The sights and sounds of Christmas programs

December was a busy month.  Well obviously.  Does anyone NOT have a busy December?   We had a piano mini-recital, Will's school program, the church Christmas program and a ballet mini-recital. Lots of arts and entertainment in December!  

Reina's piano teacher has several of her students play an assortment of Christmas carols at the local shopping mall, as part of a "Tree of Remembrance" hosted by the hospital (so Aunt Vicky was there, too!).  That's a big introductory sentence.  Reina played "Jolly Old Saint Nick" and it was her first foray into public piano playing.  She was a little nervous but she played beautifully.  

Look at that concentration.  

Will's school Christmas program started off with the fourth-graders playing their string instruments. Will has been learning violin.  Performing any sort of musical production is not Will's favorite thing to do in the world but we're really proud of him for trying out the violin.

Getting ready to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb."  Or "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."  

After the orchestra opening, the class had a little skit and sang several songs.  This year, Will was in the front row center so it was easy to get a bunch of pictures.  Pictures of Will singing.

Let's just leave this here without comment. 

The red eyes don't help.  

Wait, I think I see some hand movements!  

Is he singing loudly?  No, I think that's a yawn.  

It's kazoo time!  This was actually my favorite part of the program, surprisingly.  The classes kazoo'd their way through several Christmas classics.  It's a great way to help them learn the tunes without having to learn the words also.  It was delightful!    

Next up for the Christmas-themed performances was a short ballet recital.  Reina is in her second year of ballet and she's really learning a lot.  Look at my girl go.

To round out our December performances, Will and Reina both participated in the church's Christmas program.  They sang several hymns and Will got to do a few readings.  They both memorized some German to sing "Von Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" and will gladly launch into song at random moments.

So that's our Christmas season for the arts.  Next up, Christmas Eve!