Live Free

Living is easy.

This was us, this morning sitting on the front porch stoop. With not a one single plan for the day. Just sipping on smoothies. And singing.

Summertime and the living is easy.

Fish are jumping and the cotton is high.

Your daddy's rich and your mama's good looking.

So hush pretty baby don't you cry.

One of these mornings you're gonna rise up singing.

You'll spread your wings and take to the sky.

But 'til that morning, there's nothing can harm you.

With daddy and mama standing by...

Yup. My girl is singing the blues these days. For real. She's good too. Watch out.   

Now go on, plop yourself in front of a fan with a tall glass of lemonade and press play. The dog days of summer have arrived.  

 

  

 

to communicate

One day, when Bea was just a wee, little babe, my great friend and I were visiting and doting on our baby girls.  She, an experienced mother of three, said to me something that I never forgot. She told me how much she loved her children as babies.  Babies ARE lovely and precious and divine as can be. But she said the love and connection only deepened between her and her children as they grew.  And that nothing compared to being able to communicate verbally with her children.

Huh...I was skeptical.  Here I was, holding the most precious, the most gorgeous, the most perfect little being. And she was telling me that, for her, the best had yet to come.  

Intellectually, I could grasp what she was saying. Being a Montessori teacher, I had the opportunity to witness the growth of little children for the three years that they stayed in the primary environment. I knew the wonder.  I knew the potential. I knew that growth of human life was full of good stuff.  But I also knew that the ability to speak meant that they could talk. And that the talking would never stop. Sigh.  

No, 18 months ago, I was as in love as can be with my non-verbal, adorable, sweet, happy, smiley babe. "Better than this?" I questioned. I wasn't ready to believe it! Yet, these days, as I listen to Beatrix explode into spoken language - I hear Kristie's words in my head and I smile to myself.  This must be what she was talking about.  This is so incredibly good.  

I've been documenting a year of good things with Stephinie's flickr group and today as I was listening to her sing through her day, I couldn't help but feel so very happy for these sweet little moments.

Some of her favorite lines from songs that make my heart melt, melt, melt:

1.  wash, wash, wash your hands.

2. merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily.  

3. erika, erika, erika, erika. stella, stella, stella.  Proceeds to sing all her friends' names from school in her cute little toddler Beatrix accent.  

4.  ashes, ashes all fall down.

5. one, two buckle shoe. three five...

6. hokey pokey!   

 

Give Away Bliss

When I was just a girl, there were two things that I wanted desperately:  a trip to Disney World and a piano. Guess what?  Those wants never materialized. I write this without an ounce of self-pity too. Even young children can learn from the valuable life lesson that we don't always get everything we want in life. Years, no decades, have trickled by. And despite all the hoopla that the grand amusement park experience promises, I now firmly have no desire to ever visit it. What was the 8 year old me thinking anyway?  Oh, I just liked Mickey Mouse, I guess. 

The piano...has a different ending, sort of. 

My mom cleaned houses for a living when I was a little girl. When school was out or when I was sick, I'd sometimes tag along with her to other people's houses. My favorite houses were the ones that had cable tv (Disney Chanel) and a piano. A couple of them had this perfect combination. 

I took lessons for a bit as a child. But I stopped because I didn't have a piano to practice on. Still, I always loved the piano and the idea of playing it. Somewhere inside of me, I've always regretted not continuing with the lessons. Really, I just loved music.  I loved playing my clarinet in the band. I even got a guitar for Christmas one year. In the end, though, I just dabbled. Adolescent and teenage years got in the way. I got bored with my teachers. And since then, I've never, ever considered myself a musician or musically inclined or whatever.  My musical interest disappeared - or I buried it. 

And then Bea came around and reminded me of a few things about myself I'd long forgotten. Even though I'm not a great singer and I am sure that I'll never master a musical instrument, she reminded me how much I still just love the act of music.  She is never more in her element than when we are singing or dancing together. In fact when she was just a few months old, I can remember driving around town and glancing back at her through the rear view mirror - dancing, oftentimes with rhythm, to the tunes on the radio. She's still something to see. Music, to her, is a force that can not be ignored. Each time we've entered a room with a piano, she's gravitated so strongly to it - climbing up on the bench, and touching and pressing keys with such interest and joy!  She's reminded me of how much I loved to do the same thing when I was a child.  

Thus, the last couple of months we've had our eye for the perfect piano for our needs, our house, and our budget. Last week, a post came up on Craigslist saying that the owner was moving and the first one to contact her could have her piano. We have a piano in our living room now.  I polished it today. It's lovely.  

Another wonderful thrifted gem to add to our home.  

 

 

Under the Big Chestnut Tree

Once again, my love for, what seems to be, all things Japanese is reaffirmed.

I came to love Japanese children's songs during my three years of teaching at Casa Montessori. Charlene, the founder of Casa and a wonderful, wonderful, mentor and Montessorian, lived in Japan for several years before coming home to Texas. She's one of those gifted teachers that children remember for their entire lives.  Music time with Mrs. Trochta is something children of all ages never want to miss out on! She really opened my world up to sharing music with children. While teaching there, I learned several little Japanese folk songs through music with Mrs. Trochta! And I loved them all - seriously. True to Japanese culture, even the children's songs are composed with such delicacy and care, while all the while, being utterly simple. Perfection.

It's fascinating to witness children learn lyrics from different languages with as much ease as they learn the English ones. I, on the other hand, have a boring, adult brain that has lost its ability to absorb languages with ease. So it's always a real effort to learn new lyrics in a foreign language. But nothing is as motivating as a sweet little song about playing under a chestnut tree.  

Then three years post Casa (can it really be that long?) along comes Elizabeth Mitchell's new album and I fall in love with Japanese children's songs all over again... 

 

Isn't this video the sweetest...

What are you listening to? 

Happpiness Is...

Happiness is this song.  

Especially since the girls featured sweet NOLA in their video.  As part of an end of the year gift, one of my now former student's mama copied one of her boy's favorite CD mixes from when he was Bea's age. Aw...that's sweet. And it's so good!  Bea loves, loves his mix. And we're really, really obsessed with this song! 

30 Days of Summer- Day 3 - I Like Balloons

Bea loves balloons lately. Really, nothing gets her as excited as a simple helium balloon (unless there's a chicken or bird in sight). One of our grocery stores around here offer complimentary balloons for the little ones. So you can imagine her gasp and smile when she gets carted into the entrance only to receive her special treat for being such a good patron. 

When daddy made a trip to the grocery store without her, he thought of her still and brought home a single, red, balloon.  I love how she loves the simple things in life.  

L taught us the sweetest balloon song a couple of weeks ago at The Natural Child. We've been singing it ever since! Imagine that - Bea humming and swaying to this.