Campbell's First Piano Recital

Campbell has taken formal piano lessons since December '09. Before that, he had taken an after-school program called "Piano Wizard," which is like Guitar Hero for the keyboard. And he has always been good at picking out tunes.

His recital was yesterday, and we were so proud of him. The first video is Campbell; the second is his friend, Isaac, and the last is their piano teacher, Chase (playing a piece he composed himself).

Guitar

Just before Christmas, our family was having a discussion about scales on the piano and chords on the guitar. John pulled out his guitar for the first time in a long while, and Helene showed a keen interest in learning more about it.

John looked up some guitar tablature and was showing the kids how to read it.
Campbell headed to the piano to find the same chords there. He has been taking lessons for a couple of months now and is thriving. He has a natural talent for piano, and he loves it. I have never had to ask him to practice. He just gravitates towards the piano several times a day and works on a little bit of his assignment each time. Campbell has his father's ear for music along with his mother's ability to sight read music - nice combination.
Helene turned 7 this past weekend, and her big gift from us was a guitar and lessons. She is so excited! Her first lesson was on Tuesday. I was pleased to see her intense focus (her eyes and focus were on her teacher or her guitar the entire time) and even more thrilled that she had her guitar out on the way home in order to show me what she had learned because she was so excited about it. Helene's teacher said she was picking things up very quickly. It is so nice to see the kids enjoy what they are learning.

Helene's Birthday Party

I uploaded the pictures for this entry right after Helene's party, but I just realized that I had failed to write anything or publish it.

So, the short version is that Helene turned 7 in January and had a Polly Pocket themed birthday party. 6 girls were present, including the birthday girl. It was probably the smallest and most low-key party we've ever had, and it went really well.

The girls played with some of Helene's new toys.

Those who arrived first were put to work decorating!
They did some crafts.
They made their own bagel pizzas.
There was gift opening.
Helene wanted ALL of her Polly Pockets on the cake together.

And there was some singing. I don't know who initiated this, but its inappropriateness cracked me up.

Black Belt Test

Following are pictures from my Black Belt Test this past Saturday, January 23.

stretching and warming up

Bobbie took all these pictures of the test, and got this adorable one of his wife and son while he was at it!

doing forms (2 random ones, chosen by our master instructor)

sparring (just a short round, basically a demo)

board breaks (triple whip kick followed by a tornado roundhouse)

receiving my black belt!!! (being tied on by a master instructor from Denver who comes to help with testing, but is not our regular instructor)

Once it was on, I could not stop grinning.

Chris, Master Song, and I

As a part of my testing application, I had to write an essay about my journey in the martial arts. Here is a link to my Black Belt Essay.

Christmas 2009

Christmas at our house was completely perfect this year. We had family members and some close family friends over for tamales on Christmas Eve. This is the only picture I have from that evening, but I love it. On the left is my second cousin, Graham. He is a talented musician (studied at Berklee College of Music and has played with Robert Francis and other big names). Campbell recently started piano lessons, and the two of them were at the piano discussing major and minor scales and other aspects of music theory.

This is from Christmas morning. The main gift for the kids from Santa was a trunk full of classic games (Sorry, Monopoly, Jenga, Trouble, Yahtzee, etc.). It has been a great gift. We have had many family game nights since then. And the kids have enjoyed playing board games with each other, as well.

One of Helene's favorite gifts was her American Girl Just Like Me doll, whom she named Samantha Annika Bradley. Samantha has hair and eyes that match Helene's, and the two of them received matching outfits, as well. Helene has never been much of a doll person, but she loves Samantha. She puts Sam to bed with her at night and sends her to "school" (a corner of her room) each morning.

Everyone's favorite Christmas gift was Bell, Chad & Courtney's new daughter, born on December 18. They were able to join us for a couple of nights beginning on Christmas Eve, and it was so peaceful to have a newborn in the house.

Later in the holiday, we all went up to Northfork. We had a fun time sledding up on the Meadow.

The holiday was full of family, friends, and fun. All in all, just perfect.

Dogs, Dogs, and More Dogs

While my brother and sister-in-law were out of state waiting for their baby to be born, we became the proud temporary owners of 2 extra dogs.  It was quite a houseful with 2 adults, 2 kids, 3 dogs, 2 cats, and 2 snakes!

Bleu is a super cuddly dachshund.  I think he thinks he's a cat (except for the fact that he barked at my cats).  He was constantly in my lap or on the couch.  

I took this picture through a very dirty door, but it illustrates their personalities so well:

Ellie (Eleanor Rigby) is a border collie, who loves to play fetch.  She has a great talent for catching a frisbee.


It was fun, but I would not ever want to own that many dogs.  They are a lot more work than cats.

Christmas preparations

Christmas is almost here.  My German-themed village always gets me in the spirit:

Baking sugar cookies has always been an important part of Christmas for me.  When I was teaching, I used to make dozens of them and hand them out to my students while they were taking their final exams.  With children of my own, it's a lot harder to make mass quantities like that, but at the same time, more fun and meaningful.  Kathy and kids came over a couple of days ago, and we all made cookies together.

Becca and Helene at the KitchenAid mixer:
Helene did not want her picture taken; she whipped her head back around when she saw me with the camera.  And if you were wondering, yes, her shirt is on backwards.  She wanted a solid green shirt to go with her red skirt.  (I guess if she can't see anything but green from the front, it must be solid green.)
Campbell and Aaron cracking eggs and following the recipe to tell us what step is next:

On Christmas Eve-Eve, it snowed and snowed and snowed.  Helene went out to play in it early in the morning (while I was still straightening up the house and could not join her).  I love that she can get all of her snow gear on by herself!  She took some toys out with her and played a game where she threw them into the snow and then tried to recover them.
Here are her toys (lined up from smallest to largest) after their adventure in the snow.  They also accompanied us on our sledding trip later in the day.  Helene said they had a great time, and "they did not get cold because they do not have a nervous system."  Must be nice.
I think Helene's hair looks beautiful all wavy like this (which is how it is naturally, especially after being out in the moist, snowy air), but she prefers it straightened.  The grass is always greener. . . 
Now it's the morning of Christmas Eve.  We are having friends over this evening and family coming in later.  It's gonna be a great day!