Archer, Chase and Updates

Like a lot of us since Facebook, I've been neglecting my blog. So I was going to link to this on FB but I have resolved to try to do a blog post once again like in the good old days of blogging.

http://www.portlandchoirs.org/

This is A&C's choir home page but it features Archer's solo, even though it has the mom of the other kid talking through Archer by himself. She is a board member so there is that kind of perk. I do nothing and my kid makes it on, so not bad. If you look closely at the oposite ends (they are the tallest) are Archer and Chase, one looking relatively glad to be there, the other not, but what it says about A is that he identifies with being a singer and about Chase that he does it anyway.

It is actually the better compliment, actually, because he does it purely out of love and honor of his mother, because to try to get out of it this year he spent about a solid hour pouting in the corner of the living room until I noticed him. I was going to let him off the hook but I begged him to keep at it because they switched the venue for rehearsals and they took the light rail last year by themselves because it was a straight shot from a block away from our house to the rehearsal locale but this year there are a few blocks in Portland involved and couldn't bear to think of my sweet Archer walking alone in Portland alone at night, so I suppose this might turn Chase into a serial murderer or something because of how much he resents it but for now it just tells me that he is a super sweet boy that would do just about anything to make his mom happy. Not to mention that he has decent pipes himself, he just prefers not to solo quite so much.

When I get around to it I am going to post Archer's major paid solo backed up by a full choir and orchestra but that will involve a bit more work. We are very lucky he went out with a bang, too, because his voice changed this summer very quickly. Kind of sad, but I am pretty sure that his lower voice will also be nice, just not quite so impressive. He used to be able to sing up to a B (5 notes above the highest note for women in the Hymn book). He still can sing to an F, just not solo quality so much, though I am trying to convince him to work up his very nice sounding alto while he still has it. We'll see.

That and a few other posts will be coming as I catch up. They sang at Carnegie Hall and I hope one of the other parents did some good video.

Sadie will be in the Children's chorus of Joseph and the ATDC. She is having a blast and it is developing her voice very nicely. She is very artistic and has added knitting recently to fashion design and drawing. Slade used to draw with Charity in Sacrament meeting when she was little and we all know that turned out well so we expect great things from her once she picks a specialty.

Drake is pretty much school school and more school. He was bummed that they didn't pick the highest valedictorian for distinction at Forest Grove, it is just anyone with a 4 or higher which he scoffs at because he is trying to get it much higher by taking as many AP classes as he can. These are weighted to 5's. He is already working on his Princeton ap because that is supposedly the place to go to pursue his love of physics. We will be interested to see where he gets the money, but there is no doubt that he will find a way somehow.

Slade is cleaning house at Intel. They are sending him to Tokyo in a few weeks as a rep to meet with important customers, which is interesting because there are people with that career path who would kill each other for the chance and if you didn't see him you might not know he was just a regular tech geek for his day job. I think they figure that not only is he brilliant at what he does and well spoken, he makes for nice window dressing because he is also so dang gorgeous. Doesn't have the typical engineer paunch or hairline.

That leaves Q and me. I am finally starting to feel like a normal person since it has only been about a week since I could walk across the room. QB is now past 10 pounds even though she is only in the 2nd percentile for weight. But I am actually glad I get to have her small longer, I know that if she is like most of the rest of us she won't be underweight for long. She easily takes the cake for my best natured baby which wories me because the rest of them were still screaming their heads off but had not a single two-ish tantrum among them later on, when it is a lot less sweet to hear them cry.

Well that about does it for now, but stay tuned because there will be more posting if I get to it, particularly some interesting news that you will want to be the first to hear.