So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

Well, it's official...summer is almost over and I can't say I'm particularly thrilled about it. I absolutely love summer. First of all, I'm not a morning person. At all. So not having to set an alarm is one of my all time favorite things. Secondly, I love warm weather. Being able to leave the house without having to pile on layers of clothes makes me very very happy. Also I love swimming, beaches, reading/napping under a shady tree, lemonade, iced tea and basil. Tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers are my favorite vegetables. And honestly, I love having my kids around. This may have been my best summer ever since I became a mom. Sure there was plenty of whining and arguing and craziness and messes, but there was also so much great stuff. The kids played by themselves and with the neighbors, spent tons of time outside, read lots of books, sampled lots of produce straight out of the garden (including chili peppers!!!), and overall managed to occupy themselves really well. I love the way they create their own projects and games and really dive into the things they're interested in. I can't say I don't ever wish for JUST 5 FREAKING MINUTES of silence, but I also enjoy listening to them talk while I learn who they are and who they are becoming.

All three kids love music, playing dodge ball on the neighbors' trampoline, hanging out with their friends (we are blessed to have so many right on our block!) and creating art. They are also all OBSESSED with Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series. And they are all goofy as all get out.

Karlye loves to hang out with her friends and talk talk talk talk talk and is also really starting to get into reading. Both girls love to sing, and dance and are really into their Build-A-Bears. Sasha loves pink and sparkles and any article of clothing that she can twirl in properly. She plays for hours alone in her room or with her friends, often creating giant messes in the process. She's been checking out books on butterflies, polar bears and hamsters and is hoping to convince Justin to let her buy a hamster of her own. She helped me pick out butterfly plants to add to our flower garden because she wanted to attract monarch butterflies so she could study them.

Jordan reminds me a lot of myself. He has a lot of interests and seems to immerse himself in all of them. He's got his nose buries in a book about fifty percent of the time. If it's not Percy Jackson it's anything on dragons, Harry Potter, or LEGOS/Ninjago. He's also into the Hobbit and has started (for the second time) to try to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy. His interests are so intermingled and multi-dimensional. If he's into a book he has to read it, listen to it on CD, watch the movie if there is one, learn about the author, explore the book's general subject matter, and create projects based on it. After he read the Percy Jackson books he checked out and read books on Greek and Roman mythology.  He just started writing a book about a mythical creature he invented that's similar to a Hobbit and he's almost finished drawing the map he created to go with the book. He learned to read and write Anglo Saxon runes from a book on dragons he checked out at the library and was thrilled to discover that J.R.R. Tolkien used them in his books. He also spends an inordinate amount of time playing with LEGOS. He and his friend Tyler used his tablet to video tape two episodes of a Ninjago show they created.

BUT in spite of all this magical summer wonderfulness, I'm not actually dreading the start of school. Having an actual routine, time to work more and some time to myself won't such bad things. And there's a lot of new things to be excited about. Karlye's starting middle school and Jordan's starting intermediate school. They have class schedules and lockers...stuff I didn't have until high school. Jordan's going to learn to play the baritone. Sasha has a new teacher and a chance to meet new friends, and even though she has to go to lunch later than the kindergartners she also gets to stay on the playground longer than they do. Both Jordan and Sasha will be on new soccer teams. And we've had a lot of fun these last few weeks of summer. Jordan and Karlye went to Dubuque and Galena with Grandpa Glen and Grandma Louise who then took Sasha and her cousin Jack to the Cave of the Mounds and to ride the train in Baraboo. With the return of the hot weather we've been to the beach, the pool and yesterday we checked out the new splash pad in Fitchburg. Maybe all that will tide us over until next summer...

Finally, A "Boring" Day!

When Jordan was younger, he used to think that any day in which no one came over and we didn't go anywhere was boring. I tried and tried to explain the concept of nice normal days in which we could hang around the house, get things done and relax. He just wasn't buying it. Fast forward a few years and he seems to like nice normal stay at home "boring" days even more than I do.

Today was great. I went to work this morning, but didn't have anywhere to be in the afternoon or evening, for a change. I got quite a bit of work and housework done this afternoon at a nice relaxed pace. The kids spent the afternoon putting puzzles together in Sasha's room while listening to books on CD. They were so quiet I almost forgot they were here. They made up for that by being extra noisy and goofy at dinner, but since we ate on the deck, it wasn't a big deal. Did I mention the weather was absolutely gorgeous? Sunny and upper seventies to low eighties with a breeze is my favorite weather, unless I want to go swimming. Then it needs to be hot, hot, hot!

Bedtime went reasonable well, although I had to confiscate a basket of toys that Sasha didn't get around to putting away. I'll give back some of them and the rest will be tossed, donated or sold. Hooray for less stuff! Then I actually made it all the way through a twenty minute yoga video with no interruptions. I didn't even know that was possible!

Hoping for a great weekend also, even though it will be busy. :)

Little Things That Make Me Happy

I'm not sure I can adequately express my love for wool socks. I've started keeping a pair by my bed so I can put them on any time my feet are so cold that I can't fall asleep. (This happens more often than you might think.) Also, I wear them pretty much any day with a high of less than 60 degrees. Since I'm having a crabby evening, now seems like the perfect time to make a list of some of the little things that bring joy to my life.

1. wool socks
2. the reading lamp on my nightstand (It has a red lamp shade and was a gift from my Grandma Betty. When I was younger I kept asking if I could have it when she died. Thankfully she's still with us and I've grown a little more tactful over the years.)
3. listening to my kids sing
4. books, books and more books
5. watching the steam rise from a cup of tea
6. afternoon naps
7. our gas fireplace
8. watching rain run down the window panes
9. hanging laundry up to dry
10. steaming hot showers
11. lip balm
12. cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg (and chai tea lattes!!!)
13. the piles of books my kids keep in and around their beds
14. cozy quilts
15. the few moments when I'm laying on my pillow and the pillowcase is still cold
16. trees
17. stars
18. fog
19.huge fluffy snowflakes
20. family game night

How about you? What are some little things that light up your life?

Winter Blues...Blah

What a long, trying afternoon and evening. I spent most of the morning tired and down, but managed to perk up before the kids got home from school, only to listen to them whine, cry, mope and fall apart for much of the late afternoon and evening. I spent almost all my energy remaining calm and patient and now they're in bed and I'm exhausted.

Jordan's issues included "we never do anything", "we never go anywhere" (my brother Seth was in town this weekend and we saw extended family three days in a row, so that's not true), "you're always working on the computer or doing housework and you never do anything with us" (I had already offered to do something with him but he didn't take me up on it), "you only do stuff with us separately and not with both Sasha and I together", "I don't know what to do", "I want to do something fun" (I'd given him a list of about 20 things he could do, most of which were fun things), "there's nothing to do", and "I have too many options of things to do and I can't pick one" (causing me to suggest that we get rid of some of his stuff).

Sasha went into meltdown mode because she wanted to play inside but the neighbor kids wanted to play outside, then when they finally were going inside to play it was too close to chore time for her to go in their house, and she didn't want to take bunny grahams to school for snack tomorrow, she wanted to take goldfish crackers, even though we didn't have enough for everyone.

Ugh! I think it's the weather. Too cold and not enough snow left to make it fun to go outside. Either no sun or sun so blinding you can hardly stand to look outside. Plus, we've all been sick on and off lately.

At least we made it through the evening and the kids even finished their jobs in time for a game of Scrabble. And we only had one Scrabble related meltdown. I'm going to try to plan a family fun night tomorrow, if I can find the energy.

Can't wait until spring!!!

Two Reasons I Love the Kids' School

1. They do fun and creative things like this to motivate the kids:

http://www.wkow.com/story/20378806/2012/12/19/flash-mob-as-a-teaching-tool

Posted: Dec 18, 2012 11:00 PM CST

By Greg Jeschke - bio | email

OREGON (WKOW) -- Elementary students in Oregon were surprised Tuesday with a break-out "flash mob" dance from their teachers.

Brooklyn elementary school was having an assembly and while the principal was reading a poem, the school's staff started dancing.

The principal says they are hoping the dance got students excited about learning.

"We're hoping that was kind of an inspiring event for them; that they want to learn the dance. And then we'll tie it to our expectations this week of keeping hallways clean. Each week we'll look at what should kids be working on next; playground behavior, bus behavior and so on," said principal Kerri Modjeski.

Staff members are hoping that by the end of the year the students will know all of the moves and that the whole school will be able to dance together.

2. The afternoon before the huge December snowstorm (we got 18-20 inches of snow here!), Jordan was in a panic. He left his boots on the bus, and the next day had already been declared a snow day. I called the school in a panic. They gave me the bus driver's cell phone #. I called him in a panic and left a message. (Are you sensing a theme here? Yep, panic it is!). An hour later he called me back, said he had the boots and would drop them off at our house in 5 minutes. And he did! Good thing too, because the kids had two snow days in a row and then Christmas vacation began. Can you imagine being a 10 year old boy with two weeks off of school, 20 inches of snow to play in and no snow boots?!?

Praying for Polie

Every night when we say our night time prayers, we end with "And please bless Daddy and Mommy and Karlye and Jordan and Sasha and all our family and friends." Since we've gotten a dog, Sasha insisted on adding Charlie to that list. Lately she's gotten very attached to Polie, the stuffed polar bear we bought her when I was pregnant with her. For the last couple of weeks, she's insisted on adding Polie to the line up. Tonight, she asked God to help Polie's cold get better. He doesn't have a cold, as far as I know. I do, but I guess that doesn't rate with Miss Sasha. Half an hour later, I was saying night time prayers with Jordan. We got to "and all our family and friends" and Sasha yelled from her room, "AND POLIE!!!"

Like Mother, Like Son

I am so excited that my kids love to read, since reading is my all time favorite activity. Sasha goes to bed surrounding by books - stacked on her dresser, the floor by her bed and even on her bed. I love listening to her reading herself to sleep after I tuck her in for the night. Usually I have to pry a pile of books out from under her after she falls asleep, because I as much as I love books, I don't imagine they make a very comfortable pillow.

Last time he was tested, Jordan was reading at a fourth grade level and he loves to read now more than ever. He's always enjoyed being read to, but this year he's really blossomed with reading by himself. He also has stacks of books surrounding his bed, and reads before going to sleep almost every night. It makes me really happy that he enjoys many of the books I read as a child, like books by Roald Dahl, the Boxcar Children and Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. I just got a bunch of Pippi Longstocking books from a garage sale and he's started on those. I just may have to borrow them from him when he's done.

Easter 2011

We had a wonderful Easter this year. Saturday we got together with Justin's Dad's side of the family. Jordan and Sasha had lots of fun playing with the other kids inside and out while Justin and I got to eat, relax and hang out with adults. Sunday I made sausage and egg breakfast sandwiches, which never happens and the kids hunted for and found their Easter baskets. The weather was surprisingly nice. We went to church at Our Redeemer with my parents, Micah, Lydia and Brandon and the boys, and Abigail and Alex. Then we went back to my parents' house for a quick lunch before we headed off to Albany to spend the afternoon with Justin's grandparents and Josh, Tara and Jack.

Fish Trouble

I can't wait until Jordan's old enough to change the water in the goldfish bowl himself. After I accidentally killed one of the goldfish last year in a highly dramatic fish bowl cleaning related incident, I'm even more leery about the whole thing than I already was. Most people who know me realize that while I may enjoy watching fish swim around, I'm not interested in having any direct personal contact with them. Unfortunately, our newest acquisition, Black Eyed (bought to replace the long lived and sadly mourned Fidgety Fish, and named after the Black Eyed Peas and his buggy black eyes) doesn't seem to understand this. Today, while I was using our soup ladle to get some of the dirty water out of the bowl so I had room to add fresh water, he swam into the ladle not once but twice. I just missed lifting him up out of the bowl, and I thought I was going to have a heart attack! I'm really hoping he didn't get hurt, because I hate ladling up dead fish to flush them even more than I hate accidentally ladling up live fish (I think). I observed him for awhile, and it looked like he was listing to one side a little bit, possibly having trouble staying towards the bottom of the fish tank, and one fin didn't seem to be moving as much as the others. Then again, maybe it's all in my head. Only time will tell!

The Power of Prayer

Although Jordan loves winter and winter sports, he's been ready for spring for quite a while now. Really, I think he's ready for summer. He actually cried one of the last times that it snowed. Also, yesterday was the first sunny day we've had in a while. At breakfast time he told me that he'd prayed to God while he was taking a shower the night before and asked him to make it sunny the next day. He said he'd given God a whole list of reasons to make it sunny. One of the reasons was, "because I wouldn't have eaten the fruit in the Garden." Such confidence!