End of May Things

May sunset.  

My shingles experience started to end leaving me with some scaring. It took a quarter of my mole with me. Now it looks like a heart, or PacMan - depending on my mood. 

My brother Michael made the new rescue dog officially theirs. 

And this bat....? 

Rebekah started her marching band week. I played chauffeur and took her and Reese over to the local fast-food place for lunch. Dropping them back off at the school I had to take a picture.... 

We saw our good friends in Columbus. She and Adelaide played some Minecraft.  I was laying on the couch nursing my back and so was able to get this: 

My wildflower plants started to grow. 

And my other plants. 

Storms rolling in. 

Aunt Kim sent me a few pictures of my brother at his high school graduation. Please note, he's the principal, not the graduate. 

A final horn lesson before we left for Utah. 

Marching Band Begins

Rebekah had her first marching band experience. I hear they do an "overnighter" and then a week long practice before break so the kids can truly understand what it's like to be in marching band before they truly commit. 

Rebekah didn't do the "overnight" part but she stayed late and came back early. This was a picture whoever took and put on Facebook. Can you see her? 

I had to search through each face until I finally found her. I drew the yellow arrow to help others. 

Then I zoomed in very close and found: 

The next day there was a parent preview. She was much easier to find. 

Then they lined up and showed us what they learned. 

There's the Bee! 

She is not amused. 

Looking good though. 

Tried to get more of the crew.

And then they played a bit for us. 

And because Rebekah doesn't usually get on the blog, I can post this picture that may or may not be a picture of a guy that she may or may not be hanging out with that she may or may not call her boyfriend. Just thought posterity should be aware. 

End of 7th Grade

The end of 7th grade came quickly. Sometimes I think about her walking confidently down the hall on her way to kindergarten. And yes, I do wonder about the move I forced. Neither Don or Rebekah was truly on board. I was so concerned about Don traveling that hour and a half drive, and Rebekah never seeing her dad because he'd leave before she woke and be asleep before he arrived home. Not to mention the wear on Don as he drove that daily. Sometimes I feel I made the right call, especially seeing Don and Rebekah's relationship now. However, I have wondered if the cost is shown in her education and social connections. It's so hard to break back into the small town atmosphere. And I believe we lost so much momentum in the move. I don't feel Columbus was good in that aspect. 

Having said that, I do believe Rebekah is starting to find her crew. Band has helped a bit. And these guys. She's known the tall one for many years in soccer. They all took horn together in 6th grade. Her teacher calls them the GOAT. Have to admit, I think the Bee helped take them to the next level. It's always easier when one kid really gets it. 

Rebekah showed me this picture from her year book. She's the one to the right, behind the stand. It's like secret agent Bee. 

Her iLearn scores came back. One smart cookie. 

I got this text on one of the last days of school. Apparently they had an award ceremony where she was recognized. 

The closing interview. Rebekah has told me her thoughts about the interviewing (mainly when she mocked me by taking an interview of me after I finished my first 2 masters course), but I still think that one day she (or maybe her kids) will appreciate my efforts to capture the growing. 

And of course, the celebratory ice cream. 

On to 8th grade! 

Final Honors Band Performance

The final Honors Band performance was less formal. And we got better seats. 

Concert order

Hit the Road Jack

Gershwin 

Voyage Through the Night

Pink Panther

Voyage reprise 

Gershwin reprise

After the concert Rebekah was social. This is a picture of her and her friend. They've been pretty close. 

June Books

Masters book. An easier read. Mildly interesting as well. 

Masters book. Another pretty good one. This one gave more methodology rather than just describing what ethnomusicology is. 

Masters book. Describes the music man makes without even knowing or planning on making music, suggesting music is an innate part of humanity. 

Masters book. I like this author. This one focused on Western culture. Most ethnomusicologist believe that western culture does not fit in their studies because it's too well studied. 

Ah history! I like Ian Mortimer. This book was different because it focuses on what life was like during the time period rather than actual historical events. Looking forward to reading more of these time traveller's guides. 

Masters book. This was another more wordy read, however he had some good insights. 

A re-read of this one, but I wanted something purely entertaining. There was much I missed the first time around. Lots of other Cosmere references. Very fun. 

Masters book. Does folk music need to be authentic? If you're wondering, here's a book for you. Sigh....

Masters book. This was actually quite informative and interesting. Probably the best one that he had us read. Great insights for actual teaching. 

Rebekah recommended this middle grade fiction. I read two of her historical fiction and wasn't as impressed as the Bee wanted me to be, but this was pretty good. She asked me to read the next one. I'm on the wait list.  

Another re-read. Again, looking for something with less anxiety and purely entertaining. Tress was great. Caught more of the Cosmere references this time. I do wonder where in the Cosmere this book is - which system it is connected to and such. Feel like it's later in the time line, but I don't really know. 

This historical fiction has been on my to read list for quite some time. Have to admit it turned into this awful love triangle between the girl, her sister, and her sister's boyfriend. Once it got "steamy" I decided to take it off my to read list and put it on my did not finish list. There may be better stuff in there but I really didn't want to wait through the muck to get to it. 

May Books

 

Middle grade historical fiction about code breaker. I like Ruta Sepetys and this did not disappoint. The main character Izzy was fun. Writing this months after I read it, I'm proud to say that Rebekah read it and liked it too. 

More history about Eastern Europe. Lots of good information. I don't think we know enough about those countries / areas. 

Really is NOT about Vivaldi but rather a young hussy that falls in love and becomes involved with Vivaldi. Ugh. So not worth it. 

Another not my best idea books. Thought it had a good premise but was really a waste of time. If I remember right I speed read through most of the middle. 

Rebekah was reading this in class and asked me to join her. It's been quite some time since I read this. It's good but I didn't think it was - let's have generations study this book - good. But maybe it's one of the original dystopian? Guess I should look that up. 

Nice fluffy chick-lit based around books and WWII. It's okay but nothing special. Happy ending though so there's that. 

Sadly this was more about his works than the man. If I had the book and could study the works with his explanations it would have been more productive. Felt like most of it was a waste of time. 

A short introduction to the crusades. Good start for middle grades. 

Ah, Persuasion. One of my favorite Austen's. I like that her main characters are older. I like the looking back and looking forward essence of the book. 

Second time reading this. One of my favorites. Sanderson leaves little bit of his Cosmere in each of his books. There was more I found in this one, but this book also connects to other books as well, so the second time was beneficial as well as fun. 

Good middle grade historical fiction concerning slavery. Good first start for younger kids. 

Ah, my music theory masters books. Although this did not rate high on Goodreads, I found this book more helpful than the other ones the professor listed. 

A book about the supposed little people that make America. My biggest problem with this one was the author felt the need to lead us to emotions, often going through in writing the complete outrage the reader should feel, rather than simply giving the information and letting us feel what we feel. If the author needs to do that, then she or he hasn't written well enough. 

Historical fiction about WWII. Two time lines, spies, people aren't who they say they are, etc and so on. Have to admit I didn't feel invested in either time line. Just another book for me. 

Interesting telling of how the Mafia helped in WWII. I hadn't known any of this, but it makes sense. I do love books that contain completely new information. 

Masters book. This was a rough read for me. So bad that I actually looked it up on Goodreads. Apparently I'm not the only one who felt this way. Once review actually said that is almost made her loose her love of music. Maybe we're all so undereducated that we can't understand the writing. But if that's the case, shouldn't one make the reading more accessible? 

A girl has a crisis and decides to walk the trial from California to Oregon. It was okay, but she was foul at times and it made me loose the desire to read or care. 

Mistborn era 2 book 3. Actually one of my favorites in the era 2 series. Good plot line, good characters, fun read. 

A Polish Jewess is able to get false papers and then help others under Nazi invasion. It's fascinating. 

Masters book. This one was more accessible and had some great ideas. And incase you're wondering, ethnomusicology is basically the study of culture as music and music as culture. 

Historical fiction about two in love children from Shanghai, separated by the nationalistic army to Taiwan. The book is different because the girls telling the timeline runs normally, while in the boy's telling the timeline runs backwards. Kind of hard to follow at times, but it works.