Fall/Holiday Concert

Annah played her clarinet in the 5th grade band tonight during their first performance!  She looked so beautiful in the gown Gram made for her!  Before the concert, she told me she was nervous because she would be sitting on the end of the row near the audience.  But after the concert, she said she couldn't see the audience because she just looked at Mr. M. while he was conducting them, and she wasn't nervous; she just had fun.

The kids have only been in band for 2 months, and a lot of their class time has been about caring for their instruments and very basic beginning techniques.  They played 5 songs tonight, including Jingle Bells.

It is really fun to see these kids, who have been growing up together for 5+ years now, start to do activities like band and sports together!

Our new elementary school principle took this video of the 5th grade band playing Jingle Bells.  (Annah is on the right.)  They are off to a good start.

As usual, I accompanied all the choirs for the concert.  This is the 6th grade choir, showing Mr. M. their "telephones"--checking their posture.

I was a little nervous, but mostly excited, to use the ForScore app in the iPad for the concert.  (My little page-turner was busy playing in the band, and I didn't want to worry her with something else to think about.)  The app is really amazing.  I scanned my sheet music into .pdf files, and all I have to do is tap the screen and it turns the page.  I am just beginning to learn about all the cool things this app can do, let alone the iPad!  I had only practiced with the app during 2 rehearsals, so I was a bit nervous.  I knew if I didn't use it, I would chicken out every time.  It really went pretty well, and I am looking forward to learning more.

All the ensembles were a big hit with the audience, and it was such a fun to be a part.

Letters to Santa

Caeden and Sylvia wrote letters to Santa this morning, while at Gram & Krampa's house.

Caeden's:

I am worried that we will have a very unhappy boy on Christmas day when he does not get the Ninjago Fire Temple.  Not only does it cost $99.99 or more, it is (in my opinion) incredibly creepy, with dragons and skeletons and fire and looks like the temple of evil death.  Not a toy I want my son playing with, honestly.  It honestly makes me sad he even wants it.

Sylvia's:

Hopefully, Sylvia will be understanding when she doesn't get some of the things on her list too.  Her birthday isn't too far away though...

McEowen Thanksgiving

I actually got my camera out a couple times today during the McEowen Thanksgiving gathering.  It has been in the bag a lot lately, as I sometimes feel it is too much work to keep up with my pictures!

We had a little surprise gift shower for Randi and baby Brooklyn today.  She is a precious little one!  It was so wonderful to get to see her and hold her!  

Of course there was lots of music today.  I asked Esme to play her recital piece for me, and she obliged immediately.  She was very focused and played it very well!

Wendy and Aidian played a couple Christmas duets for us, and later Jim delighted us with Amazing Grace on the bagpipes.

And of course, the McEowen family band played the traditional Christmas songs.  

Here are my 3 favorite trumpeters in the world, all in one room!

Scott tried to distract Aunt Needy with his stare while she played her solo, but she was undaunted.

Then he shared his interesting talent of playing wrong notes on purpose during his solo.

I used the iPad to take a little bit of video during the ensemble...um, I'm not sure if it is considered a rehearsal or a performance. ;)  Anyway, I really got a bit emotional watching all the younger kids join in (or at least try) with their instruments this year.  The fact that our family shares a love for music is a legacy I am very grateful for having in my life!

Cider Making with Uncle Earl

Uncle Earl called my parents' house while we were there yesterday and invited us all to come down and make cider with him!  Our kids love cider, and I had told them about how we used to make it with Uncle Earl when we were kids.  It was so generous of him to offer to share the tradition with us again today!

He has an awesome antique cider press!  The kids asked him where it came from, and he said he didn't know exactly, except that their great grandpa (My Grandpa, Hubert.) rolled in with it on a trailer one day and it's been around since.  

The kids happily dropped the apples into the big funnel, and Scott and Jeremy cranked the handle, apparently faster than it's ever been cranked before.

We all made sure to get in for a good view of how everything worked...

The kids started to catch the first drips in cups Aunt Wanda brought out for them.

Then Uncle Earl used a lever to press and squeeze the rest of the juice out of the apples.

It dripped out and was filtered through some cheesecloth into the big metal pan.  It made about 2 1/2 gallons.

It was sooo very yummy!!

It was so fun to learn about making cider hands-on!  And the whole extended family will enjoy the cider at our Thanksgiving feast tomorrow!

Thanksgiving Day

As always, we are spending the Thanksgiving weekend in Indiana with our extended families.  We have lots of big families, and are glad so many can gather at holidays!

This morning, the kids spent a little time at Uncle Travis' and Aunt Erin's house playing with Tessa and watching the Macy's parade while all the grown-ups cooked and baked and prepared food.

We went to Grandma Crabill's house for lunch at noon.  There were 75 of us there, and so much food it barely looked like it had been touched, even after everyone had gone through and taken what they wanted!  I made sure to have a slice of Mom's pumpkin pie to make the day official.  The great grandkids all had fun playing in the basement, just like their parents and I did when we were the youngest ones.  A big family is a big blessing.

We didn't stay too long at Grandma's, but headed to Uncle Eric's & Aunt Marti's  to celebrate with the DeHaven side of the family.  Admittedly, we did have dessert a second time; you just can't pass up Carolyn's pies!

The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins!  They watched Cars 2 together, and Wilson taught us how to play the solitaire-based card game Pounce!   It was really fun!  Thank you, Eric & Marti, for always being gracious to host us!

We have so much for which to be thankful!!

Violin Recital

Annah and Sylvia both performed in their violin teacher's studio recital today.  It was a good experience! They practiced and prepared, were nervous and excited, played well and kept going when they made mistakes, and learned through the whole thing.  I call it a success.

Sylvia started off the recital, as she was the youngest student playing today.  She was suddenly nervous to introduce herself and her piece, and tried for at least a full minute to get me to do it for her.  Finally, she did, and then played pretty well.  Her piece was Bourree by G.F. Handel. 

Annah performed the last of the solos on the program.  She had her piece really well prepared, and then this week when we added piano accompaniment it was quite a new challenge.  I admit, it was a difficult accompaniment for me, and I didn't practice it as much as I should have.  We thought about letting her play unaccompanied, but decided to stick it out to help her learn how to keep going even when there were rought spots.  She played better than I did, for sure.
It really was such a pleasure to get to play for/with the girls.  I'm seeing that they are at the point where I need to start practicing the accompaniment when they start learning the piece if I am going to keep up!
Annah's piece was Gavotte in D Major by her favorite composer, J. S. Bach.

After each of their solos, the girls played a duet.  What a pleasure it is, and a real blessing to my heart to get to hear them making music together!  I love when they practice together at home!  Most of the time they enjoy the excitement of playing together.

Here are the duets: Jingle at the Window, and Old Molly Hare.

At the end of the recital, Mrs. Skinner and her students (minus two that weren't there) played a chorale together.  

The girls and their violins bring so much to our home and family.  We are blessed by their learning music, their wonderful teacher, and each experience involved with the process!

Sylvia's Grateful Heart

These writings by Sylvia's class were published in our local newspaper today...

Thank you, Jesus, for giving my daughter a grateful heart!!

Basketball Wrapped Up

Basketball season finished up for Annah tonight.  There was a lot of the drama that reminded me why I have such a hard time enjoying sports--a coach let go from coaching; a parent throwing a scary fit and insulting the referee, threatening the opposing team's coach, and storming out; other parents yelling a refs and kids...icky-ness!  But!  These 5th grade girls showed great sportsmanship through it all!  Even though I was disappointed in some of their parents' actions and words, I was very proud of and impressed with the way the girls handled all the yucky stuff.  They continued to play fairly, showed respect to each other and the girls they played against, and learned to trust each other as teammates and friends.  The whole season was a big learning experience for us and Annah.

She even got to be a starter in the game tonight!  That was pretty exciting!

Annah played almost 3 quarters of the game tonight.  She was tired, but kept playing hard.

This is my favorite part of each game...when the girls line up and tell the other team's players, "Good game!"  I like that they acknowledge that it is just a game, and they appreciate the other players--whether they win or lose.

My 35th

What a wonderful birthday I had this year!  Along with our lovely day in Peoria on Saturday, we had a fun evening at home.  Jeremy decided he wanted to give me my gift, so I was made to sit in the official birthday chair. 

Annah made me a virtual cake on her favorite iPod app.  :)

Sylvia made me a card with a lovely sentiment!  (Hallmark, you need to call this girl!)

And, Jeremy shocked me with this gift!!  Sure did not expect that!!

My actual birthday was lovely too.  I got to sing a featured solo "Jesus You Are My Life," with the choir at church.  How blessed to be able to do what I most love on my birthday!  Worship was especially moving today, and I love being able to be part of that with the Praise Team.  

We came home and had beef & noodles (the "Indiana Treat!") for lunch and rested all afternoon.  I played around with the iPad and started to get acquainted with it.  It is going to be a very handy tool.  I'm excited to see what ways I can incorporate it into teaching music lessons!

Later in the evening, I made pumpkin squares, and we watched a Veggie Tales movie together.  Then we tucked our babies into bed and Jeremy and I watched "The Big Bang Theory," which I am currently enjoying on Netflix.

I do feel kind of "old" at 35, mostly because it got here so quickly!  But, I definitely feel so blessed to be living the life I God has given me!  So grateful!

Exploring Peoria

We decided to go out to lunch in Peoria for my birthday after the quiz today, and enjoy the city a bit.  I chose to go to Red Lobster, since we don't have seafood often.  Jeremy is not a fan, so I especially appreciate him sacrificing his tastes for the day and granting me a big treat!!

Caeden liked getting to see the lobsters in the tank, and the hostess even took one out so he could get up close and personal.  He asked her why the rubber bands were on it.  I don't think he believed her that it would actually try to pinch him if they weren't on there!

After lunch, Jeremy wanted to take us around Peoria a bit.  We drove through the city, across a few of the bridges over the Illinois River, and then to Peoria Heights to take Grand View Drive.

We stopped at a park to try to find a geocache, but had no luck with that.  It was a big, beautiful park though, and we did see some neat things.

Annah found this big leaf and knew right away that it was a Pin Oak!

The kids enjoyed playing in the beautiful park and on the playground.  I think this will be Caeden's 7-year portrait.  It is hard to get him to hold still and look at the camera with a nice smile, so I don't think I'll try to get him to pose for a better one.  This is him, how he is these days, and I love it.

It is always fun to watch this sweet girl play on a playground!

Grand View Drive was dubbed "The World's Most Beautiful Drive" by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1910!  We did enjoy it, and thought about a week or two ago it was probably absolutely gorgeous.  (Most of the colorful leaves blew off the trees this past week.)

We stopped at this nice lookout point to read the sign and enjoy the view.  Poor Caeden was so scared by the steep drop-off that he wouldn't get out of the car and whimpered until we got moving again!

Peoria Heights is a very beautiful area, for sure!

We should visit Peoria more often!  We really enjoyed the day there!

1st Quiz on Matthew

About 2 months ago, we started the Bible Quizzing season.  This year, we are studying the book of Matthew, and we are loving it!!  There is so much good, important stuff to learn in Matthew!  We've only studied the first 9 chapters so far, and already the kids have learned tons about Jesus...his birth, the magi and Herod, about John the baptist, Jesus' baptism and temptation, calling of many of the disciples, the sermon on the mount, the Beatitudes, Jesus' healings of many, and much more!  It is awesome!!

Today was the first quiz of the season, held at Peoria 1st Naz.

Caeden is quizzing for his second year, and is in the Red Level.  

He had two rounds of 15 questions each today, and didn't miss a single one!  Way to go, super quizzer!!

Annah and Sylvia are both quizzing for their 3rd year.  Sylvia could choose to stay in Red or move up to Blue Level this year, and she chose to quiz up.  Today, Blue had 2 rounds of 20 questions each.  The girls both scored perfect in the first round, and each missed only 1 question (the same one!) in the second.  Awesome!  

Because of Annah's basketball schedule, we haven't actually been to Quizzing at church since the second week.  We've been doing our studying at home, mostly during mealtimes.  We are looking forward to joining the team on Wednesdays again soon for the rest of the season though!

Great job, all 1st Naz quizzers!!

Practice at Lessons

Annah and Sylvia practicing with their violin teacher, Ruthie, at lessons today...

Thankful for our school!

The 3rd-5th graders had their Thanksgiving lunch at school today, and Jeremy and I were both able to join the girls.  It is always super special and fun to be at the school, and the meal was wonderful too.

We are very thankful for our school and community!!

Spaceship box

About a year ago, my cousin Wendy posted on her Facebook about Alice.com, and I signed up for an account.  I didn't actually get around to trying it out until this week.  I ordered some basic household products yesterday, and they were delivered by UPS (free of shipping costs!) before noon today!  I am very pleased with the convenience and prices, and will be placing another order soon!

The kids were very excited about the nice, big corrugated cardboard box our necessities came in.  Caeden decided it should be used as their spaceship, Sylvia decorated it, and even Annah got in to play.  I wouldn't have really expected it, but I'm glad all our kids still appreciate simple, creative play! 

@EPG

Tonight Annah's team played the girls from El Paso-Gridley.  We had a bit of a time getting to the right school in the dark and rain, but Jeremy got us to the right place in time.  The 5th grade team played a good game and won.

Annah, getting some notes from Coach before going into the game...

going in...

dribble, dribble...

Block that shot!!

I'm open!

"Team!!"

These girls have learned a lot this season, and Annah is really glad to have been a part of it!