Wednesday at the Park

Wednesday midday, Anne and I hung out at the park.  We did less hiking and more playing.  Actually, she did more playing and I did more lying on the grass.

But first we had a look at the ducks, and Anne helped some picnic-ers to feed them.  She sees children and says, "Kids!  I can play with them?"  And of course, I always tell her she may ask if she can play with them.

There are two types of black berries here.  I learned from my father-in-law last weekend that these smaller, sweeter, less seedy ones are the wild variety.  These are obviously quite far from ripe.

I don't know what this tree is, but it is beautiful.

A Tuesday Victory

In my last post, I expressed some concern about making it through Tuesday, teaching nine lessons on Fox Island with Anne in tow, while Jared is out of town.  I would like to report, that by God's grace, it worked out quite fantastically.  I almost can't believe it.  A lot of prayer went into the day, and I was amazed at how I got help moment by moment to help meet Anne's needs in a way that would also allow me to meet the students' needs and keep my own head on straight.

...And it started with my waking up and thinking, "The alarm should have gone off by now."  So I checked, and sure enough, the alarm was an hour overdue, and there was no clear evidence as to the reason for its failure.  Nonetheless, we made it to the island early enough to start the stint with a half hour on the beach, and we didn't forget anything we really needed.  We had: violin, teaching bag, breakfast and lunch and snacks, Ergo and stroller and comforter and Sister Bear and potty and hats, shovels and bucket, plus a basket with all of Anne's blocks and her tiny backhoes and her tiny baby doll and her crayons and coloring book and her box violin and cello and bow and foot chart and singing and rhythm cards, and two books.  The biggest victory, though, was getting her down for a nap in the stroller and parked with the comforter over it and back in the teaching room in 23 minutes flat, and then having her remember when she woke up that I told her she wouldn't nurse after her nap (although she ALWAYS does), but would ride in the Ergo on my back until the pre-Twinkle lessons were over, and she did it without complaining or crying or fussing.  That's where I could only do so much and hope, and things went smashingly.  Thank you Lord!

We went to bed a rather long time ago this evening, now, but I couldn't sleep.  Not for any apparently good reason.  This seems to happen several times a month - sometimes two or three nights in a row, and sometimes once every couple of weeks.  So I got up to read, and discovered that I'd left a burner on the stove going several hours ago.  Glad I found that before morning!

I picked up The Desire of Ages and was reading where I left off yesterday, and although I've read the chapter about the Sermon on the Mount within the last couple of months, this one passage really struck me tonight:

"Blessed are the meek."  The difficulties we have to encounter may be very much lessened by that meekness which hides itself in Christ.  If we possess the humility of our Master, we shall rise above the slights, the rebuffs, the annoyances, to which we are daily exposed, and they will cease to cast a gloom over the spirit.  The highest evidence of nobility in a Christian is self-control.  He who under abuse or cruelty fails to maintain a calm and trustful spirit robs God of His right to reveal in him His own perfection of character.  Lowliness of heart is the strength that gives victory to the followers of Christ; it is the token of their connection with the courts above.

I want that meekness.  I want to be unfazed by irritations, not because they are not irritating, but because I have my gaze on Someone whose life is so much greater.  I want to control my passions so as to bring Him honor.  I want to know His love and walk in His ways above all else.

And now, I shall try again to sleep.

A Week of Dad

We got my dad up here for eight full days.  I thought about it, and I'm not sure any of us have ever had just Dad for more than a day, or maybe two.  So it was a new experience for me, nearly 35 years into my career as "daughter".  This week was selected, because Wednesday through Friday, Jared and I were teaching at a Suzuki workshop in Tacoma, and we needed babysitting.  We also taught a nice pile of other lessons, and had our usual group class at Mrs. Knight's house.  Jeff and Linda, were, of course, working during the week, too, so Anne and Granddaddy got to hang out quite a lot.

Sunday after half of the family went to Mass, we met up at the Museum of Flight.

Looking at landing gear

She was very concerned, because "He took off his head."

Walked through the 787 Dreamliner

Jeff points out the stresses on these foldable wings.

This gravity well demonstration was Anne's very favorite part of the museum.

My dad picked out two souvenirs for Anne at the museum gift shop: a T-shirt with planets and the Space Shuttle on it, and Richard Scary's book A Day at the Airport.  She wanted to wear the shirt immediately, and she also asked to read the book about four times.

Jeff's turn to read it...

Monday, we just sort of hung around the apartment and went for a walk and taught lessons, and Dad and Anne both took a nap on the bed.

Tuesday was Jared's and my ninth wedding anniversary.  We decided to go on a walk sans bebe, so she and my dad stayed home and fixed our screen door.  There is no longer a cat sized hole in it, and it locks, so that cats can't pry it open.

We explored a little at our favorite park, and looked around a barn we didn't realize was on the property.

 Daisies

Collecting some grasses

Apples

We almost got both of ourselves in the photo.  We do not own a selfie stick.  (And I'm not asking for one for Christmas.)

 Hawk on barn 

Hawk takes off

In flight

This is what I did with the grasses I collected.

Later in the day, we all four went to dinner at Curry and Kabob, a favorite Indian restaurant nearby.  I also made a dessert recipe I'd been wanting to try for a year called Ginger Ale Kanten with Mandarin Oranges.  It was yummy.

Dad and Anne came and met us in Tacoma on Wednesday at the end of the workshop day and headed over to Fox Island with us, where they kayaked on the Sound and dug on the beach while I taught lessons.  Lucky people!

When we got back from Tacoma on Thursday, what we found became the subject of the best photo of the week:

The rest of Thursday was lessons at home, group class at Anita's, microwaved dinner back home with Jeff and Linda. 

Friday passed with Tacoma and my sending out the fall teaching schedule to our students.  Deposits are due next week to hold their lesson times.  Friday evening is when things got really fun.  Grandma and Papa arrived, and it was the first time in Anne's short life that she had grandparents on both sides present.  Linda came up too, and we took our chairs out in the yard and ate dinner.  

Saturday Jared and Anne and my dad and Jared's parents and I all went to church, and after lunch we went on a long walk to the park and back.  Anne wanted to build blocks with the grandfathers.  She ended up calling Jaja on one of the blocks which looked to her like a smart phone, and the engineers built and chatted.

The unfortunate reason for Jared's parents to visit was that they were snatching him away for a week to teach at the Institute in Eugene.  So Anne and I are flying solo.  Today we had six lessons (the seventh was cancelled), and did just fine.  I'm more worried about tomorrow.  We have nine lessons on Fox Island with only three half hour breaks.  One to play and eat lunch.  One to get her down for a nap in the stroller.  One to play and have a post-nap snack.  Long day of parent business for a little girl.

So after they left, Jeff and Linda and my dad came with pizza from a favorite pizza place, and we variously hung around, read, went on walks, and took naps before eating dessert.

Sunday morning, half the family went to Mass while Anne and I cleaned out and scrubbed the fridge.  It was a gruesome job, but it was on the next-actions list and needed to get done.  Anne and I shrieked in horror while performing the task but came up with this:

Afterward, we went by Staples and picked up our bookends which had come in.  Two of our surfaces are covered with music in piles.  Or were.  Now they are short book shelves.  And we met everyone at Curry and Kabob for round two.  And then Anne and I stopped by an open house at a town house development near us.  Except for the fact we can't afford it and have signed our lease for another year, it was perfect.  Just the right size with an excellent floor plan for our needs of two teaching studios with enough parking for two extra cars.  And the next door neighbor, who is the realtor, has two kids close to Anne's age, and grew up playing violin and a little cello.  Anyway, it's fun to look around and see what's out there.

After nap time we had planned a family trip to the beach, but on my way down the hill to pick everyone up, it started raining.  So instead we stayed at Jeff and Linda's, cooked dinner, and saw a slide show of my dad's recent trip to South Korea.  When it cleared up, we walked over to their development's playground.

Afterward, Anne and I dropped off Dad at the airport for his redeye home, and started a week of managing ourselves alone.

A few of the better moments of the week

Anyway... those which were caught on camera:

Jared keeps around tiny hair clips for cello bows.  We were actually able to get two into Anne's hair for a few minutes.

I hope this is tiny enough to be anonymous.  Anne played outside with neighbors from our building.

When Anne came stumbling out of the bedroom one morning, I was reading the book on the lower left.  She wanted to see the pictures, so we looked at Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well.  Then we found John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness.  She asked to read that one in her Bible, but the only one we found was John baptizing Jesus.  So we read that, and also found the picture in my book of the event, and then we pulled down Jared's baptism photograph from the wall.

She requested to wear something from GG, so we put on her "cow" outfit for the park.

Anne was wearing Jared's old shoes to watch Joshua Roman play Popper 27 "really fast."