All These Facts and Opinions Look the Same. I Can't Tell Them Apart.

Tip Tuesday

Meal Planning during a busy schedule: I haven't been on here to do Meal Planning Mondays lately (writing a blog post every day is pretty hard!).  So, I will include meal planning in my Tip Tuesday.

Three days a week I teach piano until 6:00 (or 6:30 on Thursdays). So those three days I need to have a simple meal ready by the time I am finished. Sometimes this simple meal can be spaghetti - Brian and Lydia's favorite meal and a meal Brian can make all on his own. However, Brian struggles with the cooking-while-caring-for-a-baby thing. And I don't like hearing Gideon cry while I am teaching lessons. So....crockpot meals it is! This will be my third week having a different crockpot meal for three days out of the week. And most of them are pretty yummy. And super simple.

Sometimes there might be a dinner where Brian has to get the meal ready - like shredding the cooked chicken in the crockpot, or making rice in the rice cooker, or making some pasta. But really the meal is ready once I'm done with lessons without much effort from Brian. Which is a plus. I don't like expecting him to cook dinner right when he gets home, plus expecting him to watch both of the kids. On nights when I don't have piano lessons, he comes home and watches the kids so that I can make dinner. We have a pretty good routine going here.

Anyway....crockpot meals are a lifesaver for this family. I usually put the meal together between 2:30 and 3:00 and let it cook on high for 3 to 4 hours. The house smells yummy and dinner is ready when everyone is hungry. Unfortunately, some of these meals aren't as "kid friendly" as I would like them to be. So Lydia will end up eating mac and cheese or a lunchable (which she's always happy about). After teaching lessons I don't feel like fighting to get Lydia to eat something new. That's saved for days when I don't teach. Plus, I want her to eat quickly so that we can start our evening routine and head off to bed.

I have been getting my recent crockpot meals from Mix and Match Mama's Foodie Blog (http://www.mixandmatchmama.blogspot.com/). I have been following this blogger for awhile now (I actually watched the Bachelor when her brother was on) and she's so funny and interesting! I love her meals. They're healthy but super yummy. She has some great crockpot meals to choose from.

Our three crockpot meals this week are:

Mexican Beef over Cornbread (except not cornbread because Brian doesn't like it...over cheesy biscuits)

Slow Cooker Chicken (with pasta)

Chipotle Corn Chicken (over rice)

I'm Positive That You'll Get Lost in There!

Friday - Life Lately

Life lately has definitely been different these past two weeks! I think we are finally getting into the groove of Kindergarten, piano lessons, preschool, grad school, work, baby, 5-year old, two adults, and a dog. Wow! There's a lot that goes on in this house every day and I'm trying to keep up with it. As mentioned in my last post, I still need to figure out a good cleaning system for us. Part of the reason I need to clean a little bit everyday (versus all at once) is because Gideon doesn't like to be put down for too long. I either have to hold him, entertain him, or run errands with him (he likes running errands). I'm actually looking forward to the crawling/exploring stage when he can entertain himself for a bit.

When I sit back and take a break, I realize how nice it is to have Lydia in school when I have a 3-month old at home. Gideon is a really easy-going baby, but, at the same time, he's demanding of my attention. And I like giving him attention. He's my new constant companion. I miss having Lydia at home as my companion, but I also enjoy just having to worry about one child versus two. Plus, when I'm out and about, I can keep Gideon contained in my wrap or a stroller. He doesn't constantly ask if he can buy something, or go running off and hiding in the clothes while shopping. It's nice.

Next week I start back at the Preschool and I am excited (and nervous)! We had Meet the Teacher this past Wednesday and it was pretty hectic in one room - lots and lots of criers. The start of the school year is always difficult. We get kiddos who have never been in a school environment before. They don't know how to sit on dots, or sit still, or follow directions. But, it's amazing how in just a few weeks they have mastered this preschool thing!

I started piano lessons this week and it has been going pretty well so far. I start at 4:00 in the afternoon. I have Gideon with me in the front room. Tuesday he sat in his bouncer pretty much the whole time (got fussy right when Brian came home). Thursday he slept in his wrap most of the time and then Brian came home when he was getting fussy. Today is the big test. I go to a family's house and teach five of their kids...with Gideon in tow.

I gave my students a sweet snack for their first day back...and a reminder to always, always practice! I have 22 students this semester and it will be busy, but fun! I have a good group of kiddos this year.

We have to do bedtime a little bit differently on Mondays. Brian has his grad school class on Mondays and doesn't get home until around 9:00. The kiddos are in bed by 7:30. We met Brian for dinner at Chick-fil-a and then headed home for baths, a quick show, and then bedtime. I let Lydia stay in Gideon's room until he fell asleep. Then I brought her to her room and put her to bed. Usually, Brian and I put the kids to bed in Gideon's room (I nurse him while I sing) and then he takes Lydia to her room while I finish up with Gideon. But, Mondays will have to be different. 

Except for this Monday! It's Labor Day Weekend which means NO SCHOOL!

This girl and her outfits. We pick out her clothes for the school week on Sunday evening. She recently decided that she likes wearing shorts. I wondered if this would happen. I don't think Lydia has worn a pair of shorts for over a year now. And suddenly she likes them. And it's all because girls in her class wear shorts. In Preschool, most of the girls wore dresses (just like Lydia). She still likes her dresses and skirts, but is now more open to cute little shorts. I got a ton of free hand-me-down shorts last year and they can finally fit her (kind of...I have to tighten them a whole lot)! And she'll wear them! Easy outfits each morning!

In this picture, I let Lydia wear whatever she wanted and then she picked out Gideon's outfit too. Daddy approved of the stripes and plaid....

How Long Before This Kills Me? I Am Not in Control of My Extremities

Tip Tuesday: Summer Piano Lessons

I just finished updating and emailing my Fall Semester Piano Lesson Policies to all my students. I currently have 25 (possibly 26) students coming in the Fall! Amazing! To think that in the Fall of 2011 I started with about 6 students! My schedule is quite busy for the Fall. I have lessons Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 4:00 to 6:30, plus home-schooled kiddos in the mornings on Thursday and Friday.
I am so thankful for the opportunity to work and stay at home at the same time! I started piano lessons when Lydia was about 15 months old. I usually sent her off to Leah's house during lesson times until Brian came home and picked her up. But, by about 2 1/2 she was able to stay home with me during lessons (usually). She was good at napping for the first hour to two hours of lessons, and then either Brian was home or she would watch a show in her room. She has always been welcome to come out in the front room and be with me, as long as she is quiet. 

This will be a big transition having an infant during piano lessons. Thankfully my sister and mom live really close by so Gideon will be able to head over to their houses for a little bit before Brian gets home from work. Brian has grad school on Mondays, which is why I don't have piano lessons then. He will tutor his student on Wednesdays - another day with no piano lessons. All the other days he will be home by about 5:00. Lydia is home from school at about 3:00, I start piano lessons at 4:00, Brian is home at 5:00 and I am done at 6:30. Somehow we will work in dinner (I will have to get really creative with crockpot meals!).

Anyway, on to Tip Tuesday! This Tuesday I will write about how I plan for Summer Piano Lessons and how I go about teaching during the summer.

Growing up, I rarely took piano lessons in the summer due to us traveling. We were either moving, just arriving, or visiting family during the summer. I'm sure there were a few summers (especially when I was an advanced student) that I took. I do remember one summer in New York when my mom forgot me at lessons! I knew going into piano lessons that my student numbers in the summer would drop drastically than during the school year. I have always had a few students during the summer, which is just some extra money for us.

I have always limited my summer lessons down to ONE DAY a week. This way, I was done with lessons in one day (since I could teach from morning to evening) and could plan other fun activities the rest of the week. I believe my summer lessons have always been on a Monday and usually start around 10:00 in the morning and go until 6:00 in the evening (with a lunch break).

The only problem I ever had with teaching lessons over the summer was the money. For the first 3 years of teaching, I only charged for a lesson if the students came to that lesson. They would pay for each lesson of the month at the first of the month. If they missed a lesson, I would "roll-over" that payment to the next month. This worked out okay during the school year, but was really bad during the summer. Something always came up over the summer - summer camps, vacations, not wanting to come, etc. Last summer I think one month I had so many roll overs I barely made any money!

So, I changed my policies - partly because I was going into my 4th year and needed a change, and partly because of summer lessons. I now charge by the semester. I figure out how many weeks are in the semester, multiply that by the lesson price, and then divide that by the number of months in the semester. There are three semesters in my piano year - Summer, Fall and Spring. That way, I make the same amount of money each month despite holidays and missed lessons. I still do make-up lessons when I can. I have found that families are more committed to lessons when they have already paid for them. This really worked great this summer.

This summer I had eight piano students. Because of the Baby, I decided to set my schedule up with one hour breaks every hour. This ended up being my schedule:

10:30-11:00 (group lesson)

12:30-2:00 (a family of three)

3:00-3:30

5:00-6:00

Plus, I got paid the same amount each month by each student. This really helps with budgeting and knowing what I will be making over the summer. At the end of the Spring Semester, when I emailed about Summer lessons, I emphasized the importance of coming to each lesson and to only commit if they knew they would be there. This helped "weed" out the students who vacationed a lot, or just wanted a break from lessons for the Summer.

I definitely recommend a set price for each month during the semesters, with no roll-over lessons. This really makes parents and students commit and see me as a professional with an actual job/business (not just a hobby). I also recommend limiting the number of days during the summer. When I tell the parents I am only available on Mondays, that limits the spots. Why let them pick and choose the days they want over the summer? I don't want to have two students one day, one the next and three another. That would be annoying with planning outings and activities with family.