Sick Luke and Living Room Update

I'm not the mom who takes my kids to the doctor for a stomach flu or a chest cold.  When they are sick, I keep them hydrated and as comfortable as possible.  And I try to make them rest.  But every once in awhile one of them becomes authentically ill, and a trip to the doctor becomes quite necessary.

Luke was overnight at a friend's house Saturday and when we arrived at noon on Sunday to pick him up, he was lying on the couch in his pajamas.  Luke doesn't stay in his pajamas past 8 am.  Ever.  I'm nearly always in my pajamas later in the day than Luke.  One touch of his forehead told us we were dealing with some fever.  When we got home, the thermometer revealed the 102.5 degree truth.  He didn't even try to stay up.  He went straight to bed.  And started coughing.  Boo.

Long story short, the fever stuck around for three days and the cough worsened.  We saw the doctor this morning, and he listened to the boy's lungs.  Turns out the left one was congested and wheezy.  The thought is that either Luke is either having an asthma flare-up induced by a virus or he has pneumonia.  Or maybe it's both.  We were given new inhalers for a steroid and albuterol, along with a prescription for an antibiotic.  The doc said we could wait and see if the cough worsened and the fever continued before giving the antibiotic.  And we came home.

Within a few hours, the 102.5 degree insanity had returned.   Advil and peppermint oil were administered because I think both western medicine and alternative medicine rock.  And I decided antibiotics were a brilliant idea.  We started that business, along with the new inhalers, after dinner tonight.  I'm praying that that business will be effective, and our boy will be back to his old, crazy, too-loud, overly-active self soon.

I would like to publicly thank Jesus Christ for using my friend, Holly, to save my life yesterday.  On day three of being basically shut in with one sick kid and one healthy kid, she brought us two bins of "new-to-us" toys and a bag of books.  It gave Paul something new to do and Luke something new to watch Paul do.  That in combination with the audio books that the Daddy-Man picked up for us the day before have made survival possible.

Here is a picture of the people doing the things.

It kinda trashed the living room, but it was TOTALLY worth it.  Luke is able to play quietly in his less-fevered moments, and Paul can easily play in front of Luke when he is on the couch.  Win/win.

So that picture has a bit of a teaser for those of you who are following the living room remodel...the new chairs came.  I think I have a better picture to share.  Lemme go find it.

There.  The chairs.  In front of the new wall.  Lovely. Lovely. Lovely.  The remodel has largely been put on hold this week because you don't paint when your ten year old is lying on the couch being feverish and unhappy.  However a few of the bits that I had ordered online arrived, so I was able to add one more component to the room this afternoon.

We have owned this print since Dave and Lynne downsized in 2000.  It hung in our house in Puyallup and was actually something Baby Luke loved to stare at for minutes on end.  But it's framing needed updating.  I did this myself, people.  It's not perfectly done, but I love how it turned out.  Erik will add the hardware to the back soon and it will hang above the mantel.  Pretty.

Changes

I have never been the person who places high value on interior decorating.  I'm not actually sure why that is.  Too busy?  Maybe.  Too intimidated?  Probably.  Too cheap?  Definitely.  Regardless, a few months back a dear friend heard me speaking disparagingly about the fake wood paneling in my living room.  Ugly.  That's about all I could say about that business.  Oh, don't forget outdated.  She mentioned how much she loves interior decorating - it's her hobby.  It feeds her soul.  We were sitting in my 1972 meets 1991 living room at the time.  I glanced around and decided to take the risk.

Me: "Wanna help me make this room pretty?"

Friend Jena:  *squeal of delight* YES!

She started the pinterest board and the journey began.  I had already found a fabric that I really loved for new chairs.   Once I forwarded a picture to her, she had all the inspiration she needed.  Erik and I decided it was about time to spend some money on living room furniture for the first time in our married lives.  For real, people.  Sixteen and a half years with hand-me-downs, for which we have been SUPER grateful.  But buying furniture isn't a sin.  Coveting furniture - yes.  Overspending on furniture - yes.  Finding an amazing President's Day Sale and getting two chairs for what you thought you would have to spend for one - not. a. sin.  And that's exactly what happened.  The new chairs don't arrive for another month or so, but here is the fabric in front of the test paint section of the fake wood paneling.

The chairs will be the "pop" in the new room.  Most other elements will be in tones of white and grey.  This will be the accent wall.  The other walls will be a light grey.  Here are some other "in process" pictures.

I used a LOT of primer to cover that paneling...and I might have taken a few days off school to paint.  Teacher work days.  Those are a thing still?  Right?

Wanna see the entire wall finished?



There is too much stuff on that mantel, but we haven't worked on accessories yet.  The color of the wall helps so much.  The side tables will be painted white and have new lamps.  We also plan to paint the brick and the tile around the fireplace, as well as the insert.  I haven't decided yet about the mantel.  A lot will depend on what it looks like against the hardwoods...insert Amy's girlish squeal of delight here.

We have always known that there were hardwoods under the carpet.  It's in the closets.  Getting them refinished has just never been at the top of our list.  That all changed when our good friend Michael came over to take a look at the possibility of removing the shelving that enclosed our entryway.  Take a look:

It's not terrible, but it always made our entryway feel cramped.  Dinner parties were always filled with people squishing between these shelves and the backs of chairs.  So, Michael tore it out for us.  The same day he came to check it out.  And we all discovered the absolutely pristine hardwoods underneath it.  While he was at it, he mentioned being worried about damaging the terrible, poop-brown tile in the entryway.  I informed him that it would eventually go, too.  No time like the present!  So, he tore that out, too.  And found PRISTINE hardwoods underneath.  Are you catching a theme here?  Wanna see a picture?



Michael and Jan are part of our Roots family.  That's our church.  But it's really more like family than church.  (Friend Jena is part of Roots, too.)  These folks came over spur the moment and did all this work.  Michael even left to go grab his belt sander so we could see what the floors would look like without the gross glue.  Beautiful.  That's how they look.

We are going to hire professionals to do the actual refinishing of the floors.  Our buddy, Kale, runs his own business and they do this type of stuff.  They'll be coming in April to rip out the carpet and do the refinishing at a very reasonable price.  Blessedly, Erik will be out of town at a business meeting and I will be in Sunriver with the boys during the work.  We will, however, have the joy of removing all the furniture from our front room during the two weeks previous to the work and painting all the walls.  Pretty sure we are going to beg our friends for help with all this, too. ;-)

So, it's going to take a few more months, maybe four to six.  I still need to pick the grey color that I want to paint the other walls.  There are LOTS of little DIY projects that Jena and I need to attack, but finding time is a challenge.  And we might not be able to afford a new couch for awhile. I tried a slipcover - too slippy and messy-looking when people sat on it.  Honestly, who doesn't sit on their couch?  So, we will save our pennies and shop around and wait for the right sale.  And when this room is finally done, I am so confident that it will be stunning.

I can't tell you how excited I am about this, folks.  This is the room where I drink my first cup of coffee and have my first conversation with Jesus each morning.  It's always been a functional room, but never a beautiful one.  Sometimes beauty matters.  Especially when the ugly can be remedied fairly inexpensively and with the help of good friends.

Mostly Christmas Awesomeness

The last two weeks have been so relaxing and mellow for us.  Erik has been off work since December 23rd.  We have had lots of family time and celebrating.  I'll do my best to use the pictures to catch y'all up on all the fun.

We started what I hope will become a new Bangsund Family tradition on Christmas - a new puzzle!  Erik and I saw this Legend of Zelda themed puzzle online over a month ago.  It was a must have.  We weren't really sure when it would make an appearance, but the boys' restless behavior on Christmas told us it was time!

We all worked together on these 550 pieces, and it was epic.  The only struggle was that both boys wanted to put together the Link (hero and all-around awesome green-clad character) pieces.  Once we solved this issue by telling them to do it together, it went pretty well.

 I don't actually have a picture of the finished puzzle!  But maybe next year.  :-)

I also don't have a picture of the boys posing all dressed up for church.  But I gave them their new slippers shortly before we left, so I have those pictures.

 You can't tell, but they are Wookie-themed slippers - Star Wars - HUGE around here - the kids like it, too.  ;-)

 Also Wookie-themed, but slightly different.  Oh, and Luke has tape on his toes because I'm fairly certain he broke one of them running through the house about a week before this shot was taken. Yep.

After this, we went to church with Grandma and Grandpa, ate a beautiful dinner at their place, and opened more presents.  And I failed to take a single picture.  Sometimes it's just nice to enjoy the moment.  It was a lovely evening and we were blessed with lots of great gifts, including Storm Trooper Hanna Andersson jammies for the boys and a sewing machine for me!

Christmas morning, I was the first person up, around 6:15am.  It took me about ten minutes to get the table set for our celebration.  Chocolate birthday cake with peppermint frosting, worship packets, Christmas dishes, and the World Vision Gift Catalog to pick birthday presents for Jesus.  This start to our Christmas morning celebration never disappoints.  It is always cool.

 The people arrived on the scene around 8:30 a.m.  How sane is that?  We sing the songs, read the scriptures, and eat the cake...YUM!  Then we each get to pick a present.

Looking through the catalog, Luke piped up, "Mom!  Look, you can give a sewing machine - just like you got from Grandma and Grandpa last night!"  So I can, buddy.  What a great idea.  A sewing machine gifted to a woman in the third world provides a sustainable livelihood for her and her family.  It's food.  It's safety.  It's well-being.  It's perfect.

Paul picked a very cool water pump that is operated by foot, the pedals for which look a lot like an elliptical.  I think Paul probably thought it just looked fun!  But he was also jazzed to know that it would provide folks with clean water.

Erik picked $1,200 worth of medication for not nearly that much money.  It's super cool to be able to pick gifts that match with our passions.

Meanwhile, Luke was quietly reading a page in his catalog that has always been there, but drew his attention this year.  The page tells the story of a girl who gets trafficked.  I didn't actually realize he was processing the story until he said, "This.  I want to give this.  Safety for a girl."  When my boy read those three paragraphs, he immediately decided that he needed to do something about it.  This is the man I pray that I am raising, a man of integrity who sees the injustice in the world and takes as much action as he possibly can.  I have never been so moved by one of my boy's choices.  I'm pretty sure at that age, I might have just ignored that page because it was terrible and sad and uncomfortable.  Luke doesn't want to ignore it.  He wants to help fix it.  And that, friends, is awesome.

Once that sweet tradition was done, it was time for our gift giving to each other.  Okay, here's the deal.  While we were on vacation alone together at the cabin earlier in December, Erik and I completed a little online questionnaire about our love languages.  You know, the way each of us communicates and receives love most effectively.  So, quality time was my first love language, and receiving gifts was my second.  Well, folks, let me just tell you that I knew about that secondary business and always thought that I should just pretend that wasn't a thing.  Because it felt kinda selfish.  But then we read more about it.  It's not about big, expensive shiny things.  In fact, those don't count unless there is time and thought behind them.  Gifts matter when they say, "I've listened to you.  I know what will delight you."

This is the part where my husband rocks.  Erik will be the first to admit that coming up with gift ideas for his wife is hard.  The ADD mind struggles to remember the conversation where the wife mentioned the thing that would delight her on Christmas morning.  And people, I have let go of this business in a lot of ways.  So, when Erik surprised me on Christmas morning with not one, but THREE thoughtful, meaningful gifts, I wept.  For real.  Wanna see what he got me?

That personalized glass ornament of a piano hanging from the lamp commemorates this year, the year I started lessons again and we got an acoustic piano.  Cried when I opened that business.  Did I mention that I started collecting the old style glass ornaments two years ago?  And then there is the piano music...from Jane Austen movies...that I love.  How awesome is my husband?  Super awesome.  He nailed this BIG time.  I already knew that he loves me, but for whatever reason, when he buys me meaningful gifts, my heart sings.

And then the kids opened their gifts!

Paul got this Lego Dimensions thing in his stocking.  He was pretty impressed.

 Both boys got these cool Star Wars cups in their stockings.

We continued the tradition of giving each boy three gifts corresponding with their hearts (toy), souls, and minds...although I did cheat a bit this year.

Both boys received piano music this year as their soul gift...because music feeds the soul...right?  Luke got music from "The Legend of Zelda" video games and Paul got music from Mario video games.  They can't quite play them yet, but they LOVED listening to me pick my way through them.  SO fun!

 Paul got this robotic dinosaur as his "heart" gift.  We were together in Kohl's at the very beginning of December when he spotted it.  I don't think he ever thought I would actually get it for him.

 And then Luke opened this Nerf blaster, something he saw and loved on the same Kohl's trip.  I don't know if their love language is receiving gifts, but I LOVE paying attention and getting them at least one thing that shows I was listening.  And folks, sometimes I'm sad that we never did Santa, but when it all comes down, I'm super glad my kids know that I know them and give them good gifts.

Then my mom came over and we had lazy brunch, followed by presents.  Here she is opening the ornament that I made with the boys' picture.  She's pretty thrilled.

Okay, so this past summer Luke read the ENTIRE Redwall series in three months.  That's 22 books written on about a seventh grade reading level.  He loved it.  And my mom noticed.  She bought him the first 12 books in the series and gave them to him on Christmas morning.  He was beyond thrilled.

 That stack of books has made for a VERY quiet Christmas break around here.  Lovely gift, Oma!

Then the boys hugged Oma!

Christmas evening we enjoyed time at Uncle Bob and Aunt Cindy's but again I failed to take pictures.  We had a great time catching up with family and laughing really hard at the crazy antics of gag gift boxes.  So hilarious!

That's the Christmas business.  I think I'll save the rest of vacation for another post.  :-)

School Today

School in December is nobody's favorite thing.  Seriously.  That tree goes up, and all I want to do is plan presents and play piano.  Period.  But today was a beautiful example of how schooling looks different for us in December but is completely legit in my opinion.

Our day began with me needing to rouse both boys from sleep in order to leave the house by 7:45 a.m. to be at the nearby elementary school in time to deliver 6 bags of groceries for the Backpack Buddies kids.  Paul wasn't just reluctant.  He was kinda ticked.  So, I stopped and had an important conversation about serving even when we would rather sleep in.  All I had to do was quietly explain the purpose of the bags.  It's food so those kids can eat over Christmas break.   And he was all in, folks.  With a smile on his face.  It didn't hurt that I promised pumpkin bread from Starbucks at the end of the trip.  Service is rewarding, people!

We arrived at the school and delivered the bags, Merry Christmasing our way through the building.  It was so good.  And educational.  The lesson?  It's not always about us.  Sometimes we have to climb out of our warm, comfy bed in order to do something for others.  Good lesson.

When we got home, post-Starbucks drive-thru, it was time to practice piano.  Music.  It's school around here.  It counts.

Then they went downstairs and played while I practiced piano.  Soul-care for the teacher.  Also important around here.

After that, I called them upstairs and read to them from Johnny Tremain for about an hour.  History and literature rolled into one!  They were entertained, and we are all learning lots about Boston during the American Revolution.  That's just cool.

Now they are playing chess on the living room floor while I write this blog post beside them.  I can hear them strategizing and problem solving.  It's all school.  I know it's not traditional.  And yes we will get back to math and spelling and vocabulary in January.  But sometimes learning is best snuck in between the everyday stuff.  It's almost like I'm preparing them to learn in real life situations rather than just a classroom.  Right?

Here's the pic:

Piano Tuning

We got the piano tuned today.  Why is this blog-worthy?  What's the big deal?  Let me explain.

Most of you already know at least some of my backstory, growing up below the poverty line in suburban America.  It's miraculous that we owned a piano, and I am SO grateful for the church that sold it SO cheaply to my mom the Christmas that I was seven years old.  It was magical.  They snuck that beast of an upright grand into the house on Christmas Eve, and I was overjoyed the next morning.

And I played it untuned and without a treble C (it had fallen and couldn't get up) for all of my growing up years and through college.  When Erik and I moved into our little starter house in Puyallup, we brought the piano home.  And I tried to get it tuned, but having been moved unprofessionally multiple times (it had been rolled up the street on one occasion and had fallen over in the back of a pick-up truck once), the sounding board had cracked.  Irreparable to our newlywed budget.  So it sat.  I played from time to time.  But mostly I just mourned.  It was playable sort of, but I was playing a well-tuned baby grand every Sunday at church now.  My piano just hurt my ears.

Eventually, shortly after or right before (my Mommy Brain can't recall) Luke was born, we gave it away.  I placed a classified ad (yep...in the paper...it was 2005, but we were in the suburbs and who knew craigslist existed?) offering the piano "as is" and free to a good home.  The man who called me let me know that he takes pianos, fixes them up, and gives them to underprivileged kids who want to learn to play.  Okay.  So, that was perfect.  He came and got it.

Then came the electric piano my dad gave us about two months later.  I'm not kidding.  We were without a keyed instrument for less than a quarter of a year.  God knows us, people.  He knows what feeds our souls.  God knew what I needed.  My dad brought the electric piano to our house, and I knew it for the blessing it was.  And folks, I do love that instrument and am SUPER thankful to my dad for giving it to me.

But it wasn't a real piano.  And until a few weeks ago when we acquired this beautiful instrument from Uncle Bob and Aunt Cindy, I didn't realize how very much I have missed playing a real piano.  It's different.  It rings differently.  It physically hums.  It sings with me.

And then Taylor Mackinnon arrived today at 12:30 pm to tune it.  I greeted him at the door and he had a  warm smile on his face, reminding me just a touch of Santa Claus.  No joke.  The boys were downstairs playing and I left them there.  He got started and eventually the boys came roaring up the stairs, but I cut them off in the kitchen.  They could hear Taylor tuning.  And I told them they had to be silent.  Ready for another Bangsund Family Christmas Miracle?  They were.  Silent.  Like the night in the song, people.  I couldn't believe it.  They stood by his side and watched him work.  He didn't shoo them away or even looked askance at them.  In fact, at one point when swapping between registers, he engaged them in conversation and told them that they should encourage me in my lessons because having a mom who studies piano is great.  So, he works for Concord Piano Services (503-648-5247) and everyone should hire him.  Just sayin'.

As he was finishing up, I realized that in the thirty plus years that I have been a piano playing person, not once have I lived in a house with a tuned acoustic piano.   Tears.  Blessedly, I was in the kitchen and the poor man didn't need to witness that Amy Craziness.  But seriously, folks, I am so abundantly grateful, to Bob and Cindy for parting with this beautiful instrument, to Dave and Lynne for gifting me with the birthday money that started me back to piano lessons, and to Jesus Christ for creating me with a heart that loves music so much and gifting that matches that passion, allowing it to feed my soul.

Okay.  Of course I took pictures.  Pretty sure Taylor thought I was crazy.  ;-)

 I didn't time how long they stood there, but it was definitely longer than five minutes.

This is the reason that the treble B and C were sticking together.  This had been dropped into the piano at some point.  Both boys were in the room when Taylor pulled it out.  And Luke immediately said, "I did NOT put that in there.  I promise, Mom."  I had a hard time not laughing.  (I found the sticky keys while the piano was still at Bob and Cindy's...pretty sure it was one of theirs...not mine...whew!)

And now an attempt to share how much I love this instrument.  This is a super short, twenty-three second clip of me playing my current favorite passage.  I promise not to become one of these people who posts tons of videos of myself playing the piano.  But this kinda reflects some of my joy, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

More December Fun

Bangsund Christmas traditions continued last weekend as we procured our Christmas tree and decorated the business out of our home.

We went to the tree farm we go to every year, owned and operated by Don Schneider.  It's the free toy place.  My kids still love it, so we still go.

The weather was not great, so I quickly picked a tree.  My main goal is always a skinny tree because our living room just gets REALLY crowded with anything other than a mildly anemic, Paris runway model version of a Christmas tree.  Know what I mean?

Here's what I found:

It's so slim, it doesn't really show from behind the boys.  Dang!  Luke is going to be taller than our tree in just a few years.  Oy.

So we (meaning Erik) cut it down, the boys picked their toys from Mr. Schneider's free toy shed, and we headed home.

Then came the fun, new Bangsund Family tradition.

Luke Bangsund helped his father put up the outside Christmas lights!

By this I mean that Luke did ALL of the ladder work.  All of it.  Erik stayed on terra firma while the ten year old climbed the ladder and did all the gutter clipping and tensioning.  What just happened?

Like this.  Crazy, huh?

Over the course of Saturday and Sunday, our little tree was decorated by mostly me.  I'm still not super comfortable letting the boys touch my grandmother's antique ornaments.  Maybe next year.  They did get to decorate the tree in the basement...that's cool, too, right?

Here's how our upstairs tree turned out:

I hadn't put the tree skirt on yet, or eliminated the boy legs from the area, but you get the gist.

And now, one of my favorite pictures of the season so far - Paul doing his spelling by the light of the Christmas tree this past week.

He found this location all by himself, and I love it.  Even spelling is better by tree light!

Some December Fun

December is only half over and look at me, blogging!  Be impressed, people.  Okay, not that impressed.  Erik and I are currently snowed in a bit at the cabin in Sunriver.  So, I have a little time on my hands.  :-)

We have enjoyed some great family moments thus far this month, the first of which was a brand new experience for the boys and a very nostalgic one for Erik and me.  We took the boys to the PLU Christmas Concert held here in Portland each year.  Let me explain.  Erik and I sang in this concert every year of our PLU lives.  And in 1997, having just started dating in November, we sat together on the bus ride down and back, dancing with each other in PLU's Red Square after helping unload the buses at midnight.  This concert is meaningful to us for LOTS of reasons.

We had never taken the boys because it requires sitting mostly still for two hours straight while listening to orchestral and choral music.  Right?  Not exactly their scene.  Also, in years past the concert has been on Tuesday evening, a night that I am committed to be at my bible study as the supervisor of the school-aged program.  But this year was different.

The advertisement arrived via snail mail in mid-October.  I glanced at it, interested in what the choir would be performing.  And there it was - Portland's concert was on Wednesday, December 2nd!!  I was so excited.  But I had a decision to make.  With or without the boys?  I decided to test the waters.

While sitting at the kitchen table for lunch that day, I not-so-slyly pulled up a youtube video of a previous PLU Christmas Concert and just started watching.  I NEVER do this, people.  I do not watch youtube during the day, unless it is very specifically connected with something we are studying.  Even then, it's always in our school room and has a big long boring introduction from me about what I want the boys to be watching for and things we will discuss afterward.  Educational.  Yep.  Not so this time.  I just started that video playing right in the middle of the Top Ramen.  From the very first notes, both boys were completely intrigued.

They stopped talking to each other.  That's so stinkin' rare.  Then, without speaking, they moved from their chairs to standing behind mine, silently staring at the screen.  After about a minute and a half, Paul reverently whispered, "What is this?"  And I knew they were ready.  I put a reminder in my calendar to purchase tickets when they went on sale a few weeks later.  And I did.

Next came some wardrobe improvements.  My children are homeschooled, people.  They spend much of the day wearing pants that are best suited for athletic activity and t-shirts with either Star Wars, Ninjago, or Mario characters emblazoned across them.  They wear these same clothes to church because nobody there cares about their clothes.  They each own two pairs of shoes - sneakers and rain boots.  That's it.  But for this PLU grad, the Christmas Concert held in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in downtown Portland was going to require something a bit snazzier.  In fact, before buying tickets I sat down with each boy and let them know that in order to go they would need to wear non-athletic pants and a collared shirt.  Period.  No arguments.  They both readily agreed.  And it was the first of a few Christmas miracles we experienced surrounding this event.

The boys and I shopped together for their concert attire.  I took them to Kohl's after doing some online research ahead of time.  I knew exactly what we were looking for and found it.  Wanna see the results?

Those ties have a character from Star Wars on them.  See what I did there?  It's called compromise.  You agree to dress up and I find you something that you absolutely LOVE to make it less painful.  The shoes were also a brilliant move on my part.  They are Vans, reasonably comfortable and absolutely awesome looking.  Not a single tear was shed during the donning of these outfits.  Christmas Miracle #2.  This picture alone might qualify me for Mom of the Year, folks.

We enjoyed dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory on the waterfront beforehand.  The boys did AWESOME.  A huge thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for introducing the boys to this restaurant a few weeks before the concert.  It was the perfect pre-concert family dinner place - fancy enough that I could be wearing my cutie dress and not feel WAY too overdressed - casual enough to be affordable and kid-friendly.  Seriously.  Perfect.

Sidenote:  This experience made me realize how much the boys are maturing.  They ordered their own food, stayed in their seats the entire meal, ate without complaint, and were uber polite to our server (I think she wanted to take them both home by the end of the meal).  I don't want to speak too soon, but these boys might actually turn out okay.

Okay!  On to the concert!  We parked the car and walked a few blocks downtown to get to the hall, taking us by the beautifully awesome downtown Christmas tree in Pioneer Courthouse Square.  I didn't get a picture because we were moving, but we all ooohed and aaahed appropriately.

We arrived at The Schnitz and both boys were super impressed by the marquee area.  All those lights!  I took this picture of them standing with Erik beneath it, but you can't tell it's them.  Oh, well.  The lights show very well!

We went in and the boys were again enthralled with the fanciness of the entire place.  I am basically just like them.  I think because I don't get out often enough, places like this still awe me.  It's not a bad thing actually.  But seeing it through their eyes made it even more enchanting.

We easily found our seats and it wasn't long before the concert started.  From the appearance of the Concert Master to the final standing ovation both boys were pretty much attentive.  Paul got tired during the second half (around 9pm), but he just leaned on Erik.  It helped so much that there are many opportunities for standing and singing.  Part of this concert tradition is the audience sing alongs.  About every half hour, the entire audience stands and sings a classic carol, loudly and fully orchestrated.  It rocks.  The boys loved it.  And it helped them stretch their legs and get the wiggles out.  So good.

At intermission, we climbed the stairs to the balcony to get the real view.  I took a picture.  The ties were clip on and too uncomfortable to last the entire night.  If I am able to, I will replace them with real ties for the upcoming Christmas celebrations.

It's a little dark and blurry, but can you see Paul's face?  It really says exactly how he felt about the entire night.  "Can you believe something this amazing exists and happens every year?"  Yes, buddy.  Maybe someday you will be on the stage instead of in the audience.  By the way, we need to get balcony seats next year.  It might be that you need to know the fancy people to sit up here.  But it just so happens that we know the people who know the fancy people.  So, it could happen.  ;-)

The concert ended around 9:30 pm, a good solid hour and half after we usually put the boys to bed.  We REALLY wanted to stay for just a moment to greet our former director and all-around awesome guy, Dr. Richard Nance.  Unsure of how long the boys would last, we were heading up the aisle toward the lobby when Dr. Nance appeared from back stage.  Ready for the third Christmas miracle?  Both boys were polite and kind to him.  At 9:30 pm.  Really.  I'm not lying.  I promise.  They greeted him and shook hands and smiled.  They allowed us to talk for a few minutes and then we gave our hugs and headed for the door.  Dr. Nance did ask if they sing LOW like their Daddy.  Erik and I replied in unison, "Not yet!" C'mon genetics!  Give us some more bass power!  Okay, we will be content with baritones or tenors...sort of.  ;-)

The drive home was mostly fine.  They were tired and at one point thought it was a good idea to start a conversation about Minecraft.  They were soon at odds regarding a debatable point of which no adult knows or cares to know the finer points.  Erik politely told them this was not a good time to discuss such matters and we turned on some Christmas music instead.  Other than that, there were no disputes.  We arrived home and all went to bed while visions of coloraturas danced in our heads.