We're all a little Nutty

Several months ago, Dillon started messing around with a tune he had heard from some open source music (probably intended to be background music for a video game).  He wrote it down and through encouragement from his orchestra teacher, figured out how to write up music for each of the parts in the orchestra and created something complete enough that they could perform it at their concert last night.  In her intro, she explained that she never expected him to actually do it.  I was impressed that she actually LET him do it.  And that she made a big deal out of it.  Her personality is perfect for him and has led him to have a fantastic experience in orchestra, accomplishing things I never would have imagined, nor encouraged, probably.  This is one of those times that Hillary Clinton was right.  Thank heavens for a village.  Let's just hope it doesn't go to his head. Watch/listen to it here Dillon is the 2nd person in on the back row (far left...

It's no secret around here that I like things done a certain way, and when it comes to birthdays, I prefer to take charge.  So, when my kids kept asking me what I wanted for my birthday, I kept giving them lame answers that they didn't think were birthday-ish enough.  To reinforce the reality of my wishes, I made a countdown chain for each day leading up to my birthday.  I hung it on the blinds in the kitchen next to a sign that said, "It's the Month of Mom!"  Each day, I took the chain links down and tacked them with magnets to the backside of the front door.  The links all said things like "hang up your coat," "put your shoes away," "be nice to each other," "do something nice for someone else"...you know...things that I nag about all the time and would really like to NOT nag about.  The last few days were freebies mostly:  "Tell yourself that you're excited to eat chocolate cake" (that one was for Mckay), ...

My sick child is home sick again today.  And just in case the chances of being the next one to fall victim to the vomiting plague isn't hopeful enough, I helped in first grade this morning. One of the children asked me whose mom I was and then told me that I should tell my child that I was very beautiful.  It was sweet like a valentine.  A few moments later, that same child sneezed all over the laptop he was using and then sat there helpless with disgusting stuff all over his face AND the laptop.  I helped clean him and the laptop up and then had an awkward dispute with him about the fact that he did indeed need to go to the restroom and wash his hands.  I would have settled for hand sanitizer, but apparently the fire code doesn't allow the teachers to keep hand sanitizer in their classrooms anymore because it could explode if there were a fire. I was keenly aware of every time that my hands got near my face throughout the remainder of my time there...sure t...