Monday, August 21, 2006
Bath woes
Every night Rhys has to throw a fit about taking a bath. I don't know why, especially since he loves it once he's in and I have to force him out. So today I told him it was time to take a bath, and as usual, he started his nightly tantrum. I was trying to ignore the fit and stay upbeat, so I told him, "Rhys, you have to take a bath so you can be clean for your birthday party tomorrow!" He suddenly stopped crying and said, "Wait! I'll just eat my cake with a fork! Then I can be really, really dirty!" I guess the dirt doesn't matter if he's not eating with his hands!
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Funny moments
The other day I asked Rhys to put away his laundry (which consisted of two pairs of underwear and a pair of pajamas), and he immediately collapsed on the floor, started sobbing, and wailed, "But that takes hard wooooooooooooork!" God forbid!
Rhys is really enjoying his new castle and knight figures that he got as early birthday presents. He was very involved in an elaborate game yesterday, and I noticed the names of his knights: Professor Snake (aka Prof. Snape from Harry Potter), King Arthur, and Hercules. Quite the literary trio!
Last week all three children were in bed, and Bill and I were in the living room. Suddenly, we heard a huge crash, and Avery runs in, sobbing hysterically. She was so loud and panicked that it took us quite a while to understand what had happened. Finally, she calmed down long enough to tell us that Jasper was chewing on an aerosol hairspray can and popped it, spraying hairspray all over her and her room. After a shower, Avery was as good as new, although she was a little embarassed about her panic. For Bill and me, besides that first moment of terror when we didn't know what had happened, the whole event was quite humorous!
Rhys is really enjoying his new castle and knight figures that he got as early birthday presents. He was very involved in an elaborate game yesterday, and I noticed the names of his knights: Professor Snake (aka Prof. Snape from Harry Potter), King Arthur, and Hercules. Quite the literary trio!
Last week all three children were in bed, and Bill and I were in the living room. Suddenly, we heard a huge crash, and Avery runs in, sobbing hysterically. She was so loud and panicked that it took us quite a while to understand what had happened. Finally, she calmed down long enough to tell us that Jasper was chewing on an aerosol hairspray can and popped it, spraying hairspray all over her and her room. After a shower, Avery was as good as new, although she was a little embarassed about her panic. For Bill and me, besides that first moment of terror when we didn't know what had happened, the whole event was quite humorous!
Back to school time
It's that time of year...school is officially back in session. Many moms count down the minutes until summer vacation ends, including me. But, instead of dreaming of an empty, quiet house, I'm looking forward to taking back our city! We are very spoiled during the school year, and we hate having to share our parks, pools, libraries, and museums with mobs of children during the summer. We are thrilled to return to "normal", when we get to wander alone through museums, swing for as long as we want at the park, and actually find the books we want at the library.
We have enjoyed our summer; we swam, played in the sprinkler, drew with chalk outside, ate countless popsicles, and went for many walks. Of course, all of these activities have to be done before 11:00am or after 7:00pm when it's not so hot that we melt when we walk outside. We have spent the daytime hours inside when possible, playing board games, doing art, listening to books on tape, and enjoying each other's company. We have also done schoolwork all summer, because for us, learning is year round. We haven't done as much formal work for the past few months because of Avery's rigorous summer gymnastics schedule. But we've kept up for the most part, and in the next few weeks we'll get back to our normal routine.
It's funny...being a homeschooling family is always part of our identity, but I am always more acutely aware of it at this time of year. Anytime we're in public, my children are asked what grade they're in (which, for some reason, is a mind-boggling question for Avery -- her answer is always the same, "uhhhhhhh..." with a sideways glance at me), what school they go to, or whether or not they're excited about going back to school. And of course, once these questions are answered, I get the raised-eyebrow look that homeschoolers know all too well. Some brave (nosy) souls even follow the "look" up with the innocuous question: Why do you homeschool? Of course the short version to this simple question is long enough to be a college thesis, and honestly, I'm just too exhausted and busy trying to keep my toddler alive to answer it effectively. So, when I saw this article linked on a friend's blog, I knew my problem was solved. I just need to make copies of this and carry it in my diaper bag, don't you think?
We have enjoyed our summer; we swam, played in the sprinkler, drew with chalk outside, ate countless popsicles, and went for many walks. Of course, all of these activities have to be done before 11:00am or after 7:00pm when it's not so hot that we melt when we walk outside. We have spent the daytime hours inside when possible, playing board games, doing art, listening to books on tape, and enjoying each other's company. We have also done schoolwork all summer, because for us, learning is year round. We haven't done as much formal work for the past few months because of Avery's rigorous summer gymnastics schedule. But we've kept up for the most part, and in the next few weeks we'll get back to our normal routine.
It's funny...being a homeschooling family is always part of our identity, but I am always more acutely aware of it at this time of year. Anytime we're in public, my children are asked what grade they're in (which, for some reason, is a mind-boggling question for Avery -- her answer is always the same, "uhhhhhhh..." with a sideways glance at me), what school they go to, or whether or not they're excited about going back to school. And of course, once these questions are answered, I get the raised-eyebrow look that homeschoolers know all too well. Some brave (nosy) souls even follow the "look" up with the innocuous question: Why do you homeschool? Of course the short version to this simple question is long enough to be a college thesis, and honestly, I'm just too exhausted and busy trying to keep my toddler alive to answer it effectively. So, when I saw this article linked on a friend's blog, I knew my problem was solved. I just need to make copies of this and carry it in my diaper bag, don't you think?
Monday, August 14, 2006
Sunday, August 13, 2006
The paradox of Rhys
Poor Rhys. It's hard being almost four. One minute you're fraught with injustice and unhappiness, and the next minute, the world is your oyster. We have been experiencing many of these contradictory moments recently. Just today he went from fit throwing to three minutes later, saying to me, "I love you, Mom. You're a good Mama." He even turned to Avery and said, "She's a good Mama, right Avery?" Awwwww. What a sweetheart. (I won't go into the surly pre-tween look that Avery gave him in response.)
Speaking of Rhys, he is really learning to swim! Today we swam at Doug's house, and he swam back and forth from me to the steps (about 5 feet). I am so impressed! Just a few weeks ago, he'd get nervous when water splashed in his face. Now he goes all the way under the water and swims too!
More Rhys brags: Three weeks ago, I started teaching Rhys a letter a week. He's picking them up very quickly, and can recognize, say the sound, and write A, a, B, b, C, and c. He already knew how to write R, H, O, and P. He's deeply into writing and coloring now, and he spends a lot of his time practicing his letters in his notebooks or coloring in his knights and vikings coloring books.
Speaking of Rhys, he is really learning to swim! Today we swam at Doug's house, and he swam back and forth from me to the steps (about 5 feet). I am so impressed! Just a few weeks ago, he'd get nervous when water splashed in his face. Now he goes all the way under the water and swims too!
More Rhys brags: Three weeks ago, I started teaching Rhys a letter a week. He's picking them up very quickly, and can recognize, say the sound, and write A, a, B, b, C, and c. He already knew how to write R, H, O, and P. He's deeply into writing and coloring now, and he spends a lot of his time practicing his letters in his notebooks or coloring in his knights and vikings coloring books.
Friday, August 11, 2006
The latest...
Today Avery had another mock meet. Unfortunately Griffin came down with a cold yesterday, so poor Linah was subjected to babysitting cranky, sick Pooky...which is even more difficult than normal cranky, busy Pooky. She survived though, and seemed to manage fine for the three hours I was gone. Avery did well at the meet, and handled the disappointment of falling off the beam well. (In the past, she has cried whenever she makes a mistake with people watching.) I don't think it hurt that just about everyone in her group fell off the beam at least once, but still, I am feeling encouraged. This was their last mock meet, and the first real meet is in two weeks. Eeek!
Other notable events this week: On Monday, we went to The Cheesecake Factory with our family to celebrate my grandmother Carolyn's birthday. Avery, Rhys, and I went; Bill stayed home with the uncivilized toddler. We had a good time -- how could you have a bad time if there's cheesecake involved?! On Tuesday, I had my monthly knitting night with my friends. I really look forward to it every month. It's so nice to get out and talk with other women -- and without our children around to interrupt every 2.5 seconds! On Thursday before Harry and the Potters, we visited Pieces of the Past, which is such a fun place to browse. We bought a really cool metal lizard to hang on our wall in the kitchen.
The project that has taken up most of my time this week is painting. Every part of our house needs a new coat of paint, and I'm determined to finally do it. I started by painting our mantel white...and today I'll be repainting it beige. (It was white when we moved in, and we painted it beige a couple of years ago because it didn't look good white. I'm not sure why I thought it would be different *now*, but yep, it still looks bad white.) I also have been working on the trim and doorways in our living room. It's slow going, but I figure if I do a little each night after the kids go to bed, I'll finish sometime before I die. At least I hope so....
Other notable events this week: On Monday, we went to The Cheesecake Factory with our family to celebrate my grandmother Carolyn's birthday. Avery, Rhys, and I went; Bill stayed home with the uncivilized toddler. We had a good time -- how could you have a bad time if there's cheesecake involved?! On Tuesday, I had my monthly knitting night with my friends. I really look forward to it every month. It's so nice to get out and talk with other women -- and without our children around to interrupt every 2.5 seconds! On Thursday before Harry and the Potters, we visited Pieces of the Past, which is such a fun place to browse. We bought a really cool metal lizard to hang on our wall in the kitchen.
The project that has taken up most of my time this week is painting. Every part of our house needs a new coat of paint, and I'm determined to finally do it. I started by painting our mantel white...and today I'll be repainting it beige. (It was white when we moved in, and we painted it beige a couple of years ago because it didn't look good white. I'm not sure why I thought it would be different *now*, but yep, it still looks bad white.) I also have been working on the trim and doorways in our living room. It's slow going, but I figure if I do a little each night after the kids go to bed, I'll finish sometime before I die. At least I hope so....
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Surf's up!
Griffin's newest skill: surfing. Only there's no water and *I* am the surfboard. For several nights in a row, I have been woken up in the middle of the night when Griffin climbs up on me and STANDS on my stomach. After a few short seconds, he falls, often with a crack as his head slams into mine. Aaaaaaah, this is a fun phase....
Harry and the Potters
Today we went to Wooldridge Park downtown to see the Harry and the Potters concert. The group sings hilarious punk songs about the Harry Potter books. Oh, and Draco and the Malfoys opened for them. Our favorite songs included "Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock" and "Save Ginny Weasley (from the Basilisk)".
So I'm sure you're thinking how cute Rhys looks all dressed up for the concert. Actually, he's not dressed for the show, this is just what he wears now every.single.day. He wears the Harry Potter glasses every waking moment, and insists that I draw a scar on his head every morning. (Which is often met with tears because he isn't pleased with my artwork. Sigh.) He has been listening to the Harry Potter books on CD lately, and he's in full-fledged Harry Potter mode 24/7.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Three Amigos
Avery's solution to pushing her brothers in the swing: grabbing onto their swing chains and swinging with them!
Maori warriors
We painted Avery and Rhys's faces like the Maori warriors of New Zealand. Linah came over as we were finishing up, and she was a good enough sport to let Avery and Rhys paint her face too.
What we've been up to...
So much for me updating more often! Here's the past week or two in review:
On Friday, July 28th, Avery had a mock gymnastics meet. We got her all curled and ready, and the girls did all of their routines like it was an actual meet. It was good practice -- especially since it had been so long since they practiced their vault that they didn't even know how to do it! Overall they all did very well, though, and these mock meets are great confidence builders. She has another one scheduled for this Friday.
On Saturday, the 29th, the kids and I went to Round Rock Library's summer reading party. We participated in the reading program again this summer, and Avery ended up reading 25 hours and Rhys read 75 books (with my help). The party at end is very fun; they have Joe McDermott come sing and everyone brings snacks to share at the end.
The rest of the week was very busy, as usual. Avery and Rhys went to their gymnastics classes, the boys got their hair cut, I had a volunteer meeting Monday night and my regular volunteer work on Tuesday, we went on a tour of a recycling center with our Roots & Shoots group and lunch with friends on Wednesday, we played at the park for a few hours with friends on Friday, and we swam at Doug's on Saturday.
On Friday, July 28th, Avery had a mock gymnastics meet. We got her all curled and ready, and the girls did all of their routines like it was an actual meet. It was good practice -- especially since it had been so long since they practiced their vault that they didn't even know how to do it! Overall they all did very well, though, and these mock meets are great confidence builders. She has another one scheduled for this Friday.
On Saturday, the 29th, the kids and I went to Round Rock Library's summer reading party. We participated in the reading program again this summer, and Avery ended up reading 25 hours and Rhys read 75 books (with my help). The party at end is very fun; they have Joe McDermott come sing and everyone brings snacks to share at the end.
The rest of the week was very busy, as usual. Avery and Rhys went to their gymnastics classes, the boys got their hair cut, I had a volunteer meeting Monday night and my regular volunteer work on Tuesday, we went on a tour of a recycling center with our Roots & Shoots group and lunch with friends on Wednesday, we played at the park for a few hours with friends on Friday, and we swam at Doug's on Saturday.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Music man
Rhys is currently obsessed with pop music. He watches the Top 20 Video Countdown on VH1 with Bill every weekend, and has definite favorites that he wants to hear in the car. His absolute fave is Move Along by The All American Rejects. He also enjoys hearing the Dixie Chicks' Not Ready to Make Nice, Dani California by the Chili Peppers, The Fray's Over my Head (although Rhys calls it "Over my Hair"), and he loves James Blunt. It's so funny to see how excited he gets when any of these songs come on. Bill calls it "pure joy Rhys" because he looks just that happy. The opposite is true when certain songs come on that he doesn't like. For example, he gets very annoyed when Nick Lachey's song comes on. Apparently boy band cheesy isn't his thing!
Swimming lessons
As of today, Rhys has successfully completed Level 1 of swimming. For the past two weeks, he's been going to a class every morning. He had such a good time in the class; he had a huge grin plastered on his face the entire time. He doesn't know how to swim yet, but he's gotten much more comfortable in the water. His favorite part was when they'd sing "Motorboat, motorboat" at the end of the class.
This week...
I'm going to try to get better about updating more regularly again. This summer has been very busy and my posts have been few and far between.
Let's see...what did we do this week...well, Rhys finished up his second and final week of swimming lessons. He's very sorry that they're over, but I'm a little relieved. I was getting a little tired of the every day lessons. We also did the usual gymnastics classes this week, and Avery has a mock meet tomorrow. I think the practice will be good, although I'm not so excited about the fact that it's a dress rehersal -- meaning I have to curl her hair again. I swear, I spend more time on her hear than my own!
Oh, and last night the kids had their friends Maya and Benjamin over for a sleepover. The boys went to bed at a reasonable hour, but the girls were up most of the night. We all paid the price today, as Avery was quite a bear. After a nap, she improved slightly, and hopefully after an early bedtime and good night's sleep she'll be back to normal. The kids had a great time, though, so I think it was worth the missed sleep. Avery and Maya stayed up talking, writing, and watching Harry Potter, and the boys played and listened to The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe on tape.
Oh! Oh! And the best thing that happened this week was The Night of FIVE Hours! Griffin actually slept from a little before 8pm until 1am!! WOOHOOO!! He hasn't had that long of a stretch since he was a newborn! I wish it was the signal of a new trend, but he hasn't kept it up. But we have hopes that he'll do it again at some point before college....
Let's see...what did we do this week...well, Rhys finished up his second and final week of swimming lessons. He's very sorry that they're over, but I'm a little relieved. I was getting a little tired of the every day lessons. We also did the usual gymnastics classes this week, and Avery has a mock meet tomorrow. I think the practice will be good, although I'm not so excited about the fact that it's a dress rehersal -- meaning I have to curl her hair again. I swear, I spend more time on her hear than my own!
Oh, and last night the kids had their friends Maya and Benjamin over for a sleepover. The boys went to bed at a reasonable hour, but the girls were up most of the night. We all paid the price today, as Avery was quite a bear. After a nap, she improved slightly, and hopefully after an early bedtime and good night's sleep she'll be back to normal. The kids had a great time, though, so I think it was worth the missed sleep. Avery and Maya stayed up talking, writing, and watching Harry Potter, and the boys played and listened to The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe on tape.
Oh! Oh! And the best thing that happened this week was The Night of FIVE Hours! Griffin actually slept from a little before 8pm until 1am!! WOOHOOO!! He hasn't had that long of a stretch since he was a newborn! I wish it was the signal of a new trend, but he hasn't kept it up. But we have hopes that he'll do it again at some point before college....
Saturday, July 22, 2006
80s girl!
This weekend Avery had two performances for Showteam. The theme was "the 80s", and they danced to Madonna's Lucky Star. The girls were all dressed up in cut up tshirts and side pony tails. Very cute!
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Project completed!
I'm so excited that I finally finished a knitting project! I have several projects that have been in the works for an eternity, so I'm very proud to say that I actually completed one! I knit a tomato hat for Griffin. Not only is it complete, but I had to learn several new techniques to complete it. Yay me! :-)
Unstoppable
Griffin is aging me faster than both other kids put together! He cannot be stopped. His new favorite thing is climbing on the bathroom counter to play in the water -- and he does this any time he finds the bathroom door open. And just the other day, I discovered him climbing up Rhys's toy bins in his room. Scary!
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Chalk portrait
Avery made this portrait of Griffin with sidewalk chalk. The resemblance is uncanny. :-)
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