I made a tutu for Fiction. I tried it on myself. It ties together so there was a bit of a gap between each tu when it was around my waist. When I turned around and Fury could see the gap he said, “I was wondering how a tutu could fit you and Fiction.”
“Did you just call me fat?”
“No. I called you 35.”
I’M ONLY 33!
So after working some crazy hours and then getting sick, I have been off the radar for a few weeks. Now I’m going to rack up some more hours at work and then have some fbulous company in the last frontire so I might not be blogging for a while. whenever I say that I suddenly find I have a million things to blog about!
this morning we found a little chihuahua in our driveway. We scooped him up (before an eagle could), we took him for a walk and then put a big sign in the front yard, “We found your dog!” Apparently he lives just across the street. He’s 15 years old and gets confused sometimes. His name is Booboo (which my mother thought was ridiculous because all dogs are named Bubbie) but I still don’t know my neighbors names. I’m so bad at talking to people! btw, I wish we had a dog.
I went to a penance service on Thursday (my first). I liked it but at the end of the service you have to wait for a priest to confess to. There were five priests but it still seemed like it wasn’t enough. I didn’t want to make anyone else feel rushed but we did have the two children with us and it was past bedtime. It’s actually really nice to go to confession. It can be intimidating at first but the priest doesn’t ask for details. The few times I’ve been I’ve gotten great insight from the priest and felt great peace from the sacrament.
I was at the playground talking to this grandmother about how surprised I was to feel sad registering my daughter for kindergarten. We have lunch together every day, now we will only have lunch together on weekends (holidays, vacations, breaks and summer.) She told me that her three year old was diagnosed with cancer and died before she could start kindergarten. She wasn’t mean about it, obivously I didn’t know about her daughter. Of course I want my daughter to go to school, to grow more independent, I want to enjoy every stage of her life. I supposed I needed a bit of perspective. In a few years I will miss her kindergarten days.
I’m not done sewing Fiction’s Easter dress yet (please wish me luck. I’m not going to have time after tomorrow.) Luckily Idaho John can wear his suit from last year. Hmm… What am I going to wear?
I hope you have a great Easter!!!! God is so good to us. He calls to us, He draws us near, until one day when He envelopes us completely in a divine hug.
When I started talking about adopted I found out a friend of mine from high school was adopted through Holt (the agency we’re working with). Last night I met I met another adult who was adopted through Holt. I had a fascinating conversation with her about her family. She was adopted at 6 months old from Korea. At age 7 she asked her parents why she didn’t look like the rest of the family and they talked to her about her adoption. I would like to have a “lifebook”, it’s like a baby book. It talks about my child’s life before the adoption and all about the adoption and our first year as a family. Also I’d like to celebrate the anniversary of the adoption every year.
When she turned 18 she asked her parents if she could seek out her birth family. They said yes, they gave her all of her adoption paperwork. She called Holt and wrote a letter to her birth parents. They helped her translate it and reached her birth parents. Her birth mom said she wasn’t sure she should see or even speak to her because she didn’t raise her. The girl was sick as an infant and her parents gave her up to someone who could give her better medical care. She said she still wanted to speak with her birth family and one day would love to come to Korea and meet them.
Holt offers tours for adult adoptees. I wonder if I should start saving now. I would love to go with my child back to the country of origin. I would love to take the whole family. I would want seeing the country and even meeting the birth family (though that probably wouldn’t be possible with a Chinese adoption) to be a bonding experience for all of us rather than something I’m self-conscious and insecure about.
For now, we’re continuing to work on our dossier. We won’t be matched with a child (or even look for one) until our dossier is complete. I wouldn’t be surprised if it took us 2 years to complete the adoption. There’s no rush… though it would be nice to hold our child in our arms and know that all the paperwork was complete and correct ;)
First, let me say that centering prayer has been a big aid to my patience, energy and joy. Secondly, my friends have been of great encouragement when I feel worn down. Last week I was frustrated with bedtime stories because no one heard a word I read. But my friend, Samantha, reminded me what a wonderful tradition it is and to slow down, ask questions throughout the chapter, choose different, or more familiar books for bedtime and don’t give up!
Now I have a new tactic that I can implement even when I am alone with the children. I don’t need to wait till I can call a friend for support.
Whenever I feel worn down, exhausted, annoyed, or bored I imagine that my children are fully grown. They have moved out of the house, perhaps across the country in their quest to fulfill the dreams I raised them to dream. I imagine I am 55 years old, arthritic (but still looking great for my age).
I get the chance to travel back in time to 2011, when my kids were 5 and 2. I get just fifteen minutes to be with them and enjoy them at this young age. Suddenly I feel 33! I don’t mind if they want to make a mess, in fact I want them to make a mess. I want to read with them, cook, paint, run, wrestle, tackle a project, or just sit still together. I am amazed at how young we all are. And I don’t feel frustrated, bored, exhausted, annoyed or worn down.
I feel like the Time Traveling Mom.
I dropped Fiction off at preschool and her teacher stopped to speak with me. She said she thwarted an accident last week.
From across the play ground she saw my daughter near the tree house (which hovers about 4 foot off of the ground, a ground littered with shredded rubber). A boy who “can jump off of the tree house” was trying to talk her into jumping. The teacher stopped her. She wanted to make sure I also spoke to my daughter about peer pressure and saying, “no.”
But…
Umm…
If the boy could jump off of the tree house, why couldn’t Fiction?
She’s tall, she’s strong, she’s one of the older kids in the class. It’s possible the boy was a kindergardener but even if he were I still think she could have made the jump.
No, I don’t think she should do it because of peer pressure, but I don’t think she should be scared of the jump because of superior-pressure.
When I spoke with my daughter she said she was scared to jump. I told her it’s good to cautious, but sometimes it’s okay to take small risks. As I child I was afraid to slide down the pole in the playground. I thought my hands would burn, I kept waiting till I had gloves, then I was afraid the gloves would made me slip. What a silly child I was!
For Lent I gave up processed sugar (plus corn syrup, maple syrup and honey.) On Fridays I’ve given up meat and we’ve had one day of fasting so far. In three weeks I lost 5 pounds.
Then I got the flu and in three days I lost an additional 5 pounds! Plus Fury took care of the kids, cleaned the house, cooked the meals… There was a moment when I thought, “God if you want to take me now I will not object.” But other than that having the flu was a highly positive experience. I have never had the flu before and foolishly ignored the great advice to stay hydrated. Now my lips are chapped and when I ate an orange yesterday my throat felt like there were little scratches on it. It still hurts my head to cough and my neck is still stiff. I’m afraid once I get completely over being nauseated that I might <gasp> eat and thwart my weight-loss progress.
I guess I’ll just have to hope to get the flu again next year.
This year I gave up sugar for Lent. I’m still enjoying fruits and vegetables (and Fury is checking the labels on all my juice to make sure I don’t accidentally consume sugar.) I gave up honey, corn syrup and maple syrup as well.
There has been a little debate about “cheating” on Sundays since Sundays are always days of celebration and are not included in the 40 days of Lent. I do indulge a little. One Sunday I tasted Idaho John’s hot cocoa to make sure it wasn’t too hot and then remembered it had sugar in it. Later that day I used the nugget dipping sauces at McDonald’s (all of which have sugar; ranch, hot mustard and BBQ!) Last Sunday I used our powdered creamer in my coffee and it has sugar in it.
It is a sacrafice for me. I love sugar. And everytime I crave sugar I stop to pray. I haven’t been donating the money I’ve saved on sugar yet (maybe I can start trying to track how much it is), and I’m trying to not take pleaure in the five pounds I’ve lost since Lent began.
Sometimes I think it is not enough. I need a stronger exercise to appreciate how blessed I am and what real sacrafice is. I think someday I should give up talking. Maybe not for 40 days but for a day at a time. I wouldn’t be able to do it when I’m working. I would have to give up tv and the computer because it would be unfair to chat with people over the computer or just zone out in front of the tv.
Do you think I could do it on Fridays in Lent? If I have to sub I’ll have to speak but I might be able to work at the gym without speaking. I can let Fury watch tv if he wants to in the evening. I can do centering prayer downstairs. The kids won’t be happy if I can’t read to them all day but it might inspire Fiction to read aloud more.
Can I call my close friends on the phone and just let them talk? Can I write? Use sign language? Play games? I feel like video games should be out. Should I start slow? Allowing computer and tv use and just not speaking? Hmmm… we’ve got 6 days till the enxt friday in Lent. Let’s figure this out.
Fiction and I like to watch and play Super Nanny. Today Fiction wrote her ten house rules…
1. Touch Gently
2. Keep hands to yourself
3. Do the Laundry
4. Go to the Bathroom if you need to.
5. Keep yourself Washed
6. Play very cutely
7. Run only in the gym
8. Love one another
9. Feed the Hungry
10. Go to School
Here are a plethera of ideas from Leon Smith…
Summer
fishing, swimming, berry picking, tide pools, biking, animal observation, picnics, walks (use your walk to practice storytelling and learn plant names), water play (use rollers and a pan of water to let kids “paint” the outside of the house),
mow a labyrinth into the grass or use stones to outline a labryinth
supply kids with fabrics so they can build their own fort (I got old sheets from freecycle)
collect seashells (make a mosaic you can appreciate all year round)
Get a dead fish from DIPAC, use it for dissecting or paint it and then lay a t-shirt or muslin over the fish and pound the print into the fabric -use the muslin for a wall hanging.
Fall
rolling down hills, raking leaves and jumping piles, walks
Make nature art (bring a photo frame or a foil pan for kids to creat art within). Check out the video Rivers and Tides by Goldsworthy
Build fairy houses (check out the books Fairy Houses and More Fairy Houses) Maybe we have a fascination with miniatures because it gives us a Godlike feeling, a feeling of power, control and size.
Use rubber gloves when working with concrete. Pour mortor or conrete in a pizza box (put a little chicken wire in the bottom) to make stepping stones (decorated with handprints, shells stones etc). Put contact paper on the bottom of the box, sticky side up, add shells, then pour concrete to invert your design.
Winter
sledding, snowball fights, snowman and igloo building, flashlight and glowstick play, northern lights, ice skating
Use different dry lentils to make spirals (then clean and cook them for a warm, healthy meal)
Use plastic tub, water and a little food coloring to make ice blocks and ice candle sculptures (freeze them in milk cartons with a smaller carton to make a well for the candle to sit in). Hang your ice art in trees.
Spring
waterplay (to reduce drowning risk and insect spawning use continual flow water). Rain Water Harvesting may not “fly” with licensers because materials come off of roofs with the rain water possibly making it unsafe. Harvested rain water or water tables may require a little bleach or chlorine tablets to comply with regulations. Be sure to fill water tables and barrels fresh daily!
Play with Clay! Roll it flat and draw on it. Use it for sculpture, make clay tiles, print leaves into the clay. The Canvas has kilns you can use (call Louise)
Gardening (in your yard or the community garden)
Make leaf crowns
Remember Indian Rubarb is toxic
Put a dandelion between two pieces of construction paper and flatten it with a hammer, watch the colors come off on the paper)
Build a rock cairn
Field Trips for Homeschoolers, Preschoolers and Daycares!!!! These are notes from the workshop I attended by Rosanna Funk.
Taking several preschoolers and toddlers can be intimidating but it is doable! Get a great big backpack (Costco’s has a nice one, or try Salvation army, of course you can check Freecycle.org, JuneauParents, and if you teach a preschool or run a daycare, ask the parents!)
Fill your backpack with
emergency contact cards (with information on each child),
a plastic sheet for everyone to sit on for picnic time,
a 2 gallon bag with back-up clothes
back-up gloves (once the gloves get wet you’ll want to replace them)
a “bus rope” a bunjee rope with loops, each child holds on to a loop (I don’t use a bus rope but my kids are 3-6 or I only have my two children, I use the buddy system.)
Some of these are Juneau specific but there are great ideas for every town!
Beach (get metal spoons and bowls from Salvation army to use for digging)
Forrest
trails
snowbank (bring food color, digging tools, ice blocks)
DIPAC (our aquarium)
cemetary (yeah, we play in the cemetary)
community garden
parks and playgrounds
downtown (art galleries, fudge shop)
docks (take a moment to close your eyes and listen to the birds, the water and the movement of the docks)
Capitol Building (available for free tours)
Library (story time is a must)
Swampy Acres (call Amy)
Humane Society
Fire and Police Department (call ahead)
Pet Store
Ward Air (to see the helicopters)
elevators and escalators
hospital
TempsCo (heliport)
Alaska Laundry and Dry Cleaner (ask for a tour)
Harri Plumbing (let the kids tell you what things are used for!)
Post Office (call ahead, try a smaller office, hopefully you can get a tour)
bakery (like the Breeze In)
Coast Guard
be Tourist for a Day
Cruise ships
Glacier (the observatory is free right now Thurs, Fri and Saturdays)
Shrine (the labyrinth is a great physical tools for connecting the left brain and the right)
Churches, Synogogs and Temples (The Buddist Temple in Melbourne has food a thrift shop also)
Trolley
Salmon Cannery
Lumberjack show
Black Hawk helicopter
The canvas
A chicken coupe
Horse Farm
School gyms (when it’s rainy or you want a change of pace ask your local school if you can use their gym after hours)
ice rink (in the summer you can rent treadwell arena for $20/hr. There’s no ice but you can use it as a gym for trikes and balls)
Call a school bus company, band together with other rpeschools or daycares to take field trips!
take a ride on the city bus
state museum
city museum
front yard
dentis office
doctor’s office
grocery store
construction site
friday conerts in the state office building
twin lakes
JUMBO GYM
Zach Gordon Youth Center (rock climbing, raquetball court, play area)
school playgrounds
field house
Rainbow foods
Don’t forget to write a thank you note (or have your kids write one!!!)