Schools Out!

I can't tell you how happy we all our about this, but I think I might be the one who appreciates it the most! The daily grind to keep up with the demands of the kids' schedule, the driving and the homework hassles gets weary toward the end of the school year and it is great to have FAMILY TIME back again (for these reasons, we spent many, many years homeschooling, but they have all made the choice to be in school, but often miss the perks of homeschooling). Now, we get to spend the summer talking strolls after dinner (like in the pics above), playing together, reading together, hiking, biking and spending lots of time at our summer home and on the beach. The kids really need to kick back and relax. The have all worked very hard this year and I'm so happy that they can just spend the days of summer being kids!

Fun in the sun!

The girls finally got a chance to get into their new little pool. It got us through the heat wave which arrived before school ended and we had a chance to get to the ocean. They had a blast. Hannah and Emma also loved their new suits and couldn't stop dancing in them. Kim had posted this suit on 3peanuts and I couldn't resist. Hannah wants to wear it to ballet school, but I don't think it fits their strict dress code.

My photos have been awful. Something is wrong with my camera still and I've been using Pete's much of the time and it's just a little point and shoot. Actually, I got up to get something and without thinking left the camera in my chair by the pool. Emma took it for a swim...oops. Now we have two cameras that are broken :^(

GRADUATION PARTY

I'll get back to grad stuff......the posts and photos are taking a lot of time and life is soooo busy.

Awards Night and Awards Breakfast

For the sake of history, and the fact that I have a pretty poor memory, I'm going to do a few posts to chronical some of Hillary's graduation events. It's been an exciting time for all of us.

The first week of June was a fun, crazy week of senior events, many of which she missed due to rehearsals and concerts. On June 5th, her high school had an awards night and we got a letter telling us to attend. I had no idea what award she might be getting, but I wasn't going to miss it. She and I sat up in the back of the auditorium with one of her friends. Because Hillary didn't go to school until high school, I only know a small number of the kids in her graduating class of about 400 students. It's been fun to get to know more of them during these last several weeks. As they announced the awards, she'd tell me a little bit about each of them and it really helped put faces to names. The awards themselves gave some insights into their passions, talents, and dreams. I finally got some idea of which were the actors, the musicians, the artists, the writers, the mathematicians, the athletes, the engineers and the scientists. It was inspiring to be around such an amazing group of mult-talented young people with all of their energy, spirit and passion (oh, I felt so old and tired ;^)). If the children really are our future, they made me realize that we are in pretty good hands!

There were many different types of scholarships awarded that evening, some which you applied for and some that were awarded with the help of the faculty. Many of the community scholarships awared that night came from family foundations. The awards, in many instances, were presented by the families themselves and the stories they told of the loved ones who inspired the awards were very moving. Each had lost someone who was a part of the community and they've kept their memory alive, in part, through these scholarships. It was lovely and has really made me think about trying to do something like this for my brother.

Hillary was the recipient of the Fisher Family Memorial Scholarship. For some reason, we still haven't gotten all the details about this award. A trustee of the school awarded it so we didn't have the benefit of hearing the story behind it or talking with the family. We do know it is an English award and the recipient is chosen with the help of the English department. We were also completely shocked by the amount of the award. Hillary nearly feel over and went to her guidance counselor that evening as she was sure there was a typo on her letter. There was no mistake. This was quite an honor and we are very proud that she was chosen. It makes me giggle as she was the kid who we had to pull out of our old school system because they refused to let her take anything but picture books from their library and she went into kindergarten reading EVERYTHING. We started homeschooling and spent a lot of time in the library picking out new books. She was reading hundreds of pages a day and I couldn't keep up with her. I kept a kindergarten book log for her and still can't quite believe it when I read it. She read more books in her Kindergarten year than I have in my whole life...seriously. It's fun to see that her passion for books, writing and language has remained constant and has given her so much pleasure.

The following morning, which was her graduation day, Hillary attended an awards breakfast at school where she received an National Merit Finalist Award and another award based on GPA which lots of the students receive.

White Sox out of the playoffs : (

Chris's team played on Monday, but thunderstorms blew through and they had to stop the game. They had to play again on Tuesday night. They lost that game and are now out of the playoffs. Christopher actually was not able to play in either game. He fell off his Ripstik and got a hand injury on Monday afternoon. Yesterday, while at the doctor's for Emma's physical and Hannah's immunizations, the pediatrician took a look at his hand and then sent him for x-rays. His hand was still swollen and sore then, but today it feels much better.

Playoff Game Loss : (

Chris' team lost by 6 runs but, their not out yet. Another game on Monday night!

Playoff Game Win!

Chris's team, the White Sox, won the first game of the playoffs 18-3. Woo Hoo!!!!!! The boys were all really excited and played great baseball. Their next game is on Saturday.

Goodbye to the Barn

Hannah finished her 3rd year at the Barn (her nursery school) on June 4th. It was an incredible experience and she loved it. I tried to make it easy on myself and had originally taken her to two preschool programs in our town, but soon realized that it just wasn't the same. Christopher had gone to the Barn years ago and I already knew that it was a great program with an amazing director and head teachers who really are experts in their field. I know for Hannah, it made all the difference in the world and was totally worth the drive. The other schools didn't even understand attachment and separation issues and, for us, that's pretty crucial. The Barn is a co-op so we got to spend lots of time their getting to know the teachers, students, and other families. I can hardly wait until Emma gets to go (and neither can she), but we'll have to wait until Fall '09.

Hannah with Carol, the director. She's incredible and has been there over 20 years! Hannah with Nancy, the lead teacher of her 3 day afternoon program. She was Christopher's teacher, too and we all adore her.
Hannah with Kathy, the assistant teacher who looks pretty teary eyed saying goodbye to all her kids. Hannah saying goodbye to her good friend, Indhy.Sitting in the good-bye window where she waved to me as I left each day and signed "hugs and kisses" before I drove away.

Hannah's First Violin Lesson

On June 4th, Hannah had her very first violin lesson with Hillary's first teacher, Cate Howard. We've waited a very long time to start and Hannah was so excited. I can't tell you the flood of emotions I felt sitting in that room once again in the building where I spent five years attending all of Hillary's lessons. Cate is an amazing teacher with incredible patience for getting the little ones set up just right. She is also a good friend (in fact, Hannah's middle name is "Kate" after my two good friends, Cate and Kate ;^)). I owe her so much. Hillary would never have gotten to where she is without Cate's time, energy, mentoring and her incredible gifts as a teacher. This week I've gone from hearing the Tchaikovsky Concerto performed by one daughter to hearing the Twinkle "Charlie Brown and Snoopy" variation played by another. We are back to foot charts, and bow holds, and learning how to take a bow. It's a thrill to go this way all over again. Life is sweet! (Oh, and I forgot my camera, so this shot is from my cell phone).

NEC Graduation

On May 31st, Hillary graduated from The New England Conservatory Preparatory School. She started going to NEC in 2000, when she moved from her first teacher to Marylou Speaker Churchill. While there, she was a member of the Kodaly Quartet (from 2002-2003), the Sarquindi Quartet (from 2003-2004), the Animato Trio (from 2004-2007) and the Harlow Quartet (2007-2008). She traveled with Sarquindi and Animato to the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in South Bend, Indiana where she was a three-time semifinalist. She has performed on NPR's "From the Top" with both Sarquindi and Harlow. She was also a music theory student, and worked her way through all class levels, finishing her Prep School certificate program her freshman year.

In her early years at NEC she was a member of the Childen's Chorus, and got to perform The Polar Express and Elijah's Angel with Robert Kapilow every December. The chorus also participated in the Boston Ballet production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and several other theater productions around Boston.

Hillary was a member of the Baroque Chamber Orchestra for one year during her time at NEC, and was a soloist with the orchestra, performing a Vivaldi concerto at the end of the year. In 2003, she was the winner of NEC's Category B Concerto Competition, and performed the Weiniawski Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor with NEC's Youth Symphony in 2004. Also in 2004, Hillary joined the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Benjamin Zander. She has traveled to Brazil, Venezuela and China with YPO, and this year was the YPO concertmaster.

It was fun to see all of these "kids" at graduation. I used to see them walking the halls on Saturday mornings with moms and dads. Now, they are adults...with parents no longer required to help them find their way around the buildings or to help them cross the streets. Now, they often hang out on Saturday evenings after rehearsal....head to the Pru or a little restaurant for dinner and conversation. The dedication, focus and talent in that room at that that moment would blow your mind. These kids are some of the most amazing humans I've ever met; brilliant, kind, accomplished in so many ways, and truly oh, so gifted. I appreciate them for a different reason, too. They have been some of my daughter's very closest friends and they have been a wonderful group of peers. A mom couldn't ask for a nicer group of friends for her child. They are the best! And for me, they've been a true inspiration. Some day soon, I will drag that cello of mine out of the closest and give it another try.

At graduation, Hillary received both the YPO and the Frances B. Lanier awards. It was quite an honor.

Hillary's Last YPO Concert

On May 30th, Hillary had her last Youth Philharmonic Concert under the direction of conductor, Benjamin Zander. It was a beautiful concert. Hillary's friend, Tavi, performed the Schuman Cello Concerto and he was incredible! Truly amazing!

This final concert of the year has a few traditions for the seniors. Ben announces each one by name and tells the audience where that student will be headed in the fall. It is always an impressive list of colleges and conservatories. They also play the traditional Elgar's Nimrod from the "Enigma" Variations as their closing piece as a "goodbye" to seniors. The piece is gorgeous and there is hardly a dry eye in the house by the time the last note is played.

I'll get a video up of this tonight.

National Honor Society

Hillary has been a member of NHS since her Sophomore year. This year she served as their treasurer. NHS does a lot to serve the community. They offer a tutoring program, raise money for a variety of charitable causes, and help out with events and initiatives around the school (for instance they were able to put bottle recycling bins in all the classrooms). Hillary held a drive for Annabelle's Wish ( http://annabelleswish.org/ )to collect items needed by children in orphanages in China.

Each year, the graduating seniors are presented with the NHS Book Awards. Hillary chose The Complete Works of Shakespeare. She and her friend, Lucy, were also awarded the NHS scholarships. The two of them, to my surprise, performed at the closing of the ceremony. It was a lovely night!

Baseball Season

Both my boys love baseball! They wait all winter for the season to start. They love to play it and love to watch it. For some reason, they are Yankees fans which, unfortunately for them, is a bit of a letdown this year. The rest of us are Red Sox fans, so we are really enjoying this season (sorry guys!).

Christopher's teams starts playoffs tomorrow and he's pretty excited. We will bring our cheering section along complete with two of the cutest little cheerleaders.

This summer, both boys will once again attend baseball camp in the Cape League program. They've been going for years and love it. There's not much better than baseball and the beach!

My Sister and a Good Book

I remember waiting for our referral and thinking that it was taking too long. Well, it did take a lot longer than expected....three times longer and I was worried that the long wait would make the age difference between the girls too big. We had applied when we did hoping to have the girls about 2 years apart. I really wanted them to be close enough in age to be great playmates. By the time we got Emma's referral, it was just a few weeks shy of Hannah's 4th birthday and Emma was a lot younger than we expected....only 7 months old. I remember worrying I'd have a preschooler and a baby with nothing in common.

Boy, was I ever wrong! These two are best buds and have a blast together. Even though they are almost 3.5 years apart, they play together so well and have so much fun! Emma came rearing to go. She was walking by 10.5 months and running a few weeks later. She so badly wanted to keep up with Hannah and she did. They have a lot in common. Both have great senses of humor so they pull pranks on each other and crack each other up all day long. They are both outgoing and active and are physically very capable (little monkeys!), so that when Hannah decides to do a dance routine or some gymnastics, Emma goes right along and does it, too. Emma has a great attention span and can sit quietly and look at books, draw, or play anything for just as long as Hannah wants to. She's very cooperative and makes a good sidekick for Hannah who likes to be the director. Emma is actually a lot more assertive than I first thought, so she's great at doing a bit of directing herself and can hold her own really well. She also has pretty amazing language skills, so communication isn't nearly the issue I thought it would be. They have real conversations so can engage in lots of different kinds of play. They also can gang up on us and sabotage bedtime routines...I can hear them squealing and jumping on the bed upstairs (and I think maybe their dad has fallen asleep in there...he reads himself to sleep). They love each other dearly and I think are the light of each other's lives. I know they are two very bright lights in mine!

Apple Blossom Parade

5/17/08 - already out of order : )
Every spring, our town holds the Apple Blossom Parade. It is a huge deal for the kids. They all cannot wait to get old enough so that they can march and throw out candy to those gathered on the sides of the road watching. The day starts with a pancake breakfast. Matthew volunteered to work at that his year. After that comes the parade, then the crowning of the Apple Blossom Queen which is a thrill for all of the little girls...they think the contestants are princesses...it's cute. Hillary was nominated, but had a Yo Yo Rehearsal so couldn't be in the parade...I think she was actually relieved not to have to ride in an evening gown in the back of a convertible ;^). She's not the beauty queen type, but most of the girls nominated aren't. They are chosen by the high school faculty. Anyway, there is a carnival that goes all weekend which we always go to after the parade. On that evening, there are also fireworks.

Hannah found an old t-shirt of Hillary's when she marched as a Roudy Twirler. She insisted that she do the same so the tradition began that each of the girls can take the 6 week twirling course and march in the parade. Hannah had a blast. The girls did a great job doing their somewhat complex routine (hey, they are only 5 years old). When I saw her come down the street, she had a huge smile on her face. She beamed when she saw me and told me that she had seen EVERYONE she knows in town. Hannah is most definitely the party girl in this house!

From The Top with Hilary Hahn

5/21/08

A couple of days after Hillary performed with Yo Yo Ma, she and her chamber group, the Harlow Quartet, performed on NPR's From The Top with Hilary Hahn. They had a great time. Hilary Hahn is lovely. She's brilliant, sweet, incredibly gifted and has an amazing sound. They did a short interview with the two Hillarys (Hilarys) where they discussed the differences between the paths they are on. Hilary Hahn went to conservatory but our Hillary will be at college doing a dual major in Music and Psychology.

Being involved with From The Top is always a lot of fun. This show will be the first aired in their new season in the fall.

Time to Catch Up

It's been a very exciting and busy time around our place for the last 2-3 weeks and I haven't had any time to blog. I still want to "scrapbook" these events, so I'm going to start posting today. It may take me a few days to catch up. I'm going to try and do it in chronological order and hopefully, I'll get the blog up to date by the end of the week.