W: super busy with band, band,band. he's also very busy with band.
B: my anxiety level with his spelling tests have been mounting over the last few weeks. this week he had to spell words like: responsibility, scrumptious and appreciate. i nearly fainted on monday when i got this new list. B just seems to think that these are just your garden variety first grade spelling words.
he just participated in his first bike rodeo. he did great! he won third place over the entire first grade (i have a big goofy smile on my face even as i type this).
b's piano skills are coming along nicely. he practices about an hour everyday...i do not have to remind him or stay on him about it. he just enjoys playing. i wish you could see the way he treats M and EJ. he is a patient and loving big brother.
M: there are pink stains on the kid's toilet seat. why you ax? M loves to draw with markers. particularly the pink variety. i guess she's pottied one too many times after drawing b/c the pink stains are on the toilet seat right where she holds on. i can't get them
off! even the magic eraser is an epic fail.
m's vocabulary is coming along nicely. she's becoming quite the conversationalist. topics include: "i like bubblegum do you like bubblegum?" and "i see a squirrel do you see a squirrel?".
EJ: E turned 9 months on october 17. nine months and no crawling! he just rolls all over. he is such a sweet boy! he can clap and
wave...just not on command. he has four top teeth and 2 bottoms. at his 9 month well visit...he's still hanging on to 22 pounds. his pectus excavatum looks no better or worse...which is great! he is really beginning to eat like a horse. he's backed off nursing a bit...just 4 or 5 times a day now. he can say "da", "sisssss", "pa pa", "nanananana"...and...wait for it...."MAMAMAMAMAMAMA"!
Me: let's see...i've been grinding grain and baking, i lacto-fermented some salsa...which i'm still too scared to eat (i mean...the word ferment is just a gross word)...william says it's good...i've been attending the Central Texas Orff workshops. it's nice to see my friends and experience the beauty of orff activities. on saturday i attended a clinic by my first orff teacher Julie Scott. in 2000, i attended my first tmea where i saw julie's orff ensemble perform at the texas orff chapter's reception. i was so blown away! i knew then that i wanted what she had...a well trained ensemble that was performing at tmea. so...i set out...in 2001 i took my first orff certification course at trinity university with julie and chris judah-lauder. learning about orff for me was like getting a really contagious disease. i couldn't help but love, love, love it. it changed everything about how i looked at music education. by 2007 i was orff certified and attending a masterclass in memphis led by jos wuytack. in 2008 i was taking my orff ensemble to perform at the tmea orff chapter's reception.
so i tell you all this b/c on saturday (after only seeing her sporadically since 2001...i've seen her present a clinic here and there...she's kinda one of my heroes...so i've always been too shy to go up and talk to her...weird, i know)...i finally gathered the nerve to go up and tell her what her teaching has meant to me. how it shaped my career and how it fostered my love of orff, music and my students. she hugged me three times...sometimes mid-sentence. sometimes our teaching jobs feel (and usually are) thankless. i could not let this opportunity to thank her get away.
in january, another influential orff teacher of mine, chris judah-lauder, will be leading a CTO workshop. i also owe her a great big thank you which i plan to carry out.
i have a big fear of two things...sounding stupid and being emotional...mostly i fear when i get emotional while sounding stupid. i really need to get a ladder and get over myself.
so...a summary:
1. i sooper dooper love my family
2. is there someone you need to thank today?
3. anyone got a ladder?
