Yeay, Friday again!

Not a very prolific week in terms of getting things accomplished, but I did catch up on some things at work before the end of the quarter, so that is good. We had a busy week in terms of evening activities. The Deac had fire department stuff two nights this week and the girls had 2 playdates this week (both on the same day - it actually worked out pretty well), as well as soccer practice. This week Emmelia had her first group lesson in violin. Groups are a big part of Suzuki theory - they allow kids to see other kids their age playing violin and lets them practice together and encourage each other. Emmelia loved group. She started to learn rhythyms, which is actually a sneaky way of teaching them notes (as in the difference between a whole note, half note, quarter note, etc.) before they actually learn to read music. Last night, Em had a make-up violin lesson - normally group supplants individual lessons once a month - wherein she advanced to her 2nd song! She is working on variations on Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. She'll learn 4 variations (different rhythyms used to play the same notes) then the song itself. She's almost got "I'm a Little Monkey" down and last night started on "Grasshopper - Grasshopper." After Twinkle, she'll be on the road to learning all sorts of songs, including some Bach minuets. Right now she's referred to as a "pre-Twinkler." But she *really* wants to learn the song that comes after Twinkle: Lightly Row. Right now that is her main motivation. And last night she made a major stride toward her goal!

We are still worrying about the Deac's medical issues here and all the stress is wearing us thin. But we just keep trudging forward - we can persevere through this and someday maybe "normal" will return. At any rate, prayers are always appreciated.

Emmelia has another soccer game tomorrow which promises to be LOVELY fall weather and should be much warmer than last week's soccer game. She really seems to be enjoying it.






















I got 4 layouts done this week, which isn't bad for not really feeling much like scrapping. Two quickpages helped me scrap some older photos and then I used some photos I took of friends' kids this summer to make pages using a template by Doodleboogs over at SOTB. I really like how that 2-pager came out. I used my friend Ginger's Fresh kit and the colors were just perfect for the photos and the elements went well with the template. The addition of Christine's Simply Stitching in Basic Vanilla really added the perfect touch.

I was really excited on the Christmas card one (figured I should scrap that one before it's time to design THIS years!) because I figured out how to make the ribbon on the top look pinched like it had been put through the ornament hanger. It's so fun to learn new techniques in the Gimp!