KellyGirl
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Posts posted by KellyGirl
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For those of you who did multiple instruments - can I ask a follow-up? Did you take weekly lessons for each instrument, or alternate?
My dd's just started her second instrument. If she wants to stick with it, I'm thinking of biweekly lessons for both instruments (for cost reasons, if nothing else - ouch the price!) What say you?
I was usually only doing lessons for one at a time - but had lessons for 2 at one point (trumpet at school, guitar privately) and it wasn't too bad. For drums and piano once I really got going, I had someone who was more like a mentor - he would give me something to work on and I would come back to him when I had mastered it and was ready for something new.
I think that with biweekly lessons it takes a lot more discipline to stay up on your skills, but if she loves it that might not be a problem. The other thing is you might consider a few months of weekly lessons for the flute as learning a completely new kind of instrument may need a little more work. Piano and accordian are similar, woodwinds will be a whole new world!
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It is doable. I had piano lessons when I was young, picked up guitar at 12 and then added drums about a year later. I also played the trumpet in there briefly. It sounds like she is probably a natural musician and if she enjoys it then let her go for it. She may find that she likes one instrument better than the others, but I know for me it changes from time to time. I kept my skills up (to some degree) on most of the instruments on a rock band stage. I will play (almost) nothing but bass for a few years, then get sick of playing bass, have an opportunity to play keys and turn my focus to that.
If you absolutely want her to stick to piano and accordian for several more years, then maybe the flute isn't a good idea. But if you want to just let her follow her interests, I don't think there's any harm in it. I have found that understanding how several different instruments work (and fit in various settings) has made me a better rounded musician.
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I broke up with my PC last year and bought an iMac (refurbed). I love it! What kind of Mac you want depends on what you need it for. Do you want a laptop or a desktop? How much are you willing to spend? How much memory and speed do you need (is just for surfing the web or for gaming/streaming lots of content)?
I love how neat and tidy the iMac is - the brains of the computer are contained in the flat panel monitor and the mouse and keyboard are wireless. It is a beautiful computer.
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We stayed at King's Creek Plantation last May and it was a great deal, and super nice to have a whole condo to spread out in. I don't know about you, but my family starts to sick of the close quarters of a hotel after a few days! I booked through Endless Vacation Rentals which had the best prices I could find - they book for King's creek and Powhatan Resorts, along with a few others.
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Homeschooling year round in NY isn't a problem. You get to set your own dates for quarterly reports - the law only requires that they be logically spaced out. I usually do a little school over the summer, but submit my reports around the same time as the schools do report cards. But if you are going to do a full schedule year round, you could just break out your year accordingly. Having it start in August or September would probably be easiest from a record keeping point of view.
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Yes, we wait. I lost two in a row between sons one and two. One of the reasons we wait to tell the kids is that I don't the whole world to know this early on. With one of my miscarriages a woman who knew I had been pregnant came up and started asking me if I was feeling better and talking about pregnancy goes smoother as you get farther along...it was really difficult to stop her and tell her I had lost the baby. And when my kids find out mamma is pregnant, they want to tell the whole world!!!
I am actually concealing a pregnancy right now:p and am kind of surprised that at least my 11yo hasn't noticed. But apparently he has better things to do than wonder why I am taking naps, snacking frequently, laying on the couch with a blanket over my head, or going to see the OB. With all my previous kids I was vomiting many times a day by 8 weeks, and even then it takes them a while to notice.
Now, let me just say...we don't keep it a secret from everyone, we're just very selective in who finds out early on - and we make it clear to those people that it is NOT public knowledge (if you happen to know me IRL, this one is NOT public knowledge!!!). I agree with pp's who said that it can be beneficial to talk about the loss with the kids, but I would prefer to approach it as "I was pregnant and lost the baby" than to allow them to get all excited and then really struggle with the loss.
And no, my kids weren't upset that we didn't tell them. We frame it as "we wanted to make sure the baby was healthy before we told you" and they seem okay with that.
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I read your thread with a lot of interest because my dad was in Nam. He was blown off a bridge into a field loaded with Agent Orange. When I was 3, he died from a heart condition that was caused by the A.O. exposure. And of course, it took my mom something like 10 years to prove her case and get a payout.
I think that things like this need to be brought to light...as you said there may be men who are sick and not making the connection on your own. Like a pp I was thinking a local journalist might be a good place to start. Our ABC affiliate has a segment called "Your Stories" that seems like it would be a good fit for this. Getting involved with the DAV might be another route.
Good luck on this journey, and thanks for caring about all our veterans!
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We used an alarm when ds was 7 (he was wet every night). I was skeptical, but figured the alarm cost about a month's worth of pull ups (which made it seem not so bad). After just a few nights he dropped it in the toilet and it stopped working. But he never had another accident after that!
Medication doesn't really fix anything - it just dries them up. My ped was not fond of meds unless it was for sleepovers, summer camp or things like that.
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If it continues to be a case of huge monthly repair bills then maybe it's time for a change. But if you happen to get a few good months out of it now, you should be able to save. I hate that whole "is something else going to break" thing...trying to decide if it's worth it to keep the car any longer. Been there, done that, and I don't envy you.:grouphug:
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The second you drive off the lot, that brand new van becomes worth a heck of a lot less. The last time we bought a van, we bought one that was less than a year old. It was still covered under the original warranty and was new enough that it didn't feel like a crappy used car.
I second the idea of saving for a while if you can. When we paid off our van, we started making car payments to our savings account to cover repairs and eventually (we hope) pay cash for the next van. Also, paying a payment to yourself for a few months will give you a really good idea what life will be like with a car payment.
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I find this very disturbing. I will never understand the thought process of someone who can rationalize doing something this disgusting to someone's food for any reason. I'm curious if you brought this to the attention of the shop owner/manager since you knew this was going on?
I never saw it happen. It was something that they joked about, but I don't doubt that it was done from time to time. Unfortunately, at the place I worked, the owner would have (most likely) laughed about it. And my husband put himself through college working at Denny's - he's always afraid to send his food back, I think he may have actually seen food be defiled.:ack2:
I don't understand it either, but I operate under the assumption that not all food service workers are as mature and reasonable as I am.
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I used to deliver pizza for a little ma and pop pizza shop. I made minimum wage without the dollar per delivery. You're right, drivers know the addresses of the bad tippers and will often take their time getting there (or maybe they will spit in your pizza). I didn't do that stuff, but the guys I worked with would always hand me (being the new kid) the ones that didn't tip.
It was a fun job when gas was only 99 cents a gallon. But I would bet that the increase in tipping hasn't kept up with the increase in gas prices over the last 12 years. So tip your driver well, especially if it's snowing and you ordered pizza because you didn't want to risk your own life out on the road!
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Sounds like fibromyalgia maybe? I have a lot of muscle aches that the doctor thought might be fibromyalgia, but I didn't have enough of the pressure points for that diagnosis. I just recently realized that my aches come and go around my cycle. I ache from ovulation to menstruation (it starts out just a little and then gets worse and worse). Along with the aches I also completely lack energy and get very moody/depressed. I figured out that my problem is PMDD.
HTH
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If you are looking to buy to used, I would recommend going through someplace reputable like Guitar Center or Daddy's Junky Music. These places should have at least a 30 day return policy. That way the guitar teacher will have a chance to look the instrument over and make sure nothing is wrong.
The warping that takes place on a guitar would probably not be noticeable to the untrained eye. The neck can dip or turn making the guitar hard to play - to see it you look down the strings from the fat end of the guitar up to the tuning pegs. So if your looking someplace like craigslist, see if you can find anyone who plays who would be willing to go along with you to check out the instrument.
I made a few suggestions (as did some other people) on the thread jplain mentioned. But if ds wants an electric guitar I would suggest an Ibanez. I personally don't like their accoustic guitars(they're really known for their electrics,the accoustic guitars are more of an afterthought), but you'll be hard pressed to find a better value for an electric guitar.
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Well, for lunch I used our monthly special stash and took the kids to Subway on our way to the library. I had a buffalo chicken sub with a M&M cookie.
What's frustrating me today? Kids that seem incapable of speaking kindly to one another. They have become uncivilized monsters, and I'm not sure how that happened!
The coolest thing of the day? Hmmm, I've a couple cool things happen today - at Subway I ordered 4 waters (so as not to go over my $20 budget, and because it's healthy) and the guy said "You can get whatever you want to drink - you've spent enough money here today!" AND I just won a four pack of tickets to the movies from our local Red Cross chapter:party:
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I bought my 9 year old an Oscar Schmidt 3/4 size dreadnought in black, and it has been a nice little guitar for him and it cost less than $100 (on Amazon, with free shipping). I also didn't want to invest too much in a beginner guitar that he would soon outgrow and this one had good reviews for the price. If there are specific guitars you are considering you might want to find reviews on Harmony Central to check it out more thoroughly.
Oh yeah, I forgot about Harmony Central! That is a great place to look at reviews on guitars and all that kind of gear.:hurray:
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If you get something that is thin body or cut away it will be more comfortable without being "outgrowable". (I'm only 5'1" and I prefer something with a cut away for that reason.) With a thin body you sacrifice some of the acoustics because there is less room the sound to resonate. But if it's made of good wood it will likely sound better than what he has now. A Taylor "Big Baby" would be a good choice, but then your back to $450.
Oh, and by the way...what is he playing now? And is there any chance you could ask him if he remembers the guitar he liked?
Maybe something like this or this would be nice in the cutaway department...and those are both stores that we have used repeatedly and had good luck with. Ordering online might be cheaper than your local music store, unless you have a Daddy's or a Guitar Center.
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My husband and I both play (and he's teaching our ds11). What was it about the guitar in the store that your son really liked? Was it the color, an inlay (design) on the fret board, the shape of the guitar? My dh says if you can give us a link to the guitar your ds likes, we can try to find a cheaper option that he would like. (My husband LOVES shopping for new gear, and he can't spend his own money, he'll gladly help you spend yours).
I have a Baby Taylor that I got for camping trips, but it is the most likely to get pulled out guitar at our house because of the convenience. But, as was already stated he will "outgrow" it.
Takamine is a brand that I LOVE, and you can certainly get into one for under $500 - here's an example.
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I study Okinawan Goju Ryu with my boys. We pay $80/month for the first person, $70 for the second. The 6 year old should be $40/month but my sensi let me bring him along for free when she saw that I was going to leave him home because of finances.
Our dojo is VERY small, and the "dojo" is sensi's garage. But, it is authentic goju ryu (where most schools around here that claim to be goju are actually a blend) with my sensi traveling to the dojo in Okinawa every year to keep up her own techniques. Our school may appear kind of "fly by night" at first glance, but the training is really very good.
We don't pay anything for grading until we reach blackbelt, and that fee goes somewhere higher than our dojo, as our Shodan rank is given out by a national or international board. Blackbelts aren't given before age 16, so my 11 year old would have to train for 5 more years, making the total cost $4,800. But we pay month to month with no contract, so if we need two or three months off to save some cash we can do that.
To find a dojo like mine you would have to ask around, check for facebook karate groups in your city and things like that. Some one who isn't spending all their money on advertising and fancy equipment might be more willing to work with you.
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Here is my hunk doing the two things that make him happy...playing his guitar and being with his family.
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You've gotten lots of good advice, but I'll weigh in since there is one thing that worked great for me and I didn't see it mentioned here. I had pretty severe morning sickness with three of my four. The first two lasted all nine months (we're talking being sick more than 10 times a day a lot of days).
For two of my pregnancies, fireballs helped a lot. The thought of them made me sick but once I got brave enough to pop one in my mouth, I was amazed. If I grabbed a fireball when I first started to feel like nauseous it would often calm my stomach. Then I would follow that with a filling snack (like nuts). As pp's have said, keep your stomach full!
Unisom saved me. If you take the right one (NOT THE GEL CAPS - the ones with Doxylamine as the active ingredient) it can control all the symptoms. I still didn't feel great, but I wasn't getting sick very often whenever I took it. My first OB wouldn't let me take until 12 weeks, but my new one told me to start taking it as soon as I felt sick.
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Do you know how to sew? If not, there are some "easy sew" patterns that aren't too hard. I have mostly taught myself (although my mom does help me out here and there) by doing their costumes and pajamas. I'm not great, and I wouldn't send my kids out in public in clothes I made but it does the trick for halloween costumes.
I like my kids to do themes - one year they were Captain Hook, Peter Pan, and Tinkerbell...all homemade. This year we are doing Alice in Wonderland. I am making the dress for Alice (dd5). The Mad Hatter (ds11) costume will be thrown together from thrifty stores and stuff around the house (except we did buy the hat with orange hair from the Disney store). DS6 wants to be a playing card...I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to do that one, and the baby will be the dog, using an old costume in the attic.
Goodwill stores are a great source for costumes. I think the godisney website has lots of make your own costume ideas. And we get ideas throughout the year...one of the kids will say "I want to be that for halloween" after we've seen a movie in January. If you don't sew, you make things like a box of popcorn, bunch of grapes, or candy bar.
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Absolutely. When I was shopping for an iPod touch, the Mac genius at the mall told me he always buys refurbed if it's an option. They are fully warrantied and well checked over. I went bought a refurbed iPod and haven't had a problem - and it looked brand new.
We would have bought a refurbed iMac too, but we got sick of waiting for one to show up in the online Apple Store (our old PC was on its very last leg).
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Our beagle isn't super mouthy... she barks whenever someone comes to the door - or if she's outside, whenever someone walks past the house. We did get her to the point where she doesn't usually bark at the neighbors anymore (but it took a couple of years).
And she ran. And ran. And ran some more. Every time one of my littles would open the door she would bolt. But around age 4 she stopped running. I don't really know why (we did yell at her and crate her every time she ran away). She does get stinky, too. Although I would say it comes and goes. I don't think she ran because she was tracking. I think she ran because she likes to be free.
A cavalier was another breed I was looking at too... I would probably go with a cavalier. But beagles are WONDERFUL with kids and they are ver affectionate dogs.
decent instruments for toddler/preschooler
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Remo makes a kid's percussion line that is decent quality (They are a professional grade drum company). For our kids we bought a djembe on ebay for me, but let them use that to play along with us.