Chuck D & Mr. T

The Tick Tock Trio playing during their lesson with Mia. Charlie really has fun playing with Alvaro and Cacilda and Maria and I get a kick out of watching them. And despite protestations and time wasting tactics on the part of Charlie, I really like practicing with him for a half hour every morning. It is some one on one time and I love seeing him learn the music and hearing him play.

And I really like Levine. I have tried so any music classes with my children over the years. The actual guitar lessons are great but for Charlie’s age and the you get kids there needs to be more in place in terms of general music. Last year I developed a classical music class for kids with my friend-a musician who teaches Suzuki violin- Sandy Choi. The point was to take pieces like Peter and the Wolf, Carnival of the Animals, The Four Seasons and others and talk to the children about them to listen to how the different instruments and composition tell a story while they also learn te names and sounds of the instrument and the roles of those in an orchestra. I loved it but it was hard to hold all these classes in our house so hopefully now I can talk to Levine school about getting them to do them.

I love looking at the series of picture the kids all take when they use my phone. They are often really good and I’m so interested in how they “work”.

Starring in Dr Zivago and hanging up holiday lights.

As always it was totally heavenly having Greg, Carolyn, Hannah and Milly here. We hung out, had dinners, went to Union Market, ice skated, drank cocoa, practiced our Hanukka Talent singing Do Re Mi as the Von Trapps, giggled and played and played and played.

Teddy “Can you get me this Batman movie for my thirtieth birthday?”

Charlie “Who is the tallest person in the world?”
Teddy “God”
Charlie “God is fat and tall”
Definitely something to think about…

I feel so full of and warmed by the sentiment of thanks and gratefulness that I want to write about more things I am thankful for-all things. I hope the children will learn to find beauty, good and wonder everywhere and have this same deep sense of gratitude as it really does make me so happy and add so much to my lore
My children and husband
Everything in my life (even the annoying, difficult and not great stuff)
Every second of every day
My family and friends
Everyone I know
The smiles and pleasantries for the mail man, te pharmacist and other people around town who I interact with every day
The opportunity to exchange greetings with people on the sidewalk making me feel connected to the larger human race outside my circle of friends and family
Feeling connected to people across the world
Motherhood bringing me closer to an understanding of others and the universal motherhood
A deeper understanding of the human experience
Cold pumpkin pie (my favorite food)
Moo shu veggies ( my second favorite food)
Sparkling water
Clean water
Petting the dogs
The doggy smell of the dogs
The smell of the barn
Snow
Summer
Winter light
Dusk
Early morning
The rosemary plant in the kitchen
The orange plant and the jasmine plant
The view from our house
All the public and national parks
Knowing there are so many books to read
Museums
Running
Walking
My bike with the child seat on the back
Orange juice with ice
Snuggles from MJ
Hugs and kisses and love from the littles
My godchildren
All my young friends
All my old friends
Listening to Charlie play guitar
The sound of the leather of a saddle
The sound of walking over gravel
The sound of rain
Perfumes
Nail polish
Reading magazine
Beautiful clothes
Tea
The change of the seasons
The oceans
Martha’s Vineyard
Travel
Doing something correctly
Learning something new everyday
The opportunity to be kind to others
Laughing
Light hearted fiction
The softness of the dogs ears
Consoling a child and feeling them relax
Little greetings from my small friends at school
Teaching Roots of Empathy
Creative ideas from my friends
Technology even though I can’t use it well
Making up funny phrases
My texts with Colin and Carol
The ridiculous posts on many listservs
Every single thing my children do. All of it.
Watching my children’s laugh
Fabrics
Driving stick shift
Memories of childhood
My time with my grandparents
Rome
Yoga poses
Meditation apps
Podcasts
Pronouncing certain words, for instance “Pinocchio”
Holding my dog
Laughing at funny things
Hand cream
The smell of a fire

This is a tiny fraction of it all but everyday I think about so many things I’m thankful for and I even give thanks quietly for most things I do every day…I wish I had time to write them all down…

MJ, like The Georges Bush and every celebrity in NoVa, has his image on the wall of Peking* Inn Gourmet thanks to Greg

*
ALB “where was Peking Duck invented?”
Kids “China!!!”
I think it’s really important to teach children as much as we can because how else will they know? So whenever we talk about anything, food, whatever we learn as much as we can. So here goes the lessons on Peking, Beijing, Food, ducks…

Dog in a bag

T, S, N