Sweet-As

A bird flew in an open door while we were at church.

Sweet-As times with the family.  

The number of blocks and spikes matter as much as the score.

Wintertime in Taranaki  

Our house temperature is often in the 40's and 50's, but the scenery is beautiful.

Wintertime in Taranaki. 

 Lots of piano this week, as always.  

Oak played for a large audience at an Open House for the New Plymouth Boys' High School.

Oak on stage.  

Danny and Mercy had their first rehearsals with the Taranaki Symphony Orchestra.  
Mercy is playing Beethoven 1st  Concerto, 3rd mvmt.  Danny is playing Mendelssohn G Minor Concerto, 1st mvmt. 

The concert is August 31. 

Mercy grinned from ear-to-ear during all the tutti sections

Our kids get a lot of respect in New Plymouth simply because they perform by memory.

Noah accepts the Ice Challenge.

Chess Team  

I'm glad that Mercy is so eager to try new things, however, I must say that this chess team doesn't know what they are doing.  For example, as I drove the kids to a competition, I heard one boy asking what the "horse" was called, and later Mercy told me that her coach "isn't sure about all the rules."

 I also happened to overhear the other chess girl showing Mercy a rhyme to get her hand into the position of flipping someone off, and telling her "this is what to do when boys swear at you." Hmmmm....

Lots of laughs...

We had a house full of teenagers again on Saturday night.  Some of the mums visited with me in the kitchen while we monitored the gentle roar of the noise happening in the rest of the house.  

After the party, Noah asked, "What were you guys laughing about?"  Lots of funny stories and hearty laughter coming from the adult room.  

Besides all the funny stories, I also told the parents that 14-year-old Danny feels like "hardly any" of the kids his age are drinking or having sex.  On the other hand, Noah feels like "all" of the kids his age are drinking and having sex.  

I said that since our 14-year-olds are in a good place right now, I thought it was best to keep them there.  I suggested a regular Saturday night party, an open-house kind of party (which means, basically, that there aren't necessarily planned activities - just food and free time), where the following rules were kept:

1-parent in the house

2-no alcohol

3-no R-rated movies

4-no bedrooms

I volunteered to host the first 4 weeks, and then see what happens from there.

I was surprised at the warm response that I got from these parents.  I spoke with about 10 parents, and some of them I hardly knew at all.  After our little meeting, one mom pulled me to my feet and said, "I just have to give you a hug!"  

I got the sense that this was something that all these parents wanted for their kids, but they just didn't know how to go about it or if there was anyone else out there that wanted the same things.

These weren't random parents, but were the parents of outstanding kids that my own kids have come to respect.  I have high hopes.