I did get to bed early last night, and despite getting my run in at 4:30 this morning, I still feel more awake. 
Last night’s concert was okay. The violin teacher amazes me at every turn. She had instructed all the children that if they reached a part of a song that they couldn’t remember, to simply stop playing until they remembered again, and it worked really well! I saw lots of kids freeze occasionally, bows in place, for half a song or more. Sam was far from the only kid with memory issues (though I noticed he’d try to fake his way through some pieces when he probably should have stopped playing). Gabe was nuts for most of the concert, but it was a packed crowd and he was only one of many younger siblings who was wiggly and on the noisy side.
And we finished up the post-production of Sam’s Africa project last night! You can watch it here, but it’s fairly long and tends to drag in parts, so don’t feel obligated. 
It got burned to DVD, and iDVD handled that nicely, creating a lovely menu up front with pictures and music. His teacher may cock an eyebrow about some of that sort of detail, but it was all really intuitive and didn’t require too much parental assistance. Now Sam and Eric are fired up about making more DVDs to send to grandparents. They had a lot of fun with that part!
This weekend will be odd. Eric’s got some sort of bowling tournament thing all day tomorrow, so I’ll have to find some way to occupy the boys and myself – maybe we’ll go someplace fun, like the Jelly Belly factory (they’ve got train rides) and Breakfast with the Bunny (might be too late to register…). Then on Sunday, we’ve got the church Dessert Derby! I look forward to that every year. 
I didn’t watch the whole newscast, but my word, is Sam ever cute and so grown up!!! I remember when he was BORN! Great job, all around!
How old was Sam when he started an instrument? I ask because I’ve got an almost-three-year-old who’s DESPERATE to “play” piano, my flute, or any instrument he can get his hands on and I just don’t know when it’s developmentally appropriate to seek out some sort of lessons for him.
Any thoughts?
Videos sent to far away Aunties would be appreciated, too.
Heidi – your comment hid from me, and I didn’t find it until now!
Sam started on violin this year, in the second grade. I don’t think many places would give structured lessons to a child under four, honestly, and I probably wouldn’t try until well past that. Maybe Orff percussion instruments would be the ticket.
Lots of music enrichment activities for that age group, too; I’d go through a local college or something before I’d pay the usually much higher-priced Kindermusic, etc.