Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday Mom! I love this picture. Written on the back of this picture in my grandmother's handwriting is says "Rae Ann Oliver age 23 months". It is stamped with the date Mar 2 1936. How sweet is that face? And all that curly hair! How come I didn't get any of that hair? Adorable! Mom-- you are so many wonderful things. I hope you have fun on your birthday. Thank you for everything you have taught me to do and be! Remember, "We are always the same age inside."

Band and Choir Concert

Tuesday night Madison had a concert which included both 8th and 9th grade concert bands as well as choir. 8th grade performed 3 songs : An English Celebration (a medley of "Early One Morning," "Blow Away the Morning Dew," and "All Through the Night"), Juno Beach-Concert March, and Forest Brook Overture. The choir was next and the concert ended with the 9th grade band. They have one more band concert this school year plus one parade--if it doesn't rain!

Here is the video of An English Celebration:

Mia's Spa Day

Mia had her grooming appointment today. She looks so cute! It's more dramatic if you see how bad she was before.

Shag-a-muffin:




After:




Now she is all ready for Spring!

Happy 50th!

It's a special day today! My sister, Sarah, turns 50 today! I promised not to do anything mean or make any old lady jokes because I know that you reap what you sow! Seriously, though…I love this girl! She is such a fun person to be around (so I wish I was around her more!) She lights up a room, makes you feel loved, and holds a special place in my heart. I wish you peace, love, and diet coke! Here's a funny old picture -- sorry! I just had to! You look so 1974!

Gabrielle Goes to College

This month I had two opportunities to go to MU. The first was with my 7th grade Award Band preforming in front of every 5th grader that goes to Columbia Public Schools, at the Band Extravaganza. There were several other bands and orchestras there, and all of them sounded really cool! In my band, each instrument played a short little recognizable tune to get the 5th graders exited about each instrument. For example, the trumpets played the theme from Superman, the french horns played the theme from Iron Man, and us flutes played the theme from Harry Potter. The kids went crazy after each piece, and I had a great time! We played a couple songs as a full band as well, and I enjoyed every minute of the day! We ended around 11:00... lunch time! My conductors were nice enough to order some pizza for us, which they didn't have to do, and I really appreciated that! It was a real honor to be able to do play at the extravaganza.

The second opportunity was at the MU Writing Conference for Middle Schoolers. There were various writing classes there, where they taught you new and different styles of writing. I had a lot of my friends with me, so it was even better! The classes were pretty far apart, some even on separate stories, so my favorite part was racing around from class to class, zooming around campus! At first I thought I would be following my friends that already knew their way around MU, but after a little bit, I found myself leading the way at full speed! There were also vending machines, and I brought a little money with me, so I truly felt like a college student holding my books, and slipping a bill into a vending machine for a drink! I had lots of fun, laughing and writing with my friends, and I was impressed with all of the organization that went into preparing this conference.

Overall, I loved going to MU, and now I can't WAIT to be a college student! Although I'm sure it will be much more work then what I went through!

St. Patrick's Day

Here is my one big memory of St. Patrick's Day: warning, it's pretty sad! I came into my first grade class room on March 17th, 1976 and my teacher, Ms. Lawlor, says to me, "Oh Karen! It's St. Patrick's Day and you aren't wearing any green! Would you like a shamrock to wear like mine?" then pointing out to me the beautiful shiny green and gold cloisonne pin she is wearing on the lapel of her polyester pants suit. "OH YES, PLEASE!" I respond with anticipation. How great she has two, I am thinking. Then she proceeds to go over to her desk and cut me out a shamrock out of GREEN CONSTRUCTION PAPER-- then hands it to me with a straight pin to go with it. I know I must not have immediately put it on happily because she said, "Oh I am sorry, you probably need a little help putting that on yourself!" then pinning that sorry construction paper thing to my shirt. I went to my desk in the second row thinking to myself-- this is NOT like Ms. Lawlor's. This is sorry construction paper and a straight pin-- not shiny gold and green enameled jewelry!!! Talk about your false advertising!

Fayette Music Festival

Both girls were able to participate in the Fayette Music Festival at Central Methodist University on Friday. We went up to watch Gabrielle in her ensemble which included flutes and one oboe. Madison came up with her group later and played in her flute trio. Both were great performances! This is juried competition and both groups received a "1" rating. Gabrielle's ensemble played "Hunter's Chorus" by von Weber; Madison played "Allegro Giocoso" by Hayden with her trio. This was just another wonderful opportunity for the girls to develop their talents. The university setting was nice including this amazing gothic style church where they performed in the parish house parlor. Great job girls, once again!