Violin Concert

Brandon's violin concert was tonight. He and the rest of the strings performers played very well (as well as you could expect 3rd, 4th and 5th graders to play). We sat through what seemed like 15 versions of the same song by the third graders, 4 French songs from the 4th graders, and some jazzy numbers with the 5th graders and the orchestra teacher on bass in a very hot, un-air conditioned auditorium. Thankfully, the concert was rather brief. Brandon did very well, and actually is talking about playing violin or cello again next year.

If I could find my camera, I would have taken pictures but I can't find it. I'm sure this weekend when I'm doing some marathon packing, I'll stumble across it. It's highly likely that it's somewhere a three year old would think is a wonderful place for a digital camera. Like the freezer. Or under the bathroom sink. Or at the bottom of his toy box. I'll let you know when I find it.

The Boys

I Laughed So Hard I Cried

Matthew got a Fisher-Price digital camera for Christmas (thanks Paw Paw & Gigi!) and he has been snapping pictures all over the house. When I downloaded his pictures, the software gave us the option of creating a slide show (complete with music) for the pictures. It was absolutely hilarious. Some of the pictures are embarrassing -- the extreme close-ups, the random headless shots and the first-thing-in-the-morning bedhead look. But the music -- it was so cheesy with the random shots - so funny. I had tears running down my face. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to load the slide show on the blog, so you'll just have to trust me.

But, here are few examples of Matthew's photographic work:

"FEET"

"MOOSE"

"TREE"

"MATTHEW ORNAMENT"

"MOOSE: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL"

Matthew loves the camera. He also got many presents he loves: train set, race cars, trucks, pirate chest, as well as many more. He also got a membership with the Young Republicans:

So cute -- he wore this outfit the remainder of the day. You couldn't pay Brandon to wear a tie (due to a succession of traumatic, emotionally scarring tuxedo incidents early in his childhood in his multiple ringbearer duties), but Matthew loves this outfit. Incidentally, I will officially ban Matthew's participation in any political membership that starts with the letter "R" before he takes some history and government classes. Chris and I have set up the "debriefing area" in the basement to counteract any Republican leanings that might come along with the suit.

(I've posted more pictures on Flickr. We had a great Christmas and hope that you all did, too!)

Sick Day . . . Again

It's official . . . Brandon has strep throat. He's missed several school days already this quarter due to fever. Now he may even miss his violin recital on Wednesday. (I don't think he's really too heartbroken over that OR missing school.)

Other than that, no other news. We had a very quiet weekend -- no shopping. Well, no old-fashioned shopping. I bought almost all of the boys' Christmas gifts online over the weekend.

The Internet is wonderful -- where else can you shop in your pajamas at 11:00 at night? Well, other than Wal-Mart . . . I mean, who wants to be at a Wal-Mart at 11:00 at night? Believe me, I've seen people in their pajamas at Wal-Mart before. And worse. [Insert your favorite Wal-Mart/Redneck joke here.]

Reindeer Games . . . Or Cow Games

Matthew is really good at spotting houses with Christmas lights while we are in the car. He is also learning to count. So, I decided I would share with the boys a game I played with my brother around Christmastime -- counting houses with Christmas lights. Back in the day, my brother and I would count the houses with Christmas lights on our respective sides of the car and the one who had the most when we arrived at our destination won. Of course, we didn't really win anything, except the privilege of saying "I won" but when you're 7 years old and you just beat your 5 year old brother, saying "I won, ha ha!" was enough.

Needless to say, the boys were less than excited to hear about that game. I guess either the thrill of competition just isn't there, or the lack of technology makes the game boring . . . I don't know, but they weren't really interested.

Thinking about that game brought back memories of car trips with my family . . . the "you're on my side of the car!" arguments, the races to the front seat for shotgun rights, the sounds of "stop looking at me!" reverberating though the car . . . Good times. Anyway, our family vacations consisted of camping trips or visiting relatives in Alabama. To keep us occupied in the car on these long trips, our parents came up with games to play. Most likely, you played some of these games yourself -- the license plate game, for example.

We played another game that I guess is called The Cow Game. I haven't heard of any other people playing this game, but I did find it suggested on some websites, so I know someone else out there played it, too. Just a warning: It's a little morbid.

Here's how you play: each kid gets a side of the road corresponding to his/her side of the car(sorry for the kid in the middle) and the object is to count as many cows as you can before you come to a cemetery on your side of the road. If you pass a cemetery, it means your cows died and you have to start all over. At the end of the trip, the one with the most surviving cows wins. Morbid, huh? But traveling in Georgia and Alabama, there were lots of cows and lots of little churches with cemeteries, so it was actually a pretty good game to keep us occupied. Maybe it's just a southern thing.