Crazy, crazy weather

We went ice skating this week...

...In the middle of our street.

Weather is a fascinating thing.

She's my baby...

...Oh how I love her!

A new favorite

My baby playing airplane with her aunt. I love how much joy kids get out of the simplest things.

Bonnie and Clyde

These two have been nicknamed Bonnie and Clyde. It fits.

Emotion . . . is my middle name . . .

My little one reminds me of that poem about the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead: "When she was good she was very very good, and when she was bad she was awful." (Or something like that!)

Fortunately she is very very good the majority of the time, but oh my she can switch moods in an instant. Most of the time she can snap out as easily as she can snap in so it isn't too bad. It can actually be pretty comical because she puts her heart and soul into it and it is usually because of the same simple and trivial triggers.

Isn't this pout priceless?

She tried to put mascara on herself this morning. She is such a little girl. Fortunately it wasn't waterproof and came off easily!

Bringing Books To Life

Show me and I forget.
Teach me and I remember.
Involve me and I learn.

-Benjamin Franklin

This little guy and I were reading Aesop's Fables and came to the story of the crow who drops pebbles in the long-necked jar to get the water to the top so that he could drink. It was one of those rare times that we just went with the spontaneity of the moment and replicated the story in our kitchen. It led to a very enjoyable and memorable experience. He was involved, and he learned.

I like to think that he will always remember this afternoon. I like to think I will too. Watching him discover that he could make a book's "fantasy" his reality was wonderful. I hope it helps him to realize that just about anything is possible. If you can imagine it, you can find a way to see it through.

He got so excited as the water reached the top. You could tell he was so proud and so thrilled that he had solved the problem himself. He even took a little drink!

Note to self: Try to bring books to life more often. As these books get reread the experiences will be remembered.

My Princess

I love her free spirit and adoration of all things unconventional.

This will change when she is a teenager . . .

Lovely Rocking Chair

I am so excited about this chair. A friend was getting rid of it and I was lucky enough to grab it. It is gorgeous, perfectly sized for little kids, and absolutely ancient which just adds to the appeal. I have had my eye on one from Roebuck Studio, so this was and will be very appreciated.

I couldn't resist snapping a random shot as I was heading upstairs with my camera, and fortunately it led to some funny pictures of the munchkins who have spent most of the day gravitating toward the rocker and rocking. Hooray for great timing and great finds!

They keep me on my toes . . .

I love being a Mom.

Specifically, I love being a Mom to my children.

My dear sweet, crazy children that do their best to explore and discover and make me question my sanity on a daily basis.

Thanks for choosing me.

Discovery

I really, really like sharing new experiences with my kids. It is such a privilege to introduce them to something completely new, then watch their faces light up with the joy of discovery. It is strangely fascinating to realize how much they don't yet know, and scary to realize that it is up to me to teach and show them.

I frequently catch myself saying something I just expect them to understand, and then realize that there is no way that that could make sense to them/they would know the background. Stepping back to give what is a simple and basic explanation to me makes me think, and makes me realize that it isn't always easy to go back to the basics and clarify daily "moments," sayings, or experiences that are taken for granted and just understood for what they are. I don't know if what I just wrote makes sense, but I assume I could compare it to saying/teaching slang to someone that speaks a different language. There isn't always a logical explanation, but it just makes sense when you get it.

I know that they will eventually figure things out on their own, but I like being part of the discovery, and I like that I can exert my influence at this early age. I want them to look and think outside of their little world and realize the potential in everything around them. I really just want them to think and discover for themselves, to be a little braver, a little more intuitive, a little more aware.

Today, M requested lettuce with his dinner, and happily ate a few leaves. He even ate an onion that had been caramelized in butter and honey (How could you not?). While these are very rare occurrences, they thrill me. Maybe he is becoming a bit braver, a bit more adventurous, a little more aware.

All about John Deere

Here's to enjoying life's simplest pleasures.

And life's craziest combinations.

Goggles

I think it is always good to change your perspective up a bit. You never know what you will discover.

He is growing up so fast. It is truly bittersweet.

Just a good memory . . .

Wishing

Here's to wishing we were still there, and not here, while realizing that it is much more important to appreciate the here rather than pine after the there.

Arghh Matey!

Shiver me timbers!

You should see his sword skills - I would definitely just opt to walk the plank.

Unsolicited Advice

Never ever let 2 four year old boys play unsupervised in your recently reorganized basement. Not enough if you are feeling good about all you are accomplishing upstairs with no one around.

They can undo in minutes what took you hours, even days to accomplish, without so much as breaking a sweat or even making much of a sound, effectively negating anything you accomplished during this time period.

More thoughts on creativity

A friend expressed interest in knowing more answers to my "helping your child increase creative thinking" thoughts. Since I really don't have any answers I will try to piece together thoughts as I have them.

I think that raising a child who thinks for herself and thinks creatively means that I have to indulge any creative and independent thoughts from a young age. As my kids develop new opinions and preferences, I need to go with them and indulge the free-spirited wild ideas and let them feel like their choices and opinions matter and that I support them. Sure, my daughter looks like a complete fruitcake in her outfit of choice, but the important thing is that this is the outfit of her choice. Yes, dropping off and picking up her older brother at preschool made me grin sheepishly, but that is just fine.

Naturally I still have to parent these choices and make sure that I am not letting things be pushed passed reasonable limits. I don't want to raise a bunch of wild brats (even though I might occasionally feel like that is exactly what I am doing!). I also want to make sure that my kids are safe and not endangering themselves.

Which leads to my other thought. There are consequences to every decision we make, and finding these consequences out for ourselves is an effective way to learn. If my little stinkers think that going out without a coat is fine when the wind chill puts the temperature below negative, letting them go out coat-less for a minute will not cause them to freeze and will probably have them running back for a coat almost immediately. And they just took responsibility for their decision, hooray!

We had an interesting twist on this situation today that I probably shouldn't share because it shows what a bad parent I am, but here it is: A glass was broken and both kids insisted that they wanted to help me clean it up. I said no because it is dangerous and carted M off to school with the plan to do it right after we returned. When I started cleaning A would not leave the situation alone, she was so focused on helping me clean that she couldn't see straight. She is rather stubborn and snuck in and grabbed a piece of glass and put it in the garbage. At this point I had repeatedly warned her of getting hurt, so stopped and carefully helped her put one more piece in the garbage. The third piece was the piece that cut her. After an emotional minute and many more spent holding her thumb to stop the blood she was bandaged up and ready to go. I was incredibly grateful that the cut was minor. The rest of the day involved her telling all of us how she got cut on the glass and that her finger is hurt. She was actually quite proud of it. (The funny part? It is the thumb she sucks that is bandaged up so I am curious to see if this helps wean her off of it.) I don't need anyone telling me how bad this could have turned out and how I should have put her in a locked room while I cleaned up. I know this. I also know that she now knows what glass can do to her and next time a glass breaks or she sees glass in the street, I have more hope that she will remember the pain in her finger and either be very careful or walk away and come get me.

So, this is mostly for me because it helps me to process my thoughts when I write them, but I hope this is a bit helpful to the one person that was interested. Hopefully any future thoughts will be more groundbreaking!

Timing Is Everything

I love finding my kids in these funny situations. I have to remember to cherish the sweet memories of them sneaking out of their bedrooms before they are teenagers and my mindset changes drastically.

I love sleeping babies . . .

Ice skating/sledding on our backyard pond