Responsibility Week

Every now and then I go on a parenting kick. The first week of April was one of those times. I don't remember what else I did, but I know there was a lot more than the story I'm about to share. My kids used to lose a lot of toys to the Gunny Sack. After a while, he got full and forgotten in my closet. I have a really hard time actually giving my kids things away, so this was convenient for me too. However, it all came to a head when Warren rationally pointed out, "Mom, it's a good thing we have the gunny sack so we can have more toys since you store some for us, too." Ouch. Solution? Sam was having a yard sale to raise money for Relay for Life. So, since the stuff was mine now, I donated all "my" stuff in the Gunny and arranged for a special "night before preview" at which my kids could go and purchase anything they wanted with their own money. And I made sure I paid them the 6 weeks backpay of allowance. And I made sure Sam charged them high prices. (Avery had saved several coins and was the exception: we just had her pay a few coins each time she bought something, but most of it wasn't hers anyway) They bought a lot of it back and chose not to purchase some of it, and nice reminder to me of how little "stuff" is really valued by kids, and adults. The "stuff" they did buy back is now played with very frequently, e.g.: Warren has rollerbladed at least a dozen times since then, more than he ever did in the previous 2 years of owning his rollerblades. I was able to donate over $20 to my brother's Relay for Life funds--through my children :)
I remembered something else about Responsibility Week: my kids missed breakfast once or twice on a school day and Warren had to take his clothes in a bag on the ride to school. Somehow he managed to get dressed before the carpool kids got in the car. And I promise he had his seatbelt on whenever the car was moving. One day when Warren disobeyed and ran back in the house to get dressed when we were supposed to be leaving, he forgot his lunch and I let him. And I didn't take it to school. And he was fine.
This last picture has nothing to do with responsibility week; it is just so funny I had to share. I was walking out of church and saw this in the back of someone's golf cart parked in the lot. Bishop's golf cart, actually. Upon closer examination, I realized it was 2 filtering masks leftover from our ward's alley clean-up the previous day, but really, can you see why I did a double take and still laugh when I look at it?

I Love Creating

These are some of my favorite creations--ones that make me smile when I look at them. I think creating things with my hands and voice is so therapeutic. I want to get the "rest of my life" better organized, so I can really create some more beautiful, permanent works for my home: words on walls, pictures in my empty frames, pictures on my empty walls...

This strawberry bouquet was a Family Craft Day, aka Friday Therapy, creation from April. I had so much fun piping chocolate on those "roses." Really, it was therapy. It was fun to give away, too.

These banners were customs for a wedding planner, and these are the photos she sent me of how she staged them. I loved her idea to hang it on a chair.

This is my latest holiday banner, and I am especially pleased how I photographed it. I've had those flags since last year, when I decided sewing them on to the ribbon was too much work. I felt guilty I had so many unused, which is so my personality. However, I am so proud of myself for thinking of putting them in my old jars, vases and cups for this display. I smile every time when I see it.

Don't You Wish You Were as Cute as Avery?

April 1: Our good friends brought over a bunch of clothes for my girls--truly, I acquire most of the girls' clothes this way, as they seem to be in no short supply around here. They were set in a nice, organized stacks on the couch. Finally Avery could stand it no longer, and put together this fabulous ensemble, complete with fairy wand and shoes. (Avery never wears shoes in the house.) Don't you just want to gather her in your arms and hug her?

Easter Eggs

April 3: Yes, that is egg on Madeleine's face. I think Madeleine was the biggest hidden "egg" of all; the picture below is of her, freshly discovered, in the playhouse at Tutu's. (And yes, Abigail was there, but somehow missed any pictures. She, Avery and Madeleine all wore the same pink hoodie shirt. They were tickled pink to be matching.)

Waiting for Mom to Snuggle

March 29th: It was Avery's night to "snuggle" in my big bed, but I wasn't quite ready to go to sleep when she was, so she waited loyally for me on the kitchen floor wrapped up in a dish towel. (They were a wedding gift, years ago; I bet I never anticipated their use tonight, or tied on to my kids as Super Hero capes) Avery is so dear and sweet. Since she still naps in the afternoon, she is often the last one lying awake in bed, and will come out and join me and Andy in the family room as we work. Like tonight: I was watching old video from our Paris trip and she came and sat on my lap and laughed along with me. Oh she is so dear.

Friday Afternoon Irrigation

March 26th. They were so excited that irrigation was not on Sunday and was during daylight hours. Heaven.

Kid Island

March 22. "Kid Island" is a restaurant inspired by the real restaurant, "Islands." 2 kids per every adult eat free on Tuesday nights, so sometimes we go to celebrate parent teacher conferences. progress reports (Montessori school does not give letter grade report cards). Our kids love to order macaroni and cheese off the kids' menu. Really? Naturally, our kids were inspired and picked tangerines and hauled my bag of carrots outside for their own restaurant. They made signs and set the "table" and only kids were allowed, with the exception of their friend's mom. They actually wanted to charge neighborhood kids to come eat, and I hope I an not crushing their entrepreneurial spirit by discouraging them from charging $1 for a carrot. I think they advertised out in the front yard. On a related note, on Mother's day, they made a sign for "Mutherlind" (Mother Land) that I got to run through to enter the room, a la return missionary style.

"Finger" Painting

This was all in March. Good thing I said, "Don't touch Madeleine!"

Tea Party

Well, if it isn't obvious now, my kids, especially Abigail, love to have impromptu parties. This afternoon tea party in late February was one of them. I pull out the antique china I received as wedding gifts, we have Powerade and orange smiles and any other random food that is easy to serve. For this one, I think we actually had made sugar cookies and Abigail decorated them all like butterflies, but that is not our usual workload. Just a fun extra.
Abigail really loves to plan events--any event. Sometimes I am a control freak and just want to get something done quickly and I try to sweep her plans under the rug. That never goes well. If I could give any gift to Abigail, it would be letting her live out her plans more often, just the way she wants them. Especially when we practice violin. I'm going to try it. Her birthday is tomorrow--why not give her a gift that will really matter? Kids spell "love" T-I-M-E. And while we spend plenty of time together, it is usually my agenda, or her idea tweaked with my efficiency that we are doing. From now on--ooh, that sounds final--I'm going to try hers whenever possible and semi-reasonable.
{Click on the collage if you want to see it enlarged. Their faces are worth it}

Madeleine's 1st Birthday

{remember, this all took place in February}
On February 25th Madeleine turned 1. I have never been a huge first birthday celebrator--just some extended family, gifts and cake have comprised our celebrations. Well, if it could get more low-key than that, it did. I don't know why I was feeling so overwhelmed or busy at the time, but I remember I did feel that way, and I knew Madeleine wasn't going to care too much what we did. My plans included finishing Madeleine's 1st year book on blurb. (which I did a month after her birthday) and making madeleines, a kind of French cookie, typically eaten with coffee and shaped like a seashell. (You can see a bit of what they look like in these pictures).

Well, this is where I start to get teary-eyed. My sweet children, somehow sensing a need for greater celebration put on a 1st birthday party for my sweet Madeleine. They brought the tables outside, rounded up chairs to sit in--notice the double stroller Avery and Warren are seated in, and had table decorations: fake flowers and candles. They picked tangerines, which are Madeleine's favorite food, so she would have more than just my madeleine cookies. They borrowed one of my HAPPY BIRTHDAY banners, hung it on the playhouse, and then Abigail added her own banner underneath, PRINCESS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS. I remember she was even careful to adjust the way it hung so it was centered. You can see it in the background of the above picture. They set up the roller coaster car and track nearby for an activity, and played on it with Madeleine. They even put that lovely little pink sparkly square sticker on Madeleine's forehead. Look back at the first picture--can you tell that Madeleine felt their love in a big way? (Oh, and right after I snapped that shot and before I put the camera down, Madeleine reached right out for that flame and snuffed it out with her hand. Ouch. But not too bad.)

Oh how dear are little children. They were so excited to give Maddie this party. They planned for it all day and were so proud to put it on for her. Pure. Innocent. Love. That's what that is. Later that night we celebrated again with our neighbor Jim. He made pie and had cake and ice cream, too. He even remembered the candle. I love M's blue eyes in this picture and the delighted expressions on my other children's faces. Truly a joy for one is a joy for all.

Mary Poppins Magic

February 24th we took the 3 oldest kids to Gammage to see "Mary Poppins." Thank you Gma Lindy for the tickets you gave us at Christmas! (She had a "spoonful of sugar" inside a box for the kids to guess what they were.) The entire night was magical. We picked up dinner at Steve's Krazy Sub and picnicked on one of the superbly green lawns. Gammage is so pretty at night and the kids thought it was so special to eat in the glow of it all. The fountains and lit walkways--which we got to walk up--were definite highlights. At intermission, we went outside to the huge balcony overlooking Tempe/ASU and danced around. It seemed a very normal thing to do.

We had prepped our kids for the show by downloading the musical recording. This was very helpful since the plot differs significantly from the movie, but can be followed pretty easily in the music. I went around the entire week after singing the spelling of SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS. It's a useful bit of knowledge to have stored in one's brain's pocket. We especially loved when Mary Poppins flies over the audience and Bert walks the upper perimeter of the stage. Wow. My kids were a bit concerned if it hurt the actors to have the lines attached that enabled them to fly, but I reassured them then, and several times since, that it doesn't hurt. (And if does, I'm sure they are paid enough to compensate :) By the end of the show, Avery was asleep on the auditorium floor, but I'm so glad we took her. It was so sweet to have a special night with all our "big kids."

I have a special place in my heart for Mary Poppins. I can't say the movie was anything special to me as a child, but when I saw it last summer in Washington, I really felt it was Providential. Some lines that spoke to me: "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down"; "Although you can't see it, you know they are smiling each time someone shows that they care"; "Nearly begun is half-done"; "And now my life's ambitions go, with one fell blow, it's quite a bitter pill to take"; "You've got to grind, grind, grind at that grindstone, though childhood slips like sand through a sieve and all to soon they've up and grown, and then they've flown, and it's too late for you to give. just. that. spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down". Each time I see George Banks walk alone to the bank, passing the silent still cathedral, and the music swells, I get tears in my eyes, remembering the scene where Bert asks the children who does their father go to when things go wrong for him? And now from the musical, "Dreams are made of strong elastic", "Childhood is a step in time, parenthood's the same, never miss the chance to get it right" and "Just remember when you're low, feeling in the wars, someone's up your chimney and it isn't Santa Claus. If you need us, if you don't, doesn't make much odds. We'll be watching over you, brushes brooms and rods." Isn't that how a mom feels? Okay, so I'm not up the chimney, but I hope that as I work around my house with my kids, I will learn to put aside the physical results of the work, and always be there with an open heart and a broom, hairbrush or toilet brush in hand. Really, when hands are busy and minds are free, don't the best heart-to-heart exchanges happen? I have lot to learn from Mary Poppins. It's one of the few movies we actually own, so hopefully repeated watching over the years will result in some of these timeless messages rubbing off on me.

Gone Fishing

Where have I been? Well, tonight I looked back through my pics to see how far "behind" I was and these were from February 17th. Awesome. This was a fun outing to Riverview Park for some afternoon fishing with Uncle Sam. Sam fishes many times each week and loves it. For him, it is the ultimate in enjoyment, and relaxation I would imagine. He's got everything he needs in one box, all under his control.

Me, what do I do when I need to feel more control? I balance my accounts. Yep, I reconcile all the the checks, the credit transactions, the bills, the dividends (all $.10 of them--really, how annoying is that to enter?) the debits. Somehow, it feels really great to see the "showing balance" and the "actual balance" all in accordance. And to know where every cent I spend is going, by category. Maybe I missed my calling in life as an accountant. Anyway, me and my accounts had some therapy tonight, since my music class registration is in full swing. Yikes. I wish it were over.

Oh, don't you just love Avery? Look at her. Avery melts people's hearts. She is so sweet and kind and the way she talks is so cute. She is in swim lessons right now. The first day was a little rough, but once she realized she gets a dum-dum sucker at the end each day, it has been smooth sailing ever since. What does Avery do to feel control? Definitely sucks her binky. She gets it nights and naps, and the whole world is right when she has it. She'll say, "I want my binky" and then I know it is bed/nap time. Fool proof. Wonderful. But the other thing Avery did recently to gain control? She cut her hair Friday morning while I was still in bed. Oh lovely. I should've known it was coming. The odds are definitely against me, since Abigail and Warren never tried it, and I keep the haircutting scissors in my bathroom drawer (not anymore). If I ever find my camera, I will take a picture. It's pretty special :)