Music Exams, games and parties

The girls had their music exams this week. Eden did her Grade 3 piano and Grade 1 Cello, and Niamh did her Grade 1 violin. They were more excited than nervous(which is strange to me as I was always a bag of nerves on music exams). I sat in the adjacent room so it was lovely to hear them play to the examiner with accompaniment. I was really surprised at how lovely Niamh sounded, the pianist played so fast(much faster than she was used to playing it) but she kept up the whole way without mistakes. Eden did the last exam which was cello and I noticed that she looked quite nervous when she came out. In the car she told me that she was really upset about some mistakes she made with her scales, unusual because she was playing them really well so the nerves must've finally caught up with her. Eden was really hoping for distinction(90%+) for both exams and we did not expect Niamh to get distinction as she doesn't seem to have the same flair as Eden in her playing, but we got a big surprise later that day when the results came through. Niamh got a distinction(which caused her to jump around the room in mad excitement), and Eden got 2 merits(over 80%) which made her quite sad and tearful but I had to keep on telling her how good that was too. Eden lost few points on her playing, but seemed to have lost her points on the aural side. This is where the examiner asks questions about the music, and to be honest this kind of communication is Eden's weakness and it was where she was marked down in her Grade 1 piano too. She doesn't always understand what is being asked of her, and often it is down to the fact that her mind is often a million miles away. The last exam she had I was watching her through the window and she was looking at the window ledge while the examiner was talking to her, when I asked her afterward what she was doing, she said she was watching a snail going past the window(lol in the middle of an exam, that is Eden in a nutshell so distracted by life around her that often she misses what she should be focusing on). Apparently the examiner gave her some lovely comments on her natural musicianship and playing, so we look forward to reading those when we get the result sheets back.

Eden has started her first proper cross stitch, she is making a dolphin for her best friends birthday present in March. Here she is enjoying listening to Beethoven lives upstairs on Spotify. For those of you who have not discovered Spotify, download it now it is fantastic. It is a great resource for free audio books and music.
Niamh was very keen to make her first proper cross stitch to decorate the baby's room.
Who would've thought Happy Families could be soooo much fun. Dad, Eden and Niamh often play after dinner and they hoot with laughter. This photo makes me laugh because Eden is not a bad loser(Jude is), but she wanted to make a funny picture for the camera as the cards clearly reveal that she lost.
We all had a laugh this week when we rolled up our rug and Molly and Tessa fought over who would snuggle inside. We then started calling Tessa our Cleopatra cat after the story of Queen Cleopatra who rolled up in a rug as a way to get into Caesar's Palace.
Dad with his girls at Evan's birthday party -thanks Grant for the photos.
Ciara loves her Aunties!!
Having fun on the slides. Ciara also loved the jumping castle at the party and hasn't stopped talking about it all week.