Music Recital

End of the Year Student Recital - 31 May 2012

I am so proud of Samuel, Emma and Jonathan for their outstanding performances last night at the music recital!   They all have showed great perseverance and faithfulness over the past 7 months in their musical studies.  The kids have surely inherited their father's passion and gift in music.  Samuel and Emma love playing the piano and we are so thankful for this experience for them.  Luca is right behind them, teaching himself and figuring out how to play on his own.  It is very likely he will be enrolled in piano come the fall.

Jonathan is a self-taught guitarist and up until last November has never taken a lesson in his life.  He finds classical guitar playing a challenge in technique and a growing passion of his.  His instructor made sure to communicate to the MC last night that Jonathan was performing songs that are studied by a 5th year student in a conservatory.  I think he is her price pupil.  The MC praised him again at the end of his performance saying how Jonathan practices 4-6 hours a day!  Umm, that was news to us both!  Clearly he does have a family, work and life you know!

The program began at 9:00 PM.  I know all you Americans out there are gasping at the thought, considering too it was on a school night.  The recital was held at the local theater here in Leinì.  There were 80 students listed in the program and many performed 2 songs a piece.  Samuel and Emma were #34 and #35 and Jonathan #52.  Around 10:00 Samuel and Emma became less concerned about playing and more worried that they would not be awake to play.  Thankfully their adrenalin kicked in for them to execute stellar performances at 10:30 PM.  Jonathan waited another hour to play his pieces before we made a beeline for the door and headed home.  A mom from school verified that her son played the final piece of the night at 1:00 AM!!!

Samuel and Emma with their teacher, Ruben

The auditorium was packed out as this was quite the community event

Here is a video of their performances.  The lighting was so bad that we could not get any pictures worth posting.  I had issues with the video camera: covering the speaker when recording Jonathan and somehow switching to black and white for the kids.  Sorry!  Jonathan took video from his iPhone from a different location and thankfully he did as Ruben was totally blocking my view of Samuel from where I was.  The teachers sat near their students while they played which I thought was kind of cool as it served to help calm nerves.  Enjoy!



 P.S. Dad and Mom, a huge display poster did fall from the wall during a piano performance.  Unlike me, the student kept his composure and concluded without being phased. I did chuckle to myself at the memory of my own disastrous recital.  :)

Mercato

Thursday mornings we head to the open air market and love to stock up on our fruits and vegetables.  We try to buy for the week, but the stuff is so darn good it only lasts us through the weekend.  We frequent the same vendors and have earned the status of discounts and freebies, which is always nice.  This is what I will miss this summer...

 Nothing says fresh like dirt coated veggies

This is candy to our eyes

Counting Down

We are down to 17 days before we return to the USA for the summer!  We are all SUPER-DUPER excited!  The kids are constantly talking about their upcoming summer....vacationing, crafting, swimming, camping, playing with cousins, getting spoiled by grandparents, even discussing in great detail their lemonade and craft stand they want to put up.  Memories that were created two years ago on their last visit are surfacing as they recount their visits with churches, Sunday school classes, names of families we ate with (and even remembering their pets' names too), and just really random memories--all in shockingly great detail!

They are trying so hard to work out the geography of the US, but keep getting tripped up on the distinction between the Americas - the USA - states etc.  Yesterday Luca wanted to draw the "Canada flag".  When I showed him the American flag he agreed to that one.  When he was done he was walking around the house, waving his flag while humming the Italian national anthem.  Clearly he is a third culture child with MK stamped all over him!

Their carry-ons are not packed yet but they wrote out their check lists 5 months ago, so they should be all set when I give them the green light to pack.  Thankfully, they will be busy with school up until the day before we leave.  Each time we travel it gets easier for them (and us), so hopefully this Mamma won't be carrying everyone's backpacks through the airport this time around.       

The list is long in things we have to do.  The nights are starting to become more restless as there is this constant check-list running through my thoughts even as I sleep.  

• Pack luggage
• Inventory kid clothes so I have a specific list of their needs for the next 2 years
• Eat strategically through our food supply
• Line up someone to collect our mail and care for our yard
• Create instruction sheet for the "Mac-sitter"
• Order prayer cards
• End of the year parties and recital
• Host one more home group meeting
• Create children's activity sheet for our final service on Sunday
• Transition one colleague out of the country and another to our team in Caselle
• Deep clean the house and put all decorations away so I can...
• ...Drape the furniture in plastic

...and that is just a small glimpse of things on MY list, not Jonathan's.  We are doing our best by God's grace to just take one day.  I have my pen and paper handy as I keep my running check list which helps keep my sanity.  You can imagine the feeling of relief when we get to the airport having gotten past the preparing-for-3-months-away phase.  Prayers are appreciated!

To swim or not to swim...

What can generate sheer excitement in any child...the unexpected news that you get to participate in a swimming class, during school hours for the final four weeks of school!  The course is offered for FREE (which makes the parents jump for joy) in the new pool at the Sports Education branch of the Turin University right here in town.  You have one week's notice before classes begin and you are thrilled that even the pre-school will be participating, making conversation in your household revolve constantly on the thought of swimming classes.

You start to get a sense of uneasiness that maybe this is all too good to be true, when you find out on Friday that Luca needs to get medical clearance from his pediatrician before Wednesday in order to participate.  Strange, that was not required for the elementary school.  Hmm.  But, okay you will do what you must.  Monday rolls around your daughter hardly sleeping the night before because she will be the first of the three to go to swim class.  You send off a child beaming from ear to ear on her way into school with the one time exception of her being allowed to bring a sack lunch to school to eat with her friends.  Mind you, they have been instructed to bring only a sandwich to eat.  They will be eating it 2.5 hours before getting into the pool for there must be sufficient time to digest their food.

You pick up your eldest son for lunch and hear the crushing news that his swimming is cancelled for the following day because of a medical issue that he can't explain or understand.  You begin to connect the dots that maybe they too need medical clearance and that most likely a very disappointed daughter will be picked up from school later that afternoon.  You call the pediatrician to request an appointment to receive the medical certificate necessary for participation.  The doctor tells you because it is a school activity occurring during school hours that no certificate is needed.  She will not sign your children off unless you are willing to pay 30 euros a head to do so.  90 euros!  Sorry kids, you will just have to wait until the summer for cheaper pool time.

You go to school to pick up your kids for lunch the following day and mothers are up in arms about the varying responses from pediatricians.  Some get free certificates, others pay 15 euros and those of you sharing the same pediatrician refuse to pay 30 euros.  The inter communication and conflict between the university, school and pediatricians makes you just want to throw your arms up in the air and say "forget it, this is not worth it".

You tell your children over dinner that they won't be able to participate in swimming this year.  Hearts are disappointed, but not angry.  They accept the news with grace and understanding.  The phone rings as you eat and it is the pediatrician.  She tells you that she will now give certification to your children for free, but the earliest appointment to do so is the end of next week.  That leaves just 2 lessons left for participation, but you are joyous at least for that small unexpected gift to relate to your children.

You now ask yourself, can you get away with sending your youngest to the pool tomorrow in hopes that having secured a date with the pediatrician that maybe they will allow him to participate.  You head to school ready to plead your case.  The teacher smiles the whole time you recount your story and then lets out that they received a Fax from the university late yesterday afternoon saying that a medical certificate is now NOT required for anyone, not now, not ever!  You smile and give a sigh of relief and think how very typical this type of communication and organization is.  Of course, maybe it was the public outcry of frustration that swayed someone to change their minds.

You tell your youngest child that his backpack and sack lunch were not packed in vain today and that he can go swimming.  His eyes light up and he jumps with excitement.  You say a prayer of thanks for this unexpected gift and walk away with an extra bounce to your step.  You cannot wait to tell the other kids of the news when you see them for lunch and put calling the pediatrician to cancel next week's appointment on your to-do-list.

Mac Day

Although Mac is our pet guinea pig, he is considered by the kids as the sixth member of our family.  Okay, so in all honesty he IS the cutest little guy with a lot of personality and much intelligence.  How can he not win anyone's heart?!  April 28th was the celebration of Mac's adoption to our family.  It has been one year and I am grateful to say that the excitement and novelty of having a pet has not worn off in the slightest.  We all will really miss him this summer.  That is if we can find a summer Mackie-sitter so we don't have to pay 2/3rds of an adult ticket price just to stow him under the seat.  So ridiculous!  I degress.  Mac did indeed get a cake and birthday song and the kids were tickled about the celebrations.

The kids really wanted you to see a video of Mac.  They are not the most skilled videographers yet but this snippet was the the least nauseating segment I could post.

Easter Vacation

This year the kids had a total of six days for Easter vacation.  We stayed close to home although we would have liked to get away for a day trip it just didn't happen.  The weather was kind of touch and go with rain and much cooler temperatures.  Being home is a good thing too and we had lots of crafting time leading up to Easter.  Emma created Easter baskets for her and the boys and was constantly asking what else she could make.

Eggs made with wrapping stratched string around water balloons

Emma's Easter basket creations

Sock bunny

T-shirt scarf (Better than trashing a too big tee)

Learning how to iron and loving it

We enjoyed Easter with our colleagues, Catherine and Melissa.  It was a relaxing day as all the food prep was succesfully accomplished on Saturday.  

He is Risen!

Easter Eggs

Sundried Tomato and Basil Deviled Eggs -- ooh, so yummy

Our new teammate, Melissa

The Monday after Easter "Pasquetta" is a holiday here as well.  It is a day for picnicing in the mountains or grilling with friends and family.  We were invited over to the Farina's for a cookout and so we spent the afternoon there with them.  It was a pleasant day with friends and good food and we are glad we took them up on their invite.

Tuesday was the kick off for our first home group meeting and meal for "Percorsi".  No matter how simple I try to make things, it always turns out to be an all day preparation for me.  So Tuesday was a busy day.  Once I get in a rhythm of preparing a meal for 6-8 additional people each week, hopefully I will get faster and hit my stride.  The study went well and we were pleased with our time of interaction and reflection on the material.  Granted I was in and out trying to manage 6 kids in the other room.  Thankfully, last night was an exception to having 3 kids come so hopefully next time I will be involved in full partcipation and discussion.  We survived though (and our house survived their energy too).

First thing this morning I headed out to house hunt with Melissa.  She is placing a proposal on an apartment tomorrow and hopefully will receive a positive response by next week.  Six weeks until we hit that June 1st move date, and it would great to not have to postpone that move.

Lots on our plates and things seem to be compounding as we move closer and closer to that June 9th departure date.  I think I can, I think I can...I know I can, I know I can...by God's grace and strength!

Luca's 6th Birthday

Luca turned six years old last week on March 29th!  Seriously?!  I think I am still in shock that my "baby" is such a big boy.  He is definitely still Mamma's boy--no doubt about that.  For all the 100% boy in him, there is this tenderness especially for his Mamma.  He loves to cuddle, picking me flowers, being a little helper, giving me kisses and just in general likes to hang out with Mamma.  I'll take as much as I can get for as long as it lasts!

Luca had a daily countdown to his birthday since March 1st.  And he made sure everyone knew.  He is super good with numbers loves math!  He even at one point was counting down the days until I would start to make his cake.

 T-1: Helping with the cake instead of rest time was A-OK by Luca

I was expecting one out of control boy for his birthday, but actually he was rather pensive and quieter than I expected.  Don't get me wrong, he loved his day...it was just greeted with a bit of timidity with all the attention.  He wanted to eat his cake first thing when he woke up because he was sure that he could not be six until then.  Funny boy, but he was serious in thinking that was the magical moment of age change. 

 I'm SIX!

Luca celebrated with his friends at school along with another classmate who shares the same birthday.  He actually ate the cake we bought this year, so yeah for trying something new.  For lunch we took him out to eat at Old Wild West and then to a movie.  Then it was home for presents, cake and birthday dinner.

A special gift from Uganda - thank you Papa!

Star Wars was the theme and #1 request for this young Jedi

Need help with Star Wars trivia, just ask our boys

Star Wars Venator Attack Cruiser

Not many options to choose from Luca's approval list for a birthday dinner, but pancakes and strawberries it was.