What’s new here? I don’t have pictures today, just an update!

Kayla – She received a letter today at band practice. She has been invited to participate in Honors Band! I think that means she gets to spend a very special day in workshops with musicians like herself and adults/mentors. It is followed by a concert to show all the hard work for the day. Kayla said that only about 10 of the 6th grade band students were invited (there are around 40 6th graders in band, maybe?).  It is a nice recognition, and Kayla will really enjoy the day. She also started some new medication this weekend to help with the ADD. We don’t know if it is working, but at least she has not felt any side effects. Kayla has her Solo Fest event this Saturday. She will play the Entertainer with a piano accompanist in front of a judge. She will earn a medal from bronze to gold. She has 2 gold medals from the last 2 years. We’ll see how this year goes. She has a harder piece of music, but she has been practicing!

Ashley – This is her week to be Star Student in her class! She gets to make a whole huge poster about herself. She gets to choose an item for the Estimation Jar – the kids in her class have to guess how many items she puts in the jar. The winners get to share in the goodies if they are something that can be shared. Ashley chose large marshmallows – 42 of them. She gets to be the center of attention a little bit this week. And she has the (unwanted) attention of some boys. And her teacher had to tell a boy that “I know Ashley is pretty, but you need to face forward and do your test correcting.” All Ashley noticed was that her teacher thinks she’s pretty.

Snow. Snow. Snow. Always coming down for my evening commute. I drive about 20 miles almost due west and then south across Lake County. I live by the western edge, and I teach right on Lake Michigan, and it usually takes me about 45 minutes to drive it. The latest snow (Winter Storm Rocky for you weather channel geeks), is planning to get started around 2PM tomorrow and be a headache all evening and into Wednesday. Last time it did this with the same timing, it took almost 3 hours for me to get home! This time, Kevin has to be in Chicago, so he can’t get the kids. I am so fortunate to have a good friend who cares for the girls before and after school. She said she could make a frozen pizza if it gets to be too late. I am crossing my fingers that maybe my principal will arrange for me to leave early if it is getting messy, or that the snow waits until closer to 5PM to really start so that I can be mostly home. It is supposed to get really windy too, which is tricky when I drive through a lot of open farm areas (Peterson Road for you locals).

The house – it is almost done. We have new bedroom carpet and we moved back into our own bed this past weekend after 2 months of living in the basement. Our bedroom looks like something out of a nice hotel rather than the old boring white we used to have. Shower doors arrive on Thursday, so we can shower in our own bathroom again soon! The rest of the work is now mostly cosmetic – maybe I can move the dining room out of the piano room soon?

I will try to get some video of Solo Fest so you can hear how Kayla has improved and what she sounds like with an accompanist.

Can you believe that she will be 12 in less than 3 weeks? Geesh!