Gommy Leads the Class

The other day when Craig dropped Montgomery off at school, he learned it was her turn to lead the class in their morning "routine"...alphabet, weather, songs...

He hung around to snap these quick (camera-phone) pictures of her in action, and said she knew exactly what she was doing! She looks like such a big girl to me in these photos.

Much Love. Take Care.

Best Big Sister Ever!

Maia takes being a big sister seriously...and she truly is an excellent one.

There are so many special stories of her taking the initiative to share in her younger siblings' lives...much to their delight...much to my delight...and I really also believe, much to her delight as well

(...and I look forward to telling them all in blog years to come).

Building the foundations of healthy and strong little hearts, open broadly to the world embracing the wonder of life to the fullest, is such a fragile and delicate work. Impossible, I truly believe, without prayer, and the close cojourneying of others we love, who love whom we love and seek what we seek for them.

I love knowing that I can trust her with their hearts...it means the world to me.

But then again, she's always been that way...

We love you so much Mai-Mai!

Take Care. Much Love.


 

Snow-walking and snow-snacking

Gommy's idea of snow-walking... and...

...snow-snacking.

Much love. Take care.

Again

We woke up this morning to the scene above...so much for my posts last week celebrating the 74 degree weather! Good thing we enjoyed it while it lasted!

So, since it was yet another snow day and all schools were closed again, Gommy enjoyed an invitation to visit a little friend down the street to play, and she took along the final two really-cool-heart-shaped-cookies-that-came-with-flavored-markers-for-actually-coloring-your-designs-on-them that Auntie Joanne (of course!) had given her...

 ...although it took awhile to walk there...

...because stepping off the path into the snow every 10 feet or so was just too appealing!  :o)

She eventually made it.

Take care. Much love.

Squash Victory!

What a difference a year makes! Sweet victory!

Last Sunday, Job returned from his second trip to the U.S. High School Squash Nationals at Yale University with a huge smile on his face...actually, it was more like a collective huge smile from the whole team.

Last year Job's varsity squash team returned from the Nationals quite dejected. The team had made a Herculean effort that year even to travel to the competition on the immediate heels of a huge Blatimore blizzard. Once there, they were eliminated in the first round of competition, on the first day!

This year, they made it all the way through round after round after round to earn a coveted spot in their division FINALS, on the last day of competition, in the last match-up!

They played hard, but were untimately defeated by the other team. So, even though they just missed bringing back the title of U.S. Nationals Champions, they made the journey back to Baltimore in high spirits, reveling in their success as the U.S. High School Squash Nationals Division III Finalist! (Kudos, Coach Weiner!)

We are so proud of and excited for this young team (they've only been a Varsity Team for the past four years!). The enjoyment of the 4-day trip itself, with no agenda but to hang out with good friends and play the sport you love, and the level of success the team achieved, had Job on a natural high for a few days.

At home, we'd followed the tournament bracket results online as they rolled in that Friday through Sunday, and were high-fiving each other as they progressed round after round until they were one of the last two teams standing in their divisional bracket. We were waiting with baited breath for the results of the Finals, hoping and praying while the game was being played. We were so dissapointed for the team when the final results posted showing the opposing team had won, but we were overjoyed as well, knowing they were all still so delighted with their success. Job was playing in a tough third spot on the seven-member team, and every player he competed against was ranked higher than him. He persevered, suffering through more than his fair share of losses, but playing hard to help the team bring back that beautiful Finalist standing! We are so proud of him, even more for his awesome attitude than for the team's squash victory.

Job loves squash and gets to the courts as often as his busy schedule allows.

He rallies for every point!

Squash is an international sport our family had pretty much never heard of until Job was introduced to it at school and started playing in 7th grade (or was it 8th?). I must admit (and am a bit ashamed to say) I used to call it "glorified raquetball" until I learned more about it. Now, you might think our family invented the sport, as much as we enjoy being involved with it. Job tried out about ten different sports before finding his passion in squash. He enjoys the sport so much, it even has been a primary factor in his decisions on where to apply for college. Several very good schools fell off his list because they lacked on-campus or near-by squash facilities. 

He has even volunteered for a local squash nonprofit organization that teaches the sport to inner-city middle school students (his hope with that effort is that he eventually will begin to see more diversity on the courts!). Job also took the initiative this year to secure a part-time position at his favorite gym, in exchange for membership...

...so he can play as much as he wants throughout the year...

Squash is a winter sport, and unfortunately for Job, heats up at the exact time his FIRST Robotics Team is at its most intense build period. So in January and February, Job goes directly from school to the squash courts for practice and/or a game, and then heads immediately back to the school's robotics lab to work with the team on the robot. He usually gets home near 10 p.m., and then still has his homework to do before getting up the next morning, heading out around 7:30 a.m. -- at least that's the morning goal time anyway  ;-) -- and doing it all over again. We love his commitment, but it goes without saying that we are very glad when this dual-sport season (yes, we consider robotics a brain sport that takes more time and effort than the vast majority of high school varsity athletic sports!) finally reaches its conclusion...later this week...yeah!!

It will be nice to see Job again...in the daylight!  ;o)

Take care. Much love.   

Gommy's Discovery

Montgomery discovered earphones this week.

She was delighted, concentrating hard on this new kind of listening...

...and she danced around...

...and insisted on choosing her own music for more dancing...



...again...

...and again.

It's funny how the simplest things we see as so ordinary delight the youngest among us. I enjoyed her discovery with her, and basked for awhile in her delight (and eventual silliness!).

This evening, on her way out the door to Coldstone Creamery with Job and Maia (a rare and special treat for her to hang out with just the oldest two by herself), Gommy did something else new...she copied me. Every move I made, every gesture, every facial expression, she mimicked to a "T." It was so funny, and Maia and Job couldn't stop laughing. She was so observant, copying things I didn't even realized I was doing. Gommy definitely has a flair for the dramatic...she was really good! I wished I'd been able to get her on video...but decided instead to just enjoy the moment.

Much love. Take care.

Can't Wait to Get it Home on a Wall

Johngideon's art class...week 3...how awesome is this piece!

The background is saturated with beautiful color, the how of which Johngideon cheerfully explained to me...something I would never have thought of. The children placed small pieces of colored tissue paper on their "canvases" which they then "painted" over with water, using a paint brush. After a few moments, they pulled up and discarded the pieces of tissue paper, and were left with beautiful dyed areas of mosaicy watery pink, purple and blue colors that are just gorgeous. To finish their works of art, they then painted winter scenes in oil pastels and white paint. (I am sure the instructor chose the snowy theme for her syllabus not expecting this February week to hold 70 degree days!) I can't wait to get this piece home to grace our walls. Love it!

Poor Johngideon's eyes were red all day because we took him and Montgomery swimming last night, for the first time since Labor Day, while the older kids all had other social places to be, and I didn't think about grabbing goggles...until he looked like a bloodshot imbiber an hour later. Ooops!

After art class, Johngideon and I joined a few friends downtown at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, a newer museum I am rather ashamed to say I have never visited, other than for an opening day outdoor festival Maia's dance group performed in. Over the last several years I've seen advertisements for exhibits that piqued my interest and increased my intentions, but I still never quite made it down. Our visit was very enjoyable for both of us.

We especially enjoyed a special exhibition of contemporary black women artists called Material Girls. Turns out one of the artists, Maya Freelon Asante, creates large colorful works of art in...guess what..."bleeding" tissue paper dye! Unfortunately (but understandably) we couldn't take photos in any of the galleries, hence our outdoor shots above. However, the two photos directly below are from Maya Freelon Asante's website... http://www.mayafreelon.com/ ...

We both loved the Material Girls exhibit for the amazing works of art created using such unusual, everyday and/or repurposed items. Johngideon particularly enjoyed an intricately beaded statue (unfortunately I cannot remember the name of the artist). I especially loved the large and wonderful recycled tires abstract sculptures (I know that doesn't sound attractive but they are quite beautiful, and so texturally rich!) by Chakaia Booker...these two images below are from her website.... http://www.chakaiabooker.com/ ...

Talented women!

Next to the Lewis museum is another museum (I think it's called the Living Classroom?), that has a huge colored glass wall patterned as an American flag. We thought it was striking and cool.

Finally, as I was searching for parking near the museum, I was flabbergasted at how much the city has changed in this part of town, seemingly overnight (but I am sure I just haven't driven through this area in a year or so). What was a rather sparse and junky-looking few blocks of flat and gravely land and decaying buildings is now a neat new urban community of lovely new rowhouses...

I truly sensed a community feel to the neighborhood as I drove through. Normally I am not the biggest fan of gentrification because of the social and economic injustice that often accompanies it, but I do think this area is improved for the better...hopefully the homes are within financial reach of a diverse population...but I have my doubts. I'll have to research a bit before I can fully allow myself to really embrace and enjoy the fresh beauty of the area.

All in all, it was a very nice (and very windy) day.   :o)

Take care. Much love.