Around here it's the time of year for band concerts. I think they like to get all the concerts out of the way well before our mobile military families and their kids start moving! Emily's concert was last week and Madison's was this week. They both played well and have enjoyed band so much this year. Their band teacher, Mrs. Fatek, is amazing! She really does a great job motivating her students and getting them excited about music. Besides getting better at playing their band instruments, Madison and Emily have both improved their piano skills as well this year. Because I've been a slacker mom/piano teacher I know that their improvement is all thanks to Mrs. Fatek. I just wanted to share a few pictures on here of Madison and Emily playing away at their concerts.
Emily plays the clarinet. According to her, it's really important to play without puffing your cheeks out. See how unpuffy her cheeks are?
.
Because Madison plays percussion, she gets to move around in the back and play lots of different instruments. In this picture she's playing the timpani . . .
and here she is playing the crash cymbols. I loved seeing her play these because I could always hear her part and because of the way she leans her body back when she slams them together; it's so cute!
Madison also played the triangle, the piano, the vibraslap, the slapstick, the cow bell, the flexatone, the snare drum, and the drum set during the concert.
Obviously Samantha and Abigail were not overly excited about Madison's concert! Emily on the other hand, was paying close attention. She told me she was listening for exaggerated dynamics.
Before each concert I asked both Madison and Emily what song they thought was the best one on the program. Since our camera pretty much stinks at taking video I didn't want to waste my time trying to get a video of every number; instead I just recorded one song from each concert.
The song Emily liked best is called "Aliens in Your Backyard" and was supposed to paint a picture of what it would sound like if aliens landed in your yard, had a look around, and then took off again. At one point during the video Jared rotated the camera so Emily is sideways - just put your right ear to your shoulder for about 20 seconds and then everyone will be upright again!
Madison thought that "Dynamite" was the best song in her concert. She played piano for this one and seemed to enjoy it. Instead of counting the whole time she was singing along. It's just a short portion of the song, but since the melody repeats itself I think you'll get the idea!
What would you say if someone asked you what faith is? In Hebrews 11, Paul defined faith as "the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The assurance of things hoped for - faith is knowing that because of Jesus Christ, we can hope for a brighter future. I feel as if hope and faith are one and the same. Life can be heartbreakingly difficult sometimes and even though I know that challenges are there to help us learn and grow, I sure wish I didn't have to go through those hard times. When I have felt surrounded by struggles and I couldn't see any way that things would ever get better, the only thing that has kept me moving forward is hope. Not the kind of hope that is sort of wishful like hoping your team wins a World Cup game, but hope that is sure because it is based on Christ. Having faith in Jesus Christ is having hope and knowing that His promises are sure. The evidence of things not seen - faith in God grows when we see Him working in our...
This post has been kicking around in my head for a while now. My emotions have been closer to the surface lately - which can be both good and bad. For a couple of weeks last month it was a bad thing and I found myself crying at pretty much everything and feeling alone and friendless even when I was surrounded by people. You'd think I'd be better at making friends after almost forty years of moving and having to form new connections at each new place. Instead, the older I get, the more difficult the process becomes. Even after I make friends deep down I question if we're really friends. I think these feelings of insecurity are part of what makes me willing to do almost anything for my friends. If I do nice things for you maybe you'll continue to tolerate my presence? I think I do a pretty good job hiding my insanity. I can fake confidence really well - smiling and laughing and making small talk. And then I go home and overanalyze and question every little thing I said...
Birthdays are markers in our lives. Moving from one decade to another is a milestone that is not marked by an accomplishment or an important decision, but simply your age. That's something you can't control as time keeps moving forward whether we're ready for it or not. I can honestly say that I'm not bothered by turning forty and that I still look forward to my birthdays. But there's no denying that those milestone birthdays (you know the ones, they end in zero) are a big deal. A time that, for me, leads to some looking back to see if I've accomplished anything worthwhile in the previous decade of my life or in any of the decades of my life. So I found photos of myself at all those other ages that end in zero. Maybe if I take it a decade at a time it will be easier to see what I've learned? Seriously, whose dog is this? Italy, 1981 Okay, this first one is already breaking the rules as it's not from a milestone birthday. I have two pictures...
Comments
Post a Comment