She's 3!

We celebrated the birthday of our sweet Sarah this week.

A giant Tails plush toy.  Could ANYTHING be better?

The American Heritage Girl cake

  Here's the cake our big girls frosted and decorated for their American Heritage Girls awards ceremony celebration last Sunday.  It looked beautiful and, I'm told, tasted delicious.  I just hope they'll have cake in Heaven, because I won't have diabetes in Heaven so can partake :-).

Tuesday

This is a few days late...

  We woke up to snow.  It was beautiful outside.

  I cancelled regular school and most of the children went outside to play in the snow. 

Then, more excitement!  My wonderful mother-in-law came over and we took the children bowling.  We went to a small bowling place on our local Air Force Base.

Kevin came over from work for a while and gave the children some bowling pointers.  The kids aren't very good (since they've rarely played) and we were very grateful for bumpers so we didn't have a steady, disheartening succession of gutter balls.

As if bowling wasn't exciting enough, we ordered pizza, french fries, and pop for lunch.  The children don't drink pop much, so that alone was enough to make their day :-). If you look carefully in this picture, you can see Daniel sitting behind the table. He is in a high chair.  More on that later.

YUM, pizza! 

My role in this whole expedition was to help tie shoes, find light bowling balls, and (mostly) to chase Daniel.  I didn't actually bowl any games as I guessed I would need to leave early with the 2 little ones. 

So, Daniel.  I have been to this bowling alley with a toddler before.  And it was tiring.  I can't remember which kid it was, maybe Joseph?  If memory serves me, the toddler back then marched around in the restaurant area, explored around the pool table, and generally kept me busy.  So that's what I was expecting.

Well, Daniel was different. Daniel wanted to be on the bowling alley and its environs. You know, that area you aren't supposed to walk on without bowling shoes?  He just kept making a beeline for that area over and over again, and I picked him up repeatedly (not good for my back.) The big girls helped with him, but I was super glad when we found a spare high chair.  I strapped him in, gave him fruit snacks and french fries, and he was happy.  He eventually did get tired and cranky, so I took Daniel and Sarah home for a nap.  My MIL stayed 'til the older 6 were done bowling.

It was tremendous fun.

Silly!

Give Them Time...

  I spent part of yesterday morning sitting in a doctor's waiting room.  My doctor and her heroic staff are switching from paper records to computer records and while that is awesome in the long run, it means they are running behind a lot these days.

I sat grading homeschooling papers and was quite content, except that I observed a rather sad interaction in the waiting room.

  There was a cute little girl waiting with 2 adults, one definitely her mother, the other probably her grandfather.  The girl looked about 5, possibly 4, almost certainly not 6 years of age.

  The mother was busy filling out paperwork, so the grandfather (?) suggested the little girl read a book with him. They chose "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss, but to my surprise the man insisted that the little girl read it to him.  Well, she couldn't.  It is not a HARD book, but it isn't a very early reader either.  As I said, the little girl seemed very little.  The man helped her sound out a few words but then got impatient and angry, and kept saying things like, "You aren't even trying!  I'm not going to sit here and listen if you won't even try!"

 I have to admit my Mama Bear instincts kicked in and I was indignant, but I didn't say anything.  It wouldn't have done any good.  I was upset with the mother for not interfering, and upset with this older man pushing a small girl to read when she couldn't yet.

  We are pretty STUPID as a culture about early reading.  Yes, some kids read early, but many need more time than parents and teachers and grandparents give them. I was very happy to see that this little girl didn't seem  upset.  After a short time, the man DID give up, and the little girl happily bounced off to spend time with her mom.  Maybe these kind of harangues are "water off a duck's back".  I hope so.

  I realize he may have had good intentions. Many adults do. They want their kids, or grandkids, to succeed.  But friends, let's give them time.  Give them time to develop and learn at the right pace for THEM.  Give them time to be kids.  Give them time to be loved for who they are, not what they can accomplish.  Give them time.

Kevin's Birthday...

Is today!

Happy birthday, sweetheart!

My Parents' Visit

My parents blessed us with a whirlwind visit on Friday and Saturday. They live in Michigan with 3 cats, one of whom is super old (like 21 years old!) and who can't be left for long. So they were here about 24 hours. But we crammed in lots of visiting.

Nana with the toddlers

My father spent a lot of time playing "ball" with Angela. Sometimes big balls, sometimes small balls -- whatever kind of ball, she loved it!

My dad used to an awesome chess player, and is still pretty good. He played Isaac and Miriam and said they are both very good for their age.

 We made a "flying" trip to the local Air Force Museum.  I found it a lot more enjoyable than usual as there were 4 adults for 8 kids. So much more relaxing than when I am watching all 8 alone, though our 2 big girls help a lot when I'm going somewhere with the brood.

  This turned out very poorly, but the second award from the left is the one Kevin received when he saved a coworker's life earlier this year -- the Civilian Command Award for Valor.  I enjoyed seeing a whole panel with all the awards that are possibilities for military and civilians.

  We spent most of our time in the Early Flight section of the museum, which was a pleasant completion to an Early Flight unit I did a few weeks ago.  We live near the birthplace of aviation, which is interesting and fun.