Spring Piano Recital

After a rough night with Phoebe, we spent the morning helping to clean the church building. I had been curious about whether the windows might open and, as I suspected, they do not. I don't know when we decided that schools and churches and things should not have windows that open. From my memory, all of my schools and church buildings had windows that opened...until I moved to the States. But I could be wrong about that. 

To be fair, a lot of the buildings I frequented growing up in Canada legitimately did not have air conditioner systems (only furnaces), so the only way to cool off in the summer months was to strategically let the cool early morning and evening breezes inside. We'd have windows open and fans on in June when things started getting warm at school. And I know for sure that we could open the windows at church (not that we would ever climb through them). 

But our church building here either has windows that doesn't have the option to open or has windows that had the option to open at one time (but has since been screwed shut). 

The state of emergency has ended, and I understand that and actually back that decision. We're not flying by the seat of our pants anymore. We need to move forward. But, in my opinion, moving forward involves opening windows, bettering our air filtration, or making any sort of mitigation effort whatsoever. The CDC strongly recommends that ventilation should be a top priority. Just throwing that out there.

Anyway, Phoebe was ready for a nap by the time we came home, so she and I had a lovely nap together while Andrew took Alexander grocery shopping. And then everyone played a lot of Zelda. "Tears of the Kingdom" came out yesterday so there has been a lot of Zelda play the past couple of days.

And then it was time to get ready to go to Miriam and Zoë's piano recital! Here's Zoë sitting pretty beforehand:

She did not want me to do her hair. That's one area she's been exerting her independence lately. And by "exerting her independence" I mean "not letting anyone help her with it but also not taking care of it herself." Usually I let it slide because, well, we're homeschoolers. But also because she says she loves the feeling of it flying wildly behind her while she runs, and if that brings her joy, then who am I to tame it in a braid or ponytail?

But on recital day??

On recital day I made her bring me her hairbrush. She hid and cried for a while, but then I put it into a lovely braid/bun and she loved feeling fancy. So perhaps she'll let me do her hair again some day. You never know.

I had such luck with Zoë that I told Miriam to bring me supplies and I'd do her hair, too! But she said she'd just put it up in a bun herself. Evidently that's one area where Miriam has been exerting her independence lately as well.

In fact, I hardly ever do anyone's hair anymore. Phoebe's curls typically require a daily wetting-down and brushing-out. But that's it. You should see her when I try anything like a barrette or headband.

Meltdown city!

(She asked me to put this clip in her hair, by the way, and then immediately decided against it.)

Anyway, the girls looked lovely for their recital. Only Andrew and I went to watch; we left Rachel at home with Phoebe and the boys and they all did just fine. 

Here is a video of Zoë's pieces ('Roses for You' by...someone...and 'Away with Melancholy' by Mozart):

And here is a video fo Miriam's pieces ('Prelude in C' by Bach and 'Solfeggietto' by CPE Bach):

We overheard some parents of a piano student speaking Arabic to each other, so looked them up and, as it turns out, they're somewhat famous—Malak Jandali (cousin to Mona Simpson...and Steve Jobs). Miriam helps out with the younger piano students every week, so she and Zoë both know his child fairly well! Jandali was the most enthusiastic audience member (every whoop and  "Bravo!" belongs to him; he cheered enthusiastically for every child that played).

The girls played wonderfully. It was a joy to watch them (as well as the other musicians). 

At the end there was a little awards ceremony, where their teacher passed out all the certificates and ribbons and pins and trophies that students had earned over the past year at various festivals and auditions. The younger children didn't get called up onto stage, but the older kids did (so that's why there are pictures of Miriam but not Zoë).

We had pancakes for dinner and then Grandpa came over and we played Nerts (and I soundly came in first place). A pretty good day overall!