Thanksgiving Program

I mentioned earlier that Brenna was having her Thanksgiving program at her school this week. Well, last night we went to it. I was expecting a few songs, a little chaos, and a meal to follow.

Oh my. I waaaay underestimated what it turned out to be. We showed up, they had the parking lot half blocked off. Christmas lights strung everywhere (the program was at 5:30, so it was starting to get dark). Decorations galore. Fencing up and barriers to form lines and an audience section. There was a very impressive backdrop that they painted that went the entire duration of the porch. They made a teepee - that didn't look handmade. They had artificial trees up, a Mayflower ship made out of cardboard and a feasting table. It was el-a-bor-ate!

Then I guided Brenna in to the classroom (behind the scenes) for her to get ready. She put on her beaded necklace she made, an Indian vest she made (out of a paper bag), and her Indian headband she made...out of felt, that she sewed together! Yes. She sewed the headband herself. Impressive right?

Then the program started. Again, I expected 10 min of songs and a little chaos. No. It was a 30 minute play. Complete with lines, songs (some in different languages!), dances (the kids square danced!!...for 5 minutes!), acting, etc. It was unreal. There was no teacher guidance to speak of. The little kids (preschool) were Indians and the big kids (elementary) were the Pilgrims. It was ah-mazing what the kids were doing all by themselves. I knew they had been practicing, but....wow. (sorry the pics are blurry...it was dark and the action was fast LOL)

This next picture is way blurry I know...but I had to share b/c it was so cute! She did a little dance with her partner and had to lean on her side and wink. So cute! (this was Turkey in the Straw song)

Anyway, as far as Brenna goes... well, she knew all the songs, her parts, and her stuff too. She is the littlest there and I was quite impressed by her participation too. It was just awesome all the way around. Here's some videos taken of just her parts. Again, the whole program was probably 30 minutes...there were lots of in betweens and narration (done by the kids as well) and other songs and act-outs too. But I just selected a couple of the better quality videos to share here (again, it was dark and kinda blurry)....

This is the Turkey in the Straw one... (my personal favorite, b/c of the winking ;)



And Amazing Grace sung (2nd verse in a different language!)....



And Over the River and Through the Woods...

After the program, the parents (applauded first of course) went up and gathered their kids with their lanterns they made, lit their lanterns and then we lined up and had a lantern parade. The parade eventually led back through to the food line, where we were served our pre-ordered taco soup, muffins, and pies..also tea and hot apple cider. The girls aren't fans of taco soup, so we got taco soup for us and let them have our muffins and pies. ;) Don't worry...they ate a dinner before the program too. Then we sat at our assigned decorated up tables. So pretty!

Anyway, it was fantastic. I was very impressed and can't wait to see their next event now! They've set the bar! :)