Music and bath water

Music is so important in our house.  We encourage the kids to practice their piano, the ukulele is readily available, there are a few recorders laying around, and a guitar or two now.  In the past we have always had our keyboard in the basement but we have had it upstairs these last few months.  And it has been an amazing decision.

It is easier to get the littles to practice, we even have random walk by the piano and play a song or a scale.  When Hubby picks up his guitar there is a reminder that one person practices at a time unless they go downstairs to practice.  

I can tell who is sitting at the keyboard at this point by what they play.  Music festival has come and gone, and all the kids performed in it, so their festival pieces get interesting renditions; that's a side benefit/entertainment value of having an electric keyboard.  Hearing Brahms' Lullaby in saxophone or random street sounds, or Playful Puppy in harpsichord.  Favorite might be Minuet in A Minor done on pipe organ, though.  Sergeant is very dramatic in that particular interpretation of the piece.

Having different classical pieces for the littles to play and learn has been good.  I was humming along to Minuet in A Minor and Sergeant slowed and faltered but my humming continued.  He peeped "I have played this one so much, even you know it Mom!" To which I replied "It may surprise you to know that I knew it before you started playing it."  He paused a beat thoughtfully and said "Well, it is an old piece of music."  Then his eyes got huge when he realized the implications of his words.  "Are you calling me OLD??" We had a good chuckle.

A few weeks ago the whole crew was off school for an extended long weekend, and as luck would have it it was also a morning I woke up with a migraine.  We had had a list already worked out of chores that needed doing, and planned playtime breaks in between, so when I called the kids up to our bedroom where I was laying with the blinds closed, I let them know how I was doing (because I had told them earlier but hoped 5 minutes laying down would help).  When I told them I needed them to start the work and I would join when I could they leaped to action.  Boys got out gloves for toilet scrubbing, girls started sweeping the kitchen for floor washing, it was amazing and wonderful.  A small bit of a glimpse that the fighting and pushing that goes into parenting is slowly developing fruit.  We aren't done yet, but it was a very satisfying feeling, knowing I could focus on getting my head better and the kids were stepping up.

Later in the same day I was sitting on the couch, not 100% but a little better, when the boys asked if they could put some water in the bathtub to test the buoyancy of something they had created.  Okay, sure, just mop up the water that will definitely end up on the floor.  A few minutes later, all 4 of them were up there, in the bathroom, giggling, all changed into bathing suits, with lots of thumps and splashes.  I hollered up a 5 minute warning for clean up before starting lunch, and sat back down.  Then I heard from the bathroom "Hey mom, guess what?? We all fit in the tub at the same time!!" and when I went in after clean up to assess the damage I had absolutely no dry towels in the house... but they had fun and the boys helped with all laundry afterwards.  I bet they are all going to remember the fun they had that day!

Busy schedules

The littles have taken a new interest in the family blog.  Which is cool, it just means that I need to update it again.

Christmas came and went with colds and sniffles.  Monkey got strep in November, piano recitals and Christmas productions were amazing, and we are now in the deep cold of February.  Everyone has been feeling cooped up and squirrely.

Hubby started playing the guitar just before Christmas, which has renewed all musical interest in the house!  It is really neat.  I moved the keyboard upstairs so all music practicing can happen where I can hear it while doing kitchen stuff, and we loaded a music app that will help with ukulele learning and my own piano tinkering.  

Archery practices are up and running, and Girlie has joined the team this year keeping Sergeant company.  Tournaments start up in a couple weeks and they are both getting pretty excited for that.  The instructors place a small balloon in the center of the targets and the students who pop the balloons get prizes and treats, with 5 popped balloons in a practice earning a small stuffed animal.  Sergeant came home 2 practices in a row with a new stuffed toy... he needs a bigger goal to work towards, I think!

We recently had parent teacher interviews with the girls' teachers and they are both doing really well.  I was surprised that Monkey is reading just above where the goal fr this far into the year is, but that is because getting her to read to me is still often a challenge.  I am very glad she is different for her teacher!

It has been interesting giving the boys more responsibilities and seeing them grow into them.  On piano days supper gets interesting if I don't have the crock pot set up.  There was one week that I had put out some tomato soup for the boys to open and heat, which they did and added seasonings to it.  They wrote it down so they could repeat their special soup a la boys.  Smarty also once made a cheesy sauce and pasta solo without following a recipe.  I am glad he's watched me do it enough that it was actually pretty good!  It meant we have upped our culinary lessons for both boys.