Sarah after Saltworks

Sarah attended both weeks of Saltworks this past fortnight. After the last class each Friday afternoon the gang gathered at King's to celebrate.

Here's Sarah looking a little tired after two weeks of all-day rehearsals and Friday performances. "Cat ears? What cat ears?"

Last night her close friends got together for a post-Saltworks party. It was a late night (in relative terms), but they all had fun.

Photo credit: JCP

Saltworks 3

Here it is, Sarah tormenting her brother instead of the other way around. I hope she isn't enjoying herself too much!

Saltworks 2

Last week all three went to Saltworks drama camp. Here's John as well, John, in a scene from Peter Pan. Rather fierce wouldn't you say?

It gets better because Sarah played one of the pirates and they got to go at it with one another.

This week it's Sarah only over there. She worked hard to earn the money for week two. We hope that will provide some inspiration for her siblings as well.

Portrait by Isabelle

Janine's friend Isabelle has a good eye for composition and form.

Witness this portrait taken a few weeks ago at 'Belle's house.

Great shot especially for one taken on a cell phone!

Happy Father's Day

For Father's Day here's a photo of my Dad at 22.

Handsome devil isn't he?

Much was in front of him at this point, surviving combat in Korea, starting a career in banking, not to mention meeting Mom.

Nonetheless the solid foundation is there, his intrinsic honesty and courtesy, as well as an unwavering devotion to his family.

Remind him of these things and he will say, "your mother did most of it. I am just catching up."

But today is your day Dad. While it's true that one can't pick one's parents, it's hard for me to imagine making a better decision than the one God made for me.

Happy Father's Day!

Saltworks Day 1

As I said in the last post, this week Sarah, John and Janine are all at drama camp.

The camp stresses working together as well as rewards excellence. (A couple of years ago Sarah was quietly recognized for looking out for a girl with special needs.)

Today, John got a special mention in his class. The teacher said that they were going to study monologues and asked who could define the word. John raised his hand and said it was when only one person was on stage speaking. When asked if he knew one, John recited Brutus' speech on Caesar's death. (Click here for his March performance.) The teacher was impressed and gave John a Woo-Hoo buck, the special recognition at the end of the day.

Saltworks Event

This past Sunday I took the kids into the Oakland section of the city to the Carnegie Library's summer reading festival.

The Saltworks crew were there performing excerpts from their recent production of Kipling's Just So Stories.

When they asked for audience participation they knew they could count on Janine and John to help out. Here they are watching Ben's directions to form a river.

The event served to get all three excited for Saltworks summer drama day camp next week. Even Mom and Dad are looking forward to it as well!

Confirmation

Sarah was confirmed on Pentecost Sunday, two weeks ago. Now she is a member of the church, or at least when Pastor Brian found her certificate.

Carolyn, her sponsor, presented a nice gift of a bible encyclopedia, and was very complementary. She reminded us all of how independent Sarah was both then and now.

Sarah was confirmed with seven others. It was the first confirmation class in four years at our church and a great start for our new Pastor.

It was an important moment for her and her family. Naturally the milestone could not go uncelebrated, so we had brunch at her choice of restaurants. Naturally she chose an interesting spot, the Jade Elephant in Squirrel Hill. They feature Thai tapas. Now there's a blending of the cultures.

Piano Recital

The annual end of the school year piano recital was two Saturday's ago sandwiched between a ton of activities like ballet and Sarah's confirmation. (More on that later.)

The Paulson kids (back row, center) played show tunes. Janine had Somewhere Over the Rainbow. John mastered Raiders of the Lost Ark. And Sarah played a respectable overture from the Barber of Seville.

The recital was at a nearby music store where the keyboardist from our church works. The kids got a big encouragement to see David there for support.

Janine is now a Girl Scout

The other day Janine "flew up" from a Brownie to a Girl Scout. Here she is with her new green Girl Scout vest holding her Brownie one.

It was a nice ceremony at the North Park Girl Scout cabin in which the girls crossed a bridge, released a balloon as they stated what they wanted to accomplish as a new Girl Scout. Most of the girls wanted to go back to the horse camp they had attended the weekend before.

Janine, like the rest of her family, can take a pass on the horse camp, so she said she would like to take more field trips.

After reciting the Girl Scout pledge, a good time was had by all who stayed for cake and pop in the gazebo.

Now we have all summer to get the patches right on her new green vest.

Kicking it up

At last week's recitial Bobbie and Sarah took their bows for the doll shop piece with the two can-can dancers. They can really kick it up!

Thanks to my friend Craig for the photos. He shot both the rehearsal and performance with a high-end Nikon so the results are great.