Just a friendly reminder to brush your teeth 2-3 times a day [I try to brush with just water after lunch if I am home] and floss at least once a day.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Happy Belated Easter
Easter wasn't very good this year which is why I didn't post about it- Dan was working, it was horribly cold and raining outside. I didn't even make my Easter dinner until the next day, on Monday. The boys did enjoy their Easter gifts from Mimi- Thank you! And candy of course but what good is it to eat sugar if you can't run it off?! So I made the Easter dinner of Ham, potatoes, salad, steamed carrots on the Easter Monday. Tuesday morning- the boys were having toast and ham for breakfast when Solomon sees a hidden rabbit in his toast so we took a picture and here you go! The Easter bunny comes in mysterious forms.
On other Easter news- we don't talk about the Easter bunny in our home. The boys are very confused when people ask "What did the Easter bunny bring you?" And when we were walking past the Easter bunny in the mall- where you can get your photo taken and Cyrus points and says "Look, Rabbit!" And you know what- just being a rabbit is cool enough!
March 20th
March 20th was Dan's big ceremony at his job along with several other people who were being promoted so it turned out be a nice event! We were there as well as Dan's favorite professor to cheer him on. The picture is Dan with his professor after the whole ceremony:
Spring Break
We live in Portland, OR and Oregon just had their Spring Break- the last full week in March.
Say the word Spring and what comes to your mind?
sun shinning
plants growing
yeah some rain because we do live in Oregon
So what did we get?!!! Snow, snow, and hail- some nice gusty winds too and completely cold week- I think the high was 45 degrees last Tuesday and the rest of the week in was in the low thirties!!! I had to turn our heat back on.
Now a decent snowstorm would have been okay but usually we have snow then it'll melt and either be raining/hailing or cold and sunny in the afternoon!
The picture is the biggest hail fall we had- it looked like it was snowing [taken Sunday afternoon]!
Say the word Spring and what comes to your mind?
sun shinning
plants growing
yeah some rain because we do live in Oregon
So what did we get?!!! Snow, snow, and hail- some nice gusty winds too and completely cold week- I think the high was 45 degrees last Tuesday and the rest of the week in was in the low thirties!!! I had to turn our heat back on.
Now a decent snowstorm would have been okay but usually we have snow then it'll melt and either be raining/hailing or cold and sunny in the afternoon!
The picture is the biggest hail fall we had- it looked like it was snowing [taken Sunday afternoon]!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Quote
"When we honestly ask which persons in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not-knowing, not-curing, not-healing, and face with us the reality of our powerlessness...makes it clear that whatever happens in the external world, being present to each other is what really matters." --Henri J.M. Nouwen
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Rice
I found this great website:
http://www.freerice.com/index.php
Basically it is a vocabulary challenge one word at a time and each time you guess what other word out of 4 means the same as the given word- you donate 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program to help end hunger...
20 rice grains a correct answer meaning adds up fairly quickly! So click on the link:
http://www.freerice.com/index.php
and use and expand your mind power while giving rice out to those who need it!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Dinosaurs!!!
Dinosaurs came to OMSI! They had skeletons and dinosaurs that moved to be more realistic- pretty cool! I forgot to take a picture of the Rex- next time...
Baby Fever
Well now it is offical- the baby fever has spread from Mom to her darling boys... Cyrus wrapped up a little purple stuffed dragon into one of his blankies- a perfect swaddle- and was playing "Dad". Then Solomon says that he wishes to be a baby again and be cute! In the meantime I took pictures of the moment to share with you future husbands and fathers!
[Solomon's pose is his "cute" pose- the one that supposed to get him anything right?! Is it working?]
[Cyrus has an owie on his lip from a fall the other day at the park...]
[Solomon's pose is his "cute" pose- the one that supposed to get him anything right?! Is it working?]
[Cyrus has an owie on his lip from a fall the other day at the park...]
Monday, February 25, 2008
Preschool
We did not start preschool for Solomon until he was 4 years old and he got to go to the most magical preschool ever- Opal Preschool. And now Cyrus will be going there next school year- Yay! And we are hoping to get Solomon into the Opal Charter elementary school which is done by lottery- the luck of the draw- and the lottery opens March 1st and ends March 31st and it takes about a month or so to get the results...
After Cyrus was helping me drop off and pick up Solomon to and from Opal Preschool last year starting Sept- by January Cyrus was asking to go to preschool too. I can understand why since it is such a magical place. Dan and I debated whether or not Cyrus should start preschool at 3 years of age [seems so young] and in the end Dan thought that schooling is great and I thought I could get things done. So Cyrus went to our local church for their afternoon preschool and well loves it. When Solomon switched from a full day kindergarten program to a morning only kindergarten program- we put him into the afternoon preschool [muti age program] and then a combination of things happened:
I was sick Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, and quite a few weekends as well that I began to miss my kids. Some of it had to be all the work dropping off and picking up and lunch in a hurry and I wasn't finding myself getting anything more done than when they are with me.
Dan is going to be gone for 4 months during the week and it was originally going to start January, February then beginning of March and now it is March 31st [so April] that he starts his training and being gone from home so much- which was a big reason for having them in preschool.
So I decided to take them out of preschool- Cyrus just had his parent/teacher talk about him and Cyrus has recovered quite magnificently from his early social troubles to a flourishing, sociable, great little boy that he is now. He has the skills you would want to see in a 3 year old. Solomon gets these great homework packets from school that we can review and I can expand in his knowledge when with me.
Also I have survived- actually I believe I thrived and the kids did too when Dan was deployed. It was completely weird and awkward the first time I went and got my haircut by myself! I had gotten a great system down of having my kids going with me everywhere when Dan was deployed that it is no big deal to have them come with me to my dental appointment- [although I will admit that the portable dvd player will come in handy]!
It got me thinking: "Why do we start our kids in preschool at age 3?" I do mean this question for those parents in similar situation like myself, where one parent one stays home... I do understand that our children have higher than ever expectations of performing when in Kindergarten and beyond. My children have learned to listen to other adults: in their recreational classes, babysitters, grandparents, neighbors, Sunday school teachers, and my favorite is the librarian! When the kids ask me a question like "Why is the sky blue?" [After reading my particular favorite Calvin & Hobbes story on this exact same question] We go to the library and the kids have the opportunity to learn how to learn- ask the question to the librarian and she can look it up on the computer and show them books that have the answer in them along with stories about the sky- how birds fly in the sky, what color does sky blue and yellow sun makes, etc- the learning never stops and to be a witness of a child learning- Wow! Not that I could be a teacher- kudos for those who do, but such a miracle to watch the world is unwrapped layer by layer through a child's inquisition.
Valentine's Day Party was their last day... I have loved spending time with my boys, having my days less hurried, and still doing what I need to get done which reminds me- the laundry needs to be changed over to the dryer...
At first the kids were sad to leave preschool which is fun and an opportunity to interact with their friends but they are looking forward to a recreational class, going to OMSI and the park more often. Baking cookies with mom anSitting together and playing knights in our castles- siege the moment!
After Cyrus was helping me drop off and pick up Solomon to and from Opal Preschool last year starting Sept- by January Cyrus was asking to go to preschool too. I can understand why since it is such a magical place. Dan and I debated whether or not Cyrus should start preschool at 3 years of age [seems so young] and in the end Dan thought that schooling is great and I thought I could get things done. So Cyrus went to our local church for their afternoon preschool and well loves it. When Solomon switched from a full day kindergarten program to a morning only kindergarten program- we put him into the afternoon preschool [muti age program] and then a combination of things happened:
I was sick Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, and quite a few weekends as well that I began to miss my kids. Some of it had to be all the work dropping off and picking up and lunch in a hurry and I wasn't finding myself getting anything more done than when they are with me.
Dan is going to be gone for 4 months during the week and it was originally going to start January, February then beginning of March and now it is March 31st [so April] that he starts his training and being gone from home so much- which was a big reason for having them in preschool.
So I decided to take them out of preschool- Cyrus just had his parent/teacher talk about him and Cyrus has recovered quite magnificently from his early social troubles to a flourishing, sociable, great little boy that he is now. He has the skills you would want to see in a 3 year old. Solomon gets these great homework packets from school that we can review and I can expand in his knowledge when with me.
Also I have survived- actually I believe I thrived and the kids did too when Dan was deployed. It was completely weird and awkward the first time I went and got my haircut by myself! I had gotten a great system down of having my kids going with me everywhere when Dan was deployed that it is no big deal to have them come with me to my dental appointment- [although I will admit that the portable dvd player will come in handy]!
It got me thinking: "Why do we start our kids in preschool at age 3?" I do mean this question for those parents in similar situation like myself, where one parent one stays home... I do understand that our children have higher than ever expectations of performing when in Kindergarten and beyond. My children have learned to listen to other adults: in their recreational classes, babysitters, grandparents, neighbors, Sunday school teachers, and my favorite is the librarian! When the kids ask me a question like "Why is the sky blue?" [After reading my particular favorite Calvin & Hobbes story on this exact same question] We go to the library and the kids have the opportunity to learn how to learn- ask the question to the librarian and she can look it up on the computer and show them books that have the answer in them along with stories about the sky- how birds fly in the sky, what color does sky blue and yellow sun makes, etc- the learning never stops and to be a witness of a child learning- Wow! Not that I could be a teacher- kudos for those who do, but such a miracle to watch the world is unwrapped layer by layer through a child's inquisition.
Valentine's Day Party was their last day... I have loved spending time with my boys, having my days less hurried, and still doing what I need to get done which reminds me- the laundry needs to be changed over to the dryer...
At first the kids were sad to leave preschool which is fun and an opportunity to interact with their friends but they are looking forward to a recreational class, going to OMSI and the park more often. Baking cookies with mom anSitting together and playing knights in our castles- siege the moment!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
