What I Do

So...there have been these "What Do I Do" posters on FB. After much searchage...I found no Elementary Music Teacher poster...So...here's to all my elementary music peeps:

October Occurances

here's the daniel update for october:

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?

A Saturday Speltfest...

Todays Speltacular Adventure:

Italian Spelt Dough...pizza rolls, pizza dough and foccacia

Spelt Picnic Breads

Recipe...pigs in a blanket and sub rolls

I didn't post pics of the piggies...they wuz ug. The sub rolls are still baking at Mizz P. Daniel's Bakery.

A Speltacular Morning!

so...today i made my first batch of freshly ground organic spelt bread. i must say this was easypeasylemonsqueezy b/c:

a) mizzrizz p.daniel made her batch yesterday so she had worked out the kinks

b) i received mahvolous instruction by bread baker extrodinairre kelly beedle

c) well...there is no c...but i think that lists should have at least three items

i say this was easy but you should know i am NOT a baker. i can crank out a pretty good baquette when i have to...but kneading and rising and waiting and squirting loaves with salt water just doesn't appeal to me. well...except the squirting stuff with water bit. squirting stuff with water reminds me of shooting and i love shooting stuff...but...i digress..

i was able to make...in about 2 hours...two loaves for sandwich bread and about 40 cinammon rolls. ace.

so...no summary today...just some pics...

New math, a walk and one cute baby...

Introducing a new equation in Daniel Math:

Embarrassment = embarrassing moment (ranked on a scale of 1-10) divided by the number of years you've been married plus the number of chilluns you have.

Therefore:

E=EM/#YearsHitched + #ChillunsBurffed

so...let's say you have been married for 12 years and have 3 children then there is very little that could make you blush.

Picture It:

W and I, along with the three children...M and EJ in the stroller...B riding ahead of us on his bike, were taking our evening walk. As we strolled...

W: (sings) I wear my suuunnnglasses at night...do you know what that song means?

Me: No

W: Do you know the other words?

Me: Well...some...(sings...with much fervor while holding a pretend microphone arms splayed to the side head appropriately bobbing from side-to-side while continuing to walk) "Sheeee's deceivin' me....lah lah lah-lah lah lah lah...she's got control of me....I turn to her and saaaaayyyy...Don't masquerade with the guy in shades oh no"....(mimics 2 measure guitar solo)" That's all I know.

Just then an older couple in a black Lexus pulls along side us. My first thought was they were stopping to ask for directions. Then I noticed that the man driving was doubled over his steering wheel with guffaws of laughter. The woman in the passenger seat was laughing so hard that I couldn't understand what she said but I'm pretty sure that somewhere in there was "with moves like that...". As we carried on walking we saw the couple park at a house down the street. The woman got out of her car as we passed and mumbled something about how cute the kids were and how she enjoyed my dancing.

so...the old me (pre-children) would have been horrified. I would have found a gigantic piece of Texas limestone to crawl under. but now...singing and dancing in the street seems to be a perfectly normal part of my happy life...

and...in other news...

ej's had his 6 month well visit yesterday. 27 1/2 inches long, 20 pounds. we are concerned about a deformity...pectus excavatum. i had this condition and had to have it surgically corrected when i was 12. at this time the doctor believes it to be a mild case. we'll have to keep tabs on it but i was assured that the surgery (while still serious) is not nearly the ordeal it used to be as surgeons are able to laproscopically (how do you spell that word anyway?!) repair it. AND...the doctor said that ej was...and i quote..."very cute"...

and now...the summary...

1) what IS that song about anyway?

2) if someone owns a black lexus...why do they live in our neighborhood?

3) if the pediatrician says it...it must be so...

Summer Vacay...Episode One

summer has been great. it has been especially nice to have w home with us. he certainly bit off more than he could chew this year...so i have enjoyed seeing him relax. this school year i will have to play the part of naggy, whiny wife and remind him not to take on so much. i play this part well.

we have been staying busy...good busy. seeing the sites and getting things done around the casa. all in typical daniel fashion, of course.

for example:

we went to the botanical gardens last week. m has developed the habit of not going to the bathroom when she wakes up. we beg, plead, sit her on the potty, promise her treats...she refuses. it was no different the morning we ventured out to the gardens. we arrive only to

discover that we had left both strollers at home. we ALWAYS have a stroller on hand...not sure

what we were thinking...anyhoot. ej had a hat so we decided to take a quick stroll and stay in the shade so that he wouldn't get too much sun. so...off we go...long story short...we were there about 30 minutes (still trying to get m to go to

the bathroom mind you..."you need to go potty?" "no thank you" "here's a restroom...let's go potty" "no" "let's sit down on the potty anyway"

"NOOOOOO" (screams...bangs head)) we arrive at the pond when suddenly peels of blood curdling screams break the morning stillness... then i hear "sprinkle, sprinkle"...and...there she is...peeing under a cypress tree...sigh...

in other news...

bennett has lost his top two teeth. he looks super cute and lisps. he could talk the hind leg off a mule. by 8 am i am asking him "have you met your word quota yet?"... to which he usually responds "what's a quota?" or "did you know that on super mario brothers that in world 8 i can defeat the mini bowser and you should always use the koopah shells to....blah blah...". he and his dad are reading "the magician's nephew". they're almost done. he went to t bar m day camp a couple of weeks ago. he had a great time swimming, playing, and learning more about how to be a MAC (Man After Christ). he talks alot about being a christian (mind you...this talk

does not count against his quota) and we've been talking to him alot about accepting Christ as his Savior. i believe he is ready...we hope to hear that he has made this decision soon...he is such a sweet boy!

well meredith. her recent activities include, but are not limited to...pillow diving (she piles all the couch cushions in the middle of the den), hitting her head on walls, floors or other's folk's heads in fits of rage, swinging in the backyard while wearing a pink tu-tu and mardi gras beads, and wrapping her daddy around her little finger.

ej has a little tooth poking out on the bottom. he is super cute and super pleasant. he is rolling over in both directions although i do not have visual confirmation on the tummy to back roll. he is eating a variety of foods now. i'm holding off on most fruits (he eats applesauce for bfast) in an attempt to develop his taste buddies for veggies. we'll see if it works...

me? well...i think i'm like a duck...calm on top but paddling furiously underneath...i shall go make breakfast methinks...

more later...but first...a summary...

1. summer vacay progressing as planned

2. bacon and waffles says i

3. paddle paddle paddle...

OHMeredith