It's Only Thursday?!

I am in the midst of the longest. week. ever. I know you think I'm exaggerating, but that is really what it feels like. You know, the feeling when you're so exhausted that it almost feels like you're NOT exhausted?? Sigh. Yep. (Update: at 6:45 tonight I was practically asleep on my feet, so please disregard the above sentence about not being exhausted. ZZZZzzzz...)

My mornings have been starting at 2am, sometimes 5 (which is my usual wake up time, but preferably by an alarm clock), but today the day started at 3:30am. YES, 3:30am. Nothing can wake a person from their sleep faster than a screaming child. It is one of the worst ways to wake up, but obviously, the child is crying for a reason, so you have to feel a bit bad, right?

And so, that is how my day started. My poor little bug was crying in her crib at 2:30. Being the nice wife I am, and wanting to let my husband sleep, I took Chloe out to the couch and we settled down on some nice comfy pillows and a blanket. Do you think she fell back to sleep? One guess! If she wasn't so stinkin' cute, I may have wanted to cry or throw things. I had to kiss her little face when she lifted her head off of my chest and looked at me.

"Hi, mom mom!" she chirped, as the clock rounded 4am.
"Hi, Chloe. It's very late. Time to go to sleep." She settled her head back down and continued to be restless.

Right before 5am, I turned the alarm off on my phone, and I listened to the sound of the coffee pot turning on to brew. I listened to the drip of the liquid into the pot. I listened to the four beeps which signaled the coffee is now done.

"Cosseeeee!(coffeeeee)" she says, and jumps off the couch. Oh boy. She hightails it into my bedroom where my husband is still awake and climbs into bed with him. They snuggle with each other as I go in to get my cup of coffee. My day has now officially begun. About twenty minutes later, I walk back into the room to get a shirt, and there I see her. All her cuteness is laid out on my side of the bed; legs sprawled out, arms flung wide, and she is snoring deeply. Sigh. I smile to myself, turn around, and go back to the couch to enjoy my few minutes of silence.

Learning The Piano

I'm going to teach myself to play the piano. That's what I said to myself two years ago. I told my husband I wanted an electric keyboard and a Piano For Dummies book. I was diving head-first into piano playing. Christmas came, and I received this giant box from my husband. Wouldn't you know it...it was an electric keyboard. What a guy! Not only did I get a keyboard (top of the line, I might add!), but I also got my Dummies book, an awesome pair of noise cancelling headphones, and little stickers to label the keys. I got the works! I was all set and ready to become the next Billy Joel...or something.

I never taught myself how to play the piano. About a week after Christmas I discovered I was pregnant! YAYYYYYYY! Boy, did that put things on hold. haha. But in a good way, of course! It seemed to take over my life, and every part of my day, and before I knew it, it was 9 months later and I had a daughter. I never did get to sit down to the keyboard and try to play. I read my Dummies book when I could, but who would have time for that while pregnant or afterwards?!

I'm going to teach myself to play the piano - 19 months later. I'm really doing it this time! The keyboard is all set up, and I even did my first 30 minutes of practice tonight. And by practice I mean, writing down musical notes on sheet music and practicing the notes. Very, very slooooowly. But I imagine that's how everyone starts out. So here I am, very excited to try again tomorrow after reading more of my book. I'm sure I'd benefit better from some professional lessons, but that's not in the cards right now. (Anybody out there give lessons??) I can't wait to be able to play songs for my daughter. She already loves touching the keys and making "music." It's a great age to be able to introduce her to musical instruments. :-)

See! I'm all set!

I Made It!

#SOL15

I did it! I honestly cannot believe I blogged for the entire month of March! This challenge has really made me hone in and focus on my day to day life and activities. I may have missed some great moments, or not have seen the little moments that were huge, had I not been thinking about this challenge each day. Hopefully I can keep up my writing streak!  :-)

Why I Love What I Do

#SOL15

I love when a student comes up to me and expresses their love for writing or reading. It makes me feel really good about my job, and it also opens up a dialogue with the student about something I'm passionate about. 

Today we had school because we had to make up a snow day. I am officially on Spring Break, even though it doesn't feel like it yet! Despite the excitement of vacation in the air, the kids were really good today; more focused than I would've imagined. At the end of second period today, one of the students approached me.

"Mrs. Narvesen, I was wondering if you'd like to read the short story I've been working on?"

"Really? Of course!" I replied. 

"It's here in the notebook. Sorry, but it's kind of long. I've really been working on it. When I come back 4th period I'll bring you the artwork that goes with it."

My mouth dropped. This was awesome! I love that he wanted me to read his piece, and I love that he trusted me enough to see the unfinished product plus the art. I felt really touched that he asked me to read his story. He could have asked any of his teachers. Was it because we always talk about all my favorite authors? (Edgar Allan Poe, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King) Was it because we always talk about how much I love writing and how I write daily? I don't know what it was, but what I do know, is that this meant something to me. It was an amazing feeling to be trusted with something as personal as someone's creative writing. (And did I mention, they were doing this all for fun?! It's not a class project or an assignment. They're writing and drawing because they love to. Wild!)

I started reading right after he gave it to me. I read it straight through my free period. His story turned out to be 13 pages long. Quite a large feat for a 7th grader! I was impressed! I gave it back to him when he returned. I told him everything I loved about it, and I told him I would love to read the final product. He even showed me the monster drawing that goes with the story, and I have to say, that was also truly amazing.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this. There are some great students in the building where I teach. I'm so fortunate to know a lot of them. It's days like this that reaffirm why I chose my profession and why being passionate about reading and writing is such a huge part of my life. I hope this boy continues his passion and runs with it. The encouragement of teachers and people in his life will make him the amazing writer he aspires to be.

Little Talks

#SOL15

Today my 18th month old daughter finally said love you! She didn't originally say it to me, She said it to our virtual cat named Cooper. It's a game we play on my tablet. I wrote a post about Cooper several weeks ago. She just loves this game! But either way, this was a huge bright spot in my day! I asked her to say it a few more times, and she did say it every now and then. We'll have to work on it more, but really...it's the most amazing thing I've heard in a long time.

Saturday Night Dinner Prep

#SOL15

It's Saturday night again. The week flew by! But this is another weekend for me to try and make a nice meal and create a nice family dinner. Tonight we had medium rare London Broil, avocado salsa (don't get excited...it's basically just chunky guacamole. haha. But it's awesome with steak!), homemade mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli.

Sometimes I try and keep Chloe out of the kitchen when I'm cooking because the oven is on or I'm doing too many things. Many of you moms know this is not always possible. Tonight was one of those days. She started crying and wanting to come in. She got so upset, so when she finally did come in, she just wanted to be held. I was making mashed potatoes and wasn't sure how I'd finish with only one hand. I pulled over a small stool, threw the rest of the ingredients in the bowl, and put the bowl on the stool. I told her to help me cook.

"Cook. I cook," she told me, as she put her hand above mine on the spoon. I slowly mixed the potatoes in the bowl and watched her start to smile. We did this a few more times. She took the spoon out a couple times, and some potatoes went flying, but it was nothing major. Plenty left! After a few minutes, I gave her a taste. "MMMmmmm." She expresses pleasure when she likes food these days. She makes a yummy noise. It always reminds me of the dessert scene from Young Frankenstein. lol. She's too cute.

I made up her dinner plate, giving her a small scoop of potatoes she cooked, and she ate it all! I even gave her a second helping and she ate that too. The whole time she kept making all different mmmmm sounds and telling my husband she cooked the potatoes. It was so cute! I couldn't help but wonder if she ate it all because she cooked it and knew that, or did she eat it all because they really were delicious? (I'll admit, they were pretty awesome tonight.) I guess there really is something to having kids help you cook in the kitchen because they are more apt to eat what they create.

Honestly, this SOL challenge has made me focus so much more on little bits in my daily life. I really never would have zoomed in on that moment or saw it for the precious gem it really is. I really want to bring her into the kitchen more often now and have her help me. Tomorrow is a new day, so I'll see what we can create together. :-)

Back To The Music Department

#SOL15

For the past two days I have had the pleasure of covering chorus classes for a friend of mine. I truly had the best time. The two chorus classes were 6th and 7th graders, and I have to say, I am so impressed with them! They sounded wonderful! It made me miss my days at GFMS singing in chorus or playing flute in the band. They harmonize together, use hand signals determining notes and pitch (something I wish I learned back in school!), and really just sound professional. It moved me so much, that I actually researched to see if there are any choirs for adults around our area. THERE IS! Unfortunately, my plate is full almost every night with work, tutoring, or my writing group. I can't spare another night out of the house during the week.

Maybe some day in the future I can pick up my passion for singing again. Right now, I'm pretty happy being able to follow my writing passion, so that's good enough for me. I still have the vocal warm ups and songs of the past few days stuck in my head. I'm sure I'll continue singing them around the house all weekend. Fine by me. I'll even belt out a couple notes in the shower or sing to my daughter. ;-) It may not be the choir I'm looking for, but it'll do for now.

**The link I share below is NOT the choral group from my school. The song Ah, Poor Bird is a warm up they do, and it has been stuck in my head for two days. It's beautiful, and I just want you to hear it. Enjoy!**