Who Needs Paint Brushes?

 Peter's favorite thing to play with these past couple weeks has been the doll house.  He has a variety of dolls and action figures and little animal figurines that interact in the house and he can spend 30-45 minutes playing independently with them.  It's pretty phenomenal.  He and I spend a lot of time playing together with it too.  It's so fun to see how his play changes as he matures and I use it to teach all sorts of concepts from greeting people when we see them (as the dolls visit each other) to taking turns with a toy (as the dolls both want to read the same book at the same time) to simply the words "open" and "shut" as we open and close the windows of the house.  The dolls and animals do all the things he does - take naps, go for walks, play with toys, read books, eat snacks, visit friends, etc and so I think he finds it super relatable and engaging.  It's been wonderful for his language skills.  He said "ball" for the first time today as the dolls rolled a ball back and forth to one another and there are several others he's first said while playing with the doll house.  His language is still WAY behind where the books say it should be, but I see steady, consistent progress and it's been so fun to see his eyes light up when he gets a new word and starts using it on his own.  The doll's neighbor is Batman and the batcave is also always a favorite spot to visit with its trap doors and secret elevators.   I don't know who enjoys the doll house more - me or Peter - but today, especially, as it rained ALL day, it was a nice thing to have.

I also decided to try some textured painting with him today so we got some different paints and a bunch of cars that were in the bin next to the doll house.  Some with large, bumpy wheels; some with small, smooth wheels, etc.  Then we ran them through the paint and made fun designs on the paper.  He loved to see the designs appear but he kept getting upset that his hands were getting paint on them.  The longer handles of the brushes had kept that from happening, but the small cars were too close to the paint and his fingers were getting messy.  I kept trying to reassure him that it was fine and we'd clean when we were done, but in the end, that was the downfall of the activity for him.  However, the cute thing was, during his snack later, I watched as he shook out some milk from his sippy cup onto his tray and then took a monster truck and ran the truck back and forth through the milk and admired the tracks it left, just as we'd done with the paint.  I guess he did like the activity, despite the messy fingers.

Benjamin's Recital Videos

 Here are Benjamin's videos.  He managed to cram in some practice time and actually made it work.  Let's ignore the fact that it took about 20 takes before we got a quality video, but at least he won't embarrass himself at the showing.

Piano Recital

It's piano recital time again but due to covid, the recital will be online.  So the kids recorded their videos this week.  I thought I'd share them here.  Benjamin's are still in process.  He has been busy with track practice and band practice and school and has let piano drop to the bottom of the priority list.  Consequently he's not quite ready to perform.  Hopefully he'll be ready within the next two days or his videos will be a little painful to watch. :)  

 

Too Busy Driving To Take Pictures

 Since Bella's birthday, I feel like nothing worthy of discussion has happened.  This week Benjamin had school, track practice, church, band practice and concert, AP computer science test, lawn mowing jobs, and piano.  Bella had school, art class, piano, church, scouts, and activities with friends.  Christian had school, piano, soccer, and church.  No one kid had too many things, but since no one has a car, I found myself driving a lot!  The worst is Benjamin because his school is so far away.  I was in the car for 2 hours yesterday just for him.  Consequently, I looked though my photos from May 9 until now and I have only four.  Not much to write about.  Here they are:

I got Peter to wear a sun hat for the first time at the playground and he really seemed to enjoy it.  Now he says, "On!" and points to his hat every time we go to the park.

Playing in the sandbox means bath time afterwards.  I love that he's still little enough to fit happily in this little rubbermaid tote.  

Christian was reading to Peter and Benjamin was interested enough to join in for a few seconds.  Had to capture the rare moment when all three are together and happily engaged in the same thing.

Not too much exciting stuff.  However, the fact that the kids have soccer, art, band, scouts, etc. and aren't just at home on lockdown is wonderful.  That's worth reporting all day long.  Also, I went grocery shopping without a mask yesterday for the first time in 14 months.  That felt amazing!!  I was one of only about 5 people in the store without one, but I reveled in the freedom.  There really is light at the end of the tunnel.

Another Teenager!!

 Bella turned 13 today.  I can't believe she's officially a teenager.  She's been acting like one for a while now, but today it's official.  She's really a great girl. Straight A student, great pianist and saxophone player, great artist, great friend and sister, thoughtful, friendly, and helpful.  She listens to the spirit and makes good choices and I know she'll do amazing things in her life.  I'm very proud of her.  Due to Covid, we couldn't have the kind of party a 13 year old should have, but she never complained.  I suggested an out-door party, but she decided what she wanted was to have a get-together at the mall.  She invited 3 friends to have lunch with her at the mall after school on Friday.  They walked there together from school, walked around the mall buying matching shirts, and then ate at one of the restaurants that was open.  (They were the only customers).  I came as they finished their meal and paid for them and took all the girls home.  Not ideal but a good compromise and I was happy that she felt like she got to celebrate.  Today she was allowed to have every meal she wanted - crepes, croissant sandwiches, sushi, etc. and got a bunch of presents.  Otherwise it was a rainy, cold Sunday and between church meetings and the rain, we didn't do a whole lot.  Hopefully next year will be a bit more exciting.  In any case, so happy to have Bella in my life - my little mother's day baby.  I learn from her every day and in this family full of boys, we girls have to stick together!

A couple cute pictures of Peter from a few days ago:

He wanted to play playdoh so I got it out and then decided to add some other things we don't usually use with playdoh but that I thought would be fun - beads, googly eyes, gems, pipe cleaners, etc.  First we made bugs - eyes, antennae, spots, etc.  but he wanted to just mess around. We made a little animal bead zoo on the table with popsicle sticks and then  I let him do some fine motor skills practice.  He randomly placed every animal bead and gem he could fit onto the circles of dough, peeled them all off and placed them all over again and again and again.  He had a wonderful time and we got to talk about the colors of the beads, the animals, and the textures of the various items he placed.  It made playdoh new again and was a fun activity for both of us.

Bella had been painting rocks and he wanted to do some painting too.  I decided to do a little shape practice. I got out some sacrament cups we had leftover from when we did it at home during the first wave of covid last year. We used them like stamps and made circles in the paint with the cups.  We tried various colors and tried drawing the same shape with paintbrushes too.  I love doing little crafts and art projects with kids.  Everything is so new and exciting to them and it makes my inability to do any actual quality art inconsequential.  The fact that I can draw a complete circle makes me a rock-star among them.  It's pretty gratifying. :)

First River Day of the Year

Every year, as spring progresses and the days heat up, my little eskimo children begin to complain unendingly about how hot it is and ask if we can go to the river.  Sunday it got up to 80 degrees and so off we went for the first time since last year.  It's not a nice river.  It's rather murky and shallow, but my kids don't care.  They love the little frogs and crayfish they can find and they love the private little spot we always go to.  It was so fun to bring Peter along this time.  Last year he was just a little infant who could only sit and watch, not even crawl yet.  This year he walked along the path with us and got right into the fun.  Well, not at first.  At first the sight of the water and mud being flung around made him nervous and he stood close by my side for a while, observing.  Eventually, however, he dared venture out and he ended up having a great time.  He never went so far as to get into the water, but we gave him some buckets of water and mud at the river's edge and that made him very happy.

Bella kept pretending she was going to dump things on Peter's head to see if he'd notice.  He was too busy playing to notice except once when she actually did dump some water on his head.  He very adamantly "told" her to knock it off.

Kelly asked me to buy a potty seat for Peter because he wanted him to start getting used to having it and trying it out whenever he showed interest.  I think we're a looooong way from potty training, but I obliged because it certainly can't hurt.  When I brought it home, Kelly sat him on it on the toilet and although he didn't 'use' it, Peter liked it so much, he decided it needed more use elsewhere.  The next time I saw him, this is what I found:

He'd gotten his toy calculator and his blankie and the seat and made himself comfortable in the kitchen.  He's clearly been watching his daddy very carefully. :)

 

Peter loves to drive around the house in his car.  I think its adorable when he drives around as I cook dinner.  That comes with risks, though.  Check out what he's got in his "trunk."

I had spent several minutes looking for that whisk thinking I'd lost my mind because I'd just had it when I discovered it there.  I have to watch him like a hawk.  The other night, after a long search, I found my toothpaste and my phone inside another one of his toys.

The recorder isn't the only instrument Peter enjoys.  Besides the piano, he also really enjoys Benjamin's xylophone.  When Benjamin's at school, I bring it into the kitchen for him and he loves to bang around on it. Often I'll take one mallet and he'll take the other and we'll do little duets.  I've been trying to see if he'll imitate my rhythms or melodies, but nothing so far.  He has learned the hand motions to several songs, though, such as Wheels on the Bus and Five Little Monkeys.  He also makes the cutest animal sounds during Old Mac Donald.  He made up a sign for "music" that he makes whenever he wants me to sing or play music on my phone. His favorite time for music is when he's eating.  He loves toddler songs the best, but he also really likes music he hears on the radio.  He always get excited when I play music in the car.  It's been fun being able to share music with him since I love it too.  He enjoys my classical music as well and we listen to Bach a lot since that's my favorite.  So far his language still only consists of a few words - cheese, up, on, off, and yes, so I'm hoping that the desire to sing along to songs will be a catalyst for language acquisition.  

More Long Covid Days

 The pandemic just drags on and on.  It's made harder as I watch other states lift restrictions and return to life as normal while life here is nothing like normal.  Libraries still closed, schools opening only to close again as cases surge, masks required everywhere, even just to sit on the bleachers at Christian's soccer games.  I've had one dose of the vaccine and await my second in 2 weeks, but even then, I'll still have to do everything just as I do now, just vaccinated.  Thankfully Peter is unaware and is such a light in our lives.  Everyone loves him so much.  When he wakes up from a nap, I always hear, "Can I go get him?!" from every kid in the house.

When you're ready for your nap, but you just can't bear to get off your car:

How every bowl of food ends up:

When your sister leaves her pillow on the kitchen floor and so you and your brother enjoy some cuddles during his snack.

When you join your siblings in an impromptu after-dinner concert:

He actually has really loved the recorder.  Since this "concert," he's been playing it every day.  He can't get sound out of it consistently, but when he doesn't blow correctly, he simply squeals just like the recorder sounds so sometimes it's hard to tell if he's making the sound or the recorder!

Today the kids wanted to play 'trampoline tennis' again.  It's one of our made up games that we haven't played in a while.  When the game became boring, this was the next idea:

Tie the raquet into your hood and then throw the ball at each other's faces.  That only lasted a few minutes until they started to complain about painfully squashed noses.

New Soccer Season

 Christian really wanted to play soccer again this spring but our usual league with which we've played for 11 years (since Benjamin was 3) cancelled the season due to Covid.  So we had to find a new league.  This one is far more expensive than our old one but so far Christian has really enjoyed it.  Today was his first game and he was so nervous.  He kept complaining his stomach hurt from the fear and wondering why nervousness makes your stomach sick.  When it was all over he admitted that all his nervousness had been unnecessary and he had a lot of fun.  All day afterwards he kept saying, "Wow, soccer was so fun today!"  I'm so glad he's enjoying it.  I think his coach is a little bit overly harsh on the kids, but Christian came home that first day telling me that "The coach is really nice" and "That's just constructive criticism."  So, I guess if he's okay with him, I will be too.  Christian's strength is defense.  The coach put him in as a forward for a few minutes and when he panicked while taking the ball down the field and passed the ball to no one, he quickly switched him back stating, "You're better at defense, let's try that again." Christian said he's much happier at defense and agreed with the coach.

Due to Covid, parents had to sit very spread out and I ended up quite a ways from the field where photography was difficult.  Just blurry shots from a distance.  

Really Savoring Your Food

What, doesn't everyone eat their lunch like this?  It tastes better this way, I'm sure.

Plus, then you get to end every day playing in the tub with your toys, so it's a win-win.

Sneaky Genius

Every day when I take Peter with me running, he takes a toy or two in the stroller with him.  This morning I told him, "Go get whatever toy you want to take into the stroller."  This is what he brought out from his room - the whole box.  Luckily he was content to just bring the cow along.

A New Park

I heard from some friends about a park nearby that I'd never visited.  Benjamin was at a track meet and Bella was camping with her scout troop, so Christian and Peter and I decided to check it out.  What a hidden gem.  It had a huge rock climbing area that was a big hit.  Christian climbed all over it for an hour and Peter was so happy finding pebbles to show me and seeing how far he could throw rocks.  

Peter's a pretty good climber too, but he always wanted to have his water, a piece of sandwich, or a rock in one or both hands, which made climbing challenging.  We did a little, but mostly he scampered around on the ground wherever Christian was.

Then we went into the wooded area of the park and found a bunch of fun trails and a lake with a dam that Christian enjoyed too.  It was such a fun place and I'm so glad we found out about it.  15 years and still finding fun new places around here.

Little Firefighter

 Peter and I went grocery shopping today and we happened to walk towards the store at the same time as a fireman was getting out of his truck to come shop too.  As soon as he started walking towards the door, however, he turned around and went back to the truck.  I assumed he'd forgotten his mask or money and went on inside.  I was just putting Peter into the cart when he came in and came over to me.  "Ma'am, this is for your son," he said, handing me a plastic fireman's hat.  So that's why he'd gone back to the truck! What a nice guy.  I assumed Peter would refuse to wear it and throw it down immediately since he's really not one for hats, but I was wrong.  Peter was super excited.  He kept it on throughout the store.  We were nearly done when he started to get frustrated with how it slipped around on his tiny head and took it off.  We sure got a lot of comments.  What a cutie.  

Easter and Spring Break

 This past week has been so full I couldn't begin to tell about all of it.  We took a week-long trip to West Virginia for Spring Break.  The key idea was to get as far from internet, wifi, cell phones, and screens as possible.  I found the perfect place.  No cell service or high-speed internet the entire time, beautiful nature, gorgeous night skies, and plenty of time together.  It was perfect.  We rented a 3 bedroom farmhouse up on a mountain top (25 min just to drive down the mountain).  It was a great house with anything you could want for $50/night.  Mostly the boys rode motorcycles along the trails which led straight from the front door and down over the mountains for miles.  Bella, Peter, and I spent most of our time hiking in the woods, exploring parks and playgrounds, playing games, and finding little treasures in nature like a muddy puddle full of tadpoles.  Bella occasionally also rode with Kelly alone in order to get better at it, but I have no desire.  I enjoy nature much better at the pace my feet can take me or a bicycle, but not a roaring engine.  

 One rainy day we decided to drive into Charleston, the capital, to see how it varied from the run-down, junk strewn trailer homes in our area up on the mountain.  It reminded me a lot of Lansing, MI.  Very nice area around the capitol building, very ornate, beautiful capitol building itself, but otherwise, a very modest, small scale city.  Much more of a suburb than a city, really.  No large buildings, no expensive shopping areas, or wealthy neighborhoods, no real cultural center, etc.  We toured the areas the online resources said to see, (historic downtown, outdoor farmer's market area, riverfront plaza) but most were still closed for Covid or the winter.  We ended up enjoying a quiet, solitary take-out lunch by the river's edge at what is supposedly a very busy, active place in Summer, trying to avoid waking the homeless sleeping on the stairs nearby.  In all, I didn't dislike Charleston.  Being so much like Lansing in appearance and feel, it had it's appeal.  However, it certainly shows the poverty that West Virginia suffers. 

On our final day there we stayed together and found a 30 mile bicycle trail just over the border in Kentucky.  It follows an old railroad line from which they've torn out the tracks.  We got to ride over the old train trestles and through the tunnels.  It was a lot of fun.  We only went half the trail in order to keep Peter happy and it was plenty for all of us to get a full feel of how gorgeous Kentucky can be too.  There were places along the trail I'd really wished we could have stayed too.  Sparkling river, large jutting cliff edges, green fields, etc.  This country really is so amazing.

The funniest thing was that as we were unloading the bikes and getting ready to set off, a dog scampered up to us.  It was so friendly and well behaved, we kept looking around for its owner to come up to us as well.  However, no one ever came.  It had a collar with a name and number of the owner but we never saw a soul.  We petted the dog and then got on our way, thinking it would return home.  Instead, however, it began to run with us, sticking beside whoever was riding in front.  Each mile we rode, we were certain the dog would get tired and turn around, but it never did.  Mile after mile, it happily jogged along with us, occasionally pausing to mark the path, catch a drink from the stream, or chase a chipmunk, and then come right back to us.  It ignored all other barking dogs along the way and never varied from it's devotion to us.  No one happening upon our group would have doubted for an instant that it was our dog. The kids were elated.  They fell in love with the dog and dotted on her like a favorite friend, petting her and talking to her whenever we took a break. They begged repeatedly to take her home and everyone imagined themselves playing with her back at home. She stayed with us for the entire 14 mile ride and I really wondered what she'd do when we got back.  However, when we got back to our truck, she loped off immediately, and left us without a backward glance as if she'd never seen us in her life.  It was the craziest thing.  She was just gone, as suddenly as she'd arrived.  We'd just rented a dog for the day.  We discovered in following her, that she lived at a store near the trail-head.  No one ever came out to see her, but she seemed to be at home on the store's patio and she ate and drank out of boxes and bins she found around the perimeter.  We assume that she must belong to the owner.  She paid no attention to us after that and we never saw her again, a great source of sadness to the kids.  They hate that I refuse to have a dog, but despite the dear sweetness of that one, I refuse to take on the work that a dog brings.   I have enough.  I have to say, though, that I also loved having that sweet companion with us on the ride.

Today was Easter and Kelly's birthday.  We watched General Conference, had an Easter egg hunt, painted eggs, and then went to the Cartwright's house for dinner and games.  They made a huge dinner for us with a birthday pie for Kelly, at my request.  I knew since we'd only gotten home from our trip late the night before, that I'd have no time to do any great cake baking or elaborate prep for his birthday.  Tim agreed to supply a pie and dinner on my behalf. It was so very nice of him.  Also, Kyler flew in an joined us at their house for dinner.  It was wonderful to have more family in town on the holiday. How nice to have a pilot in the family.  I realize now that I didn't take a single picture with him!