What's Up With Dan?

Dan has had a good start to his 7th grade year. It is a big deal to be at the Intermediate School. Maybe more so for me than him. I did NOT adjust well to 7th grade but I am happy to report he is doing much better than I did! He is on student council and is getting to know his teachers a bit which has helped the beginning of the year anxieties! For the first marking period he pulled all A grades and worked pretty hard for that. Dan's greatest interests, besides computer games, air soft guns, boy scouts and making you-tube videos include the cello. He is going into the 3rd year of cello at school. In 5th and 6th grade it was taught early morning twice a week. This year he gets it daily. He is also the only cellist currently in strings for both 7th and 8th grade... NO pressure! They had their first concert on Oct 18th and I must say for no formal one on one training I think he did well. The day of the concert he had his first private lesson and really likes the teacher who is a CMU student. Here are links to the three pieces performed.

Mariachi Waltz

Wraggle Taggle Gypsies

Double Trouble

He also finally got to participate in a court of honor where he received recognitions. There was a bit of catch up to do. So he along with a couple of his friends all earned ranks from Scout, Tenderfoot, 2nd class and 1st class! He has the patches and I have the parent pins. He also received four merit badges which include First Aid, Fishing, Fingerprinting and Orienteering.

Three Dollars And A Dime

So what does three dollars and a dime buy these days? Well depending on your perspective, not a whole lot. But perspective comes from life and to an eight year old that can be a lot of money. So let's back up to this past summer. Sam's CD player stopped working. This was a big issue not only for him but for me as his nightly routine is to listen to a CD. After hours of not being able to go to sleep I began to think I wasn't going to get any either. Silly me forgot there is always the radio. We must insert thanks to Nick for thinking of the obvious. I wasn't so sure it would work. But we found the local public radio station WCMU which came in quite clear and was playing music that was acceptable. Sleep!

The radio then became a new fascination for Sam and he would check it out during the day. I remember posting the following Facebook status around this time. "Sam just discovered how cool the radio part of his CD player is and informed me that his favorite station plays music and has news! After investigation I realized just how smart he is. He is listening to NPR! I love this kid. Thank you WCMU/CMU Public Broadcasting."

The new fascination turned to basic dependency. He would turn the radio on any time he would notice it was off. It now has to be on all night. He never turns it off. If I do, it doesn't last long once he notices.

So now fast forward to last week. My new routine is to listen to WCMU as they play some great classical music during the time I'm driving to the school to get Dan. I usually get there early and wait. It occurred to me as I heard WCMU working on their fund drive that maybe Sam should send a donation since he likes the station so much. I too figured it was time to step up to the cause. So the rest is history. You can listen to see what happened. (the clip below is 5 min 20 sec)

Listen to Sam on the Radio HERE

Another enjoyable autumn weekend!

Nick and I were finally successful in taking a very short getaway. We headed North or as some would say to the gateway to the north. We didn't want to go too far but found the best little cabin nestled into the middle of nature on a weekend where colors are peaking and the temperature was warm. I could have handled cooler weather to make it even better but won't complain about those extra days of warmth we have had. I know the cold will be here plenty soon. So taking every bit of this colorful treat in while it lasts.

I woke up without an alarm to plenty of mist and fog. That didn't stop me from stepping out to enjoy the crisp cool morning. As I relaxed in the comfy Adirondack chair I watched the seemingly black and white misty view change to hints of color in the distance as the sun lit the leaves and burned away the mist. Ahhh happy belated 20th anniversary! I think we should celebrate 6 months late every year! The world is much more colorful and breathtaking in October vs. March!

We really just relaxed but did go to several Amish stores. A new one for us was the bakery. For some reason I loved the long set of aprons on the line to dry. Nick says they look like huge panties. I still love this picture even though you can only see a fraction of the panties, I mean aprons. :)

While relatively not far away our dear friends Becca and Steve spent the weekend with the boys. They took them to Uncle John's Cider Mill and had a great time doing everything from apple chucking to laser tag. They picked out pumpkins that look great on the porch and the pictures tell it all. I have included just a few.

We feel very blessed to have such great friends that we consider family! Thank you Becca & Steve for making this a fantastic weekend for everyone in the family!