Fun In The Sun

Okay, so I haven't blogged in over a year, so I think that I should

probably blogg! :)

 We went to Bemidji State Park last weekend and hung out on the beach.

It was super fun!

 Elizabeth and Matthew loved running in the water!

 This is my wonderful mother!!

 She drew me a heart to tell me how much she loves me!

It was a very fun day in the sun!!

Life...

This is my super awesome cousin, Cara.

We took a lot of silly pics!!!!





This one was my favorite!!!  It was one of the very few that she actually smiled!!







Matthew...



These are 4 of the GREATEST looking girls EVER!!!  :)





I baby-sat these two super cute kids..

This is Elly!



This is Paul!



I got to hang out with these two girls on Sunday!!

This is Emmalyn.

This is Maggie!!

  I so havn't blogged in FOREVER!!!  I need to keep up with it!!  Time just gets away...  I will be blogging more!!  :)

~Valerie~

The Cello

Speech Class

11-28-11

Valerie Westlund

              The Cello is one of the only stringed instruments in the world that you have to sit down on a chair in order to play.  It was invented in the early 16^th century by Antonio Stradivari.  Today’s Cello is a lot smaller than the original Cello.

                The main parts of the Cello are the Scroll, the Peg Box, the Fingerboard, the Body, the Bridge, the F holes, the Tuning Peg Board, and the Endpin.

            The Scroll is a beautiful addition to the Cello.  Most types of stringed instruments, like the Bass, the Cello, the Viola, or the Violin have this beautiful piece.  The Scroll is a delicately carved piece of wood that curves around and around and under like this. (Demonstrate)

            The Peg Box is inside the Scroll.  Its job is to hold the pegs.  The pegs hold the strings in place.  You use these to tune the Cello.  When you tune the Cello, you simply turn the pegs until the string is in tune.  (Demonstrate)

            The Fingerboard is the board on which the strings and your fingers rest on when you play.  The Fingerboard runs all the way from the scroll to just before the Bridge.  The Fingerboard allows you to make a clear sound with your fingers, and to support them when you play.

            The Bridge holds the strings up.  If you didn’t have the Bridge, you wouldn’t be able to play the Cello at all, because the strings wouldn’t be up off the fingerboard, and so the strings wouldn’t be able to vibrate and make a sound. 

            The Tuning Peg Board is the board that runs down from the Bridge, all the way to the top of the Endpin.  In it, there are the fine tuning pegs.  You use these after you use the actual Tuning Pegs, to make sure that your strings are perfectly in tune.  (Demonstrate)

            The Endpin is located at the bottom of the Cello.  It is a long metal stick that is pulled out of the Cello to make the Cello your height.  There is a knob at the right side of the pin.  You use this to tighten the pin so that it doesn’t slide.

            The F holes are a very important part of the Cello.  They allow sound to come out of the Cello.  Without them, there wouldn’t be any sound at all.

            The Body of the Cello is the central part of the Cello that runs from the middle section of the neck of the Cello, to the top of the endpin at the bottom.

            In order to play this instrument, you must use the Bow.  The Bow is made of wood with horse-hair on one side of it.  You hold the Bow like this, (Demonstrate) with your thumb on the bottom and your pinky on the top, and your middle and ring finger in the middle part, called the frog, and with your index finger off to the side like this.

            However, you can’t just use the Bow, either.  If you did, the Cello wouldn’t make a noise.  You have to first coat the horse-hair with a special substance called rosin, which is a type of Amber.  You must be careful to never touch the horse-hair, though.  If you do, the oils on your skin will ruin it, and then you won’t be able to play anymore.

            When you play the Cello, you put your legs around it, like this.  You hold your hand straight, keeping your fingers apart.  Your Bow needs to stay in a specific area on the instrument.  This area is inbetween the fingerboard and the bridge.  If you put your Bow on the fingerboard, you get a very week sound, vs. if you put your Bow on the Bridge, it will squeak.

            When you are done playing the Cello, you should always wipe ot off using a rag.  The reason you do this is because the rosin will cut into the finish on the instrument, and eventually it won’t look nice anymore.

            This long white worm-looking thing is called a Damp-it, and it is a little humidifier that is put inside the Cello so that it will keep it moisturized.  When it gets cold outside, the strings like to slip out of tune.  The Damp-it helps it not to do that.

            The Cello is my favorite instrument.  In my experience, the Cello takes a lot more finesse and skill than other instruments.  I played and studied the Violin for four years before playing the Cello.  The Cello and the Violin have a lot of similarities, which made learning the Cello both really fun and really easy.  In addition to that the sound is very beautiful.  The deep sound vibrates through the floor.  I love the Cello.

Grandma's House, and Snow

We went to my Grandma Trosen's house on Sunday.

I didn't take any pictures of her, but I took plenty of Matthew, Elizabeth, Mom and I.  :)

 The sisters goofing off.

 I think that Matthew was telling a story.....

 Mom and Elizabeth.

 Then, we had fun in the snow!

Matthew is just cute.  This is his last day as a 2-year-old!!!

                                                       Elizabeth and Matthew went sledding. 
                                        We don't have quite that much snow, but the loved it!!

                                                         I stood at a distance, taking pictures.

                                

Elizabeth is singing "Jingle Bells"!

Matthew is singing: "Oh no!! My Shoe!!"

                                                           Poor ol' Shauna Bell!
                                                   She really wanted to play with us.

                                                        Matthew and his "Snow" Mobile!!  :)

                                                                   Beautiful Elizabeth!

                                            Matthew is trying sooooo hard to pull Elizabeth!

                                                   Elizabeth is trying to pull Matthew!

                                                      Then, there's the unexciting, me.   :)



Life....

At Aunty Barb's house.

Okay so, I just got my blogg back after a few months, so this is my up-date! :)

This is Matthew, the cheezeball!  (The camera loves him,

or maybe, he loves the camera!!)

This is Matthew showing me his "Muscles!"

This is me and my adorable sister, Elizabeth.

 Matthew....

                                                        This is me and my "Serious Face"

Me and Matthew.

                                           Matthew playin' with Mater and Lightning McQueen.

                                    It was so cool to look out my Aunt's window and see cows. 
                                                          This is one of the pictures I took.

                                                                 Doesn't this look real?? 
                                                                     It's actually not! 
                                                                  It's a clay baby-doll!!


                                                                          My Gram...

                                                     Matthew was so funny.
                                  He was trying sooo hard to grab the cat that was under the grill.
                                               I bet that cat was so glad to see us leave.....

                                                                   Cutting up the deer...

                                                                    Beautiful scenery......

                                         Matthew and Elizabeth would spend hours on this rock.
                                                                          They loved it!!

Valley Fair/The Mall of America.

So, I went to Valley Fair in August. 

It was sooooo much fun.

The theme was on snoopy, so we took a picture with him.

 This was the Wild Thing, a TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, SCARY ride, that I have vowed to never go on EVER, EVER, EVER, EVERRRRRRRRR again.
There is nothing worse than the feeling of weightlessness.....

                        This is a picture of Lindsey, the greatest youth-group leader IN THE WORLD!!!

 Then, we went to the Mall of America, which was super huge, and super fun!  Lindsey and I went to the Under-Water World, which was a LOT of fun.
                                                          This is me touching the Star-fish.

       

 This is Lindsey in the under-water tube, with all of the sharks in it.  She was DEATHLY afraid of it, and I had to virtually drag her all the way through!

                                                                A sea ray. 
                                               Ugg! My camera wasn't working properly.

                                                                         A sea horse.

                                                       Lindsey touching the star-fish.

                                                              Giant Gold-fish.

                                                                        Jelly-fish

           The BSU Beaver Hockey Game!!!!
                    Yah! For my Birthday, we got to go to a hockey game at the Sanford Center! 
                                                      It was sooooooo much fun!

                                                  Matthew, being a cheezeball, as always!

                                                                       The team....

                                                                       My Fish
You may not know this, but my dear little hamster, Nibbles Cheeze Westlund, passed away on September 3, 2011.  I was HEART-BROCKEN.  But then, for my birthday, Mimi got me a Beta fish.  It's almost as great as a hamster!  :)

                            Camp Shamineau
Okay, so I went to Camp Shamineau, which was a LOT of fun, but I only got 2 pictures.  It was really hard to carry my camera around with me everywhere that I went.
                   This is Molly Ley (MolLey)  the awesomest small-group leader IN THE WORLD!!

                                                                   This is Rachel Posner.

                   Best Freinds!  This is Elizabeth's bestest friend (I know that's not a word) in the world.

Okay, so I messed up.  This is back at my Aunty Barb's house.

This is Matthew.

                                                                        Sisters :)

          This was what the living room looked like Saturday afternoon when all the men were out hunting.

                                                                   Little Mattthew!  :)



Okay! so, now that I FINNALLY got my blogg back, I will be blogging more!!!!