What language should I sing in?

When we were in San Diego, we drove up to Anaheim on Sunday so we could go to church at the Garden Grove Vietnamese Branch where I served my mission. It's always fun to re-connect with old friends there.

Since it was Fathers' Day, I told my kids they could go up and sing with the six Vietnamese kids in the branch. None of them ended up going for it, which was maybe for the better because, although they sang in English, they sang "Mother, I Love You" but with "Father" instead of "Mother". I don't think my kids have ever sung it that way, and I'm not sure they would've known what to do, but it would've been fun to see them try.

Anyways, when I first told my kids to go up Avery said, "What language should I sing in?"

"English," I told her.

"I don't know English," she said.

"What language are you speaking right now?"

"Hola!"

It cracked me up.

- Andy

Montessori Education

Our children attend a Montessori school and we love the Montessori philosophy of taking advantage of kids' intrinsic motivation to learn and encouraging them to learn on their own. We found this cool video the other day that explained one parent's perspective that we agree with:

The other day I told the kids that I wanted to work 45 hours in four days and asked Warren how many hours per day that would be. He answered, "It would be twelve hours on one day and eleven on the rest of the days," and I was pretty happy that he seemed to understand the concept of division without worrying about fractions or remainders.

- Andy

Dance Recital, Spring 2011

Dancing has enriched our family far more than I imagined it would when I signed the girls up. Impromptu performances on the rug, learning to be prepared for class, family dance parties, more "shows" orchestrated by Abigail, time with friends, plans to teach their own dance classes when friends come over, and mixed throughout, little glimpses of lovely ballet form and movements. I just thought it would be fun and hoped they would feel more comfortable with their bodies than I did as a little girl; it has done that and so much more to make life truly sweet. Here are some pics from their dance recital last weekend, along with some comments made by various kids.


"Your neck is the 'beautifulest' bone in your body." --Abigail, quoting her teacher

"She needs a diaper wipe." --Madeleine, regarding the pirate-y smudges on Avery's face

Abigail and her best friend. She was so pleased they got be partners in all the dances.

Abigail's Kindergarten Graduation

Isn't she lovely in her white graduation gown? She also wore her favorite, poofy, pink dress underneath. A special dress for a special day.

I kept thinking how grown-up she looked, and seeing her seated by all these other girls that she looked so much older than only reinforced that idea. She sat so properly--just like in this picture--for most of the ceremony.
One special tradition out our school is that the kindergarten grads are escorted in by a member of the elementary class, a sibling, if there is one. So Warren was Abigail's dutiful escort. I love the admiration in her eyes.
About kindergarten Abigail says, "Baking cookies is fun, 'cause we baked cookies. Um, making Mothers' Day stuff is fun, too. Like cards."

What works do you think you did the most? "Handwriting and metal insets." Abigail also did a lot of button sewing onto square patches, and even stitched them into a quilt using my sewing machine. She was such a fast learner. She also really enjoyed flower arranging and has taken it up at home with all the wild roses, weeds and volunteer flowers from the yard. "Oh, I also loved sandpaper letters."

Tell me about your kindergarten friends? "We like to do works together. We play." Abigail loved having her friend C-------- at school with her this year and will miss her next year when they are at different schools.

Abigail at 6

I love this picture of Abigail. It embodies her spirit and personality. Thanks to Aunt Annie, Abigail awoke to a chalked driveway and heart-attacked lawn. The heart were originally scattered around the lawn, but in true Abigail style, she plucked them up and arranged them in a neat line, holding a few back to pose with in this next picture. Abigail loves to arrange, decorate and design.

For her birthday party, Abigail wanted to go to "the plant nursery" and look at flowers and feed the fish in the koi pond. All the children were so cute running around the nursery, exclaiming over plants and admiring flowers. We picked blackberries from a big bush the kids chose some flowers to buy. I asked them to stop for a picture, and this was what Abigail composed--smelling the flowers. You'll notice one friend had an encounter with the koi pond just before we took the picture below. They are all making their best fish faces.
After the visit to Harper's Nursery, we went to the AZ Museum for Youth and played in the fairytale exhibit. We acted out a few stories, did a puppet show, made some crafts, read a few stories and had a great time. Abigail loves to dress up and has a flair for putting on shows. Then we went to our house for ice cream.
A few weeks ago Abigail said, "For my birthday I want kitchen stuff like Avery got for hers." So I looked through the Montessori catalogue and with Warren's help, chose some items that would be fun and useful for Abigail. They were a crinkle-carrot slicer, kid chopsticks, cutting boards, an apple corer and slicer, mini-souffle ramekins and a melon baller. It looked like a bridal shower. But Abigail was pleased and she really likes to help in the kitchen and prepare food by herself. She was also thrilled to get this cute cake-making set from her grandma.

The gift I really want to give Abigail is to change my way of being with her. The last few months have been rough for us. So many behaviors I see her do I recognize, painfully, she las learned from me. Even the ones she hasn't, I am often overly critical of, like always wanting to do and like what her friends do and like. She is so grown-up in so many ways, but that can be deceiving when I then create unrealistic expectations for her. I struggle just to have fun with Abigail. I want to invest in her emotional bank account more. I have made a lot of withdrawals lately, and I have got to do better. I told her last week that we were quitting violin. I'm not sure I meant it. I know it could be a lovely experience, but mostly, I just go into psycho-cranky mode when we need to practice. Her teacher is gone for several weeks, and so I think we will take another week off from practicing, because really, I think I am toxic to the whole experience. I will make a lot of "deposits" this week--time together, books read, hugs, lying in bed together to talk--just normal stuff. Then maybe we'll try practicing again.