Hmm....Is Little Son composing great music, or is here merely doing his lesson work?

This is the season of the year for violin competitions. This coming weekend we are going on another camping trip (yeah! details to follow afterwards). But the two Saturdays afterwards will be dedicated to two violin competitions, and one of them is a scholarship competition. I can see the dollar signs in Little Son's eyes already!

Baby Girl is participating in a competition on Feb. 21. She will be competing in Violin Solo at the Pre-Primary level, performing "Song of the Wind" and "Hungarian Tune". Those of you who are violin moms may know the tunes I am talking about. She is quite well prepared this year!

Little Son has three competitions on Feb. 21. The first is violin solo at the Elementary 3 level. The second is violin Concerto, and the third is Chamber Trio at the Elementary 2 level.

We are fortunate in that Little Son has been blessed with an opportunity to work with an all boys' piano trio. Such a trio consists of a violin, a cello, and a piano. They are guided by an expert teacher who immigrated here from Ukraine. This has been such a great learning experience for Little Son. It is his favorite part of violin this year, not just because all the boys have become good friends, but because he really enjoys the sound all three instruments make together.

And I am happy because I have really hit it off with the other two "trio moms". They have immigrated here from China and the Philippines, and their sons are ages 9 and 10. Despite our varied backgrounds, we have become fine friends. We have had a lot of laughs together, as well as some enjoyable visits at one another's homes. I feel a connection with these two moms that I feel with no other ladies. Something about the shared effort of managing a child's instrumental education and practice that unites us closely.

In addition, our children's contact with other Asian instrumental students has been a surprise, unplanned blessing to us as an international adoptive family. At least one of our children (Little Son, so far) has made comments over time that have indicated a positive sense of his own heritage as reflected in his appreciation of the musical achievements of the other Asian students. It seems that all of these students (and there are MANY!) are the children of immigrant parents from Asia, including central Asia (India). Their dedication and hard work have not been lost on our kids. I know it sounds stereotypical, but we have been careful not to share stereotypes with our kids. Nevertheless, Little Son's observations have been honest ones based upon what he actually sees and hears, and they have served to bolster his self-image and his pride in being Vietnamese.

We didn't "plan" this. It just worked out that way, in God's grace to us.