Fall Piano Recital

And then there are days like this one.  We can't express how incredibly proud we are of Madison, after two pretty significant accomplishments in one day.  Firstly, there was the Fall Piano Recital.  She has been doing so well with her other songs, and for some reason, "Oh Susanna" has been giving her a challenge.  This is unusual, as the other songs, like "Moon Dreamer," are technically a bit more difficult.  Still, she was struggling a bit to get it done perfectly - as recently as yesterday.  We were supportive, but wondering which performance would show up.  But she did so amazingly well - we were so very proud of her!  There were other performances today, especially one ensemble piece where the entire class did Mozart's "Sleigh Ride."  It was all done very well, and all the kids deserved a great big round of applause.

But even more so, we've been quite pleased with Mrs. Pam and her patience, and teaching style.  The results are that Madison is getting better as the weeks progress, and that she's enjoying it as she practices.  Well, at least for the most part!

The other accomplishment is related to math.  She has been doing drills since the beginning of the year, with the goal of getting fifty random addition and subtraction problems answered in the space of three minutes.  That's the goal for all students to meet by the end of the year.  So each week, we try, and each week we've been coming up just a little short.  Recently, we had a string of close calls, where Madison had answered 49 questions.  But now she's gotten fifty.  Tonight for homework, she did fifty problems - all correct - and so fast that she still had twenty-five seconds left to go on the timer.  And, she did just as well in the classroom this week.  She's got to her goal of fifty, and that's a big deal!

To celebrate, Daddy let her watch "Frozen" for the umpteenth billion time.  The difference is that today there was released the "sing-a-long" version, which you would have thought they would be kind enough to include with the original Blu-Ray.  After all, we all went to see that sing-a-long back in January or so when it came out in theaters, right?

But Disney decided to sell a sing-a-long version SEPARATELY, so that if you actually want the sing-a-long version, you have to buy two different copies of the movie.  We love Disney, but we have to call it like it is:  Bad form, bad form.

So obviously, we bought a copy of the sing-a-long.  The catch, though, is this:  we're using it for KidPak in February.  So the purchase was a little justified.  We're thinking we can show a selection or two to the kids, and have everyone singing along.

I know what you're thinking:  why not just use the REGULAR version, and simply turn on the subtitles.  Oh, that would be so simple, wouldn't it?  Answer:  if you did that, you wouldn't have the little bouncing snowflake.  Yes, we're paying an additional $20-$25 for a little bouncing snowflake.  That's the level of dedication we got here.

Anyway, obviously Madison watched the movie tonight.  We were all singing along at parts.  But Daddy did have to go back to the church, as we had yet another two or three hour practice.  Things are progressing there just fine, but Daddy missed out on another big "Agents of "S.H.I.E.L.D." tonight.  I'll have to wait a week until it shows up on the computer.  This is a small sacrifice to pay, isn't it?  We did quite a bit of blocking tonight.  And believe it or not, things were nice and toasty in the KidPak auditorium where we practiced.

Outside, it's another matter.  It's currently 22 degrees out there, and expected to drop to 19.  Fortunately, the wind is gone.  But today was one of those days where it was just about near painful to be outside in.  You just scurried as fast as you could from car to building to car to home.  Daddy has layers on, and drank lots of hot tea.  And ate some warm grits this morning - Mommy does such a good job there.

But now it's time to dive under the blankets upstairs.  We've got the extra comforter on, and tonight we just might need it.  The heater is working fine, and we're certainly grateful for that.