I ran across this essay that Vera wrote at school, thought it was pretty neat, and thought I’d share:
“Let Freedom Ring”
Freedom is yellow.
It tastes like lemon pie.
It smells like lemon.
Freedom likes pie.
It hates cookies.
Its favorite sound is people talking.
But it hates to hear bad words.
Freedom lives in Texas.
It’s the end of an era for us. One of the Hasting boys has been at Steiner Ranch Elementary since 2001, but today #2 “crossed over.” Parents and faculty worked hard to make the event really special, and the young men and women moving to middle school responded with their nicest manners during the long-ish event. In spite of some technical difficulties with part of the presentation (my part, of course!), it ran smoothly.
It’s amazing to see how these kids have grown. We’ve known many of them since they were kindergartners, and they’ve grown so mature!
This class (about 130 kids) was particularly academically focused, scoring 100% in math, 99+% on language arts, and 98+% on science TAKS. A great many earned the Presidential Award for academic excellence. We’re so proud of them!
Well, it’s April 3 and it’s already beginning to warm up here in Austin, enough so that we’re breaking out the lawn equipment for the much-dreaded “landscaping season.” (That’s 9 months each year.) Our neighbors have already been hard at it, disturbing the post-winter quiet with the mellifluous sound of leaf blowers. We’ve resisted as long as we can, but already our lawn is horribly overgrown with grass and (yes) some weeds.
Isn’t it too EARLY to have to start this? Maybe global warming *is* a real possibility. Heck, even the snowmen are being really impacted by this trend:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/nations_snowmen_march_against
On the positive side, we’ve planted upside-down tomato plants and have high hopes that they’ll eventually sort themselves out (currently they’re trying valiantly to grow UP in their hanging pots). They’re high enough that they may escape Sydney’s reach. She’s pretty bad about picking off the ripe fruits. This year she’ll have to content herself with the odd berry or try to graze on the rabbit’s herb garden!
Yesterday, we took my friend Kevin, his intended, and her two great kids out on the lake.
Vera and I were playing on the back of the boat and I asked her “How much do you love me? This big?” with my arms stretched out. “No! I love you to Russia and back!”
“Well then, I must love you more. I loved you to Russia and back, Twice!”
Richard
We spent another beautiful day in RMNP. We’ve definitely decided, though, that it’s later in the season than we prefer. Our previous visits included the colorful aspens of fall, but temperatures just warm enough to be comfortable. Today, it was cold and windy, and we decided not to take any extended hikes at high altitude.
At Endovalley, we did find a nice spot with enough sunshine to enjoy a picnic. We were almost immediately joined there by some cheeky creatures. First came the Steller’s Jays…
followed quickly by a chipmunk…
and then finally by a black squirrel who appeared at first to be shy. After he decided that we weren’t dangerous, he warmed up quickly, taking almonds from Richard.
We spent the remainder of the day in downtown Estes Park, enjoying the shops and then a terrific dinner at Nicky’s. We’re leaving tomorrow, but we’re reluctant to go.
(Click the squirrel pic to see him munch!)
Ahhh…we’ve been here for just at a day, and already we’re more relaxed than we’ve been in about a year and a half.
We started our afternoon at Rocky Mountain National Park, and were joined for lunch by some black-billed magpies, who were shameless about trying to steal our sandwiches and apples. Seems theft is a popular survival technique, because one of them flew off with a largely uneaten apple, only to have it stolen by a large hawk.
Mood: Happy! It must be catching, because even the animals here are smiling:
Sunday was a great day for us. Sharon played in the Worship event Sunday night at our Church, and I got to spend some alone time with Vera. I took Vera to Grandmom’s so that we could get some plants that she had been saving for us.
On the way back, the song that I had kinda held on to as the anthem for adopting Vera came onto the stereo. I noticed Vera singing it from the back seat. and when the song was over, she made me go back to it so that she could sing it again. I’ve never been so happy to hear her sing… So we sang together…
John Elefante
That’s why God made the moon
…
There’s a city in the distance,
but it seems so far away.
It’s a place where lonely hearts await
The Son to light their day.
But up here I know it’s silent.
There’s no sorrow to be found;
just heaven all around.
And every star up in the sky
has driven me to testify
that I wanna know you.
That’s why God made the moon.
For nights like these when we dream of all eternity.
As the angels sing the twilight symphony.
They sing la-de-de-de-da-da
la-de-de-de-da-da tonight.
That’s why God made the moon.
Here in Texas, Hot and Dry are words that we usually use to describe “summer”. So far, the lake rose 60 feet since March because we got rained on big time here in 2007. So Summer, 2007, has been wet and cooler than normal. Some evenings were downright pleasant. But those days are gone. It hit 100 degrees yesterday.
We have only been out on the lake a couple times, and that is too infrequent.
Vera has been in several camps this year. She has been in a sports camp, an outdoor activities camp, vacation Bible School, and for the next 2 weeks she is in a theater camp in Georgetown.
Scott and Aric got to spend a week with Uncle Mark in Silicone Valley. Scott was on staff at the theater camp held at Cedar Park High School. He loved that.
Scott took up the guitar, taking lessons over the past month or so. He is showing some actual talent. Aric decided that he wanted to be a drummer. So we now have a full set of Ludwig drums sitting in our music room. Aric is also showing some serious talent at this drumming thing. He is doing really well in his lessons. My stash of ear plugs is getting a workout as well.
Aric has obtained/earned his Green belt in Tae Kwon Do. He enjoys TKD, and hopefully he can make it all the way to black belt.
Of course, Lacrosse has started back up. Scott is discovering that physical conditioning is important. Especially if you don’t have it. So he has been working out a lot lately. And, yes, it helps.
Speaking of physical conditions, Vera has grown more than 3 inches in the past year. She was 48″ when she came here on July 4, today she is over 51″ tall. Aric is afraid she will catch up to him at that rate 
He figures he only has a year or so head start on her:-) vera is already the same weight as Aric at about 56 lbs, up 8 from last year.
Enough for now. Toodles!
Richard
The big double-digit day for Aric! Today he turned 10, and he was going “wii wii wii wii!” all the way to the Best Buy to purchase his heart’s desire. But we surprised him with a console and accessories during his birthday bowling lunch at Main Event, so all the money he’d saved the past few months was available for other things, like more GAMES!
Surprise! And happy birthday, Bear. We think you’re pretty awesome.
Just how fast is *too* fast on a Slip-n-Slide? Vera decided to test the limits today. After Dad spent a long half hour blowing up all the pieces (he’s recovering well, thank you), he stretched it out on Grandmom and Granddad’s lovely lawn.
Completely ignoring the intermittent rain and slightly chilly temperatures, Vera set out to break a few speed records (and thankfully nothing else).
One year ago, Vera woke up for the first time in her new home.
One year ago, Vera went to the pool for the first time.
One year ago. Not that long ago, but in some ways, nearly a lifetime.
Richard
On May 31 we left for Florida for a nice family vacation.
We stopped in Tallahassee for the night (got there around midnight due to a stop for dinner in Pensacola Beach). On Friday (jun 1) we traveled for Palm beach, and discovered rain starting around noon. The radio talked about a low pressure causing it out in the gulf, and since Florida has been in a drought, we were delighted to have the rain. By the time we got to our destination at the Marriot that evening, we were in a full Tropical storm, we discovered. A Tropical Storm isn’t a hurricane, but it sure isn’t a little Texas rain shower either. we had 30-40 MPH winds, and rain that came in buckets. That lasted only 20 hours…
After the rain stopped though, we had a great time on the beach and at the pool.
Of course Vera’s only previous beach outings had been at the Gulf of Finland, cold water, swimming not really comfortable, rocky beaches… This beach was incredible and the water was the blue that you would see in the South Pacific. It looked like someone was pouring blue dye into the water. It was amazing… Vera liked these beaches, as did we all.
We went drift fishing on Tuesday morning. We caught 2 Kings, and a few snapper (I think). We took them down the street, where they prepare the fish for free, and we ate all the blackened Mackerel we could shove down our gullets. Yummy!
On Wednesday, we left and went up to Disney, staying at the Swan hotel. We awoke at 6:00 in the morning to make the 8:00 opening at the Magic Kingdom. We did every single ride and show that we could think of and enjoyed it a lot. At 10:00 the fireworks show comes on, and that is REALLY cool for a fireworks show. we got on the shuttle bus back to the hotel at 11:00 as the park closed. It was a long long day, and it took us several days to recover.
Now what I learned is how conditioned I am to the buttons that Disney is able to press. I was just in awe of some of the theming, not Mickey or Pirates, but things that kind of surprised me. The whole princess thing, and the irony of never having been there before, until we had a kid that had seen the Little Mermaid in Russian.
Hmmm.
richard
Or loving bugs. And other creatures.
We are almost daily fascinated by some of the creatures that live in our back yard, in and around the pond and fountains.
Today, Aric found what he’s hoping is a new species of grasshopper. We are planning on sending a photo and description to experts at the BCCP or Travis County to see if they can help us ID it. None of us have seen this particular variety before:
Thanks to Scott for the nice photo. He’s gotten some good shots of one of our other favorite creatures, a big, red, dragonfly that I’ve nicknamed Clifford:
Here comes Monster Cottontail,
Lumbering down the bunny trail
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
Easter’s on its way!
11 pounds. 4 months old. Still growing. And growing.
We’ve given up our fantasy of sweet spring pictures of children with adorable little bunny. But next year we’re doing shots of the children RIDING her.
(At 10 weeks, so sweet! But see Monster Bunny picture below.)
As if we needed ONE MORE CREATURE to take care of.
I’ll admit it. I was taken in by the most dangerous, adorable animal on our Earth: a Flemish Giant rabbit. A very young version. At 6 weeks, she is nearly the size of a full-grown “regular” rabbit. Full-grown, she’s supposed to be around 20 lbs…the size of a medium-sized dog!
Hard to imagine a 20-lb. rabbit? Here’s a picture of one at 22 lbs. (Photo borrowed from snopes.com, which lists “giant rabbit” as an urban legend).
My sister, Linda, drove down to acquire one of these things. I was going to be strong. The worst part? When I weakened and took one home with me, I blamed it on Richard. He SAID he’d always wanted a bunny. Hey, I was just making my adorable partner happy. Right?
She is very, very cute. And sweet. Her name is Butterscotch, “Butters” for short.
March 1, 2007 Butterscotch Update: At 10 weeks, Butters now weighs 7 lbs. and eats a large Ziploc container-full of cilantro, carrots, broccoli, and parsley daily. We’ve planted 8 square feet of garden for her, but do not think we can keep up. Somebody, please start growing rabbit greens for us. She’s going to eat us out of house and home. Or possibly just eat us. 
