After a superb Christmas ham dinner, we settled down to play Wii, which of course is nearly as fun to watch people play as to actually do. The hulahoop game is especially funny to watch.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Christmas Dinner Party
Although none of our relatives were willing to brave the blazing sunshine to make it to our house, and the DVD of the family reunion promised so many months ago never managed to arrive, we consoled ourselves by inviting more friends over to celebrate with us.
After a superb Christmas ham dinner, we settled down to play Wii, which of course is nearly as fun to watch people play as to actually do. The hulahoop game is especially funny to watch.
After a superb Christmas ham dinner, we settled down to play Wii, which of course is nearly as fun to watch people play as to actually do. The hulahoop game is especially funny to watch.
Christmas Day
For Christmas, we had tried to really cut back on the gifts, since the kids had gotten so many big gifts during the year. Still, it seemed like they got lots and lots and lots of stuff.
Not like when I was a kid, when we were happy to get an orange and box of cereal in our stocking, (okay, and maybe a few other gifts....)
Not like when I was a kid, when we were happy to get an orange and box of cereal in our stocking, (okay, and maybe a few other gifts....)
Christmas Eve
For Christmas Eve we invited several friends over since none of our relatives could make it to our home.
Because we already participated in several children's reenactments of the nativity, we went for something a little bit different, having the adults to improv performances of some of the more dramatic scenes that didn't make the written records.
So we saw brilliant performances of Joseph breaking the news to Mary that she was sleeping in a stable by KC and RP, Joseph responding to the news that Mary is pregnant by JK and AK, shepherds trying to convince Joseph that they should be allowed to see Mary and the baby by JP, AM, and SD, Joseph breaking the news to Mary that they were going down to Bethlehem by ML and CL, and finally a hillarious take on the 3 wiseman meeting with king herod by Frankie, Goldie, and Murray.
Because we already participated in several children's reenactments of the nativity, we went for something a little bit different, having the adults to improv performances of some of the more dramatic scenes that didn't make the written records.
So we saw brilliant performances of Joseph breaking the news to Mary that she was sleeping in a stable by KC and RP, Joseph responding to the news that Mary is pregnant by JK and AK, shepherds trying to convince Joseph that they should be allowed to see Mary and the baby by JP, AM, and SD, Joseph breaking the news to Mary that they were going down to Bethlehem by ML and CL, and finally a hillarious take on the 3 wiseman meeting with king herod by Frankie, Goldie, and Murray.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Baby Quilts
Bow Tie Baby Quilt
Bright Garden Baby Quilt(The back side is for signatures and advice.)
I (AM) been busy quilting. I made a quilt for a very good Filipina friend and a baby quilt for a friend in our ward.
Biopsy
As our faithful blog readers know, AM has had kidney disease since her pregnancy with EM. At her past couple of visits, her proteinuria has finally dropped to zero (a good sign as normally your kidney's should filter protein and not allow it to pass into the urine) but the other major measure of kidney function, serum creatinine levels, were significantly higher than normal. (They had previously been normal.) So her kidney specialist has finally decided it is time to perform a kidney biopsy to determine what exactly is going on so that appropriate measures can be taken.
She is scheduled to go for the biopsy just before the end of the month. Anyone who knows AM well knows she gets nervous about even simple medical procedures like drawing blood, so you can imagine that she is extremely nervous about this. From what we are told, a kidney biopsy is less painful and invasive of a procedure than getting an epidural which she has done three times for childbirth. Nevertheless, as a precautionary measure, she will need to stay in the hospital overnight and then avoid any heavy work for two weeks. There is a very small, but not zero, risk of the biopsy causing complete kidney failure.
She is scheduled to go for the biopsy just before the end of the month. Anyone who knows AM well knows she gets nervous about even simple medical procedures like drawing blood, so you can imagine that she is extremely nervous about this. From what we are told, a kidney biopsy is less painful and invasive of a procedure than getting an epidural which she has done three times for childbirth. Nevertheless, as a precautionary measure, she will need to stay in the hospital overnight and then avoid any heavy work for two weeks. There is a very small, but not zero, risk of the biopsy causing complete kidney failure.
MidState Honor Band tryouts
JP tried out for the Middle Tennessee State Honor Band again this Saturday. As our faithful blog readers will remember, last year as a 7th grader he made the 7th and 8th grade honor band. There are two higher level band honors available to 7-9th graders, the Silver and Gold Bands. Very few 7th graders make it to the Silver or Gold level, and there are generally a lot more 9th graders on the Gold band than 8th graders.
The tryout consists of two sessions scored by different sets of judges. In both sessions, the judges are behind a screen so that they can not see who the student is and the performance scores are simply placed next to a student's entry number. The first session requires the student to play two prepared pieces, which are the same for all 167 or so students that tried out for the Bb clarinet positions. At the second session, the student is asked to play 2 scales (in this case it was the G and Eb scales)and their chromatic scale. Then they are asked to play from sight reading 1 to 3 pieces of music. Basically, if the judges consider that the student showed sufficient skill on the first piece, they ask the student to play the second piece. If they do well enough on the second piece, they ask for the third piece. For reference, during last year's tryout, JP was asked to play the 2nd piece, but not the third. This year, he knew he was doing even better because he was asked to play the third piece. He also felt that his work during his lessons had paid off in better overall performance both of his prepared piece and scales. The final ranking and seating in the bands is determined by the scores from both sessions and are posted by that night.
JP was quite anxious all afternoon to find out if he had made any of the honor bands. Based on being asked to play 3 pieces he felt his chances of making the Silver band were pretty good. Finally around 8 pm the lists were posted on the web. We went to the Bb clarinets (the main kind of clarinet used in symphonies, but there are also a small number of Eb bass, and contra clarinets) and started scrolling down the list. We didn't get too far down the list before we found his name listed for the Gold band! He was so excited!
The tryout consists of two sessions scored by different sets of judges. In both sessions, the judges are behind a screen so that they can not see who the student is and the performance scores are simply placed next to a student's entry number. The first session requires the student to play two prepared pieces, which are the same for all 167 or so students that tried out for the Bb clarinet positions. At the second session, the student is asked to play 2 scales (in this case it was the G and Eb scales)and their chromatic scale. Then they are asked to play from sight reading 1 to 3 pieces of music. Basically, if the judges consider that the student showed sufficient skill on the first piece, they ask the student to play the second piece. If they do well enough on the second piece, they ask for the third piece. For reference, during last year's tryout, JP was asked to play the 2nd piece, but not the third. This year, he knew he was doing even better because he was asked to play the third piece. He also felt that his work during his lessons had paid off in better overall performance both of his prepared piece and scales. The final ranking and seating in the bands is determined by the scores from both sessions and are posted by that night.
JP was quite anxious all afternoon to find out if he had made any of the honor bands. Based on being asked to play 3 pieces he felt his chances of making the Silver band were pretty good. Finally around 8 pm the lists were posted on the web. We went to the Bb clarinets (the main kind of clarinet used in symphonies, but there are also a small number of Eb bass, and contra clarinets) and started scrolling down the list. We didn't get too far down the list before we found his name listed for the Gold band! He was so excited!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Teddy Bear Picnic
EM wanted to celebrate her birthday with a build-a-bear party. So she invited some of her friends to join her.
