End of the School Year

Austin finished up elementary school with a bang. At the 4th grade graduation, Austin got called up 3 times for special awards. He received a librarian award for reading Bluebonnet books both 3rd and 4th grade, a PE award for good sportsmanship and athleticism, and a trophy for the Broadway award (displaying good character), which only 9 kids were selected for. He received an award for all As, and if the specials typing teacher would have given out an award, Austin for sure would have received that one as well. He can type faster than his typing teacher! (He averages 81 wpm.) Two kids in each class got called up for the highest averages for the Principal's award; we were both surprised he wasn't called up for that--he must have just missed the top two spots, but he was happy with all the recognition. He's a smart cookie, but most importantly, he is one of the kindest humans I know!

With his teacher Mrs. Gorman. Also sporting his new smile; he got braces on March 16th.

Austin went with his cousin, Morgan, to a Rockets game, and they were thrilled they ended up on the Jumbotron

One of the celebrations at the end of the year for Carter was his tennis banquet. As a sophomore, Carter played in the starting line up all year and worked his way to line 1 doubles by the end of the year. He has a 5 UTR in doubles. Next year, he should have more opportunities to play singles and hopes to continue to improve his UTR.

The varsity team

Carter was thrilled to be selected as a team captain for next year, selected for his leadership, positivity, and encouragement of his teammates.

I do a piano recital every May. Austin played Lean on Me and Cossack Ride. Bryson played Pachabel's Cannon and He's a Pirate. They played with feeling and had both their pieces memorized.

End of High School

May was a whirlwind with finishing up school for Caleb. He had two AP tests to take, Simply Prom, a final high school tennis tournament, the tennis banquet, graduation practice, graduation, a tennis fundraiser tournament, a piano recital for his students, and then his own senior piano recital. 

Caleb asked a good friend in his Calculus class to Simply Prom. (Church prom where several stakes in this area combine to put it on.) He and Maddie competed all year to have the highest grade in the class. She usually pulled out on top. He had Calculus equations in some balloons that she had to pop and solve to uncover the words "Will you be my plus C value at prom?"

I was the booster representative in planning the banquet. I ended up being more involved than I wanted to be, but I was working with close church friends so it was fun. Planning the food was the most stressful part in terms of ordering the right amount. We over planned on food, but it was a successful night.

Caleb and Carter both won several awards. On the JV team, Carter won the team spirit award, leadership, and best tan line. Caleb won the groundstroke, sportsmanship and most dedicated awards for varsity. He also was awarded a scholarship.

Caleb and Elizabeth with their Grizzly GROWL award

Both Caleb and Carter played in the Grand Slam fundraising tournament in the men's doubles division. They played together in the tournament last year. This year, they each played with a good friend.

Caleb and his good friend, Ethan, who graduated a year ahead of him. Ethan was ranked #1 and Caleb #2 for Ethan's senior year. They won this tournament together! It was a fight to the end in a tie breaker against a college player and a tennis coach.

Carter and his friend Ravi who placed 3rd!

Graduation was extremely long and hot. On the plus side, I had a good 3 hours to catch up with my mom and dad. My dad even got a little cat nap. Caleb graduated Magna Cum Laude with a 4.0 unweighted GPA. He took a total of 6 AP classes in high school. 

Caleb was recognized as a senior athlete representative. (Only a handful were chosen.)

Caleb and his good friend, Tyler

Graduation party with some fellow seniors

I want to document Caleb's artwork that still hangs in the hallway of his elementary school!

May wrapped up with Caleb's senior recital. He played 50 minutes of memorized, challenging, polished classical pieces. His repertoire included: Sonata Pathétique, Nocturne in D flat major by Chopin, Khachaturian Toccata, Fantaisie Impromptu, Moonlight Sonata mvt 3, and Clair de Lune. The stamina it takes to play such challenging songs as well as the mental focus is quite impressive. He played with such feeling and grace, and this was a huge payday moment for him as an accumulation of a lot of hard work. He shared some thoughts about each song--a little background, what the song sounds like to him, what makes the song difficult, etc. There was a good crowd including his longest teacher, Marilyn, who drove over 3 hours to come hear him in person. We did record the event. Matt and I shared a few words at the end of how proud we were of him and how much we have loved his music filling our home.

Ribbon Festival 2023

Caleb played in the fall ribbon festival, which is essentially a performance opportunity in front of a judge. It is an hour recital with approximately 10-12 other students all being judged as well.

Caleb played the Romanian Folk Dances by Bartók, which is the final group of songs in the last book of Suzuki (book 7). He is getting ready for his final book party coming up soon!

His first Suzuki teacher drove in town for the event.

Caleb's current Suzuki teacher. She's a very accomplished pianist!

 

Piano Competition

Caleb is working hard to finish Book 7 of Suzuki. He's learned almost all the songs and is now polishing and memorizing. I'm proud of him for pushing through and making piano a priority even though he is so busy in high school. Quitting piano in high school is one of my biggest regrets. He participated in a piano competition at the end of January where he performed in front of an audience while being judged. The two songs he played were Alla Turca by Mozart and Nocturne in C-sharp Minor by Chopin.

Caleb's Book 5 Recital

Caleb and his piano teacher

On April 11, Caleb had his book 5 Suzuki Recital. I will always be amazed at his ability to memorize and polish an entire book of songs. This year, he was less polished than previous book recitals; he was just tired of practicing the songs over and over and probably chose to have the party sooner than he should have. He did many things well though, and we celebrated with root beer floats for refreshments afterwards. The book 5 songs included: 

 

First Time Accompanying a Choir

Absolutely terrifying experience but a huge growing one. Caleb accompanied his choir last night at their Winter concert. He did very well! I thought he was rushing because it was much faster than when he practiced with the metronome at the given speed at home, but apparently the director wanted to go that fast, according to Caleb and his friend. He did have one slip-up, but everything else was right on!
(There are supposed to be no video recordings during the performance, but I couldn't resist capturing this one for the memory books.)

Ribbon Festival 2019

Caleb participated in a Suzuki piano ribbon festival again this year. He played two memorized Suzuki songs in front of an audience while a judge commented on things he did well and needed to improve on. He performed very well!

He played Minuet I and II by Bach, which aren't showy pieces, but very tricky technically. They are songs at the end of book 4. He will be having his book 4 party soon after he finishes the last song and fine tunes the songs in the book--likely January. 

He wore gloves to keep his fingers warm while he waited for his turn to play, then decided to put them on again after.

Book 2 Suzuki Party

On September 29, 2017, Caleb passed off his 2nd Suzuki book. He had 14 songs memorized to play at his recital including all the appropriate technique, dynamics, and other nuances to make each piece musical. He worked so hard and put on a phenomenal recital. Way to go Caleb!

8 friends from the ward attended, who all play the piano. His Grandpa Call was also in attendance. We celebrated with brownie sundaes afterwards. 

Suzuki Book 1 Party

Caleb started taking lessons from a new piano teacher one year ago who taught the Suzuki method alongside reading music. It was a tough adjustment and quite humbling. He was progressing so well and playing challenging songs with his previous teacher that it was difficult to hear his new teacher say that he needed to back-up to square one and concentrate on technique. The first Suzuki book has many easy songs (Mary Had a Little Lamb, London Bridge...) in order to learn ear training and also focus on a specific technique or two in each song. He felt really embarrassed to be playing such basic songs that even Carter could play.

Though he and I both got very frustrated at times, today was pay day. He had his Suzuki Book 1 Party: he played all 17 songs memorized close to perfectly. He nailed the techniques for each song (wrist rolls, proper staccato, repeat note legato, phrasing, sequencing, etc.), he had a great balance between his left hand and right hand (letting the melody sing), and played with wonderful dynamic contrast. 

He felt good about his performance and hopefully will have a better attitude as we begin book 2! :)

Guild 2016

One of the things I love about Caleb's current piano teacher is how she gives her students many opportunities throughout the year for competitions and recitals. Caleb took a theory test for 3rd grade students in the spring and got a perfect score. He was signed up for a competition for 3rd grade students at the end of April where each participant plays the same two songs in front of a judge and then is ranked. 1st - 4th place receive a trophy, which Caleb was aiming to get, but unfortunately that competition was cancelled due to the non-stop thunderstorms/flooding that weekend.

On June 4th, Caleb participated in a guild competition. I was excited for this one because I did this competition as a girl as well. For guild, Caleb played 10 memorized songs + the scale and inversions chords for each song in front of a judge. He was in a nice big chapel, just him and the judge, playing on a grand piano. It's a nerve-racking experience! Caleb was ready, but there were a few songs I was worried about as I stood outside the chapel and listened in. He played 9 of his 10 songs pretty much flawlessly! I was so impressed with how he overcame any nerves and paid attention to all the details that his piano teacher and I had pointed out. The last song had a few mistakes, but he still played it very well.

 He got a "Bravo!" from the judge and high praise on his tone, technique, and musical details. For all the hours and hours of hard work, he received his report card and an itty-bitty pin.

(C represents what he did well and A represents areas where he can improve. There are always things to improve on, but the judge just chose to be positive I guess. He got 30 C's and 0 A's.)

July Update

Father's Day 2015

July 4th Bike Parade followed by swimming at the neighborhood pool

Bryson conquered potty-training! I needed to wait till preschool was over before I could fully concentrate on it. So after our vacation in the beginning of June, it was time to make some progress. We were already at the point where if I left Bryson naked all day, he would go in the potty just fine. It was time to take it to the next level where he could wear clothing and still go in the potty. That took a few weeks to master. Then it was a matter of having him tell me while we were out running errands as well as be able to tell someone other than his parents (babysitter, nursery leaders, extended family). He did 5 days in a row perfectly, and I thought we were there. Then when we were at someone else's house, he had a poopy accident. Ironically, I had just written in his journal the day before that throughout all the potty-training saga he had never had a poopy accident in his underwear! Another week without accidents and him being able to tell his nursery leaders at church when he needed to go potty, and I feel like we're there. It feels quite liberating not to have to change diapers for a few more months! He's 2 years and 8 months, so later than my other boys. Bryson was very interesting in the fact that he didn't like having a potty seat on the toilet. He loved to climb on all by himself.

Occasionally Bryson will go on the potty like this. It's too funny!

This boy is slow in the losing teeth department. He just lost his 4th tooth (almost 8 years old)! He's been working on it for several days.

Also, I started teaching piano lessons this summer. There are three teachers in this area who moved, and it has left a lot of people in need of a teacher. After several approaches, I decided to commit to 5 students (including Carter) for up to the next year (my year off of teaching preschool) while they try to get in with other teachers. There's also the factor of a new baby end of Aug./beginning of Sept.--I'll take a month off after he's born and see how things go with teaching piano with a newborn!

The Best Day Ever

Caleb has been counting down to today for the last few days. "Only two more days till THE day." Today was the day of his piano recital. He knew that some awards would be given out, and he was anxious to see if he would receive any of them.

Before the recital, we started out the day with a neighborhood carnival. Caleb tried rock climbing for the first time.

He got about two lengths of his body before he was all done. Poor Carter, who is my adventurous one, was so sad that he wasn't tall enough to do it.

Pony ride

Finally at 1pm it was recital time. Memorizing the first piece, Tarantella, came really easy. It took some work to memorize the Harry Potter song, and he didn't want to do it. I was so proud that he finally decided to try, only because Matt said, "I bet you can't do it."

Then it was award time. Each of the 13 students got an award that shared a special trait about them. Caleb's award was a perfectionist award because he comes to each lesson with his songs learned well with attention to details like dynamics.

Following that, his teacher gave an award and money to the best beginning student, intermediate student, and advanced student. Caleb was given the award for the best intermediate student. He was so happy! She also gave an award for the student that practiced the most and the most consistently. Caleb practices 30 minutes a day, 6 times a week. (I let him choose a day to have a break.) Some days it's a little more and some a little less. We were surprised that Caleb won this award and money as well!

Finally she gave an award for the best student over all. She had a rubric of criteria that she graded by (flashcards, sight-reading skills, practice time, repertoire, etc.) Caleb also won this award! Honestly by this point I was a little embarrassed that Caleb won so many of the awards (and money!), but at the same time I was so proud of him. He has worked very hard and been very self-motivated to succeed.

Here he is later today with his awards.

And we ended the day with a soccer game. This is Caleb's sport of choice, and he gives it his all each week. The skill he seems to have over the other players and opponents is that he never gives up. He constantly runs after the ball even if he's tired. He's aggressive, always in the action. He's also very careful to watch his opponents on defense and careful with his aim when he shoots for a goal. This season so far he has scored 3 goals each game he's played, which is the most amount of goals one player can score. They won today 6-1. (The one goal the other team scored was while Caleb was playing goalie, so that's definitely a position to work on. He hates playing goalie because he'd rather be out there running on the field!)

At the end of the day, I asked Caleb if the day had lived up to his hopes and dreams. He told me that it was the best day ever! I love this kid so much!

Piano Progress

Caleb really wanted me to post a video of him playing his latest piano piece. His piano teacher asked Caleb to learn the right hand of the first two lines this week since it's a difficult song. That only served as a challenge to Caleb. He learned the entire song in two days (both hands) and had it memorized after four days. He can be quite determined.

Caleb's First Piano Recital

Caleb's piano teacher

Caleb played two songs (Rudolph & Jingle Bells) plus a duet with his teacher (Away in a Manger)

(Because his teacher had taken on two new students right before the recital, she didn't have everyone memorize their pieces this time.)

A few hours later, we headed to a church Christmas party which involved a hay ride, potluck dinner, a few games, and a visit from Santa.

Our family on the hayride

Mr. Bryson stayed happy as long as he had some food. He was very excited about this cookie.