SL Core H Week 23 "B" vacation July 31st-Aug 6, 2017 audition results in

SL Core H Week 23 "B"

July 31-Aug 6, 2017
Lessons Break 

Audition Results for Band In

Not great news on the band front...but, Poirot is still happy!!

Hello Friends,

It has been a hard week, but a few bright spots too.  I wasn't feeling great last weekend and decided I needed to lower the bar.  I ended up having a headache or a migraine every day this week so I called into my doctor's office to be seen; though they didn't have any help to offer.  I don't know why I'm having such a painful summer this year, no clue.  Between the chickens/ducks, garden, laundry, cleaning, cooking and my pitiful body I need more time in the week, so on Sunday night, I decided to take the week off doing our lessons.  I do hope that people don't think we do anything other than 'get through' each week!  Every week I plan our lessons and activities and every week many things fall through the cracks.    This week I only gave Dd ONE assignment--to continue to keep up her DuoLingo (German) lessons, but she never got around to it.  Yup, we are normal homeschoolers with LOTS of flaws! I know that when I look at the homeschool families around me most seem like they are so much more organized and better run than how our family appears.  I want to make sure I don't cover up our inadequacies but share our struggles and failures.  This week was ripe with failure, and our house has gotten so full of clutter with me not feeling well.

Church:

Last Sunday we were visiting Traverse City, MI and missed our usual church service; it was nice getting back to church last Sunday.  On Monday I finally took Dd to get her official "Drivers Permit--Level One Permit" so she can drive when Dh or I are in the car (or any approved adult).  We picked up Dd's friend, H., and they had fun chatting while we waited the hour in line for the permit.  Afterward, the girls had fun swimming in the pool, playing their stringed instruments together, and playing the board game, "Life."  I was glad she had company as my headache resurfaced.  I didn't know it, but my Monday headache started and is still going as I am typing this, six days later.

Church/Strings Group:
After a few weeks off, Thursday night we returned to our String's Group at church.  It was so nice to be back and singing hymn's together.

Crochet/Camo Poncho:

I figured since I wasn't feeling good I might as well start on the camouflaged poncho (crochet) that Dh asked me to make for in to use during the upcoming hunting season.  It was nice to have some "work" while I wasn't up for doing much else.  It is difficult to just sit when there is so much that needs to be done and crocheting helps me feel like I am getting a little something done while I am not feeling well.

Band: 

Wednesday was Dd's last marching band practice for this summer.

Last Parade: Grand Haven Coast Guard Parade
Saturday morning we had to set our alarms to get up early enough to make it to Grand Haven.  GH is on Lake Michigan and it takes just over an hour to get there.  We went there last year as our last parade too.  The new uniforms never did arrive this year.  We were told last spring, months before marching band, that the kids would have new uniforms this year.  At the GH parade, like others, some of the schools performed in matching t-shirts and shorts and Dd thinks that would be great to do at some of the smaller parades to keep cool.  People always compliment how great the band sounds, not much comment on the look of their uniforms.  The parade was really big.  The news said there were over 200,000 people there!

Results of Band Audition:

This is a difficult topic.  All during last year, Dd's band teacher told me how Dd was going to be in Advanced Band---definite, no hem-hawing about it...she was definitely going to get in-period.  She even said they might look at her for the class above that, Concert Band if they need more alto sax's.   You can imagine how utterly surprised we were when we finally saw the results on Thursday, that Dd did not make it into Advanced Band.  The girl in the chair behind Dd did make it in.  They took Chair One (Dd was Chair Two) and Chair Three.  So, I've spent the past three days trying to sort through these discrepancies, from how I planned next year to how it is now.  First, it is hard for me to understand how someone could tell me that Dd was going to advance over and over and then that not happen.  I had already signed up to be the "Teacher's Helper" for Advanced Band next year, that is how "certain" I was that Dd would get in!!!  Dealing with the news I have to let go of the fact that the leadership shouldn't have told me she would get in when the actual teacher of Ad Band would be the judge, not them.  I *should* have realized that, but it didn't.  If someone tells me something, I generally just believe them and it is hard when their words don't turn out as they said them.  So, now I am trying to move on and deal with the disappointment in leadership and people keeping their word.  And trying to figure out why they would tell me over and over that Dd would be passing when it wasn't up to them and wasn't going to happen.  

Some good things that can come of Dd not being moved up in Band:

*The Intermediate Band won't be too difficult for Dd and won't have to work so hard in that class.

*The bar will be kept low for her and she could possibly have a chance to move up to the first chair?

*She can spend more of her mental energy on learning how to improve her violin and viola skills.

*I've wondered if God will guide Dd towards just one musical choice--either the "Band" or "Orchestra" and maybe this is the first step to the Band door being closed?  (After the poor audition results Dd thought about opting out of Band for the school year, but we encouraged her to not give up on band so soon.  At least now she will also be in the Orchestra and will have another avenue for musical growth and possible success if she doesn't continue to advance.)

*Dd has hopefully learned just exactly how important these auditions are, and how she should have practiced more.  

*Now she knows the audition-er will ask all sorts of unexpected questions; she was thoroughly not prepared for the teacher asking her to do a Chromatic Scale and the Lower C Scale.  She had no idea that she was supposed to know those things, and no one told her.  They had told her what was going to be asked of her - specific scales and her audition song, but then he surprised her with the extra requests...next year she will *hopefully* be more prepared for the unexpected.

*Next year *I* will go into the program with my eyes fully open.  I'd had a few issues our first year which really started me to see some things but now I really think I will be more prepared to not take things literally or for what they say.  I think I will *try* to take everything with a grain of salt and skepticism--which doesn't come easy for me!!!  I'm so literal and gullible.  Luckily, Dd is not literal or gullible!  She was really, really surprised and shocked by the results; as she had also been told she would get into Advanced Band, but she was able to process the surprise faster than I did.  

*God: I always end up with God and how He knew she wouldn't get into AB and perhaps has a specific reason for this that we don't know.  We just never know why he lines us up in some places and for what reasons.  Though surprised, I know the Lord will make this a good thing, we have faith in His love and care of us.



A highlight of the Week: Monarch Butterfly larvae/caterpillars:
In the spring I dug up some baby milkweed plants and transplanted them around my house.  This week Dd yelled at me to come look---she saw one plant covered with little hairy black caterpillars!!  I left them on the plant for about 24 hours before putting them in a big (clean & empty) pickle jar with LOTS of milkweed leaves.  I have hatched various other butterflies over the years, but never Monarch's!!!!  I am super excited!!  I'm going to ensure each of these caterpillars have a good chance of surviving, whereas if I had left them out in the garden they might have been eaten.  Also, they had already eaten 98% of the milkweed they hatched on, with me they will be feed to their heart's content!

Herb garden doing really well!

Garden:
Our garden is doing great, especially now that we had a whole day of a slow rain on Thursday.  We hadn't had rain in over two weeks and the garden was starting to show some strain even though I was watering it.  This week we got a lot of zucchini's and some red 'grape' tomatoes.  The greens are still doing very well and I am benefiting from eating them each morning in my morning green smoothie.  I pulled up all the turnips this week, and hope to grow some more greens in that space soon.



Chickens/Ducks:
On Saturday the chickens laid 25 eggs!  That is a record so far.  They are all doing well and I think we only had one chicken get out of their run.  Since we have such a big run and are surrounded by woods, I have been keeping our chickens inside the outside runs where they are safe.  I'm still foraging greens for them a few times per day and/or using my garden greens to help too.

I found this "egg" on the ground in the coop...what a weird shape it was in!

  Thursday I spent a few hours digging up dirt, sand, and rocks and built up the fence walls on the perimeter of the fence to make their walls even more secure.  The chickens had also dug out big holes all around the top coops and I wanted to fill those in while the weather is good.  I cleaned out the inside coop and spent the whole afternoon fixing up things for the chickens.  The ducks love their kiddy pool, but I have to dump out the water and put fresh water in every few days, but they still manage to get lots of dirt in it in a short amount of time.  Our ducks are filthy critters!  Still no duck eggs.

Grapes are spreading like crazy!

Our lessons for the Week:

Bible:
Church and Sunday School

Driver's Education:
Dd got her Level 1 Driving Permit and drove for our errands
1-hour driving

The green beans are doing really well and growing high.

Sonlight Reader:
Anna and the King by Margaret Landon: In Process

Fun Reader:
I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson: Completed



Physical Education:
Swimming 2 x this week: 4 hours
marching in band class: 1:30 hours
marching in the parade: 1:30 hours

I planted the Sweet Potato here, and in the carbord cylinders I put squash.

Art:
Drawing: 1:00
Computer's Sketch Pad program: 4:00 hours
Crochet: 1:30 hours

Home Economics:
gardening, chicken care, dishes, laundry

We put toothpicks in some sweet potatoes and let them grow some roots.

For some reasons some of the potatoes didn't grow roots, though most did.

I cut up the potatoes into sections with as much roots as I could and planted each one as a solo plant.

Music classes:
Marching Band class on Wed. 1:30 hours on alto sax
Strings Group: 1:45 hours on ukulele
Parade: 1:30 hours

Music Practice:
violin: 35 min
viola: 1:00 hour
piano: 20 min

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