Like Father, Like Son, Part 3*

Cooper brought home a project from school last week that had his picture on it. I saw it and immediately thought of a picture I probably spent a little too much time looking at about sixteen years ago.

This is Bryan's picture from our singles ward directory during the 2000-2001 school year.

Looking at these two handsome young men, there appears to be a family resemblance.

*Curious about part one and part two?

Additional Information

Remember last month when I did all the birthday posts in one week? And remember that I couldn't find the paper that I had written all of Cooper's favorites on so I said I would add it later when it was found?

I found it!

I went back and added the list to the beginning of the post. If you're curious about Cooper's favorites on his eighth birthday, you can read them here.

G'Day Mate

Last night our ward had the annual Blue and Gold dinner for our cub scout pack. Our Around the World theme was really fun and we all learned new things from the presentations the scouts gave. Cooper was assigned Australia and he studied for two days in anticipation. All the other boys had a single sheet of paper they read to teach us about their assigned country. Cooper had five pages of handwritten notes. He had to quickly edit his presentation down for length. It was clear he knew what he was talking about.

In addition to becoming an Australia expert, he received several awards. The boys string the belt loops they earn onto walking sticks they made as a pack. He looks pleased, don't you think?

One Ring

There's nothing like a missing wedding ring to spur one to clean their room.

Found it.

One Fine Day

Like Dali

Clara's Special Day

We made the drive down to Maryland yesterday for a very special occasion. My niece Clara chose to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her dad, my brother, performed the ordinance.

She asked our family to sing, which we were happy to do. Sophie, Phoebe, and I sang When I Am Baptized, then our whole family was joined by my nephew Henry and niece Aeva while we all sang I Am a Child of God.

Thanks go to my sister-in-law Sherlin for taking and sharing these pictures.

The kids were all well behaved, especially considering they had been stuck in a car for three hours before the baptism. And when the baptism was over, we hugged our family goodbye and gathered ourselves to get on the road back home. Bryan had to work today, so we had a six hour round trip yesterday. Being there to support Clara was worth the drive.

The Workshop

Remember that Colonial cooper costume I mentioned in Wednesday's post? Sadly, I failed to take a picture of it before Peter took it to school. But I did take a picture of the accompanying Colonial cooper workshop diorama that Peter made by himself, because that's the kind of parents we are.

Based on Peter's reports, lots of projects were done by parents. I hope his teacher sees the value in having the student do the work, because he learned a lot while putting this together.

Squad Goals

Last night during scouts we took a field trip to a local police station. All four cubs and both 11-year-old scouts had fun learning about what officers do as first responders. That means Peter and Cooper both got to sit in the back of a police car.

I told them this could be their first and last time in the back of a police car.

Valentine's Recap

Our Valentine's Day celebration started early. Nana Shari sent a wonderful Valentine's Day package that arrived last Thursday just in time for us to enjoy its contents after our fun in the snow. Thank you Nana Shari!

I had grand plans to make a special breakfast yesterday morning, but my evening the night before was high-jacked by an unexpected colonial cooper costume that needed to be thrown together and twenty-seven Valentines for Peter to take to school that we didn't find out about until bedtime Monday night. Thankfully, Bryan randomly brings home boxes of candy from work and we have a printer. So we had cereal for Valentine's day breakfast, but there was a cute stuffed animal for each child sitting next to their cereal bowl when they came downstairs for breakfast.

Sophie was very loving and affectionate all day.

She even let me comb some awesome tangles out of her hair in exchange for a fancy hairstyle. Phoebe's hair slips through my fingers (just like my hair), but Sophie's hair has a different texture. This is new territory.

I bumped my beautiful breakfast plans to dinner. Then I got a text from Bryan asking what I thought about taking the kids to a surprise movie since the holiday fell on the esteemed cheap movie Tuesday. I thought it sounded great, I could totally serve that dinner early, then we could head out at five to be there on-time.

Yes, I really believed that I could do that.

Good news, homework and chores were done in time to leave. Piano practice and dinner were not. So we ate popcorn while watching The Lego Batman Movie and enjoyed a fancy Burger King dinner. We finished the night by handing out bags of goodies I curated from the dollar store and Walmart. Yeah, we're classy.

We'll follow the precedent we set at Christmas and have the Valentine's Day dinner sometime later in the week. I kind of like that suddenly there's no pressure about holiday meals.

Would you believe they already had this holiday appropriate clothing in their drawers?

How was your Valentine's Day?

I Heart You

A few weeks ago Sophie asked if we could make a new wreath for the front door. My front door accoutrement collection now includes a black glittery branch wreath for Halloween, a felt pumpkin place mat that I put on the door ( or rather, near the door in this house) for Thanksgiving, and a traditional Christmas wreath. But the rest of the year the door is bare. I said sure and we took a trip to the dollar store.

Behold, the combination of a $1 wire heart floral frame, $2 of pink burlap, an inside layer of batting I already had on hand, and some ribbon from my ribbon box. That's right, I have a ribbon box. It took me less than an hour, a swift speed that is essentially unknown to me when crafting is required.

Our front door and I wish you a happy Valentine's Day!

Puzzling

Sophie got this fun puzzle for her birthday. I discovered last week that she can put the whole thing together without any help. And I think that's pretty awesome.

About That Warm Weather...

This is what fell in the wee hours of the morning on Thursday.

The kids got their first snow day of the year.

Sophie finally got to make her snow angel.

All four kids enjoyed playing in the cold white stuff.

This is Phoebe's snowman.

And here's the beginning (and end) of a snow fort that the boys made.

Sophie and I were the first ones ready to go inside, followed closely by Phoebe. The boys would have been happy to stay out for much longer, but since the temperature was dropping, I called them in. Now that we've had a big blanket of snow for everyone to enjoy, I'll happily return to anticipating Spring.

Parking

It got up to nearly fifty degrees this week, so of course, with a heatwave like that, we went to the park.

Yes, I did tell them to wear jackets.

Sometimes Sophie's hair is awesome.

All four of them, enjoying the fresh air.

Digits

Have you noticed something different about Sophie in recent pictures I've posted? Here, I'll share one and see if you can see what's changed.

Perhaps you're thinking, "Well, she has a lot of personality." Or maybe, "She wears that drum shirt a lot." Or my favorite, "Why is she always sitting on the floor in stores?" All are true observations, but not what I'm talking about. Here are a few pictures from December for comparison.

Do you see it? That's right, she's sucking on her fingers in the last three, but not in the first one. That's because she and I had a talk at the beginning of the year about this habit. We looked at how dry and slightly swollen her fingers were and how her nails on those fingers never grew. I asked if she would try not to suck on them. Her response? "But I like sucking my fingers."

I didn't think anything would come of our chat. She's three, that's a little young for solid reasoning to have much of an impact. But she surprised me. A few weeks into the year I realized she wasn't sucking them anymore. I asked her if she had decided to stop, and she said yes.

While I'm pleased that she's given up having consistently soggy fingers, there are a few things I miss. She used to be able to sooth herself to sleep if she woke up in the night. Since the new year, Sophie will wake up, then, unable to put herself back to sleep, she will wake up Phoebe and ask her to open the safety gate on their room. The gate is there specifically to prevent Miss Sophie from wandering the house or attempting the stairs in the night. Don't worry though, she always uses the buddy system. The month January was full of late night visits from Sophie and Phoebe, holding hands and walking to my side of the bed, ready to climb in with us to snuggle. I love to cuddle my kids, but I also love sleeping through the night.

She's also been throwing more tantrums. This might simply be the nature of being three. However, her self-soothing tool doesn't work anymore. So now, sans fingers, I'm teaching her what to do when she doesn't get her way, you know, instead of glaring and harrumphing and loudly declaring that I'm not her mom, which was somewhat nerve-wracking during a recent grocery store visit.

In spite of those rough patches, I'm proud of her. And I'm impressed with her self-control. When I commented last week about how she doesn't suck on her fingers anymore, she told me it was because she was "getting bigger and bigger."

Yes you are, sweet girl.

The Geologist

Phoebe brought home a stack of colorful book order forms from school last month intent on buying something that had caught her eye. She had money left from her birthday, so she used it to buy this awesome excavation kit. She spent Saturday chiseling stone and brushing away dust in search of the precious stones hidden inside. Each of her siblings took turns assisting her. The kitchen was covered in a layer of dust by dinnertime, but they all had a ball.

Faux Fitness

"This is so I can exercise. And this is my phone. I watch it while I exercise." -Sophie, who has clearly watched her mom use her treadmill and phone to exercise.

Bouncing Boy

Last night I got to accompany the cub scouts on a special field trip to a local trampoline park. Cooper had lots of fun jumping for an hour and a half. He doesn't often go on such adventures without his siblings. I think it's good to give him opportunities for individual activities.

Global Warming

Happy Groundhog Day! This is the kind of winter we've had thus far.

It has been cold, but warmish days have interspersed the chilly. I don't mind the lack of snow, though I am a bit concerned for water levels in the area. Maybe that's the drought-weary Californian in me, always aware of how much water is available. The kids have missed the snow. Each time white frozen flakes fall from the sky, Sophie eagerly asks if she can make angels. Sadly for her, the snow hasn't stuck around long enough to make anything other than mud angels.

The Math Wall

As part of his homework, Cooper is supposed to practice multiplication facts everyday for at least five minutes. Bryan or I need to witness/assist with the practice for it to count (no pun intended), and then we have to sign a calendar that Cooper keeps in his binder, thus making the practice official.

We have struggled with this assignment. Rather, Cooper has a had a hard time remembering the facts, despite practicing them each day. We've shown Cooper flashcards with the equation and had him answer out loud, we've listened to songs that contain the facts (hello Schoolhouse Rock), we've played clapping games and recited the facts together. None of it really worked.

I was praying and pondering over this dilemma. The question occurred to me, "How does Cooper learn?" Cooper's a pretty visual kid. So am I. When I practice something, it helps me to see the answer, then when I need the information later, I can recall it and see the  picture of the answer in my head. None of our practice techniques, not even the flashcards, had the answers printed anywhere.

And that is how the math wall was born.

I found these printables by searching for multiplication facts on Pinterest. I intended to print them out all the way up to twelve, but the printer ran out of colored ink and decided not to print the last four pages. I'll add them later.

How does it work?

Well, Cooper is kinesthetic in addition to being visual, moving helps him concentrate and remember. Everyday Cooper stands in front of this wall and recites all of the facts twice, all while alternating between doing jumping jacks and marching in place. The kids think it's great fun and often join him, even Sophie who likes to yell out things such as, "1 times 2 is 6!" But the other three are solidly learning their multiplication facts.

And guess what? It's working for Cooper. He takes timed math fact tests every day at school. For some reason, Cooper freezes under pressure. So even if he knows the answer, he overthinks everything. Before the math wall, Cooper was only getting a handful of problems done in the minute he was allotted. A few days ago he came home from school, excited to share his success. His goal for the test was getting twenty-five answers correct in one minute. Instead of his usual four or five, he had gotten twenty right!

Being a mom is a hard job, I can't imagine how much harder it would be without inspiration.