A healthy sense of self confidence

Says Nathan:

The only reason I'm not cute anymore is that handsome took over.

Animals are people too, I guess.

"Benjamin, you have so many people who love you!" I told him.

"Yeah, you have me, you have Paisley, you have Brenna, you have the chickies...." says Nathan.

Beards

Says Brenna:

There are two people in our family with beards now. But Paisley can't get rid of hers.

Fwends

Says Isaac: I wish daddy could be my age so we could be fwends.

Mamas make mistakes too. Especially me.

This morning, at the encouragement of a friend, (hi, Nina!) I took the kids out for a Fun Day.  Fun Days are hard, because the day after the Fun Day is NOT FUN.  But Brian is out of town, and it's a beautiful day to be out and about, so I chose one of those paint your own pottery places.

Brenna and Isaac chose the exact same thing  right off, a train penny bank. Isaac has started the "train phase", so that was no suprise, but for Brenna to choose it as well surprised me. They got started, and had a blast, although Isaac gave up about half way through in favor of painting his arms instead.

Nathan meandered around the store.  Then he meandered some more.  He hemmed and he hawed, and finally I told him, "Nathan, if you don't pick something, you're going to lose the opportunity to paint."  So he chose an itty-bitty Christmas tree ornament.  Weird kid.  Thirty seconds later, when he was done with it, I told him he could pick another, and he chose a cute mug. They all had fun.

Afterwards, we went next door to a little cafe and ate lunch on the patio. Nathan was in such a goofy mood.  He was making faces at people through the windows and making the strangest comments.  He kept asking to run a lap around the large store/office complex we were in, and I repeatedly told him no.  I didn't get them drinks, because we had water in the car, so when he got thirsty and asked for a drink, I told him he could go to the car, which was within my line of vision, to get his water bottle.  Somehow he translated, "you can go get your water out of the car" to "you may run a lap through the very busy parking lot." 

I saw him walk towards the car... then he turned right...  then he disappeared behind all the other cars.  HEART ATTACK.  I grabbed Isaac and yelled for Brenna to follow, and of course Isaac spilled his chip bag and had to fuss, and Brenna had to make a big show of twisting her chip bag to save for later, and finally I got to the car, yelling all the while, but he was GONE. Isaac heard a flight of stairs callling his name, Brenna was doing a dance on the sidewalk, and I COULDN'T SEE NATHAN!

All of a sudden, I heard him calling me.  He was standing at the table we had just vacated. He had run a lap. And come back to the logical starting place when one does such a thing.  Oh, my word. Did that kid get a talking to.  I asked where he had gone, and he said he had run THROUGH THE PARKING LOT.  "Just down that row.  I looked both ways."

The talking-to recommenced. 

We covered LISTENING (he asked that I make sure he's actually listening next time.  I was like, "um, that's YOUR job, dude.  I can't make you listen!)

We covered locomotion through parking lots ("You NEVER RUN!  DO YOU HEAR ME?!  YOU NEVER RUN IN A PARKING LOT!).

We covered the relative size of six year old boys and cars.  He was inclined to argue that one.

Then we huffed our way into the car and started home.  On the way, I went through one of those intersections where there are two sets of lights, one right after the other.

I ran the second one. "SHOOT!"

As we pulled onto the freeway, this is what I hear from the backseat:

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who makes mistakes!"

"No, baby, you're not the only one who makes mistakes."

"Sometimes mamas make mistakes too!"

"Yes, mamas make lots of mistakes."

And from Brenna:  "Especially you, Mama!"

Lots of Random

I shared this on facebook, but I thought I'd share it here too:

Today Nathan and I were talking about (of all things) the gender roles of women in other cultures (have I mentioned that this kid asks a lot of questions?).  He asked me for a specific example, and I, as usual, couldn't come up with something when put on the spot.  I told him, "I can't think of anything off the top of my head."

"Do you have anything at the bottom of your head?"

Hmmm....

*****

Paisley loves Brian's shoes.  She loves all of the shoes she finds, but she curls up and sleeps on top of Brian's with her mouth open, so that her tongue is against the inside.  Yum.


*****

I was totally craving mashed potatoes earlier this week, during my monthly bout of insanity.  So I made A TON.  And they're now sitting in the fridge, because my kids won't eat them unless under duress.  I think we'll be eating Shepherd's Pie tonight.

*****

I've ordered our literature supplies for the rest of the school year, and little by little, they're arriving.  New books!  And the one day that I didn't put the RING THE DOORBELL AND DIE!!! sticker out, the guy rang the doorbell.  I would get a plaque if it weren't that the schedule is not consistent throughout babyhood.

*****

Isaac and Paisley are sort of hysterical together.  Isaac is so strong willed, I haven't figured out how to enforce appropriate behavior with the pup.  Consequently, our day goes like this:

Isaac attacks Paisley.

Paisley attacks Isaac.

Isaac cries. 

I come to the rescue, separate the offending parties, calm everyone down.

Isaac attacks Paisley.

*****

Speaking of Isaac, he's calming down!!  Sort of.  This week, he discovered that the tops come off of the six inch gutter drain thingies.  Our toy car bucket has been reduced by about half.

I feel the need to note, though, that we cleaned out toys in a massive way last weekend.   So the toys now floating somewhere underground?  Those were the few we wanted to KEEP.

While I was on the phone lamenting the situation to a friend's voice mail (so that I would not lament the situation to my toddler at top volume), Isaac was pulling the keys off my computer keyboard.  So if you notice anyplace that an "r" is missing, it's because that one is broken and wobbly now. 

Also, I got the requisite Toddler With Lipstick All Over His Face Picture yesterday.  He was cute, I have one of each of the kids, and he didn't ruin the lipstick, though (like Brenna did for her picture), so I'm not holding that one against him.

*****

I think there's a huge benefit to having a puppy while having a toddler.  Bodily fluids are such a part of my daily existence, that another creature having accidents on the floor doesn't even phase me.

*****

So things are kind of busy around here, what with the new puppy and all, however, our floor has never been cleaner!  Since Paisley thinks anything left on the floor is hers by default, it all get picked up.  And put on a counter or table.  So if you come to my house, just stare at the floor, and you'll think I have this thing figured out!  But you might run screaming from the house if you happen to glance at any other surfaces.

Happy New Year, Y'all!

He Can Read!

Last week as we were driving, Nathan piped up, 

"Guess what!?  I just read the name of that place!  HOO-TERS!"

Then, in a sing-songy voice, 

"HOOters, HOOters, HOOters, HOOters!

Is that a restaurant?  Can we go there sometime?"

Ummm, no.

Thankful for Thanksgiving

My  head is just swimming with all the randomness.

I love this time of year, it's my favorite.  The music, lights, celebration, holiness.  I have things I want to share about that, and about Thanksgiving, about my kids, what I'm reading, what I'm trying to figure out right now.

The blogs I read are churning out beautiful, articulate posts; I feel like at best I might be able to come up with a bullet point list.

So I guess I'll start with Thanksgiving.  It was wonderful.  Absolutely better than I could have wished for.  We were guests in the home of some childhood friends, Rachel and Brandon.  We watched our children become reaquainted with one another at lightning speed while we brought one another up to date at a very slightly slower pace.

It was interesting, back then, when one of my very oldest friends married a friend from high school, and is even more interesting now, as adults, to have so. much. history.  It's sort of fascinating to me the turn that conversations take when a person knows who you were.  When very few explanations are needed because they were there.

It was a precious time for me, of remembering why history is so special.  Why being known is important.

Thanksgiving dinner was eaten at the home of Rachel's parents, Lester and Mary.  I've known them as long as I can remember.  In fact, I have no memory of before the LaBour's.  Brandon's parents came as well, and there we were, feeling like family with those who aren't ours, and yet are part of our history.

We had a good laugh when after being sent outside to play, the boys asked for a rope and ladder (the girls were upstairs playing with dolls).  Since none was available, Mary told them to play with the hammock.  The could take it down, do whatever they wished with it.

A while later, Rachel went out to check on them, and came back laughing because Nathan had told her, in all seriousness, "I just don't know how we're going to use a hammock to get on the roof."

It seems they felt the need to check on the girls and were trying to find an alternate route since they were told not to go up the stairs.

Isn't it hysterical how literal children are?  When you're thinking you just communicated that they need to stay downstairs, their understanding is they may not use the stairs.

It was a wonderful time.  And to cap off the weekend perfectly, we made it all the way home on Friday, so we still had a weekend to unwind from the traveling. 

The one thing I wish was different?  I miss the leftovers!

Thank you, Brandon and Rachel, and Lester and Mary, 

for a beautiful holiday.  

We felt loved, and are so grateful.

Future Plans

Me:  Can I keep you forever?

Brenna: And Daddy's gonna keep me forever, too.

Me:  I'm gonna keep all of you forever.

Brenna:  (Big smile)  But you might have a hard time keeping me when I'm a grown up.

Me: Oh?

Brenna:  I'm gonna live in the place with the "move it, move it".

Me:  Madagascar?  (we found it on the map this week)

Brenna:  Yes.  Then the place with the cinnamon.

Me:  Sri Lanka?  (from the book How to Make and Apple Pie and See the World)

Brenna:  Yes.

Me:  Well, thanks for letting me know.

The Little Things

Brenna was helping me fold laundry this afternoon when she observed, 

"Mama!  Nathan's underwear has a pocket!"

then, 

"Daddy's underwear has a pocket too!"

Reminiscing

This week we're reading A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno.  It's the story of a grandmother reminiscing about a lesson learned in her childhood. 

As our activity, I asked the kids to narrate a memory to me.


Here is Nathan's special memory:

When my baby brother was born, I was four years old.  Beah was my baby brother's midwife.  When he was born, my dad went over and woke me up and when I got up, the breakfast I had was plain cheerios with sugar in them.

My dad was the one to catch my baby brother.

The other midwife that came helped Beah.

My baby brother's name is Isaac.

I got water for my mom.  Beah helped me get nice hot water from the kettle.

Nana came to our house when my baby brother was born.  Nana took care of me.

I was in my mom's room most of the time.  I wanted to catch my baby brother, but then I didn't want to .  So I watched Isaac come out of my mom's tummy.  It was in the middle of the night.

I was excited that I was gonna get a new baby brother!

Here is Brenna's special memory:

I went to Wahoo Wednesday.  We had tables there.  We sat at them and colored.

There were toys that you could sprinkle but they weren't real.  They were pretend food.  They were yellow.  It was cheese.

I asked Brenna if she remembered the shirt she wore to Wahoo Wednesday (our church's VBS) and she scrunched up her nose and said, "it's getting too big on me."

"What?"

"It's getting too big on me."

"Do you mean 'it's getting too small'?"

"No.  It's getting too big on me."

"Oh.  well do you want to write about that?"

"No."

Well, at least she's got her priorities straight.  It's all about the cheese.  Fake or otherwise.

A Perfect Fit, Part 1

I was a little late to the curriculum game.  As I'm a little late most places, I guess that's par for the course!  So it wasn't until June that I started seriously pondering what level of structure would be best for us.  Right around that time, my friend Rachel asked if I'd seen Five in a Row, as it seemed like it might be a good fit for me.  I hadn't, but as is my general method, I first went to their site, then googled "five in a row blog".  The descriptions I found were glowing.

Basically, with FIAR, we read the same book, a well-chosen piece of classical children's literature, every day for the week.  Then, each day we discuss/study/experiment with different aspects of the book.  This is referred to as a "unit study" in homeschooling (and probably elsewhere). The lessons are given in short paragraphs in the (inexpensive) curriculum book, and we do several a day.  It's very low-key, and I can do as many or as few lessons as I wish.

This week we read The Story about Ping, a book we've had on our shelf for a couple years.  My kids asked for it periodically, but it's never been a particular favorite. Friday, as Nathan brought the book to me for the fifth time, he declared, "Mom, this is my FAVORITE BOOK!"  I asked how he liked it after reading it five times in a row, and he replied, "I never knew what a WONDERFUL BOOK this was!"

Ping is about a little duck who lives on the Yangtze River in China.  His master has trained his ducks to hurry onto his boat by giving the last duck across the bridge a spank on the back.  One day, Ping has his head under the water when his master calls, and he quickly  realizes he will be the last on the boat.  To avoid the spank, Ping hides rather than go home.  The story that follows is about Ping's misadventures before he is reunited with his family aboard the boat.  Ultimately, he has to make a choice to either take the discipline he doesn't want or be separated again from his family.

So this is how our week broke down:

Monday:
We read the book, then talked about China and the Yangtze river (the third largest river in the world).  We located them on a map, talked about the size of the river, how many people live on/around it, and how Ping would feel when he was lost in such a huge place, surrounded by so many people. Then we talked about the clothes, food and boats of the human characters in the book.  Nathan colored and cut out a "story disk" and placed it on our wall map.

Tuesday:
We read the book, then talked about what makes a book "a classic", what fiction is, then talked about how repetition is used.  For example, Ping begins and ends with,

"Ping (lived) with his mother and his father and two sisters and three brothers and eleven aunts and seven uncles and forty-two cousins"

Also throughout, there is repetition of the phrase, "the wise-eyed boat on the Yangtze river."

Wednesday:
Such a fun day!  We read the book, then talked first about discernment, how things are sometimes not what they seem.  Sometimes they seem better than what they are; Ping followed some rice cake crumbs and was captured for a duck dinner.  Sometimes they are worse than what they are; Ping avoided a spank and was separated from his loved ones.

Then we talked about the pictures in the book, what they were made with (crayon and colored pencil in primary colors), the use of water in almost every picture as a unifying theme (of course I didn't use that term with Nathan and Brenna!) and then we sat at the table with our own colored pencils to experiment with drawing like the artist (layered colors, water, reflections and ripples).

By Nathan

By Brenna

Thursday:
We read the book, then counted out Pings family, then talked about ducks.

Friday:
We read the book, then experimented with things floating in a bowl of water (a major human character has a barrel tied to his back).  We talked about life vests and floaties, and why some things float and others don't.  Then we talked about reflections.  We read the poem "The Mirror" by A. A. Milne, and used a hand mirror to look at reflections.


Five in a Row has given my family amazing literature and structure combined with flexibility in a way that is perfect for us. I couldn't be happier.  Next week, we travel to Japan!

Heart to Heart

Nathan and I were having a little chat tonight in bed about some things on his mind.  I was explaining what an addiction is, and how someone doesn't feel normal unless he's had whatever he's addicted to.  He immediately understood:

"Like you're addicted to coffee?

"Yes." (smile)

"I think I'm addicted to TV.  And scones."

My Boys are Teething!

Nathan lost his first tooth today! He's so proud!

 

This is the size of the teeth making their very painful entrance into Isaac's mouth.

I made this little bag for him this evening, to put under his pillow.  He picked the color scheme!

I wonder if he'll be able to fall asleep tonight!

Brian just told me he said he's going to fall asleep AS FAST AS HE CAN tonight so the Tooth Fairy will come!

Alright. So it ended up being two carseats, a booster seat, three suitcases, a garment bag, a diaper bag, a backpack, a purse and five jackets. And three children.

After a whirlwind visit, we're home from California!  It was a fun, but very busy trip.  We had something going on every single day, and since three of the five of us got sick, we'll need to rethink some things next time!

Some highlights (or lowlights, depending):

Brian and I were surprised by how comfortable it was to arrive in New Orleans; I guess that means we've settled in.  This morning after a breakfast of bagels (the only thing in the house, thank goodness I remembered to pull them out of the freezer last night!) we made a beeline for the grocery store.  Must have half and half.  I had my first cup of coffee at 11 this morning.  Not Good.

*****

The flight out was amazing.  The best part was that an angel sat in the seat next to Nathan.  This kind, kind man entertained my five year old for FOUR HOURS.  He pretended to be scared when Nathan yelled BOO! (in his ear, over and over and over and over).  He made faces and pretend reactions when Nathan called out animals, (i.e. SKUNK! in his ear, over and over and over and over).  He let Nathan lean across him to look out the window to see the clouds and snow and whatnot.  Talk about a gift from God.  Amazing.

*****

Brenna's trip highlight:  "Nana lets me crack eggs!"  Mama is not so brave.

*****

We stayed in a hotel for a couple nights in Concord (it was VERY hard to visit and not go home to our house!) and the kids LOVE the breakfast buffet.  It's the joy of their hotel experience each time we're in one. They are not particularly fond of Mama's rule that you can only fill up one plate at a time.

*****

There are a variety of reasons I love Brian's annual meeting; one of them is the drive.  All that time in the car to talk WITH NO CHILDREN!  I think we get more complete thoughts out in that drive than in the rest of the year combined!   

*****

Somewhere around Benecia, Brian informed me that if I die before he does, he's going to announce in my eulogy that I drool like a labrador in my sleep.  Just thought I should let you know that my funeral might turn into a tell-all.

*****

We had a great conversations about women and body image.  Just a heads-up, ladies, but men really hate it when we blow off their compliments.  They feel belittled by it.  

We talked about having a healthy body, and what that means, as well as different body types.  I tried to explain (in my own neurotic way) why a woman might not believe her man finds her attractive.  It was interesting and eye-opening to me to hear Brian's perception of my own ups and downs.  I guess it's probably obvious that he's not as hard on me as I am :)

*****

Lots of moms have told me horror stories about their kids' lack of tact.  Nathan is really a sweet kid, and I really thought we had mostly missed that phase.  GUESS NOT.  In the airport, while waiting for our plane to board, Nathan asked, "MOM, ARE THOSE PEOPLE TALKING SPANISH?"  He was referring to a couple sitting facing us about four feet away.

Hoping that a short answer would satisfy, I just said yes.

"WELL WHY DON'T THEY GO BACK TO THE STATE WHERE ALL THE PEOPLE TALK SPANISH AND NOT COME HERE?

Are you mortified for me?

So we had a little impromptu conversation about how it's okay to ask questions about things that are different, but could you PLEASE, PLEASE ask me politely in my ear, not while dancing in the aisle between us and said couple?  He asked a few more pointed questions, so we had to briefly cover the concept of discrimination, a wonderful conversation to have in the airport, made all the more poignant by the fact that the people sitting back-to-back with us could surely hear every word and, I'm pretty certain, "talked Spanish".

*****

Fifteen minutes later, as we sat in our seats on the plane, a woman with a pronounced birthmark on her neck and jaw placed her bag in the bin above our heads.  Once again, my sweet boy felt the need to question me at top volume.  Rinse, repeat.

*****

Brenna had the flu for the last three days of the trip.  You know what is no fun?  A three year old who is too whiny and weak to walk on her own two feet through an airport when you have a bazillion bags to carry.  Anyhoo, she's over it today, and all the words she didn't use for those three days came out this morning.

No coffee + TOO MANY WORDS = grouchy mom

*****

Man, I always get to the end and have no idea how to close.  So, ummm...

Bye.

Oh Good.

Nathan: When we start schooling, I'm going to be even more patient than usual.

Miscellany

Brenna called me into her room with, "Mama, I need to tell you something."

I sat on her bed and asked, "yes, Brenna?"

"ummmm...." Guess she forgot what it was.

"Do you need to tell me something?"

"ummmm...." Come on, come up with something!

"What do you need to tell me, Brenna?"

"ummmm.... I don't want monsters to get in my bed."

Well, she got me there. I definitely wasn't expecting that! But she said it with a totally straight face, so I reassured her, "Brenna, no monsters are going to get in your bed."

"Okay!" Glad we got that cleared up.

*

Isaac is fascinated by his hands lately. He just watches his fingers move with the most rapt expression. It's really neat to watch.

*

For my birthday, I really wanted to try a restaurant that doesn't serve American food. We are totally stuck in a rut! So we walked downtown and turned in circles for a good 20 minutes looking at all the options. I was determined not to go to one of our standby's, but we were ridiculously nervous about trying something new! Well, Brian has had Thai food at work and thought it was pretty good, so we opted for the Thai place. It was AWESOME!

We had a crushed pineapple dish that was served in half a pineapple and a basil chicken dish, then deep fried bananas and ice cream for dessert. We will definitely be going back, but feel pretty silly for being so scared. However, the kids were pretty unimpressed with the lack of crayons and colorful menus with pictures of their choices (we like the klassy places). I had to remind Nathan that we were here FOR MY BIRTHDAY. I GET TO PICK ON MY BIRTHDAY. But he enjoyed the food, so I think going back will be a cinch.

*

Nathan tells a joke:

"Knock, knock!"

"Who's there?"

"Nathan!"

"Nathan who?"

"Stewart!"

A comedian he's not.

*

So I've been thinking about our homeschooling schedule in the fall, and I've decided to make a time for board games or puzzles. Besides the one-on-one time for Nathan, I think there are a lot of great things to be learned from games, i.e. following rules, taking turns, counting, focusing, etc.

What are some good games for little kids? (we have candyland, memory and chutes and ladders)

Big Mouth!

Brian took the kids shopping for my birthday present yesterday. He walked in the door with warnings about it being A SURPRISE and DON'T TELL! Both kids came to me to tell me they had a surprise for my birthday and they CAN'T TELL ME WHAT IT IS!

It frustrates Brian to no end that he can never keep a secret from me. I almost always know what he gets me because I'm psychic (he thinks). Mostly I can just read my husband like a book, so if I ask a question the answer is obvious.

So the kids were great. They didn't tell even though they're excited.

Last night as I was cooking dinner, Brenna wandered in to check out what I was doing, beg for food, and inspect the kitchen magnets.

As she's studying our refrigerator, she just asks what's on her mind: "Mama, what's a m-p-tee payerd?"

I was still giggling when Brian walked in the door a few minutes later. Foiled AGAIN!

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Nathan?

A couple days ago I was trying to teach Nathan and Brenna the Do-Re-Mi song from The Sound of Music. They loved it and kept asking me to sing it over and over, so yesterday I decided to check the movie out from the library (alas, my copy is on VHS). We spent yesterday afternoon and this morning watching it, and they LOVED it! Woohoo! Maybe I am related to those two monkeys!

While I was cleaning up in the kitchen I heard Nathan walking around singing How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? That made me laugh because when we watched it, I was totally changing it to his name in my head!

Watching it required a few explanations, like why some women want to marry God and thus can't marry men, and a very simplified (obviously) explanation of Nazis. So now I am prepared to be absolutely mortified when he calls someone a Nazi during play. Please, please, please, God, don't let it be with the children of my close friend from Germany! Because then, I will just have to die. Right there.

So musicals are a success! I think maybe the next couple movies I buy will be Mary Poppins and another old musical where no one gets called an idiot or some other name I don't want him to learn. Much better to stick with Nazis.

Brenna's Love, Part Two

"Mama, me wub you up to Heben.

Me wub my bed up to Heben, too."