Piano Winners

Well, I don't have time to write much so this is short. The past two Saturdays have been piano competition days for Samuel and Jesse. On March 11th Sam and Jesse both played at the Sonata Contest in which they played a sonata each in their respective age groups (Sam played a Haydn sonata, Jesse played a Beethoven). Sam was one of the winners in his group, and Jesse received Honorable Mention!!!

Last Saturday (March 18th), Jesse competed in the Bush Hills Music Club competition. He played an "Air" from a French Suite by J.S. Bach and also "Hungarian" by MacDowell. Jesse won First Place in the Junior Division!!! We are so glad to see the boy's hard work pay off and we're looking forward to the other competitions this year.

Moving Day

Well, we've had a busy few days here. On Tuesday (March 7th) our friends from Chicago came down here, but not for just a visit. Nathan and Jeanine DeLadurantey with their young daughter Corrine moved in to their new home in Montgomery. Now they are just a hour and a half away! We helped them move in on Wednesday, and here are some pictures from the move.

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The moving trailer traveled from Chicago to Birmingham in one day.

Corrine made sure everyone worked hard.

Corrine's mom, Jeanine, helped direct the event. She will be having another child in April.

Quiet Times

Well, our blog needs an update, but there isn't much to write about. Over the past 2 weeks we have been enjoying the Olympics. The biggest news is that Chris, Sam and Jesse all played wonderful at a piano contest. In this contest you compete against yourself to try to get a good score. All three Kawell's got the highest score possible!! Another other item worth note here is a little sickness going through our family. Just a cold, nothing too bad, but still annoying. Also, we can see spring just around the corner! It's getting warmer and we're all starting to get out of our winter cocoons and move outside more. Well, that's about it. It's been quiet here, but quiet can be a good thing.

Winter Olympics

Olympics come but once every two years and we have been staying up late almost every night enjoying them. We always love the Olympics, and it becomes almost a 2-week holiday when they come around. We cheer as if we are there. U-S-A, U-S-A!! We have a lot of fun! Hope everyone else is having a good week too.


(P.S.: Here is the million dollar question: Are the Olympics being held in Torino or Turin, Italy? NBC says Torino, but others say Turin. We would love an answer.)

I am a Walker

I am a Walker of the Tightrope to Maturity,
I wonder at my unveiled weakness and strength,
I hear the screams of the fallen,
I see darkness under my feet,
I want to gain the Platform of Maturity,
I am a Walker of the Tightrope to Maturity,

I pretend a confidence as false as a Pharisee,
I feel, and wonder what it is I am feeling,
I touch the slender, trembling, cord,
I worry often, fumbling for my balance,
I cry overcome by less than nothing,
I am a Walker of the Tightrope to Maturity,

I understand that incomprehension is natural,
I say my strength is more powerful than my weakness,
I dream of childhood and adulthood,
I try to remember my training for this moment,
I hope,
I am a Walker of the Tightrope to Maturity.

Mama said that I had to put this on the blogg if I wanted to continue eating in this house!
Abigail Kawell

Ten things that we kids understand better than Adults

#1 The Eldest is automatically in charge
#2 Laughter is the best way to stop an argument
#3 No dispute is too fancy for a coin toss
#4 Romance in movies is just plain gross
#5 Puppies are worth the muddy carpet
#6 Swapping a perfect lawn for a ball field is the best deal a mother ever made
#7 A muddy child is a happy child
#8 Bathroom humor should be acceptable in all social situations
#9 The most somber gatherings should include balloons and a birthday cake
#10 If your mad at each other, a hug fixes everything.
A.K.

Birthday and Football

Well, I'm sure almost everyone reading this knew that Abigail turned 14 on the 2nd. We all had a wonderful day. (To see pictures of the event click on "Abigail 14th Birthday" under "Photo Albums" to the right of this post.) We had french toast for breakfast. The party started that evening. The guests included Mr. and Mrs. Harper and Mr. and Mrs. Dailey (both friends from church), as well as Grandmother, Aunt Pam and the Amorosos (with 6-month-old Evelyn). We had Wiakiki meatballs (a Hawaiian dish that some of our readers may know). After that, gifts were opened, and than came cake and ice cream. Abigail made the cake. It was shaped like a daisy and tasted as good as it looked! It was a great party.

Over the past two weekends we have been helping our church friend, Mrs. Orcutt, pack. She will be moving on Saturday and would love prayers that all will go smoothly. The packing is almost done. A few of us will go over on Friday to help finish and we'll all go over Saturday for the move.

On Sunday we had another party... a Super Bowl party! We had snack food set out and just had fun watching the game and eating. Of course, our team didn't make it to this big game, but we still had fun. Well, we've had a great weekend and we're looking forward to another action packed week!