It is hard not to be somewhat stunned by some of the conversations I have with the kids. Sometimes, it is truly because they are actually impressive. Ree has a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor that is just entertaining, and Leon has a monstrous vocabulary, and we have absolutely no idea where it came from. But then there are the moments that leave us scratching our heads. Like when Michael, who taught himself to read before his third birthday, asks the most basic of questions like, "Mom, what's a mom?" Or these recent conversations...
Leon was playing "hockey" in the house by hitting a ball with a broom. (Yes, he declared it hockey and not broomball.) He tells me his team is up 10-0. I told him that was great and asked how they scored so many goals. His reply was, "We got it because Tiger Woods had 13 at bats." Okay, so he loves sports but can't quite keep them straight.
Then there was the other night at bedtime with Natalia. She has always been the last to go to bed, and she closely observes her siblings' bedtime routines. In an effort to stall just a little more, the boys have started getting back rubs at bedtime, and this has apparently not gone unnoticed. One night, stalling herself, Natalia demanded a back rub. She was laying on her back, and I asked her to roll over. As I started to rub her back, she batted my hand away and said, "NO! Do it myself!" And so I just stood there, while she rubbed her own back. When she was done, she dismissed me and went to sleep.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
Monkey Toes
I am quite lucky in that I am generally able to escape from work to attend school events for the kids. Over the past few weeks, I have taken full advantage of this and have made it to several different events for Ree and the boys.
For Ree, I first went to her class's end-of-year party. The room moms had planned to hold it at the park directly behind the school. However, surprise! We got a (very minor) tropical storm the first week of June, and it messed with the plans. So the party was moved indoors, and the kids still had a fabulous time.
Among other activities, the kids had a contest to see who could pick up the most pennies with their toes. I am quite proud to say my monkey-toed daughter was the big winner in her group. (She didn't have the highest score for the whole class though. There are some truly talented kids out there!)
They briefly got to play outside, and they rotated between stations where they hula hooped, blew bubbles, and drew with sidewalk chalk.
They also had an informal award celebration, and the teacher gave out awards to all of the kids. The teacher read the description of each award, and then she had the kids guess who the award was for. Rebecca seemed to have her named called out for nearly every award. I'm not quite sure what that meant (The kids liked her? They thought she was a good student?), but we went with it. And I am happy to say that she was one of two students to get an award for being a great reader. (Although clearly not nearly as proud as I am of her penny-grabbing prowess.)
This week I got to go back to school for part of the school's fun day, which was basically a field day where the kids participated in about 15 events. Ree is clearly my child, and not nearly competitive enough (or big enough) to excel in sports, but she had a great time. Everyone in the class even wore matching shirts. Their teacher loves the Wizard of Oz, and so they all had Dorothy and Toto on their shirts. The girls even had little red bows on Dorothy's hair. (I hear the teacher was still hot glueing bows as the kids were coming into school that morning. I like how she works. I am pretty sure there are few things in this world that can't be assembled with hot glue or duct tape, and it's good to know I'm not the only one assembling at the last minute.)
Her shirt was a little big, but you have to love the head band. She was a serious athlete!
She loves sack races.
Not quite dominating in hockey.
And the very fun looking water relay. (I wanted to participate!)
And now, after all the fun, we have a first grader.
For Ree, I first went to her class's end-of-year party. The room moms had planned to hold it at the park directly behind the school. However, surprise! We got a (very minor) tropical storm the first week of June, and it messed with the plans. So the party was moved indoors, and the kids still had a fabulous time.
Among other activities, the kids had a contest to see who could pick up the most pennies with their toes. I am quite proud to say my monkey-toed daughter was the big winner in her group. (She didn't have the highest score for the whole class though. There are some truly talented kids out there!)
They briefly got to play outside, and they rotated between stations where they hula hooped, blew bubbles, and drew with sidewalk chalk.
They also had an informal award celebration, and the teacher gave out awards to all of the kids. The teacher read the description of each award, and then she had the kids guess who the award was for. Rebecca seemed to have her named called out for nearly every award. I'm not quite sure what that meant (The kids liked her? They thought she was a good student?), but we went with it. And I am happy to say that she was one of two students to get an award for being a great reader. (Although clearly not nearly as proud as I am of her penny-grabbing prowess.)
This week I got to go back to school for part of the school's fun day, which was basically a field day where the kids participated in about 15 events. Ree is clearly my child, and not nearly competitive enough (or big enough) to excel in sports, but she had a great time. Everyone in the class even wore matching shirts. Their teacher loves the Wizard of Oz, and so they all had Dorothy and Toto on their shirts. The girls even had little red bows on Dorothy's hair. (I hear the teacher was still hot glueing bows as the kids were coming into school that morning. I like how she works. I am pretty sure there are few things in this world that can't be assembled with hot glue or duct tape, and it's good to know I'm not the only one assembling at the last minute.)
Her shirt was a little big, but you have to love the head band. She was a serious athlete!
She loves sack races.
Not quite dominating in hockey.
And the very fun looking water relay. (I wanted to participate!)
And now, after all the fun, we have a first grader.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Home Stretch
We are in the home stretch of the school year. Although most of the schools around here got out for summer last Thursday, with Ree in year-round school, we have one more week of getting her out the door bright and early. But the end is very much in sight!
We've certainly been celebrating the end of the year for awhile with all kinds of events. It started with the boys' preschool graduation on the Friday before Memorial Day. (Leon and Mike have a year to go, but all the kids graduate every year. I like that. Maybe we should do that at work too. Instead of getting an annual evaluation we could all celebrate having made it another year. And maybe there would even be cake involved...)
The weather for their graduation was absolutely perfect - mid-70s with clear skies and a breeze. The park where it was held was nice and shady. It was really nice. The kids got to play at the park for awhile then we gathered to hear them sing. Leon not only kept his clothes on this time (and his hands mostly out of his pants), he sang. Loudly. And danced. Lots. He was quite entertaining. Michael did a great job with all of the songs too and even remembered the choreography to the song in sign language.
(It turns out I don't have any graduation photos without the faces of other kiddos in 'em, but here's a recent pic of the boys making themselves comfortable on the floor at Barnes and Noble during a Mommy-Boys date. Some day they will find out you can actually PURCHASE the toys there, and I will be in serious trouble.)
Then it was on to Ree's dance recital last weekend. She performed a tap routine to the song "Popular" from Wicked and for ballet, they did the bluebird dance from Sleeping Beauty. Her class is teensy and has just four girls. They did great job with the tap number and even managed to stay with the music fairly well. (It was funny, though. For the little ones, you could hear the teachers calling out the steps from where they stood off stage.) Ree ran into a slight wardrobe malfunction during ballet - she got tangled in her bluebird wings. Thankfully, after a brief, failed attempt to untangle herself, she finished the dance. For kindergarten, I'd say that was pretty good. And overall, she said she had fun and she's spent her spare time this week teaching me her tap dance. She is very excited to get the DVD of the recital so we can practice it to the music. She clearly doesn't want me to get bored.
Waiting to go on stage for tap dressed as "Glenda" from Wicked. Ree is the little one on the right.
We've certainly been celebrating the end of the year for awhile with all kinds of events. It started with the boys' preschool graduation on the Friday before Memorial Day. (Leon and Mike have a year to go, but all the kids graduate every year. I like that. Maybe we should do that at work too. Instead of getting an annual evaluation we could all celebrate having made it another year. And maybe there would even be cake involved...)
The weather for their graduation was absolutely perfect - mid-70s with clear skies and a breeze. The park where it was held was nice and shady. It was really nice. The kids got to play at the park for awhile then we gathered to hear them sing. Leon not only kept his clothes on this time (and his hands mostly out of his pants), he sang. Loudly. And danced. Lots. He was quite entertaining. Michael did a great job with all of the songs too and even remembered the choreography to the song in sign language.
(It turns out I don't have any graduation photos without the faces of other kiddos in 'em, but here's a recent pic of the boys making themselves comfortable on the floor at Barnes and Noble during a Mommy-Boys date. Some day they will find out you can actually PURCHASE the toys there, and I will be in serious trouble.)
Then it was on to Ree's dance recital last weekend. She performed a tap routine to the song "Popular" from Wicked and for ballet, they did the bluebird dance from Sleeping Beauty. Her class is teensy and has just four girls. They did great job with the tap number and even managed to stay with the music fairly well. (It was funny, though. For the little ones, you could hear the teachers calling out the steps from where they stood off stage.) Ree ran into a slight wardrobe malfunction during ballet - she got tangled in her bluebird wings. Thankfully, after a brief, failed attempt to untangle herself, she finished the dance. For kindergarten, I'd say that was pretty good. And overall, she said she had fun and she's spent her spare time this week teaching me her tap dance. She is very excited to get the DVD of the recital so we can practice it to the music. She clearly doesn't want me to get bored.
Waiting to go on stage for tap dressed as "Glenda" from Wicked. Ree is the little one on the right.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Where Have We Been?
So I didn't mean to go into hiding for a month. Some things that happened while I was away:
Leon and Michael went to a farm on the first ever field trip.
The kids had play dates at home...
...and at the beach.
And, yes, we finally made it to the beach in warm weather.
Leon and Michael went to a farm on the first ever field trip.
The kids had play dates at home...
...and at the beach.
And, yes, we finally made it to the beach in warm weather.
Friday, May 10, 2013
First Beach Day of the Year
So I am unexpectedly having a child free night. The kids had friends over all afternoon, no one napped, and everyone passed out early. Natalia was actually the FIRST to bed tonight, and she was asleep at 7:35. Everyone else was in bed for good (I hope!) by 8:10. In the last hour I've walked the dogs, chatted with the neighbors, swept my new-found second patio (funny story about that...), planted basil and cilantro seeds, and caught up on some things on the computer. So basically a week's (or at least weekend's) worth of activity can be done in an hour without kids. Huh.
One thing I've done in this hour of madness is go through pictures. It's warm again, but a couple of weeks ago when we finally made it to the beach for the first time this year, it was not. Here are a few pics.
So that morning it was about 65 degrees, but there was a strong wind, and the water temperature was 61. Everyone bravely headed for the beach.
Natalia strutted behind the rest of the group.
Of course, they immediately headed for the water. (Because what do parents know about cold?)
Of course, maybe a parent was out there with them, encouraging them a bit.
Ree and Leon even enjoyed running through the water. (Personally, I had to rescue Natalia from a wave and ended up in water halfway up my calves. I don't think I appeared this carefree as I numbly ran through the water.)
However, one by one they added jackets and then enjoyed playing in the sand.
Jeff's parents were visiting. His mom enjoyed the sand with the kids...
...and his dad played Frisbee with the boys.
Later, Michael decided to "swim" in the sand. It took days to get all of the sand out of his eyebrows. At least he had fun!
One thing I've done in this hour of madness is go through pictures. It's warm again, but a couple of weeks ago when we finally made it to the beach for the first time this year, it was not. Here are a few pics.
So that morning it was about 65 degrees, but there was a strong wind, and the water temperature was 61. Everyone bravely headed for the beach.
Natalia strutted behind the rest of the group.
Of course, they immediately headed for the water. (Because what do parents know about cold?)
Of course, maybe a parent was out there with them, encouraging them a bit.
Ree and Leon even enjoyed running through the water. (Personally, I had to rescue Natalia from a wave and ended up in water halfway up my calves. I don't think I appeared this carefree as I numbly ran through the water.)
However, one by one they added jackets and then enjoyed playing in the sand.
Jeff's parents were visiting. His mom enjoyed the sand with the kids...
...and his dad played Frisbee with the boys.
Later, Michael decided to "swim" in the sand. It took days to get all of the sand out of his eyebrows. At least he had fun!
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Festivals
It was a crazy weekend. Fun, but busy.
Festivals and big events in Wilmington primarily take place in April, May, September, and October. I guess festival planners assume the weather will be bad November through March and that people will be at the beach July through August. They're probably on to something.
There were actually three different kid-friendly events we wanted to attend on Saturday, and we actually made it to two of them. (It occurred to me today that we are slowly moving away from doing one thing a day, if anything, and it having to occur between 9 am and 11 am because after 11 am our entire day is planned up through bedtime. Such freedom!)
We started at a fundraiser for a friend's neighborhood emergency response team. While there, the kids got to climb on fire trucks.
They sold concessions, and Leon looked very serious as he ate his lunch.
Of course Ree had to get her face painted.
The kids were not happy when I told them they had to sit down to eat lollipops - but they did do it. (They weren't going to throw away candy!)
Next stop was Kidapalooza, and the first thing the kids did there was...climb on a fire truck. It's a good thing there were no major fires in town yesterday afternoon.
The biggest reason we went to Kidapalooza was Hello Kitty was supposed to make an appearance. Natalia was VERY, VERY excited to see, "KITTTTTYYYY!!!!" Actually, it's a small miracle that Natalia didn't knock Kitty over when she ran up and hugged her. Natalia can be a little, um, aggressive in one-on-one situations. (Last week she took down a 5-year-old boy on the preschool playground. Sadly, this is not the first time that has happened. On the bright side, we have little concerns about her dating.)
The kids were all very excited to go in a bouncy castle.
Mike busy coloring.
There was a Mary Kay booth giving the kids makeovers (a little wrong, but my girls loved it). Natalia had to stop by for some lip gloss. She may not like most strangers, but she likes strangers with beauty products!
The boys got in a few "games" of cornhole.
Natalia worked on her hula hooping.
After that, it was time to head home for naps. Of course Natalia and the boys fell asleep in the car, and since the boys had slept, they did not nap at home. So then there was no choice but to move on to evening activities! More fun! But more on that later. I am wiped just thinking about the weekend.
Festivals and big events in Wilmington primarily take place in April, May, September, and October. I guess festival planners assume the weather will be bad November through March and that people will be at the beach July through August. They're probably on to something.
There were actually three different kid-friendly events we wanted to attend on Saturday, and we actually made it to two of them. (It occurred to me today that we are slowly moving away from doing one thing a day, if anything, and it having to occur between 9 am and 11 am because after 11 am our entire day is planned up through bedtime. Such freedom!)
We started at a fundraiser for a friend's neighborhood emergency response team. While there, the kids got to climb on fire trucks.
They sold concessions, and Leon looked very serious as he ate his lunch.
Of course Ree had to get her face painted.
The kids were not happy when I told them they had to sit down to eat lollipops - but they did do it. (They weren't going to throw away candy!)
Next stop was Kidapalooza, and the first thing the kids did there was...climb on a fire truck. It's a good thing there were no major fires in town yesterday afternoon.
The biggest reason we went to Kidapalooza was Hello Kitty was supposed to make an appearance. Natalia was VERY, VERY excited to see, "KITTTTTYYYY!!!!" Actually, it's a small miracle that Natalia didn't knock Kitty over when she ran up and hugged her. Natalia can be a little, um, aggressive in one-on-one situations. (Last week she took down a 5-year-old boy on the preschool playground. Sadly, this is not the first time that has happened. On the bright side, we have little concerns about her dating.)
The kids were all very excited to go in a bouncy castle.
Mike busy coloring.
There was a Mary Kay booth giving the kids makeovers (a little wrong, but my girls loved it). Natalia had to stop by for some lip gloss. She may not like most strangers, but she likes strangers with beauty products!
The boys got in a few "games" of cornhole.
Natalia worked on her hula hooping.
After that, it was time to head home for naps. Of course Natalia and the boys fell asleep in the car, and since the boys had slept, they did not nap at home. So then there was no choice but to move on to evening activities! More fun! But more on that later. I am wiped just thinking about the weekend.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Room Tetris Time
Saturday was room rearranging day. Again. Someday we won't have to reshuffle all the rooms every season, and it will just feel odd.
This time we were moving the boys back out to the sunroom, hopefully for the last time. With a little luck, we will get new floors in Ree's room, get bunk beds for the girls, and get Natalia transitioned into the girls' room before it gets cold again so we can permanently move the boys back into their bedroom. Hey, we have six months. There's a chance of that happening...
So this time we went from a big kid sleep room that looked like this on the girl side (yes, it is always that messy)...
....this in the middle...
...and this on the boy side...
...to Ree's room looking like this. It's still messy, but there was major improvement!
On Saturday night when I told Ree it was time to brush her teeth, she told me that she wasn't ready - she wanted to keep cleaning her room. Then she laughed and added, "I bet you've never heard me say THAT before!"
Meanwhile, the boys' new digs are looking like this. My favorite part is definitely Mario on the ceiling.
This time we were moving the boys back out to the sunroom, hopefully for the last time. With a little luck, we will get new floors in Ree's room, get bunk beds for the girls, and get Natalia transitioned into the girls' room before it gets cold again so we can permanently move the boys back into their bedroom. Hey, we have six months. There's a chance of that happening...
So this time we went from a big kid sleep room that looked like this on the girl side (yes, it is always that messy)...
....this in the middle...
...and this on the boy side...
...to Ree's room looking like this. It's still messy, but there was major improvement!
On Saturday night when I told Ree it was time to brush her teeth, she told me that she wasn't ready - she wanted to keep cleaning her room. Then she laughed and added, "I bet you've never heard me say THAT before!"
Meanwhile, the boys' new digs are looking like this. My favorite part is definitely Mario on the ceiling.
As usual, the rooms aren't going to get any awards from HGTV, but the kids seem to like 'em, and they aren't bad for one day's work with four kids "helping."
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