November

Looking back at my October post, I see that I promised to reveal the bird that my younger son was for Halloween. Well, here you go….he was a cardinal this year. I think this bird (his third bird costume and fourth Halloween being a bird) was inspired by a little cardinal friend we have. I’ll have to save that story for a blog post of its own. 🙂

But now Halloween seems SO LONG AGO. How does that happen? It was only three weeks ago. Is it because we’re busy, or does my brain let go of events too quickly? Either way, I feel like Halloween was three months ago. Not three weeks.

We have had a lot of events in these past three weeks, so maybe that’s it. By the end of this month, my eldest son will have performed in a studio class, three recitals, and a competition. Our weekends have been just as busy as our weekdays!

But guess what?! He won the competition! He tied for first place in his division! The competition was in Atlanta, and there’s some fierce competition there, so he’s thrilled, and we’re so proud of him. His hard work has paid off. As a first place winner, he has to perform in a winners recital too, so we’re looking forward to that. And I hope I’ll have some recordings of his pieces soon to put on his YouTube channel. Please subscribe to his channel and click on notifications, if you’d like to be notified when those are posted.

One of the recitals he participated in was a recital for area teachers. (That is, all teachers could pick a few of their students to perform in this recital.) We especially enjoyed this recital because unlike last year, some college students also participated. I enjoy hearing both the small children and the older, more advanced students play. It’s a treat to hear such a range of talented kids.

Other than this, November has been fairly routine. The weather has been very good, and I’ve tried to take some walks, though I don’t get to walk as much as I’d like. I have also been trying to experiment with some new, vegan recipes, which is a diet that my husband’s cardiologist recommends. I was vegan for a number of years in my early twenties, and I have remained semi-vegetarian ever since, so it’s a fun challenge.

So that’s what my November has looked like. Piano events, cooking vegan meals, and taking walks whenever I can. Oh, and, of course, homeschooling and reading books. Here’s what’s on our nightstands right now:

The 13-year-old: The Fellowship of the Ring
The 10-year-old: The Yearling (I’m reading this one aloud to him) and Shiloh Season (He loved the first book, titled Shiloh.)
Me: Roll of Thunder, Here My Cry (A YA novel that I’m reading to determine if it will be part of my son’s 8th grade literature unit next year, and, yes, it will be.)