We attempted school this week, but only got through one day of it. The boys requested Todd teach them. It was tough, but I took the day off. :) He got to experience firsthand the joy of seeing what they were capable of doing, as well as the frustration of bad attitudes and complaining. Caroline and I had a blast hanging out and doing puzzles.
Later the boys wanted to do school with me. They have given me levels of learning. A few weeks back I completed my "mom" level. They do math, science, Japanese, really whatever strikes their fancy that particular day. I moved on to "dad" level. Henry wrote out my math work. He wrote "5=1." I asked him what he wanted me to do with the problems and he responded, "You have to figure it out." So, watch out future generations, we have a teacher on our hands.
Josiah had a brief, one-day interest in birds, particularly blue jays. He read about them and then he and Henry drew them. I liked their pictures, but once completed their interest in birds waned.
The boys were very pleasantly surprised to have a visit by old friends from Virginia. They were here in Texas visiting family, and dropped by for a couple of hours. The kids started playing and running, and screaming, and having fun right away. It was really nice for them to just get right back into it. As they were getting ready to leave the adults kept hearing the kids talk about cheese. For some unknown reason, that only children understand, our boys decided to give the girls slices of cheese as they departed. The kids saw nothing strange in this. I heard our boys ask them, "Do you like white cheese or orange cheese?" The girls answered just as matter-of-factly and ate their cheese. You just never know what's going to come out of kids' mouths sometimes.
The next morning, the very first words out of Henry's mouth were, "Can we invite Lisa and Sam for Christmas?" Then we went downstairs and Josiah asked, "Can we Skype with Lisa today?" I'm glad it was such an enjoyable visit for them.
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| Playing with the new Suspend game from their friends. |
Henry, out of the blue, declared very loudly, "Caroline! [pause...] I love you!"
Caroline replied, "I love you!"
Todd thought he'd get in on the action and loudly spoke, "Henry! [pause...] I love you!"
And Henry replied, "Ok."
I took the boys to the Christmas Eve service at church. Josiah did just fine, as he is used to sitting in big church and usually does so without any issues. Henry....not so much. He just would not sit still AT ALL. When we were standing and singing, he would just sort of hang on my arm, twirl on it, constantly moving his body. But when we were sitting down he just flopped everywhere. He fell off the pew over four times. This falling caused him to crash into the pew in front of him and ultimately on the floor. The poor, poor older lady in front of him. At the end of service, we all had real lit candles. Henry, thank goodness, stood quite still holding his with a big grin on his face. Even the lady in front of him turned around and grinned at him. She was probably quite thankful for his stillness, and for not falling and causing her pew to catch on fire. She introduced herself at the end. She could have just been a polite lady, or she could have been taking names - mental note to self..do not sit in front of that Henry kid again...
And then Christmas came. Caroline and I came downstairs to find the boys having already gone though their stockings and eating their Pez. The big winners were Lego kits, a nerf gun, stroller, periscope, dolls, puzzles. Everything, really. One relative (to remain unnamed) gave Josiah a voice changer megaphone. So, his voice sounds very loud with a sort of static-like or feedback sound mixed in. He loves it, as do all the children. We questioned whether this particular relative was angry that we moved to Texas and wanted to punish us by giving our children a megaphone. :) Although, in all truthfulness, Todd and I have both had some fun with it. You can understand the words someone is saying if they keep their mouth an inch away from the mouthpiece. Of course, the kids just put their mouths right on top of the mouthpiece so nothing is understood, but that doesn't stop them from speaking in long soliloquies. It also makes really loud beeping sounds. It's delightful really. :) It'll be coming back with us to Virginia this summer. We want everyone to experience the pleasurable sounds it makes.
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| Nerf target practice - hard to miss from 6 inches away... |
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| Completed Lego project. |
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| Definitely working on steadier fingers |
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| Henry gets his swamp cop/crook Lego kit with an alligator. |
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| Best picture of an ever-moving Caroline with her new stroller, new baby doll, new doctor's kit on the handle, new shirt. Only problem was she didn't get new pants for Christmas, so she was walking around sans pants. We'll plan better next year. |
Caroline and I went to play outside on Christmas day. It was so hot! It was only the low 80s, but it literally felt like sauna air out there. It was so humid it felt much, much hotter. After playing with bubbles, she wanted to take a walk. By the time she and I found our way home (this is still a newish neighborhood for us), we were red in the face and hot and thirsty! Of course, as I type this, just two days after Christmas we are supposed to wake up tomorrow and it'll be in the upper 30s! We just go from summer to winter around here. No other seasons.
That and we'll enjoy the real winter weather. It's about time for the kids to wear some long-sleeve shirts!
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