Teaching Moments

Cavett's alarm clock has been on the fritz.  Over a period of a week, his clock ends up at least ten minutes early.  Tonight, I decided to switch out his alarm clock with the one in the guest bedroom.  As I was looking for an appropriate radio station for the alarm, I must have happened upon NPR/Classical station on this day of  Jewish New Year-Rosh Hashanah.  They were playing Leonard Bernstein's Chichesther Psalm.  We caught the tail end of the first movement and he was enticed listening to the joyful percussion and mixed meter of the 100th Psalm.  Seriously, make sure you watch to the end of this!!!!

. עִבְדוּ אֶת־יְהוָה בְּשִׂמְחָה; בֹּאוּ לְפָנָיו, בִּרְנָנָה. דְּעוּ-- כִּי יְהוָה, הוּא אֱלֹהִים: הוּא־עָשָׂנוּ, ולא (וְלוֹ) אֲנַחְנוּ-- עַמּוֹ, וְצֹאן מַרְעִיתוֹ. בֹּאוּ שְׁעָרָיו, בְּתוֹדָה-- חֲצֵרֹתָיו בִּתְהִלָּה; הוֹדוּ־לוֹ, בָּרְכוּ שְׁמוֹ. כִּי־טוֹב יְהוָה, לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ; וְעַד־דֹּר וָדֹר, אֱמוּנָתוֹ.

Hari'u l'Adonai kol ha'arets. Iv'du et Adonai b'simḥa Bo'u l'fanav bir'nanah. Du ki Adonai Hu Elohim. Hu asanu v'lo anaḥnu. Amo v'tson mar'ito. Bo'u sh'arav b'todah, Ḥatseirotav bit'hilah, Hodu lo, bar'chu sh'mo. Ki tov Adonai, l'olam ḥas'do, V'ad dor vador emunato.

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God. It is He that has made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Come unto His gates with thanksgiving, And into His court with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless His name. the lord is good, his mercy everlasting And His truth endureth to all generations.

I had to continue listening--the second movement was on the way...
Not only was this a lesson on musical form and text painting, but we got a refresher course on the 23rd Psalm.  Unfortunately, this recording was not the best I had ever heard, but it served the purpose of showing the Lord's comfort and protection and the trust David had in Him as compared to the "evil" part B of Psalm 2.   But, again the love and blessings of the Lord prevail.  We also discussed the name "Adonai" for God. 

בִּנְאוֹת דֶּשֶׁא, יַרְבִּיצֵנִי; עַל-מֵי מְנֻחוֹת יְנַהֲלֵנִי. נַפְשִׁי יְשׁוֹבֵב; יַנְחֵנִי בְמַעְגְּלֵי־צֶדֶק, לְמַעַן שְׁמוֹ. גַּם כִּי־אֵלֵךְ בְּגֵיא צַלְמָוֶת, לֹא־אִירָא רָע-- כִּי־אַתָּה עִמָּדִי; שִׁבְטְךָ וּמִשְׁעַנְתֶּךָ, הֵמָּה יְנַחֲמֻנִי. לָמָּה, רָגְשׁוּ גוֹיִם; וּלְאֻמִּים, יֶהְגּוּ־רִיק. יִתְיַצְּבוּ, מַלְכֵי־אֶרֶץ-- וְרוֹזְנִים נוֹסְדוּ־יָחַד: עַל־יְהוָה, וְעַל־מְשִׁיחוֹ. נְנַתְּקָה, אֶת־מוֹסְרוֹתֵימוֹ; וְנַשְׁלִיכָה מִמֶּנּוּ עֲבֹתֵימוֹ. יוֹשֵׁב בַּשָּׁמַיִם יִשְׂחָק: אֲדֹנָי, יִלְעַג־לָמוֹ. תַּעֲרֹךְ לְפָנַי, שֻׁלְחָן-- נֶגֶד צֹרְרָי; דִּשַּׁנְתָּ בַשֶּׁמֶן רֹאשִׁי, כּוֹסִי רְוָיָה. אַךְ, טוֹב וָחֶסֶד יִרְדְּפוּנִי-- כָּל־יְמֵי חַיָּי; וְשַׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית־יְהוָה, לְאֹרֶךְ יָמִים.

"David" and sopranos (Psalm 23) Adonai ro-i, lo eḥsar. Bin'ot deshe yarbitseini, Al mei m'nuḥot y'nahaleini, Naf'shi y'shovev, Yan'ḥeini b'ma'aglei tsedek, L'ma'an sh'mo. (sopranos) Gam ki eilech B'gei tsalmavet, Lo ira ra, Ki Atah imadi. Shiv't'cha umishan'techa Hemah y'naḥamuni. (Tenors and basses (Psalm 2, vs. 1-4)) Lamah rag'shu goyim Ul'umim yeh'gu rik? Yit'yats'vu malchei erets, V'roznim nos'du yaḥad Al Adonai v'al m'shiḥo. N'natkah et mos'roteimo, V'nashlichah mimenu avoteimo. Yoshev bashamayim Yis'ḥak, Adonai Yil'ag lamo! (sopranos (Psalm 23)) Ta'aroch l'fanai shulchan Neged tsor'rai Dishanta vashemen roshi Cosi r'vayaḥ. "David" Ach tov vaḥesed Yird'funi kol y'mei ḥayai V'shav'ti b'veit Adonai L'orech yamim.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters, He restoreth my soul, He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, For His name's sake. Yea, though I walk Through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, For Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff They comfort me. Why do the nations rage, And the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His anointed. Saying, let us break their bonds asunder, And cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens Shall laugh, and the Lord Shall have them in derision! Thou preparest a table before me In the presence of my enemies, Thou anointest my head with oil, My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy Shall follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.

Oh, how music moves me!  How blessed we are to have this ability of expression and way in which to worship God and to understand Him better.

Firsts in Baseball

Opening weekend was the 10th.  The boys gave us their best poses.

That same day Kendrick had his first baseball game. (Unfortunately, Cavett had his game at the exact same time, so Stephen went to his game.) The four year old T-ball game was absolutely precious and hilarious all at once.  To see little tiny kids on that great big field not knowing which way is up is just too cute.  Kendrick was up to bat twice in the hour.  He played pitcher and "out field."  He also played sand-angel and dirt-kicker very well.  Nonetheless, he had great fun and is making new friends too. Yeah Yankees!!!!

Yesterday, Cavett had his second game of the season and it just so happened that a news reporter from Channel 8 WFAA-ABC was at the ballpark interviewing people about the proposed level 3 water restrictions and what that does to the planned games and tournaments for the fall season.  Stephen got interviewed and did a good job, although the chopped it up.

I thought I was far enough out of the background, but evidentally not.  And, Cavett is seen as the catcher in one shot (the only position he wanted to play last night, as per coach) and then the white-haired kid with no hat on at the end slapping the other team's hands.  We watched it together this morning and he thought it was cool, but I don't think he grasped that this was Dallas news and that hundereds of thousands may have seen it.  I think also, since the invention of DVR and the internet, the impact is just not the same as when I was a kid and happened to be on TV or in the newspaper.  But, all the same, it was his first TV baseball debut and they won the game 14-12 to boot!



 Way to go Red Sox!!!!

Growing Up

Today Cavett rode his bike to school.  Literally, not for fun, but as transportation to get to school that morning.  Of course, I rode with him pulling Kendrick in the trailer.  There was really only two scary moments:  walking across 6 lanes of 8:00 traffic on Stacy and he dropped his bike in the middle and then missing a stop sign and driving out in front of a stopped school bus.  We learned a few lessons that morning. 

We also met him that afternoon and he rode all the way home. 

He's growing up--too fast.

Labor Day Fun

Labor Day brought us MUCH cooler temperatures.  A cold front blew threw Sunday night and made our annual Labor Day bike ride and treasure hunt so much more fun.  After the whole "Count Down to Summer," Stephen decided that he needed to take upon himself to plan out the whole day.  He came up with the clues, the treasure (a trip to Cold Stone Creamery) and the locations. 

Weput on our Hill family T-shirts and  found ourselves at the Karate school, a park, a tennis  court, the Armstrongs house, Chick-Fil-A, as well as playing several games along the way.  He did a super job and we all had a blast. 

Kendrick's favorite part was popping the balloons which contained the clues. 

Cavett's favorite part was the bike ride. 

Looking forward to the 3rd Annual Labor Day Bike Ride and Treasure Hunt!

The Boys of Summer

The summer is drawing to a close.  The temperatures are FINALLY dropping out of the triple digits and we threw our final pool parties of the summer over Labor Day weekend.  We've made some really great, new friends this year and look forward to many more summers with tons of boys splashing around in our pool. 

First Day of 4 Year Old PK

It's back to school for everyone. Last Thursday Kendrick headed back to meet his new teachers, Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Bartalone (who Cavett had in 4PK). He even got to celebrate his birthday on the first day of school with ice cream!  I am so excited about his year and his teachers and that there are only 10 kids in his class and one of them is his very best buddy Luke. It's gonna be great.

I caught so many cute faces I couldn't even decide which to put up!