Piano Duet with Mom & Tate

I started teaching Tate piano lessons about a month ago. So far he's been super serious about it, which I'm very happy about...

He loves to practice and especially enjoys counting the notes out loud which you'll be able to see in this little video.

It's so satisfying for me as a Mother to be able to play duets with him even when I do mess up my part. But please give me a break, it's hard playing 6 flats!

Either way-I'm LOVING it!

Tate's Version of "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"

Supposedly, Tate sang this song for his primary class today...

My "Not Shy" Kid

As you all know, Tate's been working really hard on learning the first two paragraphs of the Family Proclamation. He loves to say it (most of the time). For some reason though, it was super difficult getting him to record it for me... He doesn't really like performing for the camera very much. My guess is because the camera can't give him all of the praise and attention he so desires.

It's funny, the other night... After Tate had shared the proclamation with my family, he sat in the middle of the room and said, "Okay everyone. Say Yeah Tate"!!! He is definately the "perform in person" kind of kid and he is sooooooo not shy.

Tate's a Star

My Mom bought Tate this little V-Tech Piano at a Garage Sale for $3 (What a Deal) and he love it so much. He's learning to play songs on it and it's pretty easy to follow since you just play the notes that light up. I want him to learn to play with 5 fingers instead of just playing with which ever finger is easiest, but I guess I need to remember that he's only 3! Tate's favorite part about playing is that at the end of the song it will say, "You're a Star". He always smiles and blushes when he hears that!

Can you tell what song he's playing?

Favored Nation Band

My brother Thomas and his band "Favored Nation" recorded their first CD last Saturday! I think that Thomas is so talented, and I can only wish that I had half of the talent he has. Thomas wrote all of the songs, and he is the lead singer. I guess I'm just a proud sister! But, I think they sound AWESOME, especially for still being in High School.

I couldn't figure out how to put music in a blog post, so I just made the songs into video form with a picture and then uploaded them as a video.

Written in the Stars

Let Me Go

Wonderful World Of Harold

Rising Up

I'd love to hear what you think of Thomas' music. I totally love all his songs, but then again maybe I'm just biased.

To visit the "Favored Nation" website go HERE.

Counting Candy

I think we need to work on counting a little bit! Who ever heard of ELEVENTEEN? I think it's so cute! Oh, and listen to his voice, it just keeps getting higher and higher and higher-too funny!

Swimming Recap

Well, I think that SWIMMING SEASON is finally over! Here's one last peek at our little swimmer...

Till Next Year!

Impressive!

After watching Tate do this... I finally think that all of my swimming lessons to him are paying off!

I'm soooooooooo proud of him!

Here it is! Isn't he a cutie?

My Crazy Swimmer

Tate is like a little FISH in the water! He has NO FEAR whatsoever-he'll try to swim by himself, jump, flip around, and do anything dangerous!!!










We've been swimming every single morning without fail. I'm enjoying having a pool so much, I seriously don't know what we'd do without it!
It's a really good energy user uper for Mr. Tate (If you know what I mean)












Yesterday Tate jumped off the waterfall into the pool all by himself!

This is a short movie of Tate being his VERY SILLY self! He seriously surprised me with the NUZZLE WUZZLES. For those of you who don't know Mr. Tate very well, this will pretty much explain what he's all about- FUN!!!

Mr. Tate's Birthday Movie

I just realized that I never posted Tate's Birthday Movie from last year! ENJOY!! Works in progress for movie #dos. Coming Soon...

Swimming Season Yet?

This is Tate yesterday! Yes, that's him in the 70 degree water.
He's been wanting to swim for a long time.
Finally, I gave my consent!

Did I get in with him? For about 10 seconds! I ended up heating the spa to my liking-90 degrees!

This is a family video I found of Tate swimming last summer. Wow-he's sure changed a lot!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

This is one of Tate's favorite songs (He has many favorites). Click on the play button below to hear him singing it!

Isn't he so cute?

Balloon Fun

This movie of Bryan & Tate is really funny, we were laughing for a long time!

Jam, Roses, and Fun Fun Fun!

Yesterday I made raspberry jam with my dear friend Dayna. We made it from frozen raspberries! When you live in Arizona it's hard to find fresh ones. Anyways, I think that it is delicious-I had it on my toast this morning!



When I arrived home, after making jam, Bryan was there with some gorgeous red roses for me! Isn't he sweet? He had secretly arranged to have his parents watch Tate for the afternoon and evening. That was very kind of them to do that for us-and very much appreciated. It's nice to have a break every now and again!

We went to eat at PF Changs, rented a movie, sat in the spa, and went to bed early!!! It was so relaxing and fun!

This morning we slept in, got Tate, and then went to eat lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Manning (In & Out Burger). We had a great time visiting! Tate enjoyed playing with the turtles-like always.

Grandpa Manning & Tate had lots of fun playing with his magnets.

Tate was a little scared but he thought it was neat!

Cute Cousins

Aren't these kids TOO CUTE? Tate loves his Manning cousins-Lily, Emma, Peter, Rebecca, and Anson! We have a pretty cool thing going, where we get together every week for "Grandma Day". It's seriously Tate's favorite thing ever. We like to take turns being in charge of the activity so that it stays fun for everyone.

This is everyone except Rebecca and Anson. Sorry, It's not the best quality.