Sumsions got the music in them

Tyler and McKenzie have continued taking piano. Tyler's in his fourth year and McKenzie's in her third. For this year's spring recital, McKenzie played "The Tide Is High", made famous by Blondie (I think someone else sang it before Blondie, but Blondie's the version I know and love, besides Kenzie's, of course). She did a great job.

Tyler played a piece called "Phantom of the Keys". He also did a great job, very smoothly recovering from a couple of very small stumbles. I've been impressed with their progress despite their resistance to my requests for more practice time, and hope that they'll stick with it for a while. I keep telling them, "No one ever regrets taking more piano lessons, but everyone always regrets quitting piano lessons!" I'm pretty sure they don't believe me, but they're humoring me for now.

Just like they're humoring me posing for these post-recital pictures:

And here's where we pretend they're actually playing (I couldn't very well disturb their actual performances with my flash photography!):

Middle school band concerts rock!

Tyler was in concert band this year, and performed in a winter and spring concert. This past year's winter concert happened to fall on my birthday. Happy birthday to me! As I’m sure you know or can at least imagine, middle school band concerts are a very special treat. One might even say an almost indescribable experience. I won’t get into too many details because I think you need to experience it for yourselves. After all, hearing is believing.

Any guesses as to what the Jazz Band is playing here? Come on, guess. I dare you. (By the way, Tyler is in the Concert Band, so he had no part in this particular performance.)



The Concert Band was the grand finale, and rightfully so, I think. At least I recognized the song. Tyler's playing clarinet, second row, fourth chair from the left:



By the time the spring concert came around, Tyler was section leader. He enjoyed this last minute addition to their set list (he's second row, third chair from the left):



Can you believe they only spent a few days learning "Spider Pig"?!

Unfortunately, Tyler's decided he's had enough of band for now. I hope the girls enjoy playing the clarinet, too. Because they will. Be playing it. Oh yes. They will.

Elise is a poet and we didn't know it

This year Elise's first grade class studied poetry. They learned how to identify and write all kinds of different styles of poetry. At the end of the unit, this past March, they had a poetry reading to show off their masterpieces.

Here is Elise reciting "Spring":

Apparently, she found Spring to be an inspiring subject. Another Spring poem:

Spring
by Elise Sumsion

Flowers sprouting
Through the earth.
Animals born.
Snow vanishing.
Cherry blossom trees
Coming to say, "hi."
Saying "bye" to
Winter gear.
Green ground all
around.
Blue skies before my
eyes.
Birds chirping in my
Ear.
Spring is here
For the year!

Kara Lohberg graduates!

Somehow I'm old enough to have a niece graduate from high school. (At least I'm not old enough to have my own kid graduate from high school. Kidding, Kim!)

This particular graduation was of special significance to me because this particular niece was present at my own high school graduation (in the womb, but still). This particular niece will also be heading off to BYU at the end of this month, which puts her exactly where I was at when she was born. It's a full circle of sorts that kind of trips me out.



Here's Kara and me post-commencement:

Isn't she cute?


Here she is with her equally adorable siblings, Jessie and Aaron:

And the proud parents, Kim and Jeff:

I was so grateful to be able to witness this milestone in Kara's life. Totally worth enduring the three hours of typical high school graduation tedium. Totally.

Kara's a niece anyone would be proud to claim as her own. She has done and will continue to do great things with her life. I can't wait to see what they are. Good luck at BYU, Kara! We're all going to miss you!

The blog that just won't die

Sometimes I wonder if maybe I'm hoping this blog will disappear from neglect like so many Mother's Day seedlings I've let shrivel up on my kitchen window sill over the years. But every time I check back, it's still here! Darn it.

I've made a list of 17 blog-worthy events from the past 12 months that I have yet to post about. Some might say I should just forget about the past and move forward, but the whole reason I started this blog was to journal my family's life and it just seems wrong to leave out entire sections. I've been so sporadic and random in my posting that I'm afraid there's no way to put things in order, but I'm determined to try to fill in the holes, chronology be darned!

(And, yes, I realize this is the fourth post I've written with these same sentiments in the past several months. Just shhhhhh.)

So here goes, in no particular order...

The family that mocks together stays together

In the car somewhere in Utah.

Me: When we were in Hawaii we noticed that the city we were staying in had a big letter L on the side of their mountain just like the G on the side of the mountain where your Uncle Grant lives.

Elise: Cool. What did the L stand for?

Tyler: Lollipop? Lemon? Linoleum?

McKenzie: Lumps in mine oatmeal!

Tyler: Lumps in mine oatmeal?

General snickering.

McKenzie: What?

Me, with accompanying hand gesture: Heil oatmeal!

Tyler, with a Britishy accent: Theh ah lllomps in mine oat-mail!

Elise: La-la-la mine linoleum!

Tyler, with another Britishy accent (that I’m now much too lazy to try to phonetically convey): I traversed through the woods back to my dwelling and found that there were lumps in mine oatmeal.

McKenzie: Whatever!

Can you feel the love?

Thank heaven for Tyler

Watching Tyler pick the flaking skin off his arms and legs.

Me: You need to exfoliate.

Tyler: What’s that?

Me: When you scrub off your dead layer of skin.

Tyler: Should I try to molt?

Me: You are molting.

Tyler: No, I mean like shed my whole layer of skin all at once.

Me: How are you going to go about trying?

Tyler: I don’t know. Maybe I can buy a manual “Molting for Dummies”.

I would buy that.

---

Watching Tyler stick objects in his nostrils.

Me: You know, you better be careful or you’re going to do permanent damage to your nose.

Tyler: You mean like I’m going to do permanent damage to my reputation by doing this? Does some kind of weirdo dance around the room with his shirt over his head.

Yeah, just like that.

---

Other Tyler-isms heard round the house.

“I love making strange noises for no reason.”

“Random acts of rudeness.”

Thank heaven for Tyler.