Problem Solving Skills- Part Deux

Typical run-of-the-mill 17-month-old way of clearing your nasal passages:




More efficient method:





My kid's a genius!

Valentine Goodies

My nephew, Aidan, watched an episode of Caillou the other day about Valentine's Day. Caillou got a Valentine from his friend and Aidan got very excited and told his mother that he was going to get Valentines from his friends too. He is only 4 and doesn't go to school, so his mother told him he would get Valentines from grandparents and such, but he didn't have any friends. He started to cry.

The poor child is going to be traumatized. I made two cards from him, one from Zoe and one from Noah as well as a treat bag to put M&M's in. I plan to duplicate the treat bag for Noah's classmates.

Simplicity Part 2

I believe we are always being sent subtle messages but sadly our lives are so busy that we often don't recognize them. There are moments, though, when unmistakably, the universe is screaming at us to pay attention. I believe I am having one of those moments in my life. ( If you have not read my previous blog, Simple Gifts, please do so in order to understand this one)

Today, DJ took one of his CTO days he had accumulated for extra work he'd done. We went to lunch at Pei Wei and this is the message that was in my fortune cookie:

Simple Gifts

I was awakened this morning by sun beaming in my window. This was a welcome change as it has been dreary, cold and snowy/rainy for what seems like forever. I was already excited about today and had actually planned my day's activities around watching the inauguration. I had one of those zen-moment feelings that perhaps the weather was foretelling of better days ahead for our nation.

Now, let me jump a moment to my favorite composer- I promise I have a point. My favorite composer is Aaron Copland followed by #2 Percy Grainger. My love of Copland goes back to high school and maybe even junior high, I just can't remember the exact moment I fell in love with his work. Grainger came about reluctantly in college after sweet ole Barry pounded him in my head and eventually taught me an appreciation I had not seen before. I digress.

Before DJ and I got married, he knew I loved music and that I had previously been a music major and we had many conversations about music and pieces I liked as well as how music inspired me just like art inspires him. He knew of my favorite composers and when he flew home for our wedding, he got off the plane and told me that he had plugged in his headphones on the plane and was listening to the music and had heard a piece that moved him. He remembered it was by Copland but could not remember the name. He began to tell me how it started with a simple clarinet playing a melody and progressed to the entire orchestra majestically playing the same simple tune and how he just couldn't stop thinking about it. I knew exactly which piece he was talking about and pulled out my Appalachian Spring cd and found the part which he was referring to. I played it for him and he confirmed that, yes, that was the piece he was talking about. I then told him the origins of the song- again- knowledge imparted on me by the great BWJ. The melody is a traditional Shaker hymn, titled, Simple Gifts. Aaron Copland took the melody and composed a set of variations for Appalachian Spring.

This brings me to today. I was sitting on my couch experiencing my zen moment while watching the inauguration when it was announced that the musical selection composed by John Williams would include musicians Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. I was definitely impressed and then the name of the piece was announced: Air and Simple Gifts. I almost fell off the couch. My zen moment only got "zen-ier". (I am aware I just made up a word, but I don't care) Suffice it to say, had you been sitting in my living room around noon Eastern Standard Time today, you would have seen a snivelling mess. The piece was beautiful and the whole moment one I cannot describe.

I am not writing this blog to try and make you feel the way that I do or change your opinion on anything. I simply wanted to state what a wonderful and moving moment the whole thing was for me. But mostly, I wanted to share the story behind Simple Gifts as well as the words to the original Shaker hymn so that you can fully understand how truly perfect that selection was for this moment in history.

Simple Gifts

Simple Gifts was written by Shaker Elder Joseph Brackett, Jr. in 1848. It was first published in The Gift to be Simple: Shaker Rituals and Songs. Simple Gifts was a work song sung by the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing (more commonly called the Shakers, an offshoot of the Quakers).

'Tis the gift to be simple,'tis the gift to be free,
'tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
It will be in the valley of love and delight.

Refrain:
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed.
To turn, turn will be our delight,
'Til by turning, turning we come round right

'Tis the gift to be loved and that love to return,
'Tis the gift to be taught and a richer gift to learn,
And when we expect of others what we try to live each day,
Then we'll all live together and we'll all learn to say,

Refrain

'Tis the gift to have friends and a true friend to be,
'Tis the gift to think of others not to only think of "me",
And when we hear what others really think and really feel,
Then we'll all live together with a love that is real.

Refrain

When Toys Go Bad- the Jersey Pinelands Edition

Anyone who has seen Toy Story, knows and understands how difficult it must be for a child's beloved toy to accept that a new toy has come into the child's world and taken the prime spot of affection.


Some toys go to drastic measure, though, that I cannot condone. Zoe got an adorable orangutan for Christmas. She loves stuffed animals and she hugged on him for awhile until she opened a stuffed dog that made puppy noises. The dog became a favorite... until she opened a baby doll. Suddenly, the doll became the toy-of-choice.


After, only a few moments of experiencing Zoe-love, the orangutan became extremely jealous and went to extreme measures to try and eliminate his competition. While no one was looking, he nabbed two of Noah's favorite scores of the day and used them to try and nab Zoe's doll.


I really thought he was a sweet little primate and would never have thought he would go to such lengths. I don't know.. I can only guess that maybe this is learned behavior from the wild where maybe his relatives have taken up similar measures to save their habitat that is being destroyed in southeast Asia.

Thomas the Train Card

My nephew, Aidan, is having a Thomas the Train birthday party and I found the perfect little Thomas over at Handmade by Jade. Heather has done all the hard work for me.. she designed the Cricut cut file in Design Studio and has it on her blog for download. Thanks Heather! I think it is adorable and all I had to do was put the pieces together and make a card for my little Thomas to reside on.

"Orange You Glad You Found My Hiding Spot?"

For a few days now the oranges have been mysteriously disappearing from their happy perch in the basket in the kitchen. I had a suspect in mind but couldn't prove it. I lacked the solid evidence I needed and we all know you cannot accuse someone based on "a hunch".

Earlier, I was in the kitchen doing my favorite thing in the whole world- cleaning out the refrigerator- when I heard a commotion in the living room. I peered around the corner to find my little Nolan Ryan winding up, ready for the pitch.







And then shortly after that, she decided it looked more like a soccer ball...




Based on the new evidence, I could certainly prosecute my little redheaded suspect for citruscide, but still lacked any proof she was the one stealing the oranges as I had not located the missing persons or their remains.

I continued to watch and finally after she became bored, she toddled off to the corner with the orange and emerged without the orange.

A-HA!!

Upon further inspection, I found the following tucked into the magazine rack:




Exhibits A,B,C, D & E. Three oranges, a partially-eaten poptart and Noah's hotwheels car.

Case closed.The organic remains have been disposed of and the car was returned to its rightful owner. I'm just glad I didn't discover this next week playing, " Where is that smell coming from?"