I thought it was spring...

We woke up today to snow falling. And falling. And falling. THREE inches of snow today. Isn't there supposed to be a rule about snow at the end of March? I thought the old adage ran "in like a lion; out like a lamb." Ha! Although snow fell most of the day, the total accumulation on the ground didn't seem to go above about three inches or so. Robins were taking refuge under our trampoline this afternoon. I counted seven of them at one point. My children are supposed to have spring break this week, and it doesn't look to have begun too auspiciously, weather-wise. I want my children to play outside this week. A lot. Every day. I guess we'll just pull out the snow boots for tomorrow.

I spent most of my day yesterday judging piano students. Since it was supposed to be the last day of Festival I expected it to be jam-packed with students all day long. The morning proved to follow my expectations. I was judging with another judge and she has been doing this for a long time. Between the two of us we kept the students flowing quickly through. The teachers running the check-in desk outside the room kept funneling students into our room from another one because one of the other rooms was so far behind. We were judging four and five students every 30 minutes for about three hours straight. By the afternoon my writing hand was starting to complain! There were some very impressive students I got to listen to. The afternoon session, though was quite light. There were many scheduled students who didn't show up (who knows why). For the most part, the students were well-prepared and solid in their performing. One student, though, hadn't been told by his teacher he needed to have two pieces to perform, he couldn't remember the name of his second piece even, and he struggled with his memorization of the one he did have prepared. That can be so traumatic for a beginning level student. The other judge and I tried to reassure him and his parents and gently explain what the expectations should have been. Perhaps his teacher hasn't participated in Festival before. I have to admit that the teacher orientation could use some beefing up. There seem to be a lot of grey areas and understood expectations that are hard for someone new to the program to pick up on.

My oldest son participated in a Court of Honor tonight where he received his tenderfoot, second class, and first class Scouting badges. He also earned a couple of merit badges: citizen of the nation and citizen of the world. I was so proud of him. We were both surprised to find out how far along he is. Cub Scouts is pretty well family-involved, but once the boys pass into Boy Scouts it's an entirely different ball game. I grew up with sisters, and while my dad was a Scoutmaster all that meant for me as a seven-year-old was some older kids to play with and that he wore a khaki shirt to meetings. I have felt really clueless about how things are going for my son in Scouts. We have a new Scoutmaster in place right now who is doing a better job of keeping parents informed of what's coming up and when. I pulled out my son's Scout book tonight and started reading through it to see if I could figure anything out from it. I found out recently that I am on the local district's list as a music merit badge counselor still (I filled out the paper work to help a former piano student several years ago), so we will work on that one together. I think Scouting can be a great experience for these boys. Mine have certainly enjoyed their participation so far.

Oh, just finished a couple of young adult books. One, called Spy High, follows several teenagers that have been admitted to a top secret spy academy. There're the usual romantic conflicts and teenage angst (although it's refreshingly not drowning in either) and the kids, who are in training to become spies when they graduate, get a bonding experience with unexpected high adventure. It's a quick, entertaining read. Another one I read this last week by Terry Pratchett (you need to read his Wee Free Men series!) is called Only You Can Save Mankind, about a twelve-year-old English boy who plays a bit with video games and encounters one that talks back to him. I enjoyed it and I've passed it on to my video game-loving sons. This one is also a quick read. I finished them each in a day. At this current season of my life I don't have the time or energy to commit to intellectually dense literature. Most of what I read needs to be quickly absorbable or great escapist fiction. I get the deeply philosophical/spiritual grounding from the scripture reading I do daily with my kids. I don't just read with them -- they also get discussion out of it. I learned that from my parents and thought it was a great way to read with the kids. When we go through some passages that puzzle me I pull out my seminary/college course study guides and check out what Robert Millet or other gospel scholars have to say on the subject.