Music with Meaning!

The first part of March was pretty all-consumed with the Benefit Recital I presented on March 20th and I was so grateful to have an amazingly supportive, patient, and helpful family along for the ride!

Ever since Steve and I were made aware of the issue of human trafficking back in 2007, particularly the trafficking of children, we knew we had to do something about it.  No matter how small it may seem, something to fight against it...  When a friend of ours from NYC choreographed a dance piece inspired by the stories of trafficking survivors, a light bulb went off in my head that maybe there was some way I could combine my passion for music with this desire to see an end to trafficking, and that's how these "benefit recitals" came to be!

After presenting two in New York, I had been wanting to make one happen in VA since we moved here and it all finally started coming together toward the end of last year as I finally got the venue and pianist (who accompanied me for my undergraduate senior recital!!!) worked out.  Through one of Maelee's classmate's moms, I was connected with Polaris, an organization in D.C. that fights against trafficking, which was the perfect fit for a locally based non-profit for which to raise awareness and money.

As the majority of my practicing time has to take place while Lilee's napping (which isn't even a guarantee anymore, sigh), I knew this wouldn't be the time to learn all new repertoire.  So I pulled out some of the favorites from the two previous benefit recitals, and connected the music to the cause both by the emotions the pieces evoke, and also by presenting various trafficking facts and statistics of the composer's country of origin.

The girls were troopers and Steve was a champ, allowing me to sneak practice sessions here and there on evenings and weekends leading up to the date, and putting the information packet together with the trafficking stats.  Not to mention all the help with the programs and countless other details...  Friends and family pitched in to pull together a lovely fruit and dessert reception, and I was blown away by the generosity of my pianist, Roy Hakes, who graciously donated his time and incredible talent, allowing me to give 100% of the proceeds to Polaris!

I was equally blown away by the support of friends and family who showed up, traveling from a couple hrs away from DE and different parts of VA.  Not to mention my middle school band director who came and a childhood friend of my brother's who came with his two sons! Over $1100 was raised and I was both humbled and thrilled by the outcome.

Onto the pics and the music! If you're bored and feel like listening... :)

Let the music begin!

(Just click on each piece and it will take you to the video)

Bartok's Suite Paysanne Hongroise

Hanson's Serenade

Karg-Elert's Sonata Appasionata

Takemitsu's Air



Liebermann's Sonata 

So special to have my Too-daddy there
and Holland loved her time with him!

Probably the most influential band director I've ever had- 

Mr. Pailen from Matthew Henson Middle School in Waldorf, MD!

The phenomenal Roy Hakes

With Jeff, one of my brother's closest childhood pals

So grateful for this man!!!

And this one :)

And it was such a treat to have my big girl there!!!

So touched that my Aunt Viv drove TD & MC down, and her two sisters, Cyndi and Lucy, made it too!
The "Lingo ladies" are three special women!!!

And Lucy's daughter, Mandy (Holland's mom), who lives close by is now a dear friend!

My aunts and uncles on my dad's side also made the trip,
along with three of my cousins!

I was seriously just beyond touched by this amazing extended family of mine.

Lilee was thrilled to at least join in on the fun at dinner after with the "Metheny fam" that could make it.  Wish I had pictures of all these great folks but loved this one of the girls with "cousin" Eva and Aunt Donna.

Can't believe I didn't get a picture of the two people who made the biggest impact on my fluting thus far!  Yes, my folks were there, as they have been every step of the way.  From watching the girls last minute so I could pull this event off, to being a constant source of support and encouragement, I love always being able to look out into the audience and see their beaming faces!

A whole lot of effort went into pulling this event off and it was amazing to see God work through all of the little details- even graciously sparing me the cold that both Steve and Lilee had just days before!  It was an honor to get to do what I love and make even the littlest bit of difference in raising awareness and money for such an important and necessary cause!!!

Slideshow of more pics from the recital:

Many Moments from March!

Whew, March was a big month!  Between Maelee's Odyssey of the Mind performance, St. Patrick's Day, my benefit recital, plus Easter and my birthday falling on the same day, there was a lot going on...

I'll save the recital and Easter recaps for another post altogether, but the pics below are a pretty good snapshot of the month.  March started off with just us girls as Steve was in LA for work, so I decided to rekindle a tradition my mom and I had when it was just the two of us for the evening- ice cream for dinner!  We did have some egg sandwiches before hand but it was a treat for the girls to walk down to Baskin Robbins in their pjs for dessert.  I think their expressions say it all!

From messy chocolate face to fancy lady- the next day was "dress as your favorite book character" day in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday!  Maelee's a huge fan of the Fancy Nancy series so it was an easy decision :)

Fancy and adorable :)

Just a sweet picture of Lilee with our growing-milder-with-age kitty.  

How he has changed!

She may be sweet, but she is ornery!

She was so proud of her artwork on the bench... which did not come off.

How are there even kid's markers that aren't washable???

Getting into the St. Patty's Day spirit at Old Town's Dog Parade

The girls especially loved watching the men & women of our armed forces prepare for their part in the parade!

In the beginning of the month, we all enjoyed a bittersweet couple's baby shower 

for friends from our church, who moved shortly after.  

It was a fun afternoon and Lilee's sweet yet ornery self was on display!:)

Enjoying some Nana time at the park!

Lost another tooth!

At school!!!

"Happy Hour" at Convergence, where I presented my recital- Maelee got to paint a pizza box, and it turned out beautifully!

On March 12th, Maelee's Odyssey of the Mind team gave their performance at a local school.  Steve was a co-coach, along with another dad, to six first grade and kindergartners.  It was quite a task!  The kiddos had a "problem" that they had to figure out completely on their own and theirs was a theatrical performance about a refrigerator that comes to life.  The performance itself was a riot but all in all a success.  And Steve was a trooper in guiding them along!

Proudly holding the sign one of her teammates made

In character as Princess Leia

Let the performance begin!

They did it!

But we were both glad it was over :)

And glad to have a fun lunch afterward at Chili's with Nana & Pop-Pop!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Since Steve had a trip to Phoenix (over St. Patrick's Day through the day before my recital), we enjoyed dinner with my folks in Old Town. The next week was spring break for Maelee, and with pretty icky weather, we stayed in quite a bit but lucked out to have a decent enough day the last day of her break to venture into D.C. and enjoy the Cherry Blossoms!  Maelee spent the previous night with my parents and loved her special day with Nana, going to see "Zootopia" in the theater in the afternoon and out to dinner with Nana & Pop-Pop.  She was a bit wiped out for our foray into D.C. to see the lovely blooms, but little did we know we were catching them at their peak, and it was worth it!

 Taking advantage of a couple beautiful afternoons during spring break with some friends from our church, and at the playground down the street.

 Indoor fun in the ball pit!

(which even Parker enjoyed, stuffing himself into a basket...)

 Ready for her movie date with Nana!

 Speaking slowly like the sloth :)

 She loved the hilarious characters!

 Lilee was a bit sad when we dropped Maelee off, but a little bit of chocolate helped! :)

 Time for some cherry blossom views!

 They were beautiful.

 I swear, Lilee really did enjoy herself for the most part! :)

 Love these smiles :)

 Pretty blooms, pretty girls, good trip into D.C.

Then it was back to Old Town the last Saturday of the month to celebrate my birthday a day early!  The day started with Easter activities, then included a relaxing pedicure with my mom, followed by an early dinner date with my hubby, and ended with a fun celebration over delicious cake and sweet gifts.  It was a great day!

Then Steve made my birthday morning extra special with breakfast in bed!

Just a little silliness!

One of my favorite things...

The girls play together more than ever now and it still makes my heart melt when Maelee reads to Lilee, with Lilee on her lap.  There's definitely a bit of bickering that goes on, but it is so adorable just how much Lilee looks up to her big sister and wants to do EVERYTHING Maelee does.  If we notice Lilee doing or wearing something odd, sure enough it's because it's part of some pretend play that Maelee had started.  They may be almost four years apart, but there is a sweet relationship there already.  

And here are more pics from March!