The Audition

 Liz loved her violin from the moment she got it. While not every practice session has been stellar or without complaint, she has steadily worked away with enjoyment and pride.

Now, she practices more often (and more successfully) on her own, setting her own challenges and finding her own way.  She has worked hard and is far beyond her classmates. Last winter her teachers began urging her to join an orchestra outside of school and, gradually, she became excited to do so.  Our local music center offers three levels of orchestras for children and teens, all by audition only.  Yesterday was the big audition. Lou planned it all-- her outfit, the scale that would most impress, the song.

As the week went on, Lou became more and more nervous until the big day when....she lost it.  She became so so scared and refused to go. No amount of convincing would allow her to realize that it was last-minute nerves. She was convinced that she had never wanted to do it in the first place. Nels and I had one of those awful parental dilemmas. Would we force her to go or let her off the hook? Had we pushed her into something that she actually didn't want to do? Is it OK to push a child THIS scared?

Well. We made her go. We carried her kicking to the car. Threw in the violin. Took off down the road. None of us feeling good about it. And then magic. Nels began to quietly talk. He told story after story of auditions --the time he choked when playing for one of the top 5 trumpet players in the world (and didn't get into BU) and the next day when he nailed his audition and got into Tanglewood.  As he told story after story, her head came up. Her shoulders quietly straightened. She had a sip of water. And she got out of the car. Calm(er).

And. She nailed it. She played better than I'd heard her all summer. The conductor smiled, gave her some pointers, and told her she was "in."

In. Not into the intermediate youth orchestra. Into the teen Green Mountain Youth Symphony. My girl is standing TALL and Nels and I are breathing easier that we did the right thing.

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Summer Vacation and Crafting

We are recently back from our week by the sea in Nova Scotia. This is the house we rented--a 1780s fisherman's cottage right on the water.

The location was gorgeous and we spent many hours sitting on or by the rocks.

The girls spent a lot of time hanging out on the rocks singing. For some reason, they sang variations on "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" all. week. long. Still have it stuck in my head.



We wanted to have a mix of touring the region and just hanging by the water. I brought a big bag of art and craft supplies which was a big hit. The biggest hit was the new bag of craft thread.

We all now sport many friendship bracelets on our wrists and ankles. We renamed them "thread bracelets" which just felt like a cooler name.

While Helen attached her project to her leg, Lou hooked it on her toe and knotted away. She took her project everywhere. Helen caught a bunch of tourists taking photos of Lou and her toe project at a maritime museum :) Maybe they thought it was some exotic sailor's knot technique!

Lou brought colored pencils, a compass, and paper. She spent hours making compasses and clocks inspired by all the compass roses we saw in museums.

Helen brought jewelry wire (silver & copper) and tools.

She made some gorgeous pendants from sea glass and small stones.

She also brought acrylic paints and had fun turning a rock into her palette.
She made some pretty seascapes.

Of course we also explored the magnificent, empty, cold beaches,

toured the maritime museums,

and shopped.

And, of course, we read & read & read. The grand total-- over 7,800 pages of reading by our family!
That was a fun little math project :)

It was great trip that ended up having a good rhythm of down days and touring days. The down days worked well for us because we had along:

some books on CD-- we all ended up listening to or reading King Arthur tales for some reason
drawing paper, colored pencils, compass, eraser, pencil sharpener
acrylic paints and brushes
watercolors, gel pens & journals
embroidery floss/craft thread & scissors
jewelry making gear
I had also brought super-glue (for rock sculptures) and yarn/thread (for weaving or tatting) neither of which we used.

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Getting Organized...

....for a big trip

This was a fun little sewing project I completed this week. These car organizers will soon be filled with all the stuff the girls need to keep entertained on a big trip. I attached them to the top of the seats with buttonholes through which I stuck the headrests. There is tight elastic at the bottom. I need to make some sort of attachment in the center so they don't get in the way too much. I may also put another bit of velcro in the bottom big pockets.

Lou is a little upset with the fabric choice (which is from old curtains). She wanted leopard stripe :)

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Book Week: A Bookish Weekend

Our bookish weekend began on Friday with a trip to the library for Helen and me. We stopped at a local cafe for iced coffee and meringues. We had planned to browse through our library books, but ended up chatting with friends passing by instead.

On Saturday we all headed into Woodstock for the big "Bookstock" event which was a day-long festival of book sales, poetry reading, author signings, and displays by local publishers. There was tent after tent filled with authors, publishers, and books. A delight for a book-loving family like ours.

Helen always has such trouble pairing down all the books she finds at these sales.

And what did she do when she got home? She started cutting one up to make a "book box..."

...and applying gesso and mod podge to alter another.
She is very inspired by these soul journaling prompts as well as other altered books sites.

Of course, Lou also became inspired
(I think it was being able to use a utility knife that truly inspired her).
Sigh....I had just vacuumed.

And look what I found at one of the sales....Swallows and Amazons.
Guess what we'll be reading aloud next week???

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