Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Yesterday afternoon I treated Nathan to an early Christmas present:  a Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) concert here in Raleigh.  It was quite a show!  He discovered them a couple years ago when the video of a house with a super Christmas Light display was circulating.  He liked the song so much, he immediately bought all four of the group's (Christmas) albums, and listened to them year-round for the first year.  

TSO toured in Seattle two years ago when we still lived there, and I considered buying tickets but didn't.  I was kicking myself all year for not jumping on something I knew Nathan would love.  Then last year they were in Raleigh, but we were visiting Seattle (d'oh!), so when I heard they were coming to town again this year, I was buying tickets on Ticketmaster within minutes after they went on sale.  I did NOT want a third year of guilt!!

I really liked their song "Wizards of Winter" right off the bat (that was the soundtrack for the aforementioned video). The rest of their albums took a couple years for me to get used to. A TV show host (sorry, don't know who) described them as "Pink Floyd meets A White Christmas." I normally am not crazy about screaming electric guitars, but they very creatively integrate a small string orchestra (members of local symphonies. How cool is that?!) with electric guitars and have a rockin' good time playing classical music and traditional carols. I was very amused watching long-haired guys headbanging in tuxes with tails.

One thing I was not prepared for was the amazing lighting effects of their performance. I should have brought sunglasses into the arena! Here are some videos I gleaned from YouTube to give you a taste of the concert last night:

"Christmas Eve in Sarajevo" (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen):


Wizards of Winter:

Flight of the Bumblebee:  I hadn't heard this one before last night.  I really liked it!  The lighting is pretty close to what our concert was like...

Flattery

The other day, I told David that the next day would be my birthday.  He got wide eyed and said,

"Are you going to be ONE HUNDRED?"

Natals Rants and Raves

I've tried a variety of products lately that have my friends and family asking, "How do you like 

it?" or "Does it work?"   So, I figured I'd post my experiences for all the world (how vain!) or just to get it out of my head (more likely). 

Thus, I'm pleased to introduce a new blog where I review products and services I've had the opportunity (or misfortune) to experience:  

http://natalsrantsandraves.blogspot.com/

Please feel free to add your own comments and experiences on the things I post about, and as always, I love feedback about how to improve my blogs.

Happy Reading!

Daniel Strings Alea Along

When Marianne and Bethany were in town, Bethany showed David how to get Alea to chase a length of yarn. For the next week, we often heard David running around downstairs pulling the string for Alea. Daniel found the yarn one day while David was a school...

 

If you can't view this video, click here to view it in Google Video

Google Video Triumphs (Second Attempt)

I got lots of responses that my YouTube videos were not available, so here they are again in Google Video. This has been a good process. I've learned a bit about my video editing software and publishing options.

Here's the baseball video:

And Daniel tooting his own horn:

 

Click here if this video isn't working.  It's been giving me trouble.

And our bumbling little bee (he got rave reviews trick-or-treating):

 

Thanks, everyone, for your patience and feedback!

Video Killed the Radio Star

Yes my friends, we have video to share!!  I tried two different formats, YouTube and Google Video.  Playing with options here.  Let me know if you prefer one over the other.  (I stopped using the Itsagoodday.org option since people said they didn't like how the movies started automatically).

This one was taken October 14.  Nathan got David a plastic baseball and bat, plus a real baseball and lefty glove.  Here they are playing catch:

Meanwhile inside, Daniel was tooting his own horn from a toilet paper tube:



Daniel has his very own job: putting his dirty diapers in the trash can. He absolutely loves doing it!! As soon as I finish changing him he asks for the diaper and does this cute little trot into the bathroom. I'm always amazed as I follow him down the hall at how tiny he really is.



And last but not least: Daniel's Halloween. The conversation in this video was random and irrelevant, so I had a little fun with the audio. Enjoy!

Leaves are Falling All Around...

We had a lot of leaves in our yard, and this is just half of the tree's worth!  About half of what was left in the tree fell down that night after I raked.  Figures!

Here are some more pictures that Marianne took:

 

Halloween and Grandma Nash

I had so many pictures I decided it would be better to break things up into several posts.

Just before Halloween, Marianne and Bethany flew out to visit for a week.  The boys were in heaven having two extra adults to pay attention to them.  Bethany even brought a costume to wear while she took the boys trick-or-treating.  David was a dinosaur, and Daniel was a bumblebee.  Once again, I wish I had video capability, because we have a cute clip of Daniel bumbling around.  I'll get it up eventually.  

David was a lollypop fiend this year!

Dinosaurs!! and other fun

I know, I'm behind... here are some photos of our trip to the NC Museum of Life and Science (something like that).  One of the things I really liked about this museum is that it focused on flora and fauna found in NC.  Get a load of some of the bones found here!

Not 5 minutes after getting into the van to go home, both boys fell asleep.  I knew they wouldn't nap at home if I woke them up, so I went for an impromptu scenic drive around Raleigh until they woke up.  It was such a gorgeous drive!  The sun was shining, leaves were turning, and all combined to a breathtaking, illuminated landscape like something out of a poem or painting.  Fall is my absolute favorite time of year, so I was in heaven taking it all in.

After we got home we raked up some leaves to play in:

I've got some cute videos to post but for some reason Blogger video rejects every single one.  I'm working on uploading them to YouTube, but it's slow going at the moment.  Keep an eye out for them!