Jammin'

Here are Paul and Tyler practicing violin together. We have discovered that Tyler likes to walk about as he bows. As long as he is walking, he plays the rhythms ("Mississippi-hotdog", and "run-pony run-pony") very well and concentrates on his practice. What's really amazing is to see Paul playing a musical instrument. But, anything for the boy!

P.S. Look at the creepy cat eyes in the background!

A Fruitful Day and a Mystery Bird

After going to bed early last night, I awoke at 6:00 am, unable to sleep an longer (this almost never happens to me!). I was able to do some light housekeeping tasks while the rest of the family slept, and get Tyler fed when he woke up about a half hour later. I then got him set with his current movie obsession (Toy Story I - he had seen it before but is finally aware of the sinister Sid, and wants to watch this movie again and again), and went out for a long, energetic walk. I stopped at the grocery on the way home for a few things, had breakfast with Paul and saw him off to work. I was able to fit in some time with a Bible study I have be wanting to continue for a long time. The rest of the morning and early afternoon was errands; I am driving again after two weeks off.

When we got home, Kristin, who had been weeding part of the garden, showed me some photos she took of an unusual bird in our cherry tree that neither of us had ever seen before. He was black with an orange front, and had an unusual call. While I was planting flowers in a planter, I saw this bird myself. How lovely he was! We are guessing he is a Baltimore Oriole:

Bird in Flight:

Finally I took Tyler to the park, the one he calls "Bratty Gwel Park" due to the rather rude little girls who were there the one and only time we had gone before. This time there was a nice little boy, who played with him. Perhaps we can rename it to "Nice Boy Park"!

Busy Weekend

This past weekend included both Prom for Robert, and Mother's Day for Julie and me. Getting Robert ready for for Prom was fun for me: just in helping him with this totally un-Robert-like event, and for the gentle razzing I gave him. I was glad to offer pearls of wisdom on gentlemanly behavior, and corsages and such. I also had fun teasing him a bit about meeting the young lady's family and all of the potential hazards that could go along with that (stumbling up the stairs on the way to the door, being unable to think of what to say). But Robert handled it all with grace, and they both had a wonderful time. Here they are at a friend's for pre-Prom photos:

The following day was Mother's Day. I was having a hard time at first, in spite of the lovely breakfast and gifts I received. I had been trying to reduce my pain medication, but this was a terrible idea, as my post-surgical pain became very bad. I felt very helpless, like this would all be forever, that I was old, and other depressing thoughts like that. I rested a bit, then we all went out to dinner together. Finally, Paul and I had some quiet time together which really has been missing these past two weeks. He has been so busy doing the heavy lifting (literally and figuratively) around here, and taking care of me and Tyler. There was no time for us. So it ended up being a very nice Mother's Day, and gave me a good start to this week with feelings of hope and happiness.