Piano Man

I have been teaching piano lessons for a few years now, ever since Todd was a baby. I don't feel like I'm all that special as far as teachers go, but I do enjoy it. I think I am a reasonably-priced, fairly low-pressure teacher who works mostly with beginners. For some parents that is exactly what they are looking for. The boys are often in and out of the room occasionally interrupting me, but I still manage to make progress in the lessons. I have especially enjoyed teaching those students who come prepared and are excited about learning to play. What a joy they are.

I have one student who has given me the sweetest drawings with a message of "I love you" on the back. She also seems genuinely interested in learning to play, and has quite a bit of talent for her young age. You can bet that she has won me over!

However, the most rewarding student, by far, has been my own son Todd. I had always hoped that my boys would want to play the piano, and Todd has shown more interest in learning piano this last year. I would occasionally show him something about playing piano, but I was not consistent. I have been teaching a boy who is just one year older than Todd. The more Todd listened in on his lessons, the more confidence Todd gained that he could play the piano just as well. So I bought Todd the beginner books and started teaching him the lessons, though we were still very inconsistent. I did not want to push Todd, and I did not want to harp on him about practicing. I told Todd that I would give him a lesson as soon as he was ready with his theory work and songs. We averaged about one lesson per month. Things started to change in December. Todd was asking for lessons more frequently. He has been picking things up so quickly lately and has been breezing through his books. I think he may be partly motivated by his competitive spirit (he wants to pass up his peer). But I also think he is excited about the progress that he has been making. He understands the material, learns the songs quickly and has been gaining finger strength. And he knows that he is playing well. This week we have had four piano lessons, and Todd has been up at least twice this week practicing before 6:30 in the morning! I hope that Todd's desire to learn piano continues. I have enjoyed the little duets we have played together, and look forward to playing more with him.

We recorded a nice performance of "Go Tell It On the Mountain," but the video was too long and wouldn't post for me. I hope you enjoy this duet of "Yankee Doodle" instead. I love Todd's look of concentration!

A Dream

I woke up this morning feeling a little . . . dissatisfied. I hate it when my dreams spill over into the reality of my mornings. In my dream I had just gotten back a test a taken for a class. I should have been happy with my score: a 100%. The only problem is that as I reviewed the test I noticed that the teacher had marked a few problems wrong. There were about four little stupid mistakes that I had made. Yet, although the teacher recognized these errors, he still gave me full credit. This frustrated me. Don't call my paper "perfect" when it clearly doesn't live up to that label. You're not doing me any favors.

There must be a moral to this story seeing how it bothered me so much, but I'm still trying to figure out what that is.

A Surprise Ending?

I just bought a new book that I have been looking forward to reading. It was 50% off at a bookstore in the mall that is going out of business. I couldn't wait to start it. The only problem? About half-way through the prologue I realized that I have already read this book! And I don't read that much. How hard can it be to keep track of the books I have read. I hate it when I do that!

Oh well, I'm still going to read it. I'm sure I don't remember the story details well enough to spoil it all for me.

Our First Season of Baseball (2009)

Last spring I hesitantly signed Todd up for baseball. I can't say I regret it. But neither can I say I always had the best attitude. I was nervous about how the baseball schedule might disrupt our afternoon and evening activities of homework, piano lessons, free time, and most importantly, family dinner. It all worked out (thanks to help of extended family many-a-night), and Todd had a great time. However, with baseball season approaching in mid-February, I find that I am feeling that same sense of dread--especially with two boys playing this season.

Both boys are looking forward to the season starting. I need to keep reminding myself that it will all work our fine, just as it did last year. I know that I will have to rely on Oma and Papa to help out even more this year since both my piano lessons and the number of baseball players in our home have doubled. I am so thankful to have grandparents so close, and I am thankful that they are looking forward to being involved with the boys sports (probably more than I am, to be honest).

So, to remind myself that it wasn't so bad, let's take a look at all the fun we had last year.

First team meeting in uniform before Opening Ceremonies.

Todd takes his running seriously.

The boys had a blast on Opening Day with the inflatable slides, cake walk, trampoline, and more! I didn't love spending the money that I did, but....I guess it's for a good cause, and the boys really had a fun time.

Thank goodness for an active and helpful Oma!

Ryan often got bored being a spectator. If he wasn't able to find some kids to run around and play with he was usually sitting in someone's lap.

Todd took playing baseball seriously, and learned a lot more about the game last year.

Patiently waiting his turn, and keeping a close eye on the progress of the game.

Good job, Todd!

End-of-the-year team party.

So proud of his trophy!

Hurrah! It's over! (My sentiments--Todd probably felt otherwise.)

Our Year With the Wrens

I posted about out momma bird and her babies twice last year, but I want to finish telling the story of our wrens. We love that Mrs. Wren has chosen to make our home her home. Wrens are such smart little birds who are very creative in finding a comfortable place to sleep.

Last March, Mr. and Mrs. Wren built a nest on a high shelf in the garage. I was too short to get a peek inside the nest, but I enjoyed seeing the babies as they got a little older. Mrs. Wren had grown quite accustomed to Brett, who spends many hours in the garage. When the babies hatched Brett was able to save Mrs. Wren some time by feeding her some meal worms, which she passed on to her babies. Though Mr. Wren was never quite as comfortable with us, we were still able to watch him help out in feeding the babies from time to time.

The babies were ready to leave the nest for the first time on a day that was raining cats and dogs outside. I was startled when I went into the garage to do some laundry and there was chirping from every direction. They were all over the garage, especially by the window. We didn't want to lose any of them in the storm, so we kept the doors closed. We were happy to see that they all made it back to their nest that night--though Brett did have to rescue a few of them from the garbage can and an old glass milk bottle! Their wings had not grown all the way yet, and when they fell in they weren't able to fly out. The next day was beautiful and sunny, so we opened the doors and watched the birds as they made their way outside. It was fun to see how they communicated with their Mama to keep close together. They stayed pretty close to the house for the next few days, but eventually we weren't able to spot the little family flock anymore.

We were so excited when Mrs. Wren built another nest in the garage in May. This time she built it in a little cubby under the cabinet beside my washer/dryer--the perfect height for me to peek into. By now Mrs. Wren was quite accustomed to our presence, and obviously didn't mind us going about our usual work. Every time I worked on the laundry I passed by her nest and said "Good morning." I still can't believe that she chose that spot right next to the dryer (we have stackable machines) to make her nest.

Again, Brett was able to feed Mama; we were able to watch the babies grow; saw them leave the nest; and kept up with them until they left our yard. Brett thinks Mr. and Mrs. Wren made another nest later in the summer outside.

Here are some photos of our little Wren family.
They start out as such tiny eggs:

Mama dutifully kept her eggs warm. Good morning, Mrs. Wren.

Those baby birds sure are hungry a lot!

Wrennie want a meal worm?

It's getting crowded in here...

Fuzzy, tail-less, baby bird:

Don't fly into the garbage can anymore. You'll get stuck, and I won't always be around to bail you out.

We still saw Mrs. Wren from time to time around the house, and occasionally in the garage. But what surprised us most was to discover that this winter she started using the garage as a place to sleep at night. She discovered that the moving blankets and throw rug I had stashed on top of the dryer made a warm, cozy bed. I don't blame her. It has been freezing outside! (You can't see her, but she's tucked in there, fast asleep.)

Almost every night since the middle of December she has made her bed there. She comes around the same time every night. Brett likes to be in the garage right about 5:00pm to see her come in. Sometimes she chatters at him as if to say, "What are you doing in my house? I'm ready to go to sleep!" before flying into bed.

I'm not sure what she was doing yesterday morning, but she sure got mad at me when I came in to do some laundry. She chattered and chattered at me. So I quickly transferred my laundry and went back inside to give her some privacy.

She is full of personality, and we have enjoyed watching her this last year. We hope that Mrs. Wren will feel comfortable raising some babies near us again this Spring.

We'll leave our bird-door open for you, Mrs. Wren!

December 2009

Merry Christmas, Everyone!


Believe it or not, I think Brett really is happy to be a part of our family. He just doesn't like cameras, so I am never able to prove it in a photo.... Perhaps that is why I haven't gotten around to sending out Christmas cards with a Christmas letter in a few years. I've been waiting for that perfect family photo. So, this blog post will have to suffice for now, even though it will only cover the month of December--I'm planning to remedy that problem by catching up on the rest of the year soon. Don't hold your breath.

Todd's class panda spent the weekend at our house and was able to witness us decorating the Christmas tree. We let him wear the cuckoo clock's Santa hat, since Brett wouldn't let the reindeer wear it this year. Bummer. I thought it was adorable.

Ryan's preschool did caroling around campus. Todd's class decorated gingerbread houses. Ryan was so happy that he had the day off to participate in that activity.

Uncle Mark had to work on Christmas Day, so we celebrated with the extended family a day early. Oma fixed fondue for dinner, after which we exchanged gifts. We're so lucky to have such good relationships with our family nearby.

There is a lot of love in this pile of cool-looking cousins, even if it is not immediately evident.

Copper loves extended family as well, and Ginger will always have a soft spot for her original master, Brett.

Papa (who is always cold) received what he calls a "sleeping pill" for Christmas. He won't last long watching TV when he wears his monk-Snuggie.

On Christmas Eve the family, including Uncle Kevin and Aunt Jenni, got together again at my house for our annual Christmas Eve activity. I tried something new this year by having the family play musical Christmas gifts. I wrapped two presents in multiple layers of paper. We passed the gifts around, taking turns unwrapping the presents whenever the music stopped. I thought it was quite fun. Here are the two winners with their prizes (a Hershey's Symphony bar and a Christmas fleece blanket).

After the eating and the fun we watched a short movie on the Nativity and read the Christmas story from the New Testament. I printed out the scriptures in sections and cut them out so we could have more people involved in reading. Spending Christmas Eve this way is something that I absolutely love doing.

Santa and Mrs. Claus were delayed in visiting our house that night because they were quite busy and it was pouring down rain. By the time they made it to our house the rest of the family was gone and the boys were tucked into bed. They were not asleep however, so Santa and Mrs. Claus came and wished them a Merry Christmas in their rooms. I was happy that we were still able to see the man in the big red suit, but I was sorry that we did not get to take a photo with them.

The tree and stocking are ready for Christmas morning.

We started opening presents with our small family at 7:00am. Aunt Donna stopped by for little while, but for most of the morning it was just the four of us. We had fun taking time to open gifts and play with them as much as we wanted before moving on to the next gift. We weren't finished opening presents until almost noon. By then it looked like we had been hit by a tornado.

The kitchen didn't look so hot either, and it took me a few days before I felt like there was order again.

We are blessed in so many ways. And even though Ryan didn't get his Easy Bake Oven...

...I think both he and Todd would agree that it was a wonderful Christmas!

A few days after Christmas the boys and I went to see the lights around the lake in Defuniak Springs with our friends Beth and Tia. It was a nice way to finish out the holiday season.

Lastly, I want to thank all of our friends and family who remembered us this year. I loved hearing from you and seeing how your families have grown. Please don't take me off your Christmas lists.

I hope you enjoyed a happy holiday season as well!