This past weekend was Solo & Ensemble Festival. This is an event where students can perform a piece for a judge, get feedback from that judge, and earn a medal for participating. All students earn at least a bronze medal (III), but can earn silver (II) or gold (I) for performances that meet the judging criteria. This was Kayla’s 5th and final year participating. She has 4 gold medals from her previous events, and so hoped to close out her run with a 5th gold. She had a song called “Donkey Ride”, which had 16th note runs and grace notes scattered. She had a little bobble, but all around it sounded good!

And her result…

Yep, that’s a 5th gold medal for Kayla!

While this was Kayla’s final event, it was also Ashley’s first event. She was the only 5th grade pianist performing, mostly because middle schools around here are usually 6th-8th not 5th-8th like Big Hollow. That and many 5th graders have not been playing long enough to want to face a judge! Ashley did not want anyone in the room with her, so I have video of her playing the song here at home. The judge have her a short mini-lesson with feedback. She played a version of “Swan Lake”. (And at the end you will know that Kevin tested into Gryffindor!).

And her result…

Also a gold medal for Ashley! Prior to this medal, Ashley had talked about maybe quitting lessons. Now, she is talking about wanting a more challenging version of Fur Elise for next year’s event!

And now a few random pics from a week or two ago. I had a little fun with the pancakes I made, making sure everyone knew whose pancakes belonged to who!

Yes, for some reason we had a snow day today. It might have something to do with the gobs of snow we got, although the roads were really not bad. But we did get the snow that was predicted, and I think we got some of what never made it to the East Coast (although this thing is headed that way…) So, another day to make up!

The snow started late Saturday night. Yesterday was pretty messy, but the girls wanted to get out in it. First, you need to have a “good” lunch.

Then you need to have proper footwear.

Of course, the right outerwear and water protection are good too. A few dollar store boxes make excellent brick molds.

Kayla has outgrown her snow pants, so we had to improvise a little.

We tied the bags around her belt loops, then she put a pair of sweats over the bags to keep them in place. Believe it or not, our little improv worked to keep her dry! She even did the same thing to her friend today that had outgrown snow pants also so that a bunch of the teens could meet at the playground for a snow fight.

By this morning, this is what we saw.

The winds had really swept the snow into pretty shapes and buried our patio.

After all that, you need to rest. Ashley has new pillows that Aunt Shannon should recognize. They only took 6 pounds of stuffing to fill!

Otherwise, we have been busy bees. Ashley and Kayla are both participating in the Solo & Ensemble Event this weekend. Ashley will be playing the piano for a judge for the first time. Kayla will be doing her 5th and final event as a middle school student, so she’s an old pro. This is one of those things where every kid gets at least a bronze medal. The judges are nice, give good feedback, and all around it is a good experience for both girls. Ashley is nervous – she doesn’t want anyone in the room with her, so I will need to make a video at home of her playing “Swan Lake”.

We’ll let you all know how things go on Saturday!