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The awesome What A Card invited us over for Brunch today. YUMMY!
The food was great, the company was wonderful, and I’m pretty sure that all of the kids had a really good time…and you should have seen/heard Logan wailing on their drum set 😉 I wish I had gotten a picture!
Cheryl over at Twinfatuation hosts this one. Go over and have a look at what others are doing on this chilly Saturday.
Filed under: food, fun, SS | Tagged: brunch, friends | 3 Comments »
At school this week, Burke and Maggie were asked to fill in a picture of a house with all the people who live there.
Maggie included the two cats. She also had one of her teachers write down “Cousin” Jessica (who is actually the nanny)…I suppose she IS at our house a lot 🙂
Burke also included both cats. And when I asked him to explain his, he said that Logan is standing on Daddy’s head…and Burke is standing on Maggie’s. Well. Okay then. (And I love that he still gives us all belly buttons!)
Candid Carrie sponsors Friday’s Foto Finish Fiesta – head over to her blog and find LOTS of links for bloggers who’ve joined in! (You can join in too!)
Filed under: fam, FFFF, twins | Tagged: family, home, kid drawings | 2 Comments »
I swear, since I started working from home full time, I have absolutely no idea what day it is. I used to be able to remember what day it was from what was good on TV that night…now with the DVR, I don’t even need to do that!
Every morning I wake up and think “Okay…today is…?” And then I have to remember if it’s a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday so I can get the kids up and ready for school. And then throughout the day I’m constantly having to remind myself “Today is Monday – Speech class then Drawing class for Burke” Or “Today is Wednesday – Maggie has dance class today.” Or “Today is Thursday – EI day.” or “Today is Friday – EI day for a different kid.”
And I’m always skipping over Sunday for some reason. We’ll be sitting around on a Saturday and I’ll be thinking “Okay – tomorrow is Monday. I have to <fill in whatever happens on Mondays>” And Mike will gently remind me that we have a whole other day to plan around first.
Is part of the problem that I’m not really planning MY days any more? I have to remember all of the kid stuff, but none of mine? Seriously, *MY* day consists of get up, do whatever kid thing is going on, sit in front of the computer, perhaps another kid thing, sit in front of the computer, maybe another kid thing, sit in front of the computer, let the nanny go, try to remember what day it is so that I’ll know if Mike is teaching or coming home at his usual time. heh
Anybody have any tricks for knowing what day it is throughout the whole day? (And yes, I do have a calendar AND a planner…neither seem to help much though.)
Filed under: deep thoughts, me | Tagged: days of the week, what day is it? | 3 Comments »
Cheryl over at Twinfatuation hosts this one. Go on over to see who else is playing – and join in too!
This one was taken in November of 2005…which means the kids were a few months shy of 1 year old.
Holding Each Other Up
Filed under: twins, WBW | Tagged: barely sitting, sibling support | 5 Comments »
Burke is starting to really love his drawing class!! Which is a major load off my mind since it was a REALLY rocky start. I wasn’t going to go into it here, partially because I didn’t want to make a big deal of it, and partially because – if I’m honest – I’m a little embarrassed about it. However, I’ve always been honest here and I do try to document things that have been going on…and now that it seems to be behind us, I’m going to write about it so that perhaps if anyone else runs across a similar issue, it will help them out.
When Burke first started going to his drawing class he would argue with us about going. He did NOT want to go … anything else in the world was better. We were baffled because we know he LOVES coloring and drawing. When we asked him why he didn’t want to go he said it was because he didn’t like his teacher. So I’m racking my brains trying to think of anything she may have done or said to him (I’m usually just sitting out in the hall on a bench when he’s in class)…but I can’t think of anything. So we asked why he doesn’t like her. The answer completely shocked us: “I don’t like her skin.” Not said just once…said whenever he was asked why he didn’t like his drawing class. And said to whoever asked…
Now, if you know Mike or me at all – you know that we are probably two of the most accepting people around. (well. unless I have to tell you something more than once – then all bets are off 😉 ) So, as you can imagine we were at a loss and just couldn’t figure out where this was coming from.
Needless to say, we still had him go to class. And along the way I’d say things like “I really like your teacher – I think she’s beautiful” (she is) or “Your teacher is so nice!” (she is) or “You’re learning so much from your teacher – it’s really great that she shares all of her knowledge with you…” I wanted to address things without making a bigger deal of it than it might have been for him…does that makes sense? You know…the more you push something, the worse it gets.
For the first few weeks it didn’t really seem to be sinking in … until right before last week’s class when I casually mentioned “What if your mommy had darker skin? Would you not like me then?” I could see the wheels turning…and went on with “Or what if someone didn’t want to talk with you because they didn’t like your freckles…wouldn’t that make you sad?” More wheels going in the head and a quick nod … And then it turned out that he was the only one in class for about 10 minutes, so he had his teacher all to himself for a while…
After that class (on a Monday), the entire way home he was trying to negotiate with me to go again on Wednesday LOL! Except … as soon as we hit our driveway he went back to “I don’t like Drawing Class.” I let it drop because it felt different this time…like he didn’t really mean it; he was just trying to see what I’d say.
Yesterday, the whole way home, he was talking about how he really likes drawing class and when these sessions are over at the end of the month he wants to sign up for more!! And he didn’t change his mind once we hit the driveway either. I had tears in my eyes.
I’m going to chalk it up to fear of the unknown…I guess. Although, I know he has friends at school who are all colors of the rainbow. Maybe it’s different when it’s someone of authority? Who knows. I’m just glad that it’s over.
Now – on to the fun stuff where I get to brag! Each week, they study a different artist. (yep, they’re only 4 and know more about various artists than I do at 35…) I don’t remember who it was this week, but it’s someone who studies movement. Burke’s teacher was SO impressed with his drawings this week! She said that he was looking at the artist’s drawings and just “got it” – and she really like his sketch of the guy jumping off the page. 🙂 They do a sketch first and then the ‘real’ drawing goes on ‘real’ paper. (Have I mentioned yet how impressed I am with this class?)
Jumping off the Page
The Final Project
And close-ups:
Filed under: behavior, Burke, deep thoughts | Tagged: a question of color, drawing, drawing movement, overcoming fears | 3 Comments »
I’m very particular about my toothbrush. Just watching someone on TV ‘borrow’ another’s toothbrush because they spent the night gives me the willies. And I get that whole “But…they were just totally making out…” thing, but it’s DIFFERENT!!
I get the willies if someone else’s toothbrush is touching mine…and I know that it’s sad since the only time that happens is if it’s my own family! I can’t help it. *sigh* You know those Sanitary toothbrush holder things they advertise on TV? You know…you’ve probably made fun of it…you put your toothbrush into it so that it kills all the germs and stuff? Ya. . . I’d *LOVE* that thing!! (As long as no other toothbrushes in it are touching mine…)
And as long as we’re on the subject…when, exactly, do you change your toothbrush out if you’ve been sick? I mean … are you staying sick longer if you keep the same toothbrush through the duration? At what point do you determine “I’m well now, I should start using a new toothbrush.” The upswing? When you have absolutely no symptoms anymore? I have a lingering cough right now, but I don’t think I’m sick anymore…do I switch my toothbrush out?
Filed under: iijm | Tagged: germs, grossed out, toothbrush | 5 Comments »
This week’s theme is “Boo” – but since I’ve already put so many pictures up about Halloween, I’m just going to post this terribly sweet one taken yesterday.
Debi hosts the Baby Picture Sundays. Hop on over there to see who’s playing, and join in too!
Filed under: BPS, Burke, Mike | Tagged: Sweet moments | 2 Comments »
We got a little bit of raking done today…
Cheryl over at Twinfatuation hosts this one. Go over and have a look at what others are doing on this abnormally warm Saturday.
Filed under: kids, SS | 4 Comments »
Cross-posted on my My Opinion Matters blog.
I just finished reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Overall, I enjoyed the book. I have to say that it took about 50 – 100 pages to really get into it though. HOLY SLOW. Thank goodness at least 3 different strangers walked by me while I was reading and asked how I liked it…and recommended that I keep reading because it is worth it. They were RIGHT!
I think the biggest problem for me is that the “wrapper story” (more on that in a bit) is not in my area of interest: Finances. And while the characters needed building and there needed to be the “wrapper story” for that…I didn’t care as much about that part of the book as the “real” story.
The other problem that I had is that it’s set in a foreign country (Sweden) with many places that I’d never heard of and had a hard time pronouncing (in my head). And yes, I’ve heard of Sweden! It also means that many of the names were Swedish, so I also had a hard time pronouncing those (in my head). Think: Harry Potter and when you realized that Hermione is pronounced Her-My-Oh-Nee (or even Her-My-Nee if said quickly) …except that I have no such realization here. LOL
What’s a wrapper story, you ask? Well, it’s the first and last part of the book that only has a little bit to do with the meat (and the middle) of the book. Sure, there are characters who play parts in both stories (otherwise, it’d be two books, right?), and the wrapper one is necessary to set up why the middle part happens…
The middle story totally sucked me in. I love a great mystery, and this one was wonderful. I’m usually fairly good at predicting story lines, and this one got me – a few times!
I enjoyed reading about the main characters (and I’m actually looking forward to the sequel!)
Filed under: reviews | Tagged: book review, mystery, Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | 6 Comments »
"Hi Mommy!"
Candid Carrie sponsors Friday’s Foto Finish Fiesta – head over to her blog and find LOTS of links for bloggers who’ve joined in! (You can join in too!)
Filed under: FFFF, Logan | Tagged: peek-a-boo | Leave a comment »
The Zimmer Zoo 