Mid-week Tales of Randomness

No real theme here...

• Kevin had his first viola lesson in 6 weeks.....it's notable for a couple of reasons. 1) Kevin's moved up from a 14" viola to a 16" viola. He's big enough (now) to play it; this is the instrument size he'll play from here on out. The viola has a better tone, and he apprarently handled the transition pretty well. His summer recital is two weeks from Friday, so, we'll see how that sounds. 2) Kevin's instructor forwarded us an amazon.com link for another book of music for Kevin to work with; received it in the mail and it is copyrighted 1925! It's music for 2 violas, and, from what I could tell, seems to be exercises designed to reinforce different bow techniques.
• Don't know if I've mentioned the latest Christopher-Matthew fad....Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards. They've been battling and trading with the other boys in the neighborhood....we have no idea if they really know how to play and have advised them, after the first couple of days, to discontinue trading until they know what cards are 'good' and which ones aren't.
  
• Christopher, Matthew, and Kevin have all discovered the local garage sale, which started to day. Christopher and Matthew encountered the 'pre-sale' last night....made a mad dash home for dollars and bought a) a container of bouncy balls b) an etch-a-sketch (dubbed 'the map maker' by the two-some) c) a scooter ($4!) and a bunch of random junk. Kevin went up today after lunch and came home with a New York skyline jigsaw puzzle.
• Christopher and Matthew are at camp at Potter Park Zoo this week....remarkably, no complaints (had a family meeting to discuss behavior and complaints...more on that later). Next week is back to YMCA Pa-wa-pi and then back to Bennett Woods to end the summer
• As mentioned, had a family meeting to discuss behavior and complaining and the plan to begin daily study time. Lots of nodding heads and yes's and ok's....walked away wondering how much got through and how much didn't. First study time went well, and we were asked by the boys the next night when we were going to start. We had told the boys that the constant stream of complaints, about the camps, about the food, was getting old...so, the next morning, Suzanne makes pancakes and gives them to the boys. Matthew dives in, Christopher goes "Hey, this one is burnt!"....and promptly follows with "No offense, Mom". So, we know he was at least listening....
• Kitchen remodeling is back in full swing. Not going as planned. More on this later.