How the Grinch Stole Thanksgiving

So today was a super busy day.  Really busy.

We started the day out with church, and a pretty fun service about being thankful - a closer look at Psalm 100, with a message entitled "Everything is Awesome."

Because it is.

And just for fun, Daddy wrote up a skit to kick off Thanksgiving week, one that features an old friend, the Grinch.  And yes, it kind of rhymes.  Emphasis on 'kind of.'

How the Grinch Stole Thanksgiving

CUE SLIDE:  LEGO BACKDROP

CUE TRACK:  7 Rufus

Scattered on stage are a small table, three chairs, a remote control, a few sleeping bags, a can of shaving cream.

NARRATOR:            This story takes place not too far from here

                                    With LEGO friends, our cast, and lots of good cheer!

                                    They’re at the academy, and it’s all A-okay!

                                    As they set up for a pretty awesome Thanksgiving Day.

ROBBIE and BURT enter STAGE RIGHT, carrying grocery bags, placing them on a small table at STAGE LEFT

NARRATOR:                        “Why, Robbie and Burt there are in a good mood

                                    They’re thinking about all that Thanksgiving food!

ROBBIE and BURT take some groceries out, placing them on table, as described below.

NARRATOR:            “They’ve got cranberries, dressing.  And those look like Doritos?

                                    There’s Spam.  And there are cookies.  And oh look:  taquitoes.

OFFSTAGE:                          “Hey, taquitos!”

NARRATOR:            “Right.  Though our friends seem to be off to a good start

                                    This holiday is really about having a thankful –

JOEY runs in, interrupting.

JOEY:                         Football!

NARRATOR:            That’s not what I was going to say.  But it looks like fun.

                                    Throwing the pigskin, and going out for a run

                                    But wait?  If you’re going outside, don’t you need a coat?

JOEY:                         Naw, we’ll watch it on tv all day! Now where’s that remote?

JOEY finds remote on stage, and high-fives QUINCY.  CAMILLE and GRACE enter STAGE RIGHT, holding newspapers with Black Friday ads on them.

NARRATOR:            Okay, that’s crazy.  But here comes the gals.

                                    Tell them about Thanksgiving.  It’s all about –

CAMILLE:                 Sales!

NARRATOR:            Do what?  I know those sales are just once a year.

                                    But you’ll have to stay up all night, with some camping gear.

CAMILLE grabs the sleeping bags on stage, hoisting them up a moment.

CAMILLE:                 No problem!

NARRATOR:            Oh, great.  Well, you can see here what Thanksgiving means

                                    It’s football.  It’s weird food…

CAMILLE:                 And Black Friday dreams!

NARRATOR:            Okay, now I’m depressed.  I mean seriously – what’s up?

                                    Is this the true meaning of Thanksgiving?

ALL:                           Yup!

NARRATOR:            Now this doesn’t seem right, but before we protest

                                    Let’s see just what happens, as our friends go to rest.

CAST drops in place, pretending to sleep.

DIM LIGHTS

NARRATOR:            It was the night before Thanksgiving, and all around town

                                    All our friends were just sleeping

ALL:                           Shhhhh!

NARRATOR:            I’ll try to keep it down.

ALL nod, and go back to sleep.

NARRATOR:            It seems that our holiday is in quite a pinch.

                                    But look who’s arriving!  It’s our old friend…

CUE TRACK:  8 No Ticket

GRINCH enters STAGE RIGHT

NARRATOR:                        The Grinch?

GRINCH puts hand over mouth as if laughing to himself.

NARRATOR:                        But you just stole Christmas – now this day is next?

                                    What is it about Thanksgiving that has you so vexed?

                                    Then the Grinch pointed out all the things on stage

                                    How we’ve forgotten Thanskgiving – it filled him with rage!

GRINCH wanders over to JOEY and QUINCY, and grabs shaving cream.

NARRATOR:                        So he started to do his diabolical scheme

                                    And replaced Joey’s football, with fresh shaving cream

GRINCH takes football from JOEY, and puts shaving cream in JOEY’s hands.

NARRATOR:            Oh my, this could get nasty.  At least more or less.

                                    Because when he wakes up, his face will be a mess!

GRINCH tosses football backstage, and then goes over to ROBBIE and BURT

NARRATOR:                        And then the Grinch visited Robbie.  And Burt.

                                    And upon Robbie’s hand, there was a shaving cream splurt!

GRINCH puts shaving cream in ROBBIE’S hand as well.

NARRATOR:                        Oh my!  It looks like he’s having some fun

                                    But there’s no doubt about it:  He’s a mean one!

GRINCH goes to steal food, putting it back stage.

NARRATOR:            Case in point: that old Grinch took all of the food

                                    And usually, we would think him rather rude

                                    He stole enough food to start a delicatessen,

                                    But in doing so, I think he’s teaching a lesson

                                    Which is why he went over to Camille and Grace

                                    Oh, you should have seen the look on his face!

                                    Oh, wait.  You can.  He’s standing right there.

                                    Anyway, he quietly snuck up upon the pair.

GRINCH takes their newspaper ads.

                                    He took all their papers, and with his eyes all agleam

                                    He filled Camille’s hand with fresh shaving cream!

GRINCH fills CAMILLE’S hand with shaving cream.

NARRATOR:                        And then he quietly laughed, and soon snuck away

                                    As our friends all dreamed of Thanksgiving Day

GRINCH exits STAGE RIGHT

NARRATOR:                        But it’s actually here, as you will soon see

                                    So let’s scream “WAKE UP!” After I count to three.

                                    ONE… TWO… THREE!

AUDIENCE screams “WAKE UP!”

CAMILLE, JOEY and ROBBIE wake up startled, putting their hands (filled with shaving cream) to their faces (not eyes), and everybody rises with general chaos on stage.

NARRATOR:                        They were all quite startled!  And look at their faces!

                                    And they saw their stuff gone from its regular places.

CAST looks saddened.

NARRATOR:                        This was quite a surprise.  Their Thanksgiving had died!

                                    They looked quite forlorn.  So they sat there and cried.

CAST cries loudly, overdoing it.

NARRATOR:            Stop it!  You’re overdoing it!

CAST:                         Sorry.

CUE TRACK:  9 Welcome Christmas

NARRATOR:                        And just when they thought their Thanksgiving was through

                                    Someone small entered there: ‘twas Michael Lou Who!

MICHAEL walks out amongst CAST, who forms semicircle around him, facing stage.

NARRATOR:                        And these words that he uttered are remembered to this day

                                    Listen very carefully, my friends.

MICHAEL:                Fahoo Doray.

NARRATOR:            What?

MICHAEL:                Fahoo Doray.

CAST starts swaying back and forth to music, as vocals start.

NARRATOR:            Oh!  It’s not about food, or sports, or sales!

It’s about being grateful for all the details

that God fills in for us.  It’s what Thanksgiving’s about.

                                    It’s about being thankful, without any doubt!

MICHAEL joins semi-circle, all holding hands and swaying to music. GRINCH enters STAGE RIGHT

NARRATOR:            The Grinch he peeked in.  Did he cause misery?

                                    Not even close!  For the sight he did see

                                    was wondrous and touching!  He was glad he came back.

                                    And as the others saw him, he heard one say,

JOEY:                         “Attack!”

JOEY starts to rush at Grinch, but is held back by the others.

NARRATOR:                        No, Joey!  Down, Joey, down!

CAST whispers at JOEY.

JOEY:                         Sorry.  Got confused for a moment there, but I’m okay now.

ROBBIE:                    Man, that was crazy.  You just had a cow!

NARRATOR:                        So they all learned the lesson.  One you’ve learned today.

                                    That it’s all about being grateful on Thanksgiving Day.

GRINCH joins semi-circle on stage.

NARRATOR:            And as you can see, they’ve shown thankfulness here

                                    Something you should do too – and do it all year.

                                    So Happy Thanksgiving, to you all of our friends

                                    With that lesson learned, our story now… ends.

Madison enjoyed the skit a lot, especially the bits where the characters got shaving cream on their faces.  But she also got the point, that Thanksgiving isn't about all the things listed above.  It's about being thankful, which is fairly obvious as it is in the title of the holiday itself.  And yet you can't help but think sometimes if it has been forgotten.

Moving on!  Next Daddy was on hand to observe the kids in the choir singing their numbers for the upcoming Christmas play.  He was even speaking to the kids and over them, reminding them of the wonderful job they are doing, and how big of an event this will be.  The scene sort of reminded me of when Cary Grant and Loretta Young visit the children's choir in "The Bishop's Wife."  We get so caught up in being busy that we sometimes miss out on the wonderful things in life, like listening to a large choir of children practicing for an upcoming play.  Yes, it's a large choir - 88 kids is the max right now.  Not sure how to fit them all on stage, actually (with the other players in place as well).

Anyway, after this, Daddy went home for a quick bite to eat.  And to touch base with the family.  It's a busy time this season, but the next week will be a little less busy, as it is Thanksgiving week.  That's why today was so packed with activity.

Yes, back to the church Daddy went for yet another practice, this time for characters with speaking roles.  That would include Daddy, actually.  As he's partially a director, and of course the writer, this went on for some time.  We left the building at 9:00, and Daddy was ready to head straight to bed, actually.

But it was a productive day.  And some great news here is that we don't have to get up early tomorrow.  Also, the temperature will be warmer as well.  A front is coming through, which explains the excessive rain we had today.  It dumped buckets and buckets - so much rain that it has delayed Nana and Ba-Ba's trip north to visit us.  They'll be here tomorrow, riding up in much safer weather.

And so there's a day.  It was a good one though.  And can you believe there is only one LEGO service left?  It seems like only yesterday we were still planning "Under the Sea."  Time is relentless, but I think we can keep up!