We were relieved and very glad after Thomas’ first quarter of school to find that he was getting A’s in all his classes. His attitude about homework has improved tremendously and he’s really starting to learn about personal responsibility for things. He and Tina are helping raise money for his orchestra by participating in a fundraising auction on Tuesday. This article in the Gresham Outlook tells all about it and has a few quotes from Thomas in the last few paragraphs. Although it sounds like Thomas is a big fan of classical music, he’s also really into Coldplay, Slipknot and Weezer.

Graham is not as enthusiastic about orchestra yet but he really loves school, especially reading. Right now he says he’s reading four books including Call It Courage. On Tuesdays he takes a bus to another school to participate in their Talented And Gifted program. His bus stop is only a few blocks away from our house and sometimes I meet him there after school when Tina is running an errand or otherwise unavailable. Usually he just throws his backpack and cello in the car and hoofs it home with the neighborhood kids. On the days that I don’t “pick him up,” his friend (who is a girl), Jamie, calls our house several minutes before he gets home. The other day she called every three minutes for a half an hour before giving up! Graham is also really into music but, unlike Thomas, he prefers fun bands like They Might Be Giants, The Bobs and especially Weird Al.

In November I finished up a side consulting project and we celebrated by purchasing our second Xbox 360. Tina had bought one for me for Father’s Day from a friend, but after getting the “red ring of death” and sending it back to Microsoft several times, we gave up and returned it to our friends. So far we’ve had no technical difficulties and everyone has enjoyed having it. We’re hoping Santa brings us Rock Band 2 for Christmas so we can start our own band.

Both Graham and Thomas now have Twitter accounts, so you can follow their musings by signing up for a free account. Graham’s Twitter name is “Gentop” and Thomas’ is “Tariomaster“. As always, mine is “rynosoft” and Tina’s is “Tina117“.