Remembering

Bohdin making a light up bouncy ball Christmas evening.




I went with just Nyla to the grocery store one evening. Since it was just her I took my old green car. She hasn't been in it since Cora was born. When she got in she looked to the passenger seat and said "That's where you were when we went to the hospital.". I was surprised she remembered. I asked her what else she recalled from that day. She said she saw all of my blood coming out and she remembers a towel covering my feet.

Nyla, Cora, and I went to Half Price Books after Christmas for their big sale. I didn't find many books but Nyla found a bear she really liked. She's been asking for more stuffed animals lately but I've said no to all of them. She already has a lot. This one only cost four dollars and she really did seem to like it so it came home with us. It's been discovered that the bear likes to change clothes as often as Nyla. The bear came to us with story time yesterday and had to be buckled up. Nyla then held a marker in the bear's hand so the bear could also do a craft. She eventually stopped when her hand became tired. I have slept with the bear once and the bear but last night the bear had its own bed.



Buddy has been working half days this week so progress has been made on the kitchen. If Cora wasn't tired and fussy in my lap I would go into detail. The day the electrician came was cold and gray. I suggested we go to the playground. Nyla really wanted to go but the timing didn't work out. Cora was sleeping and than Nyla was sleeping. When she woke up both kids wanted to go to the playground. The sun had already set and it was around 32 degrees outside. Buddy was starving and ordered a pizza with the idea that I would pick it up. I couldn't cook anything because the power was still out. The only problem was that the kids were adamant about going to the playground. I figured we could go outside for a few minutes but the cold would make them want to turn around right away. I was wrong. We were at the playground for more than 30 minutes.

White Christmas

We've been learning about Christmas celebrations around the world this month and a few have been added to our house. Bohdin wanted to put out a stocking and shoes to be filled Christmas Eve. Many countries put out shoes with various people doing the filling. My favorite was the Italian witch. Bohdin didn't have a specific person in mind when he put out his shoes. The other tradition the kids loved was the Icelandic elves. They have hilarious names like Sausage Snatcher and Doorway Sniffer. The kids pretended to chase them around the house until they would finally leave. We should have spent more time with American stuff because I found at story time the kids don't know the names of Santa's reindeer. To be fair the Iceland stuff is a lot funner.



Bohdin slept in late Christmas morning and Nyla and I finally woke him up after nine. I knew Nyla would be her usual expressive self when opening presents so I recorded some of her unwrappings. She loved everything and usually squealed with delight and hugged the present. Her favorite present is the tutu made by Aunt Angie. She practiced being a ballerina for a long time yesterday. She was also a princess, dog, fairy, marching band member, and some other things. She also enjoyed the Max and Ruby dvd and the baby feeding set. Bohdin was his usual self when opening presents also. He has a quiet enthusiasm. His favorite present was the Playmobil conveyor belt from Paul and Jenn. I have a picture of him down below opening a rock I found on clearance at Marshalls. When he saw it in the store he asked in shock why they were selling it. He said it should be in a museum. Some of Bohdin's other presents were of course the Playmobil farm that he has been opening for the past month, binoculars and a constellation guide, and a cooperative game. He received Castle Panic but I got Pandemic which is another cooperative game. He played once with us last night. Of the three time Buddy and I played we only lost the time Bohdin was playing with us although it had nothing to do with him. Just luck of the draw.





When I asked Bohdin which present was his favorite he hugged me.  When I hugged him back he said the hug was his favorite.  Nyla chooses a different present each time.  Right now she is dancing around the house in her tutu and wand singing "Ballerinas never give up."

It snowed Friday night so we sort of had a white Christmas. Grass blades were still peeking up but it was better than nothing. The kids spent some time playing outside but somehow managed to become very muddy. We had another light dusting last night. We didn't get nearly as much snow as predicted but it's better than the rain that will be coming for New Years.

I talked to Bohdin about how he had behaved Thursday when his friends were over. He told me he didn't know how to play Playmobil with a group. That made a lot of sense to me. I'm glad he was able to articulate it so well.

Rhyming

Bohdin was really enthusiastic about the rhyming game last week and wanted to play it all of the time.  Nyla was quite opposed to anybody playing the game because she doesn't know how to play.  One day all of us were in the car and we were playing the rhyming game.  Normally Bohdin shouts out a word followed rapidly by words and nonwords that rhyme.  I normally wait for his initial rush to be over before adding any of my own.  Last Sunday he chose a word and didn't start rhyming.  The word he chose was whore.  Buddy and I just looked at each other until Buddy finally asked if he said pour.  Bohdin said no the word was whore.  Once again there was a long pause. Buddy asked again if he meant pour.  Bohdin said no it's whore.  Finally we realized he was saying the word "ore".  It sure sounded different from the front seat.  We haven't played the rhyming game since that night.

Nyla has been complaining recently of her legs being too tired to let her either walk or climb the stairs.  The walking part would be more believable if she didn't try to prove it by hopping and dramatically falling down repeatedly.  It happens more frequently for the stairs.  She wants somebody to carry her either up or down the stairs usually once per day.  Last week she cried at the bottom of the steps right before we were leaving for somewhere.  I finally convinced her to crawl up the stairs.  I had to work to restrain my amusement.   She looked exactly like the old movie scenes of somebody desperately thirsty crawling the last few feet to an oasis.  She managed to do this all the way up the stairs.  Once at the top she hopped up and ran to the car.  This morning she couldn't walk anywhere because she was out of electricity.  When I offered her batteries she told me she wasn't a machine. 

Nyla's other problem is that their is a mouse in her room.  Not a real mouse.  An imaginary mouse that prevents her from entering at times.  She says it is not a friendly mouse.  This means she wants me to get her clothes in the morning.  I wish the mouse prevented her from changing five times a day instead of just out of her jammies.

We had some friends over yesterday for the kids to play with.  It's a family with four kids and was actually the first kids we met at playgroup here.  We haven't seen much of them this fall so we got together here.  It was their first time to our house.  Bohdin and Nyla were both super excited. Nyla wanted to play trains with somebody and Bohdin wanted to play tag.  Everybody but Bohdin did play trains for a while but then he went outside with the eldest girl.  When they came back in Bohdin complained that nobody wanted to play with him.  They were all playing with the Playmobil stuff at this point.  So everybody dropped that to play duck duck goose.  Then they played hide and go seek per Bohdin's request.  Then they went back to the Playmobil things they had wanted to play with and Bohdin moped again.  He wasn't at his best yesterday.  I hope they would be willing to come back and give Bohdin another chance.  Although now that I think about it he is often like this around them.  At playgroup they would try hard to include him but he would just mope around when they wouldn't do what he said.  I wonder why he does this mostly with them.  I'll have a talk with him about it today.

Handmade

Cora is five months old now. She's over the little cold that she had on the weekend. It was really more of a sporadic cough. I never had to suction out her nose. She did sound really junky a few times but it would go away 15 minutes later. I had it and the kids have it now also. It seems to be more of a feeling o sickness rather than actual symptoms. Anyway I tried to get some pictures of Cora but she'snot very photogenic. I took the sleeping picture yesterday and was amazed the camera was seeing a different baby than I was. She's cuter in person



I was at Costco last week and saw their selection of handmade cards. The snowman looked cute and easy so I thought the kids could do that. I forgot that there is a difference between handmade and handmade by a three and six year old. Nyla did the pink ones with some help. Bohdin did the purple ones all by himself. Paul and Jenn had one specifically made for them by Nyla but everybody else who is getting a card will get one randomly.

Rainbow

We started making a rainbow ice wreath on Tuesday. Later that day the kids wanted to make rainbow cookies. The cookie snatcher elf seemed to take all of the cookies so we'll make more cookies today. The wreath wasn't hung up until yesterday. The forecast is going to remain pretty cold for the next few days so it should be around a while.

There was an ice storm Wednesday night. The kids went out Thursday and Friday to play in the ice. They had fun slipping around on the driveway. It's Sunday now and finally starting to melt. The driveway melted yesterday but the bushes and grass outside are still covered in ice.





Bohdin had his last day of soccer practice on Friday. Starting in January he's going to move up to the 5-6 year old group. Unfortunately that means we'll have to go in the evenings now. It should be a good move for him. There were a lot of four year olds in the 4-5 class and Bohdin seemed out of place ability wise. The last day they played some dodgeball kind of games and Bohdin was the last one out because he was bigger. He had to dribble the ball past the crabs (everbody who was already out). He actually hated the crab game and started crying because he didn't want to ever be a crab. I talked to his next coach who seems really nice. He said he would watch out for Bohdin. I'm really glad we went this route instead of signing him up for a league. The noncompetive building of skills is going to make him like soccer way more than being on a team would at this age.

Bohdin has been even more sensitive recently. He has been really sad lately. He watched Prince of Egypt which made him cry not just during the movie but days later when he would think about it. He has had a lot of sad thoughts in his head lately most of which he doesn't want to talk about.

Art

The kids have been doing a lot of art and some of it has been okay. Above is one of my recent favorites. Bohdin and Nyla worked on it together. The downside is the mess and the fact that I have to refill the small containers of paint from the larger one. I think it takes me more time to refill than for the kids to empty the squeeze tubes. Those squeeze tubes are their current favorite way to paint.

We had a bit of snow Sunday so the kids took advantage of it on Monday. I started this blog post nine hours ago. There is just no good time to do this. Right now Nyla is crying because she is tired. I'm cooking Buddy's dinner because he came home late. Cora has a poopy diaper. Bohdin is sad because Buddy just came home and I told him he can't play computer. He's being punished for playing it earlier in the day. At least the pictures below show happy times. Bohdin made a pillow house yesterday and again today. Duty calls.

Saturday

There were a lot of fun holiday activities around town on Saturday but we could only do two. In the morning we went to Gavin's school and did crafts. We came home with soap covered in felted wool and beeswax candles. The candles were similar to the ones we made at the state fair but bigger and blue. The kids were also able to decorate them with colored pieces of beeswax. The funnest part for the kids was going outside and playing with Gavin. One of the biggest strengths of the Waldorf model is the awesome outdoor space. Bohdin had fun running around the spiral the older kids had made and then doing the zip line. I bet the kids would like one of those in our yard.




After that we headed to the history museum for the holidays around the world event. Bohdin was most excited about the Hanukkah stuff. He made a paper dreidel and was able to play with a wooden one. He and Nyla were also able to play with an actual dreidel. We played several rounds of the game. After Hanukkah we made a yule bell, picked up Diwali coloring sheets, saw Christmas trees decorated in various styles, decorated an ornament, and tried some European Christmas treats. We had to rush through stuff and even skip some because Nyla was getting tired and hungry. By the time we left she was crying and distraught. There was a light rain outside and she nearly didn't make it down the block to Subway. When we made it inside she sat on the floor with her back resting on the wall. She was crying and fussy so Bohdin sat down and hugged her. When I looked down she had somehow ended up in his lap. Then they stood up and played around the poles. I completed the order listening to Nyla laugh. We took the food to the car and I didn't hear any complaints from Nyla on the way there. In fact she said last one to the car is a rotten sandwich. She was quite pleased that she was the rotten sandwich. She doesn't really understand yet that the point is to not be the rotten thing.

Best

I blew up a lot of balloons for Bohdin's birthday just like I had done for Nyla. One night just before bed he threw it up in the air and it stuck to the ceiling. He loved it and spent quite a bit of time trying to recreate it the next day. He had two balloons on the ceiling and was quite proud. He made me take a picture.



The theme for Wednesday's story time was gingerbread men. Gingerbread Man is one of Nyla's favorite stories so after a bit of prodding she sat next to Bohdin. She really enjoyed all of the singing and dancing. When Buddy came home that night Nyla told him she did the best at storytime because she did everything she was told. That actually is quite an achievement for her. She's growing up.

We're taking a break from geography right now to learn about Christmas around the world. I checked out a cd with global Christmas music and put it on yesterday. Bohdin loves one of the songs from Cuba. He has played it over and over and over and over. He's been sort of ballet dancing to it. This is not the kind of song I would choose to listen to repeatedly. It can best be described as the kind of song one would play at a retirement home Christmas dance.

I put Cora on the floor last night per Nyla's request. She likes having her on the back on the floor so she can play with her. Nyla stepped away to do something and Cora rolled over onto her belly. She then started scooting backward. She ended up near a dirty paintbrush and Bohdin's pile of change. We are not ready to have a crawler in the house. It's going to be an adjustment for us. This morning Cora found some construction paper and had that in her mouth.

Nyla wanted to take a piece of paper to Bohdin's soccer practice this morning so she could do art. I brought the paper inside but didn't know what she was going to do with it. I carry crayons in my purse and they have crayons to use there so I thought she was going to color. I turned away to watch Bohdin. When I turned back to Nyla she had pulled glue, stickers, and puff balls out of her pocket. I didn't realize she was so prepared. Bohdin did well at soccer practice. There was only one coach there today for six boys. They were shooting goals today so there was a line of soccer balls and a line of goals. After the second time Bohdin went over to the coach to help her get the balls out of the goal. I was so proud of him for thinking of helping her.

Birthday

Gavin came over for a small birthday celebration on Sunday. In keeping with tradition we made Bohdin an ugly cake. We are not cake decorators. I really wanted to just buy him a cake but he refused. Gavin received a state quarter map, paper money folder thing and asmall bag filled with some quarters and dollar coins. The small bag was relegated to his collection of special things.




Cora is being really fussy right now in my lap. She has a desperate need to chew so we think she might be teething. My time is up.

Thanksgiving

I didn't want to advertise the fact that our house was empty so I delayed posting until we came back home. Two weeks ago we set off for Texas. I spent days beforehand cleaning and packing so I wouldn't freak out about not getting things done the day of departure. The house did look okay at one point but by the time we left it was in disarray. Buddy walked in the door first when we arrived home and thought that the house had been ransacked. It was but only by our children as I was loading the car prior to leaving.

We picked Buddy up Friday night to leave from post to save time. With all of that advance prep in packing I managed to forget to pack underwear so I stopped on post to pick some up. I later learned that I forgot several pairs of pants as well. I must pack better under pressure. The first night we made it to Jackson TN. It was after 1am when we stopped. The kids slept pretty much the whole way.

Nyla woke us up bright and early Saturday morning. We drove forever before arriving in Texas to meet up with friends. I expected Bohdin would have loads of fun with their just turned seven year old daughter and that was true. I've called dibs on her for Bohdin later in life. We had a lot of fun visiting with them and their three wonderful children. We left Sunday morning to go meet more friends in Fort Worth. During all of this driving Cora actually did the best in the car. She did an awesome job. Nyla was Nyla and Bohdin was a bit whiny which is what dropped him into second. When we were close to Ft. Worth, Bohdin, Buddy, and I were playing the quiet game. We had played several rounds with various winners. During one of the games Cora started getting a touch fussy - not crying just dissatisfied. Bohdin finally said "I really want to win but I want Cora to stop crying more". Then he started singing to Cora so she would feel better. It made me feel like a jackass. He's definitely the better person.

After visiting with friends we headed to Buddy's parents house across town. It had been a long trip and it felt good to finally arrive. We spent nine days and eleven nights there. The kids did all sorts of things. They played Wii, watched movies, spent time with their cousins, played ping pong, and numerous other things. Papa managed to outlast Nyla on the swing a few times which is quite a feat. She can usually swing longer than somebody wants to spend swinging her.

Buddy bought a rocket to launch for Bohdin's birthday. He set it up the day after Thanksgiving. I waited with the camera for a really long time but they couldn't get it to work. As I was about to go in the rocket launched. There were no more launches that day. Buddy tried again on Tuesday and had three successful launches. The problem was with the batteries in the ignition. Once a good pair were put in everything went smoothly.

Wednesday morning we left for the long return trip home. Our first stop was Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas where we searched for diamonds. Since we didn't arrive until afternoon the kids were hungry and then tired. I think I spent as much time searching for diamonds as I did doing various things for the kids. Nyla used the bathroom three times. Once the novelty of the digging and searching wore off the kids realized how tired they were. I took them to the car while Buddy searched more. In the end we came home with Playmobil treasure but no diamonds.

We stopped in Memphis for a very late dinner because Bohdin had such a long nap in the car. Central BBQ is supposed to be one of the best in the city. I have never been wowed by any BBQ place and this one was no exception for me. Bohdin on the other hand really enjoyed it and asked to go back again sometime. He liked the spicy beans. We drove a really long time on Wednesday so we wouldn't have to drive as long on Thursday which was Bohdin's birthday. I'm afraid that Bohdin once again had a rather bum birthday. It is Friday afternoon now and I still haven't blown up his balloons or made him a cake. We'll do something this weekend to celebrate. The only thing we wanted to celebrate yesterday was not being in the car anymore. It was a super long drive and not one we want to repeat for quite some time.

Trip

More Pictures

Thanksgiving pictures