Come, Mommy » school

Bits and Pieces of Midwinter Action

lieslf — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 05:35:38 +0000

That headline is a bit misleading, but I had to write something to lure you guys in, no? We haven’t had any action of the big exciting event variety (except for Kiri, who just learned to jump and is over-the-moon excited about that!) but we’ve had lots of little things going on, so it’s time for one of my Bits and Pieces posts.

Kevin went to The Netherlands on a business trip for a week, during which the boys and I were extremely happy to welcome Gran-Gran to the Menagerie House. I just remembered that I did post about her toy-induced trip to the ER, but really, other than that one bad night, we all had a wonderful visit. Our only complaint is that it was too short, but the good news is that she will return, hopefully for Kiri’s birthday party at the end of March.

Since Kiri is a bit young to care much about the specifics of his party, his brother was happy to step in and take charge of the situation. He was more than happy to instruct Kiri as to the importance of a desirable theme for his party, and he came up with two themes. He couldn’t decide which one, robots (since “Kieran needs to learn about robots”) or food (since Kiri has yet to meet a food he dislikes), was best, so I asserted my maternal rights and picked a Spring theme.

That was partly because I’ve had enough Winter, and partly because I want to make the cake. I’ve gotten all into decorating cookies this winter, and I would like to expand my horizons a bit and try a fancy cake. I’ve had my eye on this bunny cake pan for a while, and with a recent sale at my favorite baking store, Fancy Flours, I was able to finally able to fit it into our budget. I think I will have to make two bunnies for his party, and then possibly I’ll make some egg and baby bunny shaped cookies for the children to take home. I thought it would be cute to make carrot cakes, but they are so moist I don’t know if they’d really make stable 3-dimensional bunnies. I may punt and make one chocolate and one French vanilla, or possibly lemon. Perhaps I will think about how to decorate them and draw inspiration from that. Also, I’d best got on the mission of consulting a calendar and picking a date for the fiesta.

While I’m on a creative segment here, I’ll mention that I have joined Chichimama’s latest knit-a-long. I would love a pair of nice warm mittens, so these will be for me. Since being frugal is so very necessary chic these days, I turned to my stash for yarn and found a nice variegated purple-pink heavy cotton yarn. My only concern is that the colors are so busy that the main artistic point of the mittens, a long cable running from wrist to fingertip, will be hidden. Then again, I want to make this “Just Enough Ruffles” scarf at some point, so maybe I’ll go ahead with the pink and purple first for fun and to get mitten knitting experience, and then pick up a pretty solid color color later to make a second pair of cable mittens and a JER scarf in the same color. I’m almost finished with my gauge swatch and it looks like it’ll be spot on, which rarely happens for me, so clearly the variegated yarn would be quite usable for this pattern. I just have to sew together the sweater I’m working on for Kiri to wear this Spring and then I’m free to make the mittens.

Speaking of creative pursuits, Santa left an easel for Liam this year. He loves to use it on days when he is willing to stay still for a few minutes, and Kiri has taken quite a shine to painting himself. When I chose the word “himself” I didn’t mean it in the literal sense…

..but Kiri took it that way.

The statement, “Kiri, we only paint paper!”

…does not stop Kieran, the All-Surface Painter.

Now, of course, if one is decorating cookies with frosting then one obviously has edible media on hand…

…and on face. How amazing is that???

But the best part – the most exciting artistic discovery ever…

…is that a loyal dog makes such a huggable canvas!

In other news, we are seeing the beginnings of sibling rivalry these days. It is clear that the boys adore each other. When he is unaware of adult eyes Liam will not uncommonly watch Kiri play for a few minutes and then walk over, give him a big kiss, and whisper “I love you, Kiri K!” And every day at 8:30 A.M. the saddest boy in the world is Kieran. That’s because Liam’s kindergarten starts then and we have to leave him at school for a few hours. As we get into the car, Kieran will point to Liam’s car seat and shout, “Yee-Yee! Yee-Yee! Mommy! Yee-Yee! Now!” (He hasn’t gotten the hang of the “L” sound yet.) And the tears, they flow. On days when Kiri is inconsolable I will turn into the driveway of the house immediately behind the school. It belongs to one of the faculty members, and it affords a good view of the kindergarten play yard where Liam and his classmates are at play. We watch for a few minutes until I am able to calm Kiri enough to make it through the morning.

On the other hand, however, there are loud and screechy daily battles over my lap because neither child will share that spot with the other. And when Kiri misbehaves, Liam is not above reminding me that whatever the crime (large or minute) in question is, well of course, it is most certainly not his doing.

“Mommy, good job cleaning Kiri up. You see, I am old enough to know that painting my face is wrong, wrong, wrong. And Kiri…is not.”"

Point taken, kiddo. Now, enough crowing already.

Valentine’s day is upon us. It’s not a holiday I pay much attention to, but it is a big one with the grade school set. Liam’s class had a Valentine’s Day celebration today. Each child brought in a Valentine of his or her making, and then they had a swap…

..and Liam got to bring home this beauty.

And then, after snack…

…they made heart necklaces from felt and wool roving…

(not the best photo with part of Kiri’s head there, but it shows off the hearts the best of the ones I took)

…and made Valentine’s Day ornaments. I have never seen an ornament like this, and I think it’s gorgeous.

Liam was especially proud of this one since he made all of it himself with the exception of tying the knot on the thread. “I even sewed the ribbon into a loop by myself, Mommy!”

And here it is in its place of honor on our “Valentine’s Day tree.” The boys and I made Valentines and hung them on the tree while whiling away our Snow Day last week.

The Snow Day was also a great time to play with the ferrets…

…get them all rowdy…

…and more than ready for a nap!

This is Pippi enjoying an afternoon siesta.

I’ve spent way too much time on this post already, so I will end it here. These, my friends, have been the highlights of the last couple of Menagerie House weeks. Lots of everyday fun and games about sums it up, and I am not complaining one bit. So come back soon, ya’ll, and I’ll give you a knitting update (with pictures) and a collection of Cute Conversations.

Happy Valentine’s day!

Snow Day

lieslf — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 02:44:53 +0000

We had our first snow day of the year last week. The forecast the night before promised doom and gloom, and despite the arrival of only an inch or snow overnight, the forecasters kept on warning of heavy snow followed by ice. At 5:45 the school called to say school was canceled.

I let Liam sleep in a bit, and after he had had a chance to wake up, I told him. “Guess what? Today is a snow day – school is canceled because of the weather.” I remembered how excited I was as a kid to wake up and learn of a snow day, and so I waited for the joy.

Instead, Liam immediately panicked and screamed, “No! They can’t close school! Today is bread baking day and I want to play in the snow outside.”

Somewhat taken aback, I said, “Well, we can bake bread here, and we can play outside in the snow here.”

Liam thought about it for a minute and said, “Well, OK, but only if I can go to school tomorrow.”

Kevin and I chose his school because we loved it so much and just knew he would thrive there. So I guess instead of being grumpy that my eldest would rather go to school than stay home with me, I should be thrilled that the place is such a great second home for him.

And I should also hope that his attitude lasts through middle and high school.

The To-Do List

lieslf — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:46:00 +0000

Thins to do between now and tomorrow night:

1. Laundry

2. a. Packing (clothes)
b. Packing (toys and travel diversions)
c. Packing (snacks)

3. a. Take the dog to the kennel.
b. Don’t forget his meds.
c. He’s got the doggie equivalent of athlete’s foot, and his feet itch horribly, poor thing.

4. a. Take the ferrets to their caretaker.
b. Don’t forget the ferrets’ meds.
c. They all are on amoxicillin for a respiratory infection.
d. Remind self not to share pathogenic bacteria with pets.

5. Get new pair of glasses.

6. Clean the fish tank.

7. Parent-teacher conference tomorrow morning.

8. Lantern walk for Martinmas tomorrow night.

9. I’m sure I’m forgetting something. (Mushy brain, ya know?)

So, with all that, why am I lying in bed blogging while the kids are peacefully napping? Because it’s just so warm, cozy, and relaxing. Motherhood has its privileges, you see!

Six Months Of Brotherhood

lieslf — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:48:00 +0000

In six months we’ve gone from a little boy and his newborn baby brother to a full-fledged pre-schooler who has a little brother almost half his size:

Don’t they just look like they’re up to something?

Liam dyed this silk at his school’s Michaelmas festival. He brought it home and promptly used it to transform himself into Super Lemur, a broccoli-eating primate…

Speaking of fall festivities – Liam found all these “treasures” on a bike ride. We brought them home and made a wreath with them.

Meanwhile, back in Babyland, Kieran demonstrates the “sit up and pull off the socks” maneuver.

I think it’s a construction worker playing guitar, but I’m not entirely sure…

Mmmmmm, peaches!

All this eating and playing sure make a fellow tired!

I can’t believe it’s been six months already!

Bits And Pieces Of This And That

lieslf — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 01:12:00 +0000

Breaking News: Having two kids really can get in the way of blogging. They give me lots of fodder, but by the time I actually remember that there was a cute moment I wanted to write about I can never seem to find time to post. I need to find a way to make sleep optional. Then I could have time to blog and read or knit, perhaps. Imagination is a wonderful thing, no?

In the meantime I present ya’ll with another stream-of-consciousness Bits and Pieces post.

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From the Department of Lemur Training we have news of complete surrender by the Lemur Parents. We outsourced Sanitary Education to a close friend of mine who teaches young autistic children. As a result of this career she has lots and lots of experience with potty learning. She managed to get Liam to decorate his potty with drawings and clean up “accidents” caused by toy animals who couldn’t get to the bathroom on time. She also left us with an Elmo toy that Liam thinks is just the bees’ knees.

As she left, she said, “He is one tough nut to crack. I’m not sure this can be done right now.”

This morning, The Lemur pointed to his potty and declared, “You see that paper on the potty, Mommy? All of it is signs that say, ‘Leaping Lemur does not have to sit on the potty!’”

However, progress was definitely made in that it seems that The Lemur is no longer afraid to at least talk about the potty. And he’s all about playing with Elmo, which is good. So for now, we’ll leave it at that and see where thing go if the “Lemurs do not have to sit on the potty” rule remains in effect.

Thank you for attempting this, Lisa! It’s a wonderful person who will even consider potty teaching someone else’s child. I owe you big time.

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We took an afternoon trip to the Shore today, and on the boardwalk we happened to see this table:

It’s an open casting call for Wife Swap. The families that appear on the show each get $20,000. Kevin said that wasn’t enough money for him to part with me for a week. Now, how sweet is my husband????

On the other hand maybe we should have enquired further, as we have on our hands…

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(cue suspenseful music)

An Unpaid For Baby!

Zounds!

Actually, he’s paid for. It’s his entrance into the world that is not. Yes indeedy-do, Large Insurance Company That Starts With A denied our appeal. Fun times, indeed.

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Ah, but the plot thickens. I mentioned our plight to the neighbors who live right behind us, both of whom are lawyers. The wife is in healthcare related law and used to work for the Insurance Bureau before deciding to stay home with their daughters. She had a baby last January, and has coverage through the same Insurance Company Of Little Common Sense. In her case, the birth was covered, but the baby’s pediatric care was not. And their appeal has gone nowhere, either.

She and her husband are very angry. And very well connected in the health insurance world.

I suspect thing are going to get interesting around here.

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Obligatory Cute Baby Picture:

“What’s with the six months of exclusive breastfeeding, you doctor dudes? Has no one informed you that books are delicious????”

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For my friend Robbie, who just spent a week at Sturgis - see what the fire department was raffling off at the beach today for their fund-raiser? The Lemur assures me that this is a “very cool and likely very loud motorcycle.” And he took this picture himself…

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Liam tried his hand at a boardwalk game today. Apparently we are raising a very non-materialistic kiddo. When he managed to catch a fish, he was thrilled, but when presented with a prize, he burst into tears. I guess it’s all about the game for him.

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Tomorrow we are going back-to-school shopping. Liam needs boots, a raincoat, and new shoes for school. And a backpack. And a some new clothes that meet the dress code. It’s the first time we’ve ever done school shopping. It’s a milestone for all of us.

Three weeks until Liam’s nursery school starts. And he was Kieran’s age only three weeks ago, I swear.

Exactly who gave my kids permission to grow up???

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Oh, and Liam’s a bit down in the dumps that his school does not use school buses. He really wants to ride one. This is the closest we’ve been able to come:

He did allow as to how he might be OK with my driving him if a) he gets his music on the stereo, and b) Kieran comes along, too. Aaaaawwwww…….

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That’s it from these parts. Maybe one of these days I’ll have an actual story or anecdote or well-constructed essay.

Hey, a girl can dream…..