Marching Band Banquet

I know, I know... So much band stuff.  Well, this is the end.  (For marching band, anyway.)  This past weekend was the marching band banquet.  The kids look forward to this fun night every year.  It is a chance to look back at the whole season, receive awards and tell funny stories about their fellow section-mates.  It really is a fun night!

I LOVE these mini versions of the big props that were used during the show!

The table decorations at the banquet were great!!

Ben finally received his band letter!

Every year the section leaders pass out silly awards to their section members.  Ben's was a slightly embarrassing story.  I will spare him the embarrassment here.  :)

This is most of the trombone section.  A great group of kids!!  Ben is really going to miss those seniors next year!

The friendships made in band are priceless!  Ben has made some amazing friends!

Not only friends, but the memories and lessons he has learned in the past 3 1/2 months are ones that he will carry with him for the rest of his life!

It was an exciting, hard, sometimes disappointing, yet, fun marching season.  Now we all enjoy a little break from the chaotic schedule and look forward to next year!

Ben's All-District and All-State Audtions

Ben doesn't shy away from a challenge.  He is a great trombone player and is always looking forward to the next performance or audition.  He works really hard and practices a lot!  

Unfortunately, All-District auditions and All-State auditions came the very first weekend after marching band ended.  Whoever came up with that idea was, clearly, not thinking about all that these kids have had going on all fall!  Still, Ben practiced as much as he could.

With weekly lessons and practice at home, Ben felt somewhat confident and hoped for the best.

Let me just say, I don't enjoy audition days.  It is purely selfish.  I hate waiting all day for the kids to find out how they did or if they made it into a band or on to the next round of auditions.  Completely nerve-racking!  A lot of praying goes on all day long!!  Ben claims it doesn't bother him.  I don't know how he does it!

After several hours of waiting Ben found out that he made it to the next round of auditions!  YAY!  (There are two rounds on this particular day.)

I am thrilled to say that, after several more hours of waiting, Ben made first chair in the NBDA Concert Band!  He also found out that he was invited to participate in the next round of All-State auditions four weeks later.

I cannot even express how proud I am of this boy!  I can't wait to see how the next round goes!

OBA State Contest

OBA is huge!  It is the last contest of the season and puts you up against all of the bands in the state.  We were having a great marching season, so we were all very excited about how things would go this year! 

(I keep trying to add a video of the marching show, but it won't seem to work.  I will try again later.)

 Ben and his "senior" from last year.

Sadly (very sadly!!), things did not go at all like we all thought they would.  The Bruin Brigade did not make it to finals.  I have no idea where they ended up, but it was devastating!  The kids and parents, alike, were all in shock!  We all really thought we had a great show and a great shot at finals.  Apparently, it just wasn't meant to be.  Sad!  These kids worked their tails off all season, so it was hard to see them so deflated.

I guess there's always next year...

Halloween ~ 2014 Style!

Jedi's and Wonder Woman...oh my!  

Halloween was slightly different this year.  Ben had marching band rehearsal and wasn't able to dress up.  He was disappointed, especially since he and Luke were planning to dress alike.  Oh well...what can you do?

Luke couldn't wait to try on his costume as soon as it arrived! (Grammy made it and I brought it home from St. Louis!)  Ben tried his on too so they could compare!

 And have a light sabre battle!  I love my Star Wars loving boys!

That has to be the cutest little Jedi I have ever seen!

He was more than happy to let me take pictures of him in all kinds of fun poses!

And...my favorite superhero girl!  Wonder Woman!!  How cute is she?!

I was super excited to make a tutu for Abby! I told her I would be happy to make her Halloween costume as long as it included a tutu!  :)

I

I got to take these cuties out trick-or-treating!

Even though the marching band had rehearsal, some band parents came up with the brilliant idea to plan a trunk-or-treat event as a surprise at the end of rehearsal.  It was so much fun!!  The kids were surprised and the parents had fun putting it together for this hard working group of kids!

Even though the kids weren't allowed to dress up, Ben and his friend, Ben, dressed up as twins.  Do you see the resemblance?

I love Halloween!  Such a fun, fun night!

Bruin Brigade Takes on St. Louis!

The Bruin Brigade got to travel to St. Louis to compete in the Bands of America Super Regionals at the Edward Jones Dome.

 

When Mom found out that Ben was going to be marching so close to Indianapolis, she knew she had to be there!  I'm glad it's close enough!  

It was only appropriate that the band would have dinner at Hard Rock Cafe!  It was  SO cool!!  They had the entire restaurant!

It's a stack of Ben's!

Look at that boy of mine!

I am such a proud band mom!

The band had a great run of their show!  Unfortunately, out of 64 bands, only 14 were chosen to go to finals.  Bartlesville was not one of them.  But that was ok!  It was fun for them to get to perform in "the dome" and against some great bands!

The highlight of the trip came when the Bruin Brigade was asked to play the National Anthem for the start of finals!  Seriously?!  Yep!  Coolest thing ever!!  Such an honor!

Broken Arrow Invitational

 Unlike the Owasso contest, we had beautiful weather for the Broken Arrow contest!  (Aside from the wind...)

The Brigade had a fantastic prelims performance and was THRILLED to make it to finals that night!

They ended up coming in 11th place (out of 12) but were happy just to make it to finals.  There was some pretty stiff competition there, for sure! 

Next major marching band event... Super Regionals in St. Louis!

8th Grade Band Night

Abby had been waiting for this night for the last two years (since Ben got to do it when he was in 8th grade) and was SO excited when it finally arrived!  The night when the 8th graders get to hang out in the stands with the marching band, as well as, join them on the field at halftime.  

Thanks to Ben being in band, Abby already knows a lot of band kids.  She received a very warm welcome when it came time for her to sit in the stands.  "Abby!!!!"  "Come sit by me, Abby!"  It was a great feeling for my slightly shy girl.

Luke got a nice surprise at the game!  We found his friend, Wade!  Wade was in Luke's class last year.  They became very good friends and miss each other dearly!  Luke was beside himself with excitement when we spotted Wade from way up in the stands!

YAY!!!

Ben was happy for Abby to finally get the chance to get a little taste of marching band.  Both of them are looking forward to being in marching band together next year, which makes this mama very happy!

I love, SO much, that the high school makes this opportunity available to the kids so that they get a taste of what they have to look forward to next year.

To say that Abby had a great time would be a huge understatement!  She couldn't stop talking about her night in the bandstands.  I think being in marching band is going to make my girl come out of her shell!  :) 

Owasso Invitational Marching Contest

Marching season has officially begun!  Ok, it started back in July, but the Bruin Brigade just went to their first contest.  We were all a little concerned that the contest wouldn't happen as it was pouring rain all morning and much into the afternoon.  We left the school, drove to Owasso and sat on school buses for about four hours!  The parents/chaperones were able to feed the kids, but it was definitely a very wet process!  The kids did fantastic and were thrilled to find out that the show would, indeed, go on!  The format would be slightly different, but marching would happen!

Due to the rain, the normal prelims/finals format would not happen.  Each band would march once and be judged solely on that run.  Honestly, the kids were just happy to do what they love!

Ben has a fantastic section this year!  I was one very happy mom when I asked Ben if I could take a picture of his section and he was happy to say yes!  No teenage boys sighs.  He quickly gathered his crew and let me take a picture.

The kids even asked for a silly picture!  A great group of "bone-heads"!

Finally time for some marching!

Look at my boy!  My heart just swells with pride when I see him doing what he loves!

  

(I am thankful for to have a photographer friend!)

Mr. Claussen giving his traditional post-performance speech.

These boys love each other so much!

 Could they be any cuter in their matching shirts?!  :)

The bruin Brigade had a super start to their season!  They received the Best Visual Performance award for their class.  Placed 3rd in their class. And placed 10th overall.  There is still plenty of work to be done and progress to make, but this was a great start!  It would have been nice to see how the results would have turned out if the prelims/finals format had taken place.  I am super proud of all of these band kids and the hard work they have dedicated so far this season!  I can't wait to see what's to come!