Life and Death

Life

Yesterday, I felt the first fluttering of Speck in my belly. This is one of my favorite milestones and is particularly meaningful to me this pregnancy since it gives me a sort of periodic reassurance that Speck is safe and sound, that all is right in the world as long as I feel those kicks every so often.

Death
However, on the same day we had to say good bye to Murray, the dog Brian gave me just a month before we were married nearly ten years ago. He was a rescued dog and was already over three years old when he joined our family. Back then he was afraid of grass and just about everything else. Although we saw many improvements in him over the years, he was a fairly high-strung dog. He was protective of me and of the children when they were babies (and couldn't move around). Once the kids got old enough to bother him he stayed away from them while still managing to be under my feet 24/7. He had a long life and he lived all over the world. Friday, he started acting weird. He wasn't under my feet as much and he stopped eating. It turns out he lost his eye-sight suddenly and he declined pretty rapidly over the weekend. By Monday he was totally not himself and seemed to be suffering. We made the decision to put him down and so we explained to the kids what was happening. The girls and I had a good cry before we said good bye and I had another one afterward. Isaac just kept saying, "I don't want Murray to die," and, "I don't want Mommy to be sad."

Since he's been gone, I have felt his absence. When I ran the blender, I expected a bark to follow. When Isaac dropped a big piece of food on the floor at dinner, I almost didn't get up to clean it expecting Murray to beat me to it. I've almost turn around to go to the door to let him inside when I notice he's not behind me. It'll take some time.

You can tell he was not himself here because he would normally never sit with the kids like this. He was just too lethargic to care about us getting this one last picture.

Texas, Trains, Trees...

It just wouldn't be T week without a lesson on Texas. Here are their flags...

We read books about Texas and some Tall Tales about Texas as well, like Pecos Bill and also the legend of the bluebonnets.

As for trains, this was super enjoyable for Isaac. I think we read our five library books on trains a million times in the last couple of weeks. The girls used a book about how to draw trains from the library, and here are Hannah's drawings. Genna had put hers in her folder already.

We read some great books about trees too. Gail Gibbons wrote Tell Me, Tree which was very good. We have read her books a lot this year in our alphabet path. She's a good nonfiction writer for kids. Her books are written well for this age and keep their attention (even Isaac's). We learned about the two main kinds of trees, the parts of a tree and the trunk layers, and about basic photosynthesis. Lots of good science!

Sweet Sunday Snapshot

Hannah's reading There's a Wocket in my Pocket by Dr. Seuss to Genna. I'll let you in on a little secret. Genevieve can read this book too. She is a reading maniac these days. I am talking about reading in the car, while walking through the grocery store, and through her whole afternoon rest time some days. She is even busting out chapter books. I am so proud of her!

Glitter Girls (and a cute boy too!)

The girls have been having fun with glitter lately during their quiet times. Every afternoon when Isaac takes a nap, the girls go to separate rooms and have some alone time. This break is a must, I think, when we are all together all day. Plus, it gives me a chance at a nap now that I am growing a tiny human. At the very least, my introverted self gets a break from the constant chatter.

Anyway, Nanna asked to see the glitter projects, so here they are. (Puzzle to follow. Promise, Nanna!)

Genna's horse and bunny...

Hannah's bunny, hearts, and an attempt at an Aggie symbol from memory...

Isaac surprised me with another Isaac original. He calls it, "Train Tracks with a Sun."

Squeezing in the food pyramid!

It's been T week for two weeks and we have started U week this week. During T week I had to stretch it and squeeze in the food pyramid (Could we call it the food tree? I forgot to do it during F, N, and P week!) even though it doesn't relate to our letter of the week because it is something Hannah needed for Health this year. So we read two books about nutrition and the food pyramid. Then I gave them my treasured Martha Stewart magazines and some scissors and set them free to cut out foods from all the food groups. I drew the pyramid on a poster and wrote in the groups. Hannah and Genna colored the correct colors in and then helped each other glue the food in the right columns.

Rock-a-bye Franklin holding his baby sister in the tree tops

Around 18 months Isaac started having a hard time with his naps for a month or two. He's a good napper now, but for a couple of months he was having trouble. During that time, he started refusing to hear the song I had always sung to him before bed/naps, Rock-a-bye Baby. It just set him off and so I started letting him choose the song. For a long time it was Twinkle, Twinkle or You are My Sunshine, but eventually he wanted a song about whatever we read about. Well, try as I might to explain that I didn't know a song about Bambi or The Whispering Rabbit or whatever, he refused to accept it. So I just started making up songs. Then it just somehow turned into me singing Rock-a-bye _____ (fill in the blank with whatever his favorite part of the book we just read was or what is on his mind that day.) The rest of the song goes the way it always does. I just have to say whatever he says word for word after the word Rock-a-bye in the first part of the song. One night it might be Rock-a-bye Great Stag of the forest, and the next night it might be Rock-a-bye Captain Hook and the crocodile that is trying to eat him. Sort of strange, I think, but it is worth remembering because he is adamant about it and has been for so long. Somehow Daddy gets out of this activity and still sings his special song to Isaac when he puts him to bed. Dad's have all the luck! Moms get to be the big goobers singing Rock-a-bye Padding fell into his tea just to get our baby to go to bed. The things we do for love...and sleep!

There's another artist in the family!

Isaac drew his first real picture, a person. If you can tell in this picture, he drew one yellow eye and one white one. He drew legs coming out of the head and some black hair floating above the head. I was really surprised when I came over to see his picture and it was actually a picture of something. He usually just makes "I"s and other random letters or shapes. I have since taught him to draw a moon. Way to go, Isaac!

First Fishing Trip

Brian took the girls fishing last weekend right after the computer went down. (Speaking of, the computer is still on the fritz. The part didn't work, so we are doing more diagnostics. I am posting from Brian's laptop, but I can't edit pictures easily and I just don't like using this tiny keyboard either. So I am going to be slow about posting while my computer is being fixed.)

Back to the point...they had so much fun! Both of them caught a tiny fish that they were totally bummed to have to throw back. Hannah learned to cast pretty well, but Genna lacked the coordination to release the line at the right time in the cast. They lacked the patience to sit and wait for the fish to bite as well. I can't wait for Isaac to get to go fishing. I know he will love it when he is bigger!

Very tiny fish!

Technical Difficulties

I am having computer troubles again, but the part is on it's way. I'll be back soon!

Funny Prayers

"Please, help me be good and get to take out a thorn from Jesus' head." ~Genevieve

"Please, help me not to play Barbies because it is for girls." (He is saying his prayers as he is playing with the doll house.) ~Isaac

Repent from your sins and turn to the gospel.

Here's what we're doing around our house this Ash Wednesday to begin the Lenten season.

Crown of Thorns

Book Basket
We read about St Frances of Rome today. And, we have St. Patrick and St. Joseph's days are coming up soon.

A Fresh Lenten Calendar
It's not too different from our desert calendar from the last two years, but it didn't survive the move. However, I added the fruits of the spirit to the calendar. I know it doesn't really go with the theme, but I was going to do the corporal and spiritual acts of mercy and decided they were too difficult for the kids to understand or intentionally put into action. So I thought the fruits of the spirit might be a good way to focus their actions in order to remove a thorn from Jesus' crown.

Our Sacrifice Jar
We are trying something different this year for the kid's sacrifices. Instead of giving up dessert for the whole time, we draw one sacrifice each day out of the jar. The kids brainstormed with me and thought up 5 different sacrifices, and Hannah wrote them down.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (they have them every day!)
TV
Book on CD (the girls are addicted to them in the car so much so that they are miserable when we listen to music instead)
Chips (something I rarely even keep in the house when I am not pregnant, but you know...)
Dessert (put in the jar twice to make for a week of sacrifices minus Sunday)

I grabbed Hannah to photograph with the jar and then Genna comes in and wants to pose with it too.

And, of course, a little bit of ashes on sweet children...

Isaac rubbed his head all over me during the duration of Mass, so his ashes are mostly on my clothes. :)

Interview with a 2 1/2 year old

I interviewed Isaac as I held and rocked him in his transition from napping to awake. I tried to remember and record his exact words.

Favorite color: Blue!

Favorite Book: Bambi

Favorite Song: The Thomas Song (intro song)

Favorite Movie: Lightning McQueen and Thomas

Favorite Construction Vehicle: Steam Roller

Favorite Thomas Engine: Thomas, Emily, and Spencer

Favorite Friend: Daddy, Hannah, and Genna (I told him, I guess I am not included in that because I am still your best mommy you ever had. I was reassured.)

Favorite Food: Broccoli, Carrots, and Peanut Butter and Jelly (I don't know why pizza or chicken nuggets didn't make the cut, but I won't complain.)

Favorite Animal: Crocodile and Horse
What's so special about the crocodile? Because he snaps his mouth like this. (demonstration followed)
What's so special about the horse? Because he gallops! (demonstration with his hands followed)

Favorite Bible Verse: Quench not the spirit! (1st Thess. 5:19)

Need a laugh?

Sunday night, the kids were eating some of the last of their Valentine candy hearts in preparation for Lent. They love these hearts with words on them since the girls can actually read them now. Only one problem, they don't understand some of them. Here's the conversation that ensued first:

Genna: What does Head over Heels mean?

Hannah: You know, Genna, like when you hurt your head and it over heals.

This cracked me up! Then came this conversation:

Genna: Isaac, will you say you are my boyfriend? (A family friend's child always pretends to have a boyfriend.)

Mom: Ummm, I don't think so. Hannah, can you explain it to her?

Hannah: Genna, we don't have boyfriends because they distract us from Jesus. (Word for word what her own father has told them before!)

Me: (Beaming with pride!) That's right, Hannah!

Here is something extra and unrelated to the previous stories. Here is Genna's card to my dad for his birthday...

It kills me, because she got a lot more of the spelling correct than I would have imagined (she missed the "k" on the end of "duck" and misspelled "Papa Boat" and she scribbled the words that were too hard to sound out), but it is 100% backwards! See if you can decipher the code. A mirror may be helpful. I love my backwards girl!

Happy birthday, Papa Boat! Hope you had a good laugh!

Finshing up S week

In addition to Georges Seurat, we also read books about the sun, solar energy, the solar system, figure skating, and sleepovers. The only additional activity we did for this week was have their first ever sleepover! It was last Saturday night to kick off the week. They went to their friend Rose's house and had a blast. Rose's older sister (FYI she's also our babysitter) even got them to go to sleep by 10:30pm. Amazing! No phone calls or late night trips to bring them back home. The one who had the hardest time with it was Isaac. The first thing he said when he woke up the next morning was, "I want to play with my sisters."

Occupational Indecision

Isaac has taken to changing his career path frequently. It is super cute since the girls really didn't have an answer to the "What do you want to be when you grow up?" question for a while and even then it was Hannah saying what her dad had talked her into and Genna copying her sister. So this amuses me that my 2 1/2 year old boy has goals for his life. His current profession of choice is to be a hunter. (Incidentally, one of his favorite books is Bambi. I can't help but enjoy the irony there.) However, last week it was "to work with dots like Daddy" which translated means a Pathologist. The "dots" are on the slides Brian looks at under the microscope. The week before that he wanted to be a soldier. Before that it was a priest, and before that it was a doctor. It cracks me up to ask him what he wants to be and see what the answer is that day.

For the record, Hannah still wants to be a nail painter, and Genevieve wants to be a ballerina (if she can't be a princess, that is.)

First Big Purchase

Hannah saves her money and rarely asks to use it. So far, she has only bought the occasional gum pack or bag of chips. However, I counted her money up the other day and realized she had more than enough to buy the Pillow Pet that she had been wanting forever. Genna got one for Christmas and has been attached at the hip to it ever since. Since it was such a hit, I had thought about getting Hannah one for Easter or something, but usually I make their Easter gifts to save money. Pillow Pets are not cheap, by the way. When I realized she could afford to buy one, I presented her with the option and found the Valentine dog on sale after Valentine's Day passed online. It was a tough decision. She really wanted the Pillow Pet and loved the Valentine one since red is her favorite color, but on the other hand she didn't want to give me most of her money. In the end, she chose the Pillow Pet and has been thrilled since she arrived. Her name is Valentine. Genna's hugging her lamb, currently named Snowball (but she has been called Anna and Francesca in the past, and frequently goes by just Pillow Pet.) I am very surprised that Snowball is still white with all the traveling she has done.

They also have their little bears that they dressed in jammies that match their own jammies, but it is hard to tell in the picture.

From where did Hannah get this money? Well, mostly by getting dollars or five dollars in cash from grandparents and other relatives here and there. I have just now gotten on the ball for allowance and started their chore charts. I find it kind of easier to manage now that the girls can both mark off their own chores as they do them. They certainly have chores they do everyday and have for a long time, but I thought a chart would be a lot of work for me to keep up with, but I have been wrong. The only thing is a I need to laminate a chart for each of them so i don't have to keep printing new ones every week. More on the chore charts and allowances to come in a later post when I get my act together and make permanent charts.

Que Seurat, Seurat!

We read about Georges Seurat this week for S week and learned about pointillism and optical mixing. Some of it went over their little heads, I think. Hannah was, in general, not a fan of his work. She didn't like how he used the wrong colors to make the right ones. She's such a realist and perfectionist!

The art project was to paint this Seurat coloring sheet that I got here using only primary color paint and pencil erasers to make the dots. To be honest, I did not want to include Isaac in this because he has problems with keeping his paint on his own paper (and as you can imagine, for the perfectionist, this is a major problem,) and I was hoping to make lunch while they worked. However, say the word paint in his presence, and it would be cruel not to let him participate in some way. He also had trouble remembering not to mix paint on his eraser. So he made it about five minutes before putting a dot on Hannah's page. Why is it always on Hannah's? Genna probably wouldn't even notice and certainly wouldn't care.

Here they are in their aprons painting away before I left to fix lunch...

Here's Isaac's when he had to stop and come with me since he put a dot on Hannah's paper. Amazingly, he is the only one who actually followed the "dot" instructions. So I say go for this if you have a toddler around 2 1/2 yrs before they develop a preference for style in their art.

Hannah's and Genna's respectively...

It is hard to tell, but there are very few actual dots and way more using the eraser to paint and fill in the space. It takes patience. Genna's was closer, but at some point she started copying Hannah and painting with the eraser too.

Handmade Baby Gifts

I made this diaper/wipes case for a co-worker of Brian's new baby.

I also made them this baby kit from Martha Stewart.


I've made a couple of these for new baby girls too.

Then I made this way back in the fall for a baby boy to be born soon.

I've made a few blankets as well for babies, but, unfortunately, forgot to take pictures of them before sending them off. Oh well!

Another Sticker Activity

Here is another version of this sticker activity. It's called my ink is low on my printer, so I improvised. I had him do this while I did schoolwork with Hannah and Genna in the lab while taking my glucose test yesterday. I had to wait an hour and that is enough time to do reading, a little math, and handwriting. I felt very productive killing two birds with one stone!

Back to the activity, Isaac made me laugh when he told me he didn't want to put the cat on his picture because it goes inside a house and I didn't have one of those in the picture. I assured him that cats could live outside, so he ended up putting him upside down in the tree. It did not keep him busy the whole hour, but I had snacks too. Genevieve asked me to make her an activity like that sometime too. I'll have to see if I can make it more challenging though. I have a few ideas.