Through the summer, my daughter's family has been able to come regularly to Sunday dinners. It has been a real treat to see their little family of my currently youngest grandchildren. I have enjoyed watching the changes in them from week to week.
Not only are they growing bigger noticeably week to week, but their abilities are also growing week to week. Over the summer the baby has learned to walk, she babbles intelligibly, and her hair is growing in more and more. Three-year-old brother has developed some real ball skills that nearly match his love for all ball sports. And big 4-yr-old sister has really been developing her singing abilities. Each week she has shown her developing talents by singing Primary songs to me. (It helps that her mother sings with her every day.)
Not only are they growing bigger noticeably week to week, but their abilities are also growing week to week. Over the summer the baby has learned to walk, she babbles intelligibly, and her hair is growing in more and more. Three-year-old brother has developed some real ball skills that nearly match his love for all ball sports. And big 4-yr-old sister has really been developing her singing abilities. Each week she has shown her developing talents by singing Primary songs to me. (It helps that her mother sings with her every day.)
The Ellis and Betsy Bailey Family Christmas 1989
Watching those grandchildren gets me thinking about raising my own children. We sang together often. My older children learned to sing parts from the time they were very young. I wrote many arrangements to take advantage of the developing ranges of those older five kids. Kathryn, Carolyn and Katelyn could sing any of the treble parts and I'd write special parts for the boys, Michael and Matthew, depending on where their voices lay that day,
At first, we just sang 2-part songs with both parts in similar ranges. But, of course, I would give them each little solos, too. Then it became obvious that my second daughter had an unusually low range, deeper than my oldest son for a time. That gave us the option to branch out into 3-part treble songs. Then came that glorious day when Michael's voice dropped. We could do full out SATB+ arrangements. Dad even joined us when he and Michael could support each other singing the bass part together.
At first, we just sang 2-part songs with both parts in similar ranges. But, of course, I would give them each little solos, too. Then it became obvious that my second daughter had an unusually low range, deeper than my oldest son for a time. That gave us the option to branch out into 3-part treble songs. Then came that glorious day when Michael's voice dropped. We could do full out SATB+ arrangements. Dad even joined us when he and Michael could support each other singing the bass part together.
Cami as an Autumn dancer in "A Successor to the Throne" My youngest two children were like our second family. The older kids had left the nest before Cami and Mitchell were old enough to hold their own in part-singing. So, those two, of necessity, developed their own solo singing careers. We did a lot of Children's Theater shows during their youth where Cami and Mitchell did many featured roles. Cami mainly did parts where she could also dance. Mitchell, by virtue of the fact that it was rare to have enough talented singer boys sign up for the show, got many lead roles. (He much preferred the unnamed Guard #6 parts)
All of this reminiscing makes me think of one of the songs in "A Successor to the Throne." At the climax of the show came the song, "Worthy to Admire."
One of the lines compares the promise of a seed to the promise of a child.
Both miracles are worthy to admire.
One of the lines compares the promise of a seed to the promise of a child.
Both miracles are worthy to admire.
Mitchell as the heir-apparent in "A Successor to the Throne"
RSS Feed