All Hail Daniel!!

Dan is sort of on a roll these days.

1~ This week was Dan's science fair and although he didn't place, we thought his project was incredible. He built this contraption with his dad to measure how much weight an egg could hold. He and I worked and argued about a design to measure this for weeks and never did come up with anything. When Paul took over, he came up with a great design in minutes. Dan came in from the workshop and said, "Dad is so freakin' smart!" They built it and then came in the house to do the testing. (Man! He's beautiful!)

2~ He smoked his dad in a run a couple of weeks ago. Dan ran cross-country this fall but because of conflicts and his lack of interest in racing, he didn't run in any meets. Consequently, he couldn't appreciate how good he had become until he ran with his dad last week. This was the first time he had run the same route with his dad since the summer. Dan had barely been able to finish it then. This time he not only kept up with his dad, he stayed ahead of him much of the time. He walked in the house after the run, looking like he could conquer the world.

Those are the times that I love being a mother. Any of my children's triumphs, large or small, make all the sacrifices; (early mornings, grouchy rides to the track, teenagery complaining) worth it.

3~ Did you know that Dan plays the piano? Well, he does and he also plays the French horn. He started playing 2 years ago with the band at school and has been first chair most of that time. He found out last Friday that he made first chair again for this year. Woot! I recorded him playing when it was brand new to him, he has progressed so fast that it makes us laugh when we watch it and compare him, then and now.

4~ Our stake is part of an eleven stake jubilee that will be performed next June. Below is the audition we recorded for him to be a part of the jubilee orchestra. Now don't hate, the audition isn't perfect but he decided that it was better to play a hard song imperfectly than an easy song perfectly. We'll keep you posted on the audition results results.

Dan is pretty much the most awesome 8th grader we know.

P.S. I was so focused on Dan and his playing that I didn't notice the unswept floor and cluttered counter until I had already sent this off. *Sigh* Will I ever have it all together?

~Please don't answer that.