Spring is here!

HAPPY SPRING!

Dear Family and Friends,
Today is such a beautiful day here in Stonington; the sun is shining, the birds are singing and it is currently 66 degrees! Spring took its time this year. We had unusually cold temperatures during March, and it's only now beginning to warm up. We are so ready for Spring! Clara is excited to spend more time outside, and Joey and I are enjoying getting back to our post-dinner family walks in the Borough. We spent the morning at an Easter egg hunt, and we are looking forward to tomorrow, when we will celebrate both Easter and Clara's 3rd birthday! The weather is predicted to be beautiful again tomorrow, so it should be a wonderful day.

CLARA LOVES LUCY!

March had its ups and downs. In the middle of March, I came down with some of the worst stomach flu I have experienced in a long time. I got sick during a very busy week for Joey. He had to miss practicing for several recitals he was preparing for in order to take care of Clara while I was trying to recover. He gave two recitals at the end of the week without being able to practice on the instruments ahead of time, thanks to my lovely stomach bug. Fortunately, Clara and Joey managed to avoid getting sick themselves and, as usual, Joey performed really well. Clara and I were able to join Joey for his recital in Norwalk, CT the following week.

BRINGING OUT THE SUNGLASSES!

SPRING CHICKS!

On the more positive side, we enjoyed a nice visit from my aunt and uncle and parents during the middle of March. My mom and dad were able to come out during my mom's Spring Break, and my aunt and uncle joined us for St. Patrick's Day weekend. We celebrated with some delicious smoked corned beef from our favorite BBQ restaurant Chester's, as well as cabbage, Irish soda bread, and cupcakes.

Recently Joey and members of the Calvary organ installation committee traveled to Ooltewah, TN to see the shop of the Richards, Fowkes organ builders company. They also spent time in Chattanooga, TN touring several churches, with Joey demonstrating on the organs. It was a quick trip, but it was good for the committee to see the shop where the new Calvary instrument will be built and to learn about the process.

Clara is doing really great. She continues to enjoy her ballet class once a week, and is looking forward to playing the part of a bluebell flower in the upcoming Spring Showcase at the end of May. We are so proud of her, because she is now potty trained. We were nervous about getting started, and we thought it was going to take forever to teach her how to use the potty, but the process was actually very easy, and she caught onto it really quickly. She is getting to be such a big girl. She is becoming more and more affectionate as she gets older. There are no other words more precious to us than "I love you daddy" or "I love you momma". Clara loves to sing, and we have been learning a lot of new songs. Today she learned how to sing "You are my Sunshine". She is definitely our Sunshine!

GETTING OUR GARDEN STARTED!

Clara is excited about turning three, and she is going to have a "Spring" birthday party this Saturday, which might include an Egg Hunt if the weather is ok. We have enjoyed Holy Week at Calvary Church. I was able to attend a few of the services during the week with Clara, and we are looking forward to going to the 9:00 AM service tomorrow morning. As usual, Holy Week at Calvary has been very busy for Joey, but he really enjoys the various services and really doesn't get stressed out about it. Clara was born during Holy Week on the Wednesday before Easter in 2011. Of all the times we could have had a baby, we had to have her during one of the busiest church holidays! It's hard to believe that was almost three years ago. Where does the time go?

EASTER EGGS!

We hope you have a wonderful Spring with beautiful, warm weather, and we wish you a very Happy Easter!
Until next post,
Joey, Erin and Clara

OUR FRIEND "SKIPPY SQUIRREL" EATING ON THE DECK.

January/February 2014 Update

Calvary Church, February 2014

Dear Family and Friends,
We have been having quite the winter here in Connecticut. According to locals, we have had more snow this winter than CT has seen in recent years, and we have experienced unusually cold temperatures. However, Joey and I really can't complain too much. We both love the snow and get excited about impending snow storms. I guess it's because we both grew up in snowy Minnesota. Also, while CT has seen single digit temperatures a few times during the last couple of months, Minnesotans have been experiencing -30 to -45 degree wind chills.

Joey, Clara and I were able to experience some true Minnesota cold when we flew to Minnesota at the end of January to perform an organ/violin recital at the House of Hope Presbyterian Church in Saint Paul. We were supposed to perform in the small chapel as part of the "Elizabeth Chapel Series", but when we arrived the chapel organ was having mechanical problems. It was pretty much unplayable. Fortunately, the church is very large, and it has four pipe organs, so we were able to move the recital to the large Sanctuary, and Joey performed on the Fisk organ. We had to make some balance adjustments, and some of our repertoire choices would have been better on the chapel organ, however the recital went well. We had a good audience, which included a lot of family and friends, and people seemed to enjoy it. We were able to spend a short amount of time at both Joey's parent's house and my parent's house. It was a quick, four-day trip, but we had fun, and the travel all went smoothly. Joey has another recital booked in MN this summer, so we look forward to being back in July.

Picture following our concert in Minnesota.

Clara on her way to a Princess birthday party!

Clara is a busy girl these days. And, as sad as it is to admit, she is definitely not a baby anymore. Recently Joey was trying to put Clara's winter hat on, and she said "Please don't mess up my hair daddy!" Do we have a toddler or a teenager on our hands? Well, she will always be our baby, but her use of language and ability to express herself are more in line with a little girl now, rather than a baby. We started potty training Clara two weeks ago, and she is doing really well with it. She seems to know very clearly when she needs to go, and she always makes it to the potty in time. So far we have done the training at home, but we plan to start training outside of the home very soon. We have a little potty for the car and a travel potty chair that fits over an adult toilet. She is very proud of her potty training. In fact, we were at a resteraunt the other night, and when the owner came over to greet us, she announced proudly for all to hear, "I WENT POO POO ON THE POTTY TODAY!". Fortunately the owner had a good sense of humor.

Clara pretending to paint the wall.

Look at all of the snow Mamma!

Clara practicing her ballet.

Clara is enjoying ballet classes, and is going to perform in the Spring Showcase this coming May. We are not sure what character she will be in the ballet. She could be anything from a flower to a carrot! In January, the ballet school had a parent's week, and we were able to sit and observe the class. It was fun to see all the things Clara is learning, and since we were alowed to bring cameras, we have both pictures and video to enjoy.

Clara is such a sweet, happy girl. She will be three years old this Easter Sunday, April 20th! She recently got her acceptance letter from Calvary Nursery School, so she will be attending school two days a week beginning this fall. We think she is going to really love school. She enjoys being around other kids and keeping busy with projects and activities.

Clara's heart decorations displayed in the kitchen.

Clara's "Make A Plate" Art from the Library now hanging in her room.

Clara is a good helper. She always puts her laundry away when asked.

This time of year is challenging when you have a young child. It's cold and snowy, and there are not many activities to do unless you go somewhere indoors where you will inevitably pick up germs. We do visit the library pretty regularly, and I try to keep art and craft activities in the house. Clara had fun preparing for Valentine's Day by making heart decorations. We stayed home for Valentine's Day this year. Joey made a delicious dinner, and Clara had fun playing with her big balloon from daddy.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Joey and I are keeping busy with our work. I have added a couple of new students, and I have a nice lesson schedule that works well for Joey, Clara and me. We have our Mondays off again this semester, and we try to do something fun as a family on those days. Joey has several recitals coming up in March, along with a trip to Tennessee with members of the organ installation committee to see the shop where the new Calvary organ will be built. Joey will play some of the shop's completed organs for the shop concert, which is open to the public. During last summer and fall, Joey and the organ committee traveled around visiting different pipe organs built by some of the world's best organ builders. We also hosted a few builders at our house while they took measurements, came up with ideas for designs, and met with the organ committee members. Now that a contract has been signed with Richards Fowkes Company, it is exciting to learn more about the new instrument for Calvary, and it will be interesting to watch as the process of creating the instrument begins to unfold.

Lucy likes the snow too! 

Resting with daddy during a snow storm.

Joey's homemade Italian meatball soup for a cold winters night.

We hope you have stayed healthy and happy during these cold winter months. As much as I like snow, I am starting to get the itch for Spring. We had one 50-degree day this past weekend, and it was so nice for Clara to get outside and play on the playground.

Clara loves the snow!

Until next post,
Joey, Erin and Clara

An Exciting New Year! Welcome 2014.

Lucy had a nice Christmas too!

Dear Family and Friends,

As promised, here is my very delayed Christmas/New Year's update.

We had a very nice Christmas and New Year's Holiday, in spite of the fact that we were dealing with some health issues. A few days before Christmas, Clara became ill with a cold which included stomach upset, fever, bad cough and lethargy. She was really miserable for several days, including the day we had to rehearse and perform the Messiah. Fortunately my parents arrived for their visit the day Clara became sick and were able to be with her during what was a very busy weekend for Joey and me. She recovered in time for Christmas and was feeling much better Christmas day, but the rest of us, including my parents, came down with bad colds a couple of days after Christmas. Needless to say, we were all feeling a bit under the weather during the majority of the holiday, although we still managed to have a really nice time.

Playing with the crumbly cookie dough Momma tried to make.

Making cookies out of the good dough Daddy made.

 On Christmas eve, Joey played a 4:00pm Christmas pageant service in which Clara was supposed to have been a sheep, but was unable to do so because of her illness. In between the 4:00pm and the late service, Joey prepared a nice dinner at home. At the 11:00pm service, I played my usual "Silent Night" descant. The late night service is always very special and beautiful. The church was full, and the lighting of the candles at the end of the service while the congregation sings "Silent Night" is always so moving. Our rector Alfred Tisdale never fails to give moving and inspiring sermons. We feel blessed to be part of such a wonderful church community.

Christmas Eve dinner 2013.

We were all pretty tired on Christmas morning, since we had been up late with the Christmas Eve service. Clara woke up around 8:00AM and immediately went running into the living room to see whether Santa had brought her anything. She had fun opening her presents and was especially excited about her new art easel. After breakfast and presents, we all attended the 11:00AM Christmas service. We spent the rest of the day resting, and poor Joey, who had been busy playing services, still managed to cook a wonderful Ham dinner on Christmas evening.

Grandad reading "The Night Before Christmas" to Clara on Christmas Eve.

The cookies and milk are ready for Santa!

After Santa arrived.

Christmas morning!

Boxing day was spent with our dear friends Lois and Rich. Lois, who is a wonderful cook, prepared a delicious meal for all of us. Unfortunately, Clara was still not back to feeling her best, and we had to leave a bit early due to her fussiness. We spent the rest of the day packing and preparing to leave for our trip to Alexandria, VA to spend the New Year with my Aunt Gay and Uncle Harry.

Decorating ginger bread houses!

We really enjoyed our visit to Alexandria. We got to spend a lot of time with my aunt and uncle as well as my cousin Adam, who recently became engaged to his beautiful fiancée Natasha. We also spent an evening with my long time friend Megan and her husband and three children. We attended Sunday service at the Washington Cathedral and got to say hello to one of Joey's former Yale classmates who is now one of the organists there.

Clara loves Natasha!

She loves Adam too! 

One of the highlights of the trip was our New Year's Eve celebration. As a Christmas gift, my aunt and uncle bought us tickets to a New Year's Eve dinner and dance at the Carlyle Club. (See link) (http://thecarlyleclub.com/) We enjoyed a wonderful meal and great live band and vocal music from the 1920's to the 1960's performed by the Doc Scantlin Band. We had a great time listening to the music and dancing. My parents stayed home with Clara, so we were able to enjoy an evening out with my aunt and uncle. Thanks again GG and Uncle Harry!

On our way to the Carlyle Club! Whose face is peeking out at the bottom of the picture?

While we were in Virginia, Joey and I decided to start 2014 with something new for us. We bought a new car! We got a great deal on a brand new 2013 Honda Pilot. It is very spacious and it was rated no. 1 in safety in 2013. Because our Dodge Caravan was having some work done, my parents rented a car to drive to Alexandria. They were able to return the rental once we purchased our car, and we drove our new car home. We are really enjoying the new car and we plan to keep the Dodge Grand Caravan for short trips and occasions when we need two vehicles.

And now we are back to our busy routine. Clara is enjoying being back in ballet class, going to story-time at the library and having play dates with other local children. She has graduated to a big girl bed and is doing great with it. We have been trying to do some beginning potty training, but we plan to get more serious about it this month. Joey and I have been preparing for a violin/organ recital at the "House of Hope Prebyterian Church" in Saint Paul, MN on February 2nd. We have been invited to perform on the Elizabeth Chapel Organ Recital Series. We fly to MN in the morning. It will be a quick trip to MN, but we look forward to seeing our family and hopefully some MN friends! See the following link for more information: http://hohchurch.org/concerts-and-recitals 

The best Christmas present!

Finally, we have some very exciting news about Calvary Church. Calvary Church is getting a new pipe organ! It is going to be built by the Richard-Fowkes company of Ooltewah, TN, one of the premier builders of Pipe Organs in the world. I will write a more extensive blog post about the organ soon, which will detail the process Joey and the organ committee went through in finding the right builders. The official announcement was made to the church congregation this week, so we are excited to share the wonderful news. Please click on the following links to read more about the organ project. As you can imagine, Joey is extremely excited about the ways in which this instrument will enhance the musical worship at Calvary Church as well as provide performance and educational opportunities for Calvary Church and surrounding communities. 

"Like" the church organ blog on FB or follow it on your own!

http://www.calvary-music.org/richards-fowkes-opus-23.html

Richards-Fowkes official announcement: http://www.richardsfowkes.com/

Enjoy the start of the New Year!
Until next post,
Joey, Erin and Clara

This photo shows the current 1964 Wicks organ.