uh oh, this reads like a Christmas letter...

wow. i am really very bad at this, aren't i?! well, i'm shocked to discover that i haven't updated on anything since mid-october. i do have an excuse for part of that time... at least twice in the last two months we've had our internet down for at least a week or two at a time. i don't quite know the problem causing it, only the frustration it causes for all of us.


ANYWAY, here's a very quick update on what's going on in our world (or the highlights, at least).

evan is in the running for the geo-bee (think spelling bee, only geography) and we're really excited about that! he's done really well in the preliminary rounds and the next test will be this thursday (dec 20th). he's also doing well with his trumpet. its a little tougher than he thought, so his little cheeks are working hard! his holiday party is this friday and as of today, it looks like i'll be the only mom available to help with the party... (uh, i only signed up for this party because other moms signed up and it looked like we'd be well-covered(!)... i really hope i don't have to come up with a craft!!!) for ev's 10th b'day in november (double digits now!!), we had a little party with his friends and saw a movie. he had a great time and his friends are great little boys.

noah had a great season with the juggling club (yes, the circus is his back-up career plan if he doesn't become a doctor) and also got to play a "solo note" with his bass clarinet in the 6th grade band concert. having started out the school year a little rocky, he's doing much better now. he also is very involved in a small group with a few guys from church. our new youth leader, doug, meets regularly with these 6th grade boys and they love it!

taylor had a good run with lego club for the year and went to the robotics competition earlier this month. the competition is a full day on saturday in a huge warehouse type building and you spend all day waiting to cram yourself into a crowd in order to see your kid compete for about 1 minute three times during the day (each scheduled hours apart, of course)... this year, ed didn't go in order to tear down the wall in our front hall, so i went alone for the day with taylor. i know he was glad that i was there (looking into the crowd before each event to be sure i was there) and while i enjoyed being there with him, i couldn't help thinking of my mom and all those saturdays she spent in the hot bleachers of an indoor swimming pool for our day-long meets. maybe i'm glad the boys don't swim after all?


drew is doing well too. when i went to his teacher conference, it was almost embarrassing because his teachers had nothing but high praise for him and we had no concerns either. (i only went because we don't know his teachers and i wanted to at least touch base). in recent weeks, we've taken a slight turn... while his grades are still excellent, drew is in full "teenager" mode these days and it's leaving us a little confused and frustrated. i'm sure it was inevitable - even with a "perfect child" who never seems to do wrong - that we'd deal with his being bored and uninterested in school and getting into a little trouble. he is a 14 year old boy! his teachers are concerned that he's less interested in things like history... um, yeah, he's more interested in girls, computers, and his "look"... and we've had a few run-ins with the principal over a few bad decisions on drew's part. so, he's grounded (he and i are spending a lot more time together since he can't go roaming around town with his friends... um, are we having fun yet?!) and we're working on choosing good friends and making good decisions. this is normal for teens, right? (i have a new appreciation for parents who ground kids - like mine did... often! - it's hard to hold to the punishment when your kid is SO crabby about a consequence he brought on himself!!)

anyway, i know i keep promising pictures, but i still haven't gotten around to getting my film developed. and, because we've been working on the house some more (mostly finishing projects we've been working on for some time!), it doesn't look like i'll have a digital camera under the tree. oh well. maybe next month for my b'day... (ha!) pictures will come.