butterflies and fireflies

Tonight was the VBS program and once again my boys were overcome with butterflies when it was time to stand on stage and sing the songs. I do believe this is the third year in a row that they are perfect in practice...know all the words and motions and have a look of excitement and satisfaction as they do their thing. Bring on the program and it all falls apart and fast. Tim doesn't get through the first song, bless his heart before the tears start to fall...Alex holds it together enough to stand on stage but doesn't sing or do a motion the entire night and is constantly wiping away his tears. Poor guy. Okay, so I know what that's like...I understand for I was the same way, sort of. I got nervous and all that, but not to this extreme. I guess next year I will have to video practice and we'll just skip the evening program...(I remember thinking this last year, but had hopes for a better return on our week's investment this time around). There's always next year...
So, we leave an otherwise wonderful program and head out for dinner and then home. We're greeted in our front yard by hundreds of fireflies. So, to turn an evening around what's better than a good firefly chase? Nothing, actually, could have been more fun at the moment. To watch Alex and Tim dash after little lights so quick to disappear just out of reach...a good way to take away the blues we had all experienced a few hours earlier. The boys didn't actually catch any this night, but they had fun trying. They enjoyed seeing and holding the two that I was able to catch...it's not as easy as it used to be, but just as much fun.