caught reading

dancing burritos

This is Ave and Elise, dancing in a Chipotle restaurant. We met Elise's family there Friday after work, and left when the place closed for the night. The kids had to entertain themselves somehow while the parents talked. And talked. And talked.

recorder karate

On Tuesday, the fourth grade had their recorder concert. All the kids are learning how to play the recorder and read music with a program called recorder karate. First they learn 3 notes, (B, A, and G) that can be played with one hand. White belt. Then they learn break marks. Yellow Belt. Then another note. Orange. And so on. Max has his white and yellow beads (the beads are on their recorder case and show the level attained). He's ready to test for orange, green, and purple. Some of the kids have gone through black and Mr. Wiebel had to create 2 more levels, tie-dye and pink.

Max is the one standing up in the back row - craning to see Mr. Wiebel be presented with a blinged out recorder - a gift from the 4th grade. Apparently, Mr. Wiebel wears his recorder 24/7 so that the kids can test for the next level at recess, lunch, or whenever they corner him. He has even left it on after school, and been spotted in public wearing it. The students thought if he was going to wear it out and about, he should have a 'spiffier' one. The concert was pretty darned good - considering 40 some kids were playing an inherently squeaky instrument. I shot some video of it, and will post it someday.

great reading

http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/default.asp

someday i'll learn how to put a link into a post.

poker face

I asked Max to sit still long enough to take a picture - he decided to get goofy all by himself. Max really wanted to play poker with dad tonight, and after dinner and homework, they played for about 15 minutes.

joys of parenting

I went to a parenting seminar on Saturday with a friend, and took this picture to prove to B that men were there too. Lots of men; lots of people. It was at one of the mega churches, and the sanctuary was full past capacity. Probably to capacity, but they calculate capacity for pews at 18" per butt, and people just don't sit that close. The lady in front of us had her baby with her, and the baby carrier took up 24" easy. Didn't really learn anything new (already read the book), but it was enjoyable and I'm glad I went.

grass sledding

Doesn't work quite a well as snow, but the kids had a hoot sledding in the grass. And yes, the hill in our backyard is steep enough.