Twinkle Twinkle....

Simon's new cello teacher has had him playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for about the last four weeks. All the practice is finally paying off! Some of the notes are still a little hit or miss because he is still learning to stretch his fingers to the right position... but it's starting to come together. :) The difference from a month ago is pretty amazing! So proud of him!

Stupid Cold… sports...birthdays…. cellos….

Argh. It did turn out to be a cold.  Jonathan has it too and seems to be on the same timeline, so I guess we picked it up at preschool or the grocery store. LOL. Ah well… could be worse. Still, annoying and time sucking. I haven't gotten anything done this weekend.

Ben's basketball team lost their last game of the season to a tough team yesterday morning. Close score though, so super frustrating. Even more frustrating is that we are scheduled to play the first round of playoffs Wednesday night against the ONE team that beat us really badly during the season. Ugliest game of the season. Kind of discouraging since, once you lose in the playoffs, you're out. On the other hand, it immediately frees up all upcoming Wednesdays and Saturdays until swim season. ;) So, positives and negatives there. ;)

He says he wants to play basketball for his school team next year, which I think is AWESOME. It will provide a built-in frequent and regular social outlet, which he desperately craves and I can't always give him enough of because…frankly, two little brothers sometimes make that challenging.  He likely won't make the "A" team as a sixth grader (and a tiny sixth grader at that), but they have a "B" team. There are barely enough kids to make an "A" team, so he'll be able to play in some capacity no matter what. (Hooray for small schools! LOL!)

Trying to decide what to do for his 11th birthday. We were talking about a cool home-party glowing backlight bash, but a few days ago, it occurred to me that he has only been invited to ONE birthday party this year, which makes me think maybe 11-year-old boys don't really have "birthday parties" per say…  and that this is some unspoken rule i'm not aware of since he is my oldest?  Anyone have any intel on this?

Tom and I were talking and we're thinking maybe we'll offer him a cool day out/trip somewhere (Philly? Great Wolf?) and then let just let him invite two friends over for a sleepover one day soon.

Yesterday, I took Simon to cello and met the teacher for the first time. (Tom took him last week) He's very nice. He does GREAT with Simon.  I was particularly impressed when the lesson was over and he said goodbye. Simon sort of mumbled goodbye in reply and looked the other direction (as he tends to do)  The teacher actually stopped him and said, (very nicely) "Simon, can you look at me when you say goodbye?"  OMG! This is something I always encourage teachers to do with him because we are REALLY working on this.

Anyway, Simon is doing much better with the individual instruction. He has taken him back to the very beginning and is working on perfecting his bow hold and tone, which the large group teacher didn't really have much time to focus on with the kids.  He says he is doing very well! When he practices, he takes it very seriously now and is doing a great job. I think this is definitely going to continue be a good activity for him in many ways. :)

Not much else to report. I have been going combing through my archives, starting at the very beginning, replacing pictures whose links long ago went dead. Also adding labels. Those weren't an option way back "in the day!" LOL. It's a long project, but I've just been doing a few pages a day. It's amazing to look back at the very beginning…. when I first found out I was pregnant with Ben, his ultrasound, all the crazy things I cared about as a first-time mom… I even have an entry about his first cold with a photo of a pile of "supplies". I'm sure these elementary school years posts will seem just as funny a decade from now when I have a 21, 18, and 14-year-old. (OMG) I love having it all to look back on and laugh and revisit though. :)

On a sadder note, in light of current events in our little town, I also find myself being incredibly thankful for three healthy pregnancies and deliveries…. and, even more importantly, three healthy kids. You see, one of Simon's preschool classmates who also goes to our elementary school, is losing her battle with leukemia after a third relapse. It's heartbreaking and, to my mom-brain, completely unfathomable and unfair. As I revisit old posts about stitches, colds, ear infections and just regular childhood stuff,  I can't help thinking how Ava's mom has not lived without constant worry for her daughter's life since she was two years old. :(  Praying for them often…. I can not even imagine.

'Ello Cello!

Simon has really taken off with the cello! Like in the last week or two! I've been making an effort to have him practice at least 15 minutes a day. (that's about as long as I can get him to focus well without getting frustrated) and right now it's plenty.  Sometimes we do two 15 minute sessions. I've been practicing with him, either on the piano or with Jonathan's little violin. What used to be like pulling teeth is now much, MUCH easier.

Last night, he got it out all on his own and started playing the cello part of Heart and Soul for us. It actually sounds really good! No screeching, beautifully bowed notes, good sound!  After he played it a few times, I joined in with the piano part and he just thought that was the coolest thing ever. "That's just like my teacher does!!!"

After that, he worked on teaching Jonathan some things on his 1/4-size violin, which was adorable. He told him the names of all the strings and how to bow one long note. He has also been trying to teach him how to bow Hot Cross Buns. ;)  LOL!

I'll try to take some video soon. I'm so proud of him!

Busy Weekend....

Our weekends just get busier and busier. Even with one activity per kid at the moment (and not really, because Jonathan doesn't have anything yet!), it feels like we just run from one thing to another.  Such is life during these years, I suppose.

Anyway, so Saturday started off with a basketball game for Ben. Simon and Jonathan save up screen time for this and spend the entire game playing in the corner with their devices.

It was a great game! Ben was starting at a new position and coaches Tom, Clayton, and Pap had a new strategy for the team.  It resulted in our first win of the season and Ben scored three baskets! (the most ever in a game for him!) He was on cloud nine!

See the coach behind Ben?  He's actually a major league pitcher who currently plays for the Pirates. (that's his son with him, A, who was in Ben's class at JES)  Anyway...so here's the funny thing about this. He's a pretty competitive guy, right? You'd think? Pro baseball player and all....? He spent part of the game yelling in Tom's direction, "It's JUST A GAME!!! Settle down!" LOL. In fairness, Tom is an intense coach.... it's NEVER just a game. He is SO LOUD. (I sometimes cringe on the bench and pretend I don't know him)  So the major league pitcher is less competitive in rec basketball than my husband. Holy cow.  That's scary.  Who knew?

I didn't notice the woman holding her ears in this photo of the final score until I uploaded the picture. I had to laugh... because there is a decent chance she is holding her ears because of Tom's aforementioned loudness. (Tom is black sweatshirt, left) LOL!

Anyway, so that started the weekend off nicely. :) After that, Tom reminded me there was a big football game on. (I assumed it was Sunday, not Saturday, because I pay zero attention to these things) He hates watching the big ones alone, which I understand....  but I was SO tired and had kind of a long to do list. I rallied though and went to the grocery store for dinner ingredients.... so he texted his younger brother.... called his parents... and I texted my other sister-in-law. (trying to give her a fighting chance at her husband NOT dropping what he was doing around the house. LOL)    Two out of three came and, much to Ben's excitement (our little house extravert), we had a house full of people for the game.  It went ok... everyone enjoyed dinner and dessert and Jonathan didn't have too many tussles with his cousin. So I really can't complain.   But I am glad football season is finally over for the Ravens.  The constant football stuff grates on my nerves. (not the having people over…  just constantly hearing about football in general)

Sunday, we headed off to church, then out to lunch. Home for some chores and, you guessed it... more football. (so much football this weekend.... gahhhhhhhhh)

I helped Simon out with his cello practice and he cooperated and did really well! He's learning to read the music a little and can play all three pieces reasonably well that they are working on right now. (two are just pizzicato... which I really hope they move on from soon!) We also worked on piano. He gets really impatient with this, so I'm trying to take it slowly. But he can find middle C now, and all the other Cs on the keyboard, and can play the first two basic pieces in the little piano book I got.  I feel like he's starting to get a little confidence with it, but it's very challenging to overcome his resistance to anything that requires effort. It can be done... (as I have seen with cello) but it has to be carefully and slowly or he gets frustrated.  He definitely has an aptitude for this, so I am determined to keep it up and build on it a little bit at at time.

At 5:00, Simon had his first Lego League meeting. We were invited by another mom, but it's this super small, new little group and she had to get approval from the mom who runs it. She said it was okay for us to join and it sounded right up Simon's alley. They spend the first 20 minutes learning Scratch programming and the rest of the time building Legos with a theme/challenge. One of the dads is a programmer and teaches the Scratch part, and the mom who runs it does the Lego part.

The whole time the dad was talking and explaining what they could do with Scratch, Simon could barely even stay in his chair, he was so excited. He finally blurted out, "I can make a GAME with this!!! Like MINECRAFT!!!"

It was really neat to see him among kids who are like him.... none of them really play sports... they were all SUPER into this programming thing and just wanted to talk about Minecraft and Terraria (which is a game Simon doesn't even know about yet!) During the Lego building part, they all got a little off track, but all in the same way... building robots and armies. The mom let it go because they were having so much fun.

I realized that I think this is the first time ever I have seen Simon really fit in with a group....

To say he loved it would be an understatement. He came home and spent the rest of the evening working on Scratch and basically had it all figured out by the time he went to bed.

Came home from that.... dinner. Simon played Scratch the rest of the evening and Jonathan joined in. (we are seriously needing another laptop around here these days.... I hate sharing my computer!!) Ben happily did some homework he had left.

And this morning we have a delay (and possible closure) for ice! YAY! (no, seriouslly YAY! I am still in jammies!) ;)

First Snow Delay of the School Year!

We have 1/8" of snow on the ground currently at 7a.m. Schools have closed and that is a-okay with me! Delays are disruptive and hard to manage around here.

In other news, everyone transitioned back to school nicely yesterday. Poor Simon though... oh man. (I KNEW this was going to happen).... so I reminded him he had cello after school yesterday when I dropped him off.  There were two things working against him remembering this -- 1) He usually has cello BEFORE school... this was a makeup lesson.  and 2) He did not yet HAVE his cello in his possession because the teacher collects them at the end of every quarter, so he wasn't reminded by that.

Anyway, so I went and got Ben from school. Went home, puttered around the house. I had emailed Simon's teacher earlier in the day, though I knew I had waited too long and missed her lunch email-checking window.... I got an email from her around 4p.m. that said, "Uh oh. I didn't get this until now and he headed to the Parent Pickup Line when the bell rang." (3:50)  I replied, "That's okay... I'm sure if he went there and then didn't see me at the door, he remembered."

A few more minutes went by and I thought that perhaps I should call the office and just double check that he figured it out.

My hand was ON THE PHONE when it rang.... and it was school..... the receptionist says, "MRs. Graff? I have Simon here waiting patiently for you!"

(facepalm)  I had her just send him down to the music teacher's room.... poor kid. I felt so badly though that he thought I didn't show up that I really just wanted to go right up and get him. (that was always one of my anxieties as a kid... someone forgetting to pick me up)  I stuck it out. Went up to get him at 4:40 after the lesson and all was fine. He was completely unfazed. So whatever. But SHEESH.

Updates...

Fifth grade Take Two is going well. Ben loves every aspect of it. His list why gets longer by the day! He says the classes are all more interesting, and they do all kinds of in-class projects and hands-on experiments. Lots of opportunities for moving around. There is more freedom.... he especially likes that on the rainy days when they have to have indoor recess, they can choose what they want to do -- whether they want to play board games in their classroom, go over to the other fifth grade room and do something different or even go to the gym and play! (he chose the gym last week) ;)

So far everyone seems nice. There are a couple boys he talks about more than others and says he sits with the same group at lunch every day. :)

The most amazing thing to me, is that his attitude about school changed almost overnight. He brought home some graded classroom last week and the difference in his effort, neatness, etc was night and day.   It's something I had hoped would happen but did not expect to see so quickly.

There are little things I love about it.... like that the daily homework is on the fifth grade website, along with any papers that are needed. Spelling words are there, vocabulary words, test information.... everything.  There was a slip that needed to be signed about an upcoming science test, the document was linked on the website.... Ben didn't have to remember to bring it home.  The website/homework thing is SUCH an easy, simple thing to do.... and makes a world of difference for a kid like Ben.

Anyway, so we are off to a good start there. :)

Simon.... Simon is doing well! He just finished up his second round of cello lessons through school and starts a new one next week. (they go by quarter) He made progress despite me being truly AWFUL about making him practice. Yesterday, he spent part of the day picking out all of his cello songs on the piano.  He has an ear for music, for sure.... I did discover that the instrumental music teacher has not actually been teaching them to read music.  Now, I KNOW Simon could pick this up reading music quickly....  that's the kind of thing he's really good at!  So over Christmas break, my plan is start working on this with him because I think once he can read the notes on the page, he'll really take off.  I got the level 1 piano book I used when I was a little kid and thought we'd just start it and see how it goes.

Schoolwise, he is doing well. We have an IEP team meeting coming up Wednesday and I don't think there is a whole lot that needs to be said. He has hit a groove this year. :)

He and Jonathan have become the best of friends. They play together constantly. This drives Ben insane. He feels like he has no one here at home to play with because the two of them have their dress-up/pretend games they play all the time and Ben wants someone to play sports with. I need to do better about inviting kids from school over. I say this all the time but life is just so busy.... and time keeps getting away from us. :(

Jonathan is loving his standing extended day at preschool! I may even add a second one after Christmas. We just dropped his group that he was doing through the county in favor of the teacher coming to his regular preschool more often to work with him. He had lost all of his same-age peers there to preschool placements and was left with two young 3s who didn't speak much English and another who was more like him but socially where he was a year and a half ago. The teacher's supervisor came to observe the group and thought Jonathan was the "typical" peer placed there to be a model for the other kids.  We enjoyed going, but the teacher and I agreed he wasn't getting much out of it at this point and the time would be better spent at preschool and maybe doing another activity on Tuesdays and Thursdays in its place.... so I'm looking into swim lessons or gymnastics.... library storytimes.... that sort of thing.  He just needs to spend as much time as possible with socially typical peers. He's doing SO well.... and things are a hundred times better than they were last year, but the more social stuff he gets now, the better.

I didn't do a post about Thanksgiving.... but we hosted it here and it was good. I feel more comfortable with that now and it's actually almost easier to just have it here. My sister-in-law and I do it as a team and it just works. The kids had a blast, we hardly saw them all day. The food was great and we all survived. ;)

So that's about it for now! I have a goal to do a post a day this week... hold me to it! :)

Hello, Cello!

Simon is two weeks into the cello lessons at school and he LOVES it. He saws away on that thing up in his room for an hour at a time only to come back to it an hour later and play some more.  He will play one note over and over again in the rhythm of a song -- "Listen! I'm playing 'Let it Go' from Frozen!!" ;) Cracks me up. 

So far in class, they have only learned pizzicato (plucking the strings), so I am making him practice that too. 

He didn't bat an eye when I told him it was time to go the first week. Up to school we went and I walked him in. He ran right into the unfamiliar classroom with the teacher he didn't really know and sat right down like he had been doing it all year long. LOL! This kind of thing continually surprises me with Simon because his big brother would do no such thing.  I should stop being surprised and just go with it, but I truly may never get used to this difference in my kids. HA!

He came out of the parent pickup line that day with his cello and he was beaming from ear to ear.

Came right home and posed for this picture. 

There was a bit of a mixup with his book, where the teacher thought he gave him one and Simon just assumed that was true and he had lost it (poor kid, how sad that he just assumed that!!). In actuality he never got one. But we have straightened that out now and he is in possession of both cello and book. ;) 

I'm excited for him to learn how to hold the bow and play a couple little songs. They have a recital in June and I think it's going to be adorable. His little class is basically all first graders,  maybe a couple of second graders, which is SO cute. There are two other cellos and the rest violins. :)

If he really likes it, I was thinking of signing him up for lessons over the summer at the music store near our house. So we'll see.... :) Otherwise, school will offer lessons again starting in the fall. 

Will this be his thing? I'm hoping so! :)