Fall Approaches

 

 

Trumpet Solo

One of my coworkers told me he was walking down the hall at school the other day and heard a trumpet solo that was so good, he had to stop and listen. It was Tyler.

There was a substitute in band class another day. After class was over, she approached Tyler and asked how long he had been playing because he played so well. I'm telling you, those lessons with Aunt Nikki, combined with a little praise from his band director, and Tyler's talent has taken off!

His band director recorded this song today. They listen to the recording and then compare it to the professional recording to identify the areas that need improved. Tyler has a solo through most of the song. When the song first starts, the baritone plays a few notes and then Tyler starts with the melody. He carries that melody throughout the whole song. I think he sounds amazing. The song itself sounds pretty good...until the rest of the band chimes in. Those clarinets and flutes are just so out of tune. But boy, that trumpet sounds good. :) He said they always screw up when they know the director is recording them because they feel pressured. He confessed that he messed up a couple notes at the end. Still sounds amazing to me.

(This was a music file and the only way to add it was to make it a video file. So, this is a picture of Tyler I took last month. Just ignore it and listen to the music, which finally starts at 17 seconds. I had issues tonight. Ugh.)

Then & Now

Playing Tonka Town (2 1/2 yrs)

Designing a road in Unturned (13yrs)

Volleyball

More Fall Photos

Busy Butterfly Bush

The painted ladies, red admirals, and silver spotted skippers have suddenly been visiting our butterfly bushes in droves. I took these pictures of painted ladies last week.

My Bulletin Board

Granted, the photos are probably wasted on 7th & 8th graders who may or may not notice them, but it makes me happy to look at my pretty pictures all day long. :)

Ziplining Trip

One of Uncle Ron's birthday gifts to Tyler was a ziplining trip. Grandma & Grandpa C, Uncle Ron, Tyler, and Tyler's friend all went. I was the designated driver and photographer.

I used my 70-300mm lens when they were on the platform & ziplining overhead, and some of the pictures are cropped, so they look much closer/lower than they really were. They really were high up.

I couldn't zoom out enough to show how high up this was. The bottom of this picture is not the ground.

Tyler loved it. He said it's right up there with scuba diving and hopes he'll get to do it again sometime. It was a fun and memorable gift!

Healthy Harvest

Hope to post the ziplining pics tomorrow.

This is what I worked on today. (We had the day off school.) My director and I were trying to come up with ideas for the large bulletin board in the school kitchen. She came up with the topic "Healthy Harvest" and found some pictures for me to staple up onto the board. After looking at the pictures and thinking about it a little, I decided I could do better. So, the place we go to pick strawberries in the summer and pumpkins in the fall let me come before they opened to take pictures of their beautiful fall produce. These are some of my favorites. Can't wait to put them all up!

Tyler's Birthday Cake

Today was Tyler's 13th birthday. I will probably have a couple birthday posts, but I wanted to share his birthday cake in this one.

Danielle and I made all the decorations out of edible clay, although the clay isn't really very tasty. (In small nibbles it tastes marshmallowy.) I worked on it all week, and just couldn't bring myself to put candles in it. I made two 9" rounds and a sheet cake, but only used one 9" round in the diver cake. I slapped some leftover icing on the extra 9" round & used that for the candles.

These are a couple of Danielle's creations.

I stored the cake in the fridge until after dinner. He didn't peek.

The big reveal.

Happy 13th birthday!