Days with the Dorans

  And then it was Sean's turn! The boys had fun because they knew ALL the songs at the concert (and so did we). Seven years and counting! Great job, Seany! Your fan club loves you!!

Although he is officially DONE with school, the wind ensemble (which is like an honors band) played one final concert and we were all there to cheer Joe on. HERE is a video and below are pictures of some from his fan club!  

  For years Sean has attended just about every concert his siblings played in! It was great to see them supporting him. It was fun because of course the boys recognized the songs! HERE is a video of his concert.

The Collage Concert is always a great show! It's kind of a hodge podge of band, orchestra, and choir but it really does get you in the holiday spirit. The kids get to wear festive hats and I have to say that Zach's may have been my favorite because he was so easy to spot! Fortunately we went to the first of the concerts. There was a tragic shooting the day before in Oxford (not too far from us) and because of copy-cat threats, the rest of the concerts (and school) was canceled for a bit. I was thankful we had this time but understand why the district shut down school. Can you see him? Back- right-ish? Joey was a bit harder but he's in there too- back row all the way to the left! I love sitting up in the balcony. I don't know why, I just do.

My least favorite concert ever is the 6th grade band concert. The concert itself I actually love and is one of my favorites but I HATE that's it's in CHS's gym and it's even worse now that Covid is a thing and despite signs and masks available people opening disregard the rules. Despite all that nonsense seeing Sean was a blast! He's worked so hard on that clarinet and I'm so proud of him. I remember when he could hardly make a sound and now he's playing songs! Originally it was his plan to switch to sax but he ended up falling in love with the clarinet- so much so that he said to me, "Mom, the clarinet just has a better sound. I'll prove it to you, 'Alexa, play clarinet music." and then he'd play sax music and assume that the superior sound was just obvious. He's a pretty funny bird! Because we knew it would be jammed packed it was just Mom, Dad, Nana and Papa and I took a video HERE to share with the proud siblings. After the con...

Concerts are back! It was great to hear my boys playing music again on the stage. Of course with Covid everyone is SUPPOSED to wear a mask. I was shocked by how many jerks in the audience blatantly sat with no mask in sight. It's sad how little people care about their fellow human- and gosh it made me mad but... I exhaled, into my mask, and focused on the good. While we were waiting, my budding author shared a teaser for his latest book. I had to include this in here because, well, Sean's a great writer and it's how we pass time while waiting for the show to begin. There were four bands that played. Zach was in the freshman band and they played first and sounded great! Zach loves playing that trombone and it was fun to see him all dressed up in his tux. Then there were two symphony bands and then wind ensemble, which was Joey's band. It was a good thing there was space between Joe and Z because Joe somehow lost his tie and had to borrow Zach's. Sigh, and he's su...

  Though still learning from home, We got to go to school today to see/hear Joey play in concert. He also got to see some friends which was cool. It kind of amazes me that they have these masks that they can play through. I love my music man!

 The Collage Concert was a great concert again~ Orchestra, Band, and choirs all do their thing and it's so nice. Ali was first chair viola (big potatoes) and I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't see her. The orchestra she was in I thought had kids that looked too old but I forgot they're all mixed in together (sorry Ali). She felt bad, I felt worse but she forgave me and I found this picture that someone posted. Joey played too and we did find him (but I deleted all pictures once I realized I missed Ali and felt awful). It was such a fun concert with a sing-along to boot. It was a long week for me with conferences yesterday so this was a wonderful way to end the week (and now I can sleep...). Great job, Bigs! (Not sure why we didn't get a picture with the Littles or Nana and Papa... All were in attendance.

After the snow day, the concert was rescheduled and we were smart to get there early so we'd have a good seat. Nana brought her camera too so that we could get some good pics of the Dorans! HERE is a video of Zach playing! I love how good they are!!! The 7th and 8th grade always have a concert at WLN which ends up including the high school Marching Band. I remember when Joey was in middle school loving the concert, but it was even cooler now that all three of my kids were in it! Ali didn't have the best time in the pit (despite how happy she looks in these pictures) mostly due to social stuff. She is thinking about learning the horn though and the director has offered to teach her which is exciting! She's started hanging out with a lot of Joey's friends from the band and is hoping to get another of her best friends to join next year. That, with the addition of the 8th graders next year (the reason she's laughing in these pics), will make it more e...