I finally got a good music stand. As soon as Grant saw it, he said, "now I can teach Brynnie violin lessons!" I had no idea that a missing stand was all that was getting in the way of Grant's teaching career! That afternoon, Bryn fell asleep and Grant was crushed that the lesson would have to be delayed. But early the next morning, he was ready for her! (He had some old visuals from earlier lessons, a pencil, and some stickers as rewards.)
Loving all the attention, Bryn jumped on board (thankfully!) The first exercise was he would tell her which string note to play (E, A, D, or G) and if she got it right, an animal would advance to the picnic. She was focused. So was he. Seriously.....it's true. (We had to delay Bryn's real violin lessons because she was incapable of concentrating for more than 3 seconds continuously.)
Here's how it went down:
The animals all got to the picnic, and it was a party for sure. (He came up with this all on his own.)
Then time for note reading, or - I mean writing. Grant drew the first note (G, as you can see if you enlarge the picture, you'll see two ledger lines.) Bryn had to draw at least 6-7 more of them, and he did D, A, and E after that, all of which she copied several times.
I'm still trying to process this, and figure out how to put this model in place with everything we do. It was instructive, to say the least.
All year, their teacher (Sarah Oehler - a truly incredible and talented violinist and teacher) and I have been trying to get him to hold it the right way. Cole caught onto this much earlier. But Grant finally reached a moment where he wanted to master this detail on his own, and he's very proud of it. Grant has incredible pitch, and can follow notes on a page with his voice. I got a tear in my eye one week when we was doing it at a lesson. They each have different strengths, but both boys have surprised and impressed me as they've allowed practice to become part of every day, and part of their lives. 
Mona Zabriskie is one of our very closest friends, an adopted grandma to our kids, and an amazing writer. Remember, she created an entire musical "With Mine Own Hand." (well, Nephi helped with the script, too.) So, she started a blog, recently, called Mona's Gospel Musings in which she writes about a topic every Sunday. And when I say "write", I mean "entertains, expounds, enlightens, and pretty much just makes you really glad you read it. I saw Laura is already following it, and wanted everyone else to have an opportunity to do the same - especially since she's giving a CD of "With Mine Own Hand" to all of her followers this week in celebration of her 50th Birthday! Wow!! I checked, and she won't feel abused if you hurry and become a follower, and therefor get the CD. Especially make sure you read "Who's Body is it, Anyway." Really good.
