Maddie's 7th

November is Maddie's month. We do "friend" parties for the even birthdays, so this being an odd year, we had a fun family party on Monday night. The highlight was the doll that came with her own violin. It's Target's version of the American Girl dolls. Thank you Target for a 60% cheaper option.

the power of human touch

This morning I sat down with Jonathan to read..."Henry and Ribsy", I used to love those Beverly Cleary books. Reading does not come easily for him and he was struggling with fluency, pronunciation of a lot of words, reading run-on sentences, etc. I put my arms around him just like I used to when he was a toddler and we read together. Then he started again. This time his fluency was so much better. He had fewer pronunciation mistakes and he read with confidence. He could only accomplish something so difficult when he knew he had Mom's love and support.

no time for the toilet

Serves me right. If I hadn't been dragging my 3-year-old all over this morning maybe things would have turned out differently. We were out the door at 7:15 this morning...solo auditions for the school choir. Then we raced to the salon for my hair appointment. I know I should taken the time to find a friend's house for Abby to play at. Instead I threw a bunch of Polly Pockets into a backpack and told her to sit quietly and play while I got my hair cut. It was about 9:10. I was getting my hair washed and I hear the scream of death coming from the lobby, Abby's scream. With water dripping down my back I rush to her to see what happened. In all our hurry this morning, no one even thought to remind her to use the toilet. Poor kid only had time to get dressed, shove some cereal in her mouth and hop in the car. So there she stood crying as if her world had ended, totally humiliated. I don't think she's had an accident in at least a year, and never one in public. So I'm scrambling, running to the car to get wet ones and a pair of shorts that I know are way too little for her. I tend to be much less prepared for incidents once my kids are toilet trained. I know what all the people in the salon are thinking. I could see it in their stares... Why would that woman bring a kid into a salon...what is she thinking...poor kid...next time she should leave the kid home...how embarrassing. No, next time we'll just remember to use the toilet before we leave the house.

Fall Sports

Jonathan has been begging me for two years to play football. His baseball coach even pleaded saying he was built for football. I finally caved and he started Pop Warner this summer. Football has been the best thing for this kid, other than the increased violence at home (he's finally standing up for himself when Nicholas bugs him). Jonny has become more motivated. He is better at getting his homework done. His self esteem has increased. Overall this has been a very positive experience for him.

Nicholas is a great runner. I convinced him to give soccer a try, after 2 years off, since he runs so well. This season has been a great learning experience for him. He is one of the youngest on the team. The team never had enough players to sub so Nicholas played then entire game, every game.

I once signed Maddie up for soccer. She looked at the ball and said, "Eew, that's gross." I knew conventional sports were not for her. She has been in ballet for a couple of years. Madeline's aunts, who are dancers, say she is a very talented ballerina.

Updating

For the past 2 years we've been working on updating our 1972 house. We've still got a long way to go, but we're making progress.

BEFORE:
AFTER:

BEFORE:AFTER:

Halloween Night

Go BYU

If you can't tell from the picture, Maddie wasn't so excited to be at the BYU vs. San Diego State game. Luckily she found joy in my iPod.Everyone else was thrilled to be there.

We attended the game with Grandma Kay and Grandpa Richard, Uncle Mark and Aunt Laurel, Grandpa and Grandma Wilson. and Jill and Pete (our British guests).

found in a poem...a new goal

Business and Busyness

.

‘I’m very busy at the moment; but

I’ll look forward to reading your message
when I have more time…’

yeah yeah… oh you ‘busy’ ones –
I’m on to you…

tell me that it’s not because
you’re ‘busily’ maintaining
a self-important picture of yourself–
(a picture based on fear?):

tell me that it’s not because
it’s your deceitful way to ‘prioritise’
what you want to give yourself to,
and that which you don’t…

‘Occupied’; ‘constantly active’ –
that sounds a little better,
a little more impersonal -
there’s hope for you…

But don’t we all love –
love them, even before we meet –
those (you know them?)
who seem, miraculously, to ‘have time’
for everyone – by appointment; or in emergency;

how do they manage it?
Can it be, they know the measures of the human heart
that make of time and space this lovely art?

by Michael Shepherd
PoemHunter.com

A Public Trough

If President Obama's new policies all go through (health care, taxes, and climate change), 70% would get more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes. The transfer will be $1 Trillion from the top 30% to the bottom 70%. The current ratio is 60/40, not much better.

Hamilton and Jefferson agreed on one thing, probably the only thing they ever agreed on; if the public treasure becomes a public trough and the people recognize that, they will only send representatives to Congress who promise to get them as much of the pie as they can. Then we lose our value as individuals and our structure as a free market. Remember the saying,

"When you vote yourself money, democracy is lost."

Sources: The Tax Foundation and Judge Andrew Napolitano

conversation in a car

Abby (age 3): "Mommy, do you have gum in your purse?"

Mommy: Nope

"Well you could get some ABC gum in the cupboard."

Really? You mean 'Already Been Chewed' gum?

"Yep"

Hmm

"Daddy gived me some blue ABC gum in his car from his mouth. It was yummy."

Great!

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Mommy, my brain hurts."

Oh, really...where?

"In my mouth. (long pause) Mommy, are people's brains in their mouths?"

No.

"Well mine is."

And there you have it.

Beach Days

It's our California residents' secret...

September is the best month for beach days.

The weather is gorgeous.
The water is really warm.
The waves are big.The sand is... Okay, it's the same as it always is.

The beaches aren't filled with tourists.

The kids play well together because they have been in school all week, separated from siblings.

Musical Creativity

When I was younger I used to sit at the piano and make up songs. I never called myself a composer because I never wrote the songs down. I don't think they were very good anyway. Maybe that's why I rarely spend time teaching composition. My piano students are required to do a lot in the areas of performance, theory, technique, and sight reading. I decided, after 20 years, it was time to spend a summer composing, or in my case teaching composition. Each of my students received the assignment to compose a piano piece, the theme: Autumn or Halloween. We're having a recital in October and some of the compositions will be performed there. Only a couple of students were excited about the assignment. Once everyone got started, however, opinions changed. It is absolutely amazing to see the musical creativity in children. As we have explored sounds, forms, and rhythms, our ears and minds have been fine tuned. Some of the older students composed at the computer, the young students played their compositions and had me transcribe, and some students did everything the old-fashioned way, scribbling down the notes by hand as they created the music at the piano. All of the songs have been compiled into a book. Here are some anonymous samples of the results.