Stephens' Stories: Zebra Zone Spring Show (video included in this post!)

This is a record for a timely post. This afternoon Austin's school had their annual spring show and auction. The show was themed "Movies that Make you Groove" and Austin's Flamingo class' performance was to the Lion King songs "Hakuna Matata" and "I Just Can't Wait to be King". His teacher, Miss Ashley, requested that the kids wear a tan shirt and black bottoms, both of which I did not already have but, of course, I was willing to buy whatever Austin needed to be dressed the part. I finally found a tan (khaki) shirt on amazon and some $5 black shorts at Target (note: I ran to Target during my lunch break to buy $5 shorts and accidentally spent $77 by buying 3 casual cotton sundresses for myself. I rationalized this purchase by saying that I live in Houston now an will be needed spaghetti strapped loose cotton dresses as a staple outfit in order to stay cool when the real heat arrives. I digress). The doors to the school opened at 4pm and the show started at 5pm. The raffle items and silent auction to raise money for the PTA were set up in the hall outside the classrooms. We were firmly told NOT to let your child see you before the performance or you would risk them crying and ruining the show. Of course, the 2 raffle items that I wanted to put tickets in and try to win were right outside his classroom (they have 1/2 doors and low walls). So, I managed to crouch down to pass the room and place my raffle tickets in the ticket container for the Astros tickets (David's request) and the date night ($80 to Specs Liquor and some random restaurant gift cards). MiMi so kindly saved seats in the cafeteria for me, David, and herself. (DiDi was sad to miss the show - she went to Savannah, GA for a family wedding). The performances were in order of youngest to oldest so Austin's class was the 4th class to perform. It was hilarious that they had teachers hold the little little babies and shake bells as they "sang" "Be our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast. It is nice that they reserve the first 2 rows for the parents of the kids who are currently performing. So we moved to the front row when it was time for the Flamingo class to sing. Austin marched out on stage next to his buddy, Ben. Each child had a yellow shaker and was instructed to shake it during Hakuna Matata and I Just Can't Wait to Be King. We were told that many kids cry and some run off the stage when they spot their mom or dad so my expectations were very low. Austin surpassed my expectations. He was the most dramatic "shaker" on stage. He shook his bottle, while holding it parallel to the floor and smiled really really big when he saw me, David and MiMi. It was so cute. After the performance we met them back in his classroom where he did NOT want to go home. He insisted on staying and playing with the blocks. I am glad that he likes his school so much! Did I mention he got his first black eye yesterday at school?