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.