March 3, 2014

I remembered just before bed last night that I canceled piano lessons this week in favor of two big group lessons.  We had time to wash everyone's hair this morning, share a huge smoothie, and take care of all that business.  Yippee!

I got the girls all hyped up- we are going to have a treasure hunt!  True, it was only for the books missing from a boxed set but they still got pretty into it and we found all but three of them.

While the kids played I donned my protective eye gear and (wonderful, amazing, new) knee pads and smashed the rest of the carpet tack strip and nails out from the playroom to get ready to lay down something else.  It is a really therapeutic job, I definitely recommend anything that involves a rubber mallet and a crow bar.  (Or, rather, a Wonder Bar.  I don't name these things.)

I served leftovers for lunch and we took M up to school.  Ernie, Cocoa and I played in the yard for half an hour and got down last year's sunflowers from the garage rafters and strung some up for the birds and squirrels.  I harvested seeds for planting and snacking too.

I put C down for a nap, he sang for an hour, and then I got him back out of his crib.  It is always an exciting afternoon when he doesn't nap, he just buzzes and snaps with some sort of weird energy.

I helped Ernie with her day of school (long division, possessive pronouns, the solar system, and early explorers to the Americas) and then taught the first group lesson of the week.  Today was the teen lesson, we had two girls.  I love group lessons!  I get a chance to teach whatever I want and however I want without worrying about a book and the kids get a chance to be together.  The teen classes are always my favorite because they are the least likely to chat with me during private lessons and I love seeing them open up a bit and have some fun!  I played a Brahms piece for them to analyze, and then each girl played something she's been working on and we congratulated on the incredible and offered suggestions for the in-progress parts.  We went over sharps and flats and key signatures and scales, traded stories, and the hour was up!

The first Monday of the month my sister and I take dinner to a women's shelter- today she cooked and we delivered.  It was so nice downtown that we parked at the mall and walked around for an hour.  The kids absolutely freaked out in the Lego and Disney stores!  I made a guess that Greek food would be a big hit and we drove to a nearby restaurant- I won.  Pita, hummus, chicken shawarma, beef kebabs, and gyro all with rice and lentil soup.  Mimi declared that this was the best day EVER, at least three times.  When Cocoa finished dinner he got up and started grooving in the aisle- "I DANCING, MOM!"  (He fell asleep in the car shortly after we left- the more tired he is the more he bounces off the ceiling!)

Scriptures and prayers when we got home, girls in bed, and that is a successful day!