reading to my children – Page 10

Easy day

I forgot to take pictures today. The morning was consumed with a doctor’s appointment for the girls. Lydia weighs 31 pounds, and Mary weighs 20. They’re both in the 3rd percentile for BMI, but the doctor said they look healthy, so that’s good. Lydia’s 90th percentile for height and 50th for weight. Mary is 60th percentile for height and 50th for weight. I don’t know how that works out to both being in the 3rd percentile for Body Mass Index, but if I had better math skills, maybe it would make perfect sense.

Lydia was so good at the doctor’s. She even tried to make Mary feel better when Mary started crying during her part of the check-up. The doctor even asked me if she’s been watching a show called Doc McStuffins, which I guess is some show about an animal doctor that makes kids like doctors. No, but she’s watched a million episodes of Daniel Tiger goes to the doctor, and I’m sure that helped. I guess excessive iPad use has some pay-off…

The rest of the day was pretty peaceful at home. Lydia and I practiced adding and subtracting with her Easter jelly beans. Mary took her usual four hour nap. I read more in my book and started a collection of short stories by Chekhov. I made a sweet potato bisque from my favorite cookbook of the moment, Love Soup. I made too many grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches. The girls ate too much candy. We played “Minnie Mouse Mall” and Legos. I bathed the girls while Abe cleaned the kitchen, and afterwards I chased them so much that Mary spit up part of her dinner. Oops.

I also bought some stuff on Zulily, which means I am ending this blog to go check out the site again. I have free shipping until midnight, and today is the last day of their “Kindergarten” sale (educational primers and toys, etc).

Blabbing about home schooling

This morning I raced around the house doing and folding loads upon loads of laundry, cleaning up and putting away Easter/Spring decorations, painting Lydia’s nails, feeding the girls, and reading to the girls. When Mary went down for her nap, I read to Lydia, practiced piano, and read more of The Well-Trained Mind. I have an action plan, I think.

Next year I’ll send Lydia to Challenger as planned. I am still going to be in school, and even though I’m going to buy some supplementary material and start coaching her from home, I feel a little too stretched to make a disciplined home-school commitment. The year after, though, I am going to experiment with home-school. I’ll start Lydia on a reading and math schedule and see if I can be disciplined enough to hack that kind of schedule at home.

All that to say, the book, The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide for Classical Education has completely changed my paradigm. I used to think homeschooling was strange and produced social misfits. However, two things: 1) I was not home schooled and yet still managed to come out a social misfit with massive social anxiety 2) Jessie Wise, the author, poses this question: Socialization to what purpose? To fit in? To dumb down? To navigate an entirely artificial environment where all your peers are the same age–an environment not replicated in real life ever again? She argues that the family should be the primary unit of socialization because the end goal is for the child to become a high-functioning adult that understands what it takes to create a peaceful home and to contribute to society.

Before, every time the thought of homeschooling crossed my mind, I immediately dismissed the thought because I was so scared my children would end up strange and neurotic. But hey, my favorite people are people who are themselves and don’t try too hard to fit in. What’s wrong with raising children like that? The more I think about it, the more sense it seems to make.

At the end of the day, I still don’t know if I’ll home school, but I know I love this book’s educational philosophy, and my connotation for the term “home school” is permanently changed.

There’s Abe. He finished working out. He barely slept last night, so I better stop blabbing on the blog and go to bed.

Here’s a picture of the girls playing with the laundry basket while I folded piles of laundry. Lydia thought it was hilarious to put the basket over Mary, and Mary thought it was hilarious too…until she stopped thinking it was hilarious, and then she cried. Then I put Lydia in her room because she wouldn’t stop the game, and Lydia cried too. That was the only crying of the day, though!! (Oops. Except when I left for school and Mary saw her babysitter–she cried a lot then, too.) Anyway, I can’t seem to stop typing! The picture already:

Easter Eve

Today was packed, and Abe and I have yet to make Easter baskets and hide eggs, so quickly:

I got up at 5:30am to make it to yoga this morning. By the time I got home, Abe was in an apron making pancakes for all of us. Well, actually, Lydia made them:

Then she had an accident, which meant she had to take a shower, which meant that I got to do her hair while it was wet, which meant I got to practice my ladder braid!

I also did Mary’s hair for the first time. She didn’t like it.

Then I did a couple hours of homework while Abe played legos and other games with the girls. We fed them lunch, put Mary down for a nap, and then I practiced the piano for a couple hours. It felt positively luxurious to play whatever the heck I wanted to play. But it was a gorgeous day, and Abe and Lydia were outside enjoying the day and helping Ron and Shirl, so I finally quit and joined them outside. I found Abe reading his scriptures in the sunshine while Lydia drew chalk pictures next to him. No camera nearby, but it was cute.

Then we packed up the girls for the library, groceries, and the park:

By the time we got home, it was almost dark, so we hurried to plant our new tomato plants and then scurried inside to get dinner ready. Abe and I taught the girls an FHE lesson on Christ’s death and resurrection, and Lydia grilled us with questions all throughout dinner. She was very concerned about the nails-in-hands-and-feet part, which made me wonder if I should have diluted the story more.

At any rate, the girls didn’t get to bed until almost two hours past their bedtime tonight. We are going to have a tough time being on time for church tomorrow…

Content

I only have a couple pictures today. This one I took this morning while I was doing homework. The girls were angelic today and let me do hours of homework while they entertained themselves:

During Mary’s nap, Ron and Shirl replaced a window in the house. Lydia was curious and at one point left the house to watch. I was upstairs reading when I heard the front door bang, and I knew Lydia had just let herself out to watch them. So I hurried downstairs and ended up reading to Lydia on the lawn. She was really excited because Puss got to come, although she was a little worried he’d blow away in the wind…

Then I went to cooking school and made a bunch of stuff for my Latin class.

a turkey with two special salsas, fresh cheese (I made it for the first time and couldn't believe how easy it was!), pickled onions, and a bunch of other stuff — a turkey with two special salsas, fresh cheese (I made it for the first time and couldn’t believe how easy it was!), pickled onions, and a bunch of other stuff

Abe had another great day at work. The girls were wonderfully behaved today, and now it’s time for bed. Good night!

Good people

Abe is already in bed, so this will be quick.

The most notable things about today were 1) Ina came over and watched the girls so I could do whatever I wanted for three hours. Ina is a saint. She is a woman in our ward who loves my children, and she’s been telling me for years she will babysit for free. I never want to impose, but I have been rather desperate to get to the temple, so finally I asked for her help. When she got here, I realized I’d misplaced my recommend, so I went swimming and grocery shopping instead. Ina is such a huge blessing. Abe and I have been fretting about getting to the temple more, and she was so genuine in her offer to watch the girls whenever we want that I think we will avail ourselves of her sweet help in the future. I am so touched by how much she loves my children, and I am impressed by her giving heart. I could tell she honestly just enjoyed serving, and I hope to be more like her when I grow up!

2) We had dinner with Jill, Ty, their four kids, Katie, Pat, and their three kids. Jill texted me this morning about getting together, but I have school on the other free night she suggested, so we just did it tonight. It was so fun. We forgot to take pictures, but when Abe went upstairs to gather the children, I asked him to take a quick picture first.

Also, I watched a Youtube video and decided to try a new hairstyle on Lydia:

Sunshine, a somber note, and some snores

Today I cleaned the house for two hours, and then practiced a little bit. Paige and her kids came over for a play date, during which the girls colored outside, we got attacked by ants (accidentally sat on an ant hill on the lawn), ate some food and chatted a lot. It was wonderful to be outside in the sunshine. My soul felt so nourished after that. Oh! And we practiced a musical number for church, since Paige plays the violin. We’re not going to perform until mid-summer, but practicing was fun.

Then the girls had a short nap/quiet time while I lay on my bed and finished The Triple Package. As much as I enjoyed the book (and I enjoyed it a lot), the best part of that was having my window open and feeling the spring breeze. Having an open window makes my heart go pitter-patter with delight, and right now the sounds outside my (still) open window are making me so happy.

A more somber part of our day was the viewing for Grandma Darais. We headed to Provo for the evening viewing. I did love all the pictures and momentos from her life everywhere. I thought a lot on the drive back about what makes a meaningful life. Grandma Darais couldn’t have lived a better life, but since I just read The Triple Package, I had to consider that her life was very different from the type described in my book. Obviously, there are many ways to be a successful person, and the authors themselves admit up front that they take a crass, materialistic approach to defining success. “Success” for them means wealth, prestige and power derived from hyperactive achievement-oriented types.

As I drove home, I thought about both my grandma and Abe’s grandma and then concluded that the best way to measure the difference you made in the world is to count how many people love and feel loved by you. I guess there’s not a real way to know how many people your life has changed, but what I’m trying to say is that I prefer a definition of success that takes into account things that are hard to count–like love, compassion, and forgiveness. I also think that creating a home where people love to be makes a big difference in the world. As people remember Grandma Darais, almost everyone mentions her home and how wonderful it felt to be there. I loved being there, and I only visited a couple times. But I visited my grandma’s home many, many times, and that probably made more of an impression on me than any other home I’ve ever visited. The orderliness, the food, and the peaceful flow of activities inspires me daily.

Anyway, Grandma, since Lydia has been dominating the phone conversations of late, just know I’m in the background sending you my love. I love you so much. And, of course, you too Mom! Lydia talked a lot about how much she misses you after she hung up today. You two are the very best. We love you.

Oh, here’s a picture I took of Mary. I was trying to keep her awake so she would sleep through my shopping trip in the afternoon. A Methodist church in Sandy was having a huge consignment sale, and I wanted both girls to sleep in their strollers while I shopped. No such luck. She didn’t even make it through her second lunch. I tried to get a video of her snoring, but I got distracted, so all I have is this:

Latin Cuisine and more sunshine

As usual, after class ends at 11 pm, it is a race to finish the day. Real quickly, I loved my class tonight! This was my first class in my Latin Cuisine course, and it was awesome. (My other class, which meats Mon and Tues, 6-11pm, is Garde Manger. I was actively disgusted by that class, but more on that some other time….) My team tonight made two moles, a soup, a rice dish, a pound of corn tortillas, and flan. I did the last two dishes, and the flan was almost a flop. In desperation, I cranked up the heat to 500 degrees and prayed it would set in time. It did! That was after I forgot to add the milk (to, um, flan) and had to take the little ramekins of custard out of their warm ovens and water baths, pour out the custard, and remix the custard with the milk. It was kind of harrowing.

Rose called this morning and so we took our kids to the park and then story time at the main library. She suggested a picnic afterward, but I just couldn’t bear the thought of my car accruing $1.50 every half hour in its overpriced parking spot (under the library). Moving it was enough of a hassle to make us postpone our picnic–but it really was the most beautiful day, and I doubt we’ll ever have more lovely weather than we did today.

Tom stopped by in the afternoon and watched the girls so I could practice my accompaniment for the funeral. I have pictures here:

As usual, Abe had a great day at work. He is overwhelmed by all he has to learn, but he can’t think of a single thing he’d change. His boss pulled him aside and told him the commute was a real concern, but we still don’t feel good about moving, even though we check that feeling pretty regularly.

It was a great day, and we are excited for tomorrow to be Friday!

A perfect Spring day

Really, it was. This day felt perfect. Having sunshine made all the difference! Even though Abe and I anticipated being zombies because we got so little sleep last night, both of us had great days. We credit God and the sunshine for that. That the girls were really quite adorable all day long helped too.

I got in: a walk to the library, baby book club with Misty, a nap, reading more in The Triple Package, a lot of homework, some ironing, a long walk with Abe and the girls, Bikram yoga, cooking a veggie phyllo roll, picking up the house, doing laundry, folding some laundry, feeding the girls three meals, setting the girls up to craft and watercolor, reading to the girls, a couple phone calls with my mom and grandma and even forty minutes of piano practice. It was an abnormally productive day. As my dad used to say, “variety is the spice of life!” This day had spice.

On the Abe front, he had another tremendous day at work. He raved to me almost the whole walk about how blessed he feels and how there is literally not one part of his day that he dreads. He looks forward to every task at work, and great stuff is basically falling into his lap for no reason other than that God must be looking out for him. Obviously, he’s doing his part, but he can not remember a time in his life where he has felt so abundantly blessed by an outpouring of God’s love.

The girls are cute. Mary said “Nana” to my mom on the phone today, and Lydia is very concerned about my grandma’s health. She kept asking how Grandma was feeling and doing. Here are some pictures Abe took of the girls while I was at yoga:

short post

As usual, we are racing to get to bed because of Abe’s early bed time. I just want to record Lydia’s conversation with Mary after we put them to bed. Mary was crying, and Lydia said, “Mary, don’t worry. Heavenly Father and Jesus and the Holy Ghost are protecting you. Jesus will come down from the sky into your crib, and then he’ll go back up into the sky. You can bless God and get protected.” She babbled a lot more stuff like that, but I don’t have time to remember specifics.

Tom came over for dinner, and afterward we Skyped with Clark and Swathi. Abe took these pictures while we Skyped:

One more thing, mainly for myself so I can remember in case Abe doesn’t get me this cookbook for Mother’s Day or my birthday. I made a soup that I don’t want to forget from Anna Thomas’ book, Love Soup. It’s a red lentil soup with squash, yams, and loads of ginger. I made the root veggie broth for a base, and it was just fantastic. The link shows the soup pureed, but I didn’t do that. Hey, I am paying a lot of money for knife skills, and I wanted to see my little cubes (okay, okay… most of them were more like rectangles) of yam.

Also, another reason this post is rushed is that I’ve been rereading the notes I have from my interviews with Grandma Darais. Every sentence feels like a treasure, and I am so grateful I have this information. I would have liked more, though. Lesson learned. My mom is covering it on the interview Grandma front, but I want my own interviews. Grandma, when I come out, can we do an interview, please? I love you so much!!!

General Conference time again

Today Mary woke up at 5:19 am because she is teething (finally!!!). Since I was already up, I went to 6 am Bikram and then came home and practiced before General Conference started.

We’ve had Grandma Darais on our minds all day. Abe said he doesn’t feel ready for his grandma to die, and he wishes he had spent more time with her while she was alive. He’s going to write his thoughts tomorrow.

I started practicing Claire de Lune tonight in preparation for the funeral or family reception. I don’t know if or when I’m supposed to play it, but apparently I’m going to be asked to play it at some point, and since I’ve never played it before, 10 pm tonight found me picking my way through it. Our neighbors had a late night poker party going on, so they were indulgent and let me practice above them. We looooooooove them. Anyway, this was Grandma Darais’ favorite piece–and I seem to recall my grandma loves it too. Grandma, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone: I’ll prepare this piece for Grandma Darais’ events, and then when we come to visit in May, I’ll play it for you if we can find a piano.

Also, Mary said her name today! It was so cute. I was bathing her and Mary’s toy turtle with little plastic man (Grandma, these are your old bath toys! Remember them?) floated away. She got quite concerned and pointed to her out-of-reach toy and blurted out, “Mareee!” She wanted me to give the toys back to “Mareee.” I tried to have her say her name again, but so far she’s best at saying words when she’s in a desperate situation. When she tries to think about it, the process seems a lot harder.

Here are today’s pictures:

Abe and the girls had a dance party while I practiced. Lydia made sure everyone had a picture she'd colored taped to their tummies...and, of course, the girls had their balloons. — Abe and the girls had a dance party while I practiced. Lydia made sure everyone had a picture she’d colored taped to their tummies…and, of course, the girls had their balloons.

...Or maybe she was just preparing to play in the chair. — …Or maybe she was just preparing to play in the chair.

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