Emily played Petite Russian Rhapsody by John Thompson and I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables by Claude-Michel Schönberg:

Anne played the Raindrop Prelude by Chopin and the Minute Waltz by Chopin:

Caroline played Hogwarts Hymn by Patrick Doyle and Can You Feel The Love Tonight by Elton John:

Samuel played Chocolate Cake by Bastien:

Some kind of mummy game

When you’re 10 you don’t play pin the tail on the donkey or other lame “kids” games. Nope, you play some kind of weird mummy game that doesn’t make any sense but sure makes for a lot of giggles.

What's better than a pizza party?

Caroline wanted to have a pizza party and Nancy obliged. Caroline was kind enough to let her siblings participate in the pizza party as well. It wasn’t too much of a sacrifice though because 10 year old girls are so busy giggling that they don’t do much eating and there were plenty of leftovers.

Happy Birthday Caroline

Happy Birthday Miss Caroline. We love you very much and wish you many happy returns.

When we got home we had birthday cake and ice cream. Next year she will be able to invite her friends and have a nice party.

Texas – the cutest 9 year old in the world!

Caroline learns to ride a bike

Now that they’ve learned how to ride their bikes we can’t get them to stop. It’s funny how one day they’re whining and moping along with one foot on the curb and one on the pedal and the next day they’re zooming around the neighborhood and doing “jumps” off the curb.

Texas

I generally like what their teacher does with the exception of recitals. The teacher let’s them play pieces in their recital that they haven’t fully learned. I really wish the teacher would require them to memorize their pieces and not let them play pieces that they haven’t fully prepared. I also wish the teacher would teach them to bow afterwards.

Next was Emily. She played Witch’s Dance by Hill and Song For a Princess by Miller.

Emily

I think Emily has improved significantly since the last recital. Because she’s not fond of counting, she typically does better on the types of flowing songs where a rigid rhythm isn’t as important. She’s also learning to play hymns and plays for the Young Women organization in church occasionally. I have no dreams of my kids making it to Carnegie Hall. In fact, I’ve always thought that if my kids learn well enough to play hymns in church, the lessons will have been worth it. It looks like Emily is well on her way to achieving that standard. Now I just have to figure out how to get her to memorize her songs.

Anne followed Emily and played Fur Elise by Beethoven and Dorothy by Smith.

Anne

Anne probably enjoys playing the most out of the kids and I think it shows in her progress. She does a good job of memorizing her songs. She also delights in the fact that her pieces are becoming more difficult for me to simply sight read without mistakes. Although not a child prodigy, I think she did a pretty decent job for a 10 year old.

After the recital Grandpa Kent and Grandma Connie were gracious in enduring the chatter of our excited kids as they took us out for an ice cream celebration. It was a great way to top off a fun evening.

So on Wednesday April 9th I arrived at the school about fifteen minutes or so before the play was to begin. Diana and I got pretty good seats and we sat and waited. All the kids came walking in and took their places and luckily Texas, who was playing a pig in the farmyard, was on the side where I could take her picture without any other parent in the way. The bad news was that the kids who sat in front of her blocked a good view of her instead. Luckily when she had to say her lines she got to go up in the middle by the microphone so I could see her well. She remembered all her lines and she sang all the songs very well. I was really proud of her.

Next time any of you family members see Texas, make sure you ask her to sing the song the mean farmyard animals sang to the ugly duckling before she turned into a swan. I wish I remembered the title.