Hey Howdy Hey!

We're still here!

Sorry for neglecting the blog, but it's been a busy week. We've finished up the last week of swim team for the summer. We've endured high themperatures with a heat index in the triple-digits. I've painted our kitchen (finally). We've had a motor in the refrigerator replaced (it cost nearly as much as the fridge did a year ago. Yikes!!). We went to an ice cream social in the park and played a game of church-league softball. I've baked 8 batches of my favorite meringue cookies(for a party), but only two of them turned out. (grumble, grumble) We set up our slip-n-slide and had kids over to slide.

Busy. Busy. Busy!

I have a cookie and pie-baking marathon tomorrow, but then after that I'll have time to slow down and breathe deeply again. **sigh**

I have been watching The Office in the evenings. Hilarious!! If you happen to see the DVDs in the library, check them out. (Okay, I know some of you have been burned by my recommendation of Napoleon Dynamite. But, really, "The Office" is very good. You'll like it!)

When Mom and Dad came to visit a couple of weeks ago, they brought a piano as a gift from my grandmother. I know she checks this blog fairly often, so I wanted to include some pictures for her.


From the moment the piano was set into place and dusted off, Braden began seranading us with songs he'd been learning in pino lessons. Mom demonstrated how to use the damper pedal fairly quickly. (Thank you mom!) The keyboard he's been using for the past couple years is not touch-sensitive, so no matter how hard you pound on it it never gets any louder. The same cannot be said for the piano. This month we're working on dynamics. Colson will also sit at the piano and press keys, rock from side to side, and sing, "We're on the waaaaay to Wiggle Baay!"



It's been fun listening to him play both the new songs and the old ones he'd mastered months ago. This picture reminds me of Marvin Hamlisch. He spoke once about attending Juilliard. He said that they spent a lot of time teaching him how to play piano, but what they did best was show him how to play as if it was taking everything out of him. He then proceeded to play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", all the while squinting his eyes in mock concentration, swaying passionately with the music, and looking for all the world like he's playing a very complicated Mozart piece.

Thank you Grandma!!