in his element

My boy loves music

so much so

that I think if you looked at his dna—

at the twist and whirl of it—

you'd simply find 

notes,

dancing.

He can't stop humming, tapping, trying

figuring, listening, asking

learning, loving.

It's the thing he loves to do with his dad

(and what could be better than having your dad be the band teacher,

like, the coolest band teacher of all time?),

and it's the thing

he simply loves to do.

Whether it's a band rehearsal, a lesson,

a concert

 a performance,

a workshop

or just a jam session on a rainy Saturday with a bunch of kids

who love music as much as he does,

it's all bliss to him.

It's where his friends are and friendships are forming

where, at ten years old he's as much at ease 

with the 18 year olds as the 9 year olds

because, you know,

they speak the same language.

The other day 

my boy told me he wanted to be a percussionist when he grows up

(as well as a writer, inventor, artist, and architect living in Italy!)

but I know he's this already…

already a musician,

because it's obvious;

 it's what he breathes and thinks and feels and is.

It's beautiful, just for me, 

to see him inside his music,

in his element,

but today he got to share a bit of this true self

with a whole bunch of other people,

because today,

 my boy was on the radio!

He went on with his dad ,

who'd been invited into the station to talk about New Orleans Jazz 

and something called 2nd line drumming. 

My boy was there 

to play the drums live on air. 

Which he did, and nailed it!

First he played a clave rhythm with one hand while shaking a shaker with the other.

Then he played this totally complicated New Orleans groove,

while accompanying his dad (on bass drum)

and the radio host 

(who played ukelele and sang!)

all

without missing a beat.

Afterwards, my husband said,

"He was so cool. It was just another day for him, playing music. 

Wasn't nervous at all. But I was!"

I sat at home listening with my girl.

I couldn't get the grin off my face.

Felt like I was soaring.

Which is how I imagine my boy must feel

when he plays

and lives inside the thing

he loves.

Updated! Holiday Show and Tell

Good morning, class! 

For today's Show and Tell, I have all sorts of news. In fact, anyone else wanting to share news today might have to wait 'til tomorrow. Yeah, I mean you in the back with the owl habitat diorama—Sit down, sister!

Today, for show and tell,

my 1st item of news 

is that

my boy's lego team was on t.v. tonight!

Howabout that? Kind of cool, huh?

The local news came to a fundraising booth the team had set up in a shopping mall. They filmed for ages, and my son wore one of his excellent fedoras for the event. When we watched it tonight, we got to see the team working the robot, the coach and kids getting interviewed, and… my boy's chin, and only his chin! It looked very handsome! (We also saw me and my girl in the background, which was ironic as we were totally trying to stay out of the way).

Anyway, it was great to see everyone on t.v. and have the kids' (and mentors') efforts recognised. The funny thing is, they didn't mention we were homeschoolers. Isn't that strange?

(UPDATE: I've now got youtube footage! Wow, I didn't know that would be possible, so thankyou, Clever Parent Who Did This. I love technology!)

If anyone wants to check out the team's website, here it is:

http://www.legorobots2011.info

So…what do you think? Does anyone want to come to our robocamp? If you do—especially those in the US—I'll be very impressed!


(And I've been avoiding saying this out loud because then it'll be real…but we can't go with the team to compete in Europe. For lots of reasons, but ultimately it came down to the dates completely clashing with a major music festival my husband and his work will be hosting in June. We are disappointed… but so happy to be part of the team, to have been part of something as awesome as the tournament, and to now help the others fundraise. It's incredibly exciting, and I'm so proud of everyone.)

My 2nd piece of news is

that we have a new family band. 

This is BIG news!

May I introduce you to the members of the band?

Here's Angus. He plays a mean guitar…

 Moo is the bassist.

(Moo, who's a lion, thinks he's an elephant seal.
…… Best not to burst his bubble)

Silver plays a fine sax.

Growl and Peli work the trumpet and flute like pros

and Tigger does percussion with his mate Waffle.

  

Last but not least are Flops and
Lambie. Doing some fine work on trombone and keys.

Without further ado, 

I present

The Fuzzy Noodles

and their adoring audience!

(pause for rapturous applause)

The kids set this all up the other day while I was in another room (cleaning, I'll have you know). When I happened to walk in, Splotches the cat had just finished dancing. You can see her on the stage in front of the audience. A wombat (called IssaBiggaFattaWombat) had just been singing in a deep baritone, and when I caught him out, he got the giggles. :)

Yummy, aren't they?

The 3rd piece of news

is that in our holidays, just two days ago,

on a glorious sun-swamped day

we got to drive for thirty minutes to swim and play here

and for that I felt incredibly lucky.

Finally

(and I know I've taken up a lot of your time today, 

so thank you for your patience),

my 4th and most important piece of news

is that

yesterday I cleaned the top of a dresser and the top of one whole bathroom sink and sink area.

Wow—I know.

Pretty impressive, even if I say so myself!



Tomorrow's news

will hopefully see me cleaning just a BIT more of my house.

That is, if I'm going to succeed in FiPaWaFroRooRooMo.

Don't you think?

That's it from me for today.

Thank you for listening, class! 

:)

news and such

So I've got some fun news.

Simple Homeschool asked for some guest post submissions back in July, and I sent off a couple that I thought might fit their site. Then I forgot I'd sent them and life went on.

Then a couple of days ago, I got an email from Jamie, the editor, saying they'd like to publish my post on Socialisation. How cool is that?! And it's on the site right now—I'm officially a guest blogger!

I think the site is a great, supportive resource—full of information, inspiration, and how-tos. It's definitely worth checking out.

The regular writers have their own lovely blogs too. One writer is on my blog list already, Amida from Journey Into Unschooling. She's definitely worth checking out, too!

Just you wait: I'll thrill everyone with my awesomeness and insight and all the homeschool sites will say, "Oh, Helena, please please come and post with us regularly and share your wisdom," and I'll say, "Must I?" and they'll all say, "Oh, you must!" and I'll say, "Well…if you insist!"

And then I will skyrocket into fame and fortune until finally my picture will grace the cover of Time magazine, with the headline: Helena. Wise. Awesome. And ever so Humble.

At least they'll be right about my name!