March Sampler

Oh it's been awhile since I've posted anything. Here are some pictures for the past month . . .

We went down the the Children's Museum several mornings this month. We got a membership this year and I've discovered the best time to go is first thing in the morning at 9:00 - and we just go for an hour and a half. After 10:30 it gets way too crowded and busy . . . but we've enjoyed several fun mornings there. Carter's favorite spot is the mini basketball court. Allison has been enjoying the art room these past couple of times.

This was my attempt at an April Fool's day joke. I saw this in the Family Fun magazine this month. It looks like a fish stick, peas, and catsup . . . right? He he - actually it's a Little Debbie Cookie coated in peanut butter and corn flakes, taffy peas, and strawberry jam. So the joke was pretty much lost on Alli - but she did enjoy the treat :). There was another fun idea in Family Fun that we tried this month. I made a little 'passport' notebook for the kids as we went shopping one afternoon. Each had a list of items they had to find in the store and then put a little sticker by the item once they found it. It made the dreaded trip to Walmart a lot more bearable. Alli loved searching for the things on her list.

Hmm - so we did a lot of Family Fun things this month. Alli had a playdate with one of her friends and I made up a little house template out of construction paper and then had the girls and Carter cut up magazines to fill the rooms in their houses. I sadly ran out of gluesticks a few weeks ago . . . I purchased tons of them during the back to school sales last year - thinking they'd last me the whole year. But, alas, it's march - and they are all used up. We go through those things like water. I ended up using liquid glue - and just squeezed some in the egg carton and had the girls apply it to their pictures with a q-tip. It worked great!

So this is actually Allison's 2nd piece she's learned on the piano. The first piece she ever played was called 'Little Lost Kitty' in Faber's My First Piano Adventures. It is such a thrill to teach Allison. I've taught many beginning students - but engaging in the teaching and learning process with Allison has been such a treat. The first time she played little lost kitty - actually reading the notes off the page, it took me aback. I was trying to have her go through the steps of tapping the rhythm and playing it on the key cover and saying her finger numbers, and pointing to the notes on the page . . . but she didn't want anything to do with that - she just wanted to play it. It's a bit of a struggle because she has her own agenda, and as 'Mom' instead of 'piano teacher', she doesn't do exactly what I direct as my other students do . . . but it's a lot of fun to play 'piano lessons' with her.

I wanted to get some video of Allison and Carter doing starfall together. I love that Allison can now help Carter do the computer and I can have some time to clean the house or do other things. It's fun to watch Allison and Carter interact now that they are getting older.