Raising a gentleman

I've made it a priority to teach my boys to be respectful to the opposite gender and I'm sure their wives will appreciate it someday. I'm happy to say that I'm already beginning to see the fruits of my labors... The other night when William said the family prayer he ended with "Amen", and then added "... and women!"

Today I am grateful...

Each day brings it's joys and challenges, there are people I know who are struggling financially, some emotionally, some have physical ailments. Today I feel very blessed and I am grateful for my children, my family, and my friends. I also pray for those who have great challenges to overcome. Today I read about one family in particular who needs prayers, read here about little Cora and her parents, and how their lives changed so drastically in two weeks time...

http://themcclenahans.blogspot.com/

A Violinist in the Metro

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces in about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100. This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context? One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Winter Fun!

This year we went to play in the snow like we do every year... We stay in Pinedale of course, and we go to the gravel pits up by Sunriseto sled. This time I wasn't pregnant so I could sled to!

Tyler used 2 sleds and skied down the hill...

William was cold...

Our little snow bunny!

Ashley wasn't into sledding, but she loves taking pictures!

We warmed up inside and passed the time playing Guitar Hero World Tour. This is probably the only time you'll ever see Kelly playing a video game! Look at that concentration!

I love playing it too! Ashley is especially into it, she's a guitar hog! The Nelson's also came up for a day, I don't have pics of them, but they did get to sled w/ us. Overall, we had lots of fun!