Today we drove for a total of five hours for a two hour lunch. We were on four highways and a few back roads. Normally, on Memorial Day weekend, this would be the stuff for complaints but not today.

We drove to Old Saybrook, CT to celebrate a 70th wedding anniversary. And no, that is not a typo. Seven- zero. Seventy.

Rob’s grandparents celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary today by enjoying lunch at the water with their three children and their families. I’m just not sure how many people can claim to have attended a 70th wedding annivesary. Something makes me think not too many.

As if this event wasn’t special enough, there was a wedding taking place at the restaurant. As the bride posed for pictures, Rob’s grandmother walked right  up to her to tell her how wonderful it was that this day brought a new wedding beside a celebration of such a long marriage. This young bride felt so happy that she asked Great Grandma to pose in a picture with her. Most of the men with us were confused by what was going on but I can say not a female eye was dry.

How fitting it was to watch these two events side by side. To watch an old bride hug a young bride as if all her well wishes could be passed along in one hug. And lucky we all were to be there as this circle was being drawn right before us…

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Growing up, I had a piano teacher named Mr. Cooper. He was definitely the coolest dude I knew. We played show tunes and easy listening tunes and Christmas carols with the occasional piece of classical music thrown in for good measure. Fast foward to the present and we’ve had a piano sitting in our house for over three years now. The piano made sense when we bought it. Both Rob and I had grown up in houses with pianos and a room in our Richmond house had a wall that appeared created for the instrument. A few months after buying the piano, however, we moved to a much smaller house in New Jersey that was definitely lacking a piano wall. We have been squeezing past the piano in our crowded dining room ever since.

I’ve been asking the girls about piano for a long time waiting for them to be ready to begin the adventure. And then out of nowhere, seemingly, Caroline began asking to take guitar lessons. Rob had taken guitar for a short amount time as a child. Turns out his mom was trying (in vain) to engage him in an activity that didn’t require a ball or bat. Somehow, though, I didn’t think this was why Caroline was interested. Finally, I realized that her music teacher, a super fantastic woman, plays the guitar during class.  As soon as Katherine learned that Caroline would be taking guitar, she asked to take piano and the music lessons began in earnest at our house.

I haven’t been able to get a picture of Katherine and her teacher yet but the picture below shows Caroline hard at work with Sean, her version of Mr. Cooper. Sean is also a totally cool dude.

I’m still a bit on the fence about the whole experience. I don’t require the girls to  practice perhaps because my reading of the Tiger Mom book is still a bit too fresh. That being said though, they will both spontaneously begin playing- sometimes looking at their assigned pieces sometimes just playing. Both of their teachers agree that they are too young to be doing anything other than what they are doing.

At work now, we are rehashing the phonics vs whole language debate yet again. As I think about this conversation in relation to music, I can’t help but see the connection. The girls are learning, through exposure, not drill, how to read music. Katherine can name the notes and see when her hands should move up or down on the keys. Caroline is able to play chords both by heart and while looking at the notes. Are they perfecting the ins and outs of music? No. But are they learning love music? I just think they might be. For now, I will come down on the whole language side of music instruction. We’ll see how far it takes us…

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So maintaining two blogs does not seem to be working. Instead of writing twice as much, I am not writing at all.

Rob and I were away last week, and this picture was hanging in our room…

And I thought to myself that in order to make boring art, one must first make art. When I am writing both in my notebook and on my blog, I feel better, calmer, more myself. Often the art (writing in this case) is beyond boring but it is something.

I have tried to keep my blogs separate- one  about my  ‘family’ and one about my ‘work’. When I read back through my writing, though, I see that my life can not be separated in to clear, crisp categories and maybe this is why it’s been so hard to write.

So now I am going to combine my blogs in an attempt to make some  ‘not boring art’. Here goes…

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I’m really not sure what part of this picture I love more… Caroline is reading her book before she even gets out of bed for the day. And Katherine loves her ‘sissy’ so much these days that instead of getting up and starting her day, she is watching Caroline read. Now that’s a lot of love all the way around…

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I have never gotten too terribly excited about poetry. But thanks to my girls and Gotta Book, I seem to be embracing poetry month this year. Each day a great poem is landing in my in box and with it links to lots of other great poetry related wonders. This weekend, for example, the girls and I explored the most fabulous e-book, Poetry Tag Time. If you have a Kindle, Nook or iPad, the reading process is simple. Just go to iTunes and download this 99 cent treasure. If not, go to Gotta Book to learn how to download it to your computer.

In this clever book, 30 poets participate in a game of poetry tag. Each poet ends their poem with a quick comment in which they invite another poet to be ‘it’ in this ongoing game of tag. The poems are then all loosely or in some cases quite directly related to the one that precedes it.

I found the book impossible to put down as I waited to see how each poem connected to the one before it. Enjoy!

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I found inspiration to come back from my long and unannounced blog vacation thanks to one of my fellow kid lit bloggers, Gregory K. at GottaBook.

 He is hosting the 2011 edition of  30 Poets/30 Days  in which he will feature a previously unpublished poem (or two!) each day for the month of April.

I can’t think of a better way to expose our children to a little bit of poetry this month. I have already printed out today’s poem and have placed it by the spot where the girls will sit for breakfast.

If you want to do the same, check out Greg’s blog. And here’s today’s entry (by one of my favorite poets!) to get you going…

April is the Coolest Month
by Douglas Florian

It’s said April’s the cruelest month,
But I say it’s the coolest month.
The grass grows green.
The flowers bloom.
Most all the outdoor sports resume.
The weather warms.
The terns return.
On nature walks we talk and learn.
There’s no more ice.
There’s no more snow.
The creeks and brooks and rivers flow.
It’s time to fish
Or climb a tree.
It’s when we worship poetry.
And April’s when
Our tax is due.

Perhaps it is the cruelest, too.

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In a blog post, last week I talked about the power of inspiring instead of entertaining our children.

Amazingly, this weekend, my girls put my words into action. And I did nothing to set this up. We always have paper available. We always have markers available. And we always have magnifying glasses available. That was it. That was all the ‘planning’ that this ‘activity’ took. I didn’t ask the girls to do anything with these materials.

But at one point this weekend, I looked outside to this scene.

And then all this beautiful work turned into this book…

full of pages like this.

Now that’s inspiration!

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I am taking the most wonderful on-line class right now with Mariah Bruehl of Playful Learning.

Mariah has a blog, a brick and mortar location where she offers workshops and materials and an upcoming book.

I have taken many things from her class but as I am clearly having time management issues right now as I enter back into the world of elementary schools, I wanted to share just one simple thought that has been in my  mind daily.

I am not quoting directly but the meaning of Mariah’s words were that we should aim to inspire not entertain our children with the materials we provide for them.

So for today, think inspiration.

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I am thrilled to announce that I wrote an article for the latest edition of the fantastically wonderful Literacy Lava. Click here to read what I had to say about reading to siblings of different ages.

Susan Stephenson, the editor of Literacy Lava and blogger extraordinaire at The Book Chook  writes,

“Can you believe this is the eighth edition of Literacy Lava? Again it’s erupting with tips for parents and teachers, suggesting ideas for incorporating literacy and learning into our every day. We also have some new contributors this time, and lots of great ideas.

In this eighth edition, you’ll find suggestions for developing plot in Writing Tips for Kids, storytelling as a way to bring literacy front and centre in kids’ lives, how to get kids reading, how different aged siblings share read-aloud time, great tips for a toddler book club, ideas for encouraging creative thinking in children, and how to help kids collect words. As usual, there are nine great free online resources I recommend for reading writing and creating, and the Activity page for kids is a pencil and paper game called Categories.”

And as if mere publication weren’t enough, I received wonderful feedback from a super kidlit blogger, Jen Robinson. Her Literacy Roundup is always full of great recommendations and this time around, I was one of them! Click here to read what she had to say.

Happy Reading Everyone!

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In honor of  Nonfiction Monday, I thought I would write about Caroline’s latest reading love. Sports Illustrated for Kids.

When parents learn that the reading life they model for their children can have a direct impact on both their children’s reading skills and  their enjoyment, panic can appear. “But I only read magazines!” or “But my husband only reads the paper!” are phrases that I hear often.

If any of those parents had been hear to see my daughter devour her first issue of Sports Illustrated Kids this weekend, their worries would be gone. While Caroline reads books with the same excitement, I was thrilled to see her transfer her love of books, easily and swiftly to magazines. Books are certainly an important part of any reading diet,but so too are magazines. As with food, a reading diet should be varied. A little fiction, some nonfiction and poetry. Some books that are too easy and some that are just right. Adding magazines to Caroline’s repertoire is a perfect next step to establishing a truly well rounded reading diet.

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