Music Recitals

I love being a piano teacher.  It's the perfect mix of keeping my hobby alive without over-dosing on music like I did in college.  The only thing I think I'm over-dosing on now, is the internal STRUGGLE involved in helping my own child find his path while also trying to teach him concepts of dilligence and persistence in the pursuit of developing talents.

 

It's one thing to get to be the teacher & get to shed tears of joy somedays when your students show up playing the most beautiful music from their hearts and applying all the skills and concepts you've been trying to teach them week after week. It's another thing entirely to be the parent who helps them remember to practice (and practice correctly) day in and day out.  Oh, my word, is it different.

 

These are my darling piano students.  I'm proud of all of them.  They all take a challenge, push themselves, and practice consistently.  Their parents are involved and are encouraging, and the results are evident in their progress.  Tyson joined us this March in his debut performance on the piano of, "Tick Tock Goes the Old Clock" and "Old MacDonald Had a Farm".  He was so cute, and I was so happy for him on his very beginning black key songs.

 

Tyson has also been participating in the Let's Play Music program for the last 2 years.  He was cracking me up at their recital a couple weeks ago.  He's such a ham on stage...even if he's not a ham in practice at home.  :)  The 1st year was our favorite of the program, the 2nd year...well, let's just say we survived it, even though I considered pulling him out in January.  This particular music method is a bit fast paced for what I'm used to for kids his age, and I'm actually quite thrilled with the concepts he absorbed from his in-class participation, even though he was losing interest at exponential rates in his final months.  It's been interesting to be on the parent side of this.  It's hard to do homework for something you don't love 100%.  My friend, Lauren, said one time, that it's okay for Tyson to just be Tyson, and not Tyson-Debra Jo's-Son.  I definitely agree with her--our kids don't have to be extensions of ourselves, they need to have their own identity and talents.  In the end, I don't care if Tyson plays the piano, or the trombone, the drums, or the kazoo, so long as he's happy with it.

 

I don't regret enrolling Tyson in a music class to build an early foundation of musical concepts, intonation, & theory.  But at the same time, I'm not going to force him to continue at the ripe old age of 5, if he finds no interest in practicing.  I just want him to enjoy learning, and I want him to be the best Tyson he can be (even if that means he just wants to catch bugs all day for now). 

 

As I've watched my students and my children I am beginning to understand in an entirely new light that there is a very DELICATE balance in helping your child find their interests and work with dilligence & consistency to develop that talent.  Here's to hoping we figure it out for our other kids, too. :)

 

Geode-licious Baby!

April was a good month for us.  We got caught up on things we'd been meaning to do since December (remember the pajama post).

 

Mitch's family trades family names for Christmas and this year, Brad & Lara, gave us some of the most thoughtful & awesome gifts.  Lara made amazing capes for the kids, and Brad gave us GEODES.  Seriously--what an awesome experience to cut open a rock and find crystals inside.  The boys thought we were RICH, not to mention that this scientific, discovery-oriented, sort of experience is right up their ally!

 

Mitchell is the KING of planning our weekly FAMILY NIGHT.  He's not afraid to do things that are out of the norm, even if it takes some work.  So, he told me to come up with a spiritual thought and he'd cut open the geodes.

 

They sparkle better in real life.

At any rate, here's your spiritual thought to go with the geode:

 

1 Sam 16:7

"...for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."

 

We talked about how people might be rough on the outside, but if we care about them, remember that they're children of God, and are friendly and nice anyway, we will be able to find the things that make them sparkle.  We also talked about the way we act and the things that we can do to help ourselves be sparkly on the inside & out--we talked about how being kind, not fighting, going to church and reading our scriptures, serving others, and developing talents are all things that will help us be nice on the inside.

And here are my little super-heroes!

Thanks, Uncle Brad & Aunt Lara, for giving gifts that keep on giving!!!!

Prayer Poem

Emmett's Breakfast Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, please bless the food.
And please bless Miles to not eat bunny poop.
And please bless Tyson to not punch me in the head anymore.
And please bless me to not be mad at Tyson anymore.
And please bless us to have fun at the Homestead.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.


The priorities of a child are a beautiful thing. 

(Disclaimer: The punching thing happened a LONG time ago, but truly Emmett is still working on forgetting about it.)

Breakfast Conversation

Emmett's always been my little climber--since before he was really walking, I would find him on my kitchen table.  My homeowner one time said something about, "if your kids are climbers"..... At the time I only had Tyson and had no idea what she was talking about.  Now that I have Emmett,  I KNOW.  Haha!  She has 3 boys, too, so she REALLY knows about this crazy life.  I love her for understanding me.

At any rate, Emmett was climbing on stools yesterday to try to reach the food on the highest shelf in the pantry.  Suddenly he had second thoughts & then the conversation thereafter just made me laugh.

Emmett:  I'm getting down because I'm a little scared.
Tyson:  I told you you were little.
Me:  Tyson, be nice.
Emmett:  Well, I'm turning into a grown up like Mom!
Tyson:  Well, I'm turning into a grown up like Dad!
Emmett:  Well, I'm turning into a grown up like Dad, too.
Tyson:  You already picked Mom.
Emmett:  Well I'm not going to turn INTO a mom.
Me: That's true--you're going to turn into a dad.
Tyson:  Well, pretty soon I'm going to be 30.
Me:  You'd better not!
Tyson:  Well, Dad is 30.
Me: Yeah, but that's 25 years away for you still.
Emmett:  Pretty soon I'm going to be 26.
Tyson:  Well Mom's 28.

They're so silly!  They were using kind tones of voices, but it was hilarious that they were trying to one up each other with everything they said.  This probably never ends with brothers...I still hear my husband and his brothers do this sort of banter.  Looks like the fun has just begun. :)

Words that Fill my Soul

Often times I find myself experiencing life through two types of goggles:

Eternal Perspective and Tunnel-vision. 

 I think it's natural to experience this, and that it's part of the test of mortality.  I have realized that when I'm experiencing a tunnel-vision moment in my life, I tend to still be going thru the motions of everything I know to be right because I've developed good habits over the years of staying dedicated to things that I believe in.  But when I am in an eternal perspective sort of vision, I have more peace and I remember the REASONS I do all the things I do, and then I really WANT to keep on going, but it doesn't feel like going through the motions, it feels like "living after the manner of happiness".

Here are some of the things I learned at a training meeting tonight for all the people in our Stake who have callings with little children in the Primary & Nursery:

"...as we give, we find that ‘sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven!’ And in the end, we learn it was no sacrifice at all." --Spencer W. Kimball

• What do you do with a difficult child?
                                                                   The Answer: LOVE them to death.

•  With a problem child, sometimes the answer involves cookies.  --Pres. Carmichael

• Our job as teachers is to place words of truth in their hearts; they will open their hearts when THEY are ready. --Sis. Tilley

• You are Christ's daily delight.  Make your children your daily delight!

• When we need and seek for revelation, we must PRAY for it, EXPECT it, RECOGNIZE it, and ACT on it.

• "Parents, the days are long past when regular, active participation in Church meetings and programs, though essential, can fulfill your sacred responsibility to teach your children to live moral, righteous lives and walk uprightly before the Lord. ...it is essential that this be faithfully accomplished in homes which are places of refuge where kindness, forgiveness, truth, and righteousness prevail. Parents must have the courage to filter or monitor Internet access, television, movies, and music. Parents must have the courage to say no, defend truth, and bear powerful testimony. Your children need to know that you have faith in the Savior, love your Heavenly Father, and sustain the leaders of the Church. Spiritual maturity must flourish in our homes. My hope is that no one will leave this conference without understanding that the moral issues of our day must be addressed in the family." --Quentin L. Cook

• Make connections outside the classroom.  Go the extra mile, and pray for the children you influence by name, and the Lord will help you help them. 

I am so grateful for the church and for the temple.  I love Sundays--going to church is my life-line.  I so desperately need to have words of truth fill my soul on a regular basis so that I can be the best me with a better perspective when I face my personal responsibilities day in and day out.  I know deep down...even when I might be in a tunnel-vision mode...that there are deeper, eternal reasons that are more important than many of the things that cause us stress in life.  When we focus on the things that bring us inner peace and hope in the Lord and serving His children, everything else falls into place, because our Spirit can better recognize priorities that matter in an eternal perspective.  I love the Lord, and I know the gospel is true.

My Little Lizards

 

 



Over Spring Break we decided to go to the Rock Gym to use our passes that Mitch won way-back-when. We rushed over there for a family night and drug my little bro, Heber, along.  He had a pass, too.  It's been years since I have been rock climbing and it was my boys' first time.  They are NATURALS.  The second their ropes & little carabiners were tied and latched they just scuttled up the wall as fast as can be.

 

See that tiny little speck in the yellow?  That's Tyson--he started to freak out because he didn't want to repel down--can you blame him?  He's only 5, and we didn't really think about teaching him how to come down until it was time for him to come down...so, his first repelling experience included his father climbing up to get him and help him along the way.  :)   By the end of the night, however, he was a little natural at repelling down the wall, too. 

 

See that larger, tiny speck?  That's Heber.  What a STUD!  We were so GLAD he came with us to belay, share time together, and show off his MAD rock climbing skills.

 

Emmett finally decided to climb about 20 minutes before we left.  He had fun, too, and this time around, Mitch held him off the ground by the rope to teach him that he can be safe leaning back into the rope and pushing against the wall on the way down.  Emmett didn't climb as high as Tyson, but he's only 3, and I'm telling you, he is a NATURAL at repelling.  Cute kid!

I know this picture is WAY posed, but I'm telling you, you don't want to see photos of our buns while we were climbing the walls.  Haha!  Mitch is amazing, just like Heber, and can climb the hard courses using only the correct colors of tape.  I, on the other hand, can make it to touch the bar at the top, but I don't care about course difficulty or following colors (for me that doesn't count as cheating).  Haha! 

Life is good.  Someday I'll insert a group photo with Heber, but he has to give it to me first.

{Insert group photo with Heber here}

Angels in Heaven

My cousin posted this picture of her and her mom on her facebook wall tonight.  It brought a tear to my eye and I wanted to share it.  This is my Aunt Amanda.  Isn't she lovely?  She's holding her daughter, Tenney (who reminds me a lot of my sister Erin in this picture). 

The honest truth is that I've been thinking about my Aunt Amanda for almost the entire last year.  (I've been meaning to write my thoughts down, but haven't until now.)  She died when she was 28 from a brain tumor, and she had 3 little kids.  So this entire year that I've been 28, with 3 little kids, I have contemplated what that means.

Having 3 little kids is so hard.  Somedays I think I've completely lost all sense of who I am because I'm so focused on the kids.  It might sound dramatic, but I've had to redefine myself in ways that helps me cope with my "new life", and yet doesn't erase the talents and parts of me that have made me who I've always been.

Having 3 little kids is also so amazingly beautiful, celestial, and sweet.  When I'm at the end of my rope and am so exhausted that I think I don't know how I'm supposed to keep going on with all the responsibilities of being a mom, they'll do something to make me laugh or say something only an angel child could say and it's like magic that makes me forget how hard I thought everything was.  Then there's the endless imaginary games and hilarious ideas they come up with that keep me on the edge of my seat wondering what awesome memory we're going to make next.

After we had our 3rd baby, we bought a mini-van.  The reality of that situation hit me like a ton of bricks--just a few short years ago, I was looking up to friends and family who were moms with 3 kids.   I remember driving around in shock for days thinking, "Oh my gosh. I am a mom with a mini-van."  I felt so old!

But then I'd think about Aunt Amanda and her 3 darling, kids.  All of a sudden, at this amazing cross-roads sort of moment in her life, everything was cut short, and that's when you realize that 28 is JUST the beginning.  There's so much life ahead of us, so much to miss.  Even when it's chaotic and exhausting and hard, we can't ever wish these moments away.  How much would she have paid if she could have bought just another day with her husband & kids?  There's no price for the blessing of having a family and being able to be here to see them grow.

What's interesting is that even though I have never met her in person, I have felt close to my Aunt Amanda and love her (especially because of the way my dad talks about her, the stories of others, and the pictures Grandma took).  There have been moments in my life that I felt like she was watching over me and helping me from the other side.  Because of those impressions, I really do believe that there is life after death, and that angels are watching over us.  Aunt Amanda has been one of those angels for the Tenney-11 family, and we all love her and the lessons she's taught us.  And boy do we love all 3 of her awesome kids, Tenney, Gordy, & Garrett, who pay tribute to her name by the good lives they live.

I hope to posess all the qualities my dad has told me about my Aunt Amanda.  She was beautiful person inside and out, she was fun, she was bright, and she walked in the light of the Lord.  I also hope to never take for granted these beautiful days with my husband and kids, because this moment in time is everything I live for.