Summer Tenleigh - Piano

Lately, Summer has had a huge interest in playing the piano.  From a young age, she has always enjoyed "playing" the piano and "singing" along, however now she is really catching on to reading notes and how the keys on the piano relate to the notes on a page.  Last week, we put tabs on the keyboard with the letter names, and identified "middle C".  She pulled out some piano books with kids songs and wanted to play the songs in them.  While they were obviously too difficult for her to play, I showed her the melody line and we talked about how each of the notes have names.  I wrote out for her the letter names of the notes above the notes on the page, and she loved trying to find the matching letter names on the keyboard to play songs she knew. 

I taught her the names of the lines and spaces on the treble clef, and she was very interested!!  Almost every day since then she has climbed up on the bench and tried to label notes and play songs of different sorts.  I asked my mom to bring my beginner piano flashcards and books the next time she came over.  Today, my mom brought over the flashcards and within a few minutes she was able to name all the treble clef notes!  I am amazed at how fast she learns things.  Here is a video.



We did the first few pages of one of my beginner piano books today, which removes notes from the busyness of the staff and focuses on linking the fact that higher notes are played on the right side of the keyboard and sound higher and lower notes on the staff are played on the left side of the keyboard and sound lower.  We also started introducing different length notes - for example a quarter note gets one count and a half note gets two counts.  Here is her practicing one of these songs.



She loves it and will "practice" on her own when I am not around.  Paul and I have been talking about getting her into piano lessons at some point for several months, and decided that now is a great time!  It is recommended to read before trying to read music, and she has been reading for several months now (recently read two chapter from her chapter book during quiet time), so we feel she has a good basis for learning.  With her current interest level, combined with her love of music and the stage, it appears that piano will be a good fit!  Our friend from church, Ms. Sue, who was also Summer's director for her Christmas musical, has agreed to teach Summer and she begins lessons next week!  Summer absolutely adores Ms. Sue and was thrilled when I told her Ms. Sue could be her teacher.  I am really excited for her!

Marathon - The Lord is my Strength!

I ran the Minneapolis Marathon yesterday!  It was gorgeous weather - the PERFECT day - and I had the best fan club ever!

I started training in January when long, cold days and nappers kept us from getting out of the house much, and I needed a little extra motivation to get myself to run.  When I run, I get my frustrations out positively and get my endorphins flowing, which in turn makes me such a better, more positive mom and wife!  My only goal was that the training did not take away from kiddo time.  For that reason, I did most of my runs between 5-7am, trying to make sure I was done it time for a shower before Larkyn woke up to nurse. The training plan I followed is Hal Higdon's Intermediate Plan which I really liked.  The midweek runs (Tuesday-Thursday) ranged from 3-8 miles, and the weekend long run started at 8 miles and ramped up to two 20-milers in preparation for the race day's 26.2 miles.

Paul was my biggest supporter and fan!  He had special Daddy-kiddo breakfast on Saturday mornings while I finished my long runs.  He encouraged me when training got tough.  He raced around on race day to see me at many checkpoints!  He is seriously amazing!  One of the things I was most looking forward to about the race was seeing my kids at the finish line.  I love this little family! 

My friend Laura was a huge blessing too, as we did many of our long runs together and had the same goals and similar pace.  She encouraged me with helping me know what to eat on the long runs to keep my energy up as well as being a great running buddy.

A huge thank you to Grandma and Grandpa K and Grandma T and Javonte for taking such great care of our kids the morning of the race so Paul could run around and cheer me on!  They got them up, made them breakfast, and brought them to the finish line along with signs! :).

Here are a few pictures of the race...

This was around mile 21 - I was pretty tired!

I can see the finish!!!

I can see my superfans!

So fun to see them all at the finish!

Even though I didn't meet my goal (hoping to break the 4 hour mark), I did come close (finishing in 4:06:58).   I shaved over half an hour off of my other marathon time from 4 years ago.

Running, for me, has so many parallels to the Christian life and so many parables!  I learn so much from running and from an experience like this!  If I wrote down all of the ones I think of when I run this post would be WAY TOO long, so I will only name the first few that come to mind along with the final pictures I have to share.

Headlamp

I did a fair amount early morning running in the dark.  At first, I relied on the street lights to guide me, but there were some streets without many lights.  Furthermore, when a car came, their headlights were so blinding that I couldn't even see where I was placing my foot (one time this fall actually tripped over a pothole due to this very fact).  Then, I bought a head lamp.  It straps around my head and I can aim it at the ground in front of me, illuminating each step I take - but not too far ahead.   In the same way, "your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105).  God's Word, the Bible, tells me the way I ought to act and live and truly sets my perspective straight.  When I am not "wearing the headlamp" (in his Word daily), the headlights in life can blind me to the potholes in front of me that will trip me up and cause me to think about myself, mix up my priorities, or set my mind on earthly things instead of on Him.  However, just as the headlamp only shows me the next few steps clearly, God doesn't show us too far ahead what he has planned for us.  He calls us to trust in him daily for each step and he will guide us.  

Friends

As mentioned above, I did one marathon in 2011, however I didn't train with anyone.  This time, my friend Laura and I trained together.  We pushed each other in pace and encouraged each other to keep going.  We had accountability.  In the same way, in our Christian faith, "let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25)  This is truly how I see our church.  I know many people who don't see the need to go to church or wonder why we go so regularly.  THAT is why!  Living the life that Christ calls us to live is not always easy, (just as getting up at 4:45am to run an 18 miler !) but having people to encourage and spur us on to love and good deeds helps us to live the life God wants us to.  I am so grateful for my church family.

Strength

I personally have been growing in this area of letting go, and letting God take the reigns this year.  I like to have control and I like to do things on my own!  Running is one of those areas of my life that I felt I had control over.  While I can guide my kids, I realized a long time ago that I can't control how my kids act, when they are potty trained, how well they sleep, their health, etc but I felt that I COULD control my own  plan to run a marathon.  Well, in this area of running where I normally am "strong", God pulled out the carpet from under me, so to speak, and made me realize that without him I have NO strength on my own!  I literally can do nothing without him!  At the peak of my training when I was supposed to be doing my longest run, I got the flu.  A nasty long flu!  I barely had enough energy to clean our messes much less run!  I truly wondered as I tried to "hop back on the training plan" at the peak of mileage when I was the weakest, if I would be able to complete my goal.  And it wasn't until I tried to let go, that I realized how tightly I had been holding on.  I realized in that very, very challenging time when MY OWN plans were being rocked, that God gives strength and God takes away strength.  I literally could not run even 1 mile if it weren't for him giving me the strength, and at any point he could take that away to show me my need for him.  From that point on, my training took a different turn and I literally (literally!) would praise God on each run that he let me continue and run that far.  And so, right now on this post, I say not in a cliche sort of way but with every word pre-thought out: "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him." (Psalm 28:7)

Prayer

I have many friends right now who are battling cancer.  Treatment saps energy and strength and suddenly normal tasks take all energy.  This training, for many reasons, has brought these friends to the forefront of my memory and allowed me to pray for them in ways I never would have thought before.  As I literally feel like I cannot take another step and all strength is sapped, I copy the prayers I would have for myself for finishing strong and extra strength to a higher level for them in their race of life.  My prayer for these friends is that God would give them the strength to finish strong and to feel strong until the end, continuing to serve and bless others along the way.  For me, empathy is the strongest call to prayer for others, and this training has allowed me to step inside the shoes of these friends in a small way and pray differently than I otherwise would have, and on a more consistent basis. 

(Isaiah 41:10)  Fear not, for I am with you;  be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you,  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Victory

There are so many verses that talk about life as a race, and they come so alive after experiencing a race.  Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."   1 Timothy 4:7 says, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."  These verses mean so much more to me having experienced a race like this one, and I pray for perseverance and strength to finish life strong, to the end, serving my Lord and Savior.

Larkyn 11 months

What? Larkyn is ELEVEN MONTHS already?!!? No way!  :)  My little peanut will turn ONE in a month.  That is crazy! 

 A few things from this month:
Larkyn now has TWO teeth.  I can't seem to get a good picture of them as they don't show much when she smiles!  Here is a picture of when they were just poking through a few weeks ago... I was holding out a spoonful of oatmeal with one hand and a camera in the other!

I decided this next picture would be a good picture to include as this is how she sleeps - these two fingers are her built in pacifier.  As soon as I lay her in the crib, they go in automatically!  Furthermore, when I see these two fingers in her mouth I know she is tired and needs a nap!  This month, Larkyn had a week of not needing a morning nap - and I thought we were done - but then she got a cold and has needed one again.  I think we are nearly the stage of one nap a day, but time will tell!

Larkyn is eating more soft solids with her fingers (cooked carrots, pancakes, soft fruit, hotdogs, chicken nuggets, clumps of spaghetti etc) and less mush with a spoon - and loving it!  Here is a video Paul took of her...




  
 Larkyn is officially weaned, which was a very easy transition and I am pretty excited about my new freedom :-)  While she has not yet figured out how to tip a cup by herself to get the liquid out, Larkyn can drink all by herself with a straw.  Here is a video...




Larkyn has started to develop a TINY bit of stranger anxiety, but a minute or two of looking at a person while in mommy's arms before they take her will usually cure it :).  She will also get a little fiesty now if someone takes something from her (like not chewing on mommy's phone or a cord!).  She is not as easily distracted as last month and will look for what was taken away :).  She can usually find a way to get to what she wants to reach by a complicated series of rolling motions.  She still has no interest in crawling, but is just starting to be able to take a few steps while we hold her hands.  Perhaps she will skip crawling altogether!

Larkyn continues to babble, and now along with DaDa will say MaMa  (yay!).



She also likes to make silly noises and hear herself :)



This is my favorite video of Larkyn from this month - So big!



This is probably my second favorite - feeding Daddy :-)



She is still a peanut, wearing 6-9 month clothing.  Her smile is as big and constant as ever, and it appears that she will keep her baby blue eyes!  I love you Larkyn!!!!