Download a free e-book here for 30 free craft projects for home decorating, gift-giving and fun crafts for kids. Could be a fun way to keep the kiddies occupied on Thanksgiving morning so the other adults can have their hands free to cook all the yummy food!
You may have noticed I have been a little AWOL lately. I wanted to let you know that my sporadic posting may continue for the next week or so. I am scheduled to have my baby mid-week next week and have family coming into town this weekend. Therefore, I am using every last ounce of energy I have to clean, organize, and clean some more in anticipation of my family's and new little baby's arrival. I am also trying to spend some extra mommy and daughter time with my 2 year old, since she will not be allowed in the hospital for the 4 days I am there and the thought of that is breaking my heart.
I am measuring 2 weeks overdue, even though I am still 2 weeks away from my due date, so you can imagine how very large I am and how exhausting the process of preparing my home is for me. When I finish one project, I have to rest before moving on to the next. I feel as though a snail has taken over my body, I move so slowly!
I hope that you will have patience and stick with me over the next couple of weeks while I prepare for and go through this major transition! I will do my best to post occasionally, although my hospital does not have internet access (gasp!) so I am not sure how often I will be able to post. I will do my best!
Meanwhile, feel free to have a look around past posts and know that I will be back full force as soon as I am able and out of the hospital.
Kids.Woot has the BeBe Sounds Portable Color Video and Sound Baby Monitor for $69.99 today only. Shipping is only $5. Amazon retails these for $109, Target retails them for $160. I've been watching these monitors for 2 years- this is the best price I have EVER seen.
You've heard me say this before, and I'll say it again: if there is something you want, especially a higher priced item, wait patiently to buy it until a deal comes along. A deal ALWAYS comes along!
This was a deal I never expected to see. In fact, just 2 days ago I was talking with my husband about monitors and we decided to just keep using our old one because we couldn't find a good enough deal on a video monitor. I am a worrier, and throughout my daughter's infancy (and even now!) I wished many times for a video monitor. I told myself I'd buy one with the second baby. I had given up that dream just two days ago, and voila! Today a great deal comes along....and not a moment too soon, because the baby is arriving next week!
Just a reminder that there are several restaurants offering everything from a free beverage to free meals on and around Veterans' Day for both active military and veterans:
Applebee's will be giving away a free entree to veterans and active military today. Proof of military service is required.
Outback is offering a free bloomin' onion appetizer and beverage to all veterans and active duty military today. Proof of military service is required.
Golden Corral will be having their annual "Military Appreciation Monday" dinner on Monday, November 16th from 5 PM to 9 PM. No identification is required for the service member.
From their website: "The free dinner meal is a special "thank you tribute" to any person who has ever served in the United States Military. If you are a veteran, retired, currently serving, in the National Guard or Reserves, you are invited to join us for Golden Corral's Military Appreciation Monday dinner."
Now, before you start thinking "Well of course all of your children will play an instrument! You're a piano teacher for goodness' sake", hear me out. Yes, I do intend on making sure that all of my children are proficient in an instrument, but not simply because music is obviously my passion. I consider music lessons to be a major investment in their future, both emotionally and financially.
1. Music lessons will help my children be more well-rounded.
I believe education in the arts helps us appreciate the world we live in and makes us more sensitive and beautiful people. It gives us a place to escape to when we are sad, depressed, and lonely, and gives us an outlet for rejoicing when words just can't express our exhilaration.
2. It is a scientifically proven fact that music makes you smarter.
The act of playing a musical instrument activates the corpus callosum in the brain - the bridge that connects the left and right hemispheres. This allows both sides of our brain to communicate and exchange ideas. Did you know that as Thomas Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence, his landlady reported that whenever his mind became blocked, he would pick up his violin and begin to play? After a short time playing, he would again resume writing. And we all know what a work of genius that document is!
Einstein had a similar problem. At a school age child, his teacher recommended that he quit school and be put into the work force, as he was incapable of intelligence. Instead, his parents bought him a violin, and a miracle happened. All of the intelligent thoughts that existed in one side of Einstein's brain were able to travel over the corpus callosum to the side of his brain that controlled his able to communicate those ideas, Suddenly, he didn't appear so dumb after all!
3. Becoming proficient in an instrument will provide financial security for my childrens' future.
As I said, I am a piano teacher. Where I live, qualified teachers are a valuable commodity. Therefore, I am able to make a considerable contribution to my family's income by teaching a few afternoons a week, and I am able to do so from my home. The ability to do this has been one of the greatest blessings of my life, and I thank my parents for "sticking it out" during the years that I was a reluctant student so that I could gain the proficiency and musical knowledge I needed to be qualified to teach.Were it not for my ability to teach from home, our lives would be very different, since my teaching provides a necessary part of our family's income.
I intend on giving this gift to my children. I want them to have the freedom when they are adults to stay at home and still contribute if they so desire, whether it be to pay their mortgage and bills or simply to provide money for school clothes or vacations for their children each year. The beauty of teaching music lessons is that you can really choose what level of income you would like to bring in. I know a male drum teacher who makes $100,000 a year teaching lessons in his home for about 4 to 6 hours a day. Some teachers with other reliable sources of income in their family choose to teach only a small number of students and therefore may make a few thousand dollars each year to pay for their family vacations or Christmas. Most teachers fall somewhere in between the two.
I do not expect that my children will follow in my exact footsteps and get a degree in music. In fact, I will be the first to admit that getting a music degree is NOT for everybody! I do expect that they will reach the level of knowledge and hands-on experience that will qualify them to teach their chosen instrument through studying under excellent teachers.
Will it be an added expense for me? Yes, especially if I choose not to teach my own children and send them to another teacher, or if my children choose an instrument on which I am not proficient. Is it a sacrifice I am willing to make? Most definitely. In my parents' case, it was an investment that provided great returns for both them and me. I was able to have the last 3 years of my college education at an expensive private university completely paid for due to my piano ability. The first year was largely provided for as well due to tuition, piano, and voice scholarships.
I look at some of my friends who are suffering due to job layoffs and other recession woes right now - some of them are desperately looking for a way to make extra money without having to leave their children in somebody else's care. They often feel trapped because they view themselves as not having any skills that are marketable. Although teaching lessons is definitely not the only way to make money from home, for me it has been a reliable and sizable source of income through the ups and downs of the economy.
I never want my children to feel trapped. I want them to always know that should the need arise, they can turn to teaching and using their talents (freelance musicians can also make good money) to supplement their income.
So do the years of lesson tuition, of prodding and pleading with them to practice, the dozens of recitals, and the occasional temper tantrum on the way to lessons work for me? Yes, I am convinced they will - and they'll work for my children too!
Now through November 12, use the code "ENTREE" when ordering gift certificates from Restaurant.com and get a $25 gift certificate for only $2! Hurry, this offer only lasts through Thursday.
You may have noticed I have been a little AWOL lately. I wanted to let you know that my sporadic posting may continue for the next week or so. I am scheduled to have my baby mid-week next week and have family coming into town this weekend. Therefore, I am using every last ounce of energy I have to clean, organize, and clean some more in anticipation of my family's and new little baby's arrival. I am also trying to spend some extra mommy and daughter time with my 2 year old, since she will not be allowed in the hospital for the 4 days I am there and the thought of that is breaking my heart.
Kids.Woot has the BeBe Sounds Portable Color Video and Sound Baby Monitor for $69.99 today only. Shipping is only $5. Amazon retails these for $109, Target retails them for $160. I've been watching these monitors for 2 years- this is the best price I have EVER seen.
Now, before you start thinking "Well of course all of your children will play an instrument! You're a piano teacher for goodness' sake", hear me out. Yes, I do intend on making sure that all of my children are proficient in an instrument, but not simply because music is obviously my passion. I consider music lessons to be a major investment in their future, both emotionally and financially.
