October Craziness

Calvary Church

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, you can blame hurricane Sandy for the lack of an October blog. Sandy hit on Monday Oct. 29th, and we were without power until Nov. 2nd. There were already many things I planned to blog about this month, and that was before Sandy decided to come ashore. Anyway, in an attempt to keep things organized and compact and avoid writing a dissertation, I will try to summarize our crazy month of October into the beginning of November.

WORK:
Joey and I have been staying busy professionally. Joey's work at Calvary is going well. He is also teaching private lessons, accompanying for Anglican Singers and acting as Artistic Director of Calvary Music School. On top of that, he gave two organ recitals this month. I am also keeping busy teaching. I now have 14 enrolled students. My studio has grown much more quickly then I had anticipated, and Joey and I are working to balance our schedules and still be able to care for Clara. So far we are managing fine, and I am grateful to have so many wonderful students to work with.

MEGAN"S VISIT:
My dear friend Megan, who lives in Alexandria, VA, came to visit us at the beginning of the month. Megan and I met when we were in 9th grade, while attending a chamber music summer institute. We were roommates and became instant friends. Megan has two daughters and is expecting another baby in February. Clara had a lot of fun getting to know her girls, and it was great to see Megan and catch up with her. We spent a lot of time at the playground and also visited the Mystic Aquarium.

VACATION:
I celebrated an early birthday with Joey, Clara and my parents in Stowe, Vermont. The trip was a gift from my parents. They rented a 2 bedroom town home for three nights. Stowe is a beautiful place, surrounded by mountains. Unfortunatley we just missed the peak of the fall leaves, but it was still beautiful, and we saw a lot of color on the drive to Vermont. We had fun touring Stowe and taking scenic drives. We had some awesome apple cider and donuts at Cold Hollow Cider mill as well as some great meals at various local restaurants. We also stopped at a place called Kringle Candles in MA. It started out as a candle store and now has several stores including a Christmas and toy store, as well as a wonderful farm to table restaurant. Clara had a lot of fun exploring a new place and seeing her grandparents. Thanks mom and dad for a wonderful birthday experience!

BIRTHDAY:
I officially turend 29 on Oct. 19th. Clara and I had a joint birthday celebration since she turned a year and a half on the 20th. Joey made us a ghost cake, and boy was it good! I am looking forward to the last year of my twenties and love the fact that I can continue to tease Joey about being 30 for one more year!

PIANO:
Joey recently had his piano delivered from MN and moved into the front room of Calvary House. He will teach his students on it, and we will use it to practice and prepare for recitals together. It's really nice to have it, and it has quickly become Clara's favorite "toy". She loves to play the piano and listen to daddy play while she dances.

I made this violin for Clara before her wooden violin arrived.

CLARA:
Clara is a year and a half old now and is learning new things every second. Her vocabulary has really grown over the last few weeks. She is able to recognize 9 of the alphabet letters by sight and say them out loud, and she can count to 5. One of the most exciting things for us is hearing her sing. She now sings the first phrase of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", and she almost always sings it perfectly on key. She loves to sing and dance. I have started giving Clara violin lessons. I know what you are thinking. "That crazy woman, how does she expect an 18 month old to play the violin?" Of course Clara is not playing a real violin. She has a fake wooden violin that I purchased online, as well as a fake bow, and she is able to take a bow with the violin in rest position and put it onto her shoulder in play position. She also knows which hand holds the bow and will pretend to bow on her violin. We are also clapping rhythms, which she is pretty good at. She loves the violin and often wants to play with it as soon as she wakes up in the morning. I am interested in helping her enjoy learning about the violin without pushing her too hard too soon. We have fun little practice sessions, and she is given a sticker at the end.

Keeping warm during Sandy

                    

HURRICANE SANDY/HALLOWEEN:
As you know, a major hurricane hit the East Coast early last week. Hurricane Sandy merged with a Nor'easter to form a hybrid storm which resulted in terrible destruction and tragedy in several states, including Connecticut. New Jersey and New York were hit the worst. Because we live so close to the ocean, we were not comfortable staying at home during the storm. We were concerned about the storm surge. Also, the borough was placed under mandatory evacuation the night before the storm, which meant we might not be able to get help if we decided to stay home. There is nothing more eerie then listening to police sirens and announcements outside telling you that you have to leave your home. Our wonderful friends Richard and Lois from church offered to let us stay with them. They had a generator which provided power to the house even after the wind knocked power out. The borough did suffer quite a bit of damage, and coverage of the damage in Stonington could be seen on the national weather channel. A huge tree fell on the local library destroying the roof. There was also some serious flooding in the low lying areas of the borough. We were lucky though, Both Calvary Church and Calvary House were ok. We did spend a few nights at home in the dark. We had a fire going in the dining room and basically stayed there until we had to get into our cold bed. We have a small generator which was able to power an electrical heater in Clara's room. We actually spent the final night without power with some other generous friends who had power. The whole week was a bit surreal, and we were so relieved when the power finally came back on. We missed an entire week of teaching, and Joey's adult Evensong had to be cancelled.

We were excited about Halloween. We were going to take Clara trick-or-treating for the first time. However, the mayor of Stonington cancelled the holiday because he felt it was too dangerous for kids to be out immediately following the storm. Not to mention nobody had any power. He officially changed Halloween to November 16th. I'm not sure why he picked such a late date.; it's less than a week before Thanksgiving. I am glad that he rescheduled it though, and we do plan to participate and hand out candy. Maybe Clara will still get to go trick-or-treating this year. She has an adorable strawberry costume and it would be a shame for her not to be seen in it.

Although the storm and lack of power was difficult to deal with, we feel so lucky in many ways. Many people are still suffering because of the storm. Some lost their property and some lost their lives. This was the second hurricane Joey, Clara and I have experienced in CT, and I pray we don't have anymore for a very long time.

LOOKIN AHEAD:
We are hoping that November won't be quite as eventful as October. We look forward to celebrating Thanksgiving with friends here in Stonington and putting up our Christmas decorations. The weather has turned colder now, and most of the trees have lost their leaves. We hope you have a wonderful November and a happy Thanksgiving. I tried to keep this post short but it seems I have failed. Oh well, November should be pretty straight forward.

We took Clara with us to vote but she wouldn't tell us who she voted for.

And now I leave you with a Thanksgiving poem:

May your stuffing be tasty,
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize.
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

-Anonymous

Joey, Erin and Clara

Our favorite time of year!

Clara is 17 months old!!!

Dear Family and Friends,
It's no secret that Joey and I LOVE fall. We love the cool, windy weather and the beautiful fall colors, and we have always loved Halloween. I find I turn a bit sentimental this time of the year. Even though the leaves are dying and falling from their branches, and the weather is turning gray and cloudy, I somehow find so much beauty in it. Anyway, we try to make the most of fall every year. I think I mentioned our family "Fall Fun Days" in last year's fall blog. "Fall Fun Days" are a tradition Joey and I have maintained since we were married, and it's even more fun now that we can share them with Clara. 

We spent our first official "Fall Fun Day" visiting a local orchard. It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed picking apples and choosing some pumpkins. Actually, Clara picked the apples and chose the pumpkins while daddy helped, and I took way too many pictures. Clara loved the tractor ride out to the apple orchard. It was a fun day.

                                   

We also recently visited the Mystic Aquarium. It is an amazing place and we have a family membership so we can go for free anytime we want. Clara loves the beluga whales and also enjoys running around the indoor section of the aquarium looking at the various fish tanks.  

Joey is back into busy church mode again. His chorister program really grew last year and he now has several rehearsals during the week for the kids. His choristers will join another group of choristers from Trinity on the Green, New Haven for an Evensong service this Sunday. Joey is trying something new this year by dividing the adult choirs into two choirs. He has added a new choir called Schola which is an auditioned choir. The choirs will alternate Sundays and the kids will join with the Schola choir to fill out the soprano section. Joey is also directing the hand bell choir. 

Joey is still serving as Artistic Director of Calvary Music School and maintains a piano/organ studio of 8 students through the music school as well as a private studio made up of 5 adult piano students and two high-school/college-age organ students. He is enjoying his teaching very much. Calvary Music School presented its first ever faculty recital last week. Joey and I performed on violin, piano and organ along with 6 other faculty members representing voice, piano, mandolin, cello, and trumpet. The music school is doing really well; this fall we have the highest student enrollments that the school has had. 

I am still serving on the board of directors of Calvary Music School. I am very happy to report that my violin studio continues to grow. A year ago I started with 3 students and I am now up to 11. I hope my studio will continue to get bigger. I've been getting a lot of calls and am trying my best to figure out a schedule that works for our family. So far one of us is always available to take care of Clara. I love teaching and I love my students. I think it's going to be a great year. I also continue to gig in the area. Last week Joey and I played a wedding one day and a funeral the next. In general we try to keep Saturdays open so that we have one day a week when neither of us has to work. It's good to be busy and back into a schedule.

Clara is now 17 months old and it seems her rate of development has suddenly sped up dramatically. She now has at least 10 words that she can pronounce very clearly. She tries very hard to pronounce new words. She can pronounce the first 5 letters of the alphabet and really likes trying to count. She is very sweet and always gives us hugs before she goes to bed at night. She no longer needs to be rocked to sleep. She loves to "help" whenever she can whether it's putting clothes in the dryer, picking tomatoes, vacuuming with her toy vacuum or stirring something in a pot. She is always curious and involved. She still loves to dance and will mimic my movements on the violin by moving her "bow arm" back and forth in the air as if she is playing. She also like to pluck the strings on my violin. Her hair is still extremely blond and curly. She has a very comical personality and loves to laugh and be silly. She still loves books and is sometimes happy to sit and "read" them on her own. She brings so much happiness to us and we feel so lucky to have her in our lives.

We are looking forward to some fun things next month. My good friend Megan and her 2 daughters ages 17 months and 3 years will be visiting us for a little less than a week. Megan is expecting her 3rd child in February! I met Megan when we roomed together at a music festival when we were in 9th grade, and we have been friends ever since. I am so excited that she is going to come visit us. It will be so much fun for Clara to get to play with her girls.

After Megan's visit my parents are flying up from MN. My mom and dad are giving me a very special gift for my birthday this year. They have rented a town home for all of us in Stowe, Vermont for 3 days. None of us has ever been to Vermont, but it is supposed to be absolutely beautiful in the fall. Joey and I are very excited about the trip.  My parents come up on a Thursday and then we will drive together to Vermont. It will be nice to get away for a while and hopefully we will get to see some incredible fall foliage. 

Finally, I would like to thank all of you who voted for Clara in the Gerber Baby Facebook competition. I really don't think anything will come of it, but it was a fun thing to do and we appreciate all of the support. The results will be posted on November 1st, but I believe the grand prize winner has already been contacted and, although many of our friends were nice enough to vote, I'm sure there is no way we had more votes than others who chose to go crazy promoting their child in the competition. The truth is, every child is special and beautiful and deserves a college scholarship. But, thank you again for your votes. It means a lot! 

We wish you all a beautiful fall. Stay tuned for our October post!

Joey, Erin and Clara

The Last Days of Summer

                                                       

                                                            Dear Family and Friends,

Fun in the sun!

Summer is winding down. The last of the summer people will head home after this holiday weekend, and we will have our quiet little borough back. It's been a good summer, and we have enjoyed a lot of time in the sand and by the water. We have also been enjoying our new housing. It's really feeling like home now that we have been here for a couple of months. I was afraid I might not make my August post. Clara came down with a bad cold on Tuesday and now all three of us are sick. But, I am having a surge of energy so I will take advantage of it to do a quick August review before we head into the month of September.

Our cat Lucy has made herself right at home!

We said goodbye to my parents at the beginning of August after Joey returned home from his work in England. Having my parents here while he was gone was a huge help and Clara enjoyed her time with them. A couple of days after my parents returned home Joey's parents arrived for a two week visit. It was also a great visit. Clara is lucky to have two sets of grandparents who love her so much.

Clara loves to swing!

Joey and I stayed busy during the month of August playing weddings and teaching summer students. I was able to work with several students whose parents own summer homes in Stonington as well as continue with some of my year round students. Calvary Music School began its fall semester this past Monday, so Joey and I are back into full teaching mode with our students. I am happy to say that I am up to 9 students now. I have recently recruited several advanced high school students and am looking forward to working with them along with my beginning students and adult students. Joey also has some new students this year and is enjoying teaching both piano and organ. We are happy that our studios are growing and are looking forward to a rewarding fall semester. Joey's work as Director of Music at Calvary Church will pick up during the next several weeks as the adult and children's choirs and handbell choir begin their weekly rehearsals.    

Clara is doing really well other than suffering with her current nasty cold. She is extremely active and loves to be outside. We have an infant swing that we hook to the playground in our backyard that she really enjoys. In the morning she will run to the screen door and point to the swing asking to go out. She has a really healthy appetite and, to our amazement, loves vegetables. (Her favorite is broccoli!) We have to watch her like crazy because she wants to climb up on all of our chairs and stand on them. She has a light-up stuffed glow worm which plays music that she is crazy about and insists on sleeping with. She still takes a nice afternoon nap most days and we hope that will continue for a while. I have posted some pictures of Clara's room at the bottom of this blog. Her room is my favorite in the house and we spend a lot of time in it reading books and playing with toys. I still need to take some pictures of the rest of the inside of the house but for now pictures of Clara's room will have to suffice.

A close friend recently called to tell us to enter Clara in a competition the Gerber Baby company is doing on Facebook. Apparently you can win a college scholarship for your child if he or she gets the most votes. There is also a grand prize scholarship winner selected by judges based on your child's photo. Anyway, after contemplating the cost of college these days, we decided to enter Clara. We are not holding our breath, but if you are interested in voting for her you can look her up at the following link. Voting begins September 4th. I think you have to have a Facebook account in order to vote.

https://www.facebook.com/Gerber?sk=app_309623475794647&app_data=

We hope you have enjoyed a fun summer. Now begins our favorite time of the year. I always seem to get "Fall Fever" when the weather starts to cool and the leaves begin to change. We already have some fun and exciting things planned this fall. Till next month...

Erin, Joey and Clara