School happenings

A little round-up of some recent school happenings! 

Carson and I went to his high school’s production of The Wizard of Oz, and wow—so impressed! The students did such a great job, and I was especially blown away by the live music. It was performed by a combo of members from his high school orchestra and of the band. I told Carson he should consider doing that next year, but with his packed schedule, he said maybe senior year instead. 🎭🎻

Next up Logan’s school for International Night—one of our favorite events of the year! I’m always amazed at the effort that goes into representing so many different countries. The Ukraine booth was a highlight this year—the man running it had recently returned and brought tons of treats from home, plus made the most delicious rice pudding. You could just tell how proud he was to share his culture. I even waited in line with a bunch of little girls at India's booth to get a henna tattoo on my hand. And the China booth was super cool, especially with it being close to Lunar New Year—they brought out a dragon and everything! The flag parade with the kids is always a favorite. We’re so lucky to be part of such a diverse and vibrant school community. 🌍

Tanner also had his pre-UIL orchestra concert, which I was sad to miss because I was in Utah. But thankfully Brad recorded it for me, and I got to watch it later. I was so proud seeing Tanner up there performing, Tanner has a new private cello teacher and he's improved so much. He's worked really hard this year and it showed.

And over at my school, we had Rodeo Week! Probably my favorite week of the year. Petting zoo one day, parade the next. 🐴🐐 I don’t usually mention my class much on here, but this has been one of the hardest years. I had a group of 8 boys and 3 girls, and let’s just say… the boys have kept me on my toes. Especially one. But spring break is around the corner, and once that hits, the rest of the year always seems to fly by!

So grateful for these fun moments to break the monotony of January and February.

Katy UIL

So proud of Carson for performing in the Katy UIL competition (what we used to call “districts” in Utah)! He played 2 pieces, a solo and an ensemble piece on the cello—and all his hard work truly paid off.

He earned a score of 2 on his solo, which is amazing, and his ensemble absolutely crushed it with a score of 1, as well as advancing to the next round! They played Eine kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart, and it was beautiful.

Watching him grow as a musician and seeing his dedication is such a joy. Way to go, Carson! 🎻👏

getting all set up and ready to play!

Both pieces were 8 minutes long, I'll just share snippets:

 

School Trip

Carson had an absolutely incredible trip to Walt Disney World with his high school orchestra! Every 4 years the different school groups in his high school get to go on a group vacation over spring break. Band went the year before to Hawaii, and this year it was orchestra’s turn! 

His orchestra teacher loves going to Disney because they get to participate in a special Disney music clinic, where they go behind the scenes to see how Disney Magic in the form of music is created. They then get the special opportunity to be taught by a Disney conductor pieces of Disney music. His group had the amazing opportunity to play music from Tarzan and The Little Mermaid. The best part? Their performance was professionally recorded and set to a Disney music video! It was the best souvenir Carson could have gotten. It was such a surreal experience to hear their own music paired with iconic scenes! I wish I could post the video here, but it’s about 6 minutes long and too long to post here.

Beyond the clinic, Carson made the most of his time in the parks, soaking in all the magic with his friends. From thrilling rides to iconic attractions, every day was packed with fun. He especially loved visiting Universal Studios, where he couldn’t get enough of the new Raptor ride. It was definitely a favorite! Of course, no trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter would be complete without a Butterbeer, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

The entire trip was an unforgettable he said it was his most favorite vacation ever. I asked him about his Europe trip just last summer, but he liked this more because he was with his friends.

From performing Disney classics to making lifelong memories with his friends, Carson had the time of his life!

Getting ready to leave!

His musical group:

Some lucky/unlucky dad had the joy of having to drive to Orlando with a trailer full of everyone's instruments!

 

Fall Happenings Part 2

Fall updates ain’t over yet!

Free day off from school calls for using gift cards from my uncle Andy to grab Starbucks.

Learning how to use a pocketknife at scouts. Cutting soap bars!

Next up it’s a girls night with my girls to a rock concert! All American Rejects!

Isn’t it fun that music can literally make it feel like you can time travel? I traveled back 20 years ago to my senior year in high school. All American Rejects was one of the first real concert I ever went to (Weezer Green CD was #1 still proud of that) when I was a nanny in Vegas. I ended up losing a toenail from being in the mosh pit that night. Sorry tmi, but it’s a fun way to remember. So it was amazing to be back listening to my old hits with my good friend. Even more awesome was that I no longer had to pay for the cheap mosh pit tickets and we got our own little private booth in the balcony. I could sit or stand and much as I wanted.

And we did. We danced and sang the night away to Motion City, New Found Glory, and All American Rejects like I was young and 18 and without a care in the world. Best night ever! 

Was on such a high the next few days after this! Such a memorable night.

One of my favorite concerts of the year! The Jr High & High School Masquerade! It would have been an awesome night if both Tanner and Carson would have been in it together, but since Tanner is only in first year orchestra he doesn’t perform in this one. Oh well, next year for sure!

This years theme: Star Wars! 

They even had legit cosplay Star Wars characters come and greet everyone. And during the intermission helped pass out the candy to all the kids in the character parade.

I mean they even had this amazing droid!

 And the songs Carson’s orchestra played were pretty fun and amazing. Love that he’s in high school orchestra!

So proud.

Fall happenings

Fall update on the boys!

Logan went to Cub Scout camp for the day and loved it.

His favorite was the BB guns.

I think practicing at the cabin paid off! 

I spy a couple bullseyes 🎯 

I mean compared to the other boys in his den, he killed it.

We also started fall soccer! Or as Logan calls it, football. Logan hasn’t ever really been interested in soccer, he played when he was really young, but he doesn't remember. In fact the last time he tried to play he went to one practice before the world shut down for Covid, but recently he's been playing "football" at recess with his friends and so has been dying to play with a team.

 Logan got the MVP the very first game! His coach said that during practice Logan told the coach he wasn’t so sure about this soccer thing, but during the game he kept attacking the ball all with a huge smile on his face.

And his team won first place in his age division! Logan was so happy he got an actual trophy! (Here you only get trophies if you win, otherwise you get a participation medal)

And he also moved up in Taekwondo! Logan broke his first big board! And is now a people belt.

I promise I have other kids! Tanner went on a scout campout to Dino Valley. It’s a state park that has Dino footprint fossils in the riverbed. And since Texas is in a drought and the riverbed practically non existent, they got to see lots of footprints! It was pretty cool!

Next up, Fall Orchestra concerts! So handsome in his tux🤵🏼

And it was Tanners first one too! Since its the first years first one, they played a couple simple songs and then also taught 1 person how to play. Tanner taught his friend who came along to support.

So proud!

 Phew fall is a busy time of year, with the start of school and all the things! I wish I could say I hope it’ll slow down soon, but the holidays are right around the corner so we all know that ain’t gonna happen!