Fort Sophie

Sophie found a new place to play.

It's like her own little fort. Bonus, the big kids can't fit so she has it all to herself.

Day of Thanks

We had a wonderful day of giving thanks, spending time with family, and eating lots of wonderful food. So much food.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am What You Wear

Sometimes I think I'm an overly strict mom. I don't let my kids jump on the furniture, I insist that they stay in their chairs during meals, I even ask them to fold their own laundry. I'm not going to be winning any "Most Fun Mom Ever" awards anytime soon. 

When I start to feel sad about this (because I, away from my mom persona, am pretty fun), all I need to do is look to Phoebe and what she's chosen to wear for the day. When she comes out of her room in such a creative outfit, I don't ask her to change. She's modest, and that's what is most important to me. See, I do support fun. And self-expression apparently.

My Barometer

It's going to snow here. I know this because my phone keeps giving me weather alerts and the local internet is buzzing over the crazy storm that's rolling in. I know for another reason though: I now have my own barometer.

My injured foot, which is mostly healed, started hurting terribly one day last week. I was shocked by the sharp pain I felt and spent the rest of the evening wearing the boot. The next day we woke up to a dusting of snow. It's happened a few times now; my foot hurts, then it rains or snows. Somehow my healing injury knows when the pressure in the air is changing.

It's going to snow. My foot told me.

Do-It-Yourself

Armed with a tripod, my fancy camera, and promises of candy, we attempted to take family pictures this weekend. The idea occurred to us on Friday night and on Saturday morning everyone got clean while I scoured all the drawers and closets looking for clothing that coordinated. Phoebe refused to wear what I picked out and changed outfits at least three times. We finally came to a compromise.

Bryan and Peter scouted around the neighborhood and found some interesting rocks for us to stand in front of. The temperature hovered around freezing, so everyone wore coats until the moment before we took pictures, then scurried back into them as quickly as possible. After staying outside as long as we could stand, we trooped back in to review the results.

All three men looked very handsome. With the timer determining when the pictures were taken and no actual photographer to hold her attention, Sophie rarely looked at the camera. Poor Phoebe was so cold and grumpy that she has a sour look in most of the shots. I was looking at a leaf above the camera and therefore have an odd, dreamy expression on my face. And being the narcissist that I am, I wanted a do-over. But alas, it was too late in the day for the light we needed.

On Sunday I let the girls wear their Christmas dresses, not because I want to skip Thanksgiving, just because we bought the clothes and I want to get as much use out of them as possible. When Bryan saw that the girls were fancy he suggested that we try again and plan to take pictures after church. I agreed and scurried about making sure the boys coordinated. And lucky us, the temperature was more than twenty degrees warmer than it had been the day before.

We got some pretty good pictures the second time, though we were fighting a mighty wind that was trying to drive us from our stone-wall perch. We discovered a trick for getting Sophie to look at the camera. She loves the song "Happy Birthday" so Bryan found a recording of someone singing "Happy birthday dear Sophie" and played it on his phone. He leaned the phone on the camera and she watched it with great curiosity. 

Both the Saturday and the Sunday session were full of "no" and "stop that" and "I said look at the camera and smile!" but I suppose that's the nature of taking your own pictures.

And now, I will share a few outtakes.

Day one:

We had to watch where we stepped because of the deer droppings. And the bear droppings. Did I mention this is a one minute walk from my house?

Phoebe looks miserable here, but look how cute Sophie is!

"What? You want us to look where?"

Day two:

Why yes, I did wear the same shirt and sweater as the day before. They were still clean. And I made us look Christmasy by adding green to Sophie's red and Phoebe's gold. But mostly, they were ironed and I knew where they were when I needed to get dressed for church on Sunday morning.

This is how Bryan does Movember. Also, wind!

Mom and Dad are camera ready. Kids? Not so much.

After grimacing and staring for most of the pictures, Phoebe remembered how to smile. Of course we had just finished taking pictures of the whole family. That's okay, it's a beautiful smile, no matter when it arrives.

Notes on Peter

Here are the highlights from Peter's Parent/Teacher conference last night:

• He is really smart
• He has no academic problems with one exception: his work is sloppy and hard to read because he rushes through it
• He rushes through it so he can read
• He reads so he can take lots of Accelerated Reader tests on the computer
• He still won't stay in his seat or on task because he always has something to tell someone, and he's sure that's more important than schoolwork
• He still talks back to his teachers, though not as much as in previous years
• His behavior is improving overall, but he still has a hard time observing boundaries, including personal space ones
• He really wants to be friends with the kids in his class, but can't seem to figure out when to be silly and funny and when to be calm and this puts some of the kids off
• His teacher is awesome

While I waited in the hall, I perused the poems the kids wrote for Veterans Day. Here is Peter's:

So far, Peter is having a much better year in third grade than he did in second grade, for which we are all thankful.

In Which I Brag About My Second Born

I met with Cooper's teacher yesterday for his first Parent/Teacher conference of the year. Cooper has been having a rough time at home, lots of naughty words and mean actions. I've been concerned about how he might be acting out at school.

Good news: he saves the poor choices for home. His teacher says that he's a normal first-grade boy. That means he's mostly good with a little bit of roughhousing thrown in for good measure. She said it was nothing she couldn't handle and certainly nothing she was concerned about.

I had also been worried that Cooper was falling between the cracks in his class. He's missed some school because of illness and when I asked him what his teacher said about his absences, he said, "Nothing." And when I asked what she thought of his missing two front teeth, he again said, "Nothing."

His teacher not only knew Cooper, but she had noticed some of his more subtle behaviors. She said she was impressed with how smart he is. I smiled when she said that, because it's true, Cooper is smart. She commented on his "magnificent" reading and comprehension skills. She told me that he is meticulous in his work, to the degree that he doesn't like to be rushed and sometimes has to go back to finish his work to get it the way he wants it. She also said he has no sense of urgency. Yep, that's also true. Well, he has one when food is involved, but not much else.

She was a little worried that he never volunteers or raises his hand to answer questions. When she calls on him he gives great answers, but he doesn't offer them of his own volition.

She told me that he thinks at a higher level than the other kids in the class and might be a little bored. She's going to recommend him for the Gifted and Talented program, which will only consist of four or five first-graders. I told her I thought that was a wonderful plan.

Being sandwiched between his extremely loud and attention grabbing siblings is sometimes a challenge for him, though I don't think he would articulate it that way. It makes my heart happy to see Cooper recognized in such a positive way, and that he has a teacher who sees his talents in spite of his quiet demeanor. That's right, at school Cooper is quiet.

Land Ho!

At our Cub Scout Pack Meeting this week the focus was on citizenship. The boys did a skit about the ingredients that go into our country (Peter got to stir everything together in a big pot), the leaders taught about George Washington, and they all (scouts and leaders) spelled out the word cooperation and told a little about what it means. The big event, though, was the boat racing. 

Since we heard about Washington, those in charge decided the kids should pretend to cross the Delaware. We live pretty close to the Delaware River, so the kids are familiar with it. The boats were wheeled platforms for storing flat tables, with all but one table removed. The oars were plungers, new from the dollar store. Siblings were invited to participate as well.

Can you tell who thought she was the captain?

New Shoes

Good news! I saw my doctor today and I'm now allowed to wear something other than sneakers on my feet. He pushed and turned and generally manipulated my foot and I passed all his tests! I even stood on the ball of my right foot while I held Sophie. I didn't go up very high, or for very long, but it was enough. I still have some discomfort, but it's the normal, healing kind. And I'm still limping, but that's getting smaller and more manageable.

It's amazing how much this one injury has impacted my life during the last two months. I've had to say no to many activities that I would have done before, and I've had to sit and rest a lot more. But you know, resting can be a good thing, even if you'd rather be up and feeling productive.

I've also had to rely on others to help me. Peter has learned how to wash and dry the laundry on his own since I've had trouble going down to the basement myself. He even stopped on the way up from the garage yesterday and emptied the dryer without being asked. I think that's the biggest silver lining of this whole adventure.

I'm so excited to wear church shoes on Sunday!

National Homemade Bread Day

The first recipe I ever posted on this blog was back in September of 2008. In the six years since I first posted it, I've tinkered with that recipe, so much so that I thought it was time to update my original instructions. Today is National Homemade Bread Day, and that seems like the perfect time to share The Bread again.

The Bread

Ingredients:

• 5 cups warm water
• 3 Tbsp instant yeast
• 2/3 cup oil (canola, olive, or coconut all work great)
• 2/3 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp salt
• 12 cups flour (I use 4 cups wheat and 8 cups white) 

1. Get a really, really big bowl.
2. Briefly mix together water, yeast, and a spoonful of the honey. Let it stand about 15 minutes, or until the yeast has puffed-up.
3. Add the oil.
4. Add the rest of the honey. (I pour it into the same cup that I used for the oil. The honey slides right out.)
5. Add the salt. 
6. Add the flour. 
7. Stick your clean hands directly into the mixture and combine ingredients.
8. When you're done kneading, place the bowl of dough, covered with a towel, on your counter. Let it rise for at least 30 minutes.
9. After it's risen, punch it down and form it into loaves. I get 4 loaves from each batch.
10. Place dough into greased bread pans.
11. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
12. Once in the pans, let bread rise again until the top of the dough reaches the top edge of the pan.
13. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.
14. Enjoy!