Meile has had quite the musical week with performances with the orchestra and honor choir. Shortly after school started, she signed up for the violin and we have been pestering her to practice. After we brought the violin home, we called Anissa, the family cellist, who advised us to expect some difficult sounds from the violin for the first year or so. She was accurate in her warning, yet things are starting to really improve. Meile is the only violinist in her school, so she basically gets private lessons right now. At the recent concert, they featured the orchestras from the high school, middle school, and the 5th graders (featuring our little lady). It was amazing, and encouraging to us all, to see the measured progression that comes with time.
In February, Meile signed up for the Grand Island Honor Choir. This is a district wide choir and they have been practicing twice a week. Today was a combination orchestra and choir performance and Meile was a very busy lady. It was a fine performance and I was glad to see that Meile is enjoying herself.
Christopher is quite the successful little guy, so much so that I wonder what he won't excel at. Our district takes the ITBS tests and he scored 99% across the board. He is quite the piano player, mathematician, and artist. I regularly hear from folks that they are impressed with his drawings, and he is a very good illustrator. His animals, people, and vehicles have a real definite style to them. He is a very good natured boy, and is best friends with so many people. I just went in to check on the boys in their room for bedtime, and I was about to scold them for not sleeping. Christopher's answer, "I'm listening to Jared tell me a story." What a good buddy.
Jared is our little fact person. Having started reading at 3 1/2, he is an insatiable reader. He is especially drawn to fact books. He regularly puts out some little known fact and will test you on it. Like a walking game show, he will pepper you with "Did you know..?" Here are a few examples:
"Did you know that there is protein in those cookies."Daina is our little story teller as well. I will regularly get some long narrative from her that is an amalgamation of several recent stories from her brothers and sister, the TV, and/or the scriptures. She loves to listen to music tapes in the car, and I caught her playing "air guitar" and lip syncing to a song about eating your vegetables to get a sufficient amount of phytochemicals. She is quite the head-banger when singing about her "Five A Day Vegetables."
"Did you know that the (I forgot the name) beetle can destroy a forest?"
"Did you know that most toilets flush in E flat?"
"Did you know that when Mozart composed his first symphony at 5, and died at 35 having composed 41 symphonies."
"Did you know that Wolverine's bones are made of adam antium and can't break?"
"Did you know that a forest ranger in Colorado burned a letter and accidentally started a forest fire that destroyed an entire forest?"
Matthew has recently started walking and when he is awake, he is moving. Always moving. One of his favorite places is, of course, the kitchen cabinets. He loves to unload every container, lid, and pitcher. He is especially fond of the pots and pans. Today, I learned that he can successfully bypass the child locks on our kitchen cupboards under the sink. Thankfully, the dish soap that we use are those pre-wrapped soap cubes, so he didn't eat anything. I did, however, re-roll 35 feet of plastic garbage bags. I don't know how Becky can get anything accomplished with that boy. His smile is quick, so is a scream of protest when offended. Rarely a cuddly boy, he barely waits after nursing before he collapses out of Becky's lap and onto the floor, eyes searching for the next path to destruction.
Lucky, our beagle/basset mix, is very sweet and friendly, just not very bright. Lately, he has been spending more time in the house, in an effort to keep him from freezing to death in this Nebraska winter. He basically stays in the kitchen without too much trouble, and the kids have had to sweep the floor much less (though mopping is more of a necessity). He is Matthew's best friend and they play quite a bit. Lucky is very patient with the boy, who has a habit of yanking, pulling, an clawing at the dog's tail, ears and face. I regularly turn to see Matthew holding the dog by his lower jaw, and Lucky just sits there and smiles. Not long ago, before Matthew was walking, I watched him scoot across the kitchen floor on all fours, followed closely behind by Lucky who had his nose where you would expect. I could hardly stop laughing.
Life in Nebraska is good. The state is hopeful for a good football season. Recently, they had an offense/defense scrimmage game with each other, and it sold out. All 82,000 seats of the stadium. It's a little crazy sometimes.
We love you all and miss you terribly! Come out to visit us. Its not as long a drive as you think. See ya!
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