"Best" Friends

Melanie and Mack Best with Johnny and Sammy

Melanie Best ... one of my very favorite people and best friends was in town for a short visit this week. I try to do whatever possible to see Melanie each time she and her family visit from Florida. Melanie and her husband Leon are doing great missionary work in Florida, so I can't complain about them moving away for a few years. It does seem that I have extraordinarily bad luck of having my closest friends move away. Of course they all plan to move back eventually, but it's still very sad to have them gone even temporarily. I feel very blessed by the friendship I have with each of my friends, even though some are long distance. Ironically, I get together more often with Melanie than I do with some of my local friends. In a few months, Melanie will get to experience the bliss of being the mother of three! Mack, Noel and a new little baby. I pray God blesses their family with good health and lots of love!

Sammy enjoying his ride around scooter

Sammy is really enjoying his newfound mobility and thinks it's a real kick to sit on his little scooter. Of course he doesn't go anywhere on it yet, but I have no doubt he will soon.

Valentine's Day

Johnny eating pizza

Jessica & Johnny playing Pin the Lips on Mrs. Valentine

Maia playing the Heart Bean Bag Toss

Fishing for Love

Johnny's class had a Valentine's Day party put on by me, Jessica, Mei and Anna (my four closest mom friends from school). We fed the kids full of pizza and grapes and then played three games. Everyone got a prize for playing each game ... so great fun was had by all and everyone was a winner! We played Pin the Lips on Mrs. Valentine, a heart shaped bean bag toss and a game called fishing for love which was super cute! It was fun but also fairly stressful trying to get a bunch of excited 3 year olds to be patient and follow directions. I have even more appreciation for the job of being a teacher, especially for children of that age.

Keith and I "celebrated" Valentine's Day in a very non-traditional and not very romantic way, but it was a Valentine's Day I will never forget. Keith just started a new job last week and one unexpected perk was that he was offered free VIP tickets to the Educator's Concert put on by the Houston Symphony and Virtuosi at Jones Hall. I had a baby sitter lined up so we could both go, but Sammy came down with Keith's cold and the sitter has a no-sick-kids policy. Since the symphony is really my passion, Keith generously agreed to stay home and take care of the boys while I went to the symphony by myself. The event was simply outstanding and I couldn't be more thrilled with the whole night. The VIP tickets enabled me to sit in the first 9 reserved rows (I chose the middle seat in row 5 which I thought was the best view) and to schmooze with the School Bell award recipient in the exclusive wine and cheese reception during intermission.

I was a little hesitant to go initially because I didn't think I would really like the particular pieces being played, but I'm so glad I went anyway ... I'm not sure I stopped smiling once during the entire performance. First, the Houston Symphony performed the wonderful Weber overture to Der Freischutz. Then the girl who won the 2005 Houston Symphony League Piano Concerto competition performed Prokofiev's Piano Concerto #3 with the symphony. Lastly, half of Houston Symphony left and was replaced by the student's Houston Virtuosi for the performance of Mendelssohn's Symphony #1. I knew I would like the Weber overture and just loved it live. The piano concerto was unexpectedly amazing and completely entertaining, a lot because of the surprising performance of the pianist. Jessica Zhu looked to be about 18 years old and was a very pretty, very lithe, petite young girl, dressed in a gorgeous red satin close fitting gown ... very elegant and graceful. What was so unexpected was that the piece she played was so incredibly dramatic and powerful and full of energy. She was literally rocking out and pratically setting the piano keys on fire. Her tiny little graceful body was full of very dramatic expression and fervor. Her facial expressions alone would have kept me entertained. I thought she was going to fly backwards off of the piano bench at the finale! I just keep saying outstanding over and over! The Mendelssohn piece was marvelous as well and I really got to enjoy the entire symphony of musicians working so skillfully in usison ... it just really struck me what a totally coordinated and cooperative effort it is to perform that kind of music. I kept going back and forth between smiling from ear to ear with enjoyment, to goose bumps to welling up with awe from the performance. It was so sweet to see the students playing, and they sounded every bit as good as the professionals. Boy, I think there were a lot of proud parents in the audience last night. I must find a way to do that again, and I think even more importantly, find a way to take Johnny to see a kid-friendly performance. I really think that my mom taking us to the San Diego Symphony when we were little kids has everything to do with my enduring passion for classical music.

On the Move

Chillin' on the lawn out back before dusk

Sammy and his current favorite activity

We have Sammy on a rigorous exercise routine including push ups

Sammy and Johnny are each other's favorite playmates

Sammy is growing and changing so fast! He is doing everything he can to be mobile. It is a challenge because he is so fat and it takes so much effort to lug that body around. He makes due though and continually amazes us by how strong he is. Yesterday, Johnny and I went into the back yard to collect kindling for about 90 seconds and when we came back inside Sammy had managed to stand up by himself by pulling up on his big cube toy. Go Sammy! Today when he was standing up in front of his cube, he was trying to balance without holding on by taking off one hand and then the other over and over. He almost balanced one time, but toppled over backwards. He's making progress though and we'll need to outfit him with some good running shoes soon! I now have to be much more diligent about keeping the floor baby safe as he goes from one end of the room to the other exploring. Sammy and Johnny are great pals and can make each other laugh harder than anyone else. :)

Sammy's Getting More Mobile

Sammy showing off his two teeth

Sammy on all fours

Sammy's current favorite activity

I just never tire of that smile ...

Is it me or is that leg bent?

Well, Sammy still looks like a pot-bellied tank, but he still somehow manages to grab onto something and stand himself up with his strong little legs. Standing and "crawling" are Sammy's favorite activity these days. We have to use the term crawling loosely, as Sammy typically pushes himself up like a tall teepee and flops forward. Whatever it takes to move around.