Hey y'all! Remember at thanksgiving when we sang the 'happy' song? And you wanted to hear it? HERE IT IS!

Me and Jesus by Stellar Kart: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1tq9a_stellar-kart-me-and-jesus_music

For those who don't know: Who has little siblings/children that get mad and say 'EVERYONE HATES ME!!!" Ya? Well, every time someone in our family does that, me and Sloan burst into song 'SOMEONE LOVES YOU EVEN WHEN YOU DON'T THINK SO, DON'T YOU KNOW? YOU GOT ME AND JESUS!!"

Sometimes we do the other parts, but mostly we just stick to the chorus....

Cairo

I don't hear any cheering? Oh, where did everyone go? Here you come! You were running to get your fiddles out! I'm glad you are excited!!! I am too!

When I was at Granny and Gramps' house, we put together a song list that we thought most of you would know. (or at least be able to figure them out!) If we learned it at fiddle camp with Erin, I will put a * beside it. Ready to get started? Now I hear you!

                       Song                                                                               Key                           Difficulty

Rubber Dolly (With varitions if you know them)  *                            D                                  Easy

Tennesee waltz *                                                                                    D                                  Easy

Faded Love  *                                                                                           G                            In between

Soldiers Joy*                                                                                            D                          Two variations

Chinese Break down *                                                                           D                                A bit harder  

St. Anne's Reel                                                                                         D                                 More difficult

Boil them Cabbage Down *                    I think it changes, but you know how it goes!            Easy

Amazing Grace         I forget what key, but do you J's or Fehlers do it in a certain key already?

I want ot teach you a song I learned first hand from Gord Stobbe too, called SACHA. It has a dance for the younger kids. :)

If you have any other fiddle camp faves, post them in a comment. (like pelican reel-whiskey before breakfast etc...)

That doesn't sound too hard right? Granny and Gramps are practicing them too, that is why I changed the key of Faded Love, to make it easier for Gramps to sing. (I originally learned it in D, I don't know about the rest of you)

We are all going to Auntie Jess' the weekend of the 3rd of October, so practice really hard until then, so we can all play together! Then just imagine how awesome christmas will be when we add G and G to our band!! Oh, ya, I forgot, practice between the 3rd and Chrstmas too!

I don't hear any cheering? Oh, where did everyone go? Here you come! You were running to get your fiddles out! I'm glad you are excited!!! I am too!

When I was at Granny and Gramps' house, we put together a song list that we thought most of you would know. (or at least be able to figure them out!) If we learned it at fiddle camp with Erin, I will put a * beside it. Ready to get started? Now I hear you!

                       Song                                                                               Key                           Difficulty

Rubber Dolly (With varitions if you know them)  *                            D                                  Easy

Tennesee waltz *                                                                                    D                                  Easy

Faded Love  *                                                                                           G                            In between

Soldiers Joy*                                                                                            D                          Two variations

Chinese Break down *                                                                           D                                A bit harder  

St. Anne's Reel                                                                                         D                                 More difficult

Boil them Cabbage Down *                    I think it changes, but you know how it goes!            Easy

Amazing Grace         I forget what key, but do you J's or Fehlers do it in a certain key already?

I want ot teach you a song I learned first hand from Gord Stobbe too, called SACHA. It has a dance for the younger kids. :)

If you have any other fiddle camp faves, post them in a comment. (like pelican reel-whiskey before breakfast etc...)

That doesn't sound too hard right? Granny and Gramps are practicing them too, that is why I changed the key of Faded Love, to make it easier for Gramps to sing. (I originally learned it in D, I don't know about the rest of you)

We are all going to Auntie Jess' the weekend of the 3rd of October, so practice really hard until then, so we can all play together! Then just imagine how awesome christmas will be when we add G and G to our band!! Oh, ya, I forgot, practice between the 3rd and Chrstmas too!

Who likes my new song? (It's at the bottom!) I have probably listened to it 40 times since, umm, yesterday. :) But then when I went on playlist.com they didn't have the one I wanted, so it had to be a remix. It is so funny, me and mom listened to all the versions they had hoping one would be the one, and finnaly, Gage started saying, 'ooooooh!' in the cheeky way the person does at the begining of the song! haha. I didn't know the words, 'punk' 'superstar' and 'rocker' described a classical composer... weird...

cairo

Well, it's been a couple days since I wrote! Lately, I have been writing every day or second day!

Last night was the BVF year end Jam. It was fun! My audition for next year is on Wednesday! Yikes! Want to know what I'm playing? I knew you would! I have to play a classical peice, and two fiddle tunes. One of the fiddle tunes Donna (The teacher) gets to pick, and the other, I get to chose! I have to practice ALL my BVF tunes though, 'cause Donna isn't going to tell me what to play until AT the audition! Anyway, for my classical peice, I'm playing 'The Infant Paganini' By Eduard Mollenhauer. For the fidde tune of my choice, I am doing 'St. Annes reel'. Then I have to play a scale, I think I am going to play Eb Major. AND I have to sight read a small bit, but that won't be too bad.

Well, I guess I should go. Mom is in Vancouver with the aunties and Granny and Gramps. And Dad is at staples. So that would make ME in charge! BWAAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

~Cairo

Oops! Kinda forgot to write about the dance with Gordon Stobbe!! Well, better late than never!!

It was SOO FUN!!!! There was only one rule: If you're not playing, you're dancing! Dad didn't follow the rule!! He didn't dance OR play!!!  I thought my group was only playing 'Sacha' and 'Donald Cameron's Polka', but we ended up playing 'Black Velvet waltz/Country waltz' and  '5 foot 2', too!

There was square dancing, polka-ing, waltzing, and some kind of reel where there was two lines of people and then the head couple makes an arch, and everyone goes through it? I dunno what it's called.

In the middle of 5'2, GS started singing. It was awesome!

We were SOOOO exhausted by the end!

Cai

Yesterday I had my workshop with GORD STOBBE!!!!!!!!!  It was so cool!!!!!!! When I got there, he was playing "Val's dream" with the kids that had gotten there first. So, I got my fiddle out and joined in for the second time through.  Then he handed out music for a song called  "Sacha" We played it through 2 or 3 times before he told us to turn around our music stands and play it again!!! It was hard, but pretty fun, plus it was a pretty easy song. (Jespersens and Fehlers, I'll give you a copy of the music next time I see you! it also has a really funny dance part for the little kids to do!!!!)  We played it through a couple times with out music. FAST!!!!! Then we went on to a polka. (Donald Camerons Polka?) We played that a couple times through. Then we had to play Sacha with out music again, to make sure we had it memorized.  After that, we took a break and played a couple songs that we already knew, 5'2 and Val's dream. (wouldn't it be cool to go to a group of fiddlers, and when you asked them what song they wanted to play, it was one that you wrote??) Then Sacha again, then the Polka a couple times. When we had the Polka pretty good, he taught us a fancy ending for it. Polka, with the ending then Sacha, then we were done!! When I had put away my fiddle and music, and folded up my stand, I went up to him and asked if he knew my cousin, Erin, as soon as I said her name he jumped in and said how much he respected Erin, and thought she was the best.  He said to me, " You must have really good genetics if your related to Erin!!"

On Friday, he is organizing a big barn dance for all the fiddlers and our families. I wish you could come, Darren, Haven, Carrie, Robin, Granny and Gramps!!! You guys would love it!!  My group is playing Sacha and Donald Cameron's Polka at the dance.  It will be SO much FUUUUUUUNNN!!!!!!!

I guess I'll have to make another post after the dance, to tell you all about that too!!!!!

I still wish a couple of my cousins could come to the dance, and introduce themselves to Gord Stobbe as "More of Erin's little cousins!!" HEHE!!!  Well, if Gramps and Granny came too, then, "Erin's Auntie and uncle!!" HEHEHEHEHE!!! 

Cairo

A couple days ago was fiddle fantasia!!! It was AWESOME!!!!! It was at Jack Singer concert hall. It is very big, and very fancy, and a teeny bit scary :)  I got there at 1:15, for a 2 hour dress rehersal and sound check, the 2 hours felt like 20 minuts, I was almost suprised when I walked on stage and saw 800 people looking at me!!(no, I'm not kidding, we sold 790 ticket, plus there were tickets being sold at the door!) First everybody played  song together. (probably close to 70-75 fiddlers) Then the smaller groups did their sets, then, my group did our set, then maybe there was another set (can't remember) then a song all together, then intermission. (There was Bow valley fiddlers and calgary fiddlers playing, for bow valleys there is the junior group, 2 intermediate groups, one that is slightly better than the other (not to brag or anything, but I am in the slightly better one :) then seniors and teens. About 15 in each group. Then there is the Calgary fiddlers, they are AMAZING, they are too good to even be Bow valley fiddlers anymore, and only 15 people can get in every year.  Last year they toured Ireland!!) Then after intermission, the teens, seniors and Calgary fiddlers played, and we did a couple more songs all together. Then, it was over! I don't know exactly how everything went because I was back stage the whole time, but it sure was fun!!!

Oh!!! AND, Gam and Gamp and Granny and Gramps came for the show!! We also slod tickets to Peytons friend, and one of my moms friends, Teresa came too, so we had alot of people there!! At the end of one of my songs, Gamp yelled out  "GO CAIRO!!!" I don't think anybody in the whole hall missed it :) But I was kind of glad he did it, because before, I didn't know where everyone was sitting, then I found them.

Afterwards, I was exhausted and starving, we ordered chinese and I had like, 3 heaping plate fulls!!! Then went to bed, not to wake up till morning :)

cairo

Last night I had my first BVF (Bow Valley Fiddlers) lesson!!!  It was really fun!!! Except we didn'y even play ONE SINGLE NOTE!!!!!!! It was just getting to know every body...  Everyone in my group seemed to have been in the group for YEARS!!!  They all knew each other, and the teachers, and seemed to know everything about the group... Then there was me, I think I was the ONLY new person!  But it was still fun, and I think it will get more fun once I get to know people.

AND 9 days ago I had my first lesson with my OTHER teacher, (I'm going to have quite a few this year, my two group teachers, my one on one coachng teacher, AND my private teacher, plus I'm going to have a few guest teachers with the BVF!!! ANYWAY,she was really nice, and a GREAT teacher!!!!

Well, gotta go!!

cairo

As you can see, I am now even MORE excited about fiddle camp!!  You know why?!?!?!  Gramps ordered my new fiddle, and I'll probably get it AT FIDDLE CAMP!!!!!!!!!

I don't know if I can wait till Wednesday!!!  I'll BURST!!!!!! It will be SOOOOO much fun!!!!!!

Well, better go!

cairo

I am learning a couple new waltzes on my fiddle.  Auntie jess gave them to us when she was here.  I'm learning: The Lieutenant Governor's Waltz and The Lover's Waltz and A Waltz for Vi.  I know the lieutenant governer's waltz and a waltz for vi better than I know the lover's waltz, but I still need  a little practice on all three of them!!  My favourite, I think, would be the lieutenant governer's, but maybe thats just because I know it better than the other ones, anyway, its really pretty!  

I gotta go practice!! :)

cairo

So, Mollen finally decided that she would play her violin for Shelly and Jon's wedding!!!  She just needed time to think I guess, she said that she wouldn't play for a long time, then one day she just said, 'well, whats my part?'

At the wedding we are playing 'In Christ alone'  and then we will play a couple fast fiddle songs at the reception.  Probably 'Solders joy and Boil them cabbage down, and maybe another one or two.

Today Mollen has to go to the dentist. 

cairo

Every year our kids program at church puts on a christmas concert.  Last year they asked me to play my fiddle, (I played 'Hark The Hereld Angels Sing')  sooo this year they asked me again, only they asked me, sloan, and peyton!!  We are going to play 'What Child Is This' and we even foung a simple 2 note harmony part for charter to play!!!!!!!  Its going to be sooo fun, me and peyton are learning the melody, and sloan and charter learned the harmony's, (sloan's is more complicated than charter's, of course:)   Even though me and peyton both play the melody, my part is harder because my mom added a couple of little runs and things that peyton does not play, only me. 

Its Tuesday, so I went to the church to play with the little kids.  There were 17 kids!!!!  There  wasn't  enough craft pieces so I had to print 5 more!! At the end when Mrs.Van Huise(the lady I drive with) came in to get us Max (her little boy) said 'Carter hit me on the face!' and me and her both thought he said 'cairo hit me on the face!"  Imagine if I didn't remember when him and carter had been in a fight, I would of never got to go again!!!!

Shelly and Jon are comming on Friday!  I'm so exited!  We haven't seen them in a year.  I can't wait untill their wedding!!

cairo

Well, it is the 29th. I am sure about that, but, that means its almost June!  And after June, July, and July is fiddle camp and our trip to Victoria!  Then in August we are going to 'cousin connection cow boy camp'.  I don't think I wrote about it yet.  Its this little camp my auntie is putting on for all the cousins on my moms side.  All the cousins on my moms side get to do a lot of things together this summer, fiddle camp is also for all the kids on my moms side( which is like all of them, yeah fiddle is a very popular instrument in our family:)  Since fiddle camp is coming up i am practicing a little bit extra, my newest song is 'Be Unto Your Name' and I am working on 'West Phalia waltz'.  I am trying to learn some of the songs that my cousins are learning so we will know some of the same songs to play as duets.

We have gymnastics tonight.  It starts in just over one hour, so we have to go soon.  Last week, I learned how to do pull overs.  I hope I still know how to do them this week. 

Well, I have to go get ready for gymnastics now. 

 Cairo

I love playing my fiddle!  (aka my violin).  My grampa bought me my fiddle last year.  i took lessons until we moved.  Ever since then i haven't had lessons. Except last summer when my mom's cousin put on a camp for all  the kids in the family who played fiddle.  That was a lot of cousins!  i hope we do fiddle camp again this year.  By then there'll be way more cousins to go... probably about 4 or 5 more. 

Fiddle camp was 3 days long.  My mom & Dad didn't go.  Me and my sister went with my grampa.  When we were there we did lots of things like play at a restaurant and at a gazeebo.  i thought that since it was only 3 days long, i wouldn't learn that much in that time, but by the end i was really surprised. 

i like playing my fiddle with my mom on the piano.  Even though we're more paying attention to what our own hands are doing in music, we're actually getting to know each other better. 

i'm not the only one in my family that play the fiddle.   My brother & 3 sisters play.  Even my 2 and a half year old sister!  There's only one song that all 5 of us can play together though.    i think that playing with my little siblings is part of being a good big sister!  i hope that there's always music at our family gatherings!