All State

Saturday was the annual Connecticut Future Musicians All State Band Concert.  This year, for the first time, they had an All State Chorus, which Emily was nominated for by her school chorus teacher (no auditions this year, thank goodness!).  She decided to participate only in the chorus, because there was so many rehearsals if she did both band and chorus.  The chorus sounded really good, especially for having only two rehearsals, and she got to work with a director who will likely be her high school director (he guest directed for the first year).  It was a great show, as always.

900 miles

Back Outside

The spring soccer season is just about upon us and Emily's coach has worked hard to get the girls time outside on the big field before their first game.  The girls actually played a Sunday night game in late February (I'm completely inept at night time photography with the big camera, so the only photos are from my cell phone).  A game scheduled for early March was snowed out, but Emily and her friends didn't let that deter them - they put in a solid 45 minutes on the track instead and then did it again the following Saturday, after a soccer game.  Weekend track workouts will likely be the norm until the season is well underway and the girls are back in top form with their conditioning.  I'm always amazed by the work that 12 year old girls are willing to put in to position themselves to be the best possible player and teammate on the field.

Outside friendly match on a cold February night. 

A well played game and a nice win to start things off.

In inter-squad scrimmage to get used to being outside again.

A little bleacher running never hurt anyone.

Fast 50s.

Relays

Running stairs

2x400x2 meter relays.

February Odds and Ends

Photos that didn't make February posts - apparently, mostly all of Emily and the animals...

This girl is super happy that the Patriots won the Super Bowl again!

Shopping with Auntie Kathy.

It nice to have friends that support you at your basketball games!

Kool Kats

Soccer Prom

For years, MYS held an annual dinner dance as a fundraiser for the club.  People got so into this even that over time, it became known as the "soccer prom".  When Emily played for Magic, we just didn't know enough people and never made the effort to attend.  Due to significant changes over the last few years, the club has not held the dance, but they brought it back this year in order to fundraise for the new turf field they are installing.  Lee and I joined 8 other couples from Emily's team at the event last week and had a great time - well, I had a great time and Lee suffered through it because he loves me.  We didn't win anything - not a darn thing, despite all of the raffles we entered - but it was a fun night out and a great event for the club.

Some Sporting 06 moms. 

My people.  Not sure what I'd do without these two ladies on the sidelines, week in and week out.

A Starr is Born

For the last couple of years, Emily has really wanted a hedgehog.  And we have consistently said "absolutely not" to her.  A girl that she goes to school with as a hedgehog and one night, the mother told me that they were looking for a family to take her because her daughter wasn't taking care of it anymore.  Lee and I discussed; then we discussed with Elizabeth and then, once we had firmed up a date to pick up the hedgehog, we told Emily. And then, the other girl decided that she really wanted to keep her hedgehog after all. Cue the tears from Emily. For days.  Elizabeth did a little bit of research (of course) and found a place in Connecticut that has hedgehogs - although she is a breeder, she also has retired breeders for adoption.  So we picked out a retired breeder, as well as all the stuff we needed, and two weeks ago, brought home Starr (named for the main character in The Hate U Give).  She is definitely interesting and over the last two weeks, has gotten more and more comfortable with Emily and with the rest of us.  We have become, as my friend Kate would say, a petting zoo.....

So happy!

Willis is very interested in Starr.

Recital

About six weeks ago, Emily started taking voice lessons.  She has - to us - a very nice voice, but she is terrified of singing in front of people.  She loves to sing in the shower and she loves to be part of her school chorus but no matter how hard her chorus director tries, Emily refuses to sing solos in the concerts.  We asked her if she wanted to try voice lessons, as she will need to at least audition to make the better singing groups in high school - she agreed.  She is working with a woman at the University of Hartford and we learned a few weeks ago that she has regular recitals for her singers.  I told her teacher that it was her decision as to whether Emily could perform, I simply couldn't make that type of determination and if left up to Emily, the answer would certainly be no.  Dr. Fiertek said that it would be good for Emily to get "the first" out of the way and that she was ready.  

The recital was Saturday night and Emily was scheduled to go third in the program.  She had a disastrous run through with the pianist for the dress rehearsal so she was even more nervous.  When it was time for her to go, she completely panicked and said we had to leave - that she couldn't do it.  Together, Dr. Fiertek and I convinced her that she could and I walked her to the stage - the pianist suggested that she stand next to her, rather than face the audience.  And then she sang.  The whole song.  Without a single mistake or even an ounce of trepidation in her voice.  She was very embarrassed afterwards for "causing a scene" although our convincing was all done at below a whisper so no one really knew what was going on. Plus, performing in front of other musicians is comforting, as they all know what it's like to be afraid.  I won't say that she's looking forward to her next performance, but now she knows that she can do it.

Before.... 

After.....(there is no video, at Emily's request.  We were all too busy hyperventilating and/or crying to take a video anyway.)

Chamber Music Recital

In mid-February, Northwest Catholic had its Chamber Music Recitals.  All students in Honors performance groups were required to perform at least one song during the recital - solo, duet, or larger group.  Elizabeth performed a duet with another freshmen and she performed with all of the flutes in the Honors Wind Ensemble, which is her music class.  Overall, the performances were very good and we were very proud of Elizabeth, who arranged the duet piece and then performed with her "flute nation" with very little rehearsal.

Pirates of the Caribbean

The German Dances

February Frenzy

Over Presidents' Day Weekend, the JPII girls played in the February Frenzy, an annual basketball tournament run by a nearby Catholic school.  The girls won a stunner on Friday night, 10-8.  Emily scored all of the team's points in first half, including a half court shot as time expired at the half to put the team up 5-2 (I'm totally biased, but the place went absolutely wild. The entire JPII boys team had just arrived and saw the shot, which added to the excitement.)  They played a great defensive game - Emily played every minute and completely neutralized the other team's best player and the team was unable to pull ahead without that girl scoring any points.  On Sunday night, they played against a local travel team and it was tough going for our girls. Based on their record, however, they made it to the semi-final game on Monday afternoon and stayed close to another local travel team until the last 90 seconds of the game.  They left it all on the court and Emily again played every minute of the game, ending with 8 steals and 5 rebounds.  There is one game left in the season and I will really be sad to see it come to an end.

My girl loves to take the jump ball. 

Free throws are Emily's most difficult shot.  To put things into perspective, she's made more three pointers (3) this season than baskets from the free throw line.  And it's not for lack of effort.  She regularly gets to practice early to practice her free throws and practices them during water breaks, when everyone else is getting water and chatting.  She finally hit one over the weekend.

With the girls down by 15 on Sunday night, the coaches encouraged Emily to drive to the basket, rather than always looking to pass.  She had the perfect opportunity a few moments later.