Do you ever feel like...
you are SO tired that...
you can't possibly stay awake...
ONE
SECOND
LONGER?
Shav has!
At lunchtime today, he was sitting in his highchair, with a few pieces of carrots still left on his tray. I walked into the kitchen from the living room where I had been talking to David. I smiled at Shav. I stooped down to listen to Tobin tell me something about the Curious George story he had been listening to on CD while finishing his lunch (something about a RED FISH that Curious George saw and then Curious George FELL IN THE WATER and other such exclamations). I looked over at Shav and gasped. I saw this:
He was out cold.
He had been awake, just seconds ago!
But there he was, still touching his carrots, completely and soundly asleep.
His eyes flickered open the tiniest amount as I took off his sandals, picked him up from the highchair, carried him upstairs (enjoying the feel of his heavy sleeping weight in my arms), and placed him in his crib.
The sleep of the young is a beautiful thing to watch.
So I did.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Because Rabbits Don't Carry Umbrellas...
During a recent rain shower - we've had so many! - I discovered a visitor under our sliding board.
A cute little bunny was waiting out the storm in the relative dryness of that spot.
Apparently, she (it must be a she!) didn't want to get her hair wet! ;-)
You're welcome to stop by any time you want, little rabbit. Just watch out for The Big Bad Hunter...
...or you might become rabbit stew.
I wouldn't worry if I were you though. You run faster than his arrows fly.
So far...
:)
Thursday, May 19, 2011
What Are Your Intentions?
I haven't been myself recently.
Usually, as soon as I get the boys settled for the night, I'm itchin' to sit down at the computer and write. It takes a herculean effort most evenings to make myself finish cleaning up the kitchen or throw in another load of laundry or get out the feather duster. I just want to sit down and write!
For the past few days, however, I have taken great delight in household tasks and have spent extra time straightening up or doing this and that before planting myself at the computer. I've almost had to make myself write--not that I feel any pressure from anyone else to post anything here; that's not my motivation--but simply because I want to capture the memories of these days. As it is, I feel like SO MUCH slips through my fingers, and I never get a chance to jot it down. I'm always "behind" with the blog. I always have idea upon idea of what to write about. I always have a mental list of Very Important Events that I must record for posterity (and for my own recollection and enjoyment, years from now). And I never have enough time.
Because of that, I'm almost always squeezing other areas of life to expand my blogging time--giving the short end of the stick to my dishes, so to speak, so that I can write more. But not recently. It's just not like me to act this way! ;-)
At any rate, when I finally turned on my laptop tonight, I was planning to finish another post, a much lengthier one; but it's going to take me longer than I have time for tonight, so it will have to wait. In the meantime, here's something else I wanted to post (and really, I wanted to post it several weeks ago, but it didn't happen in my original schedule--does anything?). ;-)
********
You know how the summer seems to fly by? One week you're putting away the school books and enjoying the feeling of being done, knowing that the whole summer stretches out long and glorious before you. And then, seemingly in just a week or two, the summer is gone! How does that happen?!
In an effort to be more intentional about how we spend our time this summer, the boys and I have been creating a list. It's nothing fancy--just a piece of notebook paper taped to the side of our homeschool closet--but on it, we've written down some goals for the summer, ideas for how to spend our time, dreams of what we want to accomplish.
Some of these 31 items are more feasible than others. Some fall into the "probably not gonna happen, but I won't tell you that just yet because I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm" category. They range from the free ("catch fireflies," "lay on the trampoline and look at the stars") to the expensive ("go to the beach"). Some are for all of us ("eat ice cream at Kline's"), and some are specific to one or two people ("take fencing lessons" - that one's for me, of course - HA! - not a chance - but wouldn't my boys think I was The Coolest Mom Ever if I did?). :)It will be interesting to look back, at the end of the summer, and see how many of these items we actually accomplished. Will we hit half? Two-thirds?
In any case, Tobin's got the right idea. We'd better rest up.
It's going to be quite a busy summer! :)
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
At the End of the Rainbow
Who knew...
...that, at the end of the rainbow...
...stands my house!
I'd rather have it than a pot of gold. ;-)
This is my childhood home, so from the day my parents brought me home to it from the hospital after my birth until now when I raise my own children in it, this has been the corner of the world where I've laughed and cried, played and learned, grown and loved. When I left it for college and, four years later, to marry Jeff, I had no idea I would return to it, to build memories here with my own family.
To me, it truly is better than a pot of gold!
For a truly spectacular rainbow picture, click here to see one on my friend Misty's blog. :)
Monday, May 16, 2011
From My Seat on the Piano Bench...
...I couldn't see Josiah's face as he performed in the Suzuki concert yesterday afternoon. But that was only a minor issue, easily compensated for by Jeff's use of the camera to snap a picture of Josiah's serious performance face...
...and to take a video of Josiah playing one of his pieces, Minuet 2 by Bach.
Josiah has no trouble focusing and being serious and concentrating intently on the task at hand. Flighty? Not that boy! :) Even when he forgets to do the repeat of the first section and mistakenly begins the second one (around the 24 second mark in the video), he doesn't get rattled but calmly waits until he can join the group again. I'm so, so proud of him.
From my seat on the piano bench, I enjoyed so many advantages. I could...
~ watch Sharon and Maria's faces as they led the group in the Bach Double,
~ hear the advanced players up close and personal and really marvel at how talented they are,
~ look out at the audience and see the proud expressions on parents' faces,
~ feel the energy on the stage, especially as it began to be more and more crowded with students,
~ watch Megan's smile as she guided the youngest violinists to their places and helped them get their instruments and bows positioned just right,
~ and, best of all, I could savor the pleasure of being part of a wonderful music-making occasion, knowing that the notes I was playing were contributing to the beauty of the whole (well, most of the time...except for the times when I made mistakes!).
What a wonderful feeling! What a lovely concert! What an incredible opportunity Josiah has to participate in two outstanding musical groups in our area: the SVCC and the Suzuki program! What a gift!
I do believe that, even though my bench was hard and even though I could barely see Josiah through the crowd of violinists (and when I could see him, it was only the back of his head), I truly had the best seat in the house. :)
Saturday, May 14, 2011
7 Things an Accompanist Should Never Say...
...3 days before the concert. :)
During rehearsal on Thursday afternoon for the upcoming Suzuki concert I'm accompanying on Sunday, I had a few moments of downtime; and while my hands were idle, my head was busy, randomly thinking of things I could say to pull the leg of the director and make her think I wasn't prepared. I'm not much of a prankster, so I don't know why my thoughts spun off in this direction--it's not like me at all! If I was much of a prankster, I would have said one of these things to Sharon M. to see her reaction. Fortunately for her, I behaved myself and am only mentioning these things here. This will probably be only slightly amusing if you happen to be a musician, and not at all amusing if you're not--a musical inside joke, so to speak--but it made me smile during rehearsal. :)
1. (said with a quizzical look) - Remind me again: does the thing that looks like a number sign mean to play the note to the right or the left?
2. (shocked) - The Bach Double? THE BACH DOUBLE?! You didn't tell me we were playing that one!
3. (with jubilation) - So THAT'S a repeat sign! I've always wondered what those two dots mean!
4. (with a blank expression) - Seitz? Who's Seitz? I've never heard of him before.
5. (sorrowfully) - My great aunt Bertha died suddenly, and we'll be out of town on Sunday. I sure hope you can find someone else to accompany the concert.
6. (puzzled) - But I thought "f" in the music meant "fast."
7. (with huge tears, quivering voice, wringing hands) - I'm sorry, Sharon, but I just can't handle the pressure. I. JUST. CAN'T. HANDLE. IT.
;-)
During rehearsal on Thursday afternoon for the upcoming Suzuki concert I'm accompanying on Sunday, I had a few moments of downtime; and while my hands were idle, my head was busy, randomly thinking of things I could say to pull the leg of the director and make her think I wasn't prepared. I'm not much of a prankster, so I don't know why my thoughts spun off in this direction--it's not like me at all! If I was much of a prankster, I would have said one of these things to Sharon M. to see her reaction. Fortunately for her, I behaved myself and am only mentioning these things here. This will probably be only slightly amusing if you happen to be a musician, and not at all amusing if you're not--a musical inside joke, so to speak--but it made me smile during rehearsal. :)
The 7 Things the Director Does NOT Want to Hear from My Lips
1. (said with a quizzical look) - Remind me again: does the thing that looks like a number sign mean to play the note to the right or the left?
2. (shocked) - The Bach Double? THE BACH DOUBLE?! You didn't tell me we were playing that one!
3. (with jubilation) - So THAT'S a repeat sign! I've always wondered what those two dots mean!
4. (with a blank expression) - Seitz? Who's Seitz? I've never heard of him before.
5. (sorrowfully) - My great aunt Bertha died suddenly, and we'll be out of town on Sunday. I sure hope you can find someone else to accompany the concert.
6. (puzzled) - But I thought "f" in the music meant "fast."
7. (with huge tears, quivering voice, wringing hands) - I'm sorry, Sharon, but I just can't handle the pressure. I. JUST. CAN'T. HANDLE. IT.
;-)
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