Winter Concert & More

This year, the choir had a winter concert, the first Saturday in February.
I have to admit....I was not all that excited about this concert. I had been told by the girls that ALL of the songs were in Latin! Add to that the fact that I wasn't hearing much practicing at our home, I figured it would be a non-event, nothing to write home about.
Boy, was I ever wrong!!! It was BEAUTIFUL!!! The concert was wonderful to listen to and the orchestra and singers that accompanied the choir were outstanding!
(Isn't it funny...we live right smack in the middle of music-land with Lawrence University just 5ish miles northeast of our house and we easily forget about the quality of local talent...until we are faced with a concert like this one!)

This was an interesting concert though....

On the day of the concert, Ava and I woke up feeling flu-ish. We had no babysitter for the little Glynn kids, so I told Andy 'Sit us on an aisle in case I have to rush Ava out if she gets sick!'. Shortly after the doors opened, he called me and said "What do you think about sitting in the balcony?" BRILLIANT! It was sparsely populated, Ava could lay on a church pew and we had our mega zoom lens, so we could still capture photos and video!

So, Andy is at the church early to get us seats and I'm struggling to get Ava out the door--she had been napping, she woke up fine and then felt bad again. Poor little girl! We did make it to the church though, and as we walked up to the balcony, we were met with pale Ellie saying "I don't feel good!" Ugh. Our new phrase is "Give it your best shot." (Maybe someday I will blog about that phrase...), so we encouraged her and sent her on her way...worrying that she'd quickly become the "star" of the concert, in a way that no one wishes to be.
(By the way...all Glynns made it through the concert just fine.)

Now, about that mega zoom lens on our camera. It was great....but yikes, the video is REALLY shaky. In fact, so shaky that I won't subject you all to feeling sick with too many video postings. HERE is the opening song "Gloria" and HERE is Jayna's Prima Choir singing their song.

The concert really was fabulous...2 songs in, Andy turned to me and said "I feel like I'm at a concert at the Performing Arts Center!" So true, it was a wonderful afternoon of music.

The rest of our week was "weird winter wonder". Honestly. I received an email from a family member saying "I hope the kids are having fun enjoying the winter weather!" Uh..no. Our yard was full of puddles, it was too windy/cold to enjoy the driveway...and, all of the bikes were put up for the winter, and our trampoline lost it's walls and is covered by a tarp (because we KNEW that living in Wisconsin would provide ample snow, so we do those types of things in preparation for the winter!

We did however have some memories:
Upper left: Best buddies Colin and Ava playing while the big girls were at choir...They set up all the cars and then they had "Bible Study". Precious.

Upper right: Colin and his beloved tools...and check out his glasses! Andy went on a 1 day trip to a Kimberly Clark Distribution Center and came back with safety glasses. Colin is very good about wearing them whenever he is working.... ;)

Lower left: Is this drawing too much or what? This is from Ava, to Andy and I. What a treasure. It's going to be framed for our bedroom...she is such a romantic, and such a fantastic artist.

Lower right: Perhaps this is the only snowman we will get built this year. Red, sparkly, and completely clean-up-able!

Girls Night Out BSGC Concert!

These girls LOVE to sing.
End of story.
...........

This year, both big girls are part of the Badger State Girl Choir...and let me tell you...it has been a labor of love, coordinating "mega music Tuesday". On Tuesdays, we have piano lessons at the house from 3:30-5pm and then choir is from 4:30-5:15 and 5:30-6:30. We are all music-ed out by bedtime!

The day of the concert was beautiful....The girls spent the early afternoon at dress rehearsal and then we all enjoyed an early dinner followed by the primping of the hair, complete with sparkled hairspray....(for the girls)
For Colin....he obsessed over having Grammie time playing games and then also played "sneak away the girls choir accessory"!

The theme of this fall concert was "Girls Night Out".
There was 1 Glynn who was a very cool cucumber....and the rest of us were nervous nellies....Jayna had a very large solo with the Prima choir group. We know she can sing...but in front of that many people for that long? She did AWESOME...we were so proud of her--it was really fun.

And, it was Ellie's first concert with the BSGC....and yes, for her too, it was really fun.

To hear a snippet of "At The Hop", click HERE.
To hear "Girls Night Out", click HERE.
"Girls Night Out" part 2 is HERE. (This is a shaky video--but you get an idea of the large amount of girls in the choir!)

And to hear Jayna....HERE is part 1.

And part 2, the actual solo, is HERE. Go Jayna!

And if you are ever feeling like your house is too quiet....please, stop by our home....between the piano, flute, 2 choir girls and Rockstar Colin, it is nonstop music around here!