We all went to a friend's birthday party yesterday evening. He and his wife have been 2 of our best friends since the early '90s when we all did community theater together. It was great because it was at a restaurant in walking distance of my house. So we walked there with the kids at around 7pm. They had a huge Italian buffet, kid-friendly DJ, nice dance floor, and there must have been over 30 kids there (and like 25 adults). W started mingling right away, schmoozing with some 10-year-old girls at first, and then ultimately play-wrestling with some boys as the girls didn't really pay him much attention, lol. J found her friend, S, whom she's known since they were both 2. They're also in CCD together on Sundays. K decided to skip the party and go out gallavanting (lol, love that word) with her friends instead. Her friend's mom always drives all the kids home, so that was good. She was home around 11:30pm when we got home.

J had a few hours of dance during the day. They went over a few group numbers and practiced their solos. Since I work evenings and Saturdays I never get to see J's dances until right before we go to competition. A full dress rehearsal is taking place on the Sunday right before their first comp, so yay! I finally get to see everything in a few weeks!

This morning all the kids went to CCD, then W had basketball. K asked to go with them so she could see her brother play. I thought that was really cool. I gave her my camera and she took a few shots for me (that's him in the gray sweatpants in mid-jump). B said he did great today and had a lot of fun. I can see why he likes this more than the baseball he did a couple of years ago. He is constantly moving with basketball - there's no waiting around much. In baseball he waited around for his turn to bat and was bored to tears in the outfield when none of the other kids were big enough to hit a ball anywhere near him.

This week, J and W have been into making home videos of themselves, web-show style. They create characters and perform little skits while recording themselves. It's gotten really funny sometimes. They've also been playing some of their new games like Hyperdash (where they have to run around the living room a lot) and some Gamecube. J rode her new moped around and W rode his Fusion scooter. They painted, Heely'd, rode bikes, cut snowflakes out of paper, danced around the room, cooked, sewed, went on a great hs trip, went to a fun party, played website games, read, watched DVDs, took pictures, and shopped. And just now, J, at 8:30pm on Sunday night, decided to fill her free time poring over a book on Faerie poems, grabbing a notebook, and after a little while presenting me with a beautiful handwritten copy of The Elf Toper by George Darley:

Each twilight-come
At beetle-drum
For nectar he a-hunting goes,
The twisted brine
He stoops for wine,
Or sups it fresh from off the rose.
From night to morn
His amber horn
He fills at every honey-fountain
And draineth up,
Each flowery cup
That brims with balm on mead or mountain.