Grandma Elly put together a Valentine's bag for us and we opened it yesterday. Among other things, she included 5 Kit Kat chocolate bars. I gave Claire and David one to eat yesterday afternoon during tea time.
Here's the difference between my oldest two:
Claire: Oh look (she says as she tears open the wrapper)! There's two chocolate bars here. I'm going to save one for tomorrow.
David: (no response - he's stuffing both bars in his mouth).
Claire: David! Save one of your bars for tomorrow. You want to do that (she's become quite the master of manipulation and can talk her brother into doing almost anything). I'm doing that. Come on David. Save one for tomorrow (she pulls one of the bars out of his mouth).
We put the two pieces of chocolate in a special container and place it on the window sill.
The next morning at breakfast David spies the chocolate.
David: Mom. I need my chocolate.
I give them the chocolate bars after they finish with their granola.
Claire: Look Mom. I'm breaking up my chocolate bar into five little pieces so I can save some of them till later.
David: (no response). Big smile with chocolate all over his lips.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
I had forgotten what a delightful tale this book is.
Claire and I started reading it today during the boys' nap time.
I was only going to read the first 2 chapters.
We read 9.
Claire and I started reading it today during the boys' nap time.
I was only going to read the first 2 chapters.
We read 9.
Matters of the heart
Dancing with delight is how I often describe what we do when we hear that family members/friends have had babies.
This week, we've been dancing with delight over the arrival of Gloria Zuidema, the fourth child of my dear friend Sandra and her wonderful husband Tim.
I've been following their blog for awhile because rather early on in Sandra's pregnancy they found out that there were lots of complications with Gloria's heart.
This week, as the kids and I said their bedtime prayers, we prayed for Gloria. I then explained to them that we'll need to pray for her a lot because her heart doesn't work as well as ours. I explained that Gloria has 2 holes in her heart, that part of her heart didn't grow as much as it should have.
From the top bunk, Claire piped up, "Is Jesus still in her heart?"
Yes indeed my darling Claire, he is. I think even more so.
This week, we've been dancing with delight over the arrival of Gloria Zuidema, the fourth child of my dear friend Sandra and her wonderful husband Tim.
I've been following their blog for awhile because rather early on in Sandra's pregnancy they found out that there were lots of complications with Gloria's heart.
This week, as the kids and I said their bedtime prayers, we prayed for Gloria. I then explained to them that we'll need to pray for her a lot because her heart doesn't work as well as ours. I explained that Gloria has 2 holes in her heart, that part of her heart didn't grow as much as it should have.
From the top bunk, Claire piped up, "Is Jesus still in her heart?"
Yes indeed my darling Claire, he is. I think even more so.
Signing on the dotted line
Claire now has her own library card. While Jon stayed home with the boys, Claire and I walked to the library a few nights ago and filled out the form.
On the signature line, she wrote her first and last name.
Though the "N"s were backwards and there was an unpredictable mix of lower and upper case letters, there it was. Claire Van Duinen.
It was a beautiful moment. She was so proud, so self aware that this was a big step of independence. Desperately trying to live in the moment and not overanalyze or overemotionalize (a word?) the event, I suggested the only thing that came to mind as I looked at my five year old daughter and her bright eyes and big smile and the new little blue card in her hand,
"Let's go to the coffeeshop and celebrate"
Celebrate we did. We ate cinnamon rolls and then went upstairs and checked out 20 books.
On the signature line, she wrote her first and last name.
Though the "N"s were backwards and there was an unpredictable mix of lower and upper case letters, there it was. Claire Van Duinen.
It was a beautiful moment. She was so proud, so self aware that this was a big step of independence. Desperately trying to live in the moment and not overanalyze or overemotionalize (a word?) the event, I suggested the only thing that came to mind as I looked at my five year old daughter and her bright eyes and big smile and the new little blue card in her hand,
"Let's go to the coffeeshop and celebrate"
Celebrate we did. We ate cinnamon rolls and then went upstairs and checked out 20 books.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang - Van Duinen style
Richler's classic, Jacob Two-Two..., has now become part of our family vocabulary.
"Pretend you're the Hooded Fang" Claire said to me today during lunch. And so, I acted out our Van Duinen version (which ended up being a mix between the book's description of the Hooded Fang and the waitress character named Mrs. Francois - the character that the kids love for me to act out whenever we have moments like this. My acting career ended in middle school. Mrs Francois is the extent of my repertoire.)
Claire's favorite part of the story is when the Hooded Fang starts crying and wails, "I want my mommy." I talked with her about my idea to have a mother daughter book club when she gets older. After I described what people do in a book club, she thought for a moment and then started giggling. "If we had a book club about Jacob Two-Two, I would want to talk about how the Hooded Fang cries and wants his mommy" she said barely able to contain herself.
A delightful book - one that I enjoyed (re)reading as much as Claire did.
"Pretend you're the Hooded Fang" Claire said to me today during lunch. And so, I acted out our Van Duinen version (which ended up being a mix between the book's description of the Hooded Fang and the waitress character named Mrs. Francois - the character that the kids love for me to act out whenever we have moments like this. My acting career ended in middle school. Mrs Francois is the extent of my repertoire.)
Claire's favorite part of the story is when the Hooded Fang starts crying and wails, "I want my mommy." I talked with her about my idea to have a mother daughter book club when she gets older. After I described what people do in a book club, she thought for a moment and then started giggling. "If we had a book club about Jacob Two-Two, I would want to talk about how the Hooded Fang cries and wants his mommy" she said barely able to contain herself.
A delightful book - one that I enjoyed (re)reading as much as Claire did.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Learning from my kids
The kids are making forts today. As I carry a load a laundry through the room, I stumble over blankets, pillows, and the worlds that they represent. I need to be reminded that everyday objects like the cushions on our ugly couch can be transformed into magical kingdoms, that food tastes better when eaten in a small dark home created by little hands, that the laundry can wait.
Duct tape darling
Our little man in motion continues in his quest of finding and eating everything in sight.
We can now add duct tape to the list.
To get to this new stage of gourmet eating, Jacob ate through the plastic and foam from the kid sized table and chairs that we have in our toy room. Yup. He ate the plastic (and foam underneath) off the chairs.
To cover it up, Jon slapped down multiple layers of duct tape, priding himself in being able to outsmart the kid.
Alas. The duct tape was intact for just a few hours before we noticed Jacob tearing off pieces of duct tape from the chair.
What's next?
We can now add duct tape to the list.
To get to this new stage of gourmet eating, Jacob ate through the plastic and foam from the kid sized table and chairs that we have in our toy room. Yup. He ate the plastic (and foam underneath) off the chairs.
To cover it up, Jon slapped down multiple layers of duct tape, priding himself in being able to outsmart the kid.
Alas. The duct tape was intact for just a few hours before we noticed Jacob tearing off pieces of duct tape from the chair.
What's next?
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