Band and Choir Concert, pt. 2

OK, here is one of the choir songs. M3 is on the far left on the edge of the row. (I zoom.)

Band and Choir Concert

M3's first band concert!!! You're going to have to watch for her...she pops up with the sax section. I kind of focused in on her general area. This piece is called "Popcorn Prelude." Keep in mind....these kids have only had their instruments for a bit over three months, and they have band every other day with private lessons once every six days!


Did you see her??! I have a choir video where you can see M3 much better. (It takes hours to upload these videos, so I'll get it up here soonish.)

Hardship...

M4 so hates shopping for clothes that he informed me the other day, while being subjected to trying on pants, that he doesn't want to buy any clothes, he only wants to "make them himself." Well, I guess he would never have to leave the house then!

Birthday boy!

M4's birthday was last Friday, and we had Giza in house! Well, at least here are the mummies and their buddies:
There were definite opinions on who wanted to be a wrapper and who wanted to be a wrapee. The procedure:

Of course, cakemaster Mark came up with a beautiful pyramid cake with hieroglyphics and all! He really is multi-talented.Junior archeologists excavating a site filled with Egyptian artifacts.

A good time was had by all. Really, it was a whole birthday weekend made extra special by Grandma and Grandpa's visit. We ate cake all weekend! Woot!

Down with the crankies! Up with the tree!

OK, got some Christmas shopping done...hope to finish most of it this week so as to actually enjoy the rest of the holiday. My friend Andrea joked with me about forming a "Less is More" support group, but I am all for it!! I feel like one of the few people on the planet not getting all electronics for their kids. I know there are others of us out there...we must band together.

M3 had her first swim meet last Saturday and did a great job! It's always fun to watch her swim. The next meet is at home in Grinnell College's gorgeous new pool. I will definitely try to get some pictures. After the meet, we went and got our tree at our new favorite Christmas tree farm:
Deer: "Whaddya you lookin' at?!"
Reindeer like apples!

Not enough snow for the toboggan, but they tried!

Thanksgiving edition?

What I want to know is how in the GD hell (to quote Carol Burnett on Glee) do people have time to blog so much? I guess for some it really is their job, so they must schedule it into their day. I don't even have a full-time job, and I can't keep a simple family news blog afloat. Also, I think I will stop using the word "blog." It's getting on my nerves.

Anyway, I forgot to take the camera for Thanksgiving, so no pictures. It was a pleasant enough time, with the highlights being a visit to Tim and Mindy's and spending the night with Kristi, Craig and company on the way home. Why can't we live closer? I try not to dwell on the past, but I do miss our old friends. Waaaahhhh...

So now it's December, which means M4's birthday, swim meets, M3's band and choir concert, and oh yeah, Christmas and stuff. I won't forget the camera.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Because we are going to Indiana for Thanksgiving, we hosted three of our four international "kids" last Sunday for a Thanksgiving meal. I was pretty excited about cooking, despite the fact that I spent ALL WEEKEND IN THE KITCHEN!!!! It was worth it, though. Chinami (Japan) is only here for one year, and she had never had a Thanksgiving meal. Shirlie (China) hadn't had a Thanksgiving meal before either. (We didn't get to it before we went to KC last year, what with Chris's funeral. Last fall wasn't a good one.) And it was Inwook's (Korea) last Thanksgiving in the U.S. Next year he will return to South Korea to fulfill his two year military requirement. So as we went around the table to say what we were thankful for, they were all very happy to be experiencing this bit of American culture. It was nice to share what we were all thankful for...family, friends, the extreme good fortune of a stable job, the luxury of being able to put on a Thanksgiving feast, and of course, the cat. The turkey was a bit dry, in my opinion. But it's only my third-ish turkey.

No sweet potatoes, because I don't like the traditional Thanksgiving prep (marshmallows??!! more sugar? gross!!). One of these years, I will work up some good, spicy sweet potato dish. Mark's stuffing, of course...my personal favorite. The best part...we'll have leftovers!!!