It's All I've Got

I was watching America’s Got Talent on NBC last Monday night. It’s a pretty entertaining show that y’all have probably heard of, if not seen, before. It showcases some really unique talents, and one of the performances this past week was a music group called Wordspit The Illest. They were all guys from New York City, and they were pretty cool. From what the lead vocalist was saying, it sounds like they’ve dodged some pretty tough stuff in their lives. He said that if he wasn't on that stage he would probably be headed down a bad road…I’m paraphrasing of course, but the truth as he stated is this: Music is everything to him. It’s all he’s got. If he didn't have music, he doesn't know where he’d be. That sort of struck a chord with me, and it really got me thinking. So I've been gathering my convoluted thoughts on the subject all week, to share with you today.

Yee-tahf-tal!

"Yee-tahf-tal" is the phonetic, English spelling of the Amharic word "delicious". And  food truly is delicious, is it not? In fact, throughout the two and one half years that Genet has been in America I have forgotten much of the Amharic that i learned prior to her homecoming, but "yee-tahf-tal" is definitely one of the words branded into my memory. After all, it is one of the top five exclamations! Right up there with "ow!" and "oh my gosh!" and "Alyssa, get off me!". 

In The Home Stretch!

And...Chemistry is the first to go! Ladies and gentlemen, this schoolweek I have some news to share: I have survived Chemistry! Hallelujah! I'm done!

Pizza!!!

If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Nelson home on a Friday, you will quickly (assuming you are a human of average intelligence) conclude that Friday is pizza night.

I'm an aunt!!! (Part 2)

The Wickershams are a very large family. I think that as random animals are collected over the years they most often become a Wickersham. Or a cousin of the Wickershams.

I'm an aunt!!! (Part 1)

I was just acquainted, today, with joyous news: I am an aunt! No, one of my siblings did not get married and have a kid without telling me. I am referring, of course, to Alyssa's relatives. The Frenchmans and the Wickershams. I never knew i was integrated into the grand spiderweb of make-believe known to our home as "The Bears"!

25%

Watching a movie is supposed to be relaxing, right? Not necessarily if you're one of the four kids living at my house. And definitely not if you are our parents. First mom and dad are bombarded with pleas for permission to use the television. And then, once we've made sure we won't be ambushed by my parents demanding why we are using the TV, You should see my siblings and I try to choose a movie.

the Box.

"The Box" was first unwittingly created by Alyssa, in reference to the terrible, hollow cubes that are steadily pilfering all our stuff. Got a movie you really wanted to watch but we packed up for the next three months or so until we've moved? It was exiled to "the Box".

I love you mommy!

You know my mom makes home cooked meals every evening? And this is after she homeschools us during the day. And runs errands. And takes us to various social engagements and sports events. And does everything else moms do. And she still wakes up in the morning? She must be directly tapped into God's strength specifically reserved for moms.

An Educational Outing

Hahahahaha

Trips to museums are kind of hit or miss for me, I regret to say. Sometimes I'm really excited to learn about science or ancient history or art or whatever. But sometimes I'm really just not. At all. Like yesterday.

It's A Boy!

No, a new baby did NOT just find his way into our family tree. Rather, "It's a boy!" (said with great volume and force) is what I have to tell everyone who sees my dog, Kodiak (a.k.a Kody), for the first time.

Tooth Fairy Tales

The Nelson kids have always been aware of the tooth fairy's mythological nature. Same with Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny. Not that we were of greater intelligence than the average kid at the teeth-shedding age. I just don't think my mom and dad were too crazy about our home surviving a traumatic revelation for each of their six kids.

Stalemate!

"Would you rather live in Illinois or Maine?" this question was put to me a while ago by my friend's little brother, Joseph. We were playing a game where we ask each other to choose between two states to call home. This choice in particular, however, puts me in a real pickle.

Bienvenido!

SCINTILLATE

You are witnessing the conception of Scintillate! *applause* Thank you, thank you, thank you all. Let me just tell you this: coming up with the name, "Scintillate", was the toughest part. I mean, I suppose I could just use something like "Nelson Family Blog" or "Adventures with the Nelsons" or "The Life of a Homeschooler from Maine". But I couldn't. Not that there's anything wrong with any of those, but I just had to create the perfect title for my blog. I had to come up with some word or phrase that would sum up my life at its fullest. Preferably in a unique, imaginative, non-dorky way. Scintillate was what I got. So what does "scintillate" mean? Well, my vocabulary book says "to flash or sparkle". Now, I hate to credit my smartitude, or the name of my blog, to any school book written by a guy with a name like "Hodkinson" (no offense if your name is Hodkinson, it's not your fault.). But yes, I did learn this word from one of my fab Wordly Wise books. Wordly Wise book 9, to be exact. So i guess all that brain-cramming was worth it, because I like my blog. And Scintillate is the perfect name because that is exactly what it is going to do. Because that's what i do. I sparkle, I shine, and I scintillate, for Jesus Christ. I hope you do too ;)