Merry Christmas

from our house to yours.

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Bea's Harp Recital

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Christmas lights

I took these last night at midnight.
This side of the house the lights are red. Older lights.
New led lights.
This side is blue.

I love the look of Christmas lights in newly fallen snow.

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A Starbucks moment

Annabel stayed after school today and walked across the street to Starbucks to study and be cool while she waited for me to pick her up when Noah finished swim practice. This is the sight I saw when I went in to get her. I took this picture with my iPhone. She really was working on her homework and drinking hot chocolate. She was so cute, it nearly killed me. She told me all about her afternoon being a sophisticate at Starbucks. She is only 11, but in her mind she is 17.

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A new flute for Annabel

Annabel has been begging for a new flute for quite some time now... Years actually.
Well, we finally decided that maybe she was ready for something better than a 30 yr old rental that Music Lovers gave us 5 years ago.
So we bit the bullet and ordered 4 flutes from NYC for her to try out. Coincidentally, on Thursday, her flute broke--beyond what I typically can repair.
On Friday, 4 beautiful,new and shiny flutes arrived on our doorstep.
She played them all and found one that she thought had the warmest sound and called to her musical soul. She choose the Sedona Apache. It is the one in the purple lined case. She is so excited to have made this big step up in the quality of her instrument.
She had a recital on Saturday and played better than I have ever heard her. It brought a tear to my eye.
She also got to play in church on Sunday.
She was part of a flute prelude for the Christmas program.

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A Kodak moment

On Friday, one of Darren's partners, Laura, asked if they could use our tree for a photo shoot. I, of course, thought that was an absurd idea--my tree is lovely,but my carpet is horribly stained and waiting to be ripped out, my walls are blank, ugly and in desperate need of a paint job. She must be kidding, but she insisted that this was just what they wanted. She was a little nicer and said they were looking for tall ceilings and a neutral background.
Come to find out, her husband, Joel, was actually looking for a location for work. He works for Kodak.com and they were shooting for the Christmas day picture that will appear there.
My little camera corner and then there is the professional gear.
The tree looks pretty. The kids computer table is pushed out of sight. This is Laura and her 2 girls.
The professionals at work.
Their real family.
The fireplace should be in the pic. I think.
My blank walls and neutral carpet.
Noah took these while I was out.
See the disgusting carpet stains?
I was mortified and a little excited at the same time.
Check out kodak.com on Christmas day, you might see a little of my tree and maybe a little bit of the fireplace. Our friends will definitely be in the picture.
FYI, all I got out of this was a cool blog post. I'm not complaining. How many people get to see a behind the scenes photo shoot like this?

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A little snow

We had a little snow today. Not too much when we woke up, but by afternoon it looked like this. I had a friend get stuck in this between here and Buffalo. She had to spend the night in a hotel 30 minutes from home.
As bad as it looks, we had very little accumulation. Just a teaser of things to come.

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6th grade band concert

Annabel had her first 6th grade concert tonight. She has really enjoyed being in band and we are happy she is playing her flute more often.
I think one the things she enjoyed most was getting dressed up for the concert.
She had a great seat to see and be seen, which is very important to a 6th grade girl.

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