The Fruits of Our Labors

Our piano recital was a grand success this evening!!!!!!
I am the proud teacher and mama in the back with all of my students.  I LOVE these kids!  I was very pleased with how everyone played their songs.   I know they get nervous, but they aren't the only ones.  It is very rewarding to see the fruits of all our labors, but it is a bit nerve racking for me as well.

Bethany did double duty tonight on piano and violin.  She has played the violin for five years and she is quite good and enjoys it, but she recently told me she felt a little left out because she was the only one who didn't play the piano.

"Sister, you've come to the right house!  It just so happens I teach piano lessons!"
I offered to give her lessons, but explained that she would have to practice piano just like the other kids AND the violin each day.  She agreed and has been very diligent.

Tonight she played her two piano songs and a song on her violin.  I obviously do not teach her the violin (she has a teacher for that), but I think any chance to perform is beneficial and since it's my recital, I can put her on the program.  Besides, I really love to hear her play.  I think I might have missed my calling in life to be a violinist.  The trombone is great, but does it really stir your soul?  

 

 Clark-- what are you?  Going into the MTC next week???  Is it possible that you are still only 11 years old?  Get thee on a mission, or at least to Young Mens!
Clark played Sonatina in G Major by Beethoven and The Entertainer by Scott Joplin.  He practiced so hard to get these songs ready.  I was so happy he was able to play them as well as he had practiced them.

Oh, there was a A LOT of practicing at our house this week!  Elinor memorized her song in the nick of time.  And no--- 20 times is not too many times a day to play a song.  But she did get it and she did it very well.  She is making great progress and I quite enjoy her personality and working with her.

Oh, my heart! 
Faith loves to play the piano.  I probably would not have started her on the piano quite yet--she just turned 5-- but she begged and pleaded.  Like, I could possibly resist the face above.  She regularly reminds me to come and practice with her.  Love, Love, Love her.

George loves the music he hears all day every day.  He also enjoys the kids who come for lessons.  He likes to crawl under the bench and play with the foot pedals.
Cannon and some of the other little brothers enjoyed running around the recital this evening.  It was in a rather large room in the Sandy Library.  These kids are used to my house, where, hard as we try to keep things quiet during lesson time, there are occasional distractions.  I figured the little boys were all right and perhaps actually helped the kids focus more, since that's what they're used to.

I've been teaching lessons now for two and a half years.  My group of students has steadily grown and I really enjoy all the kids I have.  It has been a real blessing to me in many ways.  It has helped structure our days and weeks better so that, rather than a detriment,  I feel we actually get more done now, than before I taught.    I also think the other students help inspire my own children.  I am learning so much about how different each child is and how they learn and what motivates them.  They are all such interesting little people.

And the kids like it that their friends come over on a regular basis.  Even if they do come over to see their mother and not them.


A few notes by Abe:  First, huge congratulations, Betsy....the recital was wonderful!  Next, the young man in the baseball uniform came straight from his game to the recital.  Lastly, Clark is sporting, for the first time, his soon-to-be-ordained-to-the-priesthood suit.