On Loving Material Things

After a week without my 2004 Honda Accord, I realized something: absence makes the heart grow fonder.  Though new, the tiny, dark blue, Nissan Sentra I drove while my car received a new door, fender, and half a paint job, just didn't do it for me.  Now our family car is back and asks, please, photos on her good side please!  Seriously, the driver side looks brand new.  I scrubbed the seats and the shop vacuumed and washed her.  We're all so glad to have her back.  Well, except for Frederick who really enjoyed propping his feet up on the passenger seat in front of him.

This little experience has reminded me that our 8 year old car still works well and I can't see us replacing it until a) the 13 year old Mustang putters out and dies or b) our family grows.

Or maybe we'll win the lottery.  But that requires playing, doesn't it?

All Aboard!

We were all up early Saturday morning, despite a late night, which made it easy to get out the door (again despite the late night) in time to meet our Urban Mom friends at Herman Park for a train ride and some playground time.  We enjoyed catching up with a family who moved away and was back in town for a few days.  The chilly weather prompted sweaters and coats, but no one really seemed to mind. 

Did I ever mention that Charlotte is now a rock star, independent swinger?  But not one one of these big swings ;-).  

 Frederick still loves big pushes from Mommy.

Of course, we had been there for a handfull of minutes before my kids wanted to eat.  Snack time seems to be anytime around here.  Perhaps we should work on that...

(PS - I did take photos of other people's little people, but I generally try to refrain from posting blog pics of others without asking first. So, as usual, my kids are the stars of this post ;)

My Little Reader

I'm a bit lax on the pre-k thing.  From the sounds of it, last year's pre-k class at TCS was pretty intense.  I even had one mother tell me that Kinder is EASIER than the pre-k class was last year.  Things have lightened up quite a bit, though, as they encourage more creative, imaginative play and time spent outdoors coupled with a fair amount of daily reading.  One result of this is the class seems to be bringing the kids to "reading ready" rather than actually reading.  I am okay with that.  Kids should be allowed more time to be kids and need to learn through play much more than through actively studying. However, since Charlotte knows all of her letter sounds, though, and has demonstrated the ability to sound out short words, I (finally) bought the first readers recommended on the school's reading list. They arrived on the doorstep on Tuesday.

Then, one of the most amazing things happened, one of my favorite things about being a parent and living life with my own children: I spent fifteen minutes in my childhood memories as I watched Charlotte make hers. We curled up in her bed with Mac and Tab, and Charlotte began to read her first book, and it all happened just as I remembered.

She carefully sounded out each word with hints and tips from me as she needed them. After she worked her way through each sentence she put the words together in neat form to make a complete thought.  She knows more words than I imagined and yet stumbles in more places than I would have guessed.  Yet I remember sitting with my Mom in the blue chair in the living room and reading my first book to her.  I think it was The Gingerbread Man, but who knows.  It took me forever to get through that first reading, but Mom patiently helped me with each sound and word.  And by the time we'd finished I'd/she'd read the whole book, all 10 or 12 pages.  I was proud then, because I read my first book; I was proud the other night because Charlotte had just read hers.  Life really is a circle, isn't it?

My little reader was proud of herself, too.  

A Sister, a Teacher

I've heard it said before, and I will say it again, "The best gift you can give your child is a sibling."  I say this because of the love  and companionship I see my two sweet children shower upon each other, even at such a young age. 

This morning Charlotte and Frederick wanted to play the ABC Mystery Box game together.  Charlotte helped Frederick get all of his draws on the right letter.  I'm not sure if he has just memorized where they go, but he even seemed to get some of them correct all on his own.  

Mostly, though I think he just enjoys identifying the objects as he pulls them from the box.

The game went along very nicely until he drew an alligator and promptly used it to try to eat all the other animals on the board. And that is what happens, dear sister, when you play with boys.

Ash Wednesday

I have a goal this year: to put as much energy into Lent as I do into Advent.  I've pulled together some activities and craft ideas for the season and prepped Charlotte for Ash Wednesday services.  We'd all hoped to get up early (5:15 am) and go, but a late night and a not-sleeping Frederick caused us to throw in the towel on that one.  Frederick and I dropped off Charlotte and went to St. Michael's for Ash Wednesday Mass with the school kids.

For the first time since starting Charlotte at TCS, I wished she was  in a Catholic school.  What a beautiful way to be exposed to the Mass on a regular basis!  The students take roles usually reserved for adults - singing in the choir loft, saying the readings, taking the collection, and carrying down the gifts.  The beauty of this makes me smile, but yesterday reminded me of what I enjoyed most about these masses as a student: the words spoken directly to us, the children.  The priests at Sunday Masses always direct their homilies to the adults and rarely ever the children. How I wished Charlotte was there with me! I think, from now on, I will try to take the kids with me to school masses on Holy Days of Obligation, school day or not.  (Aside: Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation.)

Charlotte and Daddy went to an Ash Wednesday service early in the evening.  I managed to get her to sit still for 2.5 seconds so I could grab the photo above.  Love my little girl.  

The Evidence

...that I took a couple of cookie monsters with me to Arkansas.

I am also now begging Fred for a home with huge open rooms with 12 foot tall windows for amazing indoor lighting.  

At least someone ate his fruit!

Where We Were Last Week

It was cold.  

But beautiful.

But the cold mostly kept me inside. 

The kids didn't really seem to mind as much, but they didn't spend much time outside either.  Hopefully our trip in April will prove to be somewhat warmer.

But we loved staying with our Aunt Paula and Uncle Buddy.

(Oh yes, and I started watermarking my photos.  Feel free to love or hate, but rather not see my kids' faces end up somewhere without my knowledge.)

Chaos One and Two

Today Charlotte announced She wants us to call her 'Chaos Two' and Frederick 'Chaos One.' She's Two because she's older, of course Aptly named, I'd say, don't you?

**UPDATED** Charlotte updated her thinking and determined that FRED is 'Chaos One,' I am 'Chaos Two,' Frederick is 'Chaos Three,' allowing her to be 'Chaos Four,' you know, since she is four years-old.  Then she decided that Maddie can be 'Chaos Four,' allowing her to be 'Chaos Five,' as she is almost five years-old. (Or Four-and-a-half on Sunday, which she doesn't mind telling anyone.)

My Funny Valentine

Not going to lie, the other day the little lady and I made Valentine's Day cards instead of tackling schoolwork as we'd planned.  No worries, we eventually managed to complete all of her lessons. 

Homemade Pizza!

Charlotte insisted on making Pizza for dinner tonight. At first I thought it was going to be okay to make it next week. But with Charlotte tomorrow is often too far away. Then i realized that not only did she want it today, she also wanted the lunchable kind.

Ummm...no.

I convinced her that she could help me make them. Fortunately, the only ingredient we were lacking was pepperoni, easy! Charlotte and Frederick made their own personal pizzas and I made a spinach-artichoke/Pepperoni-onion-bell pepper-olive for us. Yumminess.

I skipped the pizza stone and missed the crunch, but not the 50% chance my pizza would be ruined sliding on or off the stone. Any pros out there have any tips?

Photography Class

So my parents bought me a photography class for Christmas.  Yes, they rock.  I've had my jumbo camera for nearly 4 years, and this is the first class I've ever taken and I really enjoyed it. Being that my photography knowledge comes from internet browsing and is mostly of the trial and error sort, this feels a bit like making my muscles do things they aren't quite accustomed to doing.  I am such a child of the digital age, so learning a little something from someone who mastered photography with film really gives me a perspective that I didn't have before.

The first class on Saturday was fun, but it came with two assignments to turn in at the next and final class.  First, an outdoor portrait on what has probably been the rainiest week in a year, and second, a portrait using only window lighting.

The outdoor portrait has been a bit difficult because of the rain.

And it is ridiculously hard for me to get this 4-year-old to do anything besides act like a monkey when I pull out a camera.

So Miss Jill volunteered to be my guinea pig.

Not too bad. (I mean me, not the model. I think the model looks great :-)

And this is what the monkeys did while I was busy messing with my flash and trying to avoid the glare from the setting sun.

Too Much

I feel like this past week  has just given me a little too much of everything, resulting in a seriously messy house that I have a hard time finding motivation to clean.  Ever notice that the cleaner your home, the easier it is to keep it clean?  Right now nothing is put away in its home, and I am not feeling any motivation to do so. Perhaps we just need to invite someone over for dinner. That always gets me moving.  Any takers?