Gourd Artists

At Peter's last two schools Halloween was a big deal. The kids got to wear costumes to school, they had parties, they got treats; it was quite the affair. At their current school, Halloween may as well not exist. Cooper did go to a pumpkin patch, but it was all in the name of Fall, not any specific holiday. I feel kind of bad that they don't get much of a celebration, so I'm trying to up my game and do more here at home.

Yesterday after playing at the park (it was early-out and, according to the weather reports, one of our last sunny days) we came home and covered our table with trash bags. A few days ago I picked up a bag of mini-pumpkins. The kids like to carve pumpkins, I do too actually, but I wasn't willing to tackle the mess and sharp knives to get three pumpkins carved. My compromise was that we could decorate these little gourds.

I pulled out some paint we were given and have never used, told the kids to go get on big pajama shirts over their clothes, and laid out our supplies. Rather than use paint brushes, we used Q-tips. The kids were thrilled that I let them paint. We do a lot of coloring with crayons and markers and pencils, but we rarely delve into paint.

I donned my apron and joined them. After we painted our pumpkins, we also each painted a Halloween picture on construction paper. Well, Phoebe's was actually more of an abstract flower. Then we got cleaned up and gathered all our Halloween themed books (we found fifteen) to read while the paint dried. The paint was pretty low-quality and cracked and flaked, but it served our purpose.

Now to see if I can carry out the Halloween fun I have planned for today...

Expidited

It turns out I'm not the only one that thought I was a bit bigger than I should have been.

I had a doctor's appointment today. Baby girl wouldn't show her face during her last ultrasound, so they did another one today. We got lots of face pictures this time, including some 3D shots. I've never had those done before. I can report that she already has chubby cheeks and fingers. And a nose like Phoebe's. And they verified that she is indeed a girl. I was kind of nervous that they would do this second ultrasound and say, "Oh, just kidding, it's a boy." That would have been really hard on Phoebe.

After reviewing the data, the doctor came in and read the findings. The baby was measuring big again, consistent with the last ultrasound. Then she told me she was changing my due date. By eleven days.

I've just jumped from the 31st week to the 33rd week. My own doctor (who I saw right after the ultrasound doctor) confirmed that I'm measuring nicely at 33 weeks. I'm glad that I wasn't crazy and overreacting about my size, but it does feel a little weird to have jumped ahead so far. I wonder if this is how time travel would feel.

One lovely perk of the change is that she is now due on my Great-Grandma's birthday, which makes me smile. And, if she's like her siblings, she might still make it all the way to her original due date.

Shock and Awe

This picture is shocking for two reasons. 

The first is that I'm 31 weeks along and I'm not sure how much more I can grow. This picture doesn't do it justice, maybe because I'm wearing a skirt? I'll have to take the next one in pants. I had to invest in the next size up in maternity clothes because what I had was no longer providing adequate coverage. I'm not quite short waisted, but almost. I'm really feeling that these days.

I'm not the only one. Sunday night during her personal prayers Phoebe asked that "baby sister will come out of mommy's tummy so her lap can get big again."

The second reason? Do you see the shirt I'm wearing? It's pink. That's right folks, I bought a pink shirt. Phoebe was thrilled. And it's one of the few from the first round of clothes that still fits.

Of Primary Importance

Another Primary program has come and gone. Both boys had their lines memorized, though Cooper didn't get a chance to show that since his line was fed to him without his asking. He still did a good job. Peter was the only member of his class that didn't read his line. He looked out at the congregation and said it clearly. That made this theatre mom happy. And if anyone has read about past public speaking, then you know this is major progress from our Peterman.

We couldn't see much of Cooper during the musical numbers since his class was on the floor in front of the stand and we were too far back. Occasionally a woman sitting in front of us would shift slightly and we would glimpse him. I can verify from the few Cooper-sightings I got that a necktie is quite a source of amusement as it's good for both flipping and chewing. Peter was on the stand and thus visible. He did a great job and sang all of the songs and didn't do anything remotely squirrely.

Phoebe was kind of sad that she didn't get to be up with the boys. At the same time though, I think she enjoyed sitting with both mom and dad all by herself.

As a "good job!" treat, the Primary Presidency made cookies for all the kids. I got a call a few days before explaining that they were all worried that their kitchens had traces of peanut butter and would I be willing to make cookies for Peter? And while I was at it would I make cookies for nine other children as well. They needed to be snicker-doodles (for uniformity sake) and I said sure. I thought about it throughout the week and kept reminding myself to bake them on Saturday.

And then I forgot.

I remembered at just after midnight the morning of the program.

Amazingly I was able to get up early enough to shower, make cookies, and (with Bryan's help) still get us to church on time. And we even remembered to take the cookies to church. Yes, I'm rather astounded myself.

The boys' parts were the most important today, but I'm pleased that my assignment was completed as well.

Pen to Paper

Are you wondering about the significance of this picture? I'll give you a hint as to who wrote it: it's the only person in our house that loves pink.

Phoebe is learning to write her name. You're looking at the letters E, O, P, B, and H, the letters in her name.  Last week she surprised me by writing O, E, and P unprompted. Together we worked on B and H. Yesterday, when she wrote this, the only letter she needed reminding about was H.

We'll work toward getting them written on the same line, and maybe even in the right order, but it's not bad for a girl that turned three less than two months ago.

Royal Title

As is our custom, we still do not have a name for this baby. There's one name that Bryan likes, but I don't love it. There are a few that I like, but Bryan has an uncanny knack for pointing out how each name could lead to future teasing and scorn. Thus, we are left with nothing.

The kids have all chimed in with what they think we should name baby sister (which is what we call her). Peter votes for Rose, Cooper likes Arabella, and Phoebe wants an Elizabeth. Until the last few days, at least. Her suggestions have gotten a little more creative.

Yesterday at the park I overheard Phoebe talking to a new friend. The little girl had just said that she had a sister. Phoebe's response?

"I have a baby sister. I named her Cinderella Rapunzel Elizabeth."

There you have it folks, I guess we can stop trying out girl names to see how they fit with our last name. We just needed to reach into the Disney vault and pull a few things out.

Teacher Talk

I went to parent teacher conferences for both boys yesterday. Peter's teacher talked very little about academics and quite a bit about behavior. Cooper's teacher spoke almost exclusively about academics, which is funny since she and I have been in communication about Cooper's behavior choices.

Peter's antics have been documented, at least in part, on this blog. His behavior has improved immensely in the last year. Yes, he still does and says things that make us wonder what on earth he's thinking, and his impulsiveness shows up more than we'd like, but it's so much better than it was.

I have not spent as much time writing about Cooper's choices. Well no, I guess I've written about his culinary adventures, but those feel mild in comparison to some of the other stuff he's been doing. At home Cooper is a screamer. He always has been, but now there's more anger behind it. I'm usually the target of the outbursts, but occasionally the others feel his wrath as well. What makes it really hard is that he'll scream and call you a mean name, then he'll immediately want to give you a hug. Call me mean, but that doesn't really fly with me.

At school he's discovered the fine art of being the class clown. During the first few weeks of school his teacher pulled me aside when I came to retrieve him at the close of the day and let me know that he'd been standing on chairs. The next day, after a talk with Cooper, I asked if it had been better. She said, "Well, actually, today he climbed on my desk."

What?!

So given how the boys have been acting around me, I was kind of surprised at what each teacher talked about.

Peter's teacher does seem to understand him, which is good. And even better, she said that she can see that he's a good kid who is trying hard and she loves him and wants to see him succeed. And that she doesn't let him get away with anything. That's what he needs, someone firm and consistent who loves him. She also said he's so far ahead academically that she's not concerned about that at all. Maybe that's why we discussed it so little?

And maybe the reason Cooper's teacher focused on reading, writing, and arithmetic is that we've already talked about how he acts in class. She did say she thought he was turning a corner. It would be lovely to see him turn that corner here at home as well.

As far as the schoolwork, she said she could tell that we read a lot at home. I confirmed that we do. I learned that the kids in his class have been drawing pictures and then writing short stories to describe those illustrations. Except, most of the kids will draw one thing and then write about something completely different. Cooper always writes about his picture, and he writes more and includes more details than his classmates. This was delightful, though not surprising. She said that the whole class was at the same reading level, which didn't sound quite right. Then I learned that they haven't done the official reading assessment yet, so they don't really know. That made more sense.

I have new things to work on with both boys, so I guess I have homework now too.

Nose Stuck In a Book

I've been reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to the kids. On Saturday I only had one chapter left. Then, due to some poor choices and resultant timeouts, I didn't finish it. Peter, who was not in timeout, was beside himself. He desperately wanted to know how it ended.

So I handed him the book.

Last night at bedtime he stuck his bookmark in page ninety-eight of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I think he's a fan.

Running Water

Nothing says family fun like spending your Saturday visiting a 611 foot tall waterfall. We didn't make it all the way to the top since one of us has little legs, but we went up far enough to get some cool views and to see the signs warning us of poison oak if we left the trail. Saturday was a rare clear day, so we took advantage of it.

Foxy

I found this note written on one of our small whiteboards after I got back from taking the boys to school yesterday.

Any guesses which YouTube video Bryan showed the kids this week?

Hint: It's this one. If you haven't seen it, be warned, it's odd. Catchy, yes, but odd.

Mommy's Little Helper

Cooper is preparing to go on his first field trip. I sent his permission slip with him on Tuesday with repeated reminders that he needed to give it to his teacher. Cooper has had trouble remembering to turn things in, so I was concerned that the paper would still be in his bag when he came home.

Phoebe must have been listening. When Cooper's teacher accompanied him out of the school (as she does each day for the handful of kids that don't ride the bus), Phoebe looked at her and asked, "Did Cooper give you his envelope?"

The teacher was a bit surprised and said yes, he had.

Then Phoebe turned to Cooper, said, "Good job Cooper!" and gave him a big hug. Our family won serious "aww, isn't that cute" points. And given some of our other antics, we need all the points we can get.

Those lucky boys, they have one mom and one sister that thinks she's the mom.

Follow the Leader

For the last three weeks in Phoebe's dance class, the dancers have made a line and marched around the room to one particular song. I suspect that this is the beginning of the routine they're learning for the short performance they'll put on for the parents in December. Phoebe has consistently been asked to lead the line. I thought it was because she was the shortest in the class, but this week one girl came who was more diminutive in stature, so now I'm not sure of the teacher's intent.

I had a request for a movie from tap, so here it is. You'll see that Phoebe gets a bit muddled at one point, but overall does well.

Oh, and Cooper had a sick day from school and, since the class is during school hours, had to go to tap with us. Peter was intensely jealous of this fact. That's Cooper's hand that makes a cameo in the very beginning of the movie.

Student Teacher

Peter taught Family Home Evening last night. He's been wanting to for the last few weeks, but he's only remembered as we were convening each Monday night.

Yesterday morning he realized it was Monday. When I announced it was time to leave for school, rather than get his bag and head out the door, he asked where the Friend magazine was. He grabbed it and a clipboard with a blank piece of paper. During the short drive to school he picked a story to use for a lesson and read through it. When he got home he wrote up three questions to ask to follow the lesson.

He used the story Monsters in the Closet and asked us how the main character felt and what she did to overcome her dilemma of being afraid of a particular closet in the house. The takeaway was that she prayed and that helped her to be brave.

He did a good job and I'm pleased that he's learning how to teach. Of course, I think we may need to review this particular principle because when we tried to send Peter upstairs to get his pajamas on he freaked out and said he couldn't because he was too scared. We reminded him of the lesson he taught, but to no avail.

Perhaps the fact that he chose that particular story shows that he knows it's an important topic for him. Baby steps, eh?

Quiet Time Counsel

There may come a day when you think, "Wow, this child has been really well behaved today. I think I can trust them to be downstairs, alone, during quiet time. I think I'll take a nap." If this thought comes, don't do it.

It will be a mistake.

At the end of quiet time you might feel refreshed. You'll happily retrieve your two other children (who were upstairs near you) from quiet time and ponder, "Hmmm, I wonder where their middle sibling is." You'll head downstairs in search of him.

A grinning, slightly hopping five-year-old will meet you. He'll happily tell you that he's been working on a project. Then you'll come into view of the kitchen table. And everything on it. And under it.

For the safety of all, this picture was taken after the clean-up had been mostly completed.

You'll take in the scene: closed containers of sugar, cornmeal, cinnamon, strawberry syrup, honey, and milk litter the table. An open bottle of olive oil sits next to a punctured apple juice box. Something sticky appears to have pooled under the table. Splotches of red powder dot the table, perhaps from the now-empty Jell-o boxes scattered about. And there is a small plastic container full of... something liquid.

At this point your gut reaction might be to yell and send the child to timeout while you walk around the kitchen and discover that half the dish soap is gone and a puddle of water has taken up residence in front of the sink.

Don't.

Instead, look at how pleased he is. Ask what he's been doing. Listen while he tells you that he's been trying to make cinnamon bread, but it isn't working the way he thought it would. Usher the other two (extremely curious) children away from the mess. Begin to remove those items which still possess a high mess factor.

Try to determine what's in his concoction.

Give up.

While you clean, explain that you know he loves to cook, but that it's an activity which requires mom or dad to be present. Help him understand that there will be no more surprise recipes. Send him to wash his hands after he proudly points out the empty egg shell in the trashcan. Correctly identify the under-the-table sticky substance as the contents of that egg shell.

Don't explode. You'll want to, but don't. You might marvel that you're keeping it together. Continue doing this, even when he excitedly tells you that he learned how to wash dishes. Don't worry, it will be a few hours before you discover that he loaded the dishwasher.

Once you think all the dangerous/extra-messy/full-of-disease ingredients have been cleaned up and the child's hands have been washed, herd all of the children upstairs. Wake up your still-napping husband to relate what just happened. Also, try to calm your rapidly beating heart.

Remember this the next time you think leaving the five-year-old on his own during quiet time is a good idea.

As a Mustard Seed

When I went to register the boys for school way back in August I discovered that Cooper was not in compliance with the immunization rules here. He received one of his Hep B shots when he was four months old. According to this school district he had to have been at least six months old. They wouldn't let me register him.

It's kind of frustrating to be told that something you did five years ago was out of line with rules you weren't even aware of, especially when we thought Cooper was completely up to date. I went home with the completed paperwork and instructions to get him another shot.

As I waited for our health insurance to kick in I watched the days tick down to the start of school. I finally went in to the office the week before school started and asked about getting Cooper into a class. The secretary was alarmed that I'd been turned away and took the paperwork from me immediately. She reassured me that the district would send me a letter letting me know by when he would need the shot.

The letter came last week and the date they specified was this coming Monday. The boys didn't have school today so I made an appointment for this morning. Cooper knew that he would need another shot and had been asking when it would happen, so a few days ago I told him.

He was really worried about it. This morning he threw a massive tantrum, no doubt as a way to stall the inevitable. In the car on the way we said a prayer that he would be brave. Then he asked me to say another one as we sat in the office waiting. He said one more just before the nurse came in, asking that it wouldn't hurt.

That request made me nervous. How could it possibly not hurt? I understood asking for courage, but I worried that asking for it not to hurt at all might be too much.

He opted to have the shot in his arm. I sat next to him and held his hand and I could feel him tense up as the nurse held up the syringe. She asked him to sit as still as he could and she warned that she might have to do it a second time if he squirmed. That was good motivation. He was completely still.

As soon as she finished she congratulated him on how well he had done. He asked if it was over and she assured him that it was.

He turned to me with wide eyes and whispered, "I think the prayer worked!"

I know that we have taught our children to pray and I know that we have set the example of faith, but sometimes I am reminded, and humbled, by their faith and the lack of my own. It made me think of this talk from Elder Holland from the April 2013 General Conference. I often think those words, "Help thou mine unbelief."

Today was a good lesson in faith, for both me and Cooper

Humpty Dumpty

Each week Cooper brings home one assignment to work on for the next seven days. Last week the assignment sheet explained that he would, with help, need to fashion a container that would keep an egg unbroken while it was thrown off the roof of the school. Yup, all the Kindergartners participated in an old fashioned egg drop.

I had two thoughts right after reading the instructions, "Wow, isn't Kindergarten a little young for this assignment?" and, "This sounds like a good project for Bryan." So I handed it over to him.

He did some research and some brainstorming. And he asked Cooper questions about what he wanted to do. Last night while I supervised the other two getting ready for bed, Bryan and Cooper worked. In the end, almost the whole design was Cooper's. He wanted to put the egg in a box and we didn't have one the right size. Bryan had the idea to cut up and use the milk jug, but that's it. Lucky for us, Bryan made a movie of Cooper loading the contraption. It's long, and in two parts, but pretty darn cute.





Oh, and his egg survived all three tests and the drop off the school!

Magical

Today we used the extra time from getting out of school early (as we do on Wednesdays) to go to the library. I'm pleased that my children have inherited my love of not just books, but libraries as well. We gathered new books, played games, learned about looking titles up in the catalog, and were asked to be quiet because we (and I really just mean the two smallest) were too loud.

Most of the afternoon and evening were spent reading. According to instructions in his homework folder, Peter is supposed to read for fifteen minutes per day. Today he clocked at least an hour, I stopped keeping track at that point. I read to the kids before dinner. I read to them after dinner. I grabbed a few more to read at bedtime and headed upstairs.

Phoebe likes books about princesses, ballerinas, and fairies. Today she saw this one

and snatched it up. We didn't open it at all, just dropped it in the bag. This was one that I read at bedtime.

I turned to the first page and read the opening line, "It was Phoebe's birthday, and she was fizzing with excitement in her new fairy costume." I looked at Phoebe to see her reaction. Her eyes got big and she started giggling. Imagine her delight at picking a book where the main character shares her name and her love of all things girly. The story was sweet and the pictures had splashes of glitter.

Guess what we're ordering from Amazon for Christmas...

Art House

This weekend of Conference was the most successful we've had. We spent way less time telling the kids to sit down and be quiet than usual. And that was lovely.

We ask that our kids watch General Conference with us. Our hope is that they'll pick up some of what is being said. Maybe that's wishful thinking on our part, but we believe they're capable of learning from the talks. In the past this has resulted in lots of frustration for us and not much enjoyment for the kids. We keep doing it anyway.

For the last several Conferences I've printed out activity packets for the kids. They contain Bingo cards and coloring sheets, among other things. I did that again this time. Additionally, I picked up an inexpensive spiral-bound notebook and a small box of crayons for each child. I kept these purchases under wraps until the first session was starting when I pulled them out and told the kids that I had a special gift for each of them. Then I presented the notebook, the packet, and the crayons. I told them that they could take notes or draw pictures of what the speakers were saying, but they could only use the books while they were watching sessions of Conference.

My kids love to draw. There are many mornings that I wake to discover them already elbow-deep in crayons and scratch paper. Perhaps this is why the books worked so well. They were thrilled to spend many hours this weekend in art mode. Even Phoebe got in on the action. Her pictures required more explanation than the boys', but she still enjoyed the process.

It wasn't until the last twenty minutes of the last session that things broke down and I was yelling, "Everybody be quiet! The Prophet is speaking!" Considering we watched all five sessions, I think that's pretty good. Of course, in a perfect world we would have all paid attention the whole time. But we live in the real world, and for the real world, I'm calling this weekend a win.

Love At Home

You've heard of people who watch General Conference and say of a specific talk, "This was written for me." This time I was that person. Before Conference began I prayed that I would hear and recognize something that could help our family.

For those that read my talk from last week, you know that we've been working on having a more Christ centered home. We are beginning to see the fruits of this, but we still have a long way to go. The talk that I heard that felt like it was just for me was on this topic.

President Eyring spoke about loving our family members, regardless of what they do. His talk was spot on for us. Tonight for Family Home Evening we talked about what it meant to love others and to have a heart full of love. I've just finished re-listening to the talk and next week we'll discuss another facet of showing love for each other.

Happy Feet

Phoebe was so excited to go to dance this last week that she asked every morning, "Is tap today?" On Monday we got her into her dance gear and gave her an appropriate hairstyle. Of course, she had to wear something over the dance clothes to go into the cold rain we had that day. I asked if I should take a picture of her before we left for dance and she obliged.

She loved tap almost as much as she loved ballet.

Going the Distance

Our family has been fighting a cold for the last two weeks. Phoebe ran a fever right at the beginning, the rest of us have traded off on sniffles and coughs. I thought we were all finally getting over it.

Yesterday, after a week of rain, it cleared enough that we could walk the boys to school. The temperatures were chilly (high 40s) but it felt good to be outside. So good, in fact, that we decided to walk again today. Then after taking them to school we walked to a friend's house to play, then walked home. Afterward we went grocery shopping, got the boys from school, then headed to martial arts. That might not sound like much, but it was a full day for me and Phoebe and we were home very little.

You know, when you've been healing from a cold and are six months pregnant, maybe it's not such a good idea to walk several miles a day. Turns out I may not be recovering as much as I thought, cause now I have sniffles and it's hard to breathe and when I cough I sound more like a seal than a person. Or maybe I'm just extra tired. Whatever the reason, I've already been asleep for more than an hour tonight. The only reason I got up was to eat something so I could continue to sleep. Now, if I can just make it up the stairs, I'll zonk out earlier than I have in a while. Of course, I'm a little (a lot) sore from the walking and stroller/shopping cart pushing.

Maybe I'll scoot up the stairs...

Bakerman

Several weeks ago Peter found a recipe for apple pie in one of his kid cookbooks. He's been asking ever since if he could make it. We bought the apples, but for various reasons the actual cooking hadn't happened. Wednesday is early out day in our district, so we took advantage of the extra time and Peter made his pie today.

He peeled the apples, then I chopped them. He measured and added all the ingredients and I manned the stove while they cooked. He rolled out the pie crust (we bought one for his first try, we'll add making the crust to a future attempt) and I filled it with the sweet, hot apples. It was a joint effort.

The first thing Bryan said when he walked in the door tonight was, "We should eat that pie right now." I hadn't told him we'd made one, he'd smelled it when he got home. It was delicious.

Peter announced that he'll be making a peach pie next. I think we're all looking forward to it.

Roughly the Size of a Barge

It only took me 27 weeks, but I finally got around to taking a pregnancy picture. Yes, I do look farther along than 27 weeks, thank you for noticing. I'm measuring a week ahead and at the ultrasound she was measuring two weeks ahead. I'm having another ultrasound at my next appointment (they didn't get a good picture of her face last time), so they'll check how far along I'm measuring then.

Good news on the headache front: magnesium works pretty well. I still have migraines, but not as many as I was having. Granted, I'm still waking up in the middle of the night to eat, so maybe it's combination of the two.

I've lost the extra energy and bending ability that came with the second trimester. But I have gained the special magical power of the third trimester: nesting. Yes, this still requires energy, but it's a different kind of energy. I'm trying to use it well.

Phoebe now spends time everyday "snuggling with baby sister." She'll hug my belly and giggle and say how much she loves her baby sister. It's quite sweet.