Christmas Music Recital 2014

Saturday morning began bright and early with a toddler who decided to be awake for the day before 5:00 and with Daddy getting two children ready for another Rorate Mass (Mama and littles stayed home).

Mary at the Rorate Mass, John was serving

Click here for an article and professional photos of the Mass.

After a long day of the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparations, we attended the children's Christmas music recital. Normally this is such a popular recital that it fills up months in advance, but this one ended up being an intimate affair with just a few players. Still, we had fun!

John and Mary before the recital

The girls singing Christmas carols with the violin teacher

Mary singing along

Mary, being the youngest, went first, playing "Ode to Joy" and "America" on the violin.


Note that you can hear Margaret (3-1/2) admonish her sister, "Mary, start!" Kudos to Mary for ignoring her instead of getting angry at her little sister!




Then Mary played "Jingle Bells" (which I think she accidentally shortened) and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" on the piano.





John went next, playing "The Holly and the Ivy" and "Rugrats" on piano.






After the recital was over, Margaret (3-1/2) clearly wanted in on the action. It was a relaxed setting, so we asked her if she wanted to play the two lines of music that she knows and she sure did--despite her somber (shy) expression. She played the first line of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and then asked for her sister's coaching through "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," which she had forgotten due to nerves.




And then, such a cute moment! Joseph (23 months) ran up to the piano, scrambled atop the bench, played a few notes, slid down, and bowed for the crowd. (Then did it all a second time.) I didn't catch it on video, but he was definitely playing the ham!

Then the violin teacher and piano teacher played some festive Christmas duets to entertain us, which was so enjoyable.

Grampa Neil, visiting us from California

After the recital, we got an ice cream treat at Baskin Robbins before everyone tumbled into bed. I asked the kids, "Who wants a day off from practicing music tomorrow?!"