I thought you might enjoy seeing/hearing my Ethan recite his poem. He learned the last 8 lines this morning and to celebrate, I recorded him up in his room (trying to get away from the noise downstairs!). Ethan is my sweetie, in fact, last night we snuggled in my bed together and watched TV until Rich, Jacob, and Grace got home from music lessons. It was cozy. It made me remember him as a 2 year old, he always got up early in the morning and got into bed with me to sleep some more. He’s my #1 cuddle-bug. Everyone loves E!!!! (his nickname)
“The Robin”
In the tall elm tree sat the robin bright,
Through the rainy April day,
And he caroled clear with a pure delight,
In the face of the sky so gray.
And the silver rain through the blossoms dropped,
And fell on the robin’s coat,
And his brave red breast, but he never stopped
Piping his cheerful note.
For oh, the fields were green and glad,
And the blissful life that stirred
In the earth’s wide breast, was full and warm
In the heart of that little bird.
The rain cloud lifted, the sunset light
Streamed wide over valley and hill;
As the plains of heaven the land grew bright,
And the warm south wind was still.
Then loud and clear called happy bird,
And rapturously he sang,
Till wood and meadow and riverside
With jubilant echoes rang.
But the sun dropped down in the quiet west,
And he hushed his song at last;
All nature softly sank to rest,
And the April day had passed. –Celia Thaxter
ETHAN GREGORY, age 9
“It makes me so nervous to be video-taped. That’s why I keep forgetting my lines.” —Ethan
While we were upstairs in their room, I took this picture:
See the tail???? It was all that was left from some little critter that the cats ate. It was actually MY idea for them to wash it with shampoo and keep it! The soldiers were found at a tag sale a few years ago. They are solid metal, were only a couple dollars, and are perfect for the boy’s room. They hung the artwork (and tail) without my help.
Well, I do enjoy my boys and watching them grow and develop their own interests! I hope you enjoyed hearing E’s poem. I’ve never showed a video of any of the kids before so I’ll be curious to read your comments. 
I wonder if you held your breath toward the end of his poem like I did?
