An Autumn Day

It was not at all certain that either of these two would actually go through with this piano recital. My strategy was to not talk about it too much, giving them no opportunity to tell me outright that they didn't want to participate. 

And it worked. Sometimes parenting is less about the communication and more about careful manipulation.

We drove over and they were on the program, so they performed! 

Me and the girls got started on the outdoor Christmas lights, but Mark always wants them to go as high up on the tree as possible. Accomplishing that gets harder and harder every year. What's with all the growing?

I think this is so beautiful. 

And then I made good on my promise to take AJ and Everly over to Sunnyside to scooter around. 

 

Missing Out

 I don't always miss out on important events in my kids lives, but when I do....  

I miss AJ's spelling bee (you know, the one we have been practicing for for months)

SHE WON!!!  Mark was able to be there and send updates and videos...it was a white-knuckle experience for me and my mom as he sent the word she was given, then "she got it!!". Oh my word, and when she won, we both cried for joy! It was so fun!

I missed the girls temple trip:

And their piano recital...but Mark did a great job getting these sweet photos with their teachers:

And perhaps the most tragic of all....I missed out on our tradition of being late to Stake Conference and sitting on the metal chairs in the back row. 

Megan's hones her skills

 One of my favorite things in the world is to hear Megan practice. It is the soundtrack to our lives! 

Sometimes she asks me to come in a listen to a little snippet that she's been working on. 

And sometimes I sneakily record her so that I can play it for myself when she GROWS UP AND ABANDONS ME TO SEEK HER FORTUNES OUT IN THE WORLD!

Isn't she fantastic???

I didn't see that one coming.

Have you ever heard a piano/ocarina duet?

It's like nothing you've ever heard before.

But it's not to be missed...no ma'am.

Adapting

We're figuring things out as we go along.

We've moved our piano lessons to facetime. That means I get to take pictures of the music they are working on and send them to their teachers so they can help them with what they're playing. 

Lots of fun.

The kids are finding ways to "hang out" with friends over zoom. It's kind of awful and pretty exhausting, but it's all we've got right now. 

The girls have been finding all sorts of artists that are offering free art lessons each day, just to help pass the time. We've done a couple by Mo Willems...he also talks a lot about the process he goes through to create a book and it's pretty great to listen to. 

They also really liked doing one with JJ Krozocska. His was more of a comic book style. 

We lack consistency and it's not ideal, but it's something! 

Bravery grows

I thought I'd dust the piano today....

Then I thought I'd lift the lid to see if any pencils had rolled back in there.

Then I thought I'd just take the vacuum and try to get a few of the dust bunnies out.

Then I ended up taking the whole dang thing apart.

And I finally got removed all the glitter out that Mathew spilled in there when he was 2.

Role Reversal

I've decided to start learning to play the piano!

Luckily I have a good teacher right here in the house....and even more lucky...I'm the boss of her!

Our first duet!

This picture proves that she can actually play circles around me....with her eyes closed!