The Soloist

I must say I was surprised today, but perhaps I should have known better.  Bode joined the school's orchestra this year and started playing the violin.  He practices at home (with some prodding) while the school orchestra meets twice a week.  He has told us he enjoys it and is doing well.  The orchestra had a concert tonight.  We asked Bode if there was anything special going on, and he told us that there wasn't much.  Fast forward to when we arrived at the concert and received our program.

Note the third line down:  Up and Down, Bode McGuirk and...  We did a bit of a double take when we saw Bode's name in the program.  Apparently Bode had a duet.  We were very excited but also nervous because there were quite a bit of people attending.  We took some pictures as the orchestra was seated.  Bode is there right in the middle.

The first two songs came and went, and before we knew it, Bode was up in front of the crowd getting ready to play. 

Recall how I said Bode had a duet.  The other part of the duet wasn't there tonight (and Bode said something about how she just wasn't ready to perform on her own, according to the teacher).  Thus, just Bode and the piano accompaniment--how scary!  Needless to say, we were very proud of our little dude.  After the first round of applause, the teacher (Mrs Scott) told the crowd, "You all realize how much courage it takes to play by himself in front of all of you, so let's give him another hand."  Afterwards, Bode told us he was so nervous that his legs were shaking. 

The rest of the concert came and went.  The whole group brought the house down with a beautiful performance of Maple Leaf Rag.

We (Ashley, Bode, and I) have been watching Season 2 of Stranger Things.  I'm told I need to cut this short because they are waiting for me to watch the next episode.  Pleasant week to all.

Bode's B*tch'in B-Day Bash

No, you didn't miss Bode's birthday in case you are worried.  Since his big day falls right around Thanksgiving, we typically have a birthday party two weeks prior in order to get maximum kid-participation.  This year was no different, and it certainly won't surprise us if Variety magazine calls it the party of the century.  We scheduled the party from 4 - 6:30 with the hope it would not conflict with the Auburn-Georgia game.  Sadly, the game started at 1:30.  We did all the party prep early Saturday morning, and then watched the first half of the game.  Joey could barely contain his excitement, while Ashley fretted because Georgia quickly went up 7-0.

Auburn started slow, but fortunately, they were able to rebound and were up 16-7 at half-time, which was right about the time the Game Truck showed up.

The game truck is exactly what it sounds--a big trailer with all sorts of TV screens, comfy chairs, and every possible gaming console you could want.  We herded the kiddos down to the trailer, and the games began.  A popular game with the ladies was Just Dance...

while the boys played all sorts of different adventures.

David was kind enough to bring Teddy and Charlie down for the party.  Ashley and Dave spent most of the party shuttling kids to-and-fro the bathroom, but also tracking the Auburn-Georgia progress on their phones.  I'm happy to report that Auburn won 40-17, which explains the huge smile on Ashley's face).

After two hours of gaming, it was time for pizza and ice cream cake.

Of course, we did have to sing to the birthday boy.

Afterwards, everyone enjoyed what was unanimously called "the best cake ever."

Tyler and Eli spent the night.  The boys spent some quality time on the Xbox and doing whatever it is boys do...

The boys have just woken up and Ashley is making pancakes, I mean, VICTORY pancakes :-)  Best.  Day.  Ever :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Fall Happenings

A lot of minor details to report.  Yesterday, Bode had a swim meet and did awesome.  He swam the 100-yard freestyle, the 50-yard backstroke, 25-yard butterfly, and the 100-yard individual medley.  This was a fairly competitive meet, so Bode didn't sweep the firsts, but he swam best times in all four events including the IM, which he did in 1:46:00.  I tried to take some action photos--I don't think any are all that great, but I'll include them for posterity.  First up we have Bode ready to start the 100 freestyle.

Next we have Bode kicking hard to the finish.

Next, Bode getting ready to start the 50-back.

Last, we have Bode finishing strong in the IM--he won his heat, which was pretty cool.

We recently had a conference with Bode's teacher.  We are happy to report Bode is doing extremely well in school this year.  He has all A's and B's, including an A in math (we should hope so), and an A+ in music.  He also has a B- in PE, so we need to work on his athletics--we'll start the 0500-morning runs next week (only kidding).

I harvested the final carrots today, which means there is nothing left in the garden.  I peeled some for my lunch this week, but I also pickled some--yes, I know, pickled carrots probably aren't the greatest, but I wanted to see what they tasted like.

I'm sorry to report Mike the goldfish is no longer with us.  He lived a total of 3 days, which isn't too long if you ask me.  Bode thought Mike was sleeping but was heart-broken when I told him Mike had died (really--it was almost as bad as when Harley died).  Fortunately, we were able to get him a replacement.  We spent some time at PetSmart and decided on a beta fish (they are supposed to be pretty hardy).  We also had our aquarium water tested to ensure all was well, and it was.  Bode is very good about feeding "Barry" (named after the Flash), and he even reminded me we needed to do a 20% water change today.  Here's a picture of Barry in his environment.

Finally, the other two dogs are doing fine--just as lazy as ever (as is their owner)...

Pleasant week to all.

Yes Club

Bode joined the science club this semester.  They meet every Tuesday after school and are studying fire.  They are learning proper fire safety and also studying wild-fires.  As part of this, they visited a burn area from the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire.  Neither Ashley nor I could go on the trip, but Mr Glisson did take a couple of pictures.  First, the van ride to and from (probably the highlight of the trip).

Next, the group at the burn area.  They were actually at the site of the Flying W Ranch which was completely destroyed by the fire.  Bode said it was very interesting.  They kids helped pull invasive plants and ensured they disposed of them so the seeds were not dispersed.  They also got to wear hard-hats.

The group has to put together some type of project and present some time in December.  Bode really likes science, so this is right up his alley.  Pleasant day.

Happy Halloween

Soccer season is over, and I think it would be poor form for me to say I'm happy that's it's done (I am).  It was lots of fun, but the time commitment can be a bit much--we'd practice twice a week and games on Saturdays.  Of course, it's not like I have an overly busy schedule.  But Bode did have a lot on his plate--swimming, soccer, piano, violin, and he's started doing science club this semester.  Thus, I'm happy for him to have a couple days back to just be a kid.  The season wasn't great in terms of our won-loss record, but we did finish strong with a 3-0 victory.  Ashley took some action shots of the game (I was too busy coaching), but for some reason, she didn't get any shots with Bode in it :-(  She did get plenty of pictures of the boys during the post-game pizza party.

I might have mentioned I did some pickling of my cucumbers from the garden.  I've started eating them and find them to be quite tasty.  I think I might have overdone the dill on some of the jars, as it's a bit potent.

Today is Halloween, and we just finished trick-or-treating.  This morning, we awoke to snow, cold, and ice, and we dreaded the evening.  Fortunately, the weather cleared and it warmed up a tad.  Bode got a great haul of candy, and we all managed to stay warm.

Bode has a swim meet on Saturday.  Sadly, it directly conflicts with the Auburn-Texas A&M game.  Ashley has been hoarding her data so she can watch the game on her phone.  Hopefully Auburn does well; otherwise, Ashley's phone might end up in the pool in disgust.  Pleasant week to all.

Fall Carnival

Bode's school had its fall carnival this past Saturday.  Bode and Ashley both dressed up in their costumes.  Bode's is pretty awesome--he went as Slender Man (Google it if you don't know what it is).  Ashley was going to be a white walker from Game of Thrones, but there was a problem with the delivery of her costume; thus, she had to quickly find an alternative, which turned out to be a pretty cool looking Supergirl.  Here's a good picture of Bode in front of our house.

Next is a good shot of Ashley.

And finally, a picture of Mom and son together.

The carnival was fun.  This was the first time Bode went off on his own with his friends to do the various activities.  I did get a picture of Bode and Eli together.

Ashley and I hung out in the cafeteria, ignoring her smart phone so we didn't know what was going on in the Auburn game (we taped it).  We also participated in the silent auction, which was fun.  There was a pretty good item--tickets to the USAFA-Army game with some jerseys and other paraphernalia.  We put a bid on, but noticed there was this group that kept bidding on the item whenever someone outbid them.  Since all proceeds go to the school, we decided to try to push the price up.  When we started this, the bid was at $50; I think we got it up to $95 :-)  The carnival has various games in different classrooms, and the prizes are usually candy or something along those lines.  This year, one game gave away a living goldfish in a plastic bag as a prize, which I thought was horrible, especially when Bode brings me a bag with a fish in it.  I wanted to give it back, but Bode seemed to really want this fish.  Therefore, today, Bode and I went to PetSmart and got a little tank and other aquarium odds and ends.  Here's a picture of Bode with Mike the fish.

Bode took the below picture of Mike; I'm putting the over-under on how long Mike lives at 14 days, but you never know...

We had a nice weekend--Auburn won, Air Force won, the Steelers won...the only drawback was the Broncos, who played horribly against the Chargers.  We also managed to take Joey and Barkley to the dog wash.  Barkley was filthy--she wasn't really a black dog anymore but more of a dirt-stained brown.  Joey has been to the dog wash a number of times, so he's fine with the bath.  Barkley wasn't thrilled with any of the process, but in the end, we got her nice and clean.

Another week of work for Ashley and me.  Bode has a 3-day week, as Parent-Teacher conferences are Thursday and Friday, which is when we'll get Bode's report card.  Here's hoping it's good! :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Piano Concerto

Bode continues to excel at the piano.  I didn't tell him I was recording tonight's practice (which explains him burping a number of times), but it's obvious he plays the pieces really well.  He practices almost every day (under penalty of no electronics if he doesn't, so he's not quite self-motivated), but he doesn't complain (much) about playing.  The original video was too large, so I had to break it up into two smaller files, but I think I have a future as a movie editor :-)

The pumpkin vines are all dead.  We had a hard freeze the other night.  Fortunately, this was forecast well in advance, so Ashley and I harvested the pumpkins and remaining cucumbers.  I was surprised the raspberry plants survived--we still have about 50 raspberries that are ripening up, and the weather is supposed to be pleasant the rest of the week.

Ashley's new job is going well, I'm at about the mid-point in my semester, Bode's first report card is this Friday, and the ski resorts are making snow.  Bring on winter!