Nora gets my goat

Last night Nora was crying in the middle of the night. Thankfully, this has become a rare occurrence. I was finally getting a good night's sleep and didn't wake up right away like Ian did. Instead, as Nora's crying slowly infiltrated my dream-self, I had a strange little dream conference with myself about her.

Life and parenting are so different now with Nora on the scene. Unlike her people-pleasing sister, Nora takes life by the horns. She's like the kitten who can swat with her words or her limbs and have no idea how much ouch she can actually deal out. So far she has gotten away with this because she's three and still learning how things work, but also because when she's not kicking up a fuss she is so darn cherubic and entertaining that it's hard to believe she ever acted up in the first place.

Clearly our 'old tricks' do not work with this beloved imp. Honestly, Nora gets my goat many times a day-- and vice versa. Somehow we find ourselves on opposite ends of an opinion much of the time. My artificial attempts at letting her think she's making decisions when she's really being offered limited choice have fallen rather flat. And her volatile reactions to what I consider reasonable can grab my attention as well as that of passersby.

Part of the solution, perhaps, is to let go of the irritation I expect to feel, and often do end up feeling as we have our interactions. How Zen, Jen! I reached this realization just as I awakened and discovered I wasn't in a parenting conference, but actually in bed listening to my daughter wail in their room next-door.

Ian was already on the scene when I arrived at Fiona and Nora's bed. He hissed when I 'erroneously' gave Fiona Nora's pillow to muffle the sound. Nora howled when I offered her a drink. She wanted a drink, of course, but she didn't want to actually drink it. Her preference was to screech loudly, hold the little cup of water while cradled in her father's arms without sipping it, slowly wind down from crying, and drift back toward sleep. Let the cups fall where they may. It was, after all, her cup.

It was an accident waiting to happen, but clearly there was no help I could offer here. The best thing I could do is crawl back into bed and go back to sleep. My dream conference with myself made at least that much clear. In the light of day, I found a related thought by Thomas Merton, "I do not have to react. It is useless. There are much better things to do. And to react is to become implicated-- to become a prisoner of the same nonsense that I am compelled to condemn. Do not be compelled." I can read this passage. Whether I can absorb it is something else altogether.

Cats "renamed"

Nora says she renamed the cats Tape and Gorgonzola. I don't know who's who yet. She also would like them to become Maine Coon Cats, since she heard such good things about those at the cat show this weekend. Good luck with that, Tape and Gorgonzola.

Pop art 2009

I couldn't wait till we got this picture back to share it. The kids are doing a number of interesting projects this summer at camp. Today Fiona said they made maracas. On the way home she said, "Music is just a different kind of art, Mom. And you don't have to take a class to make art. We all know how to make many kinds of art." YESSSSSSSSSSS! We talked about different forms of art the rest of the way home.

Cat show

Yesterday on our way out to Annie Rose's house to pick up Fiona after a post-art camp afternoon of of play, Nora and I passed a big sign that read "Cat Show." Somehow, despite almost forty years of being more of a dog person, I have given birth to two cat lovers. So we decided to check out the cat show today.

If you've never been to a show like this before, it is truly very interesting. We watched many types of judging and wandered between table after table of really striking, extremely expensive felines. I tried to take a picture at one of the judging rings but realized that the battery was still at home in the charger. D'oh.

Surprisingly, the three of us found a cat that we all could agree on: the Savannah. That cat looked just like the servals we see in the new zoo exhibit, and we love those. I looked up Savannahs once we got home. It figures we like them, as Savannahs cost between $1000-$25,000 depending upon how much serval is in their bloodline. No wonder they look like servals! They're often described as dog-like and make great pets if you have that much expendible income lying around. Then again, our two shelter cats are great pets, too.

A hairy situation

Both kids are growing out their bangs. Fiona just decided to do this at her last haircut, whereas Nora has been working on it for awhile now. Does anybody have tips for keeping hair out of eyes during this lengthy stage? We are looking a little unkempt here. HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO TAKE?!

Arty smarty

Last night at our celebration with our fellow artists and families from our homeschool art class, Fiona won an award of merit for being a finalist in the kindergarten division of the state students' calendar art contest. We saw a semester of amazing student work, ate snacks, applauded other merit award winners, and also walked down to the library gallery to soak in some work by older local artists. Good times!

Can you see the bunny?

We caught sight of this small, cotton-tailed garden terminator in our alley as we came home from the art event at the library. It stayed for a photo, but bolted away shortly thereafter.

Listen to me because I know what I'm talking about

Jen: OK girls, it's time to tidy up so we can go to the art festival.

Nora: (whining) But Mom! I don't want to go to a festival!

Fiona: Oh, yes you do! You want to go to a festival, Nora. . . Mama, what happens at a festival?

Wet and wild

Fiona's sweet friend Alyssa and her family invited us along with a lot of other people to a reunion of sorts at the new splash park in town. You can be sure you'll be seeing more photos of this place. We had a ton of fun, and it was so good to visit with old friends. Just add popsicles!

Art camp, baby

Fiona started art camp again this summer at a local college campus. A morning of art for four weeks, then an all-camp dinner, art show, and bursting portfolio at the end of the month. Fiona's in class with a number of buddies, and has even more in other classrooms. We all really enjoy this opportunity to explore art, enjoy a couple field trips and special speakers, and spend time with friends. Expect to see more art here soon!

Megamoth

Look at this big moth we saw up-close while we were at Grandma and Toot Toot's. After looking at it for awhile, Nora breathed, "Can I pet it?" It was big enough I thought she was going to attempt to claim it as a pet.

*blushing*

Do you know why our kids have a blog instead of thick, wonderful baby books? Because I never made one for either of them. In fact, I couldn't manage to keep track of all those wonderful smiles, rolls, steps, or teeth on a baby calendar someone gave me-- and it even came with stickers. Their ultrasounds? Somewhere. My coworker and friend Mitch pulled Nora's out of a library book where it had been used as a bookmark and carelessly left behind. (Good save, Mitch.)

I didn't blog while Granny was here, then I went to San Francisco, then I got caught up around here, then we went away for the fourth of July. Just thinking about all the back-blogging made me procrastinate even longer. But I miss blogging, and the kids keep doing ridiculous things, so I am back at it now.

If I never do the back-blog, then we missed two amazing, fun months of stories. But that is OK. We'll just make more.

Monkeying around

There is a new fun spot to play at Grandma and Toot Toot's called Monkey Joe's. It is a loud, cavernous wonderland for kids aged 3 through early teens to bounce, slide, and play on inflatable jungle gyms. The girls are in love with Grandma, Toot Toot, and Monkey Joe's, plus they get so much exercise they're drenched after a couple hours, so it's pretty much win-win.

Watching the kids at this place is like a reminder that it's more fun to give a good gift than to receive one. The girls are on fire at that place-- climbing bouncing and sliding by themselves or together-- and just watching them is a riot. Thanks, Grandma and Toot Toot, for the crazy good time!

The birds, the bees, the girls, and me

We were on our way to an appointment, and Fiona was talking about being in the hospital. "Nora, you didn't stay in the hospital when you were born like I did." This was a little bit true. I explained that EMTs had to take Nora to get checked out, and she ended up staying the night just for observation, but she really wasn't born in the hospital like Nora. Those ambulance drivers just scooped up me in my pajamas and Nora in her blanket and we took off.

This started a long conversation about clothes that veered off into how babies are made. Hmmmm... I knew this conversation would come, and as a rule of thumb I tell Fiona just as much as she needs to know to answer her question. I said, "Well, do you remember that book we have at home called Mommy Laid an Egg? We saw in that book that. . . "

Fiona interrupted me with hoots of laughter. "Yeah, Mom. That book says babies come out of a TOOTHPASTE TUBE!" And it does. The parents in the book make up a number of ways that babies are not actually born. But in the end the kids explain to their parents how babies are made. I thought Fiona absorbed this information a long time ago-- along with the DK What's Inside? Baby book we have which explains how humans, ponies, dogs, porcupines, birds, crocodiles, wallabies, and sea horses grow and are born. But those just seemed like funny little stories to Fiona. The inferences made in these books just seemed too preposterous to her.

I thought about that for awhile. Then I remembered standing next to the giraffes at the zoo when we first moved to town and thinking those animals seem preposterous, too. Narnian, almost. So I didn't press the issue. One day, though, we're going to have more explaining to do.

Breakfast with a side of piano

Ian has just been reveling in piano classes. This is a picture of our neighbor Dever who popped over to discuss a couple ideas he had about a song he learned in class.

Our whole family has learned a lot from Simply Music this past school year since adopting the curriculum for our home schooling, but the group dynamic has added extra layers we didn't get with the learn-at-home program. So even though Fiona is a number of songs ahead of the rest of her class, she learns new information every week.

Days of summer

The kids have been playing in the back yard, the sprinkler, and the sandbox nonstop! Both kids sleep like logs every night to get ready for another day of zooming around. Nora takes the occasion cat nap in the daytime-- and THAT is weird. I can see them growing right before my very eyes.

Our side yard garden is growing too, weeds and all. It's fun to see everything that happens there-- from growing veggies and fruits to nibbled leaves and produce to the totally weird 'dog vomit slime mold' that is proliferating out there. Summer sun is lots of fun.

Choc-o-lot

I like baking more than cooking. Sometimes we get a lovely dessert all worked up but Ian comes home to find no dinner at all. This Cake Day was like that. We made a rich chocolate cake that was supposed to go into a 12" pan; but since we didn't have one we made layer cakes and created a mocha mousse for the filling. We couldn't cover it with the thick ganache because it was just too topply of a cake, so we just iced the very top. As if that cake needed more chocolate!

I worked on this cake mostly with our neighbor Sydney and with Fiona. When Nora got her slice of cake, her eyes got very large and she breathed reverently, "I am inspired." I laughed till I cried.

Movement and music

Fiona and Nora started dance at a new place this week. I LOVE THIS PLACE! Besides the deep respect I have for the teachers and their philosophy, I also love the fact that our kids are taking movement and modern dance now, along with some of the rudimentary ballet techniques. As kids moved to the teacher's drumbeat, they played games to learn each others names-- even for this short summer course.

As I watched Fiona settle into her body's own fluidity during her class, I was overwhelmed with a sense of peace and rightness. Then I watched her gracefully leap over some dots on the floor. Her lithe, willowy body seemed to be in its element. I don't recognize that body at all from my own childhood; but what's really important, I guess, is that Fiona is comfortable in it.

Our Experimental Child Fiona is, among other things, a dancer. There is a world of possibility open to her. And THAT is very beautiful.

A little bit of Africa right in our town!

We visited the new African section of our zoo with Helena, Ada, Carlo, and Paul today. It is a top-notch exhibit. I really wanted elephants at our zoo, but this exhibit made it up to me. It was a great day for zoo-ing-- not too hot, not too many people. Paul and I sat and chatted while Carlo slept and the other kids zoomed between play tents for almost an hour! Gotta love that zoo.

Chinatown surprises

I came back from a week in San Francisco spent looking at best practices in youth work with a number of surprises for the girls. From satiny mary janes to crazy hotel shower caps and BART tickets with .05 still on them so the girls could "play the BART," there was a little bit of joy for everyone. You just have to trust me on the joy part, though, because Nora was not at all interested in being photographed in her Chinatown clothing.

Stop! Granny time. . .

We had so many days and nights of fun with Granny that I didn't even blog about any of it while she was here-- too much going on, even if what was going on was just relaxing in the backyard with the family, some iced tea, and a hula hoop or two. Here is a photo essay of her visit, though. Come back soon, Gran. We love you so much!

Reading bug

The kids are happy about summer coming, but sometimes it's hard to get them out of their books and out the door.

Piano man

Mr. Hollis guided our lovely old Hamilton out of the house today. Now we have a long-term loan of a baby grand for Ian's piano studio, Keys to Happiness. And as much as I love the new piano, I'll miss the old one too. We got it for free from a homeschooling discussion list, and it has been very good to us. Now it's being loved by a friend and neighbor who's taking lessons here weekly though, which is as good as having it here at the house. Soon there should be some pictures of the new one. Woo hoo for the Simply Music method!

She's back in the salad again

This is what Nora looks like when she comes to the kitchen table at 4:00 to 'help me make dinner.'

Reading Rainbow festivities

Big girl Fiona sat in the front row at the art museum with fellow winners while her family and a small auditorium of well-wishers cheered the efforts of kids from our corner of the state and also part of the neighboring one. She loved seeing her story on the wall, and we truly enjoyed reading the work of others as well. It was impressive to be in a place where so many agencies work together to inspire kids to write stories.

Following the celebration, we headed over to the Birth to Baby Fair happening at the library to cheer the hard work of doulas, midwives, CSA providers, breastfeeding advocates, the arts community, the new local diaper service, and a host of other people and services which help our city enjoy healthy babies and healthy families. We saw lots of good friends, including Sara, David, and B above. To top it off, we stepped inside one of our favorite storefronts to thank them for such stunning window displays. It was a stimulating day from start to finish.

With thanks to Teresa

I tried to give this to a little man with a smaller head, but Nora simply adores it. She wears it on her forehead, smushing down her little eyebrows. When that gets too tight she pushes it up a bit and the crochet stitches are still pressed into her head in little pink channels. She leaves it up, she folds it down. She is beginning to make it unravel. But that hat gives her joy, and I'm letting her keep it. Thank you, Teresa.

Winding down after a home school year

Today was Fiona's last day of physical education classes at a local university. She liked it, and I'm a little sad about it. Not because it was the best thing she's ever done or anything (though it was fabulous,) but because it's concrete proof that our school year is winding down. As usual, I'm trying to stay a step or two ahead by lining up some organized fun that she'd enjoy this summer-- art camp, possibly Wildcat ball, and/or other group forms of excitement-- but the reality of ending home schooling fills me with sadness. How can something that is so clearly good for Fiona be so unreachable for me? *sigh*

Well, as things settle down little it is possible there will be more focus on feeling better and doing better. That will benefit all of us. And ending homeschooling as such is not the end of home learning, obviously. When's the last day you didn't learn anything at all?

People often think homeschooling is just postponing 'real' school. I'm here to tell you that homeschooling is nothing to sneeze at; it's real and it's positive and can be very, very dense with activity, fun, and learning. I'll miss this with every fiber of my being. All of us will. But we can look back with happiness on this year we've had together, and use it as a stepping stone to something new.

Farm fun

Today we spent a couple happy hours at the farm where we got our lamb last year. Anita and her family showed us two kinds of sheep, many types of chickens, some bunnies, two calves, a number of turkeys and a couple of cats. Not only did we learn a lot about animals, the girls learned about what it would be like to care for a number of animals and plants as part of their everyday duties. She also showed us a really old, really cool cabin that got settled into the back of their property a couple of years ago. I think the 'clown car' drive to the back of the property with everyone stuffed into the vehicle was equally as fun as the rest to Fiona and Nora.

We look forward to more lamb as well as a deeper relationship with this wonderful family.

Wildflower party!

We were invited to a Wildflower Party at Robert, Dennis, and Teresa's house this Sunday. It fun on a number of levels. It's fun to get together with others, fun to see the kids play merrily together, to enjoy a lovely day, and to soak up some nature. We saw a lot more varieties than we expected to see in such a soon-to-be-shady area. So cool!

A zootiful day

I thought I was due for a haircut at 1:00, but it was actually at 5:00. That gave us a block of time and put us right next to the zoo. Voila!

We had a wonderful time, and saw good friends there to boot. The bunch of us truly enjoyed watching around a dozen tiny brown mice scurrying in the Indonesian Rainforest. Hooray for sunny surprises and fun friends!

Reading Rainbow wowness

Fiona just won third place in the Reading Rainbow Young Authors and Illustrators contest! We'll go to a reception for her at the local Museum of Art-- woo hoo! And for me, the very best news of all is that since it's not going on to the national contest, we get the original story and art back! I missed that story already.

When the public television representative called us to tell us the happy news, he had some interesting things to say. First of all, he said he was pleased and frankly amazed by the amazing work such young people submitted. They sorted through around 2000 entries, and they were varied and truly stunning. He also said he was the graphic artist and art director at our local station, and that he was very gratified to see so many students engaged in the arts. He said he has loved art since he was a child, but was only permitted to take an art class when he got to high school, and that was an independent study class in which he submitted two films. He didn't get to take an actual 'art class,' he said, until he got into college.

It made me wish all over again that Fiona was schooling with me again full-time next year. She'll miss her art classes, and a lot of other wonderful things too. But between the schooling that every parent enjoys with their children and the special opportunities she'll gain at the art magnet, I do hope she can continue to enjoy the arts, and other things besides, no matter where she schools. Breathe in, breathe out.

One of her illustrations was copied for display at the art museum celebration. We haven't seen the last of The Wonderful Smell. Not yet.

Blast from the past

Nora got a cotton candy-flavored lip gloss in her Easter basket. The intensely sweet scent of it knocks me over every time-- with memories. She smells just like the skating rink of my childhood. It's wild the way scents and memories mingle so vividly, isn't it?

Knowing Dad's issues with Olivia Newton John, I'll select a different video for today. I'd never watched her videos until now as I was looking at skating rink songs for this post anyway. But every time glossed Nora comes at me for a kiss, the refrain from Xanadu washes over me.

Nora's salad

Jen was making a spinach and radicchio salad with cranberries, shredded carrot, feta cheese, and pecans, and out of habit (rather than any expectation that there would be an affirmative answer), offered it to Nora.  Nora really wanted to try the cheese, and she liked it, and wanted more.

"You can have the cheese if you have the salad," said Jen.

"O-kay," replied Nora.

She had some stipulations: no carrot.  No nuts.  No "purple stuff".  And she wanted ranch dressing for her spinach.  (She loves the dried cranberries.)  A couple of minutes later, she was asking for more salad.  

"Hey, wait a minute ... where did your spinach go?" I asked.

"I ate it!" Nora whispered.

Now she's on thirds ...

Hello Carlo!

We met up with Helena, Ada, Carlo, Paul and Heather today along with a number of other friends at Park Day. I met the little man when we delivered food last week, but Ian and the girls got to meet him today. Such a cute little downy-headed fellow!

New kitchen table find

I can never tell what I'm going to find lying around. I love this one! Our anxious cutie really captured the peace and stillness of yoga.

School news

With my parents, there was no 'maybe.' There was no shopping around. There were no 'ifs.' When my sister and I were old enough, we went to parochial school.

Life may not be harder now, but we tend to make it that way. It is almost the end of Fiona's school year. She didn't get as much science or history as I would have like to have shared, but she is doing quite well in reading, math, and music. In addition, she had a rich life filled with books, art, music, drama, physical education, discussion groups, religious education, co-ops, community service, science center and botanical conservatory trips, and nature everywhere from bogs to the zoo to the backyard (plus the occasional mouse in the house)-- not to mention the bonus of spending virtually every meal with her whole family.

At the recommendation of her therapist, we had a somewhat structured morning for Fiona, followed by special events on some afternoons. I thought this would get easier for me, but that has not been the case. I cannot separate the 'Mom half' from the 'Teacher half' nearly the way he recommended. I just can't do it. Fiona has thrived in home school. I haven't thrived for quite awhile, with or without school.

We are nearing the end of the school year, but for myself I do not see us reaching the end of a year of insomnia or the anxious, sleep deprived effects that come from it. It feels odd to put my own oxygen mask on before Fiona's, but we have decided to send her to traditional school next year. By fall she will be in our local fine arts public magnet school. We'll still have school at home, but Our Way, whatever that is. We hope it will be fine for Fiona, plus give us a chance to balance some other things that are going on at home.

I don't wish to imply that I didn't like or 'couldn't do' homeschooling. It is a highly rewarding vocation, and I wish I was well enough to continue. I think Fiona is doing fine, and will have no trouble at traditional school. Neither do I wish to imply that homeschooling made me sick. I hit the wall the first time with insomnia in August, and it had been going on for quite awhile even then. Lastly, I don't want to infer that traditional schooling is always inferior and wrong for all. I don't believe any of those things. I think there are many 'right' paths, and we just need to choose the best one for us. As our firstborn, Fiona is our 'experimental' child, and that's just how it is. We're learning as we go. I hope our homeschooling friends will support us in our decision as our traditional schooling friends have before.

We'll miss Fiona, and I'm certain that Nora and I will be involved at her school. But Nora and I will also be involved with each other in a different way, and Fiona will make friends in a new way. And hopefully I can get my groove back-- that will help all of us. For us, it's not as simple as signing some papers and sending Fiona off to school. But it is what it is, and we'll live and we'll learn.

Happy Easter!

After egg hunting, enjoying baskets of goodies, and eating pancakes and sausage, we all trotted off to morning Mass together. Naps and the enjoyment of each other ensued for the remainder of the day.

We are having a hodge-podge dinner of 'favorite things' which will include pot roast style pork chops with veggies, sweet potatoes, peanut-butter hats (peanut-butter smears on banana slices) and the beat-up, leftover lemon cake from Friday. Then, because of the naps, we should still be able to squeeze in a couple card games and some time in the park with those skates and bike Grandma and Toot Toot sent us home with earlier this week. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

Silly statement #8735

This morning's kitchen discussion while mixing up pancake batter:

Me: BRRRRRRRRRRRRR! I have to go get a sweater. I'm so cold!
Nora: Mom, you're cold-fashioned.

Whew

Besides a quick trip through the rain to Good Friday services, we've also had a vomitous Fiona, and a gift cake that only baked all-the-way through on one side. See the still-sticky half above. Also note that Zelda is tucked in just like earlier this week.

At least we were able to deliver the good half, along with dinner, to Helena, Ada, Carlo, Heather, and Paul's house. Ian and the girls didn't go because of Fi's quease, but I was tickled to meet handsome little Carlo and say hi to Teresa, who came when I did so we could give Carlo his shared gift from us together.

Now I have no desire whatsoever to clean up the kitchen and figure out what we can eat that won't smell appealing enough that still-sick Fiona will want it. Bed at 6:10? Sounds kind of good. I'm wiped out.

Laundry list

We're experimenting with checklists at our house. It's not that I'm looking for a bunch of sticker charts to keep up with-- far from it. However, now that Fiona has the reading bug it's difficult to get past the bed and PJs stage. Even with today's checklist, which she requested, I twice within seven minutes found her standing, wholly engrossed, reading her magazine. But it's a fun experiment. Let me reiterate: reading is good. Having the skills to be ready for the day within a reasonable amount of time is also good.

She just marks off the stuff she needs to do once she's done it, and she's trying to get finished by the time we begin school in the morning. It's a kind of race, and a kind of muscle-memory-making deal. The hope is that she can create a sensible routine that just feels, well, routine. Once we get it about the way we like it, the plan is to laminate it so it can be used over and over. I'm trying to decide whether perhaps she could do some of these things before dinner instead of all clumped up in the morning. It's a work in progress, and it should be interesting to see what becomes of it in the end.

Once Nora saw Fiona walking around the house with a clipboard and a checklist, she of course had to have one as well. She really loves it. That seems so weird to me, but I'm glad they're happy.

Gym time

Fiona has been enjoying a free physical education class at a local university. The big kids get real experience with young students, and the homeschoolers enjoy the kids, the games, and the special equipment! Today Fiona's class played with a large parachute. See her going under in that first picture? Good times!

Cat nap

Nora vomited once in the morning and slept most of the day today. Who knows what that's all about... Regardless, Zelda was glad of the company.

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!

The girls and I are getting ready to go to Grandma and Toot Toot's for a short overnight while Ian works at the library this weekend. It's a nice end to our Spring Break, and next week is sort of packed anyway so it's good to go soak up some grandparent love while we can. We're packed, but I'm puttering around the house getting a little cleaned up so we can come home to less mess tomorrow night.

Nora: I'm going up to go potty.
Me: All right. (Sinister voice) I'm going to run a load in the dishwasher. Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!
Nora: Mom, that is not a funny laugh. That is something else. I'm going upstairs now.

Oh Toot Toot, send me a letter!

Here are Fiona and Nora, enraptured by the letter sent by Toot Toot. Each child took their own letter up and put it away in their nightstand afterwards; but Nora first wrote a letter back to G and TT on the back. When she read it to us, it purportedly said, "Dear Grandma and Toot Toot, I truly hope you enjoy your audiobooks." Where, exactly, does she get this stuff?

April Fool!

The girls wrote down so many things that were not quite right in the Children's Department at the library yesterday that by the time we got back to the front of the room, Fiona would notice things and I'd say, "Oh wow. Yes!" on autopilot. That was a very crazy place, no foolin'.

When we left the library both girls spent the rest of the day trying to fool their mama. In the end, they got fairly decent at it. Hmmmmmmmm... Is this a good thing? ; )

Annie Rose's Pizza Parlor

Every once in awhile, we get to play with our old friend Annie Rose. Today we decorated pizzas and filled many restaurant orders with play food. Hooray for Spring Break! Annie and Sharon, we couldn't have had more fun with you. Hugs!

Goodbye, bangs

Nora has been growing out her bangs. We've tried many versions of barrette, pigtail holder, and headband. Nora, however, likes her hair best flopped down in her face. She rips out any hair doodle I put in, plus a handful of previously-healthy hairs.

Maybe Nora will make it all the way to no-bangs-land. Maybe not.

Our sweet little friend

Tonight David came over for an evening of outdoor play and 'chocolate cake.' He associates our house with cake ever since he spent some time over on Nora's birthday, so we whipped up a dessert after we got back from today's trip to the sugar bush to enjoy after dinner. It was actually brownies, not chocolate cake, but don't tell David, okay?

He ate with us happily enough, but was soon up and standing by the patio door chanting, "Outside!" So we went right out for a ride in the park before bed. We're so tickled on David Days. What a charming little man.

Oh, sugar

We were invited to volunteer at the sugar bush today, and we couldn't have had a better time. Sugaring is over for the season; so today was spent washing buckets. Fiona found a job carrying cleaned buckets to the drying pyramid. Nora was tickled to be carrying buckets over to the soaking station. I don't think I helped a huge amount with anything, but I did take a ton of photos.

Syrup-crafter Larry, a true teacher and showman, explained his craft with a warmth and humor that can only come from one who loves his career. He and his sister fried pancakes for us outside, and once we'd seen the sugaring process we sampled some syrup.

We are sure now that we'll be signing up to volunteer next year. What a fascinating day!

Ballet day

This morning we got up bright and early to attend an abridged school length of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. We didn't get a copy of the docent's notes, and we didn't read a kid version before we went, but the girls were mesmerized by the event regardless of the somewhat complex plot. There were very young dancers (5?) through professionals in this presentation. It was beauty for the eyes and the ears as well. We saw many people we knew in the audience to boot, which was very cool. Now we want to read all about it.

We were not allowed to take any photos of the dancers, so you'll just have to take our word for it-- it was simply delightful.

Dancing duo

Fiona loves dance. She loves to do it, she loves to watch it, and apparently she also loves to draw it. She's been drawing female ballet dancers for awhile now, but I see a partner has begun to sneak in on the act in her drawings.

This was an delightful piece of scrap paper that came home from the neighbor's house. I simply adore it.

Where's Nora?

Nora got up and left the dinner table early. I figured she just got full-- I served a really big, thick, beautiful pizza tonight. When we hadn't heard from her in awhile, we figured we'd better go see what she was up to. Quiet Nora does not always lead to tidy end results.

Fiona found her immediately-- curled up on the sofa with her toes tucked neatly beneath her skirt. We thought piano practice would wake her up; but we just should have moved her immediately. She's not dry through the night yet.

Tough kid

Nora had on a sweet little sweater I found for a couple bucks which hadn't even been worn by three kids ahead of her! Not that old clothes are a bad thing, mind you. We LOVE hand-me-downs and are thrilled to find ourselves recipients of previously-loved clothing through donation or thrift store purchase. Still Nora had, for once, a sweet creamy sweater over this undershirt of Fiona's. For about an hour. Then "too hot" and "too itchy" and too many other "toos" started crowding her speech.

Next thing I knew the sweater had become 'a little bed for one of the cats' upstairs in the hall. The cats didn't like it either, by the way. Maybe next week she'll like it. Or perhaps we'll find ourselves needing sweaters less and less. The most likely scenario, however, is that the next child who wears it might have slightly more appreciation for the sweet, creamy little sweater that was only worn for an hour.

Wonderful Smell update

Fiona's story, The Wonderful Smell, passed the first round of judging and will go on to the public radio station for round two! Inasmuch as writing the story itself is entertaining and educational, seeing it make it out of the first round is quite an honor as well. Hooray for wonderful smells!

Everyday love

Nothing extraordinary happening today or in the photo. In fact, it's been a somewhat long week with too much phlegm and coughing, things accidentally forgotten, and not enough sleep. However, I was overwhelmed by the unexpected joys of the day-to-day, and want to remember someday exactly how good life was when our six and three year-olds sat side-by-side at the kitchen table playing paper games. Fiona is drawing Robert and Nora is coloring Blue Dog.

Adjectives

On Wednesday mornings, Dever comes over to do some writing at our house. Now that we've finished the Reading Rainbow stories, we're on to other things. Today I got out some odd items and put them in the middle of the table-- kernels of wheat, race cars, a furry hat-- for the kids to use their senses and write down as many describing words together as they could. And, as usual, we wrote and laughed about words (and funny hats.)

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

Today we knew we were going to play around with Tessa and Elena while their parents were at work. The delightful surprise came in when we got the call that Helena, Ada, Heather, and Paul were going to be at our nearby park. We had a really great afternoon on a really great day to be outside. Good times!

Kitchen table surprise

I found a piece of paper on the table today with drawings that didn't have Fiona's signature style. Upon asking around, I found that Nora drew the girls on the scrap paper.

Wow! Nora has been drawing things we could recognize for a little while now, but this fine motor control is new for her. How exciting!

The Wonderful Smell

It's complete and it's delightful. Clicking on the pictures may be necessary to be able to read the story, though. My evening camera skills are somewhat doleful.

Reading Rainbow Author Illustrator Contest

Many children submit for the Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators contest, and we hold no delusions of winning. Nonetheless, we love Fiona's story. We had sweated over a different one for weeks, but she just wasn't feeling it, and it wasn't getting done. The deadline is this Friday.

I asked Ian to sit down with her and see if he could use a different angle than whatever I'd been doing up until that point. He did, and twelve hours later, she has an edited story. I'll share the illustrations once she's finished with them.

The Wonderful Smell, by Fiona

Chapter one
Once upon a time three friends named Fiona, Helena, and Nora lived in a cottage in the woods. One cold day, after putting a pie on the counter to cool, they took a walk.

Meanwhile, a bear noticed a honey apple smell and followed it through the woods. When he arrived at their cottage, he looked through a window and noticed an apple pie. Using his claws he opened the window. He stuck his head inside to taste it.

Chapter two
Bonk! The window banged down onto the bear’s neck. “Ouch!” he yelled. The bear was stuck.

When they got home the girls saw a furry brown rump sticking out a window.They ran inside excitedly. There they saw the bear’s head. He looked scared. He said, “I need help.”

Chapter three
Nora said, “I’ll help you!” She tried pushing his head out the window. It did not work.

Helena said, “I’ll help you!” She tried to open the window. It was frozen shut.

Fiona said, “I’ll help you!” She called the woman across the stream. Together they hung a blanket over the bear. His heat warmed the window. It opened. He was free!

They all ate pie and lived happily ever after.

Nora's contribution to the education process

I was doing a lesson out of our reading book with Fiona, learning about how a silent 'e' at the end of a word usually makes a single vowel earlier in the word a long vowel.  The book showed an exception, and I asked Fiona if she could read it before I did.

"Have," she said.

"That's right," I said.  "You could figure that out by yourself even if you didn't already know the word, because you could say 'hayve' to yourself and realize that it doesn't sound right."

Fiona laughed and said "That would sound funny - 'hayve'."

At this point, Nora said "But it is 'BE-hayve'."  :-O

Just now at lunch, Nora was guessing numbers that Fiona was thinking of, and Fiona said something about how high Nora could count.  I asked Nora "How high can you count?"  So she started counting: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 20, 15 ..."  She trailed off, looking nonplussed.  "Wait a minute, that doesn't work ..." 

The picture is the girls with Becky, their friend from the library.  (When Nora saw the picture, she started singing Becky's name over and over.)

Chinese food

We don't get out to eat too much these days, but for a couple of days I've had a huge desire for Chinese food and the girls and I had been totally focused on the art class deadline and book group that I hadn't prepared any dinner. Hooray! Ian took us to a local Chinese restaurant for dinner.

I had no idea what the girls would think of it, but they found lots of things to love. Fiona didn't care for crab rangoon, but she was very into chicken and broccoli, sweet biscuits, and egg rolls. Nora didn't like fried rice, but she did enjoy crab, shrimp cocktail, and stir fried veggies.

Their faces were so funny as they tried new things that I'm glad we had the camera along. It would look like they didn't like something at all, but then they'd tell us they loved it. LOL!

Little girl time, i.e., big girl time

Fiona was at the library with her friends in homeschool book group. It was Helena's first time in book group, and so she and Paul stayed there together and Nora and I enjoyed some time with Ada. When Heather and Paul asked me about it, I said I would really like to spend some time playing with our little girls. But as soon as I got out the door of the program room, Nora corrected me. "No, Mama! We're big now. We're big girls." But of course.

Mango-ey art

Fiona is finishing up some art to turn in to her Friday art teacher, Nancy, for a competition. She has been interested in Celtic knots for awhile, and the Saturday watercolors class has inspired her to combine the two interests. We have drawings of knots all over our house, and they're lovely.

Nora, of course, wants to get in on the act too. She is wetting down her paper with water just like her sister, and her whole paper isn't even brown like usual! She looked at Fiona's art just now and said, "I like that. It's so mangoey." Art critics don't have all the vocabulary!

Love the pettiskirt. Can't sew the pettiskirt.

But maybe I can win one for a kidlet? Does this make you curious, or even want one for yourself or a cute little cupcake? Look here. The linked post also tells how you can make one for yourself. Woot!

Breakfast-time love note

We were supposed to be having fun with little David today, but when Nora woke up she told me she was sick. I wasn't completely sure about that, since our kids usually inform us of their illness by barfing on us. We were supposed to take both Ivy and Zelda to the vet this morning, and last night before bed Nora had informed me that she didn't want to go to the vet but would rather stay home with her Daddy for the morning.

Still, she wasn't bouncing around like usual, so she had my ear. I lifted her to my place in bed so Ian could keep an eye on her while I showered and attempted to get the cats into carriers. It became clear soon enough that she was indeed ill.

As you may already know, if kids at our house are sick it's their stomach that generally suffers. We try to eat quiet foods that lack too much fragrance so that the sick person won't be sad not to be allowed food, or water, or whatever. Quite frankly, we have this down to a science by now.

Fiona could see right away that today was going to be a sick day. She came into the bedroom bearing a piece of paper. I thought it was a card for Nora and took it delightedly from Fiona's outstretched hand. It was, however, a note for me. Fiona was truly, yet surreptitiously, ready for breakfast.

Big sisters rejoice

Ian had to work, and a number of ladies were already meeting at our house that day as well, but Fiona and Nora still got to celebrate Big Sisterhood with friends Helena and Ada even though neither parent could attend. They played games, ate dino cake, and made merry with a number of friends. Now all there is to do is wait for our newest little friend to arrive!

Food: it does a body good

I wasn't sure we were going to make it to this field trip today with 75 other homeschoolers. Nora urped down her shirt right before we left the house. But she said she felt fine so we chalked it up to a fluke and went to visit our local food bank.

I'm so glad we went! Not only did Nora buck up, we all learned a lot about the needs of our community. Homeschoolers are in a great position to be able to help, because their schedules are sometimes more flexible during the day. I was thrilled to find a volunteering outlet that was suitable for families with young children. The kids are hoping to make this a new Extreme Helping Hands project. I'm in communication with both the local bread outlet store and also the food bank. I hope so too.

Ouch

The kids went outside to play with the neighbors while I cleaned off the lunch table. Fiona had popped inside the back door to put a walnut, a feather, and a piece of bark onto the table. I was talking to my Dad and emptying the dishwasher when peals of screaming came in from the back door.

Nora had slipped on the soggy wet grass by the garage and hit her head on the bricks by the garage entry. Her knee hurt too, but it was mostly her head that was making her scream like that. She said she didn't hit her head, which was alarming since she clearly did, but she began making sense soon afterward. Her pupils look even, anyhow.

The contusions don't look too bad at all-- it's just that they spread from above her eyebrow down her face to her nose. There's no evidence on the palms of her hands that she tried to stop her fall. Awwwwwwwwwww, Nora.

Dry, dry dry

Have we yet announced that Nora only wears diapers to bed anymore, and is actively working to phase those out too? Big, big girl.

Book group day

I forgot my camera, so these pictures are actually from last month and sadly don't show everyone, but today was our book group co-op day; and it was pretty special. We discussed Love That Dog, a book of poetry by Sharon Creech. The kids selected bone-shaped questions from a dog bowl, wrote poems to decorate a poet-tree (get it?!), performed a little reader's theater, shared poems aloud, and ate brownies just like the kids from Miss Stretchberry's class. Great activities all.

But the most wonderful part was, and I think always is, when the kids began to chime in with original thoughts and questions. I'm so glad we know this fabulous bunch of people.

Bluejeans critique

Fiona's incredulous analysis during handwriting practice this morning: Mom, the people who made these pants didn't really measure anything!

When she put her hands in her pockets, the pockets didn't feel like the same size. They look OK to me, but what do I know?

It's never a bad time to brush teeth

Fiona and I went to the library today to see some Science Fair exhibits our friends made. The judging was still going on when we arrived; but there's never a shortage of entertainment at the library, so we just decided to wander around and enjoy some Big Girl Time together.

Sure enough, we discovered a tooth program where Fiona got to brush hard, white little teeth in stuffed animal mouths (surreal!), try to brush soda pop gunk off eggshells, meet a Tooth Fairy, play a true and false game, and decide which foods are good and bad for your teeth. When the hygienist applauded Fiona for knowing raisins were good for her body but bad for her teeth unless she brushed right away, Fiona piped up "We could just eat grapes! Those don't stick nearly so much in my teeth, and raisins are just dried grapes!" That's my girl.

Arty smarty Saturdays

Nora's usual ballet class filled up too quickly this semester, and we had paid ahead for a class, so we decided to enroll Fiona in something else this time around. She now enjoys a watercolors class on Saturdays from 9:15-10:45 with five other young students. It has been a great fit for her.

She comes home using words like 'vehicle' and 'space' and, unlike her summer art classes, comes home with completed work fairly often. Her teacher is quite pleased with her progress, and we are too. Fiona revels in this environment and we'll all be kind of let down when the class ends. She would also like to be dancing with her ballet buddies; but this class, along with the one she takes every other Friday afternoon, has really been a boon for our eldest child.

Don't count on Mom for the sympathy vote

A couple days ago, I asked Fiona to take some surplus groceries to the basement pantry shelf. It's cold down there, so I usually recommend the kids put on slippers. Why do they like to go barefoot year-round otherwise, even when their feet are like ice?

She put on the slippers and began yelping with pain. "When I step down in my slippers, it really hurts!" If you could see her slippers, you might understand a little bit of my skepticism. It's hard to see any of her foot because of all the downy pink luxuriance.

I told her she was simply going to have to find a way to get down the stairs in her softy pink slippers with a load or two of jars. She did it, but she looked so genuinely pained when she was finished that I went out to the living room to look at her foot.

Sure enough, she had a pencil eraser-sized puncture wound in the arch of her foot, with a tender halo of pink around it and a bruise just beginning around the perimeter. I gasped in surprise. As it turns out, she had stepped on a horse's tiara the day before. Why I never heard about that is beyond me, considering I'm never further away than the washing machine.

No sooner than I began monitoring it with real concern, it began to disappear. I hung the offending tiara on her toe for the proof shots today. Fiona is tougher than I thought!

Just peachy

Today Fiona, Nora, Dever and I met Tessa and Elena to see James and the Giant Peach performed downtown. This time we listened to the book beforehand instead of afterward, and we've been writing down some of the things that we imagine would happen if we had a giant peach ourselves. Dever's story involves some solar panels and flying pizza dough. Fiona's concerns a guinea pig that lives in our backyard. It's heady stuff. I think we'll enter them in the Reading Rainbow Young Authors and Illustrators contest, actually.