Visions of April

 The Easter treats Theo and Addy made and sold

 

Happy Easter!

 Easter baskets

 

 Spring family pictures

 

 It feels strange that we've reached a stage of parenthood where most of our children are smiling in most of the shots--there were times I thought the day might never come!

 

 Our neighborhood Easter egg hunt (in our backyard)

 

 Addy with some of her BFFs

 

 Sera with her two Joy School pals (L) and a friend who is a year older (R)--you see what I'm saying about her utter failure to "stay little" as I keep requesting?

 

 Theo with his best bud and Emerson's best bud (who happens to idolize him a bit)

 

 The moms!

 

 King Absent-minded . . .

 

. . . with his wicked queen!

Summer Sun and White Snow . . . I mean, Snow White

Springtime this year came on fast! February felt like March, March felt like April, and April felt like full-on summer. It was lovely! The gorgeous weather allowed for lots of days walking to and from school, especially for Theo, whose play practices ramped up as the Snow White performance approached. He cracked me up frequently by dragging his feet getting there on time and then justifying it by telling me which other person was late for the last rehearsal, as well as by trying to get away with wearing the same thing for days in a row. My very favorite part was when I would tell him he had to go change, and he would look me straight in the eye and tell me that the clothes he was wearing were clean and he hadn't worn them this week. He could not quite believe that I would pay attention that closely. If his clothes start melting into his skin, don't blame me!

We enjoyed a lovely spring break this year, though we kept close to home (since it inconveniently did not coincide with Aaron's spring break). The kids spent plenty of time outside, making friends with the fish in our pond, who seem to know them by sight. They'll go outside with a few crusts of bread and stand on the bank for a few minutes until a couple of fish catch sight of them and pause, tails swishing from side to side, waiting for their daily feast. Every now and again we can entice a goose or two over for a few crumbs of bread as well, but the ducks tend to turn in the opposite direction the minute anyone tries to lure them. Another favorite outdoor game the kids have come up with is "Thanksgiving," which involves a (very loose) reenactment of the Pilgrims' and Native Americans' first Thanksgiving. Climbing trees and eating the mint leaves that infest one section of our flower bed make up prominent parts of this game.

Theo used the break from school to crank into gear on the money-making front. After going into debt when Aaron made him pay for most of the bill for the two cavities he had sprouted at his last dentist visit (I was reticent to agree to this plan, but Theo had strongly resisted being consistent about brushing his teeth well, especially in the mornings, and we had found far too many snitched and sneakily devoured sugary treats in his bedroom), he had closed the gap and was back into positive territory, and wanted to start saving for an iPod touch. He came up with the idea (along with some help from Addy, our resident entrepreneur) to make and sell some Easter treats. With help from Addy and Emerson, he made rice krispie nests, filled them with jelly beans and chocolate eggs, and topped them with Peeps. He made the rounds in the neighborhood to take orders, then made and delivered them the next day. They turned a pretty good profit--about $50 total, about half of which he paid to Addy and Emerson for their help. It's so good to see kids take initiative, and have ownership over their things. So many of Theo's friends get cool technology gadgets for Christmas and birthdays, and while there isn't anything particularly wrong with that, I think Theo will really benefit from knowing that his possessions are something he worked for and earned. And it will hopefully help him care for them better (he's not always spectacular on that front).

While the kids and I enjoyed the lovely spring weather and the break from school, Aaron was chest-deep in concert preparations. We attended his choral concert, which was held in a local church (incidentally not my favorite church--I'm a fan of stained glass and arched naves, and this was a much more modern affair with a bathtub acoustic), and I have to admit that while the choirs did beautifully, our kids, who are fully capable of concert behavior, had a less-than-spectacular showing. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I spent more time wrestling with them and trying to head off actual fights (like, with hitting) between them than actually listening to the concert. Aaron had his own complaints, as his organist had been unable to coordinate with him on a rehearsal time, and wound up with some unexpected registrations and tempos. Luckily, the best part of the concert, Mozart's Requiem was reprised in collaboration with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic a couple of weeks later, in a gorgeous concert that also featured Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. To prepare Theo and Addy (who accompanied us to the concert), I explained the background of Rite of Spring by calling it The Hunger Games of the 1910s, and told them about the rioting that accompanied its premiere. Although neither of them have chosen it as their new favorite musical work, they listened enthusiastically and were interested in the music history details that I couldn't restrain myself from whispering in their ears throughout. Mozart's Requiem was performed beautifully, and Aaron received many compliments on his excellent preparation of the choirs. He really loves choral-orchestral music and having opportunities to prepare and conduct it.

On Easter morning, we woke to beautiful weather, flowers blooming, and Easter baskets (Aaron and I were a little annoyed when we woke to the noise of baskets being discovered just before dawn and had to send everyone back to bed--we really thought we were past that stage . . . but after that). The girls got to put on their pretty new dresses and I had new shirts for the boys. We managed to squeeze in a family picture before church, along with a living room egg hunt. After a lovely morning at church (although I have to confess that Easter Sunday is the one day in all the year when I really long to attend mass in a cathedral), we came back home and hid over 100 eggs in our yard and the common area next door in preparation for our second annual Easter egg hunt, with four other families from our neighborhood. It was lovely! I didn't quite get all the pictures I wanted (is there any such thing as too many pictures of adorable children dressed in their Easter best searching through spring's buds and blossoms for colored eggs?), but a fine time was had by all.

Finally, at the end of April, we finally got to see the fruits of all Theo's hard work on his fifth-grade musical, Snow White. He did a brilliant job playing the part of King Absentminded, getting some good laughs with his comic lines: "yes, yes, my daughter, White Snow." "Her name is Snow White, your majesty." "That's what I said: Snow White." He has awesome comic timing, and the same skills that helped him pick up French inflection quickly in Canada came in handy in helping him develop his character voice in this role. After the performance, he received a basketload of fan mail from children in other classes complimenting his performance. He is still hard at work replying to all of them, a job which is giving him experience for his future career plans of "being famous."

Summer is coming on fast--too fast, it sometimes feels like--and we've been going a little crazy trying to plan ways to sustain our income over the summer (one of the drawbacks of Aaron's current position is that they don't pay him over the summer). I have some summer music camps planned, and was pleasantly surprised when I got quite a few registrations right off the bat, but it was Aaron who, as usual, figured out how to get the real money. He stumbled on some eBay promotion on a news website, where a larger online car company was selling 15 new cars at half price over the course of a week. Against my advice, he kept drifting back to the site until he caught a new posting and bought it immediately without even really registering what he was buying--they were going really fast, and the fastest fingers won. Well, when his speedy fingers were done with their job, Aaron was the proud owner of a brand new shiny black Mustang! The plan is to sell it closer to its initial value, and use the moolah to make it through the summer. But I'm not entirely sure that's going to work out--it's a pretty hot little number, and Aaron has always been a car guy. And who am I to complain either way? He could easily drive the thing for a few years and sell it for what he bought it for. Alas, if only my income was higher, as he has taken to reminding me frequently. I am working on that. While I can't guarantee a particularly lucrative summer, I am looking forward to hopefully create a successful career for myself next year when all four of our kids are settled into full school days.  For now, we're all enjoying the beautiful weather and looking forward to some real family time once school gets out!

March pictures

The kids all got to dress up for career day.  Here we have the builder:

 



And here, the artist:

 

And here, the Harlem Globetrotter--not sure how that's going to work out, haha! 

 

Our trip to Chicago was loads of fun--too bad I didn't manage to snap many photos.

 

And Theo enjoyed singing with his fifth grade choir at the FAME festival downtown.

 And some St. Patrick's Day good luck for Addy!

Swinging on a Star

March was a bit of a wild month what with Aaron heading out of town twice; first to conduct an honor choir just outside Chicago, and again to conduct another honor choir in Montana.  Of course, by this phase of our lives, having him gone is mostly no big deal--there aren't daily melt-downs or diaper blow-outs anymore (though we didn't entirely escape the sick-kids-in-March thing that seems to hit us once a year), but we always have more fun when he's around to lighten the mood and break out in song.  We enjoyed getting up to Chicago for a bit (a very little bit, really) of exploration and some phenomenal deep-dish pizza at Louie Malnati's after hearing the adorable elementary-school choir Aaron conducted there.  After listening to the choir sing to a gargantuan gymnasium full of adoring parents, our kids (and their parents too, to be quite honest) couldn't stop singing the words to "Would You Like to Swing on a Star," which has a really great message to grow up with.

"Would you like to swing on a star,
carry moonbeams home in a jar,
and be better off than you are,
or would you rather be a mule?

A mule is an animal with long funny ears,
he kicks up at anything he hears.
His back is brawny but his brain is weak,
he's just plain stupid with a stubborn streak;
and by the way if you hate to go to school,
You may grow up to be a mule.

Oh would you like to swing on a star,
carry moonbeams home in a jar,
and be better off than you are,
or would you rather be a pig?

A pig is an animal with dirt on his face,
his shoes are a terrible disgrace.
He's got no manners when he eats his food.
He's fat and lazy and extremely rude.
But if you don't care a feather or a fig,
you may grow up to be a pig.

Oh would you like to swing on a star,
carry moonbeams home in a jar,
and be better off than you are,
or would you rather be a fish?

A fish won't do anything but swim in a brook,
he can't write his name or read a book.
To fool the people is his only thought,
and though he's slippery he still gets caught;
but if then that sort of life is what you wish,
you may grow up to be a fish.

And all the monkeys aren't in the zoo,
everyday you meet quite a few.
So you see it's all up to you,
you could be better than you are.
You could be swinging on a star!"

Isn't that a great message?  It's something that I think sometimes gets lost in our culture of inclusion and making everyone feel their own kind of special--those things are important, but at the end of the day, everyone has the responsibility to be a decent, respectful, kind person, you know?  Plus the melody is super-catchy.

Anyway, besides missing the dad for bits and pieces of the month, one thing that kept things a little off-balance was the sudden departure of one of our Joy School families for the whole month!  It happened just as there was a switch-over in custody of one of the other little girls, and suddenly left us temporarily with only two teachers.  So, super-flexible Joy School-style, we waxed all accomodating and switched around the lessons (so the missing girls wouldn't miss making their All About Me books which are pretty much my favorite things ever), cut out a unit, and met once a week for the month; filling in with some zoo and YMCA dates.  It worked out pretty well, even if it ended up messing up my writing schedule pretty dramatically.  Ultimately it made me realize even more poignantly that this is my last chance to teach my own wonderful daughter in Joy School, and nothing else I have going is quite as important as that. 

Around the same time, our school district voted on instituting a new fee-free full-day kindergarten.  Afterward, they asked for input from parents who wanted to keep a half-day option (of which there were apparently very few, because they then eliminated the option, a decision which frustrates me not for myself, but for the parents of high-energy children who really need that half-day transition into school . . . but that's a topic for another day I suppose), and it all brought home the fact that next year I will have all four of my wonderful children installed in school for more of the day than they will be home with me (not counting sleeping).  I find that very sobering.  I'm trying my best to love up these last days of getting daily snuggles from Sera, taking her with me to the grocery store, going to story-times at the book store, and just getting her companionship and general chatter as a soundtrack to my life.  Despite her high-volume moments (of which there are many), and her daily dose of diva, I have really treasured these fleeting years of stay-at-home mommy time, and I wouldn't trade them for fancier furniture, more exotic vacations, or anything else I can think of really.  I so  appreciate the sacrifices Aaron has made to let me just be the mom through these years, and I hope my kids will always know that as ambitious as I've always been, they came first and I've loved giving them the best (and sometimes worst) parts of me through their early childhoods! 

Enough digression.  In other fun news this month, Theo auditioned for his fifth-grade musical (I am head-over-heels in love with the fact that our elementary school puts on a musical every year) and got the part of the King in Snow White.  He's been so excited about it, especially since he's taken a real interest in being an actor (specifically in being famous) over the last year or two.  He has a great ability to imitate accents and to add character to his voice, and is enjoying this opportunity to put those skills to work.  He's been going to school early for rehearsals several days a week, and staying afterward for an hour or so quite frequently as well.  We can't wait to see the fruits of his hard work next month when the play is performed!

We enjoyed a visit to Fort Wayne's FAME festival this month (Foundation for Art and Music in Education), where art and music from school children all over the city was displayed and performed.  We were especially proud of one of Addy's artworks which was displayed--an awesome oil-pastel on black paper rendition of a Day of the Dead dancer--and it was fun to hear Theo perform with his fifth grade choir (even if he hardly ever looks at his director, funny kid).  The level of art and music in our school district is just awesome.  I love that every class meets for an hour with a designated art teacher and a designated music teacher in the elementary school each week, and they learn some pretty in-depth stuff right from the beginning--how to use the color wheel, self-portraiture, how to play recorder, note-reading.  I think my elementary school growing up was decent in those fields, but my kids are getting way more arts education than I did!  It was fun to see the difference it makes for kids all over the city at the festival.

Theo was also quite pleased when he took the top prize at his Pinewood Derby this month--a great conclusion to his last year of Cub Scouts if there ever was one!  I haven't been a spectacular Cub Scout mom (I . . . haven't even bought him a shirt ever . . . pretty dramatic fail right there), but I have enjoyed seeing such good character lessons reinforced by his cub scout leaders each week.  The program really targets boys and their unique interests, and I appreciate the influence it has had on Theo.  I especially love his current Cub Scout leader, who may not be the most enthusiastic Scouter in the world, but who loves those boys to pieces and puts so much time and energy into making sure they succeed and gain the sense of self-accomplishment that setting and reaching goals can bring.  It's also awesome that he's Theo's dad and that they've had such a good experience sharing this year together--nice job, Aaron!

This month while Aaron and Theo have been at Cubs and Addy has been at Activity Days, I signed Emerson and Sera up for another round of swimming lessons.  They are just the best pals.  They look so much like twins sometimes that I almost wish they were.  They get along so well and are so encouraging and funny with each other.  After most of their lessons we stop to get a little treat, and I like nothing better than sitting back and just listening to the clever things they think about and talk about.  One thing I really love about the order and spacing of my kids is the awesome opportunity both our boys get to learn the art of being a big brother.  The skills they learn as big brothers will serve them so well one day, both as husbands and fathers, I think.  And they're both fortunate to have such fun and spunky little sisters.  Oh, and Emerson and Sera are slowly starting to get the hang of
actually swimming too, although as with the pumping-on-the-swings thing, Emerson is likely to be the last kid to take that final plunge into the deep water and just go.  I can't complain, since his sense of caution tends to be more of a benefit than a detriment in most cases.

And last, I had an article about my KinderKeys classes run in our little local newspaper, which brought me lots of comments and lots of new registrations for next year--already I have three classes full, which leaves me lots less work to do next fall!  I really appreciate Aaron pushing me to get some good publicity, because it's exciting to see more people finding out about and supporting the work I'm doing.  I really love having the opportunity to expose so many children to the piano, and helping them develop a skill that I believe will help them throughout their lives!

So that's it for March!  It was a lovely month with gorgeous springtime weather--no complaints from this household!