Recitals, Festivals, and Baseball Games

The violin recitals are over for the semester and it is always a bittersweet experience.  While it is nice to have a break from violin, it is always sad when another year has ended.  Violin has become a daily (almost daily) ritual in the lives of these children.  For the boys, hardly a day goes by that they do not pick up their violins at home, at school, or at lessons.  Taking a few photos with their violin teacher each year provides a sweet memory for the future.



Well....... a few photos pre and post concert are nice to have if you can get a child to stand still long enough.



And sometimes you just have to sneak a photo when you can....while hiding behind a post.  I take some cute photos that way.



Once in a while I do take pictures while a child is performing, but I have never been the Mama or the Grandma that walks right to the stage and snaps a picture.  I try to be very discreet and I am truly very good at hiding behind something or someone to get a photo.  And although I do take pictures of school festivals (especially the May Fair), I never ever take pictures during a school performance.



I have to admit that I take advantage of the non school activities where I feel comfortable taking a few pictures from my various hiding places.  As another year of violin comes to a close, I know that music will dwell in our souls as we listen to the waves wash up to the shore, as we listen to the birds sing, and as we listen to the voices of the children playing outside.  Alfred, Lord Tennyson writes it so well.........

"Let knowledge grow from more to more
But more of reverence in us dwell;
That mind and soul according well,
May make one music as before". 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

A favorite Nursery Rhyme..."Mistress Mary, Quite Contrary"...... how many times have I recited that poem to my children and grand children?  Anyone who has ever tended a garden has a heart felt respect for that sweet four line Mother Goose poem.  Every Spring, the words to that rhyme run silently through my head as we plant our annuals around the border of our perennial gardens.  Our son-in-law has patiently and lovingly tended to our gardens....trimming, weeding, thinning, and adding plants.  Now, pots are uncovered and shepherd hooks are waiting.





The flats of annuals have been delivered and will soon be planted.  The baskets will be unwrapped and hung.





And while I am planting, I will think of Mistress Mary and her pretty maids all in a row.

Popcorn, Peanuts, And Cracker Jacks.

You bet.....that's what baseball is all about.  And here at Three-stories, if you aren't talking about ballet and violin recitals, you're talking about baseball....all the way.  As soon as the temperature hits 50 degrees on an early Spring day, the balls, gloves, bats, and baseball shoes come out of hiding.  Little league games and practices commence, statistics are checked and memorized, small talk revolves around baseball, and the park down the street is sometimes the very first stop after school.



With a house full of cousins, it only takes two or three little athletes for a pick-up baseball game after school.  You just can't get enough of the pitching, catching or batting practices.



I walked the children to the park last week......and I had the pleasure of watching and listening as the boys made their rules for the afternoon game.  Rules change depending on how many players there are, and fields change depending on where there is room to play a game.  The rules were set up quickly and concisely so that the players didn't waste any game time.



I was most impressed when our youngest grandson hit a homer and took a few ballet leaps between each base.  Might I add that he looked elegant?  I know.....it's baseball not ballet, but the fact that he was able to combine the two "b"s  (baseball and ballet) and that his cousins expected him to run the bases with a little extra panache, told a story all of it's own.  We're a very different and diverse family......we do things differently.......and the community effort really pays off.  Go team!!!!!

Heart Filled With Dandelions

As our frigid Spring warms up a bit, and the sun finally shines again, the first bloom to pop out of the ground is the soft little dandelion.  Yes it is invasive, but the bright yellow stands out vibrantly against the Winter remnants of the otherwise drab landscape.



As the County parks decide not to spray weeds, and more and more families refuse to put chemicals on their lawns, the dandelions are claiming a "come back".  Each Spring, there are more and more sprinkles of little yellow flowers, and what frame of reference forces us to view the dandelion so much differently from the daffodil?



When my children were young, I couldn't wait for that very first bunch of dandelions to arrive in the house via a pair of very small hands.  It was always accompanied by bright eyes and big smiles and the bouquet was a gift straight from the heart.  It was a rite of passage from Winter to Spring, and it was a Springtime ritual that we never missed.  Last evening while I was cooking (Wednesday Night Dinner), Liz took six children outside to play in the beautiful weather that has been so sparse around here lately.

To my surprise, as little footsteps became louder and two little girls skipped into the kitchen, I was presented with a gift from the heart.  Bunches of dandelions were given to me for the Wednesday Night dinner table.
Delightful!



We scurried to find vases.......filled them with water.......and set the table.  It could not have been a more beautiful flower arrangement for our weekly dinner together.







Ahh yes, beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder and I am warmed through and through by how I view beauty.

The Secret Garden

Every child (I would like to think) has spent many a bedtime hours being read to.....and what better book to read before bed than The Secret Garden.  I grew up with an old hardcover copy in my bookshelf next to my bed.  When I wasn't in the mood to start a new book, I reached for The Secret Garden.

Written by Frances Hodgson Burnett and published in 1911, The Secret Garden is the story of the redemption of two miserable and sad children.  Full of metaphors for adults, and wound with an exciting plot for children, the story is about the restoration of not only a garden, but of two small souls.

I began reading this book to my children when they were about five years old, and it fills my heart to hear that my own children have read this book to their young children.....not once, but many times.



As gardening season approaches and our son-in-law begins pruning, seeding, and mulching, my mind is full of day dreams, of quiet times spent in our own small secret courtyard garden.  There needn't be much space, or loads of sun.  Almost any small corner can be turned into a tiny garden where books are read, dinner is served, and respite is found.  Every soul needs a sanctuary.



"When you have a Garden, you have a Future, and when you have a Future, you are Alive".
                                           Frances Hodgson Burnett

Eat Those Nuts

For years we have been reading about the health benefits derived from eating nuts.  Nuts have been my savior for years.  Most nuts are high in protein, low in fat (if consumed a small handful at a time), good for our brains, digestion systems, and can provide us with an immediate energy boost.  Good to note.....while some nuts have a higher fat content, it is a misconception that consuming nuts leads to a weight gain.

I pack a snack bag with nuts in the morning and carry them in my purse.  When I feel the least bit hungry, I eat just a few.....it doesn't take a large quantity of nuts to feel the instant benefit they give to our bodies.  Filled with iron, calcium, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and folates, it's a win/win for everyone who does not suffer from nut allergies.



My weekly varieties are; Brazil nuts, almonds (whole roasted and also raw unsalted slivered for baking and salads), cashew trail mix, and lightly salted sunflower seeds.  I read an article recently that boasted, "a chemical phenylalanine, found in almonds, can alter our mood and cognitive function.  Since it is easily absorbed into the brain, this chemical starts acting immediately to produce hormonal chemicals adrenaline and dopamine.  Studies show that these hormones relax the body and boost brain function.  Students will greatly benefit from consuming almonds for concentration".  

I toss a handful of nuts into my granola in the morning and I do not feel hungry again all day.  I store all of my nuts in Mason jars and keep them on the kitchen counter.  Try eating some nuts for a week and see how much better you feel.

Stair Sitting

When I snapped this photo it made me think of a Robert Louis Stevenson poem.  I am never far away from my favorite book......."A Child's Garden Of Verses", and although I cannot recite all of the poems from memory, I am quite familiar with the first lines from many of them.

We have seven different flights of stairs in this old house and the stairways are great places for children to hide, to read books, or play games.

We built a ship upon the stairs
All made of the back bedroom chairs,
And filled it full of sofa pillows
To go a-sailing on the billows.

We sailed along for days and days
And had the very best of plays;
But one fell down and hurt his knee,
So there was no one left but me.



Stair sitting = a place to talk....to think....to dream.