team here. After school today we will be meeting with them to answer any questions that they have for us. Tomorrow, they will observe in the morning and then finish going through all of the curriculim stuff in the afternoon. Tomorrow after school, we will get to hear the final report from them . . . we are all anxious to hear what they have to say.

Friday, we get the day off! I am looking forward to that extended weekend. Sarah's family will be coming to visit us during the afternoon.

Have a great day everyone. I will keep you posted on the accredidation stuff.

School, Glorious School!

Well, classes are back in full swing! I went into our first day back yesterday feeling fully refreshed and energized from our relaxing Spring Break . . . excited about being back with the students. By the time I arrived at home at the end of the day, I was totally wiped! I don't know what happened to all of the energy that I had, but I was tired. Mondays are always one of my longest days anyway, but I think there was so much going on at school yesterday that it completely drained me. And, of course, our evening last night was not free . . . we had a Sunday School class leadership meeting to attend. So I was dead after only one day of school!

Anyway, today has gone well so far. We as a staff are under a little extra pressure over the next few days though. Our school is going through the process of accredidation. We have a team from ASCI here today through Wednesday looking over all of our curriculim sitting in our classes and getting an overall view of the school. After Thursday (when the leave) we will have to wait for the fina decision to know whether or not our school will receive accredidation or not. I will keep you posted.

As for family stuff, Sarah is in the process of going through all of our old baby clothes and washing and sorting them out. We have a couple of friends with newborns who need some clothes so we are sharing out of our abundance. And there is a lot of abundance! We had so many clothes given to us from people in our church when Rennah was born, and they have just kept on coming ever since. I think that Sarah counted about 16 white "onezies" that were 0-3 months! And we have stuff for all sizes up from there. So that is quite a large task that she is undertaking.

Rennah continues to learn more words everyday and get closer to being able to carry on a full conversation with us. Her new thing right now that makes me laugh is the way she uses the word "OK". Say she wants something real badly and she can't have it, usually when I would say "No" she would just cry . . . now when I say, "No, Rennah, you can't have that," she just says, "OK," and goes on! It cracks me up inside!

Life goes on in the St. Clair home. Please post your comments and greeting, I would love to hear from all of you.

More Charlie Brown Pics

Want to see some more pics from my Charlie Brown production? Click Here!

My Cast from our recent school production of the Broadway musical, "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" in February. It was my first real attempt a directing a full blown show. It was a blast! 

Rennah kissing Emily Tuttle (Micah and Alisha's new blessing)! 

This is Rennah's special friend "Bunny". She can't sleep without him. 

Rennah is learning how to play the piano already! 

Rennah's first major "boo-boo". She still remained as happy as possible! 

Rennah is 2 years old!

April 4, was our sweet Rennah's second birthday. She is growing up so fast! We took her to Grand Rapids and visited the Children's museum and had supper at Chuck-E-Cheese . . . which she loves. She wore us out that day! Rennah is becoming more and more active and independent. She loves to sing, talk, run, tickle, and giggle. What a blessing to our home.

Well, only a few more days until Spring Break is over. It has been a very relaxing week, but it will be back to crazy busy school very soon.

Disney on Ice: Rennah's Birthday Show

Rennah was totally in awe when she got to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and all of their friends skating on the ice right in front of her. We really enjoyed the show and Rennah just danced, clapped, and giggled with delight the whole time! We also got to see the Jungle Book, Tarzan, and the Lion King stories portrayed on the ice before us. It was a lot of fun!

Spring Break is Here!

Finally, we get to kick back for a little while . . . Spring Break has finally arrived. School is out for the next week and my wife and I are looking forward to having some time together as a family. We are going to stay put for the week and do a few special things as a family. Mainly, we will use this time to rest and do some household projects in preparation for the summer.

Rennah's 2nd Birthday is coming up on April 4, so we will be celebrating that with her. We purchased tickets to see Disney On Ice at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids on Friday night. She will love that . . . and we have some gifts for her that have been hiding in the house for a long time now!

We are still looking for a new family vehicle. That is one of my big projects for the next week as well. All together, we are hoping for a relaxing, but productive Spring Break. And then it's back to work on some final BIG school events for me.

I hope everyone else out there has a great week as well.

Gone for MACS Competition

My wife and I will be out with a school trip this weekend. (Rennah is also coming along.) The Middle School Choir is competing in our annual MACS competition in Troy, Michigan. Please pray that everyone will stay safe and that the choir would do well in competition. I am very excited this year, I feel that the choir has a great chance of doing well and placing for the final awards. We will keep you posted.

Car Trouble Again!

Sad situation! We just had a new radiator put into our poor old station wagon (we call her Regina). She had been overheating randomly and causing a lot of frustration for my poor wife who got stuck on the side of the road during the weekend of the school play. So we got that fixed and I was hoping to pull a couple more months worth of driving out of her . . . but it wasn't to be.
Satuday night we got home from a Sunday School activity and Regina started smoking! The temperature on the engine was fine so I didn't understand what was going on. We made it home and I opened the hood of the car and the smoke just billowed everywhere! So needless to say, old Regina is out of order and I don't think that it is going to be worth any more money to try and get her fixed . . . so Sarah and I are frantically looking for another means of transportation. Right now I am riding into work with another teacher and we are stuck at home otherwise.
So you can pray that God provides another vehicle for us. We need it very soon.

Rennah with crazy hair! 

Tim's School Blog

Click Here to visit Tim's Fine Arts blogsite for Calvary Schools of Holland. See pictures and read about fine arts events and programs that I am involved in.

Family Photo

Welcome to our New Blog!

The St. Clair's are moving up in the world! We are trying our hand at the new and exciting world of blogging. From this site you can check up on our growing family and see what life is like in the St. Clair home. We hope that this will be an easy way to keep our friends up to speed on our lives. Enjoy!