Pinewood Castle

A Little Christmas Concert

We recorded most of these today at the kid's last piano lesson of 2011. You may have to click over from Google Reader to see them!

 

Here's Choir Boy and our teacher playing O Come All Ye Faithful, Joy to the World, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas:

 

 

Dancer performs Silent Night and Have a Holly Jolly Christmas:

 

She also worked hard on the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy:

 

 

Sunshine opted to sing and play for you! Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, and Rudolph:

Wordless Wednesday - Girls Downtown Getaway

Thankful Thursday

I really need to reflect on what I am thankful for lately. Sometimes with modern day social media it is all too easy to do one of two things: complain or brag. Even if you just mean to share, what you say online can easily come across as complaining or bragging. The effort to avoid doing either one is an art I am far from mastering.

Honestly, I really feel like complaining this week. I am tired. I feel like every day I have to run a marathon and I always come in last place. Good thing I can pass the baton when my husband comes home and he gladly helps out with some of the driving, dishes, and getting the littles to bed.

Sometimes we bloggers tend to put our best feet forward and make our very normal lives seem more special and perfect than they really are, at least it can seem that way to others. Some readers get intimidated, others know better! In reality, blogging is most often an effort to reflect on what is good about life, to live intentionally, and especially to find and claim the joy in what we do.

So how about a happy balance this time? Here's a touch of realism from Pinewood Castle this week:

Thankful ~ that my wonderful husband has caught up to me and is now in the over 40 club.

 

He was treated to some gourmet wine & cheese, a Camping Guide to the North Shore and another paper creation from Sunshine. Recognize the setting?

Not Thankful ~ for the twitch in my eye this week. The Little Prince wakes up crying at 5:30 pretty much every.single.morning. And he is getting his molars and waking up in the night several days a week. We are getting too old for this. And he hates his Hanna hat. I love his Hanna hat.

Not thankful - that he has discovered the joys of coloring my desktop with highlighters.

Thankful ~ that we found the Little Princess hiding under our bed one morning at 6:30. I went into the girls' room, saw that her bed was empty, and we hunted for a terrifying fifteen minutes. All the time I tried not to think about the possibilty that a weirdo blog reader had abducted her.

Thankful ~ that a biopsy lab test turned out normal.

Not Thankful ~ that I have been getting headaches every night and day that I eat one of those melt-in-your-mouth birthday chocolates.

Not Thankful ~ that I succumbed to a coffee sample at Costco at 4:00 one Saturday afternoon and slept a whole two hours from midnight to 2 am.

Thankful ~ that I picked up the phone on my nightstand that sleepless night, surfed around, and found a link to the Wheat Belly book and blog. A week and a half later I have lost five pounds. This is motivating. I need some motivation to get serious about losing weight after going 19 months without any.

Thankful ~ that some dear readers have clicked book links here and the Amazon credit that came my way almost covered the cost of the Wheat Belly book that is on it's way.

Not Thankful ~ that there has been a big shake up at with the choir boys organization, the two top directors have been fired, and the future of this organization is in question. My faith is rattled, but hopefully the addage of "when one door closes another one opens" will ring true in this case.

Still not thankful - that the girls are in different ballet classes with different pick-up times. But - very thankful for the opportunity to see them in action during the academy's Parent Observation Week.

Thankful ~ that the girls had a wonderful experience playing their first recital at MacPhail. Sunshine played Paganini with flair and Dancer rendered Dvorak's Humoresque with feeling.

Thankful ~ for our wonderful new violin teacher. She is so positive and has such confidence in the girls.

Thankful ~ that Grandma & Grandpa were able to come down to hear the recital and brought us our first ever snow blower, courtesy of his late paternal grandpa. It must be at laeast twently years old but as long as it still runs we are glad to have it.

Thankful ~ that we did not get an October snowfall like the east coast. It's been known to happen in Minnesota.

Thankful ~ that Aunt Charlotte finally made good on her birthday gift to the Karate Kid: indoor rock climbing.

Thankful ~ that Karate Kid's speech therapy through the public school is off to a good start.

Thankful - for the new shower head my husband picked up at Costco. Hello water pressure!

Thankful ~ that my husband, with one child on each hip, takes the little ones down for breakfast every morning so I can enjoy some Introvert Time before facing the day.

Thankful ~ that the girls and I are going on a little musical get-away this weekend!

Fortunately the Thankfuls outnumber the Not Thankfuls. Now maybe if I can catch up on some sleep this weekend the bumps in life will not seem so very difficult!

Calendar Capers

This morning I put the kids in charge of changing the classroom calendar and this is the agenda they designed ~

Kids like to have something to do every day. Gives them a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

Evidently, this is why they have been so unmotivated the last three weeks. They tell me that staying at home, doing school, and practicing music all week was not exciting enough. Ouch. Here I was looking forward to more time at home and a reduced activity budget not to mention fostering domestic contentment.

Keeping the "home" in homeschooling is sage advice, to a point. I am still learning how to discern what is best for our family. I am a Libra. I strive for balance. I realize now that our September schedule was too music-heavy, and I was getting burned out with my role as Practice Supervisor. I finally started to realize why most parents prefer to sign their kids up for sports rather than music.

 

After a big heart-to-heart we decided resume our old habits of celebrating the saint days and liturgical calendar, I have signed up for the All About Thyme newsletter to have fun with things like National Butterscotch Pudding Day (like Dawn's family), and last but not least (thanks to a strict grocery budget and local Aldi store) ballet will now be back in our lives twice a week in addition to continuing martial arts for my Karate Kid.

Honestly, life just didn't feel right without ballet. Ballet makes for happy girl hearts, strong bodies, and gives us all a reason to rise & shine, especially since I will not have to supervise daily ballet practice!

Plans for a Mid-Winter Break!

Checking in here - has it really been over a week since I last blogged? Oh my! It seems I never have chunks of computer time lately or have chosen rest or reading over the glowing screen before bedtime. We have also been dealing with various viruses the last several weeks that have caused fevers, coughing, and sudden messes on the floor necessitating a Rug Doctor rental. Then there are the various mishaps that put the whole day behind - the baby peed on me while waiting for the 3yo to bring a diaper, the toilet overflowed, you get the idea!

At least in the midst of this busyness the 3yo tantrums are down about 90% after the egg allergy diagnoses. Do you know how much time this saves? Hours. Yes, she still has a strong personality and can't take "no" for an answer, but at least now, if she gets started, she can STOP after a few minutes instead of carrying on for an hour or more. Thanks for all of your help in this department. Moms are the true experts!

We have been working diligently with our schoolwork for six weeks straight and plan to take a midwinter break next week! Yeah! Today we might head over to the Scottish Ramble since the forecast predicts 5-12" of snow for Sunday when we originally planned to go. We are not an ounce of Scottish, but love a strong dose of the festive music, food, dancing, pipes and plaids this time of year. Then my little choir boy is supposed to have his first overnighter at the choir building with rehearsals and fun planned for Monday. We will see if the roads are passable by Sunday night!

Monday brings vision check-ups and making these cupcakes for President's Day. This year I am having the kids memorize the presidents on all the coins and bills (among other various and helpful facts) in case they ever have some fun-loving uncle offer a $100 bill to the first kid at a family reunion who can name the president memorialized on the front. I am hoping to have time write up some blog posts before violin lessons and my monthly homeschool mom's meeting.

Tuesday we head to The Cities for dental check-ups. This means dad will scoot out from work to help with the Littles in the waiting room and we get to go out to lunch with him too - maybe to the Neapolitan pizza place! While we are in the city I am thinking of going somewhere warm and tropical after lunch like Como Conservatory. This will tie in wonderfully to Dancer's reading about South America in geography and rain forests in science. We will have to beat the traffic to get back in time for group violin.

Wednesday morning is always piano and the afternoon is blocked out for Peabody testing and a quick trip to town for karate. These tests are always interesting - how to take great scores with a grain of salt and what to make of scores that are "just" at or below grade level. For me it's a crash course in statistics as well as curbing the horrid tendency for pride and comparison among siblings. I have to admit, though, that it is also a time to pat myself (and other moms) on the back and breathe a sigh of reassurance that a mere mom really can successfully homeschool her children.

Thursday is still up for grabs. I wanted to take them to an indoor trampoline jumping place, but they are not open to big kids until after school hours. We might go to a juried art show at the government center or just stay home and play games before Rocky goes to choir.

Friday we are heading halfway into the metro. DH is taking the older kids snow tubing while I take the littles to an indoor park. Hopefully they won't get too worn out for an afternoon of ballet and karate. Oooh - I just realized it's parent observation week at ballet and daddy will be off to watch!

Next Saturday dh is going to a Catholic Men's Conference. The Holy Spirit nudged me to sign him up, put the printed info in an envelope and set it on his dinner plate as a surprise. I hope and pray he enjoys the day!

A week from tomorrow is the opening of "The Real George Washington" exhibit at MHS. A perfect dessert for all the Revolutionary War reading my 5th grader has done recently!

Here is a description to entice you locals:

Activities include 18th-century style military drilling; a visit to the colonial doctor; a look at the fashions of our founding fathers and mothers from elaborate wigs to buckled shoes; demonstrations of Martha Washington's favorite dishes; music, dance and etiquette performed by Dance Revels Moving History; and a Shadowy Silhouettes History HiJinx activity. Visitors also can join in the Washington’s Adventure Gallery Game, learn how to read a compass and follow clues through the museum, collect facts about the real George Washington along the way and win a prize. Revolutionary War reenactor John Neitz, Minneapolis’ official Town Crier, will transform the History Center into a colonial village, announcing events and activities throughout the day.

That's all, folks! Hope to catch up with a belated Valentine's post and some book/CD reviews with my time off this week.

One more thing - I just can't leave you without a picture of my very busy baby who is causing daddy to install locks on every single drawer and cabinet within his reach!

 Actually we are taking pity by leaving the one cabinet open for him - the one with the plastic bowls. He just has too much fun whipping them around and we have too much fun watching him!

Updates and Quotes for a Monday

We survived a weekend including two Nutcracker performances and one rescheduled boy's choir concert. Finally the Christmas concerts and reception cookie baking is over! Time to be at home, finish Christmas cards, gifts and crafts and do a little baking for ourselves and our neighbors. There are a half dozen craft projects I would like to do myself but will most likely spend the week helping the children make things for one another.

The Nutcracker, bty, was the premier production given by our new ballet academy (in their second year) way out in this corner of the outer metro. I was amazed at how well all the little details were thought out and planned for, on and off stage. Really amazing for an academy's first production. Chaperoning a roomful of three and four years old angels was an equally memorable experience.

(backstage)

I only signed up one of my girls for the show - the one requiring the least amount of rehearsal time. Our Little Princess was an adorable angel for the 2:00 show - by 7:00 she was sleeping in heavenly peace on the floor of the backstage dressing room, not to be roused. I had chaperoning duties so I called Joe to come and pick her up. Oh well.

My little prep choir boy sang with a group of eleven choristers. Their performance was noted to be the quietest in history and their group the best behaved, translated = the least entertaining! Kind of an odd compliment. The packed house enjoyed each of the five choirs and recorder consort. Hearing the top internationally acclaimed choir was a real treat. This has to be what the angels in heaven sound like.

(older photo - not from yesterday)

 

One more fun photo - the saxophonist's wife roped random shoppers into singing at the grocery store -

I promised two quotes in my post title so here they are:

"Charity begins at home, but should not end there." ~ Thomas Fuller

It is all too easy to wrap ourselves up in our own little families. Christmastime provides wonderful opportunities to reach out.

"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort." ~ Jane Austen

No explanation needed here. I would be perfectly content ot stay in by the hearth for days and days in the winter. I must have a bit of Mr. Woodhouse in me!

 

Scenes from Theater Camp & Pony Class

Why the light blogging? Busy and fun summer days . . .

"One Step at a Time"

Here I am bigger than big and readier than ready to have this baby, but I have yet to go into labor. I can only deduce that God must have wanted me to be there last night to see the girls perform.

The MusikGarten class began the show with a few songs using egg shakers and scarves. Pipsqueak's debut on stage went off without a hitch. She actually seemed quite comfortable on stage -

Psalty's Camping Adventure is a musical featuring a big blue singing songbook/camp director who teaches the kids lessons in life about climbing their mountains (real and personal)  "one step at a time".

We were so proud of the girls for delivering their lines and singing solos nice and loud in spite of sound system difficulties.

I am also proud of my husband who took them to the last dress rehearsal Friday morning while I went to my doctor appointment (hopefully the last!). He tried taking photos in dim light with Dino and Pipsqueak hanging on him so most of the shots turned out blurry.

Sunshine played the part of Susie, the girl who gets poison ivy and is "Itchy, itchy, itchy!"

Just a week or so a go we realized that she though her line in the scripture-verse-for-each-letter-of-the-alphabet song was "Simon heard and was black!" instead of "Zion heard and was glad!"

Their amazingly talented and experienced director put this show together in just ten weeks. All the children in this production are homeschooled. It was a fantastic opportunity for so many talented kids.

Getting songs from musicals stuck in your head can be annoying, but this time was actually helpful as we have really been taking one day at a time. Every night this I week I have tucked the children into bed explaining what the next day would be like if I was still pregnant and what would happen if I was not.

I was touched that some moms I know and even others I don't know came up and told me they had been praying for me and the baby. Maybe they understand the stress of having a due date and a performance so close together. Maybe they just hoped my water didn't break in the middle of dress rehearsal!

Having so many friends and family members come to their performance was another big highlight of the evening. The B.'s came, my in-laws, and my husband's grandma had just been picked up by Aunt Pat from the airport earlier that day, having decided to return early from wintering in Texas. They came to the show so my in-laws could give her a ride home. Hmm, now why didn't we get a photo of Grandma? Apologies to my in-laws who read this. I must have been distracted by my swollen feet.

We came home and enjoyed some ice cream, even though it was a Friday in Lent. The kids went to bed as excited as if it were Christmas. Today we have one more event to attend - the girls play on stage at Orchestra Hall and receive a trophy for completing the first level of the Suzuki program. It's almost 7am and I am not in labor yet, so maybe God wants us to make it there today?

Performance Time

Last month the children were in one violin recital, one piano recital and a theater performance. The photos are rather blurry and might not mean much without sound, but I thought Grandma and Aunt Terri might want to see some photos anyway. (We will really try to make a DVD of the year for Christmas, OK?)

Dino played Cuckoo and Peter Pumpkin Eater

 

Sunshine played a duet with her teacher, Showboat, and the right hand of Christmas Day Secrets.
 

Dancer's selections were two-handed Allegretto II and Little Playmates.
 

Rescue in the Night is a music theater setting of Daniel and the Lion's Den story.

Dino is in blue beside Sunshine in orange.

 

Dancer (in pink) enjoyed being in the circle of Israeli Dancers
 

Sunshine (in orange) was a ferocious lion!

Ad Majoram Dei Gloriam

First Dance Recital

I feel as though I have found a treasure and am torn between sharing with the world and hoarding this as a secret - it's Dancing for Jesus - the dance studio my girls are blessed to be a part of this year.  The teacher is a beautiful pretty blond Christian mom who runs her dance studio in the walk-out basement of her home.  She is full of exuberance and joy as she teaches the girls to praise God through the art of dance.  A few other things I love about this experience are that the other girls and their moms are gems, my girls can be in the same multi-age class, just one costume suffices for both winter and spring recitals and the tuition prices are reasonable (especially when one has two enrolled).

Last Sunday they had an opportunity to perform at a nursing home.  The girls looked like princesses all in pink and their dancing brought smiles to many faces - old and young!