mathmom's blog

The other day, Amanda made a beautiful collage of Loveland with hearts, rainbows, foam glitter stars, and a happy picture of Amanda. Apparently, it was a picture of "putting joy back together." At the bottom of the page, Amanda had glued a plain strip of black paper, on which she had written "unloved land." At dinner that night, when I was admiring the picture, Ella complained that Amanda put her into unloved land. "That's not very nice, Amanda," I said. Amanda explained that Loveland was for people who were calm and peaceful (and smug, apparently). "I'm calm and peaceful," said Amanda, "and you're not." I was about to try to rescue the situation somehow, when Ella stood up, banged the table, and said loudly, "I am too calm and peaceful!" Amanda smiled. Fortunately for our family, there is room for calm and excitable people in the world. Fortunately for me, Michael came home that minute, so I was spared any ...

Today we watched the space shuttle Discovery take off---live, but via computer. I still remember sitting in class watching the first one take off (or maybe not the first one---the teachers might have worried that something would go wrong). The whole school stopped, there were cheers, and everyone wanted to be an astronaut. I'm still not sure where I watched it---there almost certainly weren't enough TVs to go around, but the gym doesn't sound feasible. Probably we went down the hall to watch with another class. I remember when Challenger was destroyed: launches were routine enough that school didn't stop for them, but exciting enough that they still put TVs in the hall for us all to see. I was near the home ec classroom, and I remember talking to my sewing teacher, although I'm not sure I understood what was going on. Today as we were watching, I wondered what kind of space flight my kids would live to see. Luke watched with glowing eyes: "It's takin...

Typically my girls don't play pretend with bad guys, but for a long time Amanda was a superhero who fought them every day, and Luke is "Luke Skywalker ," whose claim to fame is killing bad guys. I am decidedly ambivalent, but I do admit that when I try to intervene, the games get less exciting. The bad guys usually apologize and are forgiven, a common scenario for the pint size badness in our house (tearing someone's paper, playing with someone's toys, hitting someone). It is not as satisfactory for the big size crimes of the pretend bad guys. They've watched and read plenty of stories with bad guys who die horrible deaths---think of Hansel and Gretel. So is it OK to push someone into an oven? Is it OK to pretend to push someone into an oven? What if you are acting out Hansel and Gretel? It makes me cringe to see my kids pretending to kill anyone, even a bad guy. But I haven't found a good solution. Of course, there is the logical solution of the...

Today at ski school, when asked his name, Luke responded "Luke Skywalker !" He often gives alternate names when asked---once one of his Sunday School teachers approached me and said, "His name is Luke, right? Because he keeps saying his name is Colin, but his sister insists he's Luke." I knew that Luke and ski school would get along when they wrote "Luke Skywalker " on his nametag and offered him a light saber. "I already have one," he responded. He did in fact have fun skiing, riding the magic carpet, turning (in one direction, not the other) and charming the counselors. Amanda moved from the magic carpet in the morning to the blues in the afternoon. And Ella might or might not have gone down a black slope ("It says 'experts only', so I must be an expert!") but it's hard to tell whether it was today or last year. Tomorrow ski school again, so that I can work on writing a syllabus!

We're finally taking down the Christmas decorations. There are a few other die hards in our neighborhood with their lights still up, but we're one of the last. This year I didn't have to decorate the tree at all---thanks to having a shorter tree, the kids took care of it after Michael put the lights up. Each child put their favorite ornaments in their designated area---the glass ones were all up high, the preschool made ornaments with pictures were all down low. When I took the ornaments down today, I found a number of interesting decorations: spun fiberfill a toy car a necklace rocks scraps of paper shoelaces branches from outdoor pine trees I'm glad we have an eclectic tree---I never noticed.

The other day we went to Historic Oak View County park (all of my local readers should go there, by the way) for their sleigh ride and cider celebration. They had storytelling, a band, hammered dulcimer, and the house was decorated for Christmas. They also had Santa Claus, and since we got there early we were able to go see him before there was any line. Unfortunately, it was also before I was able to prepare my kids. We really don't talk very much about Santa around here---the closest we get is watching the Phineas and Ferb Christmas special. So Amanda and Luke were left without very much context. Amanda went first, and when Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas she said, "Nothing." He asked if she was sure, and I mentioned that she had wanted a pony and we talked about that for a while. He asked again if there was anything she wanted and she saw the big basket of mini candy canes on the floor, for giving out to kids. "I'd like a huge basket of...

We don't really have pizza in the house. For a long time, Amanda was allergic to wheat, and is still allergic to dairy, and so if we get regular pizza we have to figure out what Amanda is going to eat. Add this to the fact that Eleanor really despises tomato sauce in all forms, especially on pizza (why would you let tomato sauce get in the way of lovely bread and cheese?), and we really haven't had pizza for a long time. Thus, when Luke is faced with a piece of pizza, he reacts the same way he usually does to an unfamiliar food: Why are you trying to poison me? Why are you giving me this burning hot piece of so-called food? But last weekend when I asked Michael to come up with an idea for dinner this week and Eleanor had already suggested bratwurst, he suggested individual pizzas. He has become enamored with roasted garlic (a result of Easter dinner, lamb shanks with rosemary and 3 heads of garlic in the slow cooker), and so he wanted to try it out on a white pizza. Sinc...

Over spring break we drove up to Williamsburg VA, and went to two places, one educational and one less so. they were both fun. We went with some of Eleanor's friends from school. Luke vastly preferred Busch Gardens. Although there were many rides we had to sit out from, one of the first ones we went up on was an "airplane" ride, where you control your height by pulling back on a stick. Luke got the idea right away. Later on, we spent a lot of time going from the gliders to the balloons to the gliders to the balloons---there were no lines, so we just got on. I think that was the most fun Luke had all day, no waiting. Eleanor started out the day at the Loch Ness Monster, a roller coaster which has loop de loops. She claims to have had a good time, but after that she forswore any further roller coasters, to her father's disappointment. Eleanor especially enjoyed anything that got her wet: Le Scoot, Roman Rapids and Escape from Pompeii. Pompeii had real fire ,...

Amanda has been coming into our room in the morning, before I'm really ready to get up, to snuggle. As the middle child (and as the quietest and least demanding of her siblings), she gets all too few moments alone with me, so it is nice. Today she came in as usual, and I tried to get back to sleep for a few more minutes. One of Amanda's strengths is that she can be still an quiet when asked to, although sometimes she just needs to talk ("Mom, did you know that a mouse has teeth that are so sharp they can bite through your finger? Mom, how do you make air?"). But she whispers, and she will be quiet for a minute or two when you shush her. She came in this morning, and we snuggled, and then we heard Luke wake up. Amanda agreed that we could invite him in, so she ran to her brother and asked, "We're having a snuggle party. Would you like to come?" Luke agreed, so I got him out of his crib with his 3 friends, and we snuggled. Luke is constitutionally ...

Just after the snowstorm, we ventured out and got the kids a haircut. I admit to getting their hair cut really short so that we don't have to go in as often. I wish I could cut Eleanor's hair---she's saving her hair for "Locks of Love" and so really she just needs trims, but she's so squirmy I'd be afraid of poking her eye out, much less doing something silly to her hair... Amanda always gets the "Stacked bob". It fits her face, hair, and personality beautifully. In fact, she's a walking advertisement for the hair cutting place, since people often comment "What a beautiful haircut!" and she tells them where she got it. For Luke, I just ask for the "short boy cut." This time the stylist used the buzzers and zoomed them around his head. He, for his part, spent the haircut trying to see what the buzzers were doing, another reason I'm glad not to be cutting the kids' hair. He looks awfully cute, but much too muc...

Last weekend half the neighborhood came out to the "big hill" in our neighborhood and went sledding. It made sense: there were clearly not going to be any people driving on it for a while. This snow reminds me again why flexible flyers exist: they were just perfect on the ice. I never saw the point of them in MN, but they work great down here. One of our problems was that we only had the "sledge" that Michael made (here I would insert a picture if I were technically inclined). It works fine for puling kids, but not so well for going down the hill---it kept getting caught, going sideways (a result of warped 2x4s, as well as no varnish yet). Eleanor helped out by running ahead of Luke and Amanda on the sledge, which kept it going and kept it reasonably straight. However, Luke fell off, banged his shoulder up quite nicely, and after that refused to sit on the sledge if it was heading even remotely downhill, even when Daddy was pulling it. There were plenty of sl...

We got ice and snow yesterday. Here are a few notes: I made Eleanor and Amanda eat breakfast before they went out. I didn't let them call any neighborhood friends at 7:30. I know, mean mommy. When I asked Luke if he wanted to go outside, he said, "No, I don't think so." When I asked him why, he said, "It's too cold." I think he had some traumatic experiences with snow inside his boots and mittens when we went skiing. He's a little southern boy... Eleanor complained that we didn't have a sled. I told her that we could buy one later, but she wanted to go out right then. Unfortunately, there is no way we are even getting out the driveway even today with our tires and front wheel drive car. So she asked Daddy if he could try to make something in the workshop. It didn't take too much wheedling before Michael (the original MacGyver ) whipped up a sled from an old piece of plywood and some 2 by 4s. It doesn't go all that fast, but it ...

Many years ago (back in graduate school) one of my favorite rituals was going to the campus bookstore and getting a calendar for the new year. I never lost hope that this was the year I would suddenly get organized---hasn't happened yet. One of my favorite calendars used to be the Nature Conservancy. The pictures were really stunning---more than the Audubon calendars, which had more animals and birds and other distractions. One year in particular, I wanted to save the whole calendar, but instead cut out 3 pictures that I really liked: a picture of a cloud over a rock, some brightly colored leaves on a green background, and a purple flower on a background of grey. I put the pictures in a see-through frame (2 sheets of glass held together by light wood) and never even managed to put them up. So now, more than 10 years later, my kids are going through the pictures we didn't put up on the "picture wall". Luke found the picture of the rock and the cloud, and he kept g...

Yesterday we went to the "Raleigh on Ice" outdoor ice skating rink. In case you hadn't noticed, it is usually above freezing in NC, so a rink either has to be indoors or have massive refrigeration. Except in this case, it is made of "green" plastic (no huge energy expenditure for freezing it, so I guess it's green...) Eleanor was completely convinced that the whole experience would be horrible, before we even set out. I had a hard time convincing her that while it might be horrible, we had to try it first. It turns out that she was more right than wrong. Skating on a plastic sheet is more slippery than ice, so your feet slide out from under you. It is also bumpy, since the "rink" is made by 3x5 (or so) sheets of plastic. These combined made for some spectacular falls. Luke actually did fine, despite having boots that were 2 sizes too big for him. He gamely walked ans slid around the outside of the rink. I was supposed to have skates on, b...

This weekend was Apple Festival up at Lutherock . We had a good time as always---just getting out of the weekend grind of errands and to-do lists is refreshing, not to mention driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway, hiking up and down trails through woods changing colors, meeting new people and old friends. Here are some highlights: Luke turns out to be incredibly afraid of fire, including fire in fireplaces. This was a problem this weekend, since the temperature in the morning was around 40 degrees, (although it got up to about 65 degrees during the day). When Michael lit a fire in the fireplace of the lodge where we were staying, Luke stood screaming at the door to the outside 3 rooms away, "I go out! I go out! Fire hot! It burns! Don't touch!" After about 20 minutes, he was able to sit in daddy's lap in the same room as the fire, but he was clearly still worried. I guess he got the message about fire, but perhaps I should have moderated it a bit. We did not tak...

A friend of mine gave some advice about children. "They're like sheepdogs," she said, "They need a job, or else they get destructive." So yesterday when I was trying to finish up the Moroccan Chicken Crockpot recipe for the church potluck today, and Luke was opening all the drawers and cupboards in the kitchen, taking various foods out of the pantry and generally hanging on my pant leg, I decided to give Luke a job. I noticed the window cleaning fluid on the counter, so I gave Luke the spray bottle. "Here. Please clean the windows!" " Otay ," answered Luke. He went over and started spraying the windows. "You have to wipe it all clean after you spray, Luke," I said, intending to get him a paper towel or two. " Otay ," said Luke---and when I looked up again he had found a kleenex . Problem solved. He happily cleaned windows (actually one window) for about 10 minutes, when I was finished with the recipe. This morn...

Today after church we held a folding chair throwing contest.* There were 2 categories: under 16 and everyone else. Amanda obviously figured out that she was under 16, so she walked right up to the line. A 12 year old boy had gotten there first, so we shooed Amanda out of the way, but as soon as he finished, Amanda walked right back up and stood, ready to receive her chair. The person who was running the contest was a bit perplexed, and asked if she needed help. She didn't think so, but I stood next to her. Unfortunately, Luke took that as a sign that he should help out too. I think I was most concerned that Amanda and Luke not get hurt, since the contest involved throwing the chair backwards over your head, but it wasn't a problem since the contest organizer gave the chair a little extra "boost". Not a bad throw for a 4 year old! Eleanor followed quickly and gave her chair a good throw---she didn't quite reach the 12 year old's mark, but it was defini...

I haven't written about the gardens for a while, so here's a small update. We planted pumpkins in the back garden. We started the seeds in little cups and then transplanted them into a newly weeded garden with "soil conditioner". They have taken off, and are now almost as big as Eleanor. No blossoms yet, but humongous leaves that threaten to take over the garden. It's very rewarding. Michael managed to hook up a spigot to our irrigation system, so the hose now reaches all of the plants (we've got two dwarf plants that didn't get enough water in the beginning) and also we don't get charged sewer fees for watering the plants, a great improvement. I also started a compost pile. I really don't know what I'm doing, but through reading I've come to the conclusion that contrary to popular opinion, compost doesn't just happen, it has to be engineered. However, nature keeps working and something is happening in that compost pile. In the ...

The other day I was looking over our "lawn" (the weeds are sometimes the only thing that make it look green...) and I noticed little red sprouts, about 4 inches high, peeking over the grass. "That's odd," I thought, and went to pick one up. There was an acorn attached. Looking at the rest of the lawn, I began to notice more and more of these sprouts popping up all over my lawn. Oh no, I thought, they're oak trees... You should understand that last fall our oak trees decided to re-forest all of central North Carolina single-handedly, and dropped a record crop of acorns. My inlaws were visiting while the acorns were falling, and we took thousands of them off the lawn. I thought that the squirrels would take care of the rest, but aparantly they were not doing their job. So now we have hundreds of little oak tree sprouts growing in our lawn, and it turns out to be my job to remove them. Amanda considers it her personal job to remove all the wild garlic gr...

Michael and I were upstairs, and he was working on part of his presentation for the trip he was leaving on that day. Suddenly, we hear thumping coming up the stairs. "Daddy! Mom!" It was Eleanor. She arrived breathless in the room. "Luke learned how to use the printer and now he's printing lots of copies!" Michael went downstairs to retrieve the presentation he had just printed off, trying not to laugh. I think it says something about Luke that both his sisters thought he could figure out how to print "lots of copies" on the printer.