Spring music

The kids are involved in so much music that our spring was filled with concerts and recitals. They played on their first recital on April 17 with their piano teacher Marcia's students. They did a great job (see top 2 pictures).

Thursday, April 21 was their orchestra concert at Cavett. I am amazed at how much better the group as a whole was from the December concert. Really, a huge improvement. The kids really enjoyed strings and will stick with it next year. We are going to get them in some more private lessons this summer, and I need to start calling around for teachers.

The next Saturday, they played in the district piano festival. They each got 2+ for a score from their judge. It wasn't as high as they were hoping, but still good - good enough to go to the state festival in October (if their theory test has a high enough score). We missed the state festival last year because of our Disney trip. The very next day, Sunday the 24th, was my piano recital for my students. I had the kids play in it, because Grandma and Grandpa Niebuhr weren't able to come to the recital the weekend before. So, they got to kill 2 birds with one stone by hearing all the grandkids play at the same time.

Fast forward to Thursday,  May 5th and their final chorus concert. An adorable concert with the them "summer". They sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and "Happy Wanderer" among others. Very fun! The spring music series is over, but not finished forever. The boys tried out for the Lincoln Boys Choir in April and made the first cut. They have a trial rehearsal next week, so see how they blend with the group. Hopefully they will get invited back for the fall. I will keep you updated.

Another big piece of news is that we leave for vacation next Saturday. We're heading to Alabama to Brian's aunt's beach house in Gulf Shores, then stopping in New Orleans for Memorial Day weekend. We're really looking forward to it, so I'll post pictures when we get back!

See below for videos of the recent recitals and concerts. Happy end of school everyone!

Easter 2016

Sorry I am so slow about this - it's May now and I realized I hadn't even posted any pictures from March on! I will attempt to remember about our spring - I will admit, it has gone incredibly fast. I am only working part time, but it seems like the days morph into weeks and before I know it, another month has passed!

Easter was nice. We had the pleasure of the kids' choir singing at an early service this year (normally we sing at the latest service we have!) so we were able to fit in both families in one day, because we could start earlier. The kids decided they would get up early enough to look at their easter bunny baskets and find the eggs the bunny left at our house, and they did. It was before 7 when they got up. After or 8:00 church service, we went to my parents house for brunch and baskets. It was a sunny day, but a little cool. That didn't stop everyone from finding eggs outside, though! I did talk the kids into coordinating outfits this spring. I always wonder if this will be the last time I get them to do it - then they agree. I guess sometime it really will be the last time they agree to match, but I will take it as long as I can get it, because I think they look cute! We had a quick trip home in the afternoon to make more food and pick up other easter presents, then we spent the afternoon/evening at the Niebuhrs. A nice day!