Prairie Plaid Pickers

These photos are actually from months ago which I had uploaded to my blog but never did caption. Rose's mandolin teacher had tried to find a way to share some music, but with all the shutdowns, it was hard or impossible to do so. However, one Sunday afternoon Rose's teacher had arranged at a church for her and her husband and our family to share some music that we had practiced together, along with music by several other folk.

And the little group of the teacher, her husband and us they named "Prairie Plaid Pickers."  This lady's husband used to play in night clubs before he became a Christian. He just loves picking up various instruments to add to the children's song arrangements, including this "washboard" which is actually called a "rubboard" in musical terms. 

Another sweet friend of our family who lives on a ranch 45 minutes away was there to play her accordian.

 We all wore plaid shirts or blouses. I managed to find a pretty red and black top for Hannah at Walmart, and one for me, too! It's hard to find clothes for tweens, but we were tickled for this one for Hannah.

I taught her how to iron the flounce at the bottom. I try not to forget to teach my youngest the skills she will need in the future, and not leave her behind with skills just because there are several other ladies in the household who can do the work for her. 

My older girls were reminded a couple months ago by a very sweet, grandmotherly lady to be sure to let Hannah learn to work, and not to do all the work for her. 

Even the youngest needs to learn homemaking skills!

I still remember the first time I ironed Jonathan's shirts for him in Kiev, Ukraine!

I was so thrilled to do that for him, to show him how happy I would be to keep his home and do laundry for him! And I do it happily to this day!

Practicing at Rose's teacher's home before the service. And then we made a caravan of two vehicles and followed the Hudsons to the little country church that had arranged for some music.

  Danny was asked to hold the flag for the National Anthem, accompanied by another group of musicians.

The children and our friends had asked me to sing along with about three of the songs, to help them stay together! It was fun! We did "In the Garden," "Fairest Lord Jesus," "Wayfaring Stranger," and "Count Your Many Blessings." Jonathan and I also did a little patriotic reading together that I had written while the others played a medley with "America the Beautiful."

This musician dressed up like Beethoven, I think it was, for a cute musical rendition similar to that musician's.           

 

            It was a great opportunity for the children to use their new musical skills, even though they are still learning.      

This is a family photo that a friend snapped of us clear back in July of last year.