Google problems

Normally I can post pictures through Picasa but there is a problem right now that google is trying to address.  Hopefully it is done quickly because it's not as easy to upload them any other way.   This time it should work though.

Pictures

New door

I have a friend we see sometime that was very pregnant. She emailed and invited anybody in the area to stop by sometime since they were homebound. Monday I needed to go toward her side of town. I gave the kids a choice of going to the science museum or her house and they chose her house. Bohdin played with the older girls but Nyla felt left out. Bohdin was the youngest in the group. The five year old boy also felt left out so toward the end he and Nyla started playing together. We didn't stay long because I still had to go to Costco and I didn't want to keep Cora awake too long. All of the kids were tired on the way home but only Cora and Bohdin fell asleep. Nyla stayed awake to give herself a bath using a cup of water and a paper towel. I don't know how she managed to get so wet with so little water. Her clothes and hair was wet. As we pulled into our neighborhood she was done with a bath and wanted to go to sleep. I kept her awake. The local door guy who built our door arrived soon after. I'm so glad we went with him because the service was better and the price was comparable if not better. He came out to measure to make sure we ordered the right size and also delivered it. Buddy installed the door that night. It's so much better than the piece of junk we had before. In the strong winds we had last week the old door nearly fell off. I saw the whole frame moving. I'm still getting used to all of the light. I keep thinking that the door is blown open. The old door would blow open on occasion. We haven't had a strong wind since installation but I think this one will stay shut once we get a lock on it today. Tuesday morning the friend we visited the day before was in labor. She invited people to come over and be with them. We showed up after lunch several hours after the baby was born. Childbrith seems like more of a miracle when it's not my child. I saw her pregnant one day and the next day there was a human being. When I'm pregnant I've known the baby for months. Birth just changes the baby's location. It was neat to see. We didn't stay long. There were quite a few people there and Bohdin didn't get to play with M- at all.

Yesterday we just stayed home so Cora could catch up on sleep. We didn't even make it to story time. I cleaned up a little which gave Bohdin and Nyla the perfect opportunity to make a line of cushion boats and make it snow with pompoms.

Pictures

These are the pictures that didn't load last time.

Trying so hard

Bohdin and Nyla were excited that The Little Einsteins DVD was ready for them at the library. On Wednesday I watched Nyla nearly break it while taking it out of the case and told her that somebody else had to take it out for her. Buddy and I have been talking a long time about getting a DVR but every time I call they refuse to lower the price for me. Finally I broke down and decided to pay the full price. Without asking for it I actually did receive a discount this time. I was excited to tell the kids that now we could record Little Einsteins. As I was walking downstairs to tell them Nyla was walking upstairs crying. She had broken the Little Einsteins DVD from the library. She took it out herself despite my warning on Wednesday. Nyla was very sorry. She cries when she is sorry. I hugged her and she told me that she "tries so hard to be good". I thought that was so sweet. She really does try hard. We had to go to Target to buy the DVD. It is cheaper for me to replace it than pay the library to replace it. Last weekend when we were outside planting peas the weather was amazing. The highs were in the 70s and low 80s. A cold front came through and we have been in the 30s and 40s for several days. There was even a light dusting of snow on Sunday. The lettuce we planted hasn't sprouted yet but the lettuce that went to seed last year is looking good. I need to get out there and do some weeding. Some time last week a tree broke in the woods and fell on the fence in our backyard.

Cora has been a challenge this past week. I put her on the floor when I'm cooking or cleaning. She normally has zero interest in baby toys. Instead she'll hunt for something inappropriate to put in her mouth. If she can't find anything she'll crawl to me and pull herself to a standing position using my leg. I can't get anything done with a baby hanging from my leg so I have to pick her up. I already have to carry her when we go out of the house. She doesn't like sitting in shopping carts very much. I don't want to carry her inside as well.

Something to Tell Me

I was upstairs with a sleeping Cora while the kids were playing.  They played in the front yard for a while and then came inside.  When it was quiet I put headphones on and watched an old episode of Glee I missed.  When Cora woke up I came down and Bohdin said he had something to tell me that I might not want to hear.  While Cora was sleeping he had found some Playmobil toys I had hidden for a later time.  An online retailer is shutting down so I bought a few things for Easter and whatnot.  Bohdin found them on the upper shelf of the front closet.  He told me how he had figured out a way to reach them.  Then he and Nyla went down to the basement and opened them.  I was glad that he told me since I would have found out anyway.  I was not glad that he had opened them.  When I asked what he was doing in that closet he said that he was going to get the fireworks out.  He doesn't understand why he can't play with fireworks without me or Buddy but I think he'll refrain.  Just in case they are going to be moved.  I also have to keep my ears open from now on when the kids are awake.  It's a good thing it was the Playmobil toys and not the fireworks. 

We were outside planting more peas and lettuce last night when some flying insects came around.  Nyla tried to shoo them away.  "This is a planting area not a flying area."  We may be doing all this work for nothing.  The rabbits probably ate our pea plants last year.  Inches away from the area we planted Buddy spotted rabbit poop and deer tracks.  Bohdin loves harvesting peas more than anything else so we may put some in pots. 

Lights

Buddy spent the weekend putting lights into the kitchen. He was relieved when it all worked. I never had any doubts that it would. Now the challenge is fixing it because we don't like it. There is not enough light and we have to figure out how to fix it.

While Buddy was doing electrical the kids and I worked in the yard. Our front lawn became progressively worse last year so I wanted to pull up some of the weeds and reseed. We also planted peas and lettuce in the back or started at least. I had to leave to feed Cora. Bohdin prepped the soil and planted all of the peas while I was gone. The prep looks good and we'll find out in a few weeks how well he planted. Cora spent much of the weekend being fussy. She didn't want to be down or held or anything we could figure out. I'm wondering if she'll be getting a new tooth soon.

Talking

Bohdin's favorite game in soccer practice is Sharks and Minnows.  The coaches kick the ball and try to hit the kids.  If a child is hit they have to lay on the ground until somebody jumps over their legs.  They usually play before practice begins.  Bohdin complains that the kids don't jump over his legs.  It's actually a problem other kids have as well since Bohdin is the one most often saving the kids.  If he is down other kids lay for a long time as well.  I thought it might be beneficial if he was friendlier to some of the other kids and maybe they would look out for him.  I told him that when he walked into practice this week I wanted him to look one the kids in the eye and say hi.  I'm not sure if he did or not.  Everybody was already playing by the time we arrived. 

Bohdin is in a different class this session with some older kids this time.  The class is for 6 and up.  It's the same coaches though and they are used to dealing with his crying by now.  He still cries at least once every practice.  The thing that has changed is that he doesn't run out to me for a hug anymore.  He goes to his coaches.  They are really good with him.  They sort of cheat for him a little bit to help him out.  For instance they play a game where you have to dribble the ball from one end to the other.  In the middle the coaches are crabs that try to kick your ball away.  If your ball is kicked away you become a crab also.  Bohdin is so slow and meticulous that the coaches could easily get him out the first run through but they never do.  I'm not sure how much it helps because Bohdin is sad whenever he becomes a crab even though it happens to everyone each time.  He loves soccer and is excited to go every week.  He even wishes it was longer.

Another homeschooling mom put together a public speaking event for elementary kids.  We haven't done it but I decided it might be good for him.  We showed up on Friday for the monthly meeting.  I didn't expect Bohdin to participate.  We just went to observe in the hopes that he could someday be comfortable enough to do it.  He enjoyed it.  The kids were nice.  There were two older girls in particular that were great.  I loved how their comments to everyone at the end of a presentation was a compliment to the presenter.  Bohdin has talked about doing it next month and we may try.  My idea so far is to have Bohdin and Nyla do it together.  If I make Nyla memorize what they want to say it could work.  At some point she may fail and I think Bohdin would be most comfortable speaking in front of a crowd by helping Nyla. 

When we came home Bohdin was looking forward to playing with the neighbor girls.  One had asked him to play on Thursday but he told her he couldn't because of soccer practice.  Bohdin put his shoes on as soon as he heard the bus pull up at 5.  Both he and Nyla went over to play for a few minutes.  Watching him interact with the girls made me think how silly it is to force him to speak to random people.  Bohdin has always had his own time line in developing skills and nothing I do moves that time line up. 

While Bohdin was waiting for the school bus he was looking at his Playmobil magazine.  He asked me to help him read a certain portion.  I told him to read to me and I would help him when he came to a word he didn't know.  He only needed help with a few words.  I was amazed at how many big words he could read.  His reading has improved so much.  I haven't asked him to read a book in months.   His reading practice is reading board game rules.  He likes to get the board games out and play with them on his own.  Sometimes he'll set them up and read the rules.  Often he combines several games together and makes up rules. 

Boss

I was filling paint bottles while Bohdin and Nyla were playing with marbles. Cora was in between them and me watching and playing with her own stuff. Nyla wandered off to the other room for a minute and Cora started crawling toward the marbles. Bohdin shouted out to Nyla in the other room
Bohdin - Nyla, can you move Cora or something?
Nyla - Yes boss, I mean Bohdin.
me - (I start chuckling a little bit and grab a paper and pencil to write this down)
Bohdin - Don't say that. Did you say something funny?
Nyla - Yes. I said toothpick!

A few minutes later she called him boss again. I asked Bohdin why she called him that. Bohdin didn't know but Nyla overheard and said "Because I don't know Bohdin's name!".




Nyla and Cora were together while I was cooking dinner.  They both started crying so I wen to investigate.  Somehow Cora bonked her head and Nyla felt responsible.  She was very sorry so she was crying.  I picked up Cora and patted Nyla on her back and said something.  I should have hugged her.  Since she needed a hug she went to Bohdin who hugged her until she felt better.

Bohdin likes that he can pick up Cora and has also discovered that he can make her walk. I think he enjoys it more than she does.



This morning we were talking about tsunamis as we watched a program on the history channel about them. Nyla wasn't able to say tsunami correctly and said tsumommy instead. We went to the library and then several other places. Cora only slept 30 minutes in the car so when I was making dinner she fell sound asleep on my back. It didn't last long enough though. In the past 10 hours she has only slept about one hour which is not nearly enough for her. She does not do well when we go out. At least she ate.

Cleaning

Cora is becoming more and more mobile so I have been busy cleaning. Nyla does art at least once per day and putting things away is not her specialty. At least once per day I have to put away paint, glue, scissors, and whatever else she used and left on the floor. As soon as the kitchen is done if not sooner I'm going to move the art supplies where Cora can't reach. They are mostly behind doors right now but
it's just a matter of time. She is already pulling things off shelves and pulling herself up. She has been working hard on standing and there has been a huge improvement. She can also crawl a short distance with her belly off the ground. This just makes her explore further so I'm still in a mad rush to make things safer.



Thursday we stopped at a friend's house to play before soccer practice. The kids are into trains so we took some of our trains over and a few buildings. My kids don't like trains quite as much but the other kids had fun. Bohdin and Nyla wanted to play with their fun and new toys as opposed to their own tired and old toys. We'll do it again next month probably. Since we were on that side of town we stopped at the bookstore and Costco prior to practice. I told Nyla she could choose three books and I approved her choices from the clearance section. It turns out she put another Dora book in the pile. I didn't notice until we were home. It was a five dollar book as opposed to the 50 cent books I had said yes to. I told Nyla that I didn't say yes to that one. She responded "Well you should have put it somewhere I couldn't see it.". I'm not sure if that means I can't take her to the bookstore any more. There are lots of books she might like that I'm not getting. I can't hide them all. Actually she has to go at least one more time when we return that Dora book.

The basement stinks and I can't figure out what is causing it. I asked both kids and neither have a good explanation. Nyla told me she did it but "it is for me to find out" what she spilled. I still haven't found out and the stink is getting worse. I did find a wet spot but I just don't know. I know it wasn't the nuts that Bohdin suggested. Probably partly from the stink and partly because the basement was taken over by a long train track the kids decided to play upstairs and set up a farm. Bohdin had trouble leaving Sunday to go to Lowes because he was in the process of baking Playmobil bread.



Saturday we were supposed to go to the zoo for Amelia's birthday party. I had the time wrong in my head so by the time we showed up late the party was over. Bohdin and Nyla were sad to have missed out on the cake. We did still get to spend time with Gavin and Amelia. Nyla wrapped up her stuffed snowman to give to her while Bohdin grabbed some fruit leather. She seemed to enjoy both presents.

Alien Invasion

The bodies of Bohdin and Nyla have been taken over by polite aliens and I love it. They've been playing together spectacularly. Bohdin offered to read to Nyla during lunch and read her three books. That night he asked if he could help with dinner. I gave Bohdin and Nyla the pot of boiled potatoes and they made mashed potatoes. While I found them to be dry and bland Bohdin declared them delicious. Once the mashed potatoes were done he asked if he could do anything else. I told him he could tear the lettuce leaves. They both cheered and Nyla was so overcome with joy that she hugged Bohdin and said thank you. I don't know who these kids are but I like them.
Bohdin even danced today at story time which is so unusual for him.



For school recently we've been doing review. I don't mind because I want him to have a really firm grasp of small addition and subtraction. Today Bohdin chose to do a new math lesson. We haven't cracked open the math book since January. The lesson today was numbers greater than 10. So it showed that 16 is 10 + 6 and so on. He didn't have any trouble grasping that and finished the workbook quickly. Tonight I was reviewing it with him. I thought he might like to know why he was learning that so I told him it would be important when he wanted to add larger numbers like nine plus eight. "Seventeen" he responded. "Do you know how I knew that? I took one away from the 8 and added it to the 9 to make 10 then there were 7 more. 17." I guess he doesn't need the math lessons. Later I told Buddy who quizzed him with a few more problems. He had no trouble doing the math in his head. I wonder if he will grow up to do math. It comes so easily to him. Nyla will grow up to be a dancing ballerina princess and Bohdin will be an engineer.

We play a game where the kids invent flavors of tea for me to drink. Bohdin likes to pair a fruit with a land form so he will give me blackberry mountain and things like that. Nyla is all over the place with her tea names. Tonight she was going to serve me a tea she called penis pie but then decided that would be yucky and gave me bean pie which she thought was a yummy name for a tea. She also offered me tea made with soap and toothpaste. Yum! Bohdin delved into medicial teas tonight. I had to drink a tea that tasted like gasoline to offset the effects of my pretend wasp bite. Then he offered a tea in a whispery voice which was very powerful. If I took one sip then I would have a baby the next day. Even though he repeatedly told me it was just pretend I hesitated to drink the tea. Hopefully I don't have a male baby tomorrow. Two years ago he told Nyla that she would have a baby sister and now she does. I'm a little leery of his baby voodoo.

Maple Syrup Festival

There is a small maple syrup festival held every year about an hour away on the site of a maple syrup farm. Bohdin was excited to see how maple syrup is made. I couldn't talk him out of it despite temperatures in the upper 30s. We bundled up and drove out there. We have had a lot of rain recently so it was also quite muddy. The staff promised to push anybody out who became stuck. There was a tractor pulling a trailer with hale bales from the parking field which we had to wait for. It was worth the short wait because Bohdin loved it. The first thing we did was catch the tour. Bohdin liked it but Nyla was impatient to get some of the popcorn so many people were carrying. We spent several hours and the kids really liked it. They are already asking when we can go again. This morning I asked Bohdin and Nyla what the liked.

Bohdin:
Doing the scavenger hunt (After completing the scavener hunt they were given small bags of maple cotton candy. Bohdin said it tasted much better than regular cotten candy.)
Watching water being evaporated from the sap
Playing with M- (We ran into some friends there near the end)
Eating maple syrup (It was fantastic maple syrup. Definitely the best I've had. We brought some home.)

Nyla:
The tree house. .... All the people scared me. I didn't want to be scared. When there are not so much people in the tree house I will go there.
Making a candle (Each of the kids made a hand dipped candle. Bohdin was able to do his by himself. I helped Nyla because her hand would get tired after dipping a few times.)

I was hoping to get more out of them but they ran away to go play. Nyla yelled out "Time to play! No time to stop! Play! Play! Play!".




I was dipping Nyla's candle a few last times when the lady running the area noticed Cora's eyes watching my every dip. She thought Cora looked cute and wanted to take a picture. Cora stayed awake almost the entire time we were there. She refused to eat despite many attempts on my part. She fell asleep as we were walking to the car over five hours since her last nap and meal. I was able to get her to eat while she slept. She remained asleep as I buckled her up but was awake when I started the car most likely because Nyla couldn't resist holding her hand and shaking it. Despite the lack of sleep she didn't cry at all on the way there or back. I expect her to sleep a lot today.



We're allowing Bohdin to trade in his unused tv time for money. He told me this morning he is saving for the Playmobil train which has been on his wishlist for years. That train is no longer available anywhere in the United States and they just stopped manufacturing it. I'm sure there are still many to be had in Europe but they are in Europe. In addition the engine which is the part he wants is ridiculously expensive. It's been on his want list for a long time and will remain there. I couldn't bear to tell him this morning that even if he tries hard they may all be gone by the time he gets enough money. Who knos what will happen. Maybe the Euro will crash and he can get a good exchange rate.

Desperate

Cora desperately wants to stand. She tries really really hard to do it by pulling up on anything she can find although the most convenient thing is me. When she finally stands she is so unsteady she seems to be dancing. Her hips shake around as she tries so hard to stand still. With all the practice she's had over the last few days she does seem to be getting better. She also really wants to be able to crawl on all fours. Several times per day she'll get on all fours from a sitting position and rock forward a bit. In the end she just goes back to sitting. Someday very soon she'll be crawling fast. I'm still trying to keep up with her crawling slow. I'm pretty sure she ate a piece of styrofoam yesterday. On Thursday she ate some of Nyla's dark chocolate peanut butter sandwich. It's the first food she has eaten that she actually likes. Of course it's also a food she is not supposed to be eating yet. When the kids were painting yesterday I had to work hard to keep her away. I was cleaning brushes and glanced over to see Cora looking out the window. It looked like a great shot so I grabbed the camera as fast as I could. Just before I took the picture Nyla went over. Cora turned around and I tried to take a picture fast. As I was taking the picture I noticed Cora was not just happily looking out the window but rather eating art.

The kids were doing silly poses as I was taking pictures. Nyla said she looked like a hot dog in her yoga pose below.

Pictures

I know the pictures didn't post earlier.  Cora had just woken up and we had 19 minutes before story time began.  The kids weren't dressed and I wasn't sure if Bohdin had eaten breakfast yet.  The books weren't packed either so there just wasn't any time.  We arrived at story time about 10 minutes late.  Bohdin normally goes in before me since it takes so much time to unbuckle the girls, get Cora strapped on, and grab the heavy library bags.  Nyla almost always waits with me.  I don't trust her to cross the street so unless I get a close parking spot she has to stay with me.  I forgot that they were videotaping this story time for local tv.  There were a ton of kids there many of whom I've never seen before.  I wouldn't say it was a usual story time.  It was actually more boring than usual. It didn't help that it was the boring librarian that did story time today. 

Friends

Cora had a bite of pear this weekend and thought it was the worst tasting thing ever. I didn't come back in time to capture the funny face she made when tasting it. By the time I came back she was tired and not in the mood to try that yucky thing again. She's going to be a late eater. I gave her a pea last week and probably through coincidence she threw it right back up. She was throwing up a lot last week because of all the mucus which is why it could have been coincidence. It looks like she'll be sticking to chewing on shoes for a while instead of food.

Bohdin and Nyla have been playing better than ever this week. I don't know the reason for the change. They are playing Playmobil together which is something they weren't able to do well in the past. On Monday morning I went down and the mailman was delivering 20 invitations to the Playmobil kids for a party later that day. Somewhere along the line the story involved two firetrucks, cargo, treasure stealing, a boat full of food, and who knows what else. In fact they were so busy I don't think the party even happened that day. Bohdin has been looking for somebody to play Playmobil with him for a long time and I'm glad he finally found someone. I hope it lasts.

Nyla woke up early yesterday so everybody woke up early. I thought it might be a good day to go to Ikea since the kids could sleep in the car. We needed some of the base cabinets so Buddy could get the framing finalized and bring the plumbers back. Buddy was concerned about the kids driving so much in one day. It was a valid concern for Cora. I was concerned though about Buddy going on the weekend when they are crazy busy. Cora did have some rough moments on the drive both there and back. She really prefers to sleep and eat at home. Even if she is in the carrier at a store now she'll complain. The only exception may be if we are outside. Bohdin had to sing to her for a really long time. Bohdin's voice is the only one that will calm her down so the responsibility fell to him. I was really grateful and proud that he would do it for so long without complaint. On the ride back it was about 20 minutes before she fell asleep. Cora has a really high pitched squeal when she is unhappy but thankfully she didn't use it in the car.

Ikea was not busy at all yesterday. I dropped off Bohdin and Nyla in the kid area for the first time. In the one hour I had before needing to pick them up I was able to buy what I needed and load up the car. The kids loved the play area. The lady told me that they both did great. Nyla started crying on the way out and the lady swore that she had been fine up to that point. I believe her. Nyla just seemed mad that she couldn't figure out the childproof door to get out. They want to come back to Ikea again to play there.

The sun was out yesterday and the girls across the street were playing outside. They play outside nearly every day that the weather is decent. I told Bohdin he could go over. Nyla, Cora, and I went as well. Bohdin brought the soccer ball over and some bubbles. We weren't there too long because Buddy came home and the girls had to leave for gymnastics. I think we'll see a lot more of them in the coming months. When we crossed the street to our house Nyla was sad and wished she had some cousins like Bohdin. Nyla really wants some playmates. She loved playing with the girl at soccer practice but we're not going to see her again. They're not signing up for this next session. Maybe there will be another girl this week. Hopefully I can find some friends for Nyla soon. Somebody who wants to pretend to be a ballerina princess with her and do silly girl stuff.

Bohdin has been doing art lessons. Well only two so far. I keep meaning to do another one but he's always too busy playing. We have hardly done any schoolwork recently either. A few weeks ago Bohdin and Nyla watched the lesson on mixing colors together. Bohdin did the art work the way he was shown but Nyla decided to do her own thing. She must have learned something because when she was painting the other day she was mixing colors to make new ones. She has several shades of blue there on the paper and declared her new favorite color to be blue. It didn't last long because her favorite color is once again pink.



Sometimes Nyla complains in the morning that she can't get up, her legs don't work, there is a pink bunny in her room, she can't walk, it's too cold, etc and I need to pick out her clothes. I tell her I will do it but I will choose something other than pink. She generally yells no and zips by me to go pick out a pink outfit.

Nyla has always been a bandaid fan. When I buy them at the store I think of them as stickers. She is wearing three bandaids on her fingers in the picture below. There is nothing wrong with her fingers at least not visibly. She just likes to wear bandaids sometimes. She can go through several in one day because she'll take it off and need another five minutes later.