Now that it's almost Valentine's Day...We had a wonderful Christmas. The kids had a full two weeks off of school, and while we spent more than half of the first week finishing up getting ready for Christmas, we had plenty of time to just be together. We went sledding several times, watched a couple of movies, and played lots of games together. We even got to have Hugh around for about half of the time. We never run out of things to do, but it was getting to the point after about a week and a half that I was feeling like we needed a bit more structure to make sure we were actually accomplishing something.
I mentioned something to my parents recently that captures my feelings perfectly: Life seems to jog along at a pace just a little faster than I can keep up with! But I need to be careful about how often I express that to our kids. I realized this while I was reading Alyssa’s school journal in which she talked about not having enough time to build snowmen because she and her brothers and sisters are just always too busy(!)
Steven would tell you that the biggest news I could possibly report is that we got a Nintendo Wii. (Notice my enthusiasm) Especially after their Wright cousins received a Wii for Christmas, my kids were certain that they were the only kids they knew who didn’t yet have one. They had been saving for months to buy a Wii (and would be for years if they were ever to earn the $350-400), and so as part of their Christmas presents we gave them $75 seed money. Steven grabbed every opportunity to do extra chores, including shoveling our driveway and sidewalk (and many of the neighbors’!) every time it snowed (which has been often) in order to earn some extra money. So, long story a little shorter, they ended up getting a good deal on eBay and scraping together enough money from their piggy banks, allowance, and extra chores to pay for it. I applaud them for working at it together, but I must admit I had hoped it would take them a little longer so that they would solidify some good work habits while earning it. Anyway, they are enjoying it and do a lot of extra chores and piano practice in order to earn electronics time during the week (beyond their three hours early Saturday mornings.) The good news about Steven is that he is still a very pleasant, respectful, intelligent kid; the bad news is that he is still failing to be conscientious about fulfilling his responsibilities at school, at church, and sometimes at home. I don’t want to harp on him because he really is basically a good kid, but I realize that we are doing him no favors by allowing him to neglect his responsibilities now – the consequences will only get bigger as he gets older. What to do, what to do…such is the ongoing challenge of being a good parent!
Though he insisted he didn’t care about getting a Wii since he has his Nintendo DS, Daniel has enjoyed having the Wii, and like Steven, constantly looks for ways to earn extra time playing it. I so enjoy hearing Steven and Daniel play lively duets on the piano. It’s a shame they don’t enjoy it more themselves, because it is great fun to listen to. Being the mean mom I am, I recently forced Steven and Daniel to go on a Boy Scout Klondike (winter campout) in an abandoned railroad tunnel. No amount of reasoning with the boys persuaded them that they should go until I said that I don’t want my boys to be wusses. I really hate sending my children off – to school, to a friend’s house, on a campout, whatever – unless I know that they are in good hands. I had to keep reminding myself of that as I imagined them bumping into a bear or a cougar or some other unfriendly animal also seeking shelter in the tunnel, or shivering and miserable, unable to keep warm. They were cold, but they survived it just fine. Since Daniel turned 12 in October, he has really taken his responsibilities as a deacon and a holder of the Aaronic Priesthood seriously. It has strengthened his testimony to be able to serve, and even to fast once a month (even though it is hard and none of us enjoy it.)
Julia loves the art class she started this semester. She is a good little artist, and even more than that, she is not afraid to try new things. She takes on challenges fearlessly. You can see that in the way she takes on new piano pieces that stretch her tiny hands and require them to fly up and down the keyboard. She enjoys science (chemistry, at the moment) and etymology (word origins). It is just about impossible to get her do something she doesn’t want to do, but she can do just about anything competently. She has a great teacher at school who is helping her class to write and perform an opera later this month, as well as to perform Romeo and Juliet next month. After more than two years of saving (and waiting for her mom to research it,) Julia finally purchased a microscope. The kids were all pretty fascinated with it for the first week or so, but haven’t done much with it since.
Michael is the only one of our kids involved in sports right now (sigh of relief). He plays basketball twice a week and enjoys it. He misses being able to go outside and throw his football up on the roof since everything has been covered with snow for two months now. Steven, Daniel, and Michael all won their class spelling bees last month and ended up competing against each other in the school spelling bee. Steven ended up tying for third, and Michael ended up in second place (and the alternate to compete in the Daily Herald Bee.) His teacher raves about how brilliant he is and what an angel he is in class (which is nice to hear, since he can be a challenge at home.) Thankfully, he seems to have plenty of friends now (which was a concern to us at the beginning of the school year.)
Alyssa turned 7 on January 22nd. We accidentally started a tradition sometime within the last couple of years that the birthday kid gets to choose an activity we do together as a family. She chose what is one of our kids’ favorite spots: Jumpin’ Jacks, a warehouse full of huge inflatable fun-house slides/trampolines. Alyssa complains often of headaches or nausea or some other pain, and I always wonder how much of it is legitimate physical ailments and how much of it is psychosomatic. If it is the latter, there should be something we can do about it to keep her from feeling she needs an ailment to get attention… I really do like Alyssa; she is sweet, affectionate, generally pleasant, and smart. I wonder what she needs? Thank goodness she has a warm, conscientious teacher and kind classmates.
That little whippersnapper Natalie is such a cute girl, but goodness has she been a bear lately! She is grumpy and yells often, and therefore has ended up in time out in the (locked) bathroom a lot. She found a crayon and a pen once while she was in there and took the opportunity to scribble all over the wall and tear up the wall board with the sharp point of the pen. Unfortunately, within a couple days of the time I repaired and repainted the wall, she found a way to do it again. She is finally catching on to reading, and while it is still tedious and requires a lot of effort, at least she knows she can do it. Natalie has spent more time working on preschool/kindergarten workbooks, and I think that has helped her with reading as well as developing better fine motor dexterity.
Of all our kids, I have to monitor TV time most closely with Matthew. I find him plopped down on the floor watching it probably a five times a day. He always watches PBS, but still, I want him using his brain in creative play instead of being passively entertained. He plays mostly with his cars and wooden train set, and lately has enjoyed coloring his Speed Racer coloring books and pretending to prepare food with the toy food and dishes. He is making Michael crazy because he keeps taking his little over-the-door basketball hoop so that he can play with it. Since he turned three in November, he started attending Primary at church. He misses being in Nursery, and told me repeatedly, “I don’t want to be big! I want to be small! I don’t want to go to Primary!” But he seems to have adjusted okay. He has a couple of friends with whom he asks to play almost daily.
My baby is eighteen months old now (and I’m not even pregnant!) Really, I can’t believe how quickly the time goes. It is so fun to watch our children’s personalities and talents and interests emerge. It is an amazing thing when you have a new little baby, to love this little person even though you have no idea who he or she is, and to watch each one of them learn. Of course, it can be tiring and exasperating, as you also learn that they have their own wills and make their own decisions, and make lots of mistakes and messes. Emily is so much fun; having her is twice as much fun because all her siblings adore her, too. She is curious and inquisitive and into everything. She steals candy, she writes all over herself (especially on her face and neck) any time she finds a marker or pen handy, she unzips the pockets of my purse and raids my makeup and gum, she pulls stacks of books off shelves almost daily. She walks around the house with hats and bracelets and purses, and bounces/jogs around the house trying to look like she doesn’t know how cute she is. She delights us all now that she can talk; she will at least try to mimic just about anything we ask her to say, and she will spontaneously name things she recognizes in our daily activities. We love her sweet greetings and hugs and kisses.
Tax season hasn’t been bad yet, but Hugh says it’s going to start being very busy next week. Hugh and I have had dental woes in the last couple of months: Hugh went in to get a root canal, the dentist drilled through his tooth and missed the canal completely, so had to cut the tooth in half, pull the damaged half, check and recheck multiple times to ensure that it was healing properly, and finally make a special crown with a metal piece to support the half-tooth that is left. Of course, he had to juggle his work schedule in order to make each of these 4 or 5 follow-up appointments. Even I, with my embarrassingly vast dental experience, had never heard of such a thing happening. As for me, I had to go to the dentist twice in five days for a root canal and a cracked tooth. But at least we have dentists, and insurance, and enough money to help us deal with all our tooth problems!
I could probably go on, but you and I both have other things we need to do! Hope you are well and happy!