The end of an era

I've walked the girls to school since E was in kindergarten. I've pushed strollers, pulled wagons, weathered the snow, the wind and rain; yet, now I find myself in the morning not walking the familiar route to school. Last year I took a big step in allowing E and T to walk home together since there are so many children that walk the same way and now this year E and T are riding their bikes with Mari, Isaac, and Luke. So now instead of rushing M and H to get in the wagon or stroller, I find myself waving to E and T as they ride off with their friends. They are growing up and I feel sort of not needed; however, M misses our morning rides so I will still pull the trusty red wagon as M and H and I take a walk around the neighborhood. It just won't be to drop off the girls at school. Our good-byes are now said on the driveway and not at school. I now wait patiently for 3:45 to roll around so that I can see them again and give them a big hug. I now pray that they make it safely to school and back. The neighbors were right in saying they grow up too fast.

Summer memories

I love sitting on the front steps on a beautiful summer night watching the children play. E and her friend, Mari, have lately been inseparable. They are two peas in a pod. They think the same, the enjoy the same things and I delight in watching them play. They both enjoy the Percy Jackson books and they have created for themselves an entire imaginary world where each knows exactly was is going to happen. They fight invisible monsters and plan counter attacks. They charge these monsters with celestial bronze swords (sticks) in hands riding their mythological pegasus' (bikes or rip riders). They shout out commands to attack and then fall back. They go on these monster hunts to find more monsters and they constantly tell me that I am just a mortal whereas they are half-bloods or sometimes they are full blooded gods. They went to the library last week with Mari's dad. Each came home with books about Greek mythology and monsters; yet, these books are books that I might check out and are not your typical kid book. They love them though.

Not to be left out, T has become quite good friends with Mari's brother, Isaac. They have a club and according to Isaac's mom, T has had such a calming influence on Isaac that she is happy they are getting along so well. T and Isaac run from house to house spying on the other neighbor children and then go racing off to their secret fort. Every day as soon as homework and chores are finished they rush off to the others home to see if they can play. They laugh and laugh and they are so good to include M and H in their games and it makes M and H feel so big to be included in the secret fort and in the tauntings and jeerings (all done in good fun) directed at the other children as the neighborhood kids exclaim that their fort is the best and the biggest and since they are all secret and well hidden forts no one knows for sure how big their own fort is exactly.

M is my little spark of life. She continues to race at high speeds on her scooter down the sidwalks as she tries to do tricks. If the trick makes her fall she will get up, smile her big smile, and then ride off again.

H is the neighborhood's little brother--they all love him. Once when there was a spider on H's tricycle and he started screaming and crying all the kids rushed to him and either helped him get off, calmed him down, or killed the spider that frightened him so. They love getting him to chase them and making him laugh.

I'm afraid that summer will end all too soon.

Rocket girls and boys

What do you do when the temperatures soar and there air is so still that nothing moves--you launch rockets?

T wanted to build a rocket with Steve on Saturday. She wanted to build the rocket out of cardboard. Steve thought it would be better to go and buy the rocket with launch pad, remote detonator and the likes. So we went to the store and bought the various components and came back and the girls helped Steve build the rockets. Only one was ready to launch by early evening so we took it over to one of the local parks and let it fly.



Now to justify my actions--the rocket was starting to fall right to where M, H, and I were sitting. I knew that if that parachute (which I was in charge of folding correctly) didn't come out that we would be bombarded with a that rocket now plummeting back to the earth at a rapid rate. However, as soon as I shut off the camera, the parachute deployed and the rocket was carried on the breeze away from us. I'm not normally afraid of things like that unless they are aimed at the little ones. M however was clear across the field because my "oh my" scared her. We sat and enjoyed the next launch and that rocket went so high that it blew into the neighborhood by the park and one gentleman, out in his backyard, saw it descending and offered to go get it for us. Everyone thought that launch was awesome. We now need to find a bigger open space if we launch the rockets that high because even the slightest bit of wind picks up the parachute and carries it away. H loved it all--the countdown, the lift off, the thrill of a speeding rocket traveling upwards, and then the descent of the rocket and chasing after it.

Bubble gum basics

We don't eat gum or very rarely do. I don't like it so I don't buy it. I don't let the children have it because it either gets swallowed, spit out on the carpet, or winds up in their hair. So the long and short of it is my girls are clueless as to how to blow bubbles. E had "Camp Cowabunga" this week where part of the time they had a bubblegum blowing contest. Being fairly competitive I never want my kids to feel like they can't do something compared to others so the day before I bought two packs of gum at the store. One for E to take and one for practice. That night we practiced. We practiced for a long time. We started at the basics--chewing and learning how to flatten a piece of gum. We then moved on to how to cover your tongue in gum and finally how to blow. Teaching how to blow a bubble is hard work. E, T, and M all had their gum and were so ready and anxious to blow a bubble no matter how small or how big. They liked practicing in front of the mirror so we went into the bathroom. Gum kept flying out of their mouths when trying to blow (we were still trying to learn how to cover our tongues). T was the funniest in how many times the gum kept flying out of her mouth. M just liked chewing and sticking weird gum creations out of her mouth pretending they were bubbles. E was eventually successful in creating a few bubbles and sincerely thanked me for teaching her. E didn't win the contest but she said that she did blow a bubble--one of her biggest in fact about the size of a lime. I'm mighty proud.

Math terms

Tonight I had the following conversation with E as she is trying to write up two things that she has learned this week in math.

E: What is the word that means shapes are similar?
Me: Um.... (Now trying to google "what are similar shapes called in geometry..." and not finding much.)
E: It starts with 'con' then something, something, something 'e'
Me: (trying to rack my brain and then my light bulb moment). Congruent?
E: Yeah, congruent. Thanks.
Me: (now googling 'congruent' and finding that it is indeed the correct term). No problem E.

Wow. I'm glad I still know something and what would I do without google?

Introduction to classical music

T is working on a project for school where she must listen to classical music, choose a favorite song and then share it and what she likes about it with her class. Last night she was listening and we told her that she should keep notes about what she likes about the songs. Here are the notes:

Edvard Grieg's Opus 54-3. Nocturne--I like this one because it sounds like spring is coming and birds are waking up.

Mozart's Piano Concerto #21 in C major K 467-- This song makes me think about a ball. It's soft and smooth.

Edvard Grieg's Opus 23-12. Solveig's Song--It makes me think of opera


Vivaldi's Four Seasons Autumn (Allegro)--It makes me think of traveling and makes me think of horses. Makes me happy. Makes me want to dance.
(Adagio movement)--makes me think of sadness and rain falling from the sky, like tears.
(Allegro Hunting movement)-- I like Allegro dancing.

I'm not sure when I listen to songs if I think they remind me of such simple things but listening to them again with her descriptions I can imagine it and begin to see how she thinks. I can picture her dancing Mozart's Piano Concerto with a sparkly ball throwing and catching it in mid air and I can see galloping horses in Vivaldi's Autumn Allegro movement.

I am grateful that I get a chance to catch glimpses into how T's mind works. I find it very rewarding as we have been enjoying the music together--she dancing to it and I listening to the notes as they take on new meanings that T has introduced me to because she was not the only one learning new things.

Names to a four year old

Today as we were driving we saw M's old Primary teacher and I asked her if she was excited to get a new one. She replied that she was but said that she couldn't remember her name. I told M that her teacher's name was Sister Prison to which M exclaimed, "She went to prison!"