Yamato Concert

Last week we had the awesome opportunity to see the Yamato Japanese drummers in concert!  We ALL went, including Auntie Aliyah who helped us with the boys.  (Thank you, Auntie Aliyah!)

I wasn’t sure what to expect of a drum concert, except that we were told beforehand that it would be really loud!  We therefore left Ben’s hearing aids behind, and got seats near the front row in the balcony.  We actually had an aisle right in front of us, so the view was great, and we had easy access in and out of our seats, definitely a plus since we have three small kids.

The drummers were so energetic, and the concert was amazing!  We had such a great time.  Besides drums, there were other traditional Japanese instruments, and the concert was interactive and very entertaining for adults and kids.  Ben stayed awake the entire time, and really enjoyed all the drumming, music and clapping.  Isaac and Jonny fell asleep on the ride home, but were fine going to school the next day.

We loved the concert so much that we bought their DVD, and I hope we get to see them again someday.

The Good News…

…is that Isaac has finished his very first ever chapter book in two days and has eagerly started his second!

The bad news?

It’s Captain Underpants! Thank you Auntie Dawn, Bryson and Ian!

As if we didn’t already have enough potty humor around here.

Go Steelers!

Ben’s feeling better, so Mark got him all decked out in his little Steelers outfit.

I fitted Ben’s new earmolds for his hearing aids. It turns out you can get earmolds almost any color you can think of, and Mark picked these out for Ben a few weeks ago. The audiologist mailed them to us, and we get to trim them to size ourselves rather than driving an hour each way for a five-minute process. The tubes are still a little long – I still have some trimming to do. Here’s the right side (black):

And here’s the left side (yellow/gold):

Now we’re all set!  Hey, this isn’t the Steeler game!

Shots, and a new computer

 

Ben isn’t feeling well.

We’d received word months ago that our insurance company had turned us down for Synagis for this RSV season.  We didn’t really bother to challenge their decision.  Ben is usually a very healthy little guy, and doesn’t have chronic heart or lung disease.  So imagine our surprise when we got a phone call late last week from our pediatrician’s office - he had called personally and talked to our insurance company, and they approved it.  What a wonderful doctor he is.  So poor Ben got two shots today: his first Synagis shot, and a flu vaccine.

They gave him the shots in his right leg.  That made him cranky all day, since one of his favorite things to do is to play with his right foot with his left hand and he couldn’t lift the leg up at all because it was so sore.  He also seems to be running a low-grade fever tonight, although his arms are freezing.  He’s not tolerating his usual tube feed volumes, and he whimpers softly every 30 minutes or so.  We just gave him some Tylenol.

Poor little guy.  I hope he bounces back tomorrow.

 

In other news, our almost 5 year old Dell laptop finally died after giving us about 9 months’ warning.  The hard drive would work intermittently, and then yesterday it just didn’t anymore.  Fortunately, we had just backed up our digital photos, so we only lost a few.  Mark (with some advice from Lawrence the computer expert) bought me a brand new Toshiba laptop today.  So far I like it OK, although it has a wide screen which seems a little weird to me at the moment.  The battery on this one actually works, so I will be able to use it in different areas of the house rather than being tied to the upstairs desk.  How will I get used to such freedom??

We are keeping the old laptop, and replacing the hard drive.  We figure the kids can use it – other than the hard drive, it still works.  We’re still in the market for a new desktop.  The dinosaur that we’re using downstairs is even older than my laptop was – it is currently almost 7 years old.  Mark wants to buy an iMac.  We’d better start saving now.

Last Soccer Game!

This fall was the first time that we’ve been very involved with AYSO.  Isaac and Jonny both played soccer (on different teams since they are 3 years apart in age), and Mark coached Isaac’s team.  I’ve never been to so many soccer games and practices in my life, and to my surprise, I really enjoyed it.  Isaac and Jonny learned about good sportsmanship and teamwork, got some much-needed exercise, Mark enjoyed working with the kids, and Ben and I enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine (we were blessed with good weather most of the time).  It was especially amusing to watch Jonny’s Under-6 team.  Kids that age are just so cute when they play soccer!

Isaac’s last game was alot of fun.  It was a sunny 60 degrees, not too cold.  The kids played hard, and the game was tied at 6 goals apiece.  We went to our sponsor’s restaurant where we were treated to some excellent Mexican food – a great end to the season.

We have signed up for the spring season already.  I can’t wait for spring!