April 2014 Things we did part 1

April is a busy month. Here we go!

I was lucky to get to attend several exclusive concerts by these musicians:

Puzzles and games were played quite often. The game closet was a well used source of fun for the kids.

 Baby continued to grow cute and adorable. His baby hair became blond and invisible to pictures. Siblings continued to love to hold and cuddle him.

  Here's that castle Princess started coloring last month, now almost finished.

 Dinoguy practiced beautiful music on his violin.

We enjoyed our zip line. Little guy found out he loved it once he was willing to give it a try.

We watched LDS General conference and did lots of crafts.

 Baby was at the age to sit in a bumbo to be part of family fun. Here he is learning about his brother's silliness.

 Family breakfast for conference of chocolate waffles with strawberries.

 Examining the resemblance to mom in a selfie.

 Dinoguy was in a small orchestra accompanying a choir. It was a long concert.

 Wonderful spring weather meant lots of walks. On this one, the kids decided they needed pictures taken.

Trainboy's Book One Violin Recital

Toward the end of April, we finally held a Suzuki book one recital for Trainboy. He had learned all the songs in book one and we spent some time polishing them before holding the recital. I did record the recital - but on a video camera that I have yet to download several years of video...so here is a video of him at the beginning of April while he is still polishing Gavotte (the last song in Book one) and also one of him playing Minuet 1.

(If you are reading this in email, you must click on a link and go to the webpage to see the videos)

Violin Trio

Back to catch up posts tomorrow, today I want to share my boys playing in a violin trio with their teacher this past Sunday at the church for which I am the pianist. I love listening to them practice, they are getting so good! They love to perform and were happy for the opportunity. Enjoy!

Atlanta Temple open house

 We were lucky enough to get to travel to Atlanta for the open house before the temple was re-dedicated in April. This is the temple where Fixitman & I were married, so it is special to me. My grandma gave a family tour with 35 people from the extended family present. The inside is completely redone and absolutely beautiful. The boys really enjoyed seeing the temple and I believe it was a special experience for them. Princess was very tired and clingy and I ended up carrying her the whole time. She sure enjoyed the cookies afterward though! Here are some pictures.

Trainboy, Grandpa, Dinoguy & Princess at the back of the temple after the tour.

All 4 kids at the front of the temple

Best picture of the bunch

Playing their violins for Grandma's birthday afterward at the park.

Afterward we went to the park behind my grandparents chapel and had lunch and cake to celebrate Grandma's birthday. The boys played their violins, and Princess played her box violin.

Trophy Festival photos

The boys played in the Suzuki Violin trophy festival this month and did fabulously of course. I did not get around to making videos of their songs - Dinoguy did Minuet 1 and Trainboy did Long, long ago. But here they are with their violins showing off their trophies. I will get videos of them playing up again soon.

Box violin

I finally made Princess a box violin to play. She was ecstatic. Now she can practice her violin alongside her brothers.

Violin concert

Winter violin concert went well. Dinoguy played Andantino, Trainboy played May Song. It was weird not being the pianist and just listening. I videotaped the performances on the camera that I haven't taken the time to figure out how to put on the computer. If you really want to watch their performances, email me and I will send you another link.

Dinoguy is disappointed because he did not make his goal of learning Minuet 1 by the end of this year. He knows the song before it - Etude - but due to skipping lessons for about a month, he was delayed some from making his goal. I think its awesome how he sets goals and really has the ideas of practice down - he'll go to work on something I ask him to practice and work at it until he gets it. He is pretty much only held back by how long he wants to practice.

Trainboy is doing so well and yet it has been a harder fall for him. He has struggled with various technique things and while he has learned many songs and plays well, I say it is harder because practice is not as much fun as it could be. He's in a period where anything not going his way results in tears and a plaintive "I tried my best!" No amount of me being loving and soft with suggestions for improvement or making games of it all prevents this. It is something that appears in all facets of life right now and probably has to do with adjustment to another family member and some growing up.

Anyway, they continue to learn the violin and play beautifully (in my opinion at least. :D )

May Song Duet

Dinoguy and Trainboy play May Song as a duet - Dinoguy plays the harmony, Trainboy the melody.

Violin concert

We had a violin concert this month! There's another one next week. The boys have been practicing hard for the concert which includes solo pieces and group performances. I was the accompanist for the group, meaning Fixitman got to run the camera and hold Munchkin at the same time.

The videos aren't great - the sound isn't matched up to the violins and the sound quality isn't totally true. But here they are if you want to hear the boys play their solos. Hopefully next time we can get some of the group pieces recorded too.





Violin has been a wonderful thing for our family. There have been so many positives from having the boys learn. I am so glad we decided to try it out last year!

Violin songs

Dinoguy playing Song of the Wind. Trainboy playing Twinkle Variation A. They are preparing these for a Suzuki Trophy Festival and really trying to get them perfected.

Jolly Old St Nicholas on Violin

The boys participated in a Christmas concert by learning Jolly Old St Nicholas on their violins. Here it is on video.

Please excuse the out of focus picture for the first 20 or so seconds and any shakiness. I'm holding the camera in my hands while Munchkin climbs on my legs.