Every year during the week of Halloween, I host a Costume Recital for my piano students. Students come dressed in a costume and play a piece that relates to what they're wearing. They can also play a Halloween-themed piece, a fall-themed piece, or anything in a minor key.
For Amanda, I assigned a piece called "Zoom, Zoom, Witch's Broom." It's a pretty difficult piece... chords, moving around to different octaves, and pedal - which she can barely even reach. I thought it was best to assign it early so she'd have plenty of time to learn it.
In typical Amanda fashion, she stepped right up to the challenge and learned the most difficult part of her assignment first!
We have an entire month until the Costume Recital, but I think she's ready. This is all we've heard around here for the past week.
My Happy Family
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Eva, the Gymnast
We decided to enroll Eva in gymnastics classes again this year. She loved it so much and really seemed to have a knack for it.
Now that she's 3, Eva is old enough to go alone, as opposed to last year's "Me and my Shadow" class where the parents attended along with the kids. They divide the class up into three groups and assign one teacher to each group. They then rotate through three separate circuits: the balance beam, tumbling and the bars/trampoline.
The "Ta-Dah" pose that they do after each skill
In just two weeks, I am amazed at the skills Eva is able to do! She is a brave one, that Eva!
Now that she's 3, Eva is old enough to go alone, as opposed to last year's "Me and my Shadow" class where the parents attended along with the kids. They divide the class up into three groups and assign one teacher to each group. They then rotate through three separate circuits: the balance beam, tumbling and the bars/trampoline.
The "Ta-Dah" pose that they do after each skill Amanda, the Ballerina
After years of begging, Amanda finally started Dance Class a few weeks ago.
I looked into several dance studios but was turned off by many of them because they seemed too serious. Spending several hundred dollars on outfits, shoes and various costumes seemed a little over the top to me.
Instead, I chose a smaller studio here in our town. It is run by an Elementary school teacher out of her own home. The classes are small, just five girls, so it seemed like the perfect fit.
Classes are an hour long every Saturday morning. The girls have 20 minutes of creative movement, 20 minutes of ballet and 20 minutes of tap. I wish I could be a fly on the wall during classtime, but I'll have to wait until the end of the year recital.
The ballet outfit
The tap outfit
Amanda loves it so far and that's all that really matters. It's a good outlet for her and is a good compliment to piano lessons. She keeps asking when she'll be able to dance to "Swan Lake."
I looked into several dance studios but was turned off by many of them because they seemed too serious. Spending several hundred dollars on outfits, shoes and various costumes seemed a little over the top to me.
Instead, I chose a smaller studio here in our town. It is run by an Elementary school teacher out of her own home. The classes are small, just five girls, so it seemed like the perfect fit.
Classes are an hour long every Saturday morning. The girls have 20 minutes of creative movement, 20 minutes of ballet and 20 minutes of tap. I wish I could be a fly on the wall during classtime, but I'll have to wait until the end of the year recital.
The ballet outfit
The tap outfitLiam: 7 months old
Next week Liam will be 8 months old. I am very behind in an update, but here are some recent pictures of Liam, taken throughout the month of September.
He still looks like a baby to me in this photo. That cute gummy smile has now disappeared.
Is it just me, or does he look a lot more grown up a lot in this photo??
And finally... introducing... the two new teeth! He looks like such a big boy with those pearly whites popping up.
Liam is really starting to babble these days. The other day, he said "Mama" for the first time and has been saying it over and over. Of course, he doesn't know the meaning of it yet... although he seems to say it most when he is in distress. (In other words, when he is laying on his belly, which he hates!) He's also started saying "da" and "oh", in addition to the usual "ba ba ba."
Amanda and Eva are continually trying to get Liam to crawl. I am not as eager for this skill to develop, as it means a ton more work for me. Constant vigilance to make sure he doesn't swallow any of the small toys and Polly Pocket shoes and accessories!!
We've been having a lot of fun feeding him. He seems to love everything except bananas! Beans, peas, apples, pears, sweet potatoes, carrots... they're all good to him, but squash is his hands-down favorite. We've had to back off on the plums for now because he had a bad reaction to them.
He is finally sleeping better at night, and will go back to sleep without screaming as long as we give him the Nuk and cover him back up with a blanket. It still means we're getting up with him at least twice per night, but it's just a matter of popping in and popping out. Even so, I long for the day when I will finally get an uninterrupted night of sleep. It's been years!!
He still looks like a baby to me in this photo. That cute gummy smile has now disappeared.
Is it just me, or does he look a lot more grown up a lot in this photo??
And finally... introducing... the two new teeth! He looks like such a big boy with those pearly whites popping up.
Liam is really starting to babble these days. The other day, he said "Mama" for the first time and has been saying it over and over. Of course, he doesn't know the meaning of it yet... although he seems to say it most when he is in distress. (In other words, when he is laying on his belly, which he hates!) He's also started saying "da" and "oh", in addition to the usual "ba ba ba."
Amanda and Eva are continually trying to get Liam to crawl. I am not as eager for this skill to develop, as it means a ton more work for me. Constant vigilance to make sure he doesn't swallow any of the small toys and Polly Pocket shoes and accessories!!
We've been having a lot of fun feeding him. He seems to love everything except bananas! Beans, peas, apples, pears, sweet potatoes, carrots... they're all good to him, but squash is his hands-down favorite. We've had to back off on the plums for now because he had a bad reaction to them.
He is finally sleeping better at night, and will go back to sleep without screaming as long as we give him the Nuk and cover him back up with a blanket. It still means we're getting up with him at least twice per night, but it's just a matter of popping in and popping out. Even so, I long for the day when I will finally get an uninterrupted night of sleep. It's been years!!
Our 6th Anniversary
Dave and I celebrated six years of marriage yesterday. Whoever got married yesterday had PERFECT weather: blue skies, sunshine and warm summerlike temperatures. Sure wish we would have had that six years ago! When I said that to Dave, he remarked that he wouldn't have changed a thing.
We celebrated with a dinner date to our favorite special occasion restaurant, The Sun Tavern in Duxbury. It recently reopened and we couldn't be happier about that! As soon as we were seated, we felt so comfortable and relaxed in the familiar surroundings.
I ordered my usual entree, Chicken Miguel with butternut squash ravioli. Dave went with the baked haddock, zucchini salsa and dill-infused mashed potatoes. The highlight of the dinner, though, was the Cheese Platter entree. It was practically a meal in itself!
When we arrived home from our date, we were greeted with a homemade sign from Amanda. It made me smile.
Another thing that made me smile and surely will for many years to come, is the South Shore Colors bracelet that Dave and Amanda picked out for me. It is based on Marshfield's school colors, which is appropriate since we now have a school-aged child. These bracelets declare your allegiance to your favorite South Shore town and help support Fine Arts in your town's schools. Money well spent, in my opinion.
I especially love that there are five beads, one for each member of our family. It is very symbolic and I absolutely love it!
My gift to Dave is much more casual - a Rush Moving Pictures concert T-shirt.
We went to the concert on Tuesday night, our fourth time seeing them together. (This is Rush's 30th year together and they are doing the Time Machine Tour now, in which they played the "Moving Pictures" album in its entirety.) This is our favorite album and we were really looking forward to the show! Dave really wanted one of the T-shirts, but they were outrageously priced. When we got home, I ordered one online for him, so hopefully it will show up sometime this week.
Six years together, three wonderful children... I feel very blessed.
We celebrated with a dinner date to our favorite special occasion restaurant, The Sun Tavern in Duxbury. It recently reopened and we couldn't be happier about that! As soon as we were seated, we felt so comfortable and relaxed in the familiar surroundings.
I ordered my usual entree, Chicken Miguel with butternut squash ravioli. Dave went with the baked haddock, zucchini salsa and dill-infused mashed potatoes. The highlight of the dinner, though, was the Cheese Platter entree. It was practically a meal in itself!
When we arrived home from our date, we were greeted with a homemade sign from Amanda. It made me smile.
Another thing that made me smile and surely will for many years to come, is the South Shore Colors bracelet that Dave and Amanda picked out for me. It is based on Marshfield's school colors, which is appropriate since we now have a school-aged child. These bracelets declare your allegiance to your favorite South Shore town and help support Fine Arts in your town's schools. Money well spent, in my opinion.
I especially love that there are five beads, one for each member of our family. It is very symbolic and I absolutely love it!
My gift to Dave is much more casual - a Rush Moving Pictures concert T-shirt.
We went to the concert on Tuesday night, our fourth time seeing them together. (This is Rush's 30th year together and they are doing the Time Machine Tour now, in which they played the "Moving Pictures" album in its entirety.) This is our favorite album and we were really looking forward to the show! Dave really wanted one of the T-shirts, but they were outrageously priced. When we got home, I ordered one online for him, so hopefully it will show up sometime this week.
Six years together, three wonderful children... I feel very blessed.
Fall Comfort Food
It sure feels like fall around here with the cool temperatures, crisp morning air and a hint of color already in the trees. Eva and I made our first apple crisp of the season last week. A few days later, Amanda and I made applesauce. We've been having oatmeal for breakfast and I just bought a box of Cream of Wheat the other day. Yes, summer is officially over.
This weekend, I decided it was the perfect time to whip up a batch of soup. I found a new recipe for Corn Chowder that looked good and I figured our favorite Dill Zucchini Ricotta Muffins would go well with it.
I made everything yesterday so it will be an easy dinner to reheat tonight. We're going walking along the Cape Cod Canal this afternoon and it will be nice to come to an easy dinner.
Here are the recipes for each.
Corn Chowder
1 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small clove garlic, crushed (I used two)
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 cups vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)
1/2 cup milk
1 can corn, drained
1/2 cup heavy cream
Melt butter in large saucepan. Cook onion and garlic gently for 10 minutes or until soft. Add potato cubes, broth and milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer partly covered for 15 minutes. Add corn and simmer partly covered for 5-10 minutes more, until potatoes are soft. If mixture feels very thick, add 2-3 Tbsp. hot water. (I added about a cup of milk.) Turn off heat. Let mixture cool then put half aside in a bowl. Blend remaining half until smooth in a blender. Add soup in bowl back to blended soup in saucepan and stir in cream. Reheat gently to serve.
Dill Zucchini Ricotta Muffins
This weekend, I decided it was the perfect time to whip up a batch of soup. I found a new recipe for Corn Chowder that looked good and I figured our favorite Dill Zucchini Ricotta Muffins would go well with it.
I made everything yesterday so it will be an easy dinner to reheat tonight. We're going walking along the Cape Cod Canal this afternoon and it will be nice to come to an easy dinner.
Here are the recipes for each.
Corn Chowder
1 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small clove garlic, crushed (I used two)
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 cups vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)
1/2 cup milk
1 can corn, drained
1/2 cup heavy cream
Melt butter in large saucepan. Cook onion and garlic gently for 10 minutes or until soft. Add potato cubes, broth and milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer partly covered for 15 minutes. Add corn and simmer partly covered for 5-10 minutes more, until potatoes are soft. If mixture feels very thick, add 2-3 Tbsp. hot water. (I added about a cup of milk.) Turn off heat. Let mixture cool then put half aside in a bowl. Blend remaining half until smooth in a blender. Add soup in bowl back to blended soup in saucepan and stir in cream. Reheat gently to serve.
Dill Zucchini Ricotta Muffins
1 1/2 cups flour
-
2 tablespoons sugar
-
3 teaspoons baking powder
-
1/2 teaspoon salt
-
1/4 cup milk
-
1 stick margarine, melted
-
2 eggs
-
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
-
1/2 cup grated zucchini
Preheat oven to 400°F. Fill muffin tins with cupcake wrappers, or grease and flour tin.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and dill weed; mix well.
In a medium bowl, combine milk, melted margarine and eggs. Stir in ricotta cheese and zucchini; beat well. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. The batter will be stiff. Fill prepared muffin tins two-thirds full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Eva's First Day of Preschool
The first day of Preschool could not come soon enough for Eva.
Her teacher, Mrs. McCarthy, came over for a home visit the week before school started. From the get go, Eva fell in love with Mrs. McCarthy. She is the same teacher that Amanda had during her first year of Preschool, so we knew Eva would be in find hands.
We learned that Eva would be in a class of eight children - all girls! I have a feeling there will be a lot of dressing-up going on! Amanda told Eva all about the different dress-up costumes. And the playdough. And the painting and other crafts. And the playground.
Yes, Eva was very eager to get this show on the road.
Her teacher, Mrs. McCarthy, came over for a home visit the week before school started. From the get go, Eva fell in love with Mrs. McCarthy. She is the same teacher that Amanda had during her first year of Preschool, so we knew Eva would be in find hands.
We learned that Eva would be in a class of eight children - all girls! I have a feeling there will be a lot of dressing-up going on! Amanda told Eva all about the different dress-up costumes. And the playdough. And the painting and other crafts. And the playground.
Yes, Eva was very eager to get this show on the road.
"Eva, you're going to LOVE Preschool!!!!"She picked out a brand new dress and proudly put on her gigantic Tinkerbell backpack. This was special, because most everything she receives is a hand-me-down from Amanda.
Dave was ready to walk Eva to Preschool, but she refused to leave until she had picked an entire bouquet of dandelions for Mrs. McCarthy.
After the shortened first day of school, Dave and Eva walked to the "secret pond" and had a little picnic lunch.It is amazing to me how much Eva seems to have grown up during this first week of school. She is so proud of herself. So confident! She takes pride in telling us what her "job" was each day. (One day, her task was turning off the lights in the classroom.)
And right around the time school started, she has begun to take an interest in learning to write letters. So far she can write E, A, F, H.
Preschool is going to be great for her!
Amanda's Kindergarten Orientation and First Day
Last week Amanda had Kindergarten Orientation. It was a chance for her to see her classroom, meet her teachers (all three of them!), tour the school and meet a few of her fellow classmates.
I am so proud of this kid!
It was pretty exciting for her, but she was also a bit anxious. The head teacher read The Kissing Hand to them and then one of the assistant teachers (our babysitter's mother!) walked them around the school.
During the tour, the head teacher talked to us parents and gave us an Orientation of our own. Amanda is fortunate to have very patient and nurturing teachers. They will be a perfect fit for her. Not only that, there are only 13 children in the entire class.
When the Kindergartners arrived back in the room, I was surprised to find that Amanda had lost her second tooth! Mrs. Martin put her tooth safely in a little plastic tooth container and Amanda then got to put her name on the Tooth Board. Of course, she was the first child to have her name on the board since school technically had not even started yet!
Before we walked home, the kids had the opportunity to board the big school bus. Again, pretty exciting stuff to a kid! The bus would end up being the thing Amanda was most looking forward to.
Last Tuesday, the day after Labor Day, Amanda put on one of her favorite dresses and patiently waited for the hours to pass until it was time for her to go to school.
At one point she asked for some stationery and wrote a letter to her teacher.
"I am nervoas about fallg off the maonky bars."
We went out to wait for the bus a full half hour before school started, as advised.
We waited. And waited. And waited!
After 35 minutes, the bus still hadn't arrived and we were both getting a little worried. I started to think maybe there was a mix-up. Maybe they expected Amanda to walk after all, even though they explicitly stated that all children along a state highway will be picked up by the bus.
School was supposed to start at 12:00 pm. We were still at the bus stop at 12:00! So I decided we'd better hurry and drive over to school. There were tears. Amanda was VERY disappointed that she wouldn't be riding the bus.
As I was putting the van into gear, the school bus pulled up. I jumped out and waved my arms, hoping the bus driver would wait for us. No such luck! She drove off, causing Round 2 of tears.
I walked her down to her classroom at 12:05... and the room was empty! Poor Amanda. It was not turning out to be a very good first day. At least I got to take a picture of her in the classroom.
I walked her back up to the school entrance where the teachers were waiting for the rest of the children to arrive. At 12:10, they were STILL waiting for buses! I guess this is typical during the first week of school.
Luckily the day got better for Amanda and she LOVED her first day of school. I asked if she had fallen off the monkey bars. As it turns out, they didn't even have outdoor recess so her fears were for nothing. She had so many stories to tell. They learned the letter W, and she thought it was so funny when the teacher changed the kids' names.
"I was Wamanda and Katelynn was Watelynn."
I have a feeling it's going to be a very good year for her, as long as she is challenged.
I am so proud of this kid!During the tour, the head teacher talked to us parents and gave us an Orientation of our own. Amanda is fortunate to have very patient and nurturing teachers. They will be a perfect fit for her. Not only that, there are only 13 children in the entire class.
When the Kindergartners arrived back in the room, I was surprised to find that Amanda had lost her second tooth! Mrs. Martin put her tooth safely in a little plastic tooth container and Amanda then got to put her name on the Tooth Board. Of course, she was the first child to have her name on the board since school technically had not even started yet!
Before we walked home, the kids had the opportunity to board the big school bus. Again, pretty exciting stuff to a kid! The bus would end up being the thing Amanda was most looking forward to.
Last Tuesday, the day after Labor Day, Amanda put on one of her favorite dresses and patiently waited for the hours to pass until it was time for her to go to school.
At one point she asked for some stationery and wrote a letter to her teacher.
"I am nervoas about fallg off the maonky bars."
We waited. And waited. And waited!
After 35 minutes, the bus still hadn't arrived and we were both getting a little worried. I started to think maybe there was a mix-up. Maybe they expected Amanda to walk after all, even though they explicitly stated that all children along a state highway will be picked up by the bus.
School was supposed to start at 12:00 pm. We were still at the bus stop at 12:00! So I decided we'd better hurry and drive over to school. There were tears. Amanda was VERY disappointed that she wouldn't be riding the bus.
As I was putting the van into gear, the school bus pulled up. I jumped out and waved my arms, hoping the bus driver would wait for us. No such luck! She drove off, causing Round 2 of tears.
I walked her down to her classroom at 12:05... and the room was empty! Poor Amanda. It was not turning out to be a very good first day. At least I got to take a picture of her in the classroom.
I walked her back up to the school entrance where the teachers were waiting for the rest of the children to arrive. At 12:10, they were STILL waiting for buses! I guess this is typical during the first week of school.
Luckily the day got better for Amanda and she LOVED her first day of school. I asked if she had fallen off the monkey bars. As it turns out, they didn't even have outdoor recess so her fears were for nothing. She had so many stories to tell. They learned the letter W, and she thought it was so funny when the teacher changed the kids' names.
"I was Wamanda and Katelynn was Watelynn."
I have a feeling it's going to be a very good year for her, as long as she is challenged.
Soooo behind!
I apologize for the lack of blog posts. And the lack of phone calls. And emails. It has been one heck of a week here and unfortunately I have yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I have so many blog posts waiting in the wings; things that I need to document for the kids' sake (and mine!) before I forget. I hope to find the time for this soon.
Stay tuned...
I have so many blog posts waiting in the wings; things that I need to document for the kids' sake (and mine!) before I forget. I hope to find the time for this soon.
Stay tuned...
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Identical siblings?
It seems that every time someone meets Liam, they say the same thing.
"He looks just like Amanda!"
Last night I was changing the picture in an old frame and came across Amanda's 1 year portrait.
My jaw dropped. Everyone was right! He DOES look like Amanda did at that age!
I called the girls in and they immediately starting laughing. They thought it looked like Liam was wearing a dress. Even Liam chuckled when he heard all of the laughter.
We tried to do a side by side comparison.
What do you think?
"He looks just like Amanda!"
Last night I was changing the picture in an old frame and came across Amanda's 1 year portrait.
My jaw dropped. Everyone was right! He DOES look like Amanda did at that age!
I called the girls in and they immediately starting laughing. They thought it looked like Liam was wearing a dress. Even Liam chuckled when he heard all of the laughter.
We tried to do a side by side comparison.
What do you think?
Hurricane Update
We lost power yesterday afternoon and ended up drivng down to the ocean. We did this partly because the van had A/C and because we wanted to hear a weather report (and didn't have a radio with batteries) but also because we wanted to see the waves.
It was so foggy, you could barely even SEE the waves. But it was very calm. It didn't look at all like a hurricane was somewhere out there!
The local radio station said there was "no timetable for restoring power." However, within an hour, our electricity was back on.
And that was pretty much the extent of the storm! All night we waited for it to get nasty... and it never happened. Thankfully, Hurricane Earl fizzled.
We've had thunderstorms that were more severe. If we hadn't known there was a hurricane warning, it could have been passed off as a regular rainy night. It sounds like the Cape got hit harder than we did.
This morning the sky is completely blue. The rain has moved out. There is a nice, cool breeze.
And now we can go about our Labor Day weekend as planned. First up? The Grand Opening of the playground that we have watched them build for the past year. We cannot wait for this!!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
It was so foggy, you could barely even SEE the waves. But it was very calm. It didn't look at all like a hurricane was somewhere out there!
The local radio station said there was "no timetable for restoring power." However, within an hour, our electricity was back on.
And that was pretty much the extent of the storm! All night we waited for it to get nasty... and it never happened. Thankfully, Hurricane Earl fizzled.
We've had thunderstorms that were more severe. If we hadn't known there was a hurricane warning, it could have been passed off as a regular rainy night. It sounds like the Cape got hit harder than we did.
This morning the sky is completely blue. The rain has moved out. There is a nice, cool breeze.
And now we can go about our Labor Day weekend as planned. First up? The Grand Opening of the playground that we have watched them build for the past year. We cannot wait for this!!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Hurricane Earl?
They've been talking about Hurricane Earl all week.
Dave took the kids down to Rexhame Beach the other night and reported really high waves. The kids told me all about the surfers they had seen.
The latest weather report predicted that it will hit us after dark tonight, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. It will then head north toward Nova Scotia.
We are currently under a Tropical Storm Wind Warning and a Flash Flood Watch. All of the beaches are now closed.
Dave put away all of the loose yard items and I tracked down a few flashlights, just in case.
I received an email this afternoon from The Fieldston, one of the local restaurants on the ocean. It sounds like they are hoping to draw in a crowd of storm watchers!
The rain is already coming down hard, as of 1:00 pm. I guess we'll just sit, wait and see what happens.
Dave took the kids down to Rexhame Beach the other night and reported really high waves. The kids told me all about the surfers they had seen.
The latest weather report predicted that it will hit us after dark tonight, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. It will then head north toward Nova Scotia.
We are currently under a Tropical Storm Wind Warning and a Flash Flood Watch. All of the beaches are now closed.
Dave put away all of the loose yard items and I tracked down a few flashlights, just in case.
I received an email this afternoon from The Fieldston, one of the local restaurants on the ocean. It sounds like they are hoping to draw in a crowd of storm watchers!
"We have lots of candles, emergency lights and a gas grill…
Bring some rain gear and watch the pounding surf…
Sounds like a Hurricane party!"
The rain is already coming down hard, as of 1:00 pm. I guess we'll just sit, wait and see what happens.
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