Sebastian is excited to learn more chords on his new instrument… Soon I’ll have him playing “Tonight, You Belong to Me” just like Steve Martin in “The Jerk.”
No, I don’t know what “vicariously” means…
We decided to surprise Sebastian today with a ride on the “big train” to Claremont to go to the Folk Music Center where they were offering a session on ukulele for kids. I’ve always bemoaned my lack of musical ability and want to encourage Sebastian where I can as I feel that the ability to play some instrument would be beneficial in his life and he seems that he might share some of his mother’s aptitude at such endeavors. The class ended up having around twenty kids and the store provided the ukuleles for those without. Being the softies that we are we got there early and bought one for Sebastian in the hopes that he’d take to it. It really is a great instrument for kids as the size is ideal and the sound appeals to kids of all ages. The instructor was a kindergarten teacher which explains his extreme patience with the group. For an hour session he was able to introduce the basics of the instrument and get them started on 3 chords, enough to play a few songs, including my personal favorite “You Are My Sunshine”. Sebastian paid attention and enjoyed strumming even if the chord changes were a little beyond his abilities. Hell, they’re beyond my abilities! Still, they’re simple enough and with practice it won’t take long for him to improve. Anna-Marie is a seeming natural, however, and spent a little time upon our return home mastering the basic chords. It’s such a pleasant sounding instrument and the instructor took down email addresses and an informal survey to see if there was interest in an ongoing series of classes for the little ones. Here’s hoping that enough of us showed an interest and we can go again sometime!
Apparently talking to yourself is hereditary on the father’s side of the family. So sad, but amazing to see in action…
Our family
We haven’t talked to any of the family in a while, so I guess that it is time for an update, no? The past few weeks have been good and we’re all doing well. Sebastian caught a bit of a sniffle and stayed home on Wednesday just to be safe and not pass anything on to his classmates. Plus it rained all day so it was probably better that he wasn’t out in it. He had a dentist appointment earlier in the week, too, and came through with flying colors. His two adult teeth are coming in well and he had no cavities. Hooray! Other than those things, this week has been pretty standard: school, homework, dinner, legos, bed. Repeat.
Last week, however, there was some excitement as the school held its annual spelling bee! Sebastian and 4 of his classmates competed for two days with written and oral tests. He came in third or fourth, depending on how you read the results (there was a winner, a first & second runner-up, then the other two – weird, huh?). We are very proud of him and know that he studied hard and performed well. Most importantly he seemed to have a good time up on the stage – I would’ve been much more nervous and anxious than he was! No word yet on whether or not he’ll receive another trophy for “Horrible Menace” but either way we’re all happy.
Today we’re heading out to the Pierce College Farm for the Halloween Festival where we’ll pick out a pumpkin or two and navigate our way through the corn maze. Hopefully the shave ice truch from last year will be there as we’ve been unsuccessful in our attempts to find any as tasty over the past twelve months.
There are new pictures on the photo site and I’m sure that there’ll be more after today, so check back often! Talk to y’all later!
…photos and a video. Enjoy!
Sebastian had this to say as the gifts kept pouring in:
I think his reaction captures the overall view of his 6th year celebration(s).
Killing time in Westchester
I just realized that it has been almost four months since the last post here on SEBlog… I think that any family news has been communicated either on my other site or via the phone, but I wonder if this site has lost its purpose. The point of this whole thing was to keep a record of Sebastian’s life, and I still want to do that, but is this the proper format? Maybe it is, and I just need to be disciplined about it’s upkeep. Perhaps a weekly update to start. I don’t know and will have to think about it…
It has been a while, no? Sorry ’bout that. Haven’t had the urge to post lately, I guess. And even now I don’t have much to say, except that there are some newer photos up at our gallery. The pics from school are from Sebastian’s walk-a-thon: The kids walked for a half-mile around the school to (surprise) raise money. He had a good time and it is for a good cause, but a half-mile? That’s 6 blocks! Seems to me they could’ve made it more challenging, but maybe that’s just me. The other photos, for the most part, come from our day spent in Claremont last week. So have a look and enjoy!
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