He's got his eye on you! Love those lashes!
Pearly whites....is that a pirate snarl?
And what selfie is complete without a picture of Boo Bankie?
And what selfie is complete without a picture of Boo Bankie?
Ready for your close-up?
I was in the kitchen all day yesterday and the oven was on 350 for several hours! I made two large pans of breakfast casserole. They required a little over four hours of baking time!!! Then I made three pans of cinnamon rolls. As one came out of the oven another would be ready to go in. It is a miracle I managed to time that all correctly. I have learned to let the bread machine do the hard part. And using bread flour made a huge difference in texture and feel. Now my next hurdle will be baking them long enough. All three pans sunk in the middle. I googled that and found out they were under baked.
You may wonder why all the preparation? We were supposed to leave at nine this morning for four days in Coos Bay. But one of the little girls got sick last night. So now our EDT is tomorrow morning. Liam was pretty devastated by this turn of events. I soothed his soul with a morning popsicle. Amazing how those can heal all wounds.
On Sunday Liam sat at the piano and played. One of his own arrangements. After some time he stopped and said "Okay mommy, clap now" I clapped and told him I was enjoying his music. A little later I said that he was doing such a marvelous job and making such pretty music would he like to do his finger exercises? "No mommy, I want to play what I want to play, not what you want me to play". So, I talked to his piano teacher. She said she was going to continue as long as he showed progress and each lesson he did show some progress. But he just doesn't want to do it any way but his...(you were right Auntie Pam). But here we have the time slot with the teacher and the funds to do it. So, I am going to take Liam's place! I took piano lessons as a kid. I hated it....that is an understatement. My sister could practice through a song a couple times then play it masterfully. My brother played by ear. He could hear it and play wonderfully. He also managed to pick up on cords which helped him along. But me.....I knew you would ask. Five years of lessons and I never got past beginner books. Mom would want us to play for the grandparents and Annette did her typical amazing job. Lance also did wonderful...then came me. Plinking away, making mistake after mistake.
I was in the kitchen all day yesterday and the oven was on 350 for several hours! I made two large pans of breakfast casserole. They required a little over four hours of baking time!!! Then I made three pans of cinnamon rolls. As one came out of the oven another would be ready to go in. It is a miracle I managed to time that all correctly. I have learned to let the bread machine do the hard part. And using bread flour made a huge difference in texture and feel. Now my next hurdle will be baking them long enough. All three pans sunk in the middle. I googled that and found out they were under baked.
You may wonder why all the preparation? We were supposed to leave at nine this morning for four days in Coos Bay. But one of the little girls got sick last night. So now our EDT is tomorrow morning. Liam was pretty devastated by this turn of events. I soothed his soul with a morning popsicle. Amazing how those can heal all wounds.
On Sunday Liam sat at the piano and played. One of his own arrangements. After some time he stopped and said "Okay mommy, clap now" I clapped and told him I was enjoying his music. A little later I said that he was doing such a marvelous job and making such pretty music would he like to do his finger exercises? "No mommy, I want to play what I want to play, not what you want me to play". So, I talked to his piano teacher. She said she was going to continue as long as he showed progress and each lesson he did show some progress. But he just doesn't want to do it any way but his...(you were right Auntie Pam). But here we have the time slot with the teacher and the funds to do it. So, I am going to take Liam's place! I took piano lessons as a kid. I hated it....that is an understatement. My sister could practice through a song a couple times then play it masterfully. My brother played by ear. He could hear it and play wonderfully. He also managed to pick up on cords which helped him along. But me.....I knew you would ask. Five years of lessons and I never got past beginner books. Mom would want us to play for the grandparents and Annette did her typical amazing job. Lance also did wonderful...then came me. Plinking away, making mistake after mistake.
This is the earliest picture I found with me and that piano. Don't ya' love the curlers?
See the fear already etched on my face?
My mom could play...and somewhere there is a picture of my grandpa Sellon playing on one of his visits to us.
It made a much better background for me than musical instrument.
It appears Annette gave lessons to the family cats.
There are no pictures of Lance playing, but I assure you he did.
In 2003 or 2004 our next door neighbor was moving. She had a piano she was wanting to sell. I had dreamt for years of having a piano. I know, strange considering, but I still wanted one. Her price finally came down enough for me to purchase it! Lance happened to be here at the time so between him, Craig and Annette's husband Jack we got it moved.
There are no pictures of Lance playing, but I assure you he did.
In 2003 or 2004 our next door neighbor was moving. She had a piano she was wanting to sell. I had dreamt for years of having a piano. I know, strange considering, but I still wanted one. Her price finally came down enough for me to purchase it! Lance happened to be here at the time so between him, Craig and Annette's husband Jack we got it moved.
Here it is a few years ago decked out for Christmas. It was badly in need of refinishing, then Liam came along. When he was about two he found a screw and 'drew' on the right side. Thank goodness for Old English furniture polish. Those gouges...er....scratches are barely visible. Then a year after that he took a black sharpie and drew over the previous years artwork. That was a little harder to hide.
It is a 1901 Upright Grand Parlor Piece. They call it a Parlor Piece because there is a little sliding lever on the left side of the key board that moves a bar covered with felt against or away from the hammers to muffle the music. The bar is gone but all the mechanisms are there. It is sort of neat. This piano was made in Massachusetts and I have often wondered when and how did it make its way to Oregon. It does have a couple problem notes about two octaves up from middle C. I am not worried however as with my limited abilities I will probably never play that far up the key board.
I am hoping to somehow get to the point where I can play hymns for Liam and me to sing along with. I would love for my left hand to do more than balance me out. It really struggles with those notes. We will see. I need lots of prayer for this one!!
So that's about all I have today. I can't even close with a Liamism. Unless I go back in time. Oh, Wait...he just gave me a Liamism. Each day he takes several supplements. Probiotics being one of them. He just asked me if he had his 'probadodigs' today.
It is a 1901 Upright Grand Parlor Piece. They call it a Parlor Piece because there is a little sliding lever on the left side of the key board that moves a bar covered with felt against or away from the hammers to muffle the music. The bar is gone but all the mechanisms are there. It is sort of neat. This piano was made in Massachusetts and I have often wondered when and how did it make its way to Oregon. It does have a couple problem notes about two octaves up from middle C. I am not worried however as with my limited abilities I will probably never play that far up the key board.
I am hoping to somehow get to the point where I can play hymns for Liam and me to sing along with. I would love for my left hand to do more than balance me out. It really struggles with those notes. We will see. I need lots of prayer for this one!!
So that's about all I have today. I can't even close with a Liamism. Unless I go back in time. Oh, Wait...he just gave me a Liamism. Each day he takes several supplements. Probiotics being one of them. He just asked me if he had his 'probadodigs' today.