Suzuki Violin

Taken last year when we actually owned three different sized violins.  We have since sold the middle one. The largest is my daughter's current violin and the smallest is about to be my son's violin. 

My kids take Suzuki violin.   Before you write me off as a Tiger Mom, my daughter pulled us into this journey.  We started talking about playing violin when my daughter was two and a half.   My husband had to go to Korea for an international trip as part of his MBA program.  We were trying to help my then 2 1/2 year old daughter understand where Korea was and what Korean people looked like. Somewhere we found a Korean child playing the violin.   My daughter was captivated.  She wanted to watch the youtube video over and over and over...you get the point.  Next, she started asking to play the violin.   This is a child who loves to experience life.  We thought this might be something she just wanted to experience.   The earliest you typically start a child in violin is age 3.  We put her off for a few months.   She kept asking to learn to play.   Then, we moved cross country. She kept asking to learn how to play.   We got settled in our new house and she kept asking to learn how to play.   During this time, my husband started researching how to teach child to play violin.   We decided that the Suzuki method was a developmentally appropriate way for a child to learn violin.  Finally, after her fourth birthday, we let her start violin lessons.

Her first teacher was Christina David.  My husband did the initial search for a teacher and found her.  We went to observe a lesson.   I really liked her so we signed up.   She had me read Nurtured by Love by Shinichi Suzuki and to Learn with Love by William and Constance Starr.   She started my daughter on a box violin and encouraged me to learn to play as well.   My daughter and I started learning the Twinkle Variations on a Foamalin.   After about four months with Christina, she found out she was moving to California.  We started our teacher search again.   I met three teachers.   The first one said she used the Suzuki, but I think that was false advertising.  The second teacher was good, but I didn't really connect with her.   By this time I was getting discouraged.   I heard of a good teacher, but she was in a suburb of Houston a good distance from my house.  Finally, Jason started scouring the violin shop teacher lists in search of a good teacher and found Meredith Harris.   I went to observe her and really liked her.   She recently graduated from Rice with a Master's degree and was building her studio.  She was a Suzuki kid going through book 10 of the Suzuki literature.  We started lessons with her.  One day she noticed my church bulletin and mentioned she went to my church as well.   It was a God thing that He lead us to this wonderful teacher who was also a Christian.   We've been with Meredith now three years and love her.   My son now takes with her as well.

One of the benefits of learning the violin is that it challenges the kids' minds.  My daughter can not just get it right the first time.  She has to work at it to play well.   This is developing her work ethic and perseverance.   My son has a very laid back approach to life.   Violin challenges him to focus and work hard as well.  As an educator, I love thinking about the various pathways they are forming in their young brains learning to play the violin.  Yes, I just said that and yes, I'm a nerd. 

My daughter loves to perform for a crowd.   Through violin she gets to play at recitals and organized events.   She loves it.   My son is the polar opposite and doesn't like getting up in front of a crowd.   We cheer if he will participate in the studio recitals.  It stretches him outside of his comfort zone, but in a safe way.   He has loosened up a bit about getting up in front of people. 

Most people ask me about practicing.   Do the kids like to practice?   I wonder, "Do you like to do something over and over again to master it?"   Um no, but the Suzuki method encourages lots of positive feedback and gently corrects the imperfections.   They kids can also self correct.   We practice everyday, well 6/7 days is truly accurate.  It seems one day a week our practice is sabotaged for whatever reason.   Meredith gives us lot of creative ways to practice, so that the kids can find joy in it.   Usually the hardest part of practicing is getting the practice session started.   Once we start we can roll through it and the time passes quickly.   There are days where practice is a struggle, particularly learning a new piece or breaking an incorrect habit the kids have picked up.   On those days, I break practice into tiny tasks that can be small victories for the kids.   We put those victories together to make up our lesson.  There are days when we put the violin aside and end our lesson prematurely.   Typically, the child will ask to finish their lesson when they are collected again.   We  persist in daily practice and enjoy the fruits of seeing progression. 



If your child thinks they might want to play the violin, interview some teachers, take a trial lesson, and see if it is right for your family.   It is a big commitment, but for our family we think it is worth it.

Digital Library Books

My daughter is a voracious reader.   The kid can go through library books faster than fast.    As the true nerd I am, I keep myself current on all the library services.  I knew that I could get ebooks, but I hadn't tried because I didn't have an ereader of any type.  For the nontech savy, I don't have a Kindle, Nook, IPad....and the like.  I am still waiting for a tablet that has everything I want at a price I want to pay.   I recently discovered that Houston Public Library lends their ebooks in a format from Adobe that can be read by an Adobe program called Digital Editions.   I downloaded Digital Editions onto my computer and we've been enjoying an endless supply of books without continuous trips to the library.  

My daughter is truly a child of the digital age because she has no qualms about reading on a computer screen versus reading a book.    We still make regular trips to the library, but it is nice to also have some ebooks stashed away in the computer.   The checkout time for HPL is 14 days.   You can "return" them early and check out more titles.   They allow five titles at a time.  I can use my library card and my daughter's card and get 10 titles at a time.   Patrons can also hold books.   I am currently 97 out of 200 for The Help.   I may read it this century.   The library will e-mail when it is ready for check out.  I have 48 hours to download it and 14 days to read it.  

Modern technology is a marvel.  

The Harvest of Grace

This book is part of a series of books called Ada’s House.   It is always hard to pick up a book in mid series.   The author’s dilemma is how much to repeat to include new readers to the series without boring established readers.   This author does a short synopsis and then starts her story.   There is a helpful chart at the back of the book to give you some insight into the characters.  Since I was new to the series, I spent the first third of the book trying to get the characters and storyline straight. 

The story in itself was a sweet story.   You can see how forgiveness transforms one character.   Another character learns to trust again.  I enjoyed the themes of the book.   I could identify with the character.   I almost feel I should read the book again now that I understand the back stories.

I read the book fairly quickly.   I was also disappointed when I finished it because I enjoyed being a part of the character’s worlds.   I find the Amish are fascinating.   Seeing their lives in a fictionalized form is interesting.  I would recommend this as a sweet endearing read to anyone who likes to read fiction.

I received this book from Multnomah Publishers for the purpose of review.   All opinions expressed are my own. 

Farmer's Market

I went to a new Farmer's Market on Saturday.  I cannot tell you how much I loved it.   There were a few organic growers as well as traditional growers.   The market was not too big or too small.   Since it was my first time, I just walked around to check everything out upon arriving.   After I had an overview of it, I got down to some serious shopping. 

 I had tomatoes and fruit on my list.   The first thing I bought was white nectarines.   This is the kids' new favorite fruit.   It is sweet like a nectarine, but firm like a pear.  I bought three.   They lasted until Monday evening.  Next, I bought some organic grapes, bell peppers, and tomatoes.   I found yellow tomatoes as well as the typical red ones.   We fell in love with yellow tomatoes when growing our garden this spring before heat and drought forced it into an early death.  There is one lonely red tomato left as of Wednesday.   We had a couple of store bought tomatoes next to the Farmer's Market tomatoes and there was no comparision.   The Farmer's Market tomatoes were incredible.  We do have a few more grapes.   They lady selling them recommended putting them in the freezer and freezing them.   She said it makes they taste like bitting into a slushy.  I haven't tried it yet, but there are a few left, so I will tomorrow.  We also got some one red and one yellow bell pepper.   Those were so good.   My daughter generally doesn't eat bell pepper, but she devoured the red one today at lunch with my son and me.  

Next we walked past the honey seller.   I postponed the kids on this one because I was interested, but didn't want to make my bag any heavier than it already was!  At the next booth, I bought some lemons and avocados.   My son and I devoured the avocados in two days flat!   Yes, they were good.  I had in mind to buy some fresh flowers if they were not too expensive.   I found a nice bunch for a pretty reasonable price. 

Next, I went back to the honey seller.  Oh my...I sampled before I bought...yummy!   I bought a larger jar of one flavor and let my daughter pick out a miniture honey bear with another flavor in it.   Yes, honey is honey, but it has subtle differences in flavor, texture, and color depending on what the bees were pollinating. The honey has been a huge hit.   My kids normally eat a lot of store bought honey, but they would eat this like Winnie the Pooh if I let them.
 
As we were planning to leave, I wanted to get some garlic.   We found a stand selling garlic as well as figs.  My daughter saw the figs had to buy one.   She recited the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree in the middle of the farmer's market.   She was reasoning that if Jesus liked to eat figs, she was willing to give them a try.  She selected one.  I was only buying one because if she didn't like them, I didn't want a bunch.  I told the seller I was only buying one to try, they were sold by the pound.   He looked at the fig and said she could have it complimentary, but could he pick her out a good tasting one.   My daughter had already picked one out, but I convinced her to let someone who ate figs to get her a good one.  He selected one for her.   She bit into it and raved about how good it was. 

 She even said, "No wonder Jesus cursed the fig tree when it didn't have any fruit."

 I tried a bite and yes indeed it was wonderful.   My son passed.   We started for the car.   I looked down and my daughter's fig was GONE!   I asked her where it went.  

She grinned and exclaimed, "I ate it!"

Here is a picture of our haul from the Farmer's Market. It was delish and yes, I'll be returning next week!  And yes, we will be buying figs.  It is the first thing on the list.  

Busy, Busy

I've been really busy of late.   I've been on Pinterest all of twice in the last couple of weeks.   If I'm too busy for my favorite time waster inspiration, then I really need to slow down.  I thought I would actually update the blog, but I've not nothing to write about.  I'm still here.   I'm hoping for things to slow down soon.   Aug/Sept are always busy.  
There are a couple of thrift shops I have my eye on.   Maybe I'll find something good.  If I do I'll post a picture!   Wasn't this an exciting update...sorry.   I need to go to bed!

Book Review: Mercy Come Morning

Mercy Come Morning is written by Lisa Tawn Bergren.   I have read a few of her non-fiction works and her children's books.   I really liked Mercy Come Morning.   It is well written and interesting.   The characters are deep and real.   I read the book in two days because I had a hard time putting it down.  It is a sweet story of forgiveness and love.   The book centers around Krista Mueller and her mother, Charlotte.   Charlotte is afflicted with Alzheimer's and dying of congestive heart failure.  Krista is called home by a close friend to spend a few final days with her Mother .  I learned more about Alzheimer's from the book.   The book was well researched and did not take literary licence when it came to dealing with the facts of Alzheimer's.   In short, as Krista deals with her past, she is able to heal and look to the future. 

I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who would like to read a great story of forgiveness, grace, and redemption.  I would categorize this author as one who consistently writes good books. 


This book was sent to me for the purposes of review from Waterbrook Multnomah.   All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

New School Year

My daughter is very excited to be in 2nd grade.   Second grade sounds so OLD to me because I when I taught school I always taught Kinder and 1st.  I would tell my students about becoming big second graders.  Now, I am the parent of a big second grader and I'm still in disbelief.   Of course, I remember graduating from college and getting married like it was yesterday.    That was a short 12 years ago.  Enough of my ramblings, here's the picture.

My daughter heading to second grade and my son heading to one final year of homeschool Pre-K. 
For the grandparents:
The report from school is that she LOVES her teacher.   She LOVES her classmates.   She had a blast, went to P.E., had recess before lunch, finished all her work, started a book she hopes to finish in the next couple of days, and brought home homework for herself and me.  She is now working on her "me" bag due Wednesday.   She is put items in it that represent herself.   So far, she has added a play camera because she loves to take pictures.   She also added a miniature violin to represent her playing.  Buttons and fabric were added to represent that she likes to sew.   She is bugging me for pictures.  School is good and she is a big school nerd like her Mom. 

My son and I continued our year round homeschooling.  He got new sight words today.  We started a new Bob book.  We patterned using unifix cubes.   I somehow forgot to do this.   He enjoyed it and now there are trails of unifix cube patterns all over my living room floor.  I'm skipping Handwriting until all my materials come in from Handwriting without Tears.   I need to add back in our literature study which is science based and this will complete our curriculum. 

I'm off to get my daughter to practice violin.   We usually do within the first hour she is home from school or we don't have a good practice session. 

Happy First Day of School 2011!

Trip to the Homeschool Store

I've schooled the kids through the summer.   My son finished his math book a couple of weeks ago.  I knew I needed new something for math.   I used Singapore Math with my daughter.   The store didn't have much for K and I couldn't find what I used for my daughter.   The owner told me the US edition was not published.   You could get the International stuff.   I looked at International edition and then looked at Saxon and Horizon.   I decided Horizon was the direction I wanted to go with him.  I found a used Teacher's Edition for Horizons (K) Math yea!   I bought a new workbook. 

After looking into Handwriting programs, I liked Handwriting without Tears.  I found a used TE for Handwriting.  Yea!  We already have every Bob book ever written for reading.  We are plugging along with sight words.   The new books gave us what we needed to keep going with school.  I feel very blessed to have a homeschool store within a reasonable driving distance, so I can go and kick the tires of various curriculum.   They also have a great used section. 

My son looks forward to starting Kindergarten next year.   This year we'll enjoy homeschooling. 

Thifting and Repurposing

Once school was out for the summer, I started helping the kids clean out their rooms.   My daughter LOVES dress up stuff.   Most of her dress up clothes were getting pretty small for her.   I bargained with her that if she would clean out the too-small stuff, I would replace it.  The plan would be to go to my favorite thrift store and buy small ladies dresses or larger girl dresses.  My inspiration came from a memory I have of childhood.   Both my parents worked full time and summer days were spent at my Grandmother's house.   One cool thing about Grandmother's house was Great-Grandmother lived with her.  Both ladies were sweet about encouraging creativity.   They gave me a couple of old muumuus to play dress up with.   If I still had those things, I totally would restyle them and rock them...but they are long since gone to the Goodwill.  *Sigh* Lest I digress, I loved playing with these muumuus because they were long, soft, and silky.  

In June, the kids and I made a trip to Value Village in search of dress up clothes.  I gave my daughter a budget of $7-8.   As we walked into the store, I also pointed out that everything marked with an orange tag was 50% off.   Our first stop was the Ladies small dress section.   My daughter found a couple of dresses that she loved.  They were only about $1.50 each because of the orange tag.   Next, we moved to the girls section and looked in the 10/12s.   These would be huge on my tiny seven year old, but would be wonderful dress up clothes.   We found a couple there of dresses in that section too.   She got 5 dresses for under $7.  All the dresses but one had orange tags!   Sweet!   While looking through the ladies dresses I found this:

I had visions of shortening it, throwing on a skinny white belt and loving my new summer dress.   I love the New Dress A Day website.   Marisa makes some super cute stuff out ugly old clothes.   I was hoping to pull a Marisa transformation.   Princess Kate also crossed my mind a couple of times.   The dress was a classic Kate-like print.  I checked for holes, tears, and stains and there were none.   Unfortunately, in my zeal, I broke a very important rule of thrifting...I forgot to check the zipper.   I washed all of the clothes when I got home.  Then I discovered the zipper on my dress was stuck.  I tried unsticking it, but had no luck.  I thought about putting a new one in, but the dress was made from a very light fabric.  Replacing the zipper would be a mess, so I needed a plan B.  

In the end, I decided to shorten it into a skirt.  I measured how long I wanted the skirt and measured from the bottom up.  I added a couple of inches for attaching to a waistband.   Next, I made a waistband that was flat in the front and gathered in the back on elastic.   This helped me avoid a zipper again.  I originally was going to make the waistband to match the rest of the skirt from the scraps, but I kept having problems with it bunching under my machine.   After rethreading my machine and promising to buy a new machine, I finally looked at the settings on my machine.   I realized little hands had taken my thread tension from 2.75 to 9.   Those same hands also made my presser foot pressure 100%.   There was not enough fabric to try again for a matching waistband, so I just used some white muslin I had leftover from another project.   Once my machine was behaving again, I gathered my skirt, attached it to the waistband and finished it.  

I threw on a tank and jacket I already had with my new skirt and added a cute blingy belt my sister-in-law gave me.   Ahh, cool summer skirt, all due to a broken zipper. 

Fourth of July sewing...a bit late

In my zeal to finish the ladybug quilt, I never posted the Fourth of July dresses I made for my daughter my and niece.   My sister-in-law and I love matching stuff for the kids, not us!   Unfortunately, my daughter and her daughter have enough years between them that finding matching outfits is difficult.   I found a cute nautical print when Sew Crafty was going out of business in the spring.   I bought enough to make two pillow case dresses.  When I started to make them, I realized that I wanted to modify the pillowcase dress so that it would not have ties that run through the neck.   Those can pose a strangulation hazard.   I used this tutorial to make a cute and safe dress.   I finished them off by finding matching butterfly clips at a local trade fair.  And the finished products...

Here is my daughter and her cousin:

My daughter pausing/posing for a quick picture for the full effect. 

For the boys, I took navy t-shirts and appliqued on some of the scrap fabric in the shape of a flag.   I really wanted to make matching shorts, but that will have to wait until next year.   I ran out of time. 

Here are all the kids:

Happy Fourth of July, a bit late!