♥

Hey there!


Hope you all had a lovely Valentine's day!  Thought I'd share a few of the Valentines I received:

A chocolate apple!  I'd never seen one of these before, and embarrassingly enough, it took me a second to understand why I was getting one...  ☺

She loves piano!

I don't even care that he spelled my name wrong - love free-handed hearts from first graders.

This is from the same little guy who drew the heart above.  He and his twin sister made these chocolate dipped spoons with a heart marshmallow and sprinkles in a little heart pouch with a packet of hot cocoa mix for their class and teacher valentines (46 in all - he explained the very lengthy process and the fact that he had to write "So-and-so, you warm my heart" 23 times!).

I also received precious homemade cards from the kiddos I nanny for, as well as thoughtful cards in the mail, phone calls, etc.  Needless to say, I felt the love on Valentine's day! ☺


Wanted to share something else from my week:
I can't remember whether or not I've told you all this - I'm teaching a couple CMA (Children's Music Academy) classes this semester.  For those of you who may not remember what that entails, it's a 50-minute group piano class for 4- and 5-year-olds and their parents.  We do a different activity every 4 minutes (or so it seems) for the sake of their attention spans.  Activities include learning rhythm and note friends, playing piano songs, dancing, singing, ear training exercises, games, etc.  It's a two-year curriculum, and by the end of the class, the students will be playing at a "level one" in most piano method books.


I taught one of these classes last year, but all the students decided they'd like to take private lessons with me, instead.  So, I didn't have a class at the beginning of this school year.  This semester, however, I had a few enroll in a beginning CMA class, and I was able to pick up the continuation of another teacher's class.  Both are lots of fun to teach - one class is only little girls, and the other is all boys - each comes with its own challenges.  haha


The other night, the boys' dads came with them, so we didn't have any moms in the class.  The boys recognized this, and one said, "But the moms are the beautifulest ones!"


Another story about the same little boy: Whenever someone does something well or tries, period, we clap for them.  I usually say, "Give him a hand!"  When I say this in the class of boys, however, the one little guy says, "What?!  I can't give him my hand!  I'd have to cut it off!" or something to that effect.  So, he's trained me to say "Give him a round of applause!" instead.  The other night when I said that the first time (instead of "Give him a hand!"), I heard him whisper excitedly to his dad, "She didn't say 'Give him a hand!'!"  ☺


If you or someone you know might like to join a CMA class, feel free to come check it out!  You can go to http://harrismusicstudio.com/ or call the office for more info.!


Enjoy what's left of the week and have a great weekend!
-Kensy

Favorites of the day:

my weekend plans (seeing "The Vow" with girlfriends, then going to visit my brother!)

this new computer...again

getting a few of my great-grandma's old Valentines in the mail from my grandma