merryness

Sophie's 12/17 concert

Sophie's time to shine!

 

and one with the choir

Nutcracker

Here's a piece from Emma's school concert last night--a little holiday classic

Violinists really do smile sometimes when they're not busy being violin'y...gotta catch 'em quick though before they go back to being serious...

(mgr--videos here & at Julia's concert courtesy of my new Christmas Panny--1/2 price on Cyber Monday.  Only the 2nd time I've used the video so still practicing but I love it--I was sitting in the 3rd row from the back of the auditorium here & the top row of the gym bleachers at Julia's concert!)

Holiday Medley

Here are a few videos from Julia's first band concert--guess that makes it my first band concert too. They sounded great & amazed everyone!

Ode to Joy

Julia's Concert 12.9.14

Frere Jacques

District Orchestra Festival

Emma's turn with the high school symphonic group...she's in the front/middle next to a kid in a white shirt who didn't get the 'wear all black' memo.  Oh well, easy to spot her from the stands that way...not so easy to spot on the video.  Good luck with that!  Also the iPad ran out of power before the end so it's a little cut off but you get the idea.  :)  She is in there somewhere...

District Orchestra Festival

You know the District Orchestra Festival was today because of the mess of snow falling all day.  The festival was a success...not bad for Sophie's first go at it with the 7th grade group.  She's in the front to the left of the audience guy with the orange shirt.

busy week & it's all about me

me...and the principal second violinist of the Front Range Youth Chamber Orchestra before her first concert

Julia's Halloween "Tris from Divergent" flying crows tattoo drawn on by...me

my adorable, and freakishly strong dog playing tug of war with...you guessed it...me.

that giant mess right there?  Cleaned up by me.  Happy Halloween!

pumpkin patch

almost got lost in the corn maze...almost...

befores & afters

Spent the weekend helping Karen & Mark paint their lovely new cabin...it was a fun...(though grueling) weekend.  There is nothing like the sound of quaking aspen right outside the window to make painting tolerable!

K & M's bedroom before:

After:

The Holy Blessed Virgin Mary in the family room before.  Yeah...somebody did that in their house:

And...after (she was on the left side of the window).  

If she reappears through 4 coats of primer & 2 coats of paint, we're all in trouble.

in case you forgot what we look like

(or how we behave when we're not acting ultra photogenic)

Those fans who did not choose to sit on the opposing team's shady, shady bleachers at Julia's double header today had to deal with the eternal sunshine blazing in their faces all afternoon.  Die hard fans, they are.  Sunburned too.

Emma, with her pile of books & Victorian sensibilities, and I, ever the doting mother who didn't want her to sit alone, braved a spot in the cool of the shade deep in enemy territory.

Julia up to bat.

making progress

What a difference a couple of weeks makes!!  

blog in the family

Now Julia has a blog too!  Check the links below
:)

Julia's double header warm up time

 up to bat

 and catching like a pro

Beginning Clarinet

Beginning Clarinet According to the Cat

firsts

First full day of middle school...

...happens to fall on the first full day of Julia being 11

It's a good day!

20

Twenty years ago tonight, I had a house full of people and a new puppy who was doing unspeakable things on my kitchen floor.  I had to summon my fiancé to my house to come and whisk this puppy away to the after-hours vet...in the middle of the night...

That was the night before our wedding.
It was Giardia.
The night before our wedding.

This is the puppy...and the fiance:

If you buy what Walt Disney is selling, all happy endings start with a bit of a challenge, a few bumps in the road, a couple of catchy tunes, and hilarious mishaps along the way.  Sure, we've had our bumps, but I'm now at a point in my life where I've been with that puppy-toting hero of mine longer than I'd been without him, and it's a good place to be.

Feels weird to say I've been married for twenty years...seemed so far away that night before our wedding.  It has all gone by way too fast. 

Twenty years ago tomorrow was a great day...

 and I wouldn't have changed a thing along the way...

50M freestyle-Sophie 8/2/14

Sophie is 2nd lane from the right (1st place).  And with a beautiful flip-turn too!!  :)

Just took Mack to the Sears Portrait studio to have his portrait taken in front of a majestic mountain backdrop...oh no wait...that was our actual majestic mountain campsite last week.  And he was a very eager and cooperative model...that boy was made for camping!

While we were at it, I took a lovely picture of Karen & Mark in an eskimo'esque pose with their noses touching...long story. The girls were a little less than comfortable at the photo shoot, so Emma and Sophie decided to re-create the pose while Julia added a little commentary about the whole thing.  Can't let a good majestic mountain backdrop go to waste!

Schmoopy

When we get a lot of rain...and I mean a deluge of rain like we did this evening, our neighbor's underground drain fills with water & makes a grass water bed.  Always so cool...and always so strange!

revolutionary war re-enactment

                                                            Happy 4th!