E's Recital

My very talented Niece E gave a senior recital. We loved attending and supporting her. If my girls turn out like her I would be a happy Mom. We spent our morning at a local amusement park for Two Fish's office party so we had to do a quick change in order to make it to the recital. Busy, fun day.

A Little Practicing

Just a little practicing because she likes this song.

Chugging Along

Working. She has been a little frustrated because string instruments are difficult. And squeaky. Unfortunately it is going to be a long while before either of those things get better. I am proud of her for working hard. This is a long path and the payoff takes a long time.

The Pianist

Red Fish playing the piano for her little cousins. They like to dance and play along.

Red Fish played in a piano competition. She did a great job and got a good score. I don't know if it is something she will pursue but she wanted to give it a try.

The Sound At Our House

We are attempting to get these piano skills off the ground. New Fish and I have been doing some practicing together because I'm not ready to pay for piano lessons quite yet. I'm trying to teach her basics of reading music.

Red Fish has been taking violin for a little over a week and she is hooked. It is so fun to watch her take lessons from my Mom. I don't know if either of my kids has an incredible natural talent or what kind of musicians they will turn out to be and I don't really care right now. I love that they are getting a musical education and that they are developing themselves. Music was such a key part of my life growing up and it is a huge part of my life now. Hopefully they will really take advantage of these opportunities. Practicing three instruments between the two kids might kill me though. It time and energy consuming. The dream is to have them to the point of practicing on their own and motivating themselves. A mom can dream right? Between choir, piano and violin Red Fish is spending a lot of time with music.

The Good And The Random

 Most ski days are wonderful. Sometimes there are meltdowns. Some days are just hard no matter where you are.

 These little buddies have so much fun together. New Fish only goes to half day kindergarten so she has been able to spend some extra time with Nixie lately. There is nothing better than playing in the snow.

 Red Fish has decided to learn to play the violin. She is taking lessons from my mom. She will be a third generation violinist.

 Pearler beads are all the rage at our house right now.

 A little visit with Lovely L and company. New Fish was in her element reading to her little buddies and entertaining them. She loves little kids!

 Blue Fish loves to listen to Red Fish practice. It doesn't matter if it is squeaky violin or the piano he sits right next to her and listens the whole time.

 Little bit of an update to our front room.

Every single day I find this kid tucked away some place reading. She is a book worm through and through.

French Choir

 Red Fish had a French choir concert at school. I'm proud of her for getting up early once a week and doing this. She really loves music in all forms.

Book Worms & Piano Recitals

 These two crack me up. They came home from school talking about a big animal test at school and spent the afternoon reading every animal book they could get their hands on to study.

 Red Fish had a Christmas piano recital.

Piano

Red Fish has quite a block of music memorized or performance ready right now so she has been going to assisted living centers to perform and she put together a recital for family. She has stage fright even though she desperately wants to show off her piano skills so I'm trying to give her more opportunities to perform so she won't get so nervous.

New Fish would love to take piano lessons but I'm not ready yet. So we are learning a few things together at home. She wants to keep up with her sister in every way and I am enjoying the special time together.

French Choir

Red Fish has a french choir performance and we snapped a picture with her best friend T afterwards. They did a whole Disney concert in French. It was very cute. Red Fish wants to do so many things and participate in so many things- it is very difficult to keep up with. This little choir is part of her elementary school.

The Diva

 New Fish had her preschool performance.  She work up sick of the morning of her performance last year so she was really looking forward to being there this year. I was so worried she would catch something that I woke up in the middle of the night to check on her and feel her forehead. New Fish is definitely a performer. She loved being up on stage and we could hear her above all of the other kids. She had little dance moves and got really into her part. She also loved that so many family memebers came to show support.

 After her performance, New Fish got to go pick out her first bouquet of flowers with her great grandma- Mimi. She was very excited about her Christmas daisies.

 New Fish had a demonstration day in her ballet, tap and jazz classes.  I can always watch through the window of her classes but it was fun to go in and have the kids put on their little program.

I love that her little tongue sticks out when she is working hard and concentrating.

Another Ill Fated Trip

I think we should just stay away from down town this season!  All of our Christmas outings seemed to be rather ill fated this month.  There was confusion with the Christmas concert my brother got us tickets for and our seats were filled so we ended up watching it on tv.  As you can see from the picture New Fish was pitching a fit and we trudged through freezing rain.  Maybe we should stay home until New Years!

Piano Recital

Red Fish had her piano recital tonight.  She played Fur Elise and Pop Goes The Weasle.

French Choir Concert

 This year Red Fish is in a little choir that sings in French.  She loves music but I'm not sure she loves to perform. She gets shy in front of a crowd. She has really loved being in the choir this year.

I've always wanted to have a lot of art and music in our home.  I used to be really on top of the art making and always struggling to figure out how to make sure there was enough music.  Now it feels like the music has become a huge part of our daily lives and it is harder to fit the art making in.  I'm hoping to be able to juggle both in 2015. 

Preschool Program

 New Fish is a born performer.  She loves to have an audience and the preschool program was no exception.  She loved being on stage and singing all of her little songs. It was fun to watch her enjoy herself so much. I'm so glad she is finally out of school for the summer!

New Fish and her teacher Miss A

Grandma's Concert

Grandma sings in a local choir and the girls have always wanted to go hear her perform.  Lucky for all of us the choir hosted a children's concert complete with puppets.  These four crazies had a pretty great time at the concert followed by a trip to the creamery.

Tiny Dancer

She never gets tired of dancing and singing.  She lives in a musical every day.  She desperately wants to take piano lessons like Red Fish and we tried a couple of them at home but her little fingers are just too tiny.  I am hoping she will loose interest again for awhile so I can hold her off for a bit longer.

TIckling The Ivories

Red Fish and her piano teacher

 Today was Red Fish's 2nd piano recital.  She was uncharacteristically nervous for most of the week but she didn't flinch at playing today.  She had great rhythm. 

Getting flowers from Mimi.

With her grandparents (We missed you Grandma and Bockum!)

My kids are so lucky to have a supportive extended family who are always rooting for them.  We are lucky.