A boy and his dog

Bear has been such a wonderful addition to our household. The compromise had to be great. I had to be able to choose a dog that wouldn't shed, that much, and find the character and size the boys still needed in order to truly enjoy having a dog. Bear is all of that. She's so sweet natured. She loves to be wherever any of us are and she especially loves to sleep with us. I have to confess that for the FIRST time EVER I slept with a dog in my bed while we recently went to Dallas to help my parents move into their new house. Max and I shared a king size bed with Bear and she was more like a child. She kept moving closer and closer to me and her snoring was not that cute in the middle of the night.

She sleeps mostly with Max and Ben now because she's had a few little accidents on T's bed and he's not been that happy about it. Everyone in the house loves Bear, even Ella and she's had the most chewing casualties. Her room is just stocked of cute little edible yummies for Bear to get to when her door is left open.

But Ben. Well Ben is just smitten. He adores Bear and is by far the animal lover in our house. I wish he'd do more to help us take care of her sometimes. He enjoys the snuggling and playing but not so much of the training not to tee-tee or poop in the house chores.

Mark took T to a birthday party yesterday over in Port Neches and there's a fabulous park there called Tugboat Island, so he, Ben and Bear hung out until the party was over. Ben and Bear had a good time as seen by the photos. We're excited to take her to the baseball fields this spring.

New Musicians in the house

Our family is just full of musicians. Some with natural talents and some who hope to acquire a talent. Max has always been gifted on the drums and when Ben would sit down behind the set after Max would play, he'd belt out nice rhythms himself. Well several months ago he began asking us to take violin lessons. Don't know where the urge for that instrument came from but after months of asking we decided to look into it. We have some skilled musicians at our church and one particular woman plays in the local symphony. She agreed to give Ben violin lessons and I decided to take up the cello.

Mark plays the guitar and Ella is asking to play the piano so if we could just find an instrument for MT we'd have our own road show!

Ben is a natural. Words straight from Valera, his teacher. He's taken to playing like a pro and for now while we practice holding our instruments and learning how to play certain rhythm patterns he sounds glorious. I must admit that I don't have the natural ability he seems to have been born with but I'm picking it up quickly as well. It's hard to make an ugly sound on such glorious instruments and the cello is amazing.

Valera told me it's a unique instrument because you draw it up so close to your chest that the music connects right to your heart. I just LOVE that! I have always loved the sounds of strings and it's just so much fun to be doing something with just Ben. We enjoy the time together. Chatting to and from the lessons and then practicing together at home. With 4 children it's hard to carve out that one on one time especially with all the activities they're involved in now so this has been a real blessing.

Next week we begin learning "Twinkle, Twinkle". We'll be sure to let you know when we have our first Keffer concert. And maybe I'll post a pic of myself next week.

Scouting

It was a special week in the Keffer house. Ben crossed over into Boy Scouts and they had their Blue and Gold banquet. Mark rechartered Troop 221 at our church and it has just taken off. There is a group of 8 committed boys, including Max, who have worked hard over the last year and a half. Max has already earned 4 merit badges and has taken several really fun camping trips.

It's our desire that each of our boys earn their Eagle Scout pin and that the skills and training they receive in scouts will serve them well for many, many years. Ben will now join the ranks of Max and the rest of the Boy Scouts in Troop 221. Ben earned his Arrow of Light pin while crossing over and less than 10% of scouts do that. We were so proud of Ben!

4 Hour Drive

Max was asked to be in a band at his new school by several eighth graders and they now have a name. Nick on the keyboard, Tristan on the guitar, Chris the volcalist and of course Max on drums make up 4 Hour Drive and they made their debut at our church talent show last weekend. They were awesome! Now that basketball is winding down and we've got a little bit of a break before baseball picks up full swing, no pun intended, they're hoping they can get in some more practice and play at another talent show at St. Jude's coming up soon. It's been a lot of fun seeing Max transition into a new level with his music. He's been drumming since he was a toddler and I have photographic evidence to prove it. He'd die before he'd let me post those so you'll just have to take my word for it. We've always thought he was awesome! There are going to be some new musicians in the house soon. More on that in my next post!!