6/30/2011 Updated Scamper photos

I just updated my post about the Packard Summer Scamper 5K with two wonderful photos that a photographer took along the course. What a treasure to have these of me and Gabriel together!

About halfway through the course. I love this picture!


Approaching the final turn to the finish line, moments before my epic sprint to barely edge out my son by 1 second, probably for the last time ever.


Thanks to Stacey for pointing me to these photos or I'd never have noticed!

6/30/2011

6/26/11 Summer Scamper

Today Gabriel and I ran in a 5K race to benefit the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. Over 1200 participants turned out for a 5K and 10K walks & runs, plus kids' runs. It was quite the event! Steph and Aidan and Remi accompanied us to cheer us on -- and of course get photos.


Gabriel and I had a goal of finishing the 5K in 25 minutes. I thought I was running strong, but he kept up with me the whole way, fading back sometimes, then catching up. That's harder to do!

A photographer was taking shots along the way.

(I love this shot, what a treasure.)

When the finish line was in sight, Gabriel and I were running together, and the photographer was there again.


As we approached the finish line, Gabriel sprinted ahead, and then I pushed the hardest I've ever pushed in my whole life to pass him. I barely did and had to work HARD to keep going -- and Steph got the shot! (That's me crossing the finish, and Gabriel is the next runner behind me, the short one in the white T-shirt).


We were both really out of breath but psyched. What a race!!


Afterward we walked to where the goodie bags and snacks were. A radio station was blasting music so loud there was only one thing to do.


A lady with the radio station came out and gave Aidan a T-shirt for dancing! He was psyched.

Race results were chip-timed with devices we attached to our shoes. In the end, I beat Gabriel by 1 second, for an overall time of 26:33 (pace 8:33 minutes per mile) -- much slower than our goal of 25 minutes.

This race has the strangest age divisions: womens' age groups spanned only 5 years (I was in 45-49), but the younger years (where the most differences are) had only one age category: 19-and-under. What's that about? 19-year-olds in the same group as 7-year olds? I don't THINK so!! I thought they should at least have had a 10-and-under category, even before discovering that if they had, Gabriel would have come in 3rd. He did GREAT. He'll certainly beat me our next 5K, as he should.

Other than getting too discombobulated by the crowds to meet up with my friends who gave me the idea to do this, it was a terrific time. I'm so glad my sister and niece and nephew were there for us. And what FUN to do with my son!

6/26/11

6/25/2011 Hail hail!

The gang's all here!

6/23/11 2011 Pre-K graduation!

Today was preschool graduation! As usual, our preschool did a nice job of preparing the kids, with the whole group entering one at a time and then performing at least 7 little songs, with enthusiastic hand gestures.

All except one.


Some years there's a cryer, and this year, it was ours. Katrina had refused to sing along with all the practices, her teacher told us, and now she was so mad that she was put in a position to perform (though she didn't have to sing) that she buried her face in her hands and cried. People asked if she had stage fright or was feeling overwhelmed or is sensitive -- hah! No. She was just P.O.'d that she couldn't get out of this. Our little contrarian.

She pretty much went along with the diploma receiving ritual at least, but without the bounding happy proud smile of the other kids.


After graduation, we went to Pump It Up, where I had a a great time scaring other first-time kindergarten parents to death with my tales of woe about school. "What, you can't go to Hawaii for a week?" one Mom asked. Uhhhh, that would be a big fat NO.

Anyway, I'm very proud and happy anyway, despite Katrina's troubles today, that we're done with preschool forever!


6/23/11

6/21/2011 First day of summer

It's HOT!! Usually I like hot, but on Tuesdays I go running, usually with a coworker. We had a heck of a time today running our usual 4-1/4 flat route, talking about motivation techniques and trying to keep each other going. Toward the end, my coworker had to stop and walk; for me that's worse so I finished and then walked back to meet him. We were both dizzy and chilled (like goosebumps) and felt awful.

I'm a summer person, but NO THANKS to 99 degree weather! How many more minutes until ski season??

Busy crazy night...last day of preschool tomorrow (!), cleaners coming tomorrow so tons of cleanup tonight -- AND new episodes of White Collar and Covert Affairs on TV. I didn't even bring my work laptop home tonight!

One thing that keeps the Bay Area permanently crowded is that even on 99 degree days like today, it's pleasantly cool tonight.

6/21/2011

6/20/2011 Mad About You

Good grief. Gabriel has been really easy and cooperative lately, but he reminded us again tonight that when he wants to dig his heels in, he has no equal.

I think it started because I asked him to wash his hands before dinner. He felt he'd washed his hands recently enough, but I insisted anyway. It's a rule, I'm not about to go making judgements on how dirty hands or the length of time or activity engaged upon since the last hand-wash: you wash your hands before dinner.

He was so mad that I had to give him a countdown just to get him to leave the room to go wash his hands, upon threat of losing computer time (something he's been getting daily now that it's summer, a rare thing, and only for programming). Then he sat in the bathroom for 20 minutes until I chased him out with the same threat. Then he sat at dinner and refused to eat for a full 40 minutes, until it was time to clean up. He got a 5-minute respite while Dave to go check something in his car outside, but at the end of that 5 minutes, that was it, dinner's over.

Then he refused to leave the kitchen, put his shoes away, go upstairs to get ready for bath, or do anything without being prompted by the threat of lost computer time. Finally we got tired of pushing him every step of the way and told him that every minute past 8:00 that he's not ready for bed is a day of computer access lost.

He's now 10 minutes past time, with 10 days of computer time lost. Sounds oh so GREAT huh? I can't wait to enforce that one.

An hour and a half long conflict, that's still not over, about not wanting to wash his hands. And don't think for a second that "he'll learn" for next time. Ohhhhh no, if he decides to dig in again, it'll be the same darn thing all over.

That's Gabriel for you. At times like these, I can never decide if I'm madder AT him or madder ABOUT him!

6/20/11

6/19/2011 D-Day

Low-key Father's Day around here. I went running this morning with Betsy, then came home and made Dave's favorite breakfast (with middling success unfortunately!). I wasn't feeling well today, so didn't do much in the afternoon, but found the energy later to do some long-overdue gardening and pruning. Our landscaping really needs regular attention -- it only took half an hour to clip enough stuff to completely fill our huge yard waste bin. At dinnertime, I put out the things the kids had made for Father's Day, and we had a relatively calm dinner and kid-bedtime.

No major blowouts or issues with kids today -- that's the best gift possible for Dad!

6/19/2011

6/18/2011 Jake's beach birthday

Anyone who has our annual calendar will see that June's photos are all taken on the beach.

Last year, those photos were all taken at Julian's friend Jake's birthday party in Rio Del Mar, just south of Santa Cruz, less than an hours' drive from home. This is the only birthday party in which I'm happy to attend for the whole party!

Jake's mom and I made friends when we were waiting to drop off our new kindergartners (Jake and Julian) at school, and have stayed in loose touch since. Jake and Julian weren't in the same kindergarten or 1st-grade class, but we're holding out hope for 2nd grade!

The weatherman once again predicted cold and foggy -- GEE that's a leap in Santa Cruz in June -- but he was wrong once again, and the fog burned off early to reveal a sunny, beautiful day.

Gabriel and Julian wasted no time filling the water guns.



Katrina was reluctant to go into the water at first, saying she was afraid and that it'd be cold.


I persuaded her to get closer to the water, but it took the help of a brother to get her into the water.


The surf is unpredictable, and it caught both of us off-guard. I got soaked taking this photo, and Katrina got knocked over by the wave and shrieked in terror.


I quickly grabbed her and picked her up to a stand, still screaming in shock. But as soon as she was standing, she changed completely: "That was FUN!!" And after that, I couldn't get her out of the water.

Katrina ran around the water for most of the time we were at the beach, running into the water, running away from it. Twice I had to chase her down the beach as she drifted farther and farther away. I told her to stay near a lifeguard station with a big number 7 on it near us that could be seen from a distance, and she did.




Long after the boys gave up on the cold water, Katrina was still running in and out of it. I'd never seen her run so much! But eventually she was so cold she could barely move her fingers. Her lips were blue and she was covered in goosebumps. I wrapped her up to warm her up.


Moments later, she was right back at it. She refused to put on more clothes or stay on the sand where it was warmer, she was having SO much fun running in and out of the surf.


Meantime, the boys had teamed up with the birthday boy, Jake, and were busy on a major digging project. Jake's Dad is an experienced beachgoer, and he brings a serious shovel and digs a huge hole for the kids as soon as they arrive. He knows what he's doing, because something as simple as a huge hole is a huge hit. The boys spent the better part of the day digging more into the hole and bringing buckets of water to make a "river" into the hole.





I had a great time chatting with Jake's mom and other parents I'd met last year. Dad took the opportunity for a motorcycle ride and stopped by, to Katrina's delight.


As is always the case, we were among the last to leave. It took a good 40 minutes to get everything packed up and everyone de-sanded and ready to go. I had a rare opportunity for a photo-op, but had to promise them birthday cake for that (birthday cake and candles aren't practical on the beach).


I paid up though -- a trip to Whole Foods where they all picked their own "birthday cakes."


Beach days are tiring! The drive back was unusually quiet.


What a great way to start the summer!!

6/18/2011

6/17/2011 Rose Blossom

Katrina...what a funny little thing she is.

Picking kids up this week has been crazy because they're all 3 in different places. I pick Katrina up first at preschool, then Gabriel at our usual CDC, then Julian at a YMCA daycamp where he took Martial Arts for a week (and he loved it). Despite this craziness, having the boys apart has been great for everyone. What a relief not getting behavior reports from teachers or camp counselors every day.

On the way to pick up Julian, which is farther than usual and along a new route, Katrina's been making a game of calling aloud names on street signs, and showing that she knows all their abbreviations, like "Rd" is Road, "Dr" is Drive, "Wy" is Way, etc. And sometimes she make a joke or laughs at a particular street name.

One sign that caught her eye a few days ago was Rose Blossom Drive. "Rose Blossom!" she called out, "That's my new name!!" And so, she's now Rose Blossom.

Rifling through this week's preschool work, I couldn't believe it when I saw the Name on this worksheet.

At least 3 of her worksheets, she'd put her name down as Rose Blossom!! Mis-spelled, but I can forgive a 4-3/4yo for that.

Other worksheets, she used her real name however. This worksheet caught my eye because it asks kids to write a sentence -- a sentence! These are preschoolers! This worksheet shows in the lower left corner that it's technically for Grade 1.

That's Cupertino for you. It's not just Katrina; her whole pre-K class is doing first-grade level work. Meantime other parts of California -- heck, even nearby in San Jose -- are struggling with getting kids up to par in just the basics. I hate it when teachers are criticized for "failing schools"; I think most teachers are very committed. It's families and parents that have the most to do with kids' success in school. Cupertino preschoolers are doing first-grade level work because of their parents -- even skeptical/lazy/apathetic ones like us who don't directly supplement their education at home. Our preschooler is writing sentences and doing basic subtraction without flashcards or tutoring or "educational" anything, and I think that's mostly because of her general environment at home.

Wherever she gets it, I love that Miss Rose Blossom's education opens the world up to her -- it means that she can read street signs, process what they mean, and be able to write a name down as her own and make a game of it.

Speaking of education, one thing I've finally learned: don't even bother putting away my "marking station" when the summer starts or when school starts! Every day it seems I have another item of clothing, towel, water bottle, whatever, to label. I have a whole kit of iron-on name labels, labels with no printed name that I can write on, and heavy-duty stickers for things like swim goggles. Good grief!


6/17/2011

6/16/2011 Short-timer

It's like I have senioritis. Though I have a zillion things to finish up at work before taking over a week off starting next week, part of me is already there!

AND, only FIVE more days of preschool!!! Ever!

6/16/2011

6/15/2011 Lemonade and broccoli

I don't know what got into her, but Katrina really really wanted to make lemonade tonight. Though it was hectic also preparing dinner, I said, OK!

So I taught her how to slice and squeeze a lemon, mix in the sugar, and add the water. It came out light and a little sour, but she was very proud of herself.

The only trouble was keeping Julian out of the way -- he butted into every step. I found a way to keep him occupied and involved though, and he really did help, by floret-ing tonight's broccoli.


I like my kitchen help!

6/15/2011

6/14/2011 Great day x 3

Gabriel had a great day at the CDC camp, his teachers gushed. It's like they'd never seen this side of him. "So helpful, loved making sand castles, and he likes to cook!"

Julian had a great day at the Y martial arts camp, he gushed. He talks about the stances and sequences he learned, and was so happy to come home with a new Tae Kwon Do uniform.

Katrina almost always has a great day at her preschool, and today was no different. Happy, cheerful, full of funny little comments and pointed remarks.

And people want to shorten summer vacation?! NO WAY!!

6/14/2011

6/13/2011 Three's not a crowd

Dispersed! All 3 kids in different locations the next 2 weeks.

This week, Gabriel is at the CDC, Julian is at Martial Arts daycamp at the Y, and Katrina is still in preschool. Logistical nightmare for dropoffs and pickups.

But what a timesaver in listening to the boys' issues together at the CDC from the teachers, and their nonstop complaints about each other later!! Gabriel was happily busy with a Perplexus when I picked him up, and Julian had a grand time talking about the Tae Kwon Do moves he learned today, comparing to Kung Fu. What a relief!!

6/13/2011

6/12/2011 Bike weekend

The boys had Wheel Day at the CDC Friday. Since I was driving Dave's car, we figured this was the best way to get the bikes home.

Walking across streets of course.


Today, Sunday, our longtime moto-friends stopped by with their son Saul, who's 10 weeks older than Katrina. Charles has had his eye on Dave's old Moto Morini motorcycle for years, and I've had my eye on the space in the garage it's been taking up for more years. Charles bought Dave's bike, Sara and I had a chance to catch up, and Saul played with Katrina and the boys on and off. Very nice.




Sigh...someday again for myself too!


It's NOT A SCHOOL NIGHT!! YAYYYY!!!

6/12/2011

6/10/2011 working and playing

worked hard at home tonight, finishing up a busy week. then I had just a few hours to make use of a 40% off coupon for window coverings, expiring June 10. I usually don't pay attention to stuff like this but window shades are expensive!! 40% is a LOT. funny how I've waited for years to get real window coverings and then it boils down to the last hour.

ok i've had enough, good NIGHT to this week.

6/10/11

6/9/2011 Kung Fu Discipline

Thursdays, we take Julian to Kung Fu, where in theory he learns precision and discipline. Overall I really like Kung Fu and how he learns physical control, how the teachers correct every last detail and put up with nothing, but Julian and his contant messing-around really test them.

Today when I picked him up, Julian's white belt was off him and tossed in a corner. I'd tied it myself before he left, so I knew it hadn't fallen off. I had a feeling this was a consequence.

I notice how the Kung Fu teachers watch parents furtively for their reactions, so I wanted them to know that I'm behind any discipline they have to administer to my little darling. At the end of Kung Fu class tonight, I instructed Julian in front of the teachers that he had to listen to them, and that they'd make him do pushups if he didn't listen.

Julian later explained that his white belt was off because he'd "had trouble" with a kick, adding "but I wasn't falling on purpose!" Uh-HUH. That explains why he lost his belt temporarily.

I'd have been in favor of permanently demoting him, except that the meaning would be lost on him and it'd cost me another $25 for another belt test. My last hope for discipline is shot.

I don't mean to raise a passel of conformists - there is value to challenging authority. I'm OK with behaving "sometimes" if a kid is smart about when. But they have to learn cost-benefit tradeoffs -- a fancy-schmancy term for "picking battles." Not happening here. Julian just messes around and can't quit. Even in $25/lesson Kung Fu classes.

What does it take to get through to this kid?!

6/9/2011

6/8/2011 Car trouble

Gabriel's soccer team is SO awesome in some ways and SO lame in others. No team party this year; just a "practice" today in which the coach would hand out trophies.

I was running late from work, so first I picked up Katrina, then zoomed home to get Gabriel's soccer stuff at home (forgot it this morning), then planned to pick up the boys and get Gabriel to soccer.

But the last left turn I made before getting home with Katrina, I thought, "that's odd, the clutch feels really light." I didn't notice anything as I pushed in the clutch in again to put the car in reverse to park in the driveway, parked, then pushed the clutch in one final time to put the car in neutral...and it stuck. The clutch pedal just stayed there, stuck to the ground!!

Uh-oh. I wasn't going anywhere.

I was stunned by my good and bad luck. Did my car really just become catastrophically undrivable, with no warning, in my driveway?! It could just as well have died a few blocks away, turning an amazing irony into a huge pain in the ass!! (Note to moto-geek friends: YES I know it's possible to drive it without a clutch, but this was no time to learn, tons of stop-n-go traffic.)

But there I was, in my driveway, with a now-undrivable car. And I had to get Gabriel to soccer practice!

However, we do have the purple pickup. I rushed Katrina into the pickup, then got the boys, and zoomed Gabriel to his last "practice."

But no one was there....did I get the location wrong? Argh, I couldn't check my email, because in my hurry I'd left my iPhone in my disabled car in the driveway. On top of it, the A/C doesn't work in the pickup, a serious annoyance in a truck with manual windows and a screechy little girl who hates wind on her.

I took the kids home, where I found Dave working on my car (just a hydraulic line problem, he can fix it this weekend). I checked email: the team's field permit expired, so the coach handed out trophies at 5:30 today, which had long since passed. Fooey. Not that I care about stupid "participation" trophies, but I'd have liked to make the one little stab at ceremony this soccer experience has had!

Just last night I was working (again) on my Death Valley writeup, which reminded me how grateful I was at the time to know I had a reliable car.

Our first day in Death Valley, we rescued a poor guy whose battery had died after leaving his hazards on for a flat tire (what a day that must have been for him). I had the jumper cables, a working car, and hand wipes for him afterward, and he was pretty relieved! It was 102 degrees on a very long stretch of straight road with nothing around for miles. Death Valley is no place to have your car die.

But I'd taken the boys on far more desolate roads than that, confident in the knowledge that my car is reliable and well-maintained -- Dave takes meticulous care of it. But when your clutch dies out of the blue, it's pretty unnerving.

Dave points out this is a minor, if odd, failure, and he can fix it. This car has always been sort of lemon-y for a Subaru, and this hydraulic line problem really isn't related to the car's construction, but still, it gets me thinking. Financially I don't have the stomachh to buy another car, but today half of me is ready to say "screw it!!"

6/8/2011

6/7/2011 LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

School's OUT! Half-day, everyone dismissed after watching movies and loading up on candy, pretty much a continuation of the party theme of last week also. Honestly, why do we fret so much about 5 furlough days and a shortened school year? It seems like the whole last week and a half of school is a total waste anyway.

I took the day off partly because I had to (CDC closed today) but mostly because I wanted to. I spent the morning making phone calls to wrap up my father's affairs, then went for an unusually awesome run at Rancho San Antonio, one of my favorite places in the world. I got home just in time to finish my teacher thank-you cards, quick shower, zoom to school.

I really wanted to thank the boys' teachers profusely, since they both really went way out of their way to help us with them this year. Lots of extra effort, time, ideas, communication, and we really appreciated it.

Gabriel in particular has had the same teacher for the past 2 years, and we're really going to miss her. Not every teacher would tolerate his shenanigans the way she did, but she also saw his strengths and really tried to cultivate them. He says she's a "nice strict."



After school, we had lunch at home and then I took the boys to Inside Line Racing, an indoor remote-control car place at a nearby mall. My skin crawled at being inside a mall on such a nice day, but it was fun running the cars. The boys loved it.



We picked up Katrina a little early, where another teacher managed to get a photo of them in their "varsity" T-shirts. I didn't take the photo; I'm no expert photographer but I'd have moved to get rid of reflections in the background and fix the sun-on-the-camera problem. Still, the poses are delightful.


At home, the most marvelous scene developed: Julian playing "wall ball" against our neighbors' garage across the street, with our neighbors' two sons and another neighbors' two sons.

The two boys across the street are (as of today) in 3rd grade and kindergarten; the other two who live a few houses down are in 3rd and 1st grade. Also on our street and the adjacent court are a 1st-grade girl, a 2nd-grade girl, a 4th-grade girl, and two more kids in this age range who go to Collins.

Most have this: the ever-present non-English-speaking grandmother from the Old Country.


Katrina was also across the street, and I asked her how she got there. Though our street is very quiet (and WAY quieter now that our RV neighbors left), she knows she's not allowed to cross streets on her own.

Turns out, this is how.

She'd stand and holler for Julian to ferry her across, he'd stop his play and go get her! I disapprove of the running, but I'm glad they're following the important part of the rules (holding hands, looking).

I happened to catch the mom of the kids across the street, and actually met and talked to her. They've only been here, what, 2 years? It was time! She's terrific, and works at eBay. Like most of our newer neighbors, she's from China. She told me that their family and 4 others trade off picking up their kids from our school, then taking them to an after-school Mandarin academic learning center (there are zillions around here).


I asked her if she knew what went on two weeks ago with all the cops and firetrucks, a few days before the troublesome neighbors left, and she said she didn't know -- but two weeks prior, an iPad and a GPS were stolen out of her car! She knew exactly when, because they have a camera system that recorded her going out of their house carrying the equipment, then going back into her house to get something she'd forgotten, then coming back out again. (Unfortunately the camera was not pointed at the street so they couldn't see the activity in the car.) 24 seconds had elapsed, and her items were gone from her car. How awful!! I doubt it was the bad neighbors themselves, but they always had so many unsavory characters visiting and hanging around. She said that her husband wanted to move, but just in time, the patriarch of the parolees died, and his arguing sons sold the house and finally left.

We agreed that we should have a neighborhood party to welcome our new neighbors, a young Asian couple with a 14-month-old, though the woman apparently is a "native English speaker." We don't know yet when they're moving in, but we're encouraged by the (real) contractor trucks we've seen parked there.

I have a feeling we've underestimated how much our trashy neighbors brought the neighborhood down -- I think more than we really knew. With them gone, we might actually have the makings of a neighborhood. Now if only I knew Mandarin.

Congrats to the grads!


6/7/2011

6/6/2011 Standing Up

I had a really nice, relaxed weekend overall...but in other ways, it was very dark.

I'm haunted by the evil I face at work, and then mega-haunted by how it haunts me. First, I get intensely frustrated at being criticized for things I was doing well, because I was doing them, and well. I was also dogged by the irritation at hearing a coworker say he stands up to Mr. Horrible about relatively benign things (such as Mr.H's total disregard for people's time, always being late, demanding people go to things with little notice) -- but I don't dare to do that after being accused of insubordination. I can't stand it, but my (male) coworkers' observations of sexism might well be true.

Then it bothers me that I'm thinking about this on a weekend at all. Don't I have more important things to worry about? Such as my errant sons, grieving my father, cleaning out the garage, scrapbooking? Yes, of course. But isn't there a point at which I have to accept that the way I am is the way I am, and that I have a hard time releasing my mind and spirit from intense unresolved situations, and that my mind spins on them, occasionally arriving at an answer?

My friend Amy from college, who sadly I have not seen since college, even though I was a bridemaid at her wedding, posts to Facebook:

"You've got enemies? Good, that means you stood up for something in life."

I can't explain exactly why that appeals to me so much, but it does say something. Many people in this world suffer, and make their families suffer with them, because of a closely held principle. My situation isn't nearly as extreme as standing up to the Taliban, but it has elements of that, and certainly the family suffering is part of it. And me too -- I know rationally that my ridiculous work situation doesn't deserve more than one brain cell firing of thought after 5pm, but unfortunately, the way I'm wired, I just care too much about things being done right. For some reason, my friend's quote hits home.

But tomorrow, I really will set aside principle for the things I know are more important -- it's the last day of school, and I'm taking the day off to pick up the boys and celebrate their passage to 2nd and 4th grades!

6/6/2011

6/5/2011 Easy Sunday

Very low bar for success today -- and we met it!

My goals: quick workout at the Y, get the boys to write thank-you cards to their teachers, more house cleanup (that was a VERY lofty goal actually), and then let them watch Harry Potter And the Sorceror's Stone. Gabriel and I had watched it together last night anyway, but of course he'd want to watch it again.

Julian and Katrina, like yesterday, were not with the cleanup program until the movie was really in their faces. I said "3:00 and the movie goes on, with or without you!" Julian stepped up, and magically, his PROBLEMS with cleanup vanished. He got his jobs done fast. Katrina refused and insisted she didn't want to watch the "dumb movie" -- until the TV actually went on. Then, wailing, she said she was in a HUGE HURRY to get her work done. This included folding and putting away her laundry, and picking up hundreds of yarn scraps from snipping an entire skein of yarn into tiny pieces.

In the end, everyone got to see Harry Potter, and the house is ready for the cleaners tomorrow. Yay!

Gabriel had it easy today, since he'd helped me so much yesterday. While Julian was cleaning up and Katrina was putzing, Gabriel made banana bread, with guidance and occasional lifting and reaching from me, but for the most part, on his own. He's very proud of his creation!


Gabriel is slowing getting some toys back, but I'm really amazed at how he doesn't seem any more bored than before most of his toys were put into a box in the garage for horrendous behavior last week. He's spending more time on the piano, for starters.

Unfortunately, I missed Gabriel's Spring Concert this year because I was back East for my Dad's service, but I've gotten a lot out of it indirectly because he's been playing one of the songs his class sang on the piano at home. This isn't a complex song, but I still can't help to be impressed that he can play it, even though he didn't play it in the concert. It's not a huge deal for an experienced pianist to pick up a song this simple, but a kid who's had only a few months of lessons, years ago?

Maybe I'm too much of a musical amateur myself, but it still blows me away that he does on his own, just for the heck of it. I asked Dave how he learned it, and Dave said, "he heard it." It's eerie sometimes; it's like he's just wired differently.

The song is about Peace, called "Circle The Earth."


My son making banana bread and playing piano, and his siblings cleaning up after themselves for once -- now that's magic!

6/5/2011