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I almost started out with "We've had a big week" but really, when don't we? It's one of the many perks of being in this family. Here's part of this week's whirl.

We spent three hours at the violin shop on Monday and came home with some Very Good Things. Which are altogether worth far more than the funds laid out, for which we are so grateful. There are a series of little miracles in this story, and specially deserved hat-tips go out to my brother for wrangling extra wretched traffic in order to help pull this off, and my dad for guarding a particular item carefully on it's way home on the train.

Q brought home a loaner touch screen from the school district for his own personal use. It will have to go back in June, but for now, as soon as I can install the software, it's his. This seems like maybe not the biggest of deals, but somewhere along the line, so help me, this kid is getting some honest to goodness aug. comm. Those big devices are something that someone else, insurance or some other entity, will have to pay for and Q's having regular time and access with a touch screen is one of the first steps in justifying this sort of thing to one's insurance. Those big guys are so far out of our price range.

Well, so far they are. This guy may have a hand in changing that. If you feel so inclined, I'd like to suggest that we all pray for divine protection as he works on bringing this to market. So many large organizations would be thrilled to either see him fail or to buy up his work so they can stick it in a vault and slam the door on it. No. It's needed out here, in the real world. If you've ever had to deal with frustratingly clumsy technology, you should be able to identify to some degree with what Q faces daily in his own body. If Pranav's work can change parts of that... Wow.

The big kids are getting ready for their piano and violin recitals. They are such fun to listen to and play with. Sometimes I do wonder what on earth I was thinking to have signed them up for violin. Q often cries through practices unless he can have someone right next to him, in another room, preferably with a closed door between. And really, how practical is that? Not very. S, and to a lesser degree K, still need some one-on-one during practices. Meh. We persevere.

The biggest four made their own music bags this week. They all had sewing classes for the last couple of weeks and will again in January. Somehow the usual project of trimming out a tea towel seemed less than useful for them, so on a whim I asked the teacher if what she was holding up could be made into a bag. She said it could and that we could do it in our next session. So we did! The kids picked out their materials and sewed 'em up. G's topstitching is superb -- good enough to be paid work. While some of us have yet to grasp why we might not want to install ceramic buttons all over such a hard working little piece of equipment, others are planning to pack multiple baggies of crayons and pencils along in the outer pockets "in case I get bored." The timing is especially cool since we're averaging 3-4 books per kids per instrument at this point, the bags we have had are giving up under the strain, and I suspect that the book count is about to increase again. (Whispering: G is hoping to soon join the orchestra at church.)

My mom made Pumpkin and Banana breads today with the girls. They're all sitting here in spicy little rows waiting to be added to the Thanksgiving baskets that will be put together at church tomorrow. So on that happy note, I'm off.

I hope you're looking forward to a rest-full weekend enjoying things delicious as you feed both bellies and souls of those you love, something good to read in a warm and comfy chair, and peace piled up in the corners of your rooms, deep enough to share.