Incredible!

Lee and I have been talking about getting a piano. We both would love for our children to have a good grasp of music theory and music appreciation as well. I have been working on the recorder with Jake and had some success, but truly I have had a hard time disciplining myself to fit it in our schedule. We have a piano teacher in the neighborhood so they could walk to lessons....ahhh, if only we had a piano we sighed!

This weekend I was dropping some stuff off at Goodwill and then I was browsing around. Suddenly, I heard the unmistakable sounds of children goofing around and banging on a piano. It sounded as if it was coming from the back corner. I hightailed it across the store and there it was, a beautiful old piano. It sounded pretty good too! Cautiously hopeful, I stretched up and leaned over to check the price tag. Wouldn't you know it was quite *quite* reasonable! I called Lee and got the go ahead.

So, we are the proud new owners of this Grinnell Bros. upright piano. It will need a good cleaning and tuning and it is missing a panel at the bottom, but it has already brought joy to our home. The kids love plunking out tunes and Jake has mastered "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Row, Row, Row, Your Boat". Yesterday my sister came by and we partied to "Heart and Soul"

As I was cleaning the counters before Mass yesterday, I listened to all of the joyful noise in our home. Someone was doodling around on the piano, someone was playing with Sparky in the den, a couple kids were up in the bathroom giggling and brushing teeth and Lee was in the shower talking and singing to Mary Clare. In that moment the noise really was joyful to me and not overwhelming. It is not always the case of course, but it was a moment to remember and cherish and pull out of the corner of my mind when I am, *ahem* less than enchanted with the clanging and clamoring around here.

Sparky

New Puppy!

We are the proud new owners of Sparky. Sparky is a 10 week male cockapoo. He is super cute and seems to be a good fit with us. We came home with him late Saturday night. I am pretty tired, but I think he'll be pretty easy to train. I will add some pictures to this soon.

This afternoon I was listening to some NPR (Sparky is currently housed in our kitchen and I keep the radio on for him. He is very refined, he likes classical.) and there was an interview with the gentleman who wrote this story Designer Dog Fights about mixed breeds like the cockapoo. I haven't had a chance to read it yet (hey I am lucky to be getting a sec to even post this!) but the interview was interesting.

We are not designer type folks. We chose the cockapoo basically bc it is low shedding and about the right size and not to mention adorable.

We are off to his first vet visit. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am heading there with all the kids and Sparky.

Pray for me.

Real History

We did these last week. And yes, after the pyramids were complete, everyone got to eat a sugar cube.

Smell the Birds

Several days ago, Marjorie blogged about the cedar waxwings. I had never seen one before but they looked like cute little guys. We began a bird study in the fall and 'birding' is an ongoing family project. Well, the very next day we were about to pull out of the grocery store parking lot and I glanced over to one of the landscaped islands and saw it was teeming with birds. I drove over to check them out and it was a huge flock of these handsome birds. They were feasting on some juniper berries. We sat in the van and observed them for a long time. We noticed their interesting markings, how they hovered over the berries in a a way reminicent of a hummingbird and how they flew up into the branches of the trees if they were startled, but they quickly came back to the berries. Quite the impromptu nature study, no?

I have, of course, heard the phrase "stop and smell the roses" at least 400 times in my life. The concept of slowing down and enjoying your surroundings, both the people and places, is very appealing to me, but practically I have not 'owned' this idea. One of the reasons we began HS was a yearning to do more of it though.

Reflecting on the cedar waxwing sighting I began to realise that a big hinderence in actually taking time to "stop and smell the roses" is not really knowing much about them! It is undeniable that roses do indeed smell very good. However, I am sure I would be much more likely to stop and take the time to smell and appreciate them if I knew more about them. Perhaps if I knew more about their necessary growing conditions, their particular name and maybe how old they were or who knows what else, it would be some much more fufilling to pause and enjoy their beauty.

I am sure this theory holds true in relationships too as well as nature or any subject actually. The more you know about the lady who sits in the front pew in a hot pink blazer every Friday at daily mass, the more likey you would be to take the time to stop and enjoy her company. Closer to the home front, the more I know how much my child has practiced pumping himself on the swing, the more excited I can be for him when at last he has the independance to swing for the clouds!

I am so thankful I have this opportunity to learn this lesson. I really want, I really and truly desire to feel connected with my environment and with the people around me, both close to home and not. I think this insight will help me so much, not only in our HS adventures, but also in my relationships. I admit it sounds intuitive; the more you know the more you care. Honestly though, I never stopped and took the time to 'smell the roses' and put two and two together!

Go read this!

When They're Older


I still catch myself playing this game, even though I know it is dangerous.

Happenings

1. We are crazy. We are seriously investigating getting a dog. The kids are beginning to turn up the heat in asking for a pet. Laine is leading the crusade. She is now carrying around a little yellow bag that she keeps money in and she puts any change she finds into her 'purse' and she tells everyone it's her puppy money. Aunt Anne listened to Laine explain her money bag and kindly donated a few bucks. Because of Jake's allergies we are looking at poodle mixes. The favorite is a cockapoo, but we are open to advice and suggestions. I have a feeling that whatever dog we get will end up with a Narnian name. (see no.3) The dog in the picture above is a cockapoo.

2. A really wonderful thing happend pertaining to Lee's job, but it's not what you might expect. I am thinking of how to blog about it.

3. We finished up "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" this morning. We all loved another wonderul Narnian adventure. The kids got pretty bummed that Edmund and Lucy will not be returning to Narnia. They felt the same way at the end of "Prince Caspian" about Susan and Peter. It really puts a damper on the end of those otherwise fun tales. Ryan went to far as to say, "This is the worst story I ever heard!" But he didn't really mean it. At least we have two more books to read in the series. I know it will be hard to come to the end of them. We all love them so much. I feel sort of like Lucy reading the story in the magician's book in TVOTDT. At least I can re-read them over and over, unlike poor Lucy.

4. We went to the Silent March for Life stuff down at the capital yesterday. First there was mass with the Archbishop, who is awesome, and then lunch and then we went outside in front of the capital and there were politicians speaking, musicians etc...we missed most of that because we were chatting with friends and checking out the nice police horses. We had to leave before the March began, but next year we are hoping to participate. This was our first time attending any pro-life event and I was really happy to see how peaceful and positive the whole environment was.

5. Jake and Ryan are practicing for their homeschool group Spelling Bee. Jake is very good, Ryan, well, he takes more after me in his spelling abilities. I think he is actually better at it than I ever was/am though. Maybe they will end up in D.C. one year for the National Spelling Bee. Aren't the homeschool kids always winning those?