I seriously want one (or two) of these…

Check out this musical furniture. I would love to have one for the studio - though I don’t know how I would store it at the Dairy Barn. BUT, even more so, I would love to have one at home.

Summertime and the living is easy…

Okay, I do not believe for a moment that summer was any more lazy or easy back when George Gershwin wrote this tune than it is now, but this song came to mind last night as I was working in the garden. Sometimes, living in Albany, I almost forget that it is 2008 and the world is a frenetic and crazy place.

We are so blessed to be able to have a fairly substantial garden plot right in the backyard. I brought in enough green beans last night to fill a medium mixing bowl after they were snapped. We’re going to have them tonight with turkey ham after Greg and Sarah get home from band practice. While I’m picking beans, and cucumbers, zucchini and peppers, Hannah is playing with the neighbor kids and they are running back and forth between the yards and riding their bikes up and down the street. Another blessing is to live in a  neighborhood where we can, without much worry, allow our children to play outside and exercise their bodies and imaginations and gather sunshine without fear of the dangers that lurk in bigger cities.

After I was done picking, I sat on the side porch and cleaned the beans and listened to the buzz of the neighbors up and down the street. Everyone out on their porches enjoying a warm but pleasant evening outside. The birds were singing and you could hear kids on the next street over playing Wiffle ball in their yard. I didn’t do it last night, but it is nice to sit on the porch until it gets dark and watch the fireflies come out and light up the night.

So there are some “living easy” moments in the summertime. Today it is back to a crazy schedule of being a mom, band booster, business owner and teacher but those brief interludes on my porch bring back the serenity and sanity of Summertime.

Happier Things

Boy does it feel good to get back into the classroom and play with all your children again. I am so impressed with the ease of adjustment in the new age groups. I had several children move up an age group this summer and they are all doing a terrific job settling in to new rituals. Parents - thank you so much for your support and encouragement both to your children and to me. I can tell those home CDs are being listened to and the books are being read. You won’t really realize until your child is much older how much of a positive impact these simple little acts are having on your child’s development.

Angie will be mailing out the Fall Schedule to those families unable to enroll in summer classes and those of you just on my contact sheet. The deadline for early registration and a free gift is AUGUST 1. Classes are beginning August 25 and will be finished right before Christmas. I will be taking a week off again this fall to attend the Kindermusik Convention. We are going to Raleigh NC this year. Those of you enrolled last fall will remember how energized and full of new ideas I was when I returned from Chicago. I’m sure the same will happen this year.

I am going to be updating the information in the sidebar to the right of this post this afternoon and tomorrow. Now that I am home for a while I will be trying to keep it more up to date.

I should have a new book club date for you by next week. I’m clearing a few things with our schedule so hopefully I won’t have to change it. I’m also thinking about having a Kindermusik Ice Cream Social one weekend afternoon in August between semesters. The children can come play in the yard and parents can visit.

The Alexander Marching Band season as started with pre-camp being this week. Sunday Greg and Sarah will leave for band camp at Cedar Lakes in Ripley WV and Hannah will be going to Kelly’s Island with Greg’s parents. I am looking forward to my quiet time (between piano students and KM classes) to work in my garden, do some canning, do some much needed filing and begin preparing for the fall semester.

I hope you all are enjoying your summer and spending lots of family time together. Don’t forget to sing and make music on those car trips or while playing in the pool. Enjoy the beautiful weather!

A Serious Post

Well, we finished clearing out Grandma’s apartment yesterday and I have contact a lawyer about how to finish her affairs. I normally don’t get too serious or deep on this blog, but I feel compelled to urge all of us to get our legal and financial affairs in order. Grandma was a very private, secretive woman. I did not know even half of what was going on with her. It is not easy to go through the grieving process in any situation. It is even harder when you have to find out unflattering or negative information about the person as you sort through her personal belongings.

Going through all of this has taught me that we have to get a will done and keep it updated. We have to know where our life insurance policies are, who the beneficiaries are and how they work. We need to have a durable power of attorney and someone signed on our bank accounts in case of emergency. In the case of those of us with dependent children, we need to provide for someone to take over their care if we are unable to do so. I would strongly urge everyone to sign a Living Will and a Medical Power of Attorney. I know these are unpleasant things to think of, but please consider your spouse, children or grandchildren having to deal with these things and grieve your loss at the same time.

Other than a brief breakdown at the funeral home that had more to do with stress than sadness, I have not yet had time to reflect on what losing Grandma will mean. In a lot of ways I’m very angry at the situation she left for me to clean up and not ready to remember the good times and the important part of my childhood and growth and development. I know that will come, but I would like to be able to think more positive thoughts about her than fight through all these frustrating issues.

Please, take the time THIS SUMMER to set your affairs in order. Greg and I are definitely going to be doing the same. I truly believe that the piece of mind that will come from having it done will override any sad, scary or negative emotions that doing so might bring.

Thanks to all of you who have called, emailed, sent cards and given me hugs. Your kind words have been a balm through all of this. It is good to be back with you and in the classroom again.

Grandma’s Struggle is Over

I am sad to report that Grandma passed away peacefully on Monday evening. We had signed the papers and agreed to Hospice care for her. They transported her from Jewish Hospital to Hospice of Hamilton in the afternoon and four minutes after arriving at the Hospice facility she let go. We are having the visitation this evening and the funeral will be tomorrow morning. She had an apartment in a senior center and we have to have everything out in two weeks. I will be staying here for the majority of the weekend to work on that. I definitely plan on being home and ready to teach by the time classes start on Tuesday. If you have registered, but have not heard from me, I apologize for that. I was unable to send my customary welcome letters out this week due to all that has happened. I am looking forward to some fun and giggles. I sure could use them.

It isn’t there yet, but Grandma’s obituary should be at this website by the end of the day today.

UPDATE - Book club Postponed

Hello All!
Well, Grandma does have acute leukemia. They have transferred her to Jewish Hospital in Montgomery (at Kenwood) to the Bone Marrow/Oncology dept. She is going to be in the hospital for 28-35 more days. We are only on day 2. I am going to be staying here until at least sometime next week. I apologize to all of you who are wanting information about Kindermusik and are awaiting the promised summer invoices. I will get them done as soon as I can get back to Athens.

I am going to have to postpone the book club meeting on June 24. I may be getting back that day but I am not going to have time to prepare the way I had hoped. There are no guarantees of what my house will look like when I get back from not being there for ten + days. I’m really bummed about that as well.

Grandma is in good spirits and determined to fight this. They can’t treat it in the most aggressive way due to her age (82) and her other health problems, but the doctor was in this morning and said he has had several patients be cured with this regimen.

I will be back with you soon. Computer time is at a premium and is not easy to access or come by. Therefore, I cannot guarantee how often I will be able to update this blog. I hope to be home soon.

Ugh Family stress…

I’m asking for good thoughts and prayers for us right now. My grandmother, dad’s mom, has been taken to the hospital for anemia so bad they have to give her blood transfusions. She has been very sick for several weeks now and I have suspected that she was more sick than she was letting on. My great-aunt called tonight to tell me of this latest report. They ares suspecting she has a form of leukemia. My dad died in 1991, so my sister and I are in essence her next of kin. Thankfully, my great-aunt is still in good enough health to visit grandma and help her out. My sister and I both live a couple to a few hours away.

I have offered to go over tonight, but they say it isn’t necessary. We were already planning on visiting Grandma on Tuesday so I will wait it out unless I get a call that she is getting worse. I love living in Albany and southeast Ohio in general, but these are the times I wish I had stayed a little closer to home.

This crazy child is mine

I took Hannah to the Family Partnership Dance for her Girl Scout Service Unit last night. I had fun capturing her dancing on my camera. Enjoy!

SHEW….project done, reading information, BOOK CLUB!

My project for my class is FINISHED!!!! It took some time to figure out how to get the sound and video files to play on anyone’s computer besides mine. I had never used PowerPoint before, I had never clipped sound files from a CD, edited them and then saved them and put them in another file, I had never taken video with our camera and I had never converted video from the camera to an actual movie, I had never posted anything to YouTube. I now can honestly declare that you CAN teach an OLD dog NEW tricks:-). Greg helped me burn the presentation to a disc last night since it was too large to email. I delivered it to the Music Building today. I feel like a huge brick has been lifted from my shoulders. Thanks to all my Kindermusik families who have been very patient with me and supportive this quarter as I took this class. I’m another step closer to an advanced level of Kindermusik certification.

Now that that is over, I hope to start blogging more and sharing more for you to do with your children over the summer. A friend of mine, Miss Debbie, shared this website with me about a week ago, but I’m just now catching up on all that email. It has some terrific information on reading with your children. Many of you know that, next to the importance of music in a very young person’s life, I rank reading a very close second place. I’m sharing some of the information here, but please visit the website for lots more tips and information!

Read early and read often. The early years are critical to developing a lifelong love of reading. You can’t start reading to a child too soon!

• Read together every day.
  Read to your child every day. Make this a warm and loving time when the two of you can cuddle close together. Bedtime is an especially great time for reading together.
• Give everything a name.
  You can build comprehension skills early, even with the littlest child. Play games that involve naming or pointing to objects. Say things like, “Where’s your nose?” and then, “Where’s Mommy’s nose?” Or touch your child’s nose and say, “What’s this?”
• Say how much you enjoy reading together.
  Tell your child how much you enjoy reading with him or her. Look forward to this time you spend together. Talk about “story time” as the favorite part of your day.
• Read with fun in your voice.
  Read to your child with humor and expression. Use different voices for different characters. Ham it up!
• Know when to stop.
  If your child loses interest or has trouble paying attention, just put the book away for a while. Don’t continue reading if your child is not enjoying it.
• Be interactive.
  Engage your child so he or she will actively listen to a story. Discuss what’s happening, point out things on the page, and answer your child’s questions. Ask questions of your own and listen to your child’s responses.
• Read it again and again and again.
  Your child will probably want to hear a favorite story over and over. Go ahead and read the same book for the 100th time! Research suggests that repeated readings help children develop language skills.
• Talk about writing, too.
  Draw your child’s attention to the way writing works. When looking at a book together, point out how we read from left to right and how words are separated by spaces.
• Point out print everywhere.
  Talk about the written words you see in the world around you and respond with interest to your child’s questions about words. Ask him or her to find a new word every time you go on an outing.
• Get your child evaluated if you suspect a problem.
  Please be sure to see your child’s pediatrician or teacher as soon as possible if you have concerns about his or her language development, hearing, or sight.

AND— speaking of reading… it isn’t just for children. Miss Christa’s Book Club for the adults in the studio is having it’s debut meeting on June 24 at 6:30 p.m. at Miss Christa’s house. In order to see what direction we want the book club to go, I encourage you to bring something you think it would be fun to read at the same time as several friends and then get together to discuss it. I read everything so I’m not picky –paperback novels, non-fiction, biography, historical, mystery, best-seller, classics… we’ll get together and see what the options are. You all are in luck - MY kids will both be out of town which means the house should be tidy and I will have time to whip up some yummy snacks for our visit. I will be emailing directions to my house soon. If you do not hear from me by mid-week next week and want to attend, send me a note or give me a call. You don’t have to have signed the sheet in the classroom to decide you want to attend.

Okay - it’s time to put Hannah’s lunch in the oven and I need to get the badges sewn on her Brownie vest for tonight.

Jersey Boys was AMAZING!!

WOW! Jersey Boys was an absolutely terrific show. It was one of those shows that was two and half hours long, but did not at all feel like we had been there that long. All of the musicians were phenomenal. I particularly enjoyed the sound of the brass/woodwind section that was added in the second half. The singers/actors really played the roles well. The Aronoff Center was beautiful and the acoustics were very good. After the show, mom and I went to the Montgomery Inn Boathouse for dinner. Barbecued Ribs and Roast duck with Mandarin Orange Sauce. YUUMMMMYYYYY!!! I can now say that I have had my car parked by a Valet and had a Sommelier come to our table to open the wine. It was very nice that he was able to recork the bottle for us so we could each have a glass with dinner, but take the rest home. For dessert, puff pastry rolls filled with Graeter’s vanilla ice cream and smothered in hot fudge.

After the show and dinner, we went to Michael’s and I picked up several items for the summer camp crafts. I hope you all get as excited about them as I do.

Okay, now it is back to reality and work. I was gardening at 7:00 a.m. this morning and now I’m in the office to finish my presentation for Music 566B and start planning our summer camps.
Stay cool! It is really hot out there.