Update on the kiddies

Jamie has turned 13! I'm officially a parent of a teenager. What a terrifying thought... So far, it's been alright. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop....... Other than that, he's doing well in school - mostly A's & B's (one C in English, of all subjects!). He just had an orchestra concert last week. The annual winter concert involves all three grades (6th - 8th). Everyone did really well. Each grade sounded wonderful.

Andrew has been taking guitar lessons since the summer (I think he started in July, or was it June?). He's doing really well. He's learned the beginning of Green Day's "When September Ends", Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir", Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water", AC/DC's "Back In Black", Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", "War Pigs", and "Iron Man", and Rush's cover of The Yardbird's "The Seeker". He's working on putting together a montage of the songs he knows for his school's talent show. Speaking of school, he's doing really well there. They don't issue grades in Kindergarten, they just tell you if he's behind, at, or above his age/grade level. So far, he's at or above where he should be. He can read some books - I'm not sure if he's above his reading level but it seems to me that he can read some "big" words that I wouldn't have thought most kids his age would be able to recognize. I do know that he chooses books for me to read (sometimes) that are totally out of his league - we're currently reading "Tutankhamun: His Tomb & Its Treasures" by The Metropolitan Museum of Art & Alfred Knopf. Not your average light reading for a 5 year old. But then, I don't think Andrew's your "average" 5 year old.

That reminds me of something that happened over the summer.

Andrew, myself & my mom went to the Pontiac Arts, Beats, and Eats festival. As we were walking along looking at the artisan's' booths Andrew came upon a booth of handmade clothing. The proprietor engaged him in conversation and eventually asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. Andrew answered, "A rock star". That's my boy!