I took Claire and David to see a ballet last night. Claire and I had seen the performance before but she really wanted to go again and really wanted David to go with her.
On a sidenote, the two of them have been getting along so well lately. "Claire's my best friend" David told me the other day. He gets so excited when she comes home from school and is often so disappointed when she goes up to her room to have some alone time. The two of them play Uno, Slamwich, Sorry, and Go Fish. They play up in the attic for hours or go outside and construct elaborate worlds of snow or mud. Last weekend, when we made the bedroom switch and moved Claire into her own room, she brought her sleeping bag into the boys' room at bedtime and said "I want to sleep by David. I missed him."
The ballet performance was based on the book The Squire and the Scroll. It's a bit too didactic in its allegorical nature for my taste but it's an engaging tale nonetheless.
The kids love the story. We read it a few times prior to going and then got dressed up and went to see the ballet version of it. It was magical for the kids. We saw some of the dancers after the performance and then came home and had ice cream and hot chocolate.
Today we acted out the story. David was the knight. Claire was the squire. And me? I was the red dragon. Good times.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
In place of a pet...
For a number of reasons, we will not be getting a pet (at least if it's up to me...Jon really want to get a bird).
Aside from the developmentally delayed gerbil we adopted from our school and a couple of rabbits who ended up as meat at a rabbit farm (something of which I only found out in my adult years), I never had a pet growing up or at least one that I felt connected with.
I do see beauty in the relationships that people establish with their furry friends and do agree that in many ways I've missed out on something. However, I remain resolute in my decision not to have pets.
To compensate, I've started buying dog treats and cat food for the pets of our neighbors. The kids love feeding Whitby, Francie, Piper, and Joey (in Jacob's case, it's throwing the biscuit as soon as the dog comes close).
I also try to visit pet stores with the kids when time allows. A huge act of love for me as I almost vomit every time I walk into those stores and get engulfed by the smell of the animals.
And, probably because I do feel a bit selfish for inflicting my animal phobias on my children, we've also been reading lots of books that have animals as main characters. Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web and now, The Mouse and the Motorcycle series. Claire, David and I are now into the second book and I think I'm enjoying it as much as they are.
The world of books is often the world I feel most at home in. There, Ralph is a cute and daring mouse. One I'd consider a friend. He's nothing like the mouse that inhabited our basement for awhile last winter. Nothing like the squirrels who made their home in our kitchen ceiling.
Aside from the developmentally delayed gerbil we adopted from our school and a couple of rabbits who ended up as meat at a rabbit farm (something of which I only found out in my adult years), I never had a pet growing up or at least one that I felt connected with.
I do see beauty in the relationships that people establish with their furry friends and do agree that in many ways I've missed out on something. However, I remain resolute in my decision not to have pets.
To compensate, I've started buying dog treats and cat food for the pets of our neighbors. The kids love feeding Whitby, Francie, Piper, and Joey (in Jacob's case, it's throwing the biscuit as soon as the dog comes close).
I also try to visit pet stores with the kids when time allows. A huge act of love for me as I almost vomit every time I walk into those stores and get engulfed by the smell of the animals.
And, probably because I do feel a bit selfish for inflicting my animal phobias on my children, we've also been reading lots of books that have animals as main characters. Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web and now, The Mouse and the Motorcycle series. Claire, David and I are now into the second book and I think I'm enjoying it as much as they are.
The world of books is often the world I feel most at home in. There, Ralph is a cute and daring mouse. One I'd consider a friend. He's nothing like the mouse that inhabited our basement for awhile last winter. Nothing like the squirrels who made their home in our kitchen ceiling.
the storm
We shut the door on the kids. That simple act, arguably, was one of the best parenting moves we've ever done.
We had just come back from a church retreat at Timberwolf Lodge. Jon and I were exhausted. All of the people who told us that we were crazy to do a weekend retreat with a newborn (and 3 other kids) were absolutely right. it was crazy.
Despite the craziness, the kids had a glorious time. "This is better than being at home" was David's proclamation as he and Claire and Jacob "settled in" for the night in our 6 bunk bed cabin room, not falling asleep until close to midnight both of the nights we were there.
When we got back home on Sunday afternoon, we unpacked and then had the brilliant idea to put the kids to bed at 6:30, thinking they would fall asleep immediately upon hitting their pillows.
No such luck.
The first sign of the storm was David, at the top of the stairs, yelling "It's a party!" "Go back to bed" we said. A few minutes later we heard a big thud and some muffled laughing and screaming.
This is what we saw when we opened the door to their bedroom: the three kids stripped down to their underwear/diapers, all the bedding from the beds and the closet in a huge pile in the middle of the room, pillows being thrown every which way, and all of them yelling "It's a party!" (though in Jacobese it was "Pardy! Pardy! Pardy!)
As I said, we looked. We shut the door. We went downstairs and let them celebrate for another 1/2 hour.
We had just come back from a church retreat at Timberwolf Lodge. Jon and I were exhausted. All of the people who told us that we were crazy to do a weekend retreat with a newborn (and 3 other kids) were absolutely right. it was crazy.
Despite the craziness, the kids had a glorious time. "This is better than being at home" was David's proclamation as he and Claire and Jacob "settled in" for the night in our 6 bunk bed cabin room, not falling asleep until close to midnight both of the nights we were there.
When we got back home on Sunday afternoon, we unpacked and then had the brilliant idea to put the kids to bed at 6:30, thinking they would fall asleep immediately upon hitting their pillows.
No such luck.
The first sign of the storm was David, at the top of the stairs, yelling "It's a party!" "Go back to bed" we said. A few minutes later we heard a big thud and some muffled laughing and screaming.
This is what we saw when we opened the door to their bedroom: the three kids stripped down to their underwear/diapers, all the bedding from the beds and the closet in a huge pile in the middle of the room, pillows being thrown every which way, and all of them yelling "It's a party!" (though in Jacobese it was "Pardy! Pardy! Pardy!)
As I said, we looked. We shut the door. We went downstairs and let them celebrate for another 1/2 hour.
books i'm reading
Mitten Strings for God and the gift of an ordinary day (both by Katrina Kenison).
I've really enjoyed reading these books. Will try to remember to add quotes at some point.
I've really enjoyed reading these books. Will try to remember to add quotes at some point.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Lego guys
When my sister Sarah came for her weekend visit, she gave the kids a collection of Lego people. My kids LOVED the gift. In fact, Jacob still tries to take some of the Lego people to bed with him (yup, it's official, he has attachment issues).
During his quiet times, when Claire's at school and Jacob and Eli are napping, David likes to play Lego. He's been asking me to play with him. Unlike Jon, I do not jump at such requests. In fact, I have long since even tried to build things out of lego with the kids (I think it was about a year ago when Claire surpassed my lego building skills. She was the one to point that out to me. This is what I get for having a husband who passes along his engineering genes to my kids).
My latest approach when I play with David is to build ramps out of tables, pillows, books and boxes and have his Lego cars zoom down them. We see if any of the Lego guys fall out of the cars and then we take them to the hospital. Not sure how long this strategy will work but for right now, David and I are enjoying it.
During his quiet times, when Claire's at school and Jacob and Eli are napping, David likes to play Lego. He's been asking me to play with him. Unlike Jon, I do not jump at such requests. In fact, I have long since even tried to build things out of lego with the kids (I think it was about a year ago when Claire surpassed my lego building skills. She was the one to point that out to me. This is what I get for having a husband who passes along his engineering genes to my kids).
My latest approach when I play with David is to build ramps out of tables, pillows, books and boxes and have his Lego cars zoom down them. We see if any of the Lego guys fall out of the cars and then we take them to the hospital. Not sure how long this strategy will work but for right now, David and I are enjoying it.
"Sorry", "Uno" and "Snap"
We've been playing a lot of games as a family these past 5 weeks. Too cold to go outside. Too crazy for me to try to do anything outside the house with 4 kids. So, we've been inside...a lot.
David and Claire got Uno for Christmas and love playing it together. David, in particular, seems to love the game. To be more precise, he loves winning. He'll often try to change the rules so that he does win. He also tries to stack the deck when I leave to get some tea or to get Eli. When he's unable to do that, his strategy is to keep playing new games until he is the winner. I think the record number of games we played in a row was 7.
Dare I admit that I've been teaching him how to trash talk when we play games together?
He's a natural.
David and Claire got Uno for Christmas and love playing it together. David, in particular, seems to love the game. To be more precise, he loves winning. He'll often try to change the rules so that he does win. He also tries to stack the deck when I leave to get some tea or to get Eli. When he's unable to do that, his strategy is to keep playing new games until he is the winner. I think the record number of games we played in a row was 7.
Dare I admit that I've been teaching him how to trash talk when we play games together?
He's a natural.
"Mom, the brothers are annoying me"
Claire made this comment to me a few days ago.
I can only wonder how many other times she will say this in the years to come :)
I can only wonder how many other times she will say this in the years to come :)
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