The Sound of Music

The girls love music...if you didn't know. Aside from their foray into the world of clarinets, they both like to hammer away on an old keyboard they keep in their bedroom. And they're good at it, too. So Mom and I decided to keep an eye open for an inexpensive used piano we could tuck away in the living room.

Well, as if by Providence, friends of ours from church posted on Facebook that they were unloading their old upright and wanted to know if anyone wanted it. Mom jumped on it.

So, this past weekend, we borrowed a trailer and some muscle (thanks Poppop, Randy, and neighbor Sam) and brought home the well-loved John Wanamaker. Since then, a night hasn't passed that we haven't been serenaded by the sounds of Pachabel's Canon, Veggie Tales theme music, Mary Did You Know, or some original piece.

Pedaling on Up

Just this week, while outside doing doing some chores, I noted that Aidan had really become a bit too big for his trike: He was practically kneeing himself in the face when he pedaled.

We had a 2-wheeler set aside for him but, for some reason, I was pretty sure the back tire was blown out. Guess I should've checked sooner since, when I put some air in it, it held. So on when the training wheels and away went Aidan...

Running...Farther

Several months ago, Mom set her eye on a goal. That goal was competing in her first 10k run. After setting the bar, Mom spent the following months progressively increasing her distance during her runs about our neighborhood.



Finally, the culmination of all her hard training came about this past Saturday. Amid a field of 228 runners, and several good friends, Mom took part in the 37th Annual Turkey Trot in Newark.

In the end, having actually ran the entire course, Mom crossed the finish line in 54:08. That time was good enough to place her 106th overall and 6th in her age group (full results here). Amazing!

Mom, with friends Tracy (left) and Ellen (middle).
Tracy placed 77th/3rd while Ellen placed 103th/2nd.
Congratulations, Ladies!