A Feel-Good Story

A friend of mine found and posted this video earlier this evening.

After watching it, I felt compelled to share. (Well, share... steal... it's all in how you look at it.)

Somehow though, I don't think she'd mind.

I dare you to watch this and not get goosebumps.

I think you'll agree... It's definitely a "feel-good" story.

Crockpot Triple Chocolate Cake Recipe

For last night's dinner, I tried a new recipe: Chicken Spaghetti.

Everyone, except for Amanda, loved the Chicken Spaghetti. I think it was the green peppers and pimentos that turned her off, but Eva asked for seconds.

(By the way, if you have never checked out Pioneer Woman's blog, you really should. She has some wonderful recipes, complete with easy instructions and "play by play" photos.)

For dessert, I decided to try a crockpot chocolate cake. And oh boy, was that a hit! I served it warm with vanilla bean ice cream and it was every bit as good as the Warm Chocolate Cake you pay $7 for in a nice restaurant.
Today I will share the recipe because not only is it absolutely heavenly, but because it's so easy, and it will make your house smell wonderful. (Plus, this way I'll know where to find the recipe when I want to make it again!)

This would be the perfect cake to make on a hot, summer day when you don't want to turn the oven on.

Crockpot Triple Chocolate Cake

• 1 pkg. Devil's Food chocolate cake mix
• 3 oz. pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup water
• 8 oz. sour cream
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  

Spray a 4 quart crockpot with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, combine everything and beat until smooth. Pour into crockpot. Cover slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours, until top springs back when touched very lightly with finger.

* *
I cooked mine on high for 3-4 hours and it was the perfect consistency. I didn't try to empty the cake onto a plate. Instead, I just spooned it out, as you would do with cobbler or the like.

Enjoy!

Sledding Fun!

Yesterday we walked over to the nearby sledding hill for some Saturday morning fun.

Surprisingly, we had the entire hill to ourselves!

Amanda went first. She had been there a few days earlier with Daddy, so she was practically a Pro.



As soon as Eva saw Amanda go down, she wanted a turn. And boy, did she love it!!!



After we had gone down a few times, we wandered over to another part of the hill but it was too icy... dangerously icy, even for Daddy.

So we trekked over to yet another hill, one with two slopes.

And I think we all agreed that was the best one of the day. Daddy and Amanda almost made it to the river!



I have many fond memories of sledding as a kid, and I'm glad my daughters are now getting old enough to enjoy it. It's such a great way to spend time as a family, and we're lucky to have good hills within walking distance.

Today we're going shopping for a bigger snowtube, maybe a two person one. It looks like the snow will be sticking around for a while, so we might as well make the best of it.

Longing for a Sleepover

Amanda is obsessed with the concept of a sleepover.

Every single day, she asks if she can invite one of her little friends to our house for a sleepover, despite my telling her that she's too young for that type of thing.

I guess she is starting to accept that, and has now switched her efforts toward Eva.

She has asked how much longer til Eva can "cuddle" in her bed. I have told her not until Eva is 2, at the very least, because the bed sits dangerously high off the ground and requires a footstool just to get into it.

Today I was in the next room when I heard Amanda calling,"Mama, come look!"

I went into Amanda's bedroom and found Amanda "teaching" Eva how to sleep in a big girl bed. (Evidently she was trying to speed up the process.) Eva was only too eager to participate in the exercise.



After I helped Eva get back onto the bed, they continued where they left off.



"You need to cuddle with me because I had a long day."

"You have to do what I say. Mama, it's hard to teach a baby."

Cookies and marshmallows? A cookover nap? (I think she meant "cookout", by the way.)

Where does she come up with this stuff??

In any case, it's food for thought. Maybe one day we could get by with the girls sharing a bedroom.

I guess time will tell, but we'll wait until Eva can voice her opinion. I won't hold my breath.

The Importance of Imaginative Play

Last night I read an interesting article about the importance of imaginative play in early childhood education.

To quote the article, "A child's ability to fantasize helps later in life by fostering critical thinking, creative problem-solving skills and cooperation. This kind of play helps build leaders. When children are allowed free play time, when they are allowed the freedom to create and use their imaginations, they continually assess and evaluate, readjust, cooperate, learn via trial and error and they listen to each other. There's a close link between play and cognitive growth. "

"And children in today's society are bombarded with toys and games that can only be used for one intended purpose... that do little or nothing to encourage children to use their imaginations.- by Nancy Garvey (Kidding Around, January/February 2009)

This is one of the strengths of the preschool Amanda attends, and one of the reasons why it is so perfect for her. They do not spend time teaching the alphabet or numbers, which is perfectly fine with me. We can do that on our own time here at home.

Instead, her preschool is more science-based and they focus on discovery and hands-on activities. They also have a time set aside for dramatic play, which is Amanda's favorite part of the day. Cooking activities, tasting parties and nature walks are other things they do in a typical week.

During our initial ‘in home’ meeting with Amanda's preschool teacher, I  learned that Mrs. McCarthy often uses social behavior puppets ("Britney" and "Ricky") in the classroom to help teach interpersonal skills, appropriate behavior, social conflicts, etc.

Every now and then Amanda will tell me what "Britney" and "Ricky" did that day. Apparently one afternoon there was a performance in which one of the puppets had been hugging all of the children... and the other puppet finally said,"I like you, but I don't like it when you hug me."

Although it was never confirmed, I think I can guess who and what inspired this particular puppet performance, since Amanda could definitely be described as a "hugger."

* *
For Christmas, Amanda and Eva received a set of eight multicultural puppet children - 4 girls, 4 boys. Knowing Amanda's propensity for, and talent in drama, I had looked into buying a Puppet Theater. But when I realized how expensive they were, I couldn't justify shelling out that kind of money and filed the idea to the back of my head.

After reading the above article and realizing that both girls could benefit from this type of play, I was inspired to make our own theater using some discarded boxes. What a perfect activity for an otherwise free Friday!

Now, I must share Reason #101 why I love my husband... and why my daughters love their daddy.

When I told Dave about my idea this morning and explained my design plan, he offered to do it himself before leaving for work. He whipped out an Exacto knife, some duct tape and went to town.


In mere minutes, he was finished! And as usual, his design looked much better, not to mention more durable, than what I had envisioned in my own head.


Once Dave was finished with the construction phase, I added some white paper so the girls could decorate it and give it a more personal touch.

Eva took care of the interior decorating while Amanda worked on the exterior.

I was surprised and delighted at how excited both Amanda and Eva were about this project. They had so much fun working together!


I carried our Puppet Theater to the "Green Room", which is essentially our glorified playroom. The girls set up chairs and strollers for their make-believe audience, and Amanda predictably fell into the role of Stage Manager. I guess the article was right about the "building leaders" part.

"Young lady, please be seated."



Oh, and at the very end of the video where Eva falls off her chair? Don't worry.. she wasn't hurt. Mishaps like this are a regular occurrence; they don't even phase her.

Once on stage, Eva immediately followed Amanda's lead and figured out just what to do.

Performance #1 starred Amanda as The Parrot and Eva as The Koala. (So much for the multicultural human puppets!)

Here's what you would have seen, had you been lucky enough to secure a ticket to the show.



Next it was my turn to do a puppet show, and I have to say... it was a lot of fun!

I staged my own "Britney and Ricky" drama, although I called my puppets "Britney" and "Rosalina", due to the gender/ethnicity of the puppets I was assigned. There wasn't much of a plot other than Britney being portrayed as the shy girl. (There is a girl in Amanda's class who is painfully shy, and I wanted to see how Amanda would handle such a situation.)

Immediately Amanda approached the stage, hugged Britney and said gently,"It's okay to be shy."

Yep, that's my empathetic girl.

I can definitely understand the value in social behavior puppets as well as imaginative play. I have a feeling our Puppet Stage will be getting a lot of use.

Sisterly Love

Before we left for Preschool, I let Amanda watch a TV program while I cleaned up the lunch mess and prepared for my next piano student. After several minutes of pure quiet, I peeked into the next room to see what the girls were up to.

And this is what I found.
Eva had crawled up onto Amanda's lap to quietly read a book, while Amanda watched her TV program.

There were no words exchanged.

It is moments like these that warm my heart.

I hope this sisterly love continues as they grow older...

Photos and Videos Galore

This morning we were surprised at how much snow had accumulated between Sunday and overnight into Monday morning. There is a lot of snow out there now!!

After helping Dave shovel the walkways and dig the cars out, the girls and I went out to play.

I must admit that getting them dressed in their snow gear is always a test of my patience. Sometimes I wonder if the effort is worth it, because it often takes more time to get ready than we actually spend outdoors.

But the beautiful scenery inspired me and I had a feeling I could get some really great montage footage. (That's ultimately what motivated me to keep going, and I'm glad I did.)

Snowsuit for Eva? Check. Snow Pants/Coat for Amanda? Check. Boots? Check. Hats? Ugh, only one hat could be found. Mittens? Ditto. By this point, I wondered if we would actually make outside before it was time to come in for lunch!

Who got me dressed anyhow?

After finally getting everyone dressed, we headed out into the snow. We were not even outside for 10 seconds before Eva started pleading,"Help. Help. Help." I thought to myself,"Come on!  This is supposed to be FUN!!" I took a deep breath, and called upon my reserve tank of patience.

Finally dressed and ready for some fun!

I dug the snowtube out from the snow that had accumulated on it, got the girls situated as best I could... and that's when the fun started!

I think we need a bigger snowtube.

I trudged through the deep snow, pulling the girls behind me. Hearing them both scream,"Weeeeeeeee!!!" and "More!!!”  was music to my ears. And I was getting some much needed exercise!



After working up a sweat, I rested and watched Amanda make a pretty good-looking snow angel... while Eva sat in one spot and ate snow.



Then Amanda joined her and decided they were eating birthday cake. They make me laugh.

After the cake, Amanda decided she wanted to "climb a mountain"... and got stuck in the snowbank. After I pulled her out, we both had a laugh over it. This was actually turning out to be fun after all!

Amanda wanted a turn at pulling Eva on the snow tube.


Eva was a good sport, and ever so patient.



And then Amanda asked if she could take some pictures.

Boy, am I brave or what? I actually let her hold the camera (wet mittens off!) and trusted her to not drop it in the snow. She shows some potential as a photographer, don't you think? I didn't do a thing to this photo; there are two others that are perfectly centered as well!

Eva feeds me a mouthful of tasty snow.

Finally we headed inside for lunch, and threw the clothes into the dryer. Daddy promised Amanda he'd take her to a real sledding hill this afternoon if he got his work done.

Me? I think I've had enough for one day.

More Progress...and Snow

At long last, the vision of a fully functional and "up to code" barn staircase is becoming a reality!

After initially hearing Dave's plan of how it would look, I admit that I couldn't visualize it. When he described it as a "birdcage", I was completely lost. But after seeing things in place, I am now understanding the idea, and I think it's going to look really cool.

Dave and his brother spent half a day meticulously measuring, cutting, "leveling"... and whatever else they had to do. (Truthfully I was on kid duty, and didn't pay much attention to what they were doing, other than to take an occasional photo.)

Each step will have its own "pipe" to prevent a person from falling over the edge. The pipes will eventually be painted.

Yeah! Success! The first pole is in.

The actual handrail will go on the other side of the steps.

* *

Yesterday we got more snow. It was the steady, gentle kind with big flakes... and no wind. It was a low-key storm; perfect for a Sunday.

We decided to venture out in the slushy mess and have lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. This is how it looked on the drive home.

And here's how it looked this morning... Dave snapped these shots after breakfast.

It was one of the most spectacularly beautiful mornings I've seen in a long time. Postcard pretty... and oh so peaceful looking.

The 30* temperature feels like a heat wave, so you can bet the girls and I will be out playing in the snow as much as possible today. Pictures and videos to follow...

Happy Birthday, Jared!

Today my little brother, as I will always think of him, turns 32. Holy cow! How is that possible?! I don't even feel 32 yet, and I'm the older sister!

This was Jared’s 2nd grade school picture. I always loved those freckles. Nana used to call them "fly poopy."

Jared is affectionately known as "Jawz" by pretty much everyone in the state of Wisconsin. Even my 8 year old niece refers to him as "Uncle Jawzy." Part of the nickname's origin is because of his initials, but I think there's another reason behind it. Something about having had 6 wisdom teeth, hence a large jaw to accommodate them all?

Taken at our family birthday celebration exactly 10 years ago:
"Happy Birthday, JAWZ"

I was away at college when this nickname started, so I've never quite been able to embrace it. I suppose it's like when your best friend "Katie" or "Billy" grow up and decide they'd rather be called "Kate" or "Bill." Call me a creature of habit, but he is still "Jared" to me.

One of my favorite childhood games was actually a method of tormenting my poor, young brother. My other brother, Josh, and I would routinely play "Run Away from Jared", much to Jared's dismay. I really don't remember how this started, or who even conjured up such a game... but I'll blame Josh. When in doubt, I always blamed Josh. 

The rules of "Run Away from Jared" were pretty self-explanatory. Josh and I would simply run around the perimeter of the house as fast as we could, doing lap after lap, while Jared chased us - calling and crying for us to stop.

Looking back on it, I'm not proud of our behavior. But when you live way out in the boondocks like we did, you are forced to be creative. Actually, in hindsight, our silly little game didn't require much creativity.

Over time, the tables turned and Jared got his revenge. He and Josh began teaming up against me, probably staying up late at night in the bedroom they shared, plotting various ways to get back at me.

For example, I still haven't forgotten the time Jared slammed the bedroom door on my prized pastel pink radio, breaking the antenna off so I could no longer listen clearly to Z104. The static from that point on made it difficult to record songs onto cassette tapes (one of my favorite pasttimes) and I was furious.

My wedding: September 2004

As a kid, I suppose Jared would have been called a Class Clown, and was friends with everyone... even his teachers. He is truly a character, always the center of attention at parties and gatherings, telling funny stories and making sure everyone has a good time. Even now, Jared never fails to make me laugh, to the point of sore cheeks. Oh, and his dead-on impersonation of Kermit the Frog could easily be mistaken for Jim Henson, were he still alive.

For as long as I can remember, Jared was also a jock. Tee ball, lob ball, basketball, you name it. I always enjoyed watching his baseball games in particular, secretly proud of his frequent home runs and his talent of tagging runners out at home plate. I remember the time he split his pants and had to ask a friend's mother to safety pin the crotch closed. (That's pretty crucial when you're a Catcher!)

He played trumpet in the school band for a few years, until he somehow convinced my parents to let him quit. Maybe they realized his talent was in sports and let him switch... I'm not sure.

May 1992: My brothers before or after a high school band concert.

All in all, I have to admit that Jared turned out to be a really decent guy. He's a great dad, a good husband, a helpful son, and a really fun brother to have.

Along with many other accomplishments, he managed to meet and marry a wonderful woman who is an elementary school teacher. They are a very good match, and Pam fits into our family perfectly.

Jared and Pam in August 2001

This picture was taken at my apartment in California, before they were even engaged. (Sorry guys.. I wanted to post a wedding photo, but those were all lost when our computer crashed a few years ago.) Anyhow, this was the first time I had ever met Pam... and I liked her instantly.

Together they have two happy, energetic, full-of-fun children - Brady and Ella, whom we miss very much. We can't wait until our next visit to Wisconsin so the kids can all play together again.

A scorching, hot summer day at StoryBook Gardens in Wisconsin Dells

I have searched high and low for my old photo albums but cannot for the life of me locate them! So, unfortunately that means no embarrassing childhood photos.

Here are a few random photos I managed to dig up.

Christmas 2005: Me holding Amanda; Dave holding Ella; Jared holding Brady

Jared, Amanda and Ella: Can you tell those girls are cousins!?

And thanks, Mom, for sending this picture of today's party. Looks like you all had a good time! Wish we could have been there to celebrate with you.

Jared's 32nd Birthday

Happy Birthday, Jared! Have some cake for us! We love you!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

We are having a bout of frigid weather here in New England. I guess I shouldn't complain though; it's nothing compared to what the Midwest is experiencing. This morning I received an email from my mom in Wisconsin telling me that her thermometer read -17*. That's not even taking the wind chill into consideration!

This morning Dave checked our handy dandy weather thermometer with the built in memory, and it had recorded an overnight low of 1.7*.


Luckily we had filled the wood stove up last night before we locked up and let the fire burn through the night, so the inside temperature had only dipped to 54*. Not bad!

After several days of being stuck indoors, we (err... I) had grown weary of puzzles, Laurie Berkner, puppets and coloring. I decided that the girls (again, I) needed to burn off some energy.

Eva needed diapers, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and take a trip to the mall, where they have a little indoor play area. Although it's really nothing more than a large room with a few climbing-type structures, a carpeted floor, and some comfortable seating around the perimeter of the room, it has been a godsend during unfavorable weather.

I always get a kick out of watching the dynamics between kids at play. Today was no different.

Shortly after removing our shoes, Amanda became fast friends with a little 3 year old boy named Derek. They were inseparable from the get go. As the boy's father observed,"I think they've got a budding romance. He just gave her one of his matchbox cars."

As I watched the two of them walk around holding hands, occasionally stopping to embrace, I overheard this conversation.

Amanda: "Do you want to play Princesses?"
Derek: "No... I'm a man."
(pause)
Derek: "Do you want to play cars?"
Amanda: "Sure!!!"

A bit later, another conversation...

Amanda: "What's your name?"
Derek: "Derek."
Amanda: "Mama, his name is Derek!"
(She turns back to address her friend.)
Amanda: "My name is Amanda! How old are you?"
Derek: (Furrows his brow.) "I don't know."
(Runs to his father to ask and comes back.)
Derek: "I'm frr-eee."
Amanda: "Mama, he's three just like me!" (Amanda then hugs Derek for a loooooong time, as if they are long lost friends who have just been reunited.)

Finally I say,"Okay Amanda, that's probably enough hugging now."

To which Derek replies,"It's okay! I don't mind!"

Yes, truly a match made in heaven.

Eva, on the other hand, was terrorized by an 18 month old little girl who was a bit of a bully! No matter where Eva went, this little girl followed her and tried to interfere and prevent her from playing. If Eva tried to turn a wheel to the right, this little girl tried with all her might to turn it to the left. Eva spent most of her time scurrying away from the little terror, constantly looking over her shoulder to see if she was being followed.

At one point, Eva had found temporary refuge inside an oversized football helmet. Before long, the little girl found her. I actually managed to capture the whole story with this snapshot. Look at Eva, literally pinned to the wall - whimpering and cowering in fear.

Click to enlarge. The look on Eva's face is priceless.

Amanda, being the protective big sister, came to Eva's rescue and whisked her off to safety.

"Come on, Eva. You can play with me."

Later they hid in the tunnel where they played with cars, and Eva was much happier there.

Amanda and Eva playing with Derek and his little sister.

After the play area, I dropped some quarters for the girls to ride in the mechanical helicopter together. They're so easy to please.



And me? Well, I was just delighted to have burned up an entire morning, all for the price of a whopping $1.00. (Well, plus the gas it took to drive to the mall 8 miles away.)

On the agenda for the afternoon is a baking project, perhaps Rice Krispie treats or lemon bars... and curling up in front of the warm, wood stove to watch a movie. Amanda uncharacteristically chose a movie about dinosaurs from the library and has been waiting days to watch it. (Hooray! A break from Princesses!)

After today, the weather is supposed to warm up so we should finally be able to get outside for some exercise. Maybe a walk in the snow to look at animal tracks?

How many more weeks until we can go to the playgrounds and beaches again? I'm afraid to do the math.

From the Mouths of Babes

A while back, I read about a mother who routinely wrote down funny anecdotes about daily life with her children. She recorded stories and quotes on scraps of paper, collected them in a large jar, and periodically recorded them into a scrapbook.It sounded like a great idea to me! I have a habit of relaying the humorous highlights of our day to Dave, as a way of "keeping him in the loop" so to speak. But it's hard to remember everything word for word and sometimes the humor gets lost in translation.

For the past month, I have been following the aforementioned organizational technique of jotting things down. (Unfortunately my scraps of paper have collected rather messily in my desk drawer instead of in a jar.)

Today as I was sorting through the drawer in an effort to make sense of things, I came across them all and decided to purge the clutter. Here is a sneak peek into our life over the past month.

#1
If you're a regular visitor to my blog, you know that Amanda is always planning her wedding, as if it were weeks away, rather than decades. While listening to a children's CD one day, the song "B-I-N-G-O" came on and Amanda began dancing around the room. Suddenly she froze as if she had a sudden revelation.

She excitedly announced,"Mama, this is the kind of music I'm going to have at my wedding!"

#2
As I was tucking Amanda in one night, she said, "Mama, I'm glad you don't have whiskers like Daddy. I can kiss you easily."

#3
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, the threat "Santa is watching!" could be heard repeatedly around our house. As soon as the words left our mouths, the girls suddenly transformed into perfect angels, as if Santa was right outside, peering through our window. At one point, probably after one of these reminders, Eva affectionately hugged Amanda. Amanda lovingly hugged her back and said in the sweetest, tender voice,"Mama, me and Eva aren't sisters. We're friends!"

#4
In preparation for Christmas, we talked and read a lot about what Christmas means. In the process, I had said,"Christmas is not just about presents and Santa and reindeer." etc. Apparently Amanda picked up on what Christmas is and what Christmas isn't.

One morning Eva was being particularly loud with her high-pitched screeching. Amanda scolded,"Eva, Christmas is NOT about shouting!"

#5
Amanda and Eva received inflatable guitars from our friends, Jen and Andre. Because they took up a lot of room, I deflated them, knowing that I could blow them back up in a matter of seconds.

Amanda took hers out of the drawer and said,"Mama, will you blow up my ick-tar?"
Me: "Your gui-tar?"
Amanda: "Yeah. I have trouble saying that word."
Me: "Uh huh. It's a tricky one."
Amanda: "Yeah, like Connecticut." (Said perfectly...Maybe it's not so tricky after all.)

#6
As I was cleaning one day, Amanda said,"Thank you sooo much for cleaning. I knew you would grow up as a good Mama!" However, a few days later, she evidently had a change of heart about the importance of cleaning. "Mama, you don't need to sweep. I like it messy."

*
I can only imagine what will things will be like once Eva starts talking! This just might become a regular installment. As I often say,"Never a dull moment..."

The newest member of our auto fleet

On Sunday, we took a drive to visit our friends, Todd & Susan... and take a look at a car they were selling. While Dave and Todd went for a test drive, Susan and I got a chance to visit while the girls played.

Amanda and Sophie played together, while Eva steered clear.

Their almost-1 year old daughter, Sophie, is such a little cutie. Amanda always loves seeing her and "taking care of her." She's such a doting mother-in-training.

Eva, on the other hand, is very leery of babies in general and Sunday was no exception. She was content to watch from a distance with a scowl on her face, as if she was jealous that someone else was getting all of the attention. However, by the end of the morning, Eva made a feeble attempt to strike up a friendship by offering Sophie a Cheerio. Ah, the small things.

The seven of us went out to lunch together, and though we stood outside for a very long time waiting for a table, it was a nice time.

As we said farewell and parted ways, I drove the Audi home while Dave drove our newly purchased Volvo wagon. 

Our new Volvo wagon

We had been talking about getting a bigger car for a while now, and out of the blue, the opportunity presented itself.

The car is now visiting our mechanic, who will then tell us how much money we'll need to sink into it before it is up to standards. I am crossing my fingers that it won't need any major repairs (other than brakes, which we knew when purchasing it.) I really like the car and the roominess will make family outings much more comfortable.

Fantastically comfortable seats - - but no cup holders!

The only aesthetic problem is, as Dave pointed out, no cup holders! (The cup holders in my Audi are broken and many a time I have lost an iced coffee as I made a turn.) This is a step backward, but I guess I'll live.

For now, I'll just keep my fingers crossed that there are no major problems with the car. I'll deal with the cup holders later.

Snow and High Tide

We got a decent amount of snow overnight - the nice, wet packing kind. After breakfast, we went out and made our first snowman of the season. (Or snowgirl, as Amanda preferred to call it.) While we were outside playing, the snow turned to rain.


Dave stopped shoveling long enough to shoot some video of our building efforts... and to mock my strength.

Our first snowman of the season

* *
Dave read that we were supposed to be experiencing astronomically high tides today, due to a combination of the weather and the normal tide schedule. (I am probably not wording that correctly, so please excuse my midwestern ignorance.)

After lunch we drove down to the ocean to see how it was looking.

It was so windy that I struggled to hold my camera still.

Brrrrrrr...Don't these pictures seriously give you the chills?

Remind me to look at them again in August, when I'm complaining about the heat and humidity!

Amanda's First Piano Lesson

I'm going to ask all of you to forgive me for my blatant boasting for a moment, but I simply can't help myself. (Just pretend this is an entry in Amanda's scrapbook. That will make it seem less like bragging, to me anyhow.) I am bursting at the seams with pride and I can't help but share.

Amanda’s first piano lesson: She was so excited!

The other day during a routine visit to the music store to pick up student supplies, I quickly browsed through the clearance bin. Much to my surprise, I found this:

My First Piano Adventure - Pre-Reading: by Nancy and Randall Faber

Because this is a fairly new series, I had a hard time believing it was actually on clearance. Sure enough, it rang up as full price, but the cashier gave me the discount anyhow since it had been in the bin. It was my lucky day!

With my piano students, I have successfully been using the regular Piano Adventures series and as well as the Accelerated Course for years. The new series, which is geared toward 4 and 5 year olds, has been met with high praise, but since my policy is to accept students only age 7 and older, I never had looked into it.

On a whim, I decided to purchase the one and only copy to see what it was about. And then it hit me! Why not test it out on Amanda? Although I said previously that I didn't want to teach my own children, I decided to go back on my word... and give it a shot. You know, just in case. I should make it known that I have neither the desire nor the skill to turn Amanda into a child prodigy.

I set out on this mission with no preconceived notions of how it would go. I realized that Amanda is awfully young to start any type of formal training, so I decided to just chalk it up as "quality time" spent together. Never a bad thing, and certainly mixes it up from the usual Chutes & Ladders or StoryTime!

When I asked Amanda if she would like to start piano lessons, her response was so enthusiastic that I began to get excited. We set a date to begin. Unfortunately, that was the day I was horribly ill... so we postponed her lesson until today. The timing was perfect.

As soon as Eva went down for her nap, Amanda and I went into my studio and closed the door for privacy. I took great care in making sure the studio was set up exactly the same as if I was expecting any other student.



Once she was seated on the bench, I saw an immediate transformation in Amanda. She was not my silly, playful-bordering-on-hyperactive 3 year old daughter anymore. She looked so serious, so mature, eager and ready to learn. I couldn't believe it!

And what's even more shocking is that I even felt myself switching into "teacher mode" rather than "mama mode." Initially I had thought this might be my biggest hurdle.

I conducted the lesson just as if she were a child meeting me for the first time, and started by going through my short list of 'rules for piano lessons'. And as I always do, I made a really big deal out of my final rule: "We have to have FUN!!" (This always makes the students break out in a huge smile, and Amanda was no different.) We shook on it to seal the deal and with that, we opened the book to start off on our first adventure.

With her feet resting on an box of diapers because her feet were nowhere near reaching the floor, we proceeded to learn about proper position. We learned our finger numbers and played "Simon Says" to make sure she understood and remembered. (She did!) We learned about white and black keys; soft and loud sounds; long and short sounds. We played an improvisational duet. We were making great progress and we were having fun!

Constructing Alphabet Snakes is always a hit with my students.

I had initially anticipated a brief 10-15 minute lesson. But it was all going so well that I just kept right on going... and by the time we finished our closing game (Alphabet Snakes), I looked at the clock. Much to my amazement, I realized we had made it a full 30 minutes!

And the best part?

When I told her the lesson was over, she asked if we could keep playing. Success! We finished with a sticker... and a lollipop.

The first entry in Amanda's assignment notebook

I am so proud of her mature behavior, her great listening skills, and her ability to follow instructions. But I am most in awe over her cognitive skills. I have been teaching for nearly 15 years now, and her performance rated right up there with my beginning 7 year olds. Now, I realize that a great part of this is probably having a familiarity advantage. The "stranger anxiety" that I typically witness was eliminated, thus freeing up her mind for learning.

In any case, after that 30 minute lesson, it was all I could do not to jump through the roof with pride and elation. I am filled with anticipation and excitement for our next lesson.

If I do nothing more than nurture a growing love of music, I will consider this venture a huge success.

After all, the journey is more important than the destination, and there's no one I'd rather have with me on this adventure.