keyed up

I currently have 9 piano students (1 more to start in a week or so).

This week, one cancelled and two rescheduled their lessons.

Two failed to show up (and failed to notify me that they were not coming).

One of the re-scheduled ones came 30 minutes earlier than scheduled.

One mom texted and asked if her daughter could come 30 minutes early and sit and do homework so the mom could run some errands.

Most of the moms communicate with me through texts, so I have a record at my fingertips of any changes in lessons - as well as my calendar on my phone.  I try to be flexible and accommodating, because I know there will be days when the rescheduling will be due to last minute changes on my calendar (like the time Dad decided to go unconscious with hypoglycemia just as one of my students arrived for her lesson ~smile~).

I love my students.  I love their moms.

I want to sit down and have a talk with each and every one of the sweet, harried,  over-scheduled moms.

This is what I would say:

"You don't have to do it all.  It is not necessary for you to schedule your kids to within an inch of their lives.
Pick the things that are most important.  Spend the most amount of time (and money) on those activities that give the greatest and longest return."

Here is what we did.  We pretty much said yes to any church activity - whether it be a weekly, monthly or annual (retreat-type).  I have zero regrets about doing this.  All of the boys are still actively connected to their churches.  Two are youth pastors, the third not only attends church weekly, but goes to a weekly men's prayer/study meeting as well as a small group.

Regarding sports...after a very brief foray into pre-little league stuff, we decided that they boys would focus on one sport.  For all three of them it became soccer.  We ran around like crazy with soccer games and practices from August  - November, but then the season was done.  Then we could resume family suppers together each evening.

The boys also played basketball every Monday night at church with their dad and other men from church and the community.  Add to this biking, fishing, running, golfing.....things they could do for the rest of their lives - they led busy (but not crazy busy)  active lives.

They each had piano lessons early on but did not stick with them (and I think they have all lived to regret that, but I will not say 'I told you so' ~smile~).  Guitars in various shapes and sizes became their musical instruments of choice and they all still play (and sing!  which warms this mama's heart no end).

I will not argue against team sports because I think they have some value - teamwork, cooperation, gracious winning and losing, discipline to name a few- but I think one can gain this benefit without having to be involved in a team sport during every season of the year.

Sports injuries in children are on the rise because of extended and back to back sports seasons.

I feel a great responsibility to be the best piano teacher I can be - within the limit of my abilities. 

I also feel a great responsibility to care for their moms.

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children,  to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Titus 2:3-5

As the mothers express their frustrations regarding their schedules with me, I gently let them know that they can hop off the merry-go-round.  A few of them have listened to me as I have given them 'permission' to do what they know in their hearts is best for their family.

My goal is to sit down with each one of them for a relaxing  cup of tea.  To encourage them and help them to take the long view of their children's extra-curricular activities.

One of the benefits of old age is the privilege of gaining perspective.  Some of things we think are so important when are children are little turn out to not matter so much at all.

If you are a young mom and are reading this post, you are probably tired of older women telling you to enjoy your kids while they are young.  Enjoying them does not mean you need to enroll them in every activity under the sun and speed from one practice to another only slowing down to pick up supper at the fast food window.

Cancel some of that stuff.  Pack a picnic lunch, play frisbee at the park with your kids and read them stories afterwards.  Or build a fort in the living room and have supper there every once in a while. Slow down, stay out of the car, turn the cell and the 'puter off and 'be' with your kids.

You won't regret it.

free fall

We stopped and talked to one of our neighbors the other day,  I asked about his garden - 'Were those pumpkins, I saw?'

Yep. pumpkins.  And two days later he was on our front steps dropping off some of his bounty.

See the one on the top step?  On one side it is dark green, on the other light greenish/orange (see picture below).  I believe it is a pumpkin cross pollinated with a winter squash.  Or vice versa.  Pretty cool either way.  And so kind of our neighbor to be so generous and thoughtful.

The pumpkins will stay on the front steps until the first frost approaches and then I will bring them in and bake them.  After the flesh in pureed it will be frozen in two cup batches and over the next month or two made into pumpkins pies and bars.

We have not had a frost yet, but it did get down to 37 degrees the other night which was low enough to turn my basil into little black shriveled up leaves.  This was my second crop, but I shoulda harvested it earlier.  Live and learn.

Some other friends went to an apple farm and brought us about 20 pounds of apples.  They would not let us pay for them either.  After tonight's supper of chili, we will enjoy a warm serving of apple betty.

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If you need a break from the sewing machine, but like to have a little handwork to stitch on in the evenings, good ol' Martha has a bunch of cute cross-stitch ideas.  Be sure to look at all the pages!

sugar and spice

As the days speed toward Christmas, I've been thinking about what to make.  Especially for my beautiful little granddaughters. 

After raising three sons...what a joy it is to contemplate sewing pink, feminine ruffly things!

Here are some web ideas that have caught my attention:

First, and this is less a gift idea than a 'what a good way to give out-grown -clothes-new-life' - a clever turning of a too short tee shirt and a skirt into a dress.  Directions and pictures are here and here.

The second of those two ideas takes a man's thrifted tee shirt and uses it as a skirt to the too short tee top.  My granddaughters are very blessed to have a daddy who is a youth pastor and one of the perks of the job is a never ending supply of tee shirts.

This is a sweet, simple little dress.    It is made along the lines of a pillow case dress - only not made out of a pillow case.

If you want to make a pillow case dress (and they are very easy and cute so you should) just google 'pillow case dress tutorial' and you will get more instructions than you can shake a stick at.

These are cute too.  For summer.  For winter,  in corduroy with a tee or turtleneck underneath?

Here are some tutorials for both boys's and girls' clothing.  Cute stuff.  Even swimming suits!

These are French patterns, but they sure are cute, n'est ce pas?

Lots and lots of cute patterns and fabrics at this spot. 

I know there is an almost endless wealth of sewing information out there on the world wide internets.  :)Perusing these sites should keep us busy for a while.  But don't linger too long - order up some fabric and patterns and fire up the sewing machine.  Christmas is only 62 days away!

Do you have any favorite sewing sites?

(Oh, here's one more.)

(Kristi, if you are reading this, let me know which ones you like best!)

normal?

I continue to be so very grateful for my quick healing from this surgery.  The gals at Bible study were astonished to see how well I was doing.  I was surprised that they were surprised - because they had been praying for me, as had many of you. Thank you!  And thanks to GOD!

 I've been walking my normal three miles now and feel very much back to my old self.  We'll see what my doctor says today on my follow up visit.

The weather has been very changeable this week.  It must be fall.  Nearly perfect over the weekend.  Stormy and windy the past few days and cold this morning.

Time to do some fall baking and cooking.  Muffins, breads, apple crisps, soups, stews - if I get permission from my doc to resume normalish eating habits.

We have been enjoying greens from our garden - romaine, bibb, romaine, arugula, kale.  Tomorrow night we go to a potluck with some friends, so I'm feeling artistic and will probably make a BIG salad along these lines.  Might as well make it pretty in addition to  nourishing and tasty!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

notable visitors

Sunday evening, the doorbell rang.  I was very surprised to see one of my piano students and her mother.

They came bearing gifts: a homemade bag full of chex mix and the lap blanket pictured above.  Isn't that a perfect gift for a piano teacher?  They called it a 'prayer blanket' - a 36" by 48" rectangle of fleece, enhanced with musical symbols, fringed and tied on the edges. 

And bound with prayer.  Such a thoughtful gift!  I used it last evening as I sat and stitched binding on the Christmas stockings.  The temperature has dropped about 25 degrees in the last 12 hours and this lap blanket was a welcome addition.

The change of weather brought heavy rains - raining cats and dogs, one might say .  But things are much worse in Zanesville, Ohio where several dozen lions, tigers, bears and wolves, OH MY, have escaped from a game preserve. 

Praying for the safety of the people in that area.  It is a terrible situation.

~~~~~
Yesterday, while Pat was out fishing (and catching!) I was able to get quite a bit of work done.  The stockings are finished except for some final embellishments of ribbon and bells.  I think the bells are packed up with the Christmas decorations and I am not quite ready to pull those out yet.

One of mom's blouses needed a button hole, a project which I can put off almost indefinitely, but I got right to it and had it all done in about 20 minutes (why do I procrastinate on jobs that really don't take all that long - am I the only one that does that?).

I spent some time plotting my next sewing project.  Perhaps these sweet dresses for the granddaughters. 
Done up in flannel and worn over long sleeve onesies and warm tights?

I also made some banana muffins (which will really hit the spot on this cold, rainy day - I think  with a cup of hot chocolate, hmmm?) and spent some time working on  my blog.  You will notice some additional links - places I periodically check for inspiration and instruction. 

Hope you find them helpful!

healing and stitches

Prior to my surgery, the nurse told me to drink lots of water the day before the surgery.  "It will greatly aid in healing." she said. 

What she failed to mention, and what I should have known being 2 score and 17 years old, was that the intake of water would also make an impact before surgery.  As in 3, yes, 3 trips to the little girl's room in the half hour before I would be wheeled into the operating room.

I'm sure I was a sight.  IV bag in right hand, left hand firmly clutching the back side of my hospital gown closed while scurrying down the hall.

However, the waterworks worked and my healing has gone smashingly well.  Friday, the day after surgery, I walked about 1/4 mile.  Saturday, 1 mile, and Sunday over 2.  I really feel great and am so thankful to GOD for His healing.

(By the way, thanks for praying for our neighbor, Ray. 

He is home now, but not doing cartwheels just yet.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have been stitching over the past few days as well, and have now finished embroidering/quilting three stocking fronts.  Hopefully I can show you the finished products at the end of the week.

It is nice to have some handwork to do when there is not much else to do.  No lifting anything over 20 pounds, no bending over...that leaves out moving furniture and scrubbing floors.  Not that those are my favorite activities anyway.

Quilting it is:

One stocking is for our newest granddaughter, Lainey.  The other two are a surprise, so I'll not spoil it here in case the intended recipients are reading this.

The stitches are only in the stockings.  They used no stitches on  me.  I am dermabonded together.  Purple dermabond at that.

This week things should get back to normal.   Many of my piano students were on fall break last week, but all should be back this next week.  I will be getting a new student today and another next week.

I'm working on my Christmas list and a few projects around here as well as a few challenges I'll share with you later in the week. 

Hope your week is off to a great start!
~~~~
Oh, and the new look to my blog?  Total accident.  If you are on blogger and start fiddling around with Dynamic Vision make sure you have backed-up your original blog.

Otherwise you will lose your sidebar and if you are on dial-up it will take you more time than I care to spend right now to put things back the way they were.

Unless you like it this way?

Edited to add: I think I may have fixed it.  Yay/

grateful

4:45 a.m. the alarm went off. My surgery was scheduled for 7:30, but we had to be at the surgery center at 6:30. I had some extra time to sit and read Psalm 139:

"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from You

When I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

Your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in Your book

before one of them came to be." vs. 13-16

and

"Search me O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

vs. 23-24

Several people asked me if I was nervous. I was not. God gave His peace that passes understanding.


As if those verses were not comforting enough (and they were!), Pat had turned on the radio, set to the Christian station.

This song played, I song which has given me great comfort over the years:

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

1. O Love that will not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in thee;

I give thee back the life I owe,

That in thine ocean depths its flow

May richer, fuller be.

2. O light that followest all my way,

I yield my flickering torch to thee;

My heart restores its borrowed ray,

That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day

May brighter, fairer be.

3. O Joy that seekest me through pain,

I cannot close my heart to thee;

I trace the rainbow through the rain,

And feel the promise is not vain,

That morn shall tearless be.

4. O Cross that liftest up my head,

I dare not ask to fly from thee;

I lay in dust life’s glory dead,

And from the ground there blossoms red

Life that shall endless be.

(It was a gorgeous arrangement of this old hymn by the Gaither Vocal Band. Loved!)







Then, a song which Pat enjoys (I do to, but I think it is a particular favorite of his):

Oh, Lord, You have been good.

Oh Lord, You have been good

You have been faithful to all generations

Oh Lord, Your steadfast love and tender mercy

have been our salvation

Sufficiently encouraged by the songs, we went to the car. Pat grabbed my hand and prayed for what was to come.

I had my surgery done at a surgery center, not a hospital. This place is very efficient, and they have much less incidence of infection because there aren't any sick people here.


We got there at 6:30 and were home by 11. That includes stopping at the pharmacy for pain pills (which I have not needed Praise the LORD!) and a 45 minute trip each way.


I slept off and on yesterday and still slept great last night. No pain to speak off.  No spicy or greasy foods yet, but I don't think chocolate fits into either of those categories, do you?


I'm so grateful to GOD.


Thanks for your prayers friends!


Please pray for our neighbor Ray. He had gall bladder surgery the day before I did (at a hospital) and is still not home. He should be home today. He is 82.



fat free food fest finally finishing

I am jumping for joy now that I have come to my last day of fat free eating.

Actually, eating fat free hasn't been so bad.  There are plenty of dietary aids out there to keep folks like me who have a lot of gall(stones) fed without too much hardship.

No fat, no dairy, no meat (I was allowed minuscule portions of broiled chicken).  Tomorrow, my stone laden gallbladder will be removed. (My 81 year old neighbor is having his removed today - must be something in the water...).

Pat has offered to get me a bucket of fried chicken for a post surgery celebration..  I declined, much preferring a piece of fudge or other chocolate (like the birthday cake I had to forgo).

I've lost several pounds and become much more mindful of my food choices. 

Here is my typical menu:
Breakfast: oatmeal with fresh or dried fruit (no milk) or fat free toast with a thin spreading of jam and a banana
Lunch: Wasa crackers with mustard, lettuce, cucumbers, sprout, peppers and relish or vegetable soup
Supper: Plain baked potato or vegetarian chili accompanied by salad and veggies.
Snacks: fat free fig newtons, fat free pretzels, fruit or sliced veggies.
Beverages: tea or water

I  plan to continue eating mindfully (at least until I make fudge for our family Christmas gathering).  Shedding some unnecessary pounds is a good thing - especially since I have hypothyroidism which makes it very difficult to lose weight.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  :)

on grandmothering

.  There is a rather silly local commercial that plays once in a while  in which a woman of my age (or beyond) talks about her son's children. When another woman in the commercial refers to her as a grandmother, she reacts in horror.

If you have read my blog for any length of time, you know that I love being a grandmother.  I don't deny it, I embrace it.

How could one not like watching the next generation hiding God's Word in their hearts.  Josh is in AWANA Cubbies and has already memorized a few verses in the last month.

Most notably: "God loved us and sent His Son."

One evening I told him it was time to go to bed.  He expressed disappointment, but I told him since it was dark outside, it was time.  He ran to the window to verify and said,

"God loved us and sent His moon."

(three year olds do not understand homonyms I find)

If there is a camera in the room - there is Joshua.  This was to be a  picture of Grandma and Sadie, who were dressed alike for the day (mint green tee shirts, black pants).  Before Daddy could snap the shot, Josh scooted a kitchen chair so he would also be included.

And as the song says, "How sweet to hold, a newborn baby..."  Holding your child's child instantly transports you back almost thirty years in time.  I have more pounds, more gray hairs and more wrinkles but also hopefully more wisdom. 

These pre-school days fly by and there is so much teaching, training, loving and enjoying to be done.  It is hard for a sleep-deprived mommy and daddy to understand this, but kids - it is true.  So true.

Lainey, what will the world be like when you are my age?  What will you be like?

This is the picture without Josh.  Sadie is a little sweetie.  At 15 months, she communicates very well.  Not necessarily with words but with sweetness and love.  As Jon was dropping me off at the airport, I climbed into the back seat to kiss Josh and Sadie good-bye.  Josh was excited for me - You ride in Grandma's airplane? he asks. (did y'all know I own a regional jet?   - not).  Sadie received her hug and kiss and words of affirmation and love.  Her little 15 month old eyes welled up with tears and her little 15 month old lower lip began to quiver.  She seemed to understand that I was going away.

Josh tickles my funny bone, Sadie tugs at my heart strings.  Lainey - all of ten days old has kept me on my knees.  She is almost at the right levels for bilirubin.  I'm currently making a quilted Christmas stocking for her and each stitch represents a lot of love and prayers.




It is a marvelous responsibility to be a grandma.  One I cherish and though a thousand miles separate us, these three are on my heart and in my prayers every moment.

May they all come to know and serve Christ with all their hearts, with all their souls, with all their mind and with all their strength.

birthday surprises

My very sweet, future daughter-in-law sent me a note.  In it she wished me a Happy Birthday and said, 'I hoped you feel loved on your birthday - because you are!'

Isn't that a lovely sentiment to express?  And boy, howdy, did/do I ever feel loved.  Jon and Kristi gave me some wonderful books by Elisabeth Elliot.  My favorite author!

Daniel gave me some warm Nordic socks for the upcoming winter months (and they came on time!).

The folks gave me some cash ( a girl can never be too old to enjoy cash for her birthday!).

My sweet hubby brought me this beautiful bouquet (the night before my birthday):

And as if that wasn't enough, he also gave me a single long-stemmed rose.  Love.

The maillady honked the horn in the driveway on the morning of my birthday.  She handed me a box which contained this spectacular array of lilies and carnations (from Nate and Michelle):

Later in the afternoon, while I was up in the big city for a pre-op appointment (do I know how to celebrate or what?), UPS dropped off these gorgeous roses from Lori and Richard:

And for the grand finale, moments after we arrived home from the doctor, Fed Ex pulled into the driveway with this miniature rose bush from Suzi and Tim.  Every year Suzi sends me one of these for my birthday.  I enjoy them in the house for a while, then plant them in the garden.  They come back every year. 

When the bouquets are beginning to show signs of drooping, I will dry the flowers and keep them for projects later on...specifically at Christmas time.  In years past, I have wired dried roses into my Christmas garlands for a very Victorian look.  Scroll down  to the bottom of this post to see a picture.

The vases will be kept for future bouquets from the garden.  I like to have a couple of vases on hand, but when I collect too many I can take them into my local florist for some free flowers!

So, Laura.  Do I feel loved on my birthday?  You betcha!

Thanks so much to my wonderful family for making 57 feel like a walk in the park.  Or should I say 'flower garden'?

A week in photos

Meeting our sweet Lainey for the first time.

Sweet dreams, precious!

Big brother is momentarily enthralled.  Shortly after this photo, he was off investigating all the cool equipment, bells, whistles and wires in the room.

 Oooohhhh

Wouldn't you want to come home from the hospital dressed like this?

Grandma, Josh and Sadie were rear-ended on their way home from the hospital.  No one was hurt.  Grandma is soooooo thankful!

Boo.  Jaundice.  Lainey is our little glow bug, wearing a bili-blanket.

Brother and sister in the back yard.

Wheeeeee!

Lainey bug is back in the hospital (sad) as her bilirubin levels are still too high.  They are coming home though and we hope to get her home tonight!  Unfortunately for Grandma - I fly home tomorrow!