Days with the Dorans

 I kind of figured this would happen sooner or later but Al has decided she's not going to take viola anymore. She's kind of nervous to let her orchestra teacher know since she said something about her being in the more advanced orchestra next year and typical Ali doesn't want to let her down. She's decided to keep going with French (to take AP French her senior year) and also wants to take art as well as some other classes psychology/ sociology that she's interested in. I get it. There's never enough time and I remember having to choose between art and sports in HS and I even had a 0 and 7th hour (independent studies) to get things in. Still, I'm going to miss hearing her play- maybe just maybe she'll pick it up now and then and play a little Harry Potter for her dear old mama...

 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.

And just like that it was time for Ali's first high school concert of the year. It was Halloween themed (even though it was a bit AFTER Halloween). The nice thing was there were no warnings about not taping so I got THIS video of the concert which was cool since Nana couldn't be there. It was pretty crowded because the Orchestra teacher is at both WLN and WLC. The cool thing is this meant that my friend Nan and her amazing camera were also at the concert. She didn't spot Al right away (and of course she was taking pictures of her kiddo). But she did eventually find her and she shared these pictures with me! So lucky! Joe was excited to see Ryan too. They've been good friends but haven't seen each other as much since they go to different schools and have such busy schedules! It was a great concert but also wonderful to see an old friend! Great job, Al! Can't wait for your next performance!

It's hard to believe that it's Ali's LAST orchestra concert. I'm still amazed at all she has learned these last 3 years but I'm not surprised because she adored her orchestra teacher. Mrs. White was a wonderful teacher and was so good to "Ali D" always! Ali has decided to continue in orchestra in high school! Can't wait to hear her next year. HERE is a video from Al's concert. Her fan club all thought she was GREAT!!!

 Al's first orchestra concert was great! They combined with Walnut Creek, WLC and WLN! I made a video of her pieces HERE . Nan was there too and got some pics with Al (since Ryan was there) by chance. She texted them to me but I got a new phone so lost them (I'm so bummed). I'm hoping she may still have them. Al was in an odd mood that night so no pictures with the family. I know she felt bad about her moodiness later so I'm hoping there'll be some smiley pictures with perhaps some family in it the next time!

I really should have brought my good camera for shots here (or my moms). Nana wasn't able to make it for this concert because she was at a retirement party for one of my former teachers (who I also used to babysit for). It's OK though- the concert was 6th AND 7th grade and it was packed in the middle school gym!!! YUCK! The set up wasn't horrible- they had 6th grade on one side and 7th on the other. We could hear little kids running under the bleachers which was super annoying but they eventually stopped. Joe got to see some of his friends in the audience so he was happy. Even though Nana couldn't come, Papa did! The first thing Al said was, "Where's Nana?" which I think made my mom feel happy and a bit sad. We're so lucky that they are so close and can make these sorts of things! The orchestra did great! You can see/hear them by clicking HERE . I'm happy she's sticking with it. We have some plans for pieces she, Joe and Jeff can...

 Yes... You're reading that. It's our THIRD concert in EIGHT days!! Al had to leave dance 15 minutes early (which caused some drama, but we survived) and arrived a wee bit late to her rehearsal (but in plenty of time for the show). Her orchestra teacher was a dance mom so is incredibly understanding! Who was not quite as understanding was Seany... He (and Zach) are such troopers as we cart them around to the Bigs' activities. I had to laugh when it came time to snap a couple pictures and he went over and did what I wish I could... Can you see him over there? Nana and Papa were able to come as was Papa's cousin Michael (which was really cool). Michael just moved to our side of town so was excited to see what the schools were about. He's so nice and we were glad he could come. He offered to take a big pic of all of us, but we have our traditions! ;-) You can click HERE to hear the concert. They did great!

24 hours after Joe's band concert, we were back this time to hear an orchestra concert. It is so interesting how different the two concerts were. Both sounded amazing but band was very polished coming in- starting pronto... etc. The Orchestra seemed more Loosey Goosey coming in- warming up... etc. The orchestra had a funny bit with the principal that you can see HERE . The rest of Al's concert I put HERE . It's amazing how far they've come in just a year!

 And then a week later we got to hear Al on stage. Her concert was on a dance day (easy- seeing that most days are dance days). She went to dance, I picked her up for her concert and then dropped her back off at dance. That's how this girl rolls though... Because I took Al right after the 6th grade played, we didn't hear the 7th grade orchestra. We left right after their songs which did have us beating traffic. HERE is a video of her songs (though I didn't get them all... I instead stopped a video when she started and videotaped my lap in between songs. Don't worry, I edited that part out. We noticed that there were a lot more kiddos in band than in the orchestra. Not sure why. Al has signed up to play again next year. I wonder how many of them will do the same.  Nana and Papa both made it to the concert too. We are so lucky they are so close so can make these sorts of events mid-week! After Al was done, she had a few minutes so we stopped by McDon...

Ali tends to be a perfectionist and can get frustrated when things don't come easily... Thankfully she's worked hard and for her Viola BA she was able to upload a video. Here she is playing~ and yeah... a smile at the end! Way to go, Al!

So Ali has been playing the viola now for 3 months. Those string instruments can be painful to listen to but, my, has she come a long way!  Her first concert was great! She was actually chosen for a little speaking piece and did great. It amazes me that someone who struggles to talk to people in casual settings is cool as a cucumber in front of a huge group or on stage. I was so proud of her! She did great! Like Joe's first band concert, I was really impressed with how well this group of new musicians did! I took a video of it (and uploaded it HERE ) though Al tells me I forgot to tape her favorite song... whoops! It was fun to see her try to repress her smile when they all stood up at the end. It'll be interesting to see if Al sticks with orchestra or not. As of now, she says yes! She did drop choir next semester because she didn't want to miss too much dance (she had to miss classes for this performance). We were all proud of her and how fun it was to f...