School's Out

Making playdough is great for occupying time.

Another Vanessa and Zane game, based on a game from Family Game Night. We put a number game board on the floor with contact paper. They made up number sequences and jumped on the numbers. A bell would ding if they jumped the sequence correctly. A buzzer would sound if they jumped the sequence incorrectly. They made tally marks for each bell that dinged. The game transformed to many variations including using a ball to determine the sequence, and then a sword to block where the ball would bounce. Poor Horton and Wonder Pet Tuck. . . they endured Zane's variation of jumping on stuffies. And then off to another game . . .  a version of Super Why, I think . . .

There was a two-hour delay on Monday and I picked up Vanessa early from school since she was feeling yucky. While she rested Monday into Tuesday, Zane did some school work. Poor little guy . . .

They didn't know they were doing science but we made sensory (density bottles) using clear plastic bottles and other various materials . . . again. First we squirted in corn syrup. Then we poured vegetable oil in to see the vegetable oil rise to the top. And then we poured in red water. The liquids separated into three layers with corn syrup on the bottom, water in the middle, and vegetable oil on top. We wondered what else we could do, so we put in puffy balls, pipe cleaners (yes, I used the un-PC reference), paperclips and safety pins. Then V&Z used magnets to fish the metal from the bottom layer to drag to the top.

I'm certain there were many times when Vanessa hopped on Zane's train to get to her violin performances. His engineering was superb and her performances were outstanding.

Holy Rollers

We lost control a bit when we saw snow rollers on our way to school on Monday.

The title of the post makes me think about the broad spectrum of worshipers and denominations (and spectra within each denomination) and how some generalize based on labels. Our family doesn't attempt to speak in tongues or roll all over the floor when worshiping God, but there are times we are pretty zealous when we witness His mercy and grace.

Selfie

Deemed the word of 2013, Vanessa has this mastered.

We've tried a couple selfies as a group, but I don't recall us ever demonstrating this approach for her. We were playing dress up in her room one evening. The kids have a ton of play phones. The one in Vanessa's hand is actually meant for an infant, but she still plays pretend with it. I asked her where she learned to take such glitzy selfies and she said, "I saw Candace do it on Phineas and Ferb." :-)

Recently I went through her camera she was gifted for Christmas 2012. There were a ton of selfies. Some were pretty. Some were cute. Some were silly. I'm thinking they might make a neat photo book titled "2013 Selfies".

Invigorating

Watching and Waiting

Vanessa will help steam broccoli in the microwave. A few months ago, after she closed the door and punched the numbers, she sat there on the stool just watching. After a few seconds she said, "You know Mom, a watched pot never boils. Do you know what that means? It means I need to stop watching so it will boil." :-)

She's right. Anxiety and impatience do not speed things up. Wait in faith. Based on an article from Relevant magazine, waiting reveals true motives, builds patience, transforms our character, and builds intimacy and dependency on God.

For the weather this week, I heard Vanessa repeat something I have said. As I asked the kids to bundle up really well, Vanessa asked, "Is it a kill-a-person kind of cold?" She went on to ask if it would once again be double digits below zero. The temps have been great for math lessons. :-)

Exactly

It was really quiet in the house when Zane and I heard local sirens start up. While sitting in a chair beside him I said,  "Uh oh. Do you think they're coming here?" Zane replied, "No, we're inside . . . the truck is too big to come in the front door. Silly."

Sparkle

(from November 2013)

How do you play Sparkle with two (maybe three) players? Answer: Enlist the help of plush friends.

Vanessa loves to do this and intentionally causes participants to give incorrect spellings so she can direct them to sit down.

Zane: "Wait. Wait. But guys I eat apples. Apples eat grapes. And I like apples."

Zane: "Wait. Wait.

Mommy: "Once."

Vanessa: "Which word?"

Mommy: "What do you mean? I said once."

Vanessa: "She wants that? Or once upon a time?"

Mommy: "Great question, Vanessa!"

Vanessa was really impressive with keeping track of the players who had to sit down. After going through a long list of words, and presenting the last one (animal), Vanessa yelled, "Yay! Baby is the winner!"

Lollipop Guild

This little guy LOVES the Wizard of Oz. He asks to watch it. He especially loves the scenes with the Wicked Witch of the West. He says she's green, ugly, mean and funny. Up until recently, Vanessa seemed to be bothered by some of the scenes in the Wizard of Oz. Better convinced now that it's merely Dorothy's dream, Vanessa spends her viewings analyzing the relationships and characters, which usually results in an argument between her and Zane, especially when she tries to explain that the Wicked Witch is Dorothy's mean neighbor. Zane will respond "No she not! She's grey! The mean witch is green!"

The tornado scene and monkeys bothered me a lot when I was little. Zane doesn't seemed bothered by any of it, and currently he doesn't have bad dreams like his sister did. I love to watch him dance with the Lollipop Guild. He would fit in nicely, wouldn't he?

Shed

Skar's skin was looking pretty dull Friday evening. Vanessa was telling everyone that he was about to shed his skin. After we put the kids to bed and I came back through the great room, I noticed Skar in process of shedding. Leopard Geckos tend to do this very privately and they eat all the skin they shed. They eat their skin for a couple of reasons: to keep safe so predators don't find evidence of their existence, and to replenish the energy they used to pull off the skin.

We knew Vanessa would love to see HER baby in this process, so we got a few pictures and a couple of videos. She can share these with her classmates at school too.

Skar's process sheds light on relationships and stages in life.  We outgrow many things and take many detours along the way. We go on to create new relationships and share our gifts with them. It's quite healthy and nurturing and shows how much we are genuinely growing.

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." ~ Ephesians 4:22-24

This last picture was taken on New Year's Day. Skar is asleep. We've had some ask if he gets into the hammock by himself. He does it a lot more now than he did at first. I often find that now he goes up there to poop.

Cupboard Love

"Mom, open the cabinet, please."

I made my way to the kitchen to do so since it was about snack time. We still have a childproof latch on the cabinet (which I'm thinking can be taken off soon.) More recently I've been able to walk in, open the cabinet, name off the things Zane can choose from and then leave him to make his choice. 

So I opened the cabinet and went back into the great room to finish whatever it was I was in the middle of doing. 

A few moments later I hear in a surprisingly soft voice "Someone help me. Get me out of here. Someone? Please?" As I returned to the kitchen I figured Zane was trying to get something he shouldn't have. Instead I saw the following. 

I stepped back a few feet to grab the camera and heard "Hey! What are you doing?" I snapped a photo and opened the door.  He exited with a granola bar already in hand. We didn't have to say anything else -- he knew shutting himself in the pantry cabinet wasn't the best idea. :-)

Polar V

It's true. It seems mine and Zane's schedule revolve around Vanessa's. It's been a nice transition that way -- I imagine when it's time to send Zane off to do more independent things, hopefully I will be able to balance all schedules.

It's been nice to have her home for break. As she pointed out yesterday, "I liked kindergarten more than first grade cause I only had to go half a day." I get what she means. The two extra days off because of the polar vortex were bonuses  -- confined to the house is not all bad!

Vanessa told us a couple of times at the end of break that she missed school specials.
On Sunday I asked what she was going to like most about returning to school. She said, "I think you know that Mom." I wasn't sure I did, "Do I?" With confidence Vanessa replied "You know. It's my favorite part of the day." I thought of a good guess, "Specials?"
"Yeah, you guessed right. Except if we don't have school tomorrow I'm okay with that, since it's music. I don't want to miss on Tuesday because . . . well, you know." Pretty convinced I asked, "Gym?". She replied, "Yep. You got it."
But when school was canceled for Tuesday too, she seemed polar opposite of the day before. She was happy to know she will get to gym on Friday.

But can you blame her for being content to be home? The kids played and played, finding it hard to stop to eat lunch or take baths. There was a polar attraction, and I'm sure it made our extra time together easy and enjoyable. Over break they played made-up games like Naked Sledding and Stack the Sandwich. They attempted some games by bouncing on the beds, but Vanessa was told she's getting too big. I caught a picture before though. :-) And with no pictures to show, Winter Wipeout and Dribbler Coach were two more top and repeated games.

Christmas festivities were so huge it was easy to be partied out by New Years. Zane crashed before returning home so Vanessa and I could snooze in the New Year in the tent in the basement. The rest of us fell short of midnight too. 

The kids were excited to dress for the Buckeyes.

We had several days over break and beyond that were proclaimed as game days, where we played various card games, board games and puzzles, and didn't really stop except to potty and eat. Daddy squeezed in some games too.

But even with those, they couldn't keep from making up their own games with very specific rules and directions. Below is a family brawling game using chess pieces. They were content with this game for what seemed like forever.

Zane has almost completely transitioned to saying Vanessa clearly all the time. He slips and still calls her Da-Dess, but we're finding he catches himself now and corrects himself. I end up sticking out my bottom lip when he does it. He notices and tells me to stop. But I can't help it, like a vortex, their early childhood is whirling so fast that I feel it sucking the years away.

I only had to ask them to rest a spell a few times. Many times they took the initiative. They played and snuggled in sleeping bags, stacked pillows and layered blankets on the floor to get cozy in a variety of places.

There have been moments with toys, too, such as taking special friends to the Barbies' house, loading Transformers in the Weeble Wobble bus for an adventure. These combinations provide new and interesting spins to the entertainment.

And of course there have been a ton of dress-up games and make believe. (Zane never did put on that dress, now that I think about it. Perhaps he noticed the camera.) From the Dark Knight sword fighting the Blue and Grey Batman to fashion shows in Vanessa's room (where of course she won every possible award) the kids covered almost every genre.

They changed their regular outfits several times a day, almost as fast as a spinning Superman. At times they dressed as if it was extremely warm outside. Other times they threw on PJs to have numerous pajama parties. Zane has been going through an average of three pairs of socks a day. He just likes changing them out. Oh yay . . .

V didn't let the stardom get to her head though. We only saw this intensity a couple of times, which is hard to imagine for many. And it can still be kind of cute when we do see it, making it quite tolerable for a moment or two.

Before bed Tuesday night, Vanessa kept asking me to check my computer to see if she'll have school on Wednesday. I reminded her that it seemed certain, with the exception of a possible delay. I got extra kisses and hugs, like she couldn't get enough. I'm thrilled she basically gets how special our time has been. 

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Wholly Holy Holey

Do you ever feel you can't quite capture the whole picture? Like you're so very thankful you made the extra effort to grab a picture of all that you could, but still you are left with holes? Unfillable holes. I attempt to fill the holes with pegs of fond memories. I try to imagine the absent with the dearly loved and smiling faces. I move them around and change their pose. I think about the chaos and sounds heard while setting up the shot. And then I end up with bright thoughts of Holy smoke! This is awesome!