December 19

After Claire's orchestra concert last night, Mr. Morgan endured CiCi's pizza. Claire loved acting the fool with her girlfriends, and Mr. Morgan sat with the other parents whom we've gotten to know over the past two years. It was a special night for Claire, and she's always so excited to go out to eat afterwards "because it's kinda tradition."

December 17

Several days recently I've found the boys both in this rocker in Hamilton's room. They love to sit together and rock--eventually turning the chair over. Tonight in their winter pajamas from Mimi, we struggled through a photo session. Most of today was a struggle: I really should get the boys out of the house in the morning when I know we'll be home by ourselves that night, too. (Mr. Morgan and Claire are at her viola concert.) I like the interaction in this picture because the boys do love each other and like one another's company. My heart smiled tonight in the bathtub when Hamilton hugged Collier and said, "I love you, Collie!"

Year-End Events and Videos

In the last weeks we've attended three year-end events for the kids--Claire's orchestra party, her piano recital, and Hamilton's family day during his last day at school. May is so packed with these events!
Our whole family enjoyed the orchestra party and picnic at Splash Island. Claire loved showing off her two brothers to her friends, and Hamilton loved flirting with Claire's friends.

Claire received an award for "perfect average" in strings class.

Her best friend Cady got several awards too.

The girls love their sweet teacher.

After the picnic and awards, we played at Splash Island. Hamilton saw a little slide and immediately--and uncharacteristically--wanted to slide down it. He got wetter than he was expecting the first time, so it took a few more times of trying to finally get him to come down the slide again. But he finally did! Many times he slid down after that, though I had to be right there to catch him. He didn't like getting his face submerged in the water at the end.

I caught him on video one of the last times he slid.

Collier spent some time crawling in the water too, but it was so "cold" (overcast, a little breezy, 75 degrees) the day we went. So he really loved being wrapped up in his fluffy towel after his few minutes of playing in the water.

Mr. Morgan stayed home with the boys, and I took Claire to her piano recital. Though she didn't play well at all considering how she plays sometimes, we had a great night with just us girls. Her best friend Cady came to the recital with her dad, and we all went out for frozen yogurt afterwards.


During Hamilton's last day of school, the parents were invited to come for outdoor games and a cookout. When Collier and I arrived, we found the boys already sweaty on the playground.

When it was the two-year-olds' time to play in the jump castle, I was hopeful Hamilton would love it. After a near disaster on the slide, he wanted to get out. He apparently hasn't been on enough slides to know how to do it. The second picture shows his upright position just before he tumbled onto his face at the bottom.

This shot with the boys' teachers was the best we could do, since sometimes two-year-olds don't like to be cooperative.

And here's the famous "Mih Ah-jee," so you'll know whom Hamilton's talking about. When she was his teacher at the beginning of the year, she was the first person he mentioned when he heard anything about school or teachers. She was also the first person he prayed for every night back then.

If you're still reading this long, catch-up post, you'll enjoy this video. This night just last week when Mr. Morgan was putting Hamilton to bed, he asked Hamilton to pray. Hamilton prayed for all his family which he'd never really done before like this. So Mr. Morgan left to get his phone, asked Hamilton to say his prayers again, and this video/voice-recording is the prayer he got. Sweet Mr. Morgan added the subtitles which make it even cuter.

May Mayhem

I've done it again. So much time goes by between posts that, dear reader, I'm sure it's hard for you to stick with me. My time is so divided and rationed with two rambling boys, a maturing middle-schooler, and a sweetheart husband. My house doesn't get cleaned nearly as often as it should--though in fairness to the other "less busy seasons" of my life, it never did. My list of things to share seems to grow exponentially the longer it takes me to post.

1. We're busy around the Morgan household, as I think everyone is especially in May. Claire and Hamilton both have year-end events next Thursday night, and Claire's already had two year-end viola concerts. Mr. Morgan and Grandma Judy attended her first concert. Claire's in the middle of this sea of performers.

Claire's two best friends joined her for a banana split following the concert.

2. It's been 10 years since I graduated from college, and during alumni weekend I got together with my roommate and suitemate from freshman year. We toured the campus which has WAY more stuff than when we attended--new buildings for just about every department, more "green space," and a much bigger and oh-so-necessary library. We were slightly jealous of the new students, as we listened to our tour guide talk about all the improvements. I also felt old seeing the potential students, but the distinguishing part of the campus--the old buildings, historic homes, and large live oaks--hadn't changed a bit.

We dined at Palmetto Cafe in the Charleston Place hotel, which was delicious, but the skylights created unflattering shadows for the only picture I snapped of the three of us.

A few shots from freshman year really bring back the memories.

3. The boys and I have been thoroughly enjoying Sandra McCracken's new album for children. We've been listening to the few teaser songs she released for free a few weeks ago. Yesterday the full album went on sale. For anyone with little ones, it's a great listen for you and your kids. And every song teaches a big truth in a simple way, using my favorite phrase "little one" in each song. Hamilton loves each song, asks for each by name, and knows most all the words. So cute. And he's learning awesome truths like, "Little one, in the storm God cares for you."

4. Hamilton and Collier escaped for a few days with Mimi and Pops at the farm last week. I got lots of house projects done, so I was happy. The boys spent a day at the Tweetsie Railroad riding a real train, so Pops and Hamilton were both happy. (I'm not sure which one was more excited about the train ride though.) Read all about their adventures. Mr. Morgan and I ate dinner in peace with no squealing and no feeding the ravenous monster that Collier has turned into. We even had enough energy for a date night.

5. Claire and I relished our rare girls' afternoon (because the little boys were away) that we spent at earthArt Pottery. Everything about our experience was delightful. I have not stopped talking about it to everyone I meet! We'll go back soon to finish our clay hand-built pieces that we started.

Christmas Concerts

Last week was Claire's orchestra concert, though I'm finally getting around to sharing more pictures. To say Claire was excited about this concert is an understatement: She was giddy even about the rehearsal the day before! She shares a music stand with Cady who's first viola and one of Claire's best friends right now. 

Their orchestra teacher was so proud of them, so I'm assuming they did well for second-year orchestra students. As for "good music," I'm sure it was similar to the middle-school-band concerts my parents sat through when I played the flute.

The boys were well behaved during the short concert, though getting Hamilton to stand still for a quick picture is nearly impossible.

Cady's family invited us to party at a local ice cream shop following the concert. Claire was so excited to go with her friends, and I got to tag along and talk with the other parents. Mr. Morgan took the boys home for baths and bed. Claire ate a cheesburger and fries, and she shared a banana split with the other girls. She hadn't eaten much dinner at our early suppertime because she'd been so excited/nervous, but she made up for it aftewards. Here the girls--Claire, Cayley, and Cady--show off their newly purchased friendship rings.

Last night we were not at Hamilton's school Christmas program for long, but after such a busy week a quick night was best for all. Hamilton's performance was truly quick with the two-year-olds' singing only one song.

The boys' matching outfits were adorable, and I'm eager for other occasions to wear these cute Christmas duds.

My little boy looks so tall in his jon-jon suit.

Since I was dressed more festively than Mr. Morgan, he snapped pictures of us three.

December 1

Since most of my blog pictures are of these three, I figured my first December Photo Project submission should be of them, too. They're in Christmas garb because Claire's orchestra concert was tonight. With only minutes to shoot a picture of all of them, this shot was the best we could do. Hamilton's literally saying "cheese," which is OK since usually he turns every way but toward my lens. Collier's sporting new, handmade shoes; they didn't get messed up during his ritual of spitting up right before we leave the house. His newest Christmas outfit, however, didn't make it out of the house tonight. Good thing we have many other Christmas events to attend this month to show off his new duds.

Spring Strings Concert

Tonight was Claire's end-of-the-year Strings concert, and with some family finagling we all attended. I say "finagling" because Claire had to be at the concert site an hour early, plus the location was 40 minutes from our house in afternoon traffic. And everyone still had to be fed around concert time. So after working out several details so our family could attend this concert in support of Claire, I was a bit frustrated that the gymnasium chosen for the concert wasn't nearly big enough for all the performers and their families.

Many folks had to stand for the whole concert just like us.

We stood in the corner and listened without really seeing much of anything, though Hamilton was able to play freely. He enjoyed dancing to some of the music, and he loved all the clapping and cheering at the end of each song.

He spent lots of time staring at another little kid who was on the top row of the bleachers.

Claire and the other fifth graders did a great job, and she loved hearing the middle-school and high-school students perform. Both were excellent and entertaining. I'm not sure if she's inspired to keep playing the viola next year at middle school, but the students' progress from fifth grade to middle school to high school was impressive.

So if anyone involved with the Strings concert reads this blog, here's my plea to please consider a bigger venue for next year's concert.

Strings

Claire's Strings group performed last night at her school's Family Reading Night. We enjoyed a catered meal while we listened to the fifth-graders play their stringed instruments. My ears were definitely nervous about listening to such a big group of still-learning voilin, viola, and cello players. Thankfully, the Strings teacher's piano accompaniment made the sound tolerable. Claire said she was nervous while playing, but we couldn't tell. Claire's face is one of the only ones you can see in this shot because she's not totally covered up by her music stand. Providentially, we blindly chose seats right in front of where Claire was sitting during her performance.

I recorded part of their performance, so we could remember what Claire's viola playing sounded like as a fifth-grader just starting out.

Hamilton was so proud of Claire. He kept saying, "Sissy," pointing to the stage throughout her performance. He especially loved clapping at the end of each song.