Summer Violin Recital

On June 2nd, I had a Summer Violin Recital in my backyard! I had this planned for a while, and it was a great excuse to get my front and backyard into shape! For the past few weeks, I have been out in the yard working very hard-weeding a TON! I absolutly Hate weeds, and that is why I put down 2 layers of weed paper up on my rock wall to prevent them! I got and put down 23 bags of mulch on top of the paper, and put in a ton of ground cover to fill into the rocks! I do have to say that the yard looked GREAT!

This was Riley's very first Recital and he played 1 of the Twinkle Variations: Tucka Tucka Stop Stop! I sat on the side of him in case he needed help, but he did it all by himself and was not scared at ALL to play in front of the big audience. When he was finished, he gave a great big bow and was so proud of himself! He was even so excited to play for the recital that he whipped his violin out and started playing the open strings as people were sitting down! That kid has no stage fright at all!

After listening to his tiny 1/32 size violin and how squeeky it was, I took him to Charles Lui Violin Shop the next day and upgraded his violin to a 1/16 size and already he sounds a ton better! The first thing he said when he played the violin in the violin shop was, "Mom, this is a loud violin!!"

I am excited that Riley is finally getting the idea of how to play the violin! I will teach him for as long as I can, but eventually the truth is that he will need a new teacher! Someone who he will listen to better. I have 15 students currently, and I am so blessed that I am still able to teach the violin! I love it, and it helps our family out a lot!

Riley will be a student at The Intermountain Suzuki Institute in 2 weeks held at Juan Diego High SChool in Draper for a whole week. He and I will be going to Twinkle classes in the morning, and watching performances for the rest of the day! He is getting excited to go to "Violin Camp" and I hope that it will make him so excited about playing the violin! I want all of my kids to be well rounded and be able to play an instrument and a sport the best that they can!

Now that Riley has a new size violin, he already wants Sunny to play his tiny violin! Well, she just turned 2, you never know! Dr. Suzuki says that talent is not born with you, but that it is developed! Well, I figure I am just the person to help them develop that talent while I am at home with them and know how to teach them! Wish me luck on the road of becomming a Suzuki Mom!