it takes a village to make a school report fabulous

Several weeks ago, Andrew got an assignment to do a report on a county in Utah. He picked Box Elder because we would be traveling through on our way to Seattle. We got a few pictures, but, and no offense to those residents of Box Elder County, there is just not a heck of a lot to see and report on. Their claim to fame is the Golden Spike Site.

We were just going to read about it and get some pictures off the web. Grandpa Huff didn't think that was sufficient. So, Saturday, two days before the report was due, he took Andrew on a field trip to see it in person.

They took pictures and got brochures. Andrew's favorite part was getting a smashed penny for his growing collection.

As we were going through the information, I remembered a song that we learned about the Golden Spike when I was in school--the very not-famous Wedding of the Rails.

I thought that I would surely find a version of this hit somewhere on the web. I was shocked to not find it anywhere. I had given up on being able to introduce my kids to this song from my childhood. Then we went to my parents' house. I mentioned that I was looking for an audio recording of the song. My mom pulled out her teacher music file--she had the sheet music.

Mike said that he thought it was about time that the Huff family made their contribution to the world-wide web and get that song out there for others to enjoy. My mom got a very talented neighbor to come and accompany us and the whole gang sang it for Andrew, and for posterity.

Mike was the cameraman because, well, we don't ask him to sing. (He has other talents.)

In order to protect the innocent (my dear family members that jumped right in to help) I will not post the actual video version (but if you must know, we totally killed it.)

Here are a few shots that I figured out how to take from the video that Mike shot on his iPhone.

Natalie, Landon, Mom, Andrew, me, and my Mom's talented neighbor.

Randy, Camille, Erika, Ryan, Natalie and Landon.

Even Erika and Landon joined in, and they had never heard the song before. Erika did get a little spooked by Ryan's enthusiasm for the song. We tried explaining it to her--we grew up singing it--we all learned it in school and Mom taught it to her fourth-graders.

We cannot stop singing this song around here. I get songs stuck in my head and the rest of the family has to suffer. (Although, I am relieved for Jessi's sake that she has another song to occupy her mind--I feel like a horrible parent that she keeps singing, "I want your ugly, I want your disease." In the best interest of the children, we have taken a break from Lady Gaga.)

Andrew had to prepare a poster and a "float" that showcased his county. The float was to be made of boxes that the child would carry. Andrew decided that he wanted his to be a bit larger and he wanted to be a part of the float. At first he wanted it to go around his waist, but then he decided to put trains on it to depict the meeting of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific. I strongly encouraged him to just make it a box that he could carry. It was not to be. He wanted to "wear" his float.

He decided that he would poke his head through the top.

It was one of those times that as a parent I struggled to let go of the control--to let him have artistic license and do what he wanted.

Mike put the song on the iPod and found some mini speakers to install on the float. That way when people saw the float they heard the song.

He pulled out some of his Thomas trains and track to make a model of the Wedding of the Rails. Mike found a little nail that Andrew painted yellow. Then he wanted some glitter to make it look gold. We used spray glue to get sand on the surface and Mike got some sagebrush from the field.

We used the posters Grandpa got him and the pictures he took of the site.

He did his presentation in class. Oh, how I wanted to be a fly on the wall. He came home and told us that it went well. He presented his poster and then "put on" the float. He told them about the Golden Spike and then...he pushed play on the iPod and sang the song to his class.

I worried--I hoped they didn't laugh. I was happy for him that he is confident to do something like that. I asked him what the response was like. He told me that the kids liked it. He also told me that one of his friends told him that it took a lot of guts to do that. Yes it did.

So, what did I learn from this experience?

I need to let go and let the kids express themselves and be creative and do some things that I may not have done.

I want to continue to teach my kids to have confidence--to believe they can do hard things, to not care what other's think of them.

I need to continue creating a family legacy of stories--memories we make together. This story will be added to the good ones-- the chipmunks at Angel's Landing, Mom's portrayal of a llama at Fish Lake, the Grizwald-style travel in D.C., the high-end sleeping accommodations in Orlando after 9-11. I can just see us all, with grey hair and grandkids of our own, talking about the time we rocked the railroad song in Mom's front room.