Winter's A Good Time To Sit Close and Cuddle

Okay...so, another 30 day blog challenge. Haven't blogged or updated in awhile...just needed something to write about (other than everyday life).

A brief update: I now have 22 piano students - that's right, 22! And, despite less free time, I love it! I have all ages (4 to 17, plus one adult) and all levels...and all teaching styles! It can be a bit frustrating at times (with my students who don't practice) and exhausting (with my students who need constant entertainment), but it's totally worth it and one of my favorite things to do. Lydia is doing great with all the extra lessons. She plays all morning on Mondays with my homeschool families, she has always liked taking long naps and then watching a few shows on the iPad, and is pretty good at entertaining herself. She's always allowed to come out and join me as long as she's quiet (and is wearing pants).

On another note, Lydia's preschool experience is going great! She absolutely loves her teacher and doesn't mind staying extended day on Wednesdays. At home, she is always pretending she's a teacher and is starting to imagine more and play independently (sometimes). I love hanging up all her artwork and hearing about her day. We have parent/teacher conferences at the beginning of February and I'm ready to hear all about her progress! Lydia also has a speech therapy evaluation in February - we'll see if she will need speech therapy. 

Anyway, on to the 30 Day Blog Challenge!

Day 1: Your Blog's Name

My blog is called "Fiddle Dee Dee" and for those who don't know, that is from my favorite all time movie (and the greatest movie ever made) Gone with the Wind. It is something that Scarlett O'Hara says over and over, when she's frustrated or doesn't want to listen to someone else's opinion. I love movies, which is also why all (almost all) of my blog titles are quotes from a movie.

This month, my titles will be from Disney's Frozen. Lydia and I went to see it today and it was so good! We've already watched the video clip of Elsa singing "Let It Go" and I have the piano music for that song. Lydia claims that Frozen is her new "favorite princess movie". Leah and Adah joined us at the movie theater and we were the only four people in the theater...which was great! Lydia sat great through the first half of the movie, but when Adah was ready to get up and move around, Lydia joined her. They didn't make too much noise and would pause in what they were doing to watch certain scenes. There were some scary parts that Lydia wanted to sit on my lap for, but over all it was a great movie! I've always enjoyed "sister" movies.

Well, Some People Use Their Imagination

First, I have to post about Thanksgiving. I hosted this year and invited my family and Brian's family. I had it all planned out - we were going to do a craft at 11:00, eat at 12:00, play games, eat, play some more games, and eat left overs. Basically, we were going to eat all day! Yeah! And guess what, my planning worked out and everyone had a great time.

In order to fit 13 people around the table, we added one of my parent's large folding tables to our table - making it a "L" shape. I put my grandmother's table cloth and table runner on the tables, plus some fake leaves for decoration and vases with fake flowers (all from the dollar store, go me). On the entry table, I had Leah write on a large, black foam board the Bible verse Psalm 100:4 ("Enter His gates with Thanksgiving and into His courts with praise...) and made a "Thankful Tree" out of small branches. Everyone wrote on a cut out leaf what they were thankful for and hung it on the tree. Both the poster and the tree look so good, I am leaving them up for a bit longer (even though we have moved onto Christmas decorations).

The Pfeiffers (Al, Karla, Tamara) and the Tzaperas' (Michael and Sara) arrived around 10:00 and helped get everything together before more people arrived at 11:00. Then we started our Turkey Place Mat craft. Everyone did a great job creating their place mats! I had the pieces already cut for the turkeys (head, body and feathers) for people to put together. They could then decorate their feathers and turkeys however they wanted. It is always so neat to see how different each turkey turns out. It just shows how everyone in one family is different, but we can all still get along and love each other!

Lunch was ready by 12:00 and everyone sat down to eat! We had the craft table turned into the buffet table where everyone could help themselves to all the food. During the meal, I had a conversation bowl. Everyone took turns picking out a conversation starter and we all answered the questions (ex: "What circus act would you perform if you worked at the circus?). That was a lot of fun!

After cleaning up, we enjoyed our desserts before several people headed off to my parent's house to watch football and Lydia headed off to take a nap. Karla, my mom, Thomas, Sara, Michael and I stayed behind to play games. We played two rounds of Goop and one game of Settlers. The football-watchers returned (yeah, the Cowboys won!) and we snacked some more. Some people made their dinners of left over turkey on sandwiches and then we played one game of Apples to Apples. 

My mom helped me clean up and then the Dunlaps headed off. Many of the Pfeiffers were tired, but Brian and I stayed up to watch a movie. Lydia slept on the floor in our room, giving her room up to the Pfeiffers. All in all, it was a great day and I had a great time hosting both families.

The day after Thanksgiving, I was ready to start celebrating Christmas! I turned the clock to play Christmas music and had my Pandora station set to the Josh Groban Christmas station. The Pfeiffers headed out after Lydia went down for a nap. After Lydia's nap, we decided to head over to Six Flags to take in their Christmas celebrations. Lydia was able to meet Santa and sit on his lap - she was so excited! We then caught the Majesty of Christmas show - it was really, really good! Lydia and Brian enjoyed looking at all the lights around the park.

Saturday, Brian went out to get our Christmas tree. Lydia was excited to put up her pink Christmas tree in her room and decorate it with her own ornaments. She loved hanging the ornaments on the big tree, too. Brian spent the rest of the afternoon outside putting up Christmas lights on the front of the house. He is an awesome Christmas light-hanger-upper!

Today marked the first day of December! And it also marks the end of an awesome vacation. Brian and I are not ready to head back to work tomorrow. I need to get back into my routine - I have 17 piano students to teach this week, a Bible lesson on Tuesday and a music lesson on Wednesday! But, only three more weeks before Christmas break!

We took our Family Photos this afternoon (Leah's a great photographer) and I have my Christmas cards ordered and pictures ordered to hang up in the living room. Here's a few photos:

I Found a Nickel! Sure Wish I Had Pockets

Ten Things I Love (and Enjoy) About My Daughter Right Now:

1. Lydia still loves giving hugs and kisses - and tons of them! She would rather cuddle with me on the couch than sit on her own. I am thoroughly enjoying all the hugs and snuggles - I know they won't last forever!

2. Lydia is constantly making us crack up laughing. She says the funniest things! I wish I could record everything she says so that I'll remember. Just tonight, after I finished talking to Brian on the phone, Lydia asked if that was Daddy. I told her yes. She replies with, "Oh, Daddy is so sweet."

3. Lydia loves Preschool! I love working at this Preschool and I couldn't wait to send Lydia. The teachers are amazing and it's a great learning environment! Lydia loves her teacher and all the kids in her class. She looks forward to going and talks about her teacher all the time!

4. Lydia still loves to sing. Her current favorite song is "Five Little Monkeys"...it's her go-to song when she wants to sing something. I like watching her during Praise & Worship time at Bibleland - she does all the hand motions and knows all the words. 

5. Lydia likes to watch musicals with me! Our favorite musical to watch together is "Into the Woods". She's sat through parts of "Sound of Music" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". I figure I might as well get her interested now so that she'll enjoy them with me later!

6. Lydia is really starting to use her imagination more and more. She loves to play with her doll house and recently has started playing "doctor".

7. Lydia loves playing with her friends. Whether it's her cousins, her friend Tate, or her friends from school - Lydia loves playmates! She will play for hours with kids her age. She's very social and outgoing and any chance to get her playing with others I take!

8. Lydia has found a new friend in her puppy, Wags. She likes to go outside with Wags and will play and play outside by herself. I can hear her talking with Wags and see Wags following her around. It's the cutest thing to watch.

9. Lydia is very much into music. She loves to sing and dance to music, but she also enjoys instruments. She likes to pretend to give piano lessons and will get upset at Adah if Adah's not sitting correctly at the piano. I'm excited to watch her grow up and love music as much as I do!

10. Lydia is a very caring, sympathetic person already. She is always concerned if she sees someone crying or upset. She wants to "help" take care of Adah and other little children. Maybe she will be a teacher like her Mommy and Daddy!

And, of course, some cute photos of Lydia!

This is the Ocean, Silly, We're Not the Only Two in Here

Lydia and I made meatloaf Friday night and I took pictures to document how much she helped. She really, really enjoys helping in the kitchen and it's fun cooking with her. It will be fun as she gets older to have her help more and more (as long as she's willing to)!

And here's how we make Grandma Pfeiffer's Meatloaf:

Step 1: Wash your hands! (And wear your cute apron.)

Step 2: Gather your ingredients.

Step 3: Add the milk to the dry mixture (bread crumbs, egg, spices).

Step 4: Add some spices. And mix up the mixture.

Step 5: Add the ground beef and mix with your hands!

Step 6: Put the meat mixture into a pan and smoosh it down.

Step 7: And always clean your dishes as you go...that way, you don't have a messy kitchen when you're done!

I don't have a picture of how the meatloaf turned out, but it was very good! Lydia is a good and willing helper! We also had home made mashed potatoes and broccoli with our meatloaf! Yummy!

Just Keep Swimming...

September was very busy and now we're finally into October! I think the Pfeiffer Family is getting into a routine and used to working, playing, making dinner, cleaning...all in one day! Before I say anymore, I want to introduce the newest Pfeiffer Family member....WAGS! 

My friend, Melissa, found this precious puppy wandering her neighborhood and took her in. Melissa already has two dogs (and two kids) and couldn't keep the puppy. Brian and I had just talked about getting a dog the night before Melissa told me she had found a puppy! We met the puppy, saw that Lydia adored her at first sight and that the puppy was very sweet and cute, and decided to take her home with us! We had her checked out at the vet and she was healthy! Yeah! So, we now have a new dog named Wags! She is between 5 to 7 months old and a Chihuahua mix. She is very sweet, very active, and Lydia loves her!

Anyway, I like to post my daily schedules/routines so that I can remember them down the line. So here's the most up-to-date weekly schedule for the Pfeiffer Family!

Mondays:

8:00-9:00: Lydia and I get up and ready to head out for a walk. I let Wags outside so she'll go potty before we go for a walk.

9:00-10:00: I get showered, dressed and ready, plus straighten up the front room and living room while Lydia eats more breakfast and watches a show. Then I get Lydia dressed right before my first piano lesson of the day arrives.

10:00-12:30: I have four students Monday mornings (all home-schoolers). My youngest student yet is an almost 5-year old! Lydia loves playing with my two new piano students (sisters) and then my other two piano students whom I've had since I started teaching. Lydia has a full morning of playing with other kiddos while I teach.

12:30-1:30: Lydia and I usually eat some lunch and watch a show or two before nap time. Sometimes we will get together with Leah and Adah.

1:30-3:30: Lydia naps and I relax!

4:00-5:30: I have three more piano lessons. Lydia usually wakes up between 3:30 and 4:00. She's really good at staying in her room watching a show or reading books. Or she will come out and play in the living room. Brian gets home before 5:00 and will then entertain her and let Wags back inside.

5:30-bedtime: It's family time! I make dinner and we enjoy time together. We usually take Wags on a walk in the evening.

Tuesdays:

8:30-1:00: Lydia and I head off to pick Leah and Adah up to go to Bibleland. Leah and I work in a 2-year old room while Lydia and Adah head off to their classrooms. We teach a Bible lesson, have praise and worship, craft, and playtime. It's a pretty nice job! After work, we feed the girls lunch at the church and let them play on the playground for a bit before heading home.

1:30-3:30: Nap time!

4:00-5:00: I have two piano lessons. My middle school student was an hour-long lesson, but the stress of just starting middle school and going to Cub Scouts the same night as piano was too much for him. Oh well!

5:00-bedtime: Family time! Brian gets home later now on Tuesdays, as he is tutoring a middle school student for an hour in the evenings.

Wednesdays:

8:00-2:30: Lydia and I head off to Preschool! Lydia is loving her preschool teacher and everything else about preschool! She helps me set up my classroom in the morning, joins the teachers at prayer time, and then goes straight to her room! Wednesday is extended day, so it's a little long for her (and for me), but we're getting through it!

2:30-4:30: Nap time!

4:30-bedtime: Family time!

Thursdays:

8:15-9:00ish: Lydia and I meet up with Leah to go on a walk in the morning. It's sad that our morning walks are now down to two days a week...uhoh. We usually hang out in Leah's front yard after our walk to the let the girls play a bit.

Morning-12:00: I try to get all the cleaning done and as much laundry as I can done. Lydia will watch a show or play with Wags. Sometimes Leah and Adah will head over here, or Lydia and I will head over to Leah's house to play and hang out.

12:00-1:30: It's time for lunch and a show before nap time.

1:30-3:30: Nap time!

3:15-6:15: I have four piano lessons on Thursdays and two of them are 45 minutes each. Lydia is good about napping until about 4:00 and then watching a show in her room until Daddy gets home. Sometimes she'll come out and hang out quietly in the front room with me. Brian gets home before 5:00 and takes over. Lydia will head off to Dearest and Best Buddy's house around 6:00 for the evening to hang out with grandparents and cousins.

6:15-bedtime: Brian and I have an evening to ourselves before we pick Lydia up between 8:00 and 8:30. She can't spend the night, as she has preschool in the morning and I don't want her staying up late!

Fridays:

8:45: I drop Lydia off at preschool! And I have the morning to myself!

9:00-10:00: HEB! I can make a super fast trip without a 3-year old walking around behind me (or running away in front of me)!

10:00-12:30: I get to relax and enjoy time by myself!

12:45-3:30ish: I pick Lydia up from preschool and we head home. She'll usually get to watch one show before nap time.

3:30-bedtime: I don't have any afternoon piano lessons - yeah! Lydia and I usually just hang out and get dinner ready. Brian comes home before 5:00 and we have a  nice evening together.

Our days are busy, but we're having a lot of fun. I'm thankful for Thursday mornings when Lydia and I can just relax without any time commitments. And I'm thankful for Friday mornings when I get to just be by myself and Lydia gets to have fun at preschool!

I'll leave you with this cutie:

Oh, My Goodness. Everyone Behave Naturally

Today was Lydia's first day of PRESCHOOL! I can't believe she is three-years old and old enough to go to preschool. What's even better is that she gets to go to the preschool I work at! We both headed off to "work" today - together!

Lydia did a great job helping me set up my classroom and following me around the building. She wasn't very still during prayer time with the other teachers, but at least she was quiet! When it was time to go in her room, she went with barely even saying goodbye to me! She found her name on the outside wall right away and put it where it goes. And that was the last I saw of her until 10:10, when the Busy Bees come to Music Class!

She was very excited to see me in the music room and (luckily) got to sit next to me in the circle. Unfortunately, she was too excited to be near me to do any of the songs and movements I did (except towards the end). She kept telling me what she wanted to do. But, she stayed on her spot and was a good 3-year old student. Then her teacher came and it was time to go. Lydia picked up on this right away and refused to get in line - she stayed by my side as I gave each student a stamp. Thankfully, an assistant came with her teacher and took Lydia's hand to walk her out with the class. Lydia, of course, was crying and crying! I heard her all the way down the hallway! It just broke my heart...but I knew she would have fun in her class.

When I went to pick her up, I learned that she only cried for a little bit and that the assistant helped her calm down and start playing again in the classroom. I was worried something like this would happen, but I know that after a few more times at preschool, she'll get used to being in my music class and then head off back to the Busy Bee room - and she'll want to go back to her class.

Lydia was exhausted after her first day of preschool and cried in the car because she felt that the A/C wasn't turned up high enough (it was as high as it could go). She went right to bed when we got home and fell asleep immediately. Next week, on Wednesday, she will be in the Extended Day class (as I stay to teach a class), so she'll be doubly worn out! It will be a good afternoon nap when we get home.

I am looking forward to Friday when I get to leave her at the preschool and go run errands without a child! Yeah!

Well, I'm Already Downstairs! You'd Better Keep Up!

I just had to share some recent Lydia tidbits so I won't forget them later on. I wish I could film her throughout the whole day...or at least take a picture of every little thing she does. She is hilarious! I'm so thankful for a outgoing little girl. I was so extremely shy when I was younger and I'm glad Lydia is the complete opposite. She's outgoing, social, and definitely has a sense of humor. Love it!

This morning it took me two minutes to wake up to my 8:00 alarm! I need to start going to bed earlier! When I got out of bed to check on Lydia (I no longer have her baby monitor on - go me!), she was standing in the hallway holding a large yellow sponge as if it were a baby. I asked her what she was doing. "This is my baby...you want to come play?" I still needed to go potty, brush my teeth and get ready for our morning walk, so I told her I wasn't ready to play yet. "Oh, come on," she says, "you can be the grandma!" Out of all the hundreds of dolls and stuffed animals Lydia has in her room...she chose a SPONGE to be her baby! This girl cracks me up!

Lydia's new thing is to drive in her toy car. It suddenly hit her the other day that she wanted to drive in her car everywhere, just like Mommy and Daddy. She almost didn't get into my car at the post office because she was looking for her car. She now drives her Little Tykes car from our house to my parent's new house down the street. She also likes to fill her car up with "gas" and wash it's "windows". Her baby doll sits in it's seat next to her. She takes the fake key out of the ignition and then puts it back in and turns it a few times. She watches out the side "mirror" as she backs up her car. She has to park her car in the driveway next to Daddy's car. Once again, this girl cracks me up!

Every day I am so thankful and amazed at how much Lydia has grown. God has given me a wonderful, perfect little girl. We may have our tough times, but when she gives me a hug or asks for one more kiss before bed time, I am filled with so much joy I can hardly stand it!

Lydia posing in my wedding dress.

How's Your Thirst for Adventure, Captain?

August has barely begun and it's already been a full month and is looking to get even full-er!

The annual Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio was last weekend (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th). Mom, Leah and I headed up to Ohio on Friday and arrived just in time for the last part of the Hot Dog dinner at the local high school. It was quite "chilly" in Ohio - being under 80 degrees most of the time - a big difference from over 100 degrees in Texas!

Saturday morning we got up extra early in order to get into our Daenerys Targaryn costumes and for Leah to do both our hair and makeup. The costumes turned out awesome and we were excited to wear them at the festival. We walked almost the whole length of the Double Take Parade, but no one even asked us who we were dressed up as! There were plenty of Disney characters and other clever ideas - but no Game of Thrones characters. After the parade, we headed to the Research Tents to see what we could do. We got $5 right away for filling out a survey, then $25 for doing a taste test survey, then a $10 gift card to Wal-Mart for getting our fingerprints and pictures taken. Sunday we got $10 in Wal-Mart gift cards for the same thing, plus $10 for filling out a lie-detecting survey. We love the Research Tents since there's usually some good money to be made!

We entered the Saturday Costume Contest, but we didn't place. There were several awesome costumes. 3rd place went to a group of four (two sets of twins) who dressed as Prince Charming and Cinderella. 2nd place went to....I can't remember. And 1st place went to twins dressed as the Grimm Brothers. We also entered the most look alike females ages 24-29, but didn't place, either. Oh well! It was still fun to participate in the contest tent - we had never done that before.

We watched the Talent Show, as usual. There's always issues with the sound system, which kind of ruins the experience of the talent show, but it's always fun watching twins show off their talents. We also caught Drew Murray, a magician, in the food court - he's always really fun to watch! We tried to figure out his magic tricks, but were stumped even though we watched them twice.

I bought a t-shirt for me and Brian and then a different one for Lydia. Now we all have Twins Days shirts! The weather was perfect for walking around the festival all day - it was never too hot or too cold. We watched the fire works Saturday night and then stayed up late watching Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, haha. Sunday, we left the festival around 3:00 and went shopping at Wal-Mart and a $5 and under store. Then we chilled at the hotel for awhile and then went out to eat at a local restaurant. We left Monday morning for Texas. It was a great trip!

Lydia had a great time at her Grandma and Grandpa Pfeiffer's house! She loves spending time with them, especially since they have a new puppy named Joey. Lydia was a great help with Joey and very sweet with him. She wanted to go back and visit again!

Brian has been very busy working with my dad over at the new Dunlap house (three houses down from ours!). The house is really coming along great. There is new carpet and the walls are freshly painted. The boys worked on the side yard this morning and it looks great. Mom and dad will be able to move into their new house soon.

Brian starts working on his classroom next week. The following week Brian will be at teacher training/meetings all week and I do CPR training and have our preschool teachers meeting. Parent Orientation for Preschool is on the 30th - and this time I get to be the parent and not the teacher!

I have been researching new preschool music ideas and piano teaching ideas. I start my full week of preschool, Bibleland, and piano lessons the second week of September - eek!

Sara's bachelorette party is the last day of August and I'm helping Tamara plan and get ready!

Wow, August is busy and will probably go by way too fast!