Jordan was looking for a secret-Santa gift in RiteAid, surrounded by sequin pillows and mini stuffed animals and seasonal candy.
Him: “This is all clickbait.”
Me: “Huh?”
Him: “It’s eye-catching and for a minute there you think you want it, but you know it’s really crap.”
Genius, no?
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Laud
Our kids’ primary exposure to Christmas carols (and Christmas lore in general) is through the boychoir. This year is Aaron’s first performance of Lessons and Carols, with scriptural readings and highly religious carols, so I wanted to make room for him to discuss the content if he wanted to.
Me: Do you have any questions about the songs or the readings?
Him: Yes. What is 'laud'? Like, ‘Haste, haste, to bring him laud.’
Me: Laud is praise.
Him: Huh. I thought it was meat.
Me: (after a minute) ...No, that's lard.
Jordan was there and said that he had also thought it was lard, for years. This is hilarious. On the other hand, is lard really any weirder of a gift than myrrh? Except for the treyf part, which I guess would have been a problem.
In the past Aaron has felt funny singing Christmas carols, so I asked him how that feels these days. He said it is still a bit strange for him, especially when the choir director instructs them to really think about the meaning of what they are saying.
Aaron: It’s weird, because it doesn’t have the meaning for me that he might be thinking of.
Me: So what do you do?
Aaron: I think about another meaning. Like, if the song is about how it’s so incredible to be born in a manger and become the savior, I think about how incredible it could be to be born very poor, maybe even homeless, and grow up to have so much influence.
Me: I think that is very wise.
Candlelight concert
(I'm all caught up with the blogging! I have made it to the present! Yahoo!)
Aaron is in Lessons and Carols for the first time this year, which is an extremely demanding and rewarding experience. This is the real initiation into the Performing Choir: there are eight high-stakes performances in ten days, to thousands of people, and the director’s expectations for classical perfection are very high. This is all good: the boys learn that they are capable of great things if they work very hard. And the performances are truly transporting. I see why people keep coming back year after year.
The first performance of the year was at a church a few blocks from our house. There was a windstorm, and guess what: the power went out. They were rehearsing in the sanctuary and were plunged into darkness. Yikes! Amazingly, the church allowed us to go ahead with the performance… by candlelight. I was an usher, so I popped home to get every headlamp we own (phone flashights are great but sometimes you need your hands free) and started welcoming people at the front door. People arrived with nervous questions: Why is it so dark here? Will the concert go on? I cheerfully said (one hundred times), “Welcome! The concert is on, in spite of the power outage; the choir will be performing by candlelight; it’s going to be magical,” and showed them in. People were delighted.
Afterward, the boys were pretty clear that this was not their best performance; they could barely see the conductor, the pianist could barely see the conductor, and probably they were all thrown off by the strange circumstances. But a few days later there was a rave review in the newspaper. And look at the beautiful photos! Aaron is at the bottom left, and Jordan is in the back row just left of the middle.
Aaron is in Lessons and Carols for the first time this year, which is an extremely demanding and rewarding experience. This is the real initiation into the Performing Choir: there are eight high-stakes performances in ten days, to thousands of people, and the director’s expectations for classical perfection are very high. This is all good: the boys learn that they are capable of great things if they work very hard. And the performances are truly transporting. I see why people keep coming back year after year.
The first performance of the year was at a church a few blocks from our house. There was a windstorm, and guess what: the power went out. They were rehearsing in the sanctuary and were plunged into darkness. Yikes! Amazingly, the church allowed us to go ahead with the performance… by candlelight. I was an usher, so I popped home to get every headlamp we own (phone flashights are great but sometimes you need your hands free) and started welcoming people at the front door. People arrived with nervous questions: Why is it so dark here? Will the concert go on? I cheerfully said (one hundred times), “Welcome! The concert is on, in spite of the power outage; the choir will be performing by candlelight; it’s going to be magical,” and showed them in. People were delighted.
Afterward, the boys were pretty clear that this was not their best performance; they could barely see the conductor, the pianist could barely see the conductor, and probably they were all thrown off by the strange circumstances. But a few days later there was a rave review in the newspaper. And look at the beautiful photos! Aaron is at the bottom left, and Jordan is in the back row just left of the middle.
Opposite
(This is from November.) Aaron was telling me about a certain teacher he has this year.
Aaron: He’s kind of the opposite of you, Mom.
Rachel: What do you mean?
Aaron: You always tell me some way that I did a good job, like I tried hard or I did one thing better than last time. With him though, if I say “I did terrible,” he will just agree with me. He’ll say “Yep, Aaron, that was terrible.”
Rachel: Huh. Which way helps you work harder the next time?
Aaron: Definitely your way. His way, I just shut down. It makes me want to quit.
I’m bummed about this teacher’s style, but glad Aaron finds my way helpful!
Aaron: He’s kind of the opposite of you, Mom.
Rachel: What do you mean?
Aaron: You always tell me some way that I did a good job, like I tried hard or I did one thing better than last time. With him though, if I say “I did terrible,” he will just agree with me. He’ll say “Yep, Aaron, that was terrible.”
Rachel: Huh. Which way helps you work harder the next time?
Aaron: Definitely your way. His way, I just shut down. It makes me want to quit.
I’m bummed about this teacher’s style, but glad Aaron finds my way helpful!
Music of Remembrance
(This is from November.) Aaron is now in the Performing Choir level of the boychoir, which means he has a significant and rewarding performance schedule. His first concert at this level was for the Music of Remembrance (https://www.musicofremembrance.org/), which is a Seattle-based program to remember the Holocaust through music. The boychoir performed several Yiddish folk songs.
Attendees at the Music of Remembrance concert include many elderly people, some in walkers or with oxygen tanks. Several expressed how moved and grateful they were to hear Yiddish music performed so well. Aaron is glad to be able to offer them this music. He always felt very special about the free concerts he did at assisted living facilities when he was in a lower level of the choir: those people can’t necessarily go out to hear music, so it is significant to be able to bring it to them. Performing with Music of Remembrance is another way to give music to elders who might not hear it otherwise.
The performances are at Benaroya Hall, meaning that for the first time, Aaron used the Artist’s Entrance as a professional performer. (He's been there before, but for a much lower-stakes show.)
Attendees at the Music of Remembrance concert include many elderly people, some in walkers or with oxygen tanks. Several expressed how moved and grateful they were to hear Yiddish music performed so well. Aaron is glad to be able to offer them this music. He always felt very special about the free concerts he did at assisted living facilities when he was in a lower level of the choir: those people can’t necessarily go out to hear music, so it is significant to be able to bring it to them. Performing with Music of Remembrance is another way to give music to elders who might not hear it otherwise.
The performances are at Benaroya Hall, meaning that for the first time, Aaron used the Artist’s Entrance as a professional performer. (He's been there before, but for a much lower-stakes show.)
JV
(This is from October.) Now that Jordan is in high school, he’s not in the boychoir anymore – the boychoir is only sopranos and altos. Graduates of the boychoir can audition for Vocalpoint, which performs great music from mainly the 1960s-1980s in small ensembles, one voice per part. It’s very different from boychoir: you prepare your music mainly outside of rehearsal time, you perform with a mic, and you have to figure out how to act while you sing. Plus there are girls. It’s a great group of teenagers and I love that Jordan is among them.
In the fall, rehearsal time included a new solo every week. Each kid would choose a song from the gigantic Vocalpoint library, let the director know their choice, and prepare it on their own. At rehearsal, they would have 40 minutes of “mic time” during which each kid performed about one minute of their chosen song – solo, with a mic, to the audience of the other Vocalpoint members. Is that not amazing experience? I wish *I* could have been in Vocalpoint.
Jordan is in his training year, so he performs just for friends and family so far. There’s a video of his fall recital, in which he performs “Do you believe in Magic,” by The Lovin’ Spoonful. Contact me for the password if you want.
In the fall, rehearsal time included a new solo every week. Each kid would choose a song from the gigantic Vocalpoint library, let the director know their choice, and prepare it on their own. At rehearsal, they would have 40 minutes of “mic time” during which each kid performed about one minute of their chosen song – solo, with a mic, to the audience of the other Vocalpoint members. Is that not amazing experience? I wish *I* could have been in Vocalpoint.
Jordan is in his training year, so he performs just for friends and family so far. There’s a video of his fall recital, in which he performs “Do you believe in Magic,” by The Lovin’ Spoonful. Contact me for the password if you want.
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Billings annual fund
(This is from October.) Dale and I were the Billings Middle School “annual fund chairs” this year, which means writing a fundraising letter. We staged this fun update of a photo from three years ago and had a good time composing this letter together. There’s also a video version.
Dear Billings family,
Many of us don’t remember middle school with delight. Maybe the classes were dull. Maybe the social morass of junior high was miserable. When it was time for our older son to head to middle school, we worried that he would lose his joy and self-confidence amid crowded halls and boring classes. And then we found Billings. Actually, Jordan found Billings. From his first visit day, Jordan felt everyone at Billings was interested in him. The teachers, the staff and the students all wanted to hear him out—what he liked, what he wanted to do, what he found challenging, what he found funny. At tours of other schools, he felt herded around. At Billings he felt like a full participant, and Billings was the school he asked to go to.
Dear Billings family,
Many of us don’t remember middle school with delight. Maybe the classes were dull. Maybe the social morass of junior high was miserable. When it was time for our older son to head to middle school, we worried that he would lose his joy and self-confidence amid crowded halls and boring classes. And then we found Billings. Actually, Jordan found Billings. From his first visit day, Jordan felt everyone at Billings was interested in him. The teachers, the staff and the students all wanted to hear him out—what he liked, what he wanted to do, what he found challenging, what he found funny. At tours of other schools, he felt herded around. At Billings he felt like a full participant, and Billings was the school he asked to go to.
In his three years at Billings, Jordan did snow science in the
Cascades. He backpacked for a week on the Olympic Coast, on the trip where
everyone helped carry gear for another student with a broken collarbone. He
overcame early limitations in writing, pushed by his teachers to do
high-quality text analysis of terrific books from Maus to Twelfth
Night. He studied (and schooled us in) major current social issues such as
mass incarceration. When we groaned to see that his homework included analyzing
the president’s 100-day plan, he politely retorted, “I think it is great that I
am reading this! I love how my classes are not only about the history of a long
time ago but also the history of now.” Jordan’s relationships
with his Billings teachers were so strong and trusting that he invited some of
them to his 14th birthday party. Can you imagine? We barely can, but we see it
right before us! And now we get to see it again, as our younger son Aaron
begins 6th grade.
We are excited about the new building soon to be under
construction, and the amazing “base camp” it will provide for the Billings
experience. But as we all know, there’s a lot more that makes Billings special.
The Annual Fund supports Billings to hire and retain great teachers and staff,
buy art supplies and books, purchase park permits, provide teachers with
professional development – including specialized Wilderness First Aid training,
because the teachers are out there with our kids! And it helps the school offer
tuition assistance to many families.
Please join us and other Billings families, alumni, and 100% of
the staff, faculty and board of trustees by donating to the annual fund. It’s
easy: you can give online or return a pledge form to the front desk in person
or by mail. You’ll help our kids find themselves, uncover their passions, and
be amazing middle schoolers. And you’ll help build this great community that is
Billings.
Thanks so much for helping make that happen.
Three years apart
(This is from October.) I’ve been sharing this picture everywhere I go lately. The main reason I share it is to show people the current state of Jordan. He’s so tall (five foot ten when this was taken), and he changed his look very suddenly when he cut his hair. People are astonished.
But the other thing about that first picture is the contrast between him and Aaron. That’s three years? And Aaron is actually tall for his age. There’s every reason to expect that when Aaron starts high school, we’ll have two of these very large children in the house.
For comparison, here he is over the summer:
But the other thing about that first picture is the contrast between him and Aaron. That’s three years? And Aaron is actually tall for his age. There’s every reason to expect that when Aaron starts high school, we’ll have two of these very large children in the house.
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Picture day
(This also should have been in September.) How about these two amazing kids on Picture Day? Amara has a nature-fashion thing going on right now, and Aaron is wearing a shirt that came home with us from Hawaii long ago. I love it with the orange shorts. Aaron said it would be a tough day for hide and seek because of his striking colors. “Maybe if I could hide in a hole,” he said. Another friend of his said, “Maybe if a rainbow came down to earth, you could blend in.” Love it.
Aaron at Billings
(This should have been September.) Aaron has started middle school at Billings! Here is a fun pair of first-day-of-school pictures… one from kindergarten, and one recent. Wow.
The start of school was easy-peasy both for Aaron and for us. We all know the school well, Aaron has three good friends from SJCS at Billings, and lots of teachers and older students already know Aaron, especially from the sidelines of Ultimate Frisbee games. Even without this pre-existing good reputation, he’d be making friends fast: Billings spends the first few weeks of school actively connecting the kids to each other and to their teachers and building the school culture. They feel this initial investment pays off all year, and I am sure they’re right. I’m looking forward to seeing how the year unfolds.
Camp Kesher
(This also should have been August.) We love our tradition of ending the summer with Camp Kesher. Aaron was particularly photogenic this year.
His two camp buddies were Erez and Ezra - can you imagine being their counselor? Good thing there wasn’t a Nerez or a Zera in the mix.
Jordan, meanwhile, had his first year as an actual paid camp counselor. (Not paid much, but still.) He was with the fourth graders, a group that includes a pair of extremely active and boisterous twins. Jordan decided that he was going to have a good time with them, and he really did. They spent a ton of time together and had a blast. Some of the other counselors have not had such a successful relationship with these kids, and the camp director asked Jordan to share his approach. “Don’t tell them not to do things,” was Jordan’s answer. “Don’t talk to them like they’re bad or in trouble; it just makes them mad. Instead, go along with them and have fun! They’re a good time.” Here he is with a few of his charges, and then with all the camp counselors.
His two camp buddies were Erez and Ezra - can you imagine being their counselor? Good thing there wasn’t a Nerez or a Zera in the mix.
Jordan, meanwhile, had his first year as an actual paid camp counselor. (Not paid much, but still.) He was with the fourth graders, a group that includes a pair of extremely active and boisterous twins. Jordan decided that he was going to have a good time with them, and he really did. They spent a ton of time together and had a blast. Some of the other counselors have not had such a successful relationship with these kids, and the camp director asked Jordan to share his approach. “Don’t tell them not to do things,” was Jordan’s answer. “Don’t talk to them like they’re bad or in trouble; it just makes them mad. Instead, go along with them and have fun! They’re a good time.” Here he is with a few of his charges, and then with all the camp counselors.
Whale boat
(This should have been August.) Fred and Linda took us whale watching toward the end of our visit. I’ve been whale-watching before, and I have learned not to expect much: I try to think of it as a fun boat ride with beautiful views, and whatever else I get to see is a bonus. Well, this trip blew me away. We were surrounded by whales! Mostly fin whales, which are huge – only the blue whale is larger. There were also Minke whales, seals, and porpoises, along with various birds, and the aforementioned great views of the Maine coast.
At the end of the ride, they pulled up a couple lobster traps just to show us what that’s like, and anyone who wanted to got to hold the lobsters. Fun stuff!
Catching up
It's a major embarrassment, how far behind I've fallen on the family blogging.... it's been months. I did draft some posts here and there but I feel like I have to post things in chronological order... I am determined to catch up.
I still have beautiful pictures left to share from our Maine trip in August. Here are a few family photos to get me started. People look great on a boat.
I still have beautiful pictures left to share from our Maine trip in August. Here are a few family photos to get me started. People look great on a boat.
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Squid
One of the biggest adventures of the Maine shore exploration was that Dale spotted a squid. This was amazing: neither Fred nor Michael had ever seen a squid before, and that is really saying something, because Fred is a local naturalist and Michael is a diver. Here is the pretty thing… orange with purple spots!
Uncle Fred quickly snatched it up, which surprised the heck out of Dale; that wouldn’t be my first instinct, either, but Fred is a very interactive guy. He somehow held onto it while it whipped its tentacles this way and that trying to break free.
Michael asked to hold it, and while Fred was trying to pass the squid to Michael, the squid bit Fred. Surprise! It hurt, and he dropped it, but Fred was not harmed. The squid somehow landed on a crab, so that when Michael snatched it up again, he had a bundle of writhing squid-crab craziness.
Fred thinks this was a “boreal squid,” though those are native to the Pacific, and we were on the Atlantic at the time. Whatever it was, it was very exciting!
Uncle Fred quickly snatched it up, which surprised the heck out of Dale; that wouldn’t be my first instinct, either, but Fred is a very interactive guy. He somehow held onto it while it whipped its tentacles this way and that trying to break free.
Michael asked to hold it, and while Fred was trying to pass the squid to Michael, the squid bit Fred. Surprise! It hurt, and he dropped it, but Fred was not harmed. The squid somehow landed on a crab, so that when Michael snatched it up again, he had a bundle of writhing squid-crab craziness.
Fred thinks this was a “boreal squid,” though those are native to the Pacific, and we were on the Atlantic at the time. Whatever it was, it was very exciting!
Maine family
We loved the Maine landscape but we also just loved being with family. The crowd was the four of us (though Jordan had to leave early to get to Vocalpoint camp), Sue and Rob, Michael and Linda (and Journey the dog), and Fred and Linda, and we all just loved being together. Sue was actually fulfilling a lifelong dream by going to Maine: she had written a book report on Acadia National Park when she was a child, and had always wanted to go there. How sweet is that?
The six of us west-coasters stayed at a house that some friends of Fred and Linda’s rent out as a vacation home. It was wonderful – a lovely old Victorian, with a wonderful porch looking out on the water.
At dusk, gigantic spiders would come down out of the eaves onto the porch screens (on the outside, thank goodness). We all hung out there eating pie and watching the spider show.
There was always pie - I think my aunt Linda made six pies while we were there. Here’s Fred and Linda’s awesome house, a short bit down the road from our place.
Michael and Aaron are best buddies by now, after Michael’s two trips to Seattle, and this trip brought them even closer. I love this picture so much... I could look at this picture all day.
Michael tried to take Aaron scuba diving off the shore of Fred and Linda’s property. Aaron gave it a go, but there was no wetsuit for him, and it was extremely cold. He loved learning about all the gear.
He loves where he lives and likes sharing it with us.
So does Aunt Linda, but she tended to be indoors making pie, and so we didn’t take as many pictures of her. We love you Aunt Linda, and the great trips you took us on, and also the pie!
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