Luke

We got to babysit Luke last night when his mommy and daddy went to a wedding. We are really amazed at what he can do at 6 months old. Here he shows off his crawl ~ notice he doesn't use his knees. This way he can move very fast! When he went on patrol over most of our house, Nana and Papa discovered all sorts of things they need to move out of his reach.

Luke can pull himself up on furniture...

...and toss off all items within his reach. He can also get back down to a sitting position on the floor.See ya later!

Piping School

David joined the commuter world this week as he makes the daily trek down the interstate to piping school, held on a college campus near the airport. He reports that he is enjoying the Scottish instructors, and his small class (he's assigned to the top level with the professional grade players).

His teacher of almost six years told him this week that he needs to move on to a more advanced instructor for his weekly lessons; she has taken him as far as she can. He is looking into lessons with a transplanted Canadian, a professional grade player, who joined the band a few months ago.

Greenville Games

David and I had a chance to visit with the Baddorfs this weekend. We stayed with them Friday night, and then we all went to the Greenville, SC Games on Saturday. David competed in two solo events in the morning, winning second place in both.

The band had two competitions too. (That is unusual; bands usually have just one competition per game). The second competition was for the Southern Branch 2008 championship. The winning southern band gets to go to NY in Sept to compete against the other regional branch champs, all for the rights to a spot in the big Games in Scotland.

The weather didn't cooperate at all: The thermometer allegedly said 107 degrees by noon. The air was suffocating, even for those of us in lightweight shorts and tank tops. Imagine the band members in heavy wool kilts, wool caps, acrylic knee socks, long sleeve shirts, neck ties, and black polyester vests. Warm-ups take a full hour just before they march onto the field to compete. The tune sets are five minutes long, but not a note can be missed; not one error can be made in blowing, fingering, or squeezing the bag. Nine pipers must be playing as one instrument the entire time, and cut off at precisely the same instant. In 107 degrees. With no shade whatever. And water bottles must be left behind.

What seems to be impossible, they accomplished. They won first place! I was sooo proud of them! In talking to them after, one or the other musician pointed out a note error here, a drone noise there, but overall, they gave a fine performance. There were two casualties too; two pipers were overcome by heat at the last moment and couldn't compete (one in each competition).Playing the winning MSR in the competition circle.

Free Firewood

Our neighbor up the street had a huge Bradford pear tree that sort of imploded on itself last week. We heard through the grapevine that he didn't want the wood; he was offering it free to anyone who would cart it off. Being the only house on the street still with an old fashioned, wood-burning fireplace, we jumped at the chance to get some free firewood.

David and Mom carted several loads of the big stuff down the street and began a neat little pile on the side of the garage. Dad came home and carted several more loads down the street. Then the homeowner jumped in to help. He loaded his pickup truck with most of the rest of the tree and helped us stack it higher and higher. We think we're probably well set for firewood this winter.

Oh No, Not More!

After dinner this evening we all went outside to tackle a little yard work. David mowed the front lawn as the rest of us started pulling weeds around the shrubs under the front windows. I yanked up a long, spindly vine...and then I noticed the clumps of leaves scattered up the stem. "Leaves of three, let them be" ran through my head. Yep. Every group of leaves was a set of three. I swung it around and called out, "Is this poison ivy?" David looked over and nodded. I looked back into the shrubs I was digging in. The whole group was filled with poison ivy. But those leaves look nothing like an ivy leaf to me! More like blackberries.

I dashed in the house and scrubbed well with Technu. We'll wait two weeks and see what happens to my skin.

After we all cleaned up, we ran over to Baskin-Robbins for ice cream cones. That's one way to soothe one's potential poison ivy outbreak!

Congratulations Graduate!

David is officially a high school graduate, and Mom is officially a RETIRED homeschool teacher. After 18 years, the end of an era has arrived.

College Classes

I finished my spring semester well, with a 4.0 GPA and a place on the President's List (which is better then the Dean's List that I've always made every other semester).

In order to graduate in four years, rather than the five or more that most art students take, I decided to take summer classes. I finished a two week philosophy course in May, and will be starting Professional Practices for Artists this Friday. In July, I start Computer Applications in Art. I am also now officially a junior.