Lifes Like That

So with the end of summer fast approaching it’s almost time to start thinking about school and school activities. Well this means that my daughter needs to start thinking about playing her violin again and not playing with her Wii accessories. This doesn’t sound like much fun to her. But I think when she finally gets playing again and gets around her friends again this won’t be a huge hardship. This will be her third year of playing, so she is pretty aware of the commitment and the time involved. It’s just upsetting to her that she will have to practice playing her violin again instead of just sitting around and playing Wii all day.

Well my daughter’s school was finally able to hold their Christmas concert last night. First of all let me tell you all that it was a huge success! The theater was so packed that you could not fit another soul in there and there were people actually standing out in the entrance listening to it. They had no idea that this concert would be this popular as they didn’t sell tickets ahead of time so it was first come, first served. I don’t think they will do that again. Even though it was a good concert, it was a very long one. My daughter’s violin class didn’t play until 9:20 and it wasn’t even done by then. We left as soon as she was done as it was getting pretty late and she had school this morning.

But a good time was had by all. The kids did a wonderful job and everyone was so very proud of them.

Wow! When kids go back to school is doesn’t take very long for the teachers to get them back in to the swing of things now does it? They have only been in school for a little over a week now and have already gotten one violin concert book. Thankfully the concert isn’t until the end of October so it will give the kids a chance to practice up after a long summer of not playing very much. My daughter is so happy that they are getting ready for a concert already. The main reason why she joined violin last year was because of the concerts and performances. So to have one booked right away has really made her day. Now…where are those ear plugs?? (just kidding. I love her playing)

Yesterday I posted that today I would be attending my daughter’s violin competition.  There were a lot of kids present and a lot of schools represented.  It was a very long day listening to each class play their selections.  But…the good news is, they won the GOLD!!  My daughter was so…impressed.  The kids worked really hard at learning to play the violin as well as learning to play these special pieces.  And for their efforts to be awarded this way, was just icing on the cake.  Now the competition is over, but she is still on cloud nine.  As this was her very first competition, coming in first was a major joy for her.  You can bet that she will remember this day for a very long time to come.  As will I.

Well tomorrow we have a very long day a head of us.  Tomorrow is my daughter’s violin competition so I won’t be around too much tomorrow.  Although I really don’t think they will win (they have only been playing since November), I really hope that she enjoys herself.  This competitions and performances are the main reasons why she joined this program and if she has fun, then she is more likely to continue on with this program in future years.  Her teacher says she has a gift and it would be an awful shame if she didn’t continue.

So after we get back tomorrow, I’ll try to pop back in and let you know how she made out.  I’m sure she will do just fine.

On Saturday the kid’s grandfather stopped in for a visit.  He then asked my daughter how she was making out in her violin classes.  So of course Kara being the little performer that she is she went into her room and dug out her violin.  Then she proceeded to play four different songs for her grandfather.  He was amazed at how well she plays and is convinced that she has a gift for this type of thing.  Kara was quite proud to here her grandfather talk like that about her and she is now not complaining so much about having to practice a lot.

So, the next time she starts to get discouraged with her violin practicing and playing, I’m just going to call her grandfather up so he can come listen to her play and give her the little extra boost that she needs.

As most of you know, my daughter is taking violin lessons through her school.  Just before Christmas she became really sick and missed quite a bit of school time, which meant that she missed quite a bit of violin practice.  Because of this, she lost a lot of what she learned and when it came time for her to play in the school Christmas concert she really didn’t want to as she didn’t feel that she was ready.  She did participate and did a great job, but it was kind of a fight to get her to go.  But, over the Christmas break she practiced a lot and she is now caught up with her violin class.  So yesterday when the teacher announced that they would be performing in another concert at the end of the month, she got really excited.  I think she is looking forward to this concert because she knows that at this point she is caught up with the class and she will be able to participate to her fullest extent for this concert.

Yesterday when I went to the school to pick up my daughter after violin practice, I took her violin with me to show to her teacher to see if it would be suitable for her to use this year.  Unfortunately the violin is way to big for her so she won’t be able to use it this year.  The only good thing about it is that it is too big and not too small which means she will eventually grow into it.  But, we already paid the money for the violin rental from the school, so she will still get to play.  She was so…looking forward to being able to use the violin that her grandfather bought her, but we will have to put it away for another year.  She’s OK with it now though as she realizes that she still gets to play this year and that’s all that matters.

As you all know, my daughter was accepted into her school violin program.  She is so anxious to get started and today will be her first official day of starting to play the violin.  Over the weekend, we got a message from her teacher that for some reason the school doesn’t have enough violins for all the children to play, so they are asking that if any parent can afford to either rent or purchase a violin for their child, it would be most appreciated.  Well my father-in-law has a violin for my daughter.  He just needs to take it somewhere to get it fixed.  The good thing about this violin is that the violin is already set up for a left handed player.  So, later this week she will have her own violin and this will ensure her a spot for sure in the program.  So once again, Grampie came through for her.

Last night I went to the school to the final meeting for any of the children who want to participate in the strings program. I learned a lot. I discovered that this type of program requires a major commitment on the part of the student and on the parents. It also requires a lot of work on the part of the student and a lot of support on the parents end. But, my daughter is still determined to join so I signed the paper and we will know within a couple of days whether she has been accepted or not. The reason for this wait is because the class can only hold 20 students, but 45 students want to take part in this musical experience. This means that 25 will not get in. So, the music instructor now needs to go to the students teachers to find out if the teacher thinks that they can handle the program as well as keeping up with all their classroom activities. My daughter realizes that she may not get in and she is OK with this. She really really wants to join but it won’t be the end of the world to her if this isn’t possible. So, as soon as I know the final outcome, I’ll be sure to stop by and let you all know.