AZ Study Program & Spring Piano Recital

Whitney was able to complete the 5A level of the Arizona Study Program this past school year.  Her teacher, Mrs. Linda Johnson presented the awards to her participating students at the spring piano recital.  Whitney earned Superior with Honors once again.  The songs she memorized:

Minuet in D minor BWV 132 by J.S. Bach

Sonatina Op. 3b, No. 3 by Clementi

Douce Plainte (Tender Grieving) by Burgmuller

Blues Tango by Vandall

Whitney was Linda's only student to earn a superior on all four of her songs. I was a little worried that Whitney might not do as well this year as she was not able to practice as much due to her busy schedule. I had shared this concern with Chris.  His reaction: to tell Whitney I did not think she would do as well and that if she earned the highest marks again, he would reward her with a special something!  Linda says Whitney, "Is quite the performer!" Nerves seem to work in her favor.  She plays her absolute best when performing.  Whitney the Wonder Girl!

Whitney tickling the old ivories.

NJHS Induction

Whitney was inducted into the the National Junior Honor Society on May 8, 2012.  I did not even know they had a junior chapter so I was suprised when she came home with the invitation to apply for membership.  Our Ms. Smartie Pants sure makes us look good!

 A litte info about the organization:

The National Honor Society (NHS) and National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) are the nation's premier organizations established to recognize outstanding high school and middle level students. More than just an honor roll, NHS and NJHS serve to honor those students who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Character (and Citizenship for NJHS). These characteristics have been associated with membership in the organization since their beginnings in 1921 and 1929.



Back to School 2011

August 8th was the first day of the 2001-2012 school year for my kids.  Gavin is in Mrs. William's fourth grade this year.  When we went to the open house I noticed that Gavin was not much shorter than Mrs.Williams.  Mrs. Thelen his gifted teacher said he can't grow anymore cause she doesn't teach kids taller than her.  Ashlyn is in Mrs. Howard's kindergarten class this year.

Ashlyn and her giant backpack!  I always forget how big they look on the kindergartners.

Gavin at his desk.  Ashlyn's teacher was not allowing parents in the classroom.  I guess she was worried about getting a bunch of over anxious parents out of her classroom.  I swung back by Ashlyn's classroom to sneak a peak through the window on my way out.  She already had her glasses on and was hard at work coloring. 

Whitney started the 7th grade at Tortolita Middle School.  There are around 1,200 7th and 8th graders at her school!  This is just mind boggling to me!  The thought of that many kids is just crazy to me.  Notice the shirt, it reads: Chick with Brains. That's my girl!

I teased her about coming in and taking pictures in front of her locker and the school sign.  I really wanted to. . .but decided not to set her up for that kind of humiliation.  I have been driving her to school in the mornings and it has become our time together.

We drove Ashlyn & Gavin to school that morning.  Landon was so sad when Ashlyn got out of the car too.  He just cried and cried for his Ashlyn.  He has been really clingy with me since the kids started back to school.  I think he realizes I am the only constant now.  Despite Ashlyn's large smile exiting the bus she is not a fan of the bus.  Most kids love the bus at first but not her!  Gavin is the bus driver's helper and helps all the kindergartners with their seat belts.

Ashlyn is a shopper!  She begs me to buy her new clothes whenever we go to any store with clothing.  I took her to Carter's to pick out an outfit for the first day. She was having a very hard time narrowing it down to one outfit.  But once she found this shirt that was it.  Whitney was not a fan at first but then when she put the leggings with it, Whitney said, "Wow, that's really cute together!"  She does have style.

Completely and utterly exhausted after her first day of school!

Jessica's Visit

 

We had the pleasure of having one of Whitney's best friends, Miss Jessica Calvert come all the way from Maryland to visit.  Whitney & Jessica became friends while we were stationed at Fort Rucker, Alabama.  They were both in Mrs. Raichle's third grade and have been great friends since then.  Jessica is such a fun and lively girl.  We really enjoyed having her visit!

Whitney had always been the taller one but Jessica was thrilled to find that she is now the taller friend!  Not by much but definitely taller.  Even though the girls are now the mature age of 12 they got out the littlest pet shop toys for old times sake. 

We visited some underground caverns in the area. 

We also made a trip to Breakers, a local water park.

 

I thought this was kinda funny, Whitney working on her tan while Jessica tries not to get sun burnt.  Jessica is a redhead with gorgeous creamy white skin, skin that does not do well in our strong desert sun. 

 

6th Grade Promotion

Whitney is officially done with elementary school. They were not allowed to call it graduation instead it was called Promotion Celebration.  The kids were all super excited and giddy!  I didn't think I would be that emotional but I was.  Had to keep fighting the tears.  I really shouldn't have been surprised since I am a big cry baby. She is growing up and it is bittersweet.  Nothing would do but that she have a new dress and her eyebrows groomed at the Asian eyebrow threading place.  I'm gonna go broke keeping this girl's eyebrows tamed and under control. 

Whitney reading her essay. Each  6th grade teacher selected two students to read essays they had written about their memories of Quail Run.   

Here she is receiving her President's Award for Educational Excellence.  They had gold and silver.  She received the gold. It came with a pin and a letter from President Obama.  She also received a citizenship award which the principal said we parents should consider our award.  I am so very proud of this young lady. 

Whitney & Tori

Whitney, Czarina, Maya & Ayla

The kids had voted on Most Likely to...Whitney was one of 3 female nominees for most likely to become president and most likely to become a professional athlete. 

Arizona Study Program

Some info about the program:

(The Arizona Study Program (ASP) was started in 1958 to provide a consecutive and comprehensive plan of music study designed to motivate and encourage the student to strive for growth and excellence. The Arizona Study Program is a 12-year graded course of study developed by ASMTA to provide for the development of musical Performance, Theory and Technique. It is organized in terms of the twelve years of public school, with one level for each of the years a student would be enrolled in school. It requires continual work throughout the year and is evaluated each spring by a master adjudicator and a written theory test.)

Whitney had been working on the Arizona Study Program with her piano teacher for some time now. She had to memorize four pieces of music to be judged on.  A few months ago she complained that she was tired of only playing classical music and working on the same songs for so long, that piano just wasn't as fun anymore.  We talked about it and discussed what kind of goals she wanted to make for herself. Whether she wanted to be the best pianist she could be or just have fun.  We talked about the parable of the talents. I told her that she needed to finish out the school year and then we would decide whether or not to stay with Linda or go back to her more laid back teacher.  

May 7th was the big day and we headed down to the University of Arizona campus.  It is just the student and the judge in a room together.  Which somehow seems more nerve wracking than an audience to me! The other downside was that you don't get your results until a few weeks later.  Whitney's teacher didn't tell Whitney this until after the competition but Whitney had one of the harshest and most critical judges.  When I picked her up from her lesson yesterday she was grinning ear to ear and holding her purple ribbon.  Her level was 3A and she earned the highest award, Superior with Honors!  She was pretty excited and proud of herself.  Later I asked her if she thought she would like to stay with Linda.  Her answer was a resounding, YES!  Whitney is all about recognition. Give her an incentive and she is all over it.  I pointed out to her that all her hard work was paying off and now she was reaping the fruit of her labors.  I think/hope she learned a valuable life lesson.  And to me that is the best purple ribbon of all! 

I told her I wanted a smile with teeth and this the smile I got...BIG AND CHEESY!  Be careful what you ask for my friends. ;)

The songs she played:

Minuet in G Minor BWV 115  composer J.S. Bach

Sonatina Op. 55, No. 1 composer Kuhlau

Arabesque composer Burgmuller

Clowns Op. 39, No. 20 composer Kabelevsky

Fort Lowell Shootout

Whitney is lucky #13 again.

Chris presenting Whitney with her medal.

2010 AYSO Region 206 U12G Travel Team - Almost Angels

Back row, left to right: Coach Todd, Whitney, Natalie, Darby, Hannah, Cierra, Patience, Emilie, Maggie, Coach Brice

Front row, left to right: Reilly, Piper, Tori, Kayla

Whitney has been playing soccer on the military bases where we lived since she was 3 years old. These teams are always coed and pretty low key. This year Whitney played in an AYSO girls league (they don't have any coed leagues). At the end of the year they select the twelve best girls from the league to play on a team and Whitney was asked to be on the region's spring select team. This past weekend they played their first tournament here in Tucson called the Ft. Lowell Shootout. They have teams come from all over Arizona and the rest of the western United States. A lot of the teams are club teams which play together year round giving them a big advantage against the AYSO teams which haven't played together before.

They played two games on Saturday and did really well. They tied their first game 1-1 against a club team. The second game they won 1-0 and after the game we found out that they would be playing in the semi-finals the following morning. Whitney has been asked to play defense and she did incredible. During the semi-final they didn't allow the other team a single shot and won 5-0. For the championship game they played a club team. At the end of the championship it was tied 1-1 so it went to penalty kicks. Each team was given 5 penalty kicks. Talk about nerve racking but our Almost Angels ended up winning the Championship! Chris was a little hoarse after all his cheering.

I am also learning more about soccer. I did not realize it was considered a contact sport. Coach Todd has been encouraging Whitney to be aggressive and brutal. They scrimmaged the boys U12 team and Whitney knocked one of their players down so hard he rolled across the ground. Chris and her coaches were really very pleased with this development. In the second game of the tournament Whitney unfairly received a yellow card when the ref called a bad call. She was pretty upset and fighting tears. That is all part of playing the game though.

Whitney is 12!!!

Our Whitney Michele is now 12 years old! I have thought that this past year has been like the first year all over again because she has grown and matured so dramatically. Childhood was left behind this year and she turned into a young lady. This was the first year where she did not ask for any toys for Christmas. She said goodbye to Primary and hello to Young Womens. Developed her first case of puppy love. It is all a little bittersweet for me. There is a part of me that would like to keep her a child forever. I know that is not the natural order of things though. Watching her grow and develop has been one of my life's greatest pleasures. She never ceases to amaze me with her talents, abilities and outlook on life.

The birthday girl and her guests. Front row, left to right: Katelynn, Alexis, Whitney and Jayden
Back row: Shannan, Ayla, Tori and Czarina

Chris and I kept asking her what she wanted to do for her birthday this year and she kept saying "I don't know". Very unWhitneylike to say the least! It was driving me crazy. Finally a sleepover party was decided upon. This was the most poorly planned party she has ever had which was hard for me. Her birthday fell on a Saturday this year so Friday night her friends came over. They started out with pizza followed by the opening of gifts.


Then they made smores in the backyard fire pit.

One of her birthday requests was that she wanted giant bows on her presents. Monkey see, monkey do! Landon had to have a bow on his head too.

Next up was make over time. They took turns making each other over. I wish I had some gotten some photos of the girls with their new looks. Though I did get a picture of best/most dramatic make over of the night ...

Chris! Doesn't he look beautiful? Cake time was next. Then they watched a couple movies and finally went to sleep around 2 a.m. and woke up about 7:30. Much more sleep than I expected from them. That morning they breakfasted on chocolate chip waffles topped with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. Sausage and of course BACON were also served. Once her guests had gone home Chris and I took just her out to lunch at Olive Garden. She also wanted to see the latest Harry Potter movie so I took them to see that while Chris stayed home with Ashlyn and Landon.

Whitney, Ashlyn, Alexis, Shannan and Tori waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive.

The Pianist

Wit at her piano recital. This one was posed after it was over because I didn't want to distract her with the flash on my camera.

Wit before her orchestra concert.

From the time Whitney was a baby people would occasionally comment on her long fingers and say she had pianist hands. My Mom really wanted Whitney to have her piano. At the time we were living in Alabama and my parents lived in Nevada so getting it to us was a bit problematic. Chris happened to mention it to someone and they told him the Army would pay to move it. Chris looked into it and found out it was true! Whitney promptly started taking lessons in January of 2007 right around her 8th birthday. She has been playing for almost 4 years now. Her first teacher was Georgette Robinson and she was a very talented teacher. When she was in the 4th grade she played keyboards for her school's 5th grade jazz band. Whitney has been blessed throughout her life to have the best teachers.

Once we moved to Tucson she started taking lessons from a lady in our ward, Sister Hancock. Sheryl has been teaching piano for over 20 years so when she told me Whitney was truly talented and needed a top notch teacher, I took her advice. Her newest teacher (Linda Johnson) recently asked me if there was a lot of musical ability in our family. I laughed in response. I had just always thought that her high IQ coupled with her strong work ethic and competitive spirit had allowed her to excel. I said something along these lines to her teacher. She informed me that Whitney is musically gifted. I have absolutely no knowledge or background in music so sometimes I think I really don't get how talented she is. Though I love having her fill our home with beautiful music!

She also accompanies her school's orchestra. Come to find out this is also pretty impressive. When I went to the music store to get the books she needed the employees were skeptical and then extremely impressed when they heard Whitney was accompanying her school's orchestra. At the concert her orchestra teacher, Mrs. Zurley, thanked Whitney for her help and said it was the first time she'd had a student fill that role.

At her piano recital the students were required to memorize their music. Whitney played "Winter Wonderland" and "I'll Be Home For Christmas". We arrived early so Whitney could do a run through on the church's piano. She made several mistakes and I started to get really nervous for her. I thought the teacher just challenged them to memorize the pieces so I said maybe she should use her music. Then Whitney told me memorization was required not optional. I was then even more nervous for her! Somehow I forgot that Whitney is her father's daughter and unlike myself does best under pressure. She got up there and knocked it out of the park with a flawless performance!!! I had never heard her play them better. I could tell by the look on her face that she was pleased with herself as well.

Her next performance will be this Sunday in our ward's sacrament meeting. Sister Hancock asked her if she would play a Christmas song. I requested her to play my favorite Christmas song, "O Holy Night".

Spelling Bee Dreams Go Up In Flames

Every year since Whitney was in the third grade she has won her class spelling bee. The school bee is between 3rd-6th graders so naturally the older kids have an edge on winning. Each year she has come closer to winning and I really thought this would be her year to win. Nope, she went out on campaign! I was not expecting her to miss that word after last year's campaigning campaign for student body treasurer. She has a tendency to talk too fast and I think that is what happened because she said C-A-M-P-I and she immediately knew she'd messed up. I like how the microphone is way too low. :)

After that she was able to sit back and cheer on her boyfriend Triston. He is the boy seated directly behind her (wearing the black tee and shorts) in the photo. I appreciated the fact that his eyes were always anywhere but on her behind when she was spelling. He ended up taking second place in the bee. It sounds like Whitney and Triston have a lot in common. They are both Mormon, both are oldest kids, both like to draw and they are both brainy. :)

Purple Pain

Back row:Jessica, Madison, Whitney, Shannan, Addi, Staci

Front row: Abby, Sarah, Claiborne, Tori, Anna, Morgan

Whitney recently finished her first season of AYSO soccer. In the past she has always played on co-ed teams so this was her first all girls team. The team name was between Grape Soda and Purple Pain. Whitney wanted it to be Grape Soda but more of her team mates voted for a more kick butt team name. She had an awesome season and was a high scorer for her team. She does best at the forward position. Coach Deb's main priority was not winning. This was something Chris had a hard time swallowing. Coach Deb did not care for Chris's use of bribery to encourage the scoring of goals or his instructions yelled from the sidelines. So I guess they were evenly disgruntled. ;) They ended the season with one tie and the rest losses. Wit's BFF Tori really wanted to play soccer but with her Dad deployed to Afghanistan her Mom's work schedule did not permit her to always be available for games. We asked that they be put on the same team so that we could help her out. It worked out great because she would usually take them to practices and we would do games.

Whitney, Tori & Shannan

Whitney was super excited to play on a team with her best school friend (Tori) and her best church friend (Shannan)!

Some actions shots.



Lucky #13!!!

Feel the PAIN! PURPLE PAIN!

Some crafty Mom made this cute team sign.

Warming the bench with Shannan.

Track Meet

Yesterday a track meet was held at a local high school for elementary school kids (grades 4th-6th) in our area. Whitney wanted to compete. The first race they ran was the 100 meters.

Whitney came in second for all the sixth grade girls and her BFF Victoria came in third. Next was the 200 meter race. That time Victoria came in second and Whitney was third. Then they moved on to field events. The long jump, shot put and discus. Chris was not impressed with the organization and running of this meet. He made some good suggestions on how to run things more efficiently but his advice was not followed. Apparently, they are not familiar with Chris Weaver?!? He really wanted her to run the 400 meter, 800 meter and relay races but we could not hang around for hours on a school night. The kids still had homework to do and I had a church meeting to attend.

I Believe in Faeries!

"And as the seasons come and go, here is something you might like to know ... there are fairies everywhere under bushes, in the air, playing games just like you play, singing through their busy day. So listen, touch, and look around -- in the air and on the ground. And if you watch all nature's things, you might just see a fairy's wing." - Author Unknown

Spread your wings and let the fairy in you fly!

I had so much fun doing Whitney's faerie hair and make-up. Even more fun was taking photos of her. I could have taken photos of her for hours. She is just so fun and natural!

Take a sprinkling of fairy dust,

An angel's single feather,

Also a dash of love and care,

Then mix them both together.

Add a sentiment or two,

A thoughtful wish or line,

A touch of stardust,

a sunshine ray...

It's a recipe,

for a Girl truly fine.