See Jane Run

I was sooooo proud of Amelia and Evelyn tonight.

But lets start at the beginning...

Back in June the girls' school participated in a 5K run. Very non-competitive, more of a fun-run/walk for French schools in the area. This year Amelia came home kind of down. She said that she wished she could run it, that she had the ability to actually run a decent chunk of it. I told her that for sure she could do it if she was willing to put in a little bit of work. She really wanted to so we sat down and made some goals. We looked up learn-to-run programs for young girls and committed to running 3 times a week. We found a calendar we could track her distances and time in so she could see her progress and found a Halloween run in October to work toward.

The last 4 1/2 months have not been easy and it's been a learning curve for me too. The hardest part was finding the time to run. Early mornings are out because they're too early with Rene having to leave for work by 6:30am. Evenings are too unpredictable.  So we finally settled into a habit of running as soon as Rene gets home from work. I try to have dinner half ready or at least prepped so he can finish up and we can come home to a hot meal on the table.

Next hurdle, how do you keep a 9-year-old and nonathletic mother motivated? Add an energetic 7-year-old to the mix. It didn't take too long before Evelyn wanted to join in on the runs. Also add a crazy 2-year-old dog who really needs to get out and work off some energy. We also found a favourite place to run. A nice flat trail that has km markings every 1/2 km.

We didn't always want to get out but with the addition of the Halloween run looming in the background it was usually enough motivation to get us all running.

Thankfully on Thanksgiving weekend a treasure box of old dance costumes were discovered which sealed the deal. Add yet another reason Aunt Becca rocks!

The week before the run was the first time we ever ran 4kms so I wasn't sure how 5 was going to go on the day off but figured we'd get to the end no matter what. The day of the girls were pretty pumped. They were in their costumes as soon as they got home from school. Flashlights were found and readied (the run was at night) and water was stocked. We got to the run with plenty of time to enjoy face painting and balloon animals. I made the girls hold off on the free pizza, hot chocolate and gobs of candy being handed out and told them they could have their heart's desire AFTER the run.

I forgot how energizing participating in a run like this is. I've only done a couple in my life and this was by far the most fun. Probably because I was doing it with my girls but something about being behind a space-ship stroller, surrounded by minions, monsters, farm animals and grapes made the night a little more magical.

When the starting bell rang, the girls were off. And when I mean off, they were OFF. I kept asking if the needed a break and got an unequivocal no every time. We ran for over 10 minutes before one of them finally needed to stop, and even then they were ready to get back at it after 30 seconds. The furthest we'd got in our training was 3.5 minutes before breaking for 1.

We crossed  the finish line at just over 40 minutes to find a surprise personalized cheering section of Grandma and Aunt Erica.

What a fun night. Santa Shuffle, here we come.

Get Moving, Part II

I don't really like playing outside in the snow but today I dug out my snowpants (still had the tags on from when I got them...I think while pregnant with Audree) and took the kids tobogganing. Usually I stay home with the baby while Rene goes with the older ones but his schedule has been so busy lately that there hasn't been any time. Luckily Lucienne LOVES outside. If she sees anyone putting on anything that remotely looks like they might be going out she runs to the front to get her stuff. She can put hats, mitts and boots on all by herself (many days those are the only pieces of clothing she's wearing at all) and can even kind of get her coat on in an interesting fashion statement kind of way.

So, the girls got off the bus, I told them to not get out of their stuff but that we were all going sledding. Evelyn pulled Lucienne most of the way on our walk to the hill (about 10 minutes from home) and Amelia pulled the other sleds. I'm sure we looked like a modern day Norman Rockwell painting.

I forgot how fun it is. It helped that today wasn't freezing cold and there wasn't an icky wind or snow/sleet/rain falling.

Lucienne's first run had her laughing at the bottom  She refused to get out of the sled at all so she got to ride down AND up the hill. Thankfully we didn't have any wipe-outs with her or snow in the face so overall, good first experience. Amelia had a couple good tumbles, she always managed to get going backwards and Audree only had a couple of meltdowns. Overall, good time had by all. Next time I might even get more ambitious and bring our chubby dog...she also desperately needs to have some good winter exercise and she LOVES the snow.

Amelia's the only one who opted to continue with swimming lessons. Audree wanted a break and Evelyn is going to do gymnastics. When Amelia said she'd like to continue I jumped on that right away - not very often this girl likes participating in organized sporting activities. Turns out she's in a class full of boys, including the instructor. When I saw that I braced myself for the car ride home...and it came. She was not impressed with the dynamics of her class, not impressed at all. This level also seems to be much more hands off in terms of technique and focusing more on increasing endurance. She swam lengths for most of the 1/2 hour class. Again, not impressed.

It probably didn't help that she was pooped from sledding, or that she had hurt her leg walking Paris yesterday but I'm hoping that next week she'll still be looking forward to going. It's going to be a long 8 weeks if I have to coerce her to go every night.

I'd really like to come up with ideas of family exercising as opposed to paying and enrolling in "organized" sporting teams. It will get Rene and I moving and not always spectating, it will get the girls working together, and lets be honest, it will be way cheaper. We have a great gym space at the church that is virtually unused. A good friend of mine came up with the idea of organizing a co-op sort of rotation of sporting at the church. We would pick a sport, find someone (aka Rene) who could teach the rules and general skills and have them play it for 8 weeks or so. 30 minutes of skill then an hour or so of playing. Floor hockey, soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball (maybe when the kids get older). We would just need to get a few families to commit and I think it would be a fabulous (and cheap...did I already mention that?) way of getting the kids exposed to different sports.

Some kids are naturally active and for others I think it's a learned skill to want to get up and kick around a ball. The key will be to keep it fun and hopefully we'll get all the girls on board.

The Coveted iPod

There are things in life that either bring two people close together...or push them apart. The jury is still out on this iPod.

We went tonight to buy the thing. Amelia's fist tightly clutched her semi-hard-earned money. I can't really say hard-earned since 60% of it came from asking her friends to donate to her iPod fund instead of bringing presents to her party, 30% came from family members donating to her iPod fund and a measly 10% came from her actually saving her allowance (which is a result of her completely tasks around the house). Just writing this makes me realize that she probably didn't learn too much about "saving" for a big-ticket item. It didn't really take her that long to get most of it. However, I liked having a birthday party and not coming away with stuff she doesn't really need...or already has.

Anyway. We went to Walmart to take advantage of their iPod sale. In hindsight, Evelyn probably shouldn't have come but it's just so cute how excited she gets when Amelia's excited. It was a quick and easy transaction and Amelia practically floated out of the store. However, poor Evelyn's skip slowly turned to a drag. I hope she was expecting at the last minute I would rescue her from iPod woes by purchasing one for her but I don't think she realized how much it would physically hurt to see Amelia carry out the tiny bag. I feel like this is going to be her life. Looking up to an older sister who gets to do everything before her (flash back to last year's birthday ear-piercing drama). All the way out the store I got to listen to how unfair it was and how I didn't love her and how EVERYONE has one except for her now and on and on and on.

So far we have a few rules:
1. iPod is left downstairs at bedtime.
2. iPod may be played with before 7am in the morning as long as personal scripture study has been done. It may also be played with AFTER all other morning preparations are complete.
3. When friends are over, the iPod is off. Human interaction takes precedent.
4. When someone is trying to speak to you, earphones immediately come out of your ears (I'm debating this whole earphone thing but we'll see how it goes. I feel like she's shut off from the family).
5. I may make new iPod rules as the need arises.

I spent an hour tonight trying to connect it to iTunes and the computer. I want different accounts so that I can get all the kid's music off mine. I made the mistake of putting in her actual age without reading the Terms & Conditions. Turns out you can't have an iTunes account under the age of 13. I think they must flag emails that try because when I went back and changed the date it still wouldn't let me register. So then I had to create a new email and try it all again. Very arduous process (wish that brother of mine lived closer sometimes) but I think we have it all sorted out.

We'll see how this all transpires. Lately I've noticed she's become less moody and I see more of pleasant-happy Amelia (so nice!!) so I hope it will all work. It will depend on how much she tries to push the few rules we have. I don't want it to become the source of consequences or a way to modify behaviour on my part....I'll have to watch that. I hope she shares with her sisters. I hope I don't loose her to technology. I feel like she has gone through a rite of passage, taken a step into adolescence. But, maybe it will be good to have the novelty wear off while all she's really going to do is play games and FaceTime me. There's no sense in trying to hide the girls from all this stuff. It's going to be a large part of their world so they'll need to learn now how to make boundaries for themselves and use it wisely. I'm sure there will be many more posts on this subject.

My Amelia

Amelia turned 9 today. Next year is double digits. I have only one year left of her being less of a tween.

9 things I love about my Amelia (in no particular order other than what came into my head):

She loves her sisters. Even if her and Evelyn can have their moments, she really does love them. She goes out of her way to play with Lucienne. She includes Audree in what she's doing even though there's a 5 year age gap. She likes helping Evelyn learn how to read. When Audree has trouble going to sleep I'll often tell her to go see if Amelia is still up and snuggle with her. I'll go in and check on them and Amelia's out with a still-awake Audree snuggled up close.

I love how capable she's becoming. She has a few meals under her sleeve now. She does a great grilled cheese sandwich, can make pancakes better than I can and can scramble eggs. She's even made cookies with very little assistance (I just double check on quantities with her). The ability to read certainly opens up a lot of windows. But I love that she loves doing this. She's often in charge of making Saturday lunch for everyone.

I love having late night manicures with her. It's usually as a result of me tucking her in and getting a glimpse of her cat-like nails. I'll grab the clippers, a nail file and some polish and do her nails while we chat. That's really only started since she got her own bedroom (can't really remember when that was...sometime last year when Rene finished renovating the summer kitchen and we moved the treadmill out there). If Evelyn got wind of it I'd be in trouble!

I love how she really knows the difference between right and wrong and wants to choose the right. She made a goal this year of reading the entire Book of Mormon by herself. I found a reading chart online that has her reading about 15 versus a day (Rene and I are trying to keep up too). But she really seems aware of moral actions and is making connections between decisions and eternal consequences. Now would be the time to get her to write down her choices around the famous pitfalls of teenagehood and post them on her wall.

She's neat and tidy!! I don't have to ask her to pick up her clothes and she usually remembers to make her bed. She always clears her place setting from the table without being asked.

She loves to try new things. I hope she never loses this. We have to work on perseverance when things don't come naturally to her but she's always open to giving something a try.

She likes to help. From cooking dinner, to chopping wood, to buying groceries to painting. I think right now it's the feeling of being "grown-up" and that we trust her to do tasks on her own. I love how she'll take suggestions and come up with ways she thinks will work too (and most of the time they actually do).

Whenever she does a craft of project it's for someone else. She's learning to knit and wanted to start off with a scarf for Evelyn. She's made bracelets for everyone except herself (friends, teachers, sisters, even me). She wrote a learning-to-read book for Evelyn. She made shell barrettes for Audree. I love how she thinks of others and what would make them happy.

And last but not least, I love when she's happy. She has a great laugh...a kind of bubbly cackle that makes other people laugh too. She has such a huge impact on this family - I don't even think she realized how much her sisters ride on her emotions. When Amelia is happy, everyone is happy (unfortunately it goes the other way too).

So that's our Amelia. We are so blessed to have her as part of our family. She's going to do great things in this world and I think she'll be a shining example of good to her friends.

We love you Amelia. Happy Birthday.

Move Over, it's my Turn

Today I had a good friend look after Lucienne and Audree while I took Amelia to the dentist (more on that in a bit). Lucienne has really started showing recognition of people she knows lately. At church, if she sees this friend she will run up to her with a huge grin and ask to be picked up, often not wanting to come to my arms (which is okay because it means I get to snuggle with her 5 month old...good deal!).

So today I left her and she barely blinked as I walked out the door without her. When I returned my friend said she was completely fine until her little baby got up from her nap and needed to nurse. I assumed that it was because Lucienne then looked around for me, wanting to breastfeed herself but it turns out she spent the feed trying to get the baby off so she could have a snack herself. Good to know I'm so easily replaced!

When I told Rene he asked if I would ever nurse someone else's baby. I would, if they asked. Lots of communities enjoy communal mothering, and wet nurses were the norm not too long ago. I remember reading a story about a mother who died during childbirth in the US and knowing how important breastfeeding was to her, the father asked for help from lactating mothers. Her friends rallied around this mourning family and took shifts nursing the little baby.

Now for Amelia at the dentist. She's had this molar that started to reabsorb itself the past few months. The dentist just said to keep an eye on it and come in if it starts to bother her. Erica mentioned that on her last cleaning she thought it looked like it was time to pull it out. I made an appointment and the next day Amelia complained that it was hurting her. Nice timing! So we went in and the dentist said it was holding on by about 20%. I said pull it (Amelia wasn't as gung ho but eventually consented).  So out it came, quite easily. When I went to pay the bill I was floored...$178 to pull the tooth. I could have bought a few fancy pliers to the job myself at that price! Thank goodness for insurance.

Amelia's Book Club

Amelia has been begging to start a book club ever since I started mine (about one year this month I think). I've been dragging my feet because I just didn't feel like planning evenings with 6 or so of her friends over. Once a year is enough for their birthdays, and even that can get a bit much.

But, I've left the discussion open with trying to decide what the best format would be that would make us both happy. We talked about picking a series of books that everyone could just read one and share. We talked about everyone bringing their favourite book.

Then the other week I was browsing other blogs and found one that had a mother-daughter book club. I approached her with the idea of having all her friends come with their mothers to discuss a book. If the mothers are involved I would be willing to request multiple copies of the same book from the library to pass around the group. I wasn't sure if she'd be up to all us uncool kids crashing her party but she was excited about it. It also meant the book had to be something that mothers would enjoy, no Geronimo Stilton or Rainbow Magic Fairy Books. It will be a great opportunity to expose her to some childhood classics.

So, our first book is going to be Pippi Longstocking. I never read it as a child but heard it's a great book.

I talked to a few Moms about the idea and so far they've all loved it. When bringing it up with a good friend she thought her son would love the opportunity to join. I told her I'd have to check with Amelia to see if boys would be allowed and she was totally open to the idea. We've been trying to think of another boy who would want to come but have come up with nothing yet. We'll just have to be careful to not get too girly in our book selections.

Next was a group name. On our way to Thanksgiving Dinner #2 at Grandma's we came up with lots of ideas in the car. The winner was one Amelia came up with: Book Divas and Dudes. She was hard at work making invitations yesterday to hand out.

I really hope this takes off. I love reading. And I've loved watch Amelia learning to love reading. It was a bit of a shaky start but this summer she's really gotten into it. I've loved watching her read to her younger sisters too. It's been quite a relief to have her help out at bedtime while I put Lucienne down. Evelyn is trying to keep up with her older sister and working hard at learning to read. I think I'll read this book to her so she can join the club too. Audree and Rene will have to have a "Daddy Daughter Date Night" the night of our meeting. I'm excited to read the same book as her and hear her opinions and thoughts about it. 

Back to School

You know you're getting old when you frequently say: look how tall you're getting, I can't believe how time flies, what was I coming up for?, where did the summer go?, etc, etc.

But seriously, where did the summer go? It's the first day of school and I feel like we didn't do anything this summer. I was thinking of going on lots of day trips to the beach and splash pads and zoos and cousin visits and parks and hikes. Mind you, this was when I thought I would have the car six of the eight weeks of summer which turned out to be about one week. One of Rene's coworkers was kicked out of the carpool for being constantly late and then overtime happened which his other carpooling buddy has no interest in doing. So, I was left to searching out things to do by foot.

Anyway, back to the first day of school. It's not a very exciting morning here, which I'm going to take as a compliment and that my girls love spending time with me at home. Evelyn was in tears most of the morning.  I think we over prepared her for grade one. I just remember the transition being really hard for Amelia. The room isn't full of toys anymore and there's way more desk work. We totally under prepared Amelia and so went too far the other way with Evelyn.

Amelia isn't great with change to begin with so her not looking forward to going back to school is a given. Last year it took her a couple weeks to get into the swing of things but she was hugely disappointed that her grade had been split and she wasn't in her BFF, Charlotte's, class. This year I contacted the school to request they not be split but came away with a decision to make. Turns out we'd have to decide if she would have the same teacher for three years in a row or be in Charlotte's class. Since this has more to do with her than with me I let her make the decision. I'm so glad I did. It means that she went to school today already knowing what to expect. She choose to have a different teacher and that we would make an extra effort to have Charlotte over for more play dates. They are two peas in a pod though so it's going to take more than being in separate classes to tear these two apart.

The other day we were talking about heaven and how we probably knew each other before we came here. We talked about how the people we meet are placed in our path for a reason. When I asked her if she thought she and Charlotte were friends before and that there's a reason why they gravitated to each other in JK she got a cute smile on her face and I could see a lightbulb go off in her head. I hope they have the type of friendship that lasts a lifetime.

Anyway...away they went. I'm happy that we have the same bus driver as the last two years and it picks up and drops off in front of our house (I really try to not take that for granted because I know how lucky we are).

I must say that although I missed them it was a much more pleasant day. No fighting. I had some downtime on my own while Lucienne napped and Audree watched a movie. Audree and I baked some chocolate chip cookies for the girls when they got home (might as well start off on the right foot).

The girls came off the bus happy and excited. They both have great teachers this year that should be a lot of fun. It's weird not knowing what they do for the bulk of their day now. Soon they'll be all grown up with their own lives and I'll be sitting at home wondering where my babies went. How time flies.

Sticker Chart, Here We Come

I've never thought much of reward-based motivation. Using a sticker chart to get the girls to do things I expect them to do just never sat right with me...until yesterday. Seriously, I should make a list of things I would NEVER do and check off all the things I eventually end up doing.

I always thought the good feeling of a job well done, or the feeling of satisfaction of learning a new task, or the pride of seeing one's accomplishment should be good enough. Turns out, kids don't always get that. They tend to live in the moment and if in that moment they don't want to do something, a future feeling is not motivation enough.

So, it all started yesterday...or actually, middle of January. Amelia is taking guitar lessons. She begged for a guitar for Christmas and the look of total excitement and happiness was worth the slightly expensive/extravagant gift (compared to what the girls normally get). Evelyn's best friend's father is a guitar teacher so I called them up to see how much he would charge. Turns out he only teaches through a store. And, music lessons are kind of expensive. (I'm suddenly grateful for all my piano lessons...thanks Mom!!) But, his wife offered to do it for free. She dabbles a bit in guitar and can take Amelia to a point after which, if she's still into it, we'd have to find a professional. We were also able to schedule lessons every other week (every week was a bit too often) and Melody comes over for a play date while Amelia gets her lesson. It's been going fabulously!!!

The only problem - the in-between lesson part. This kid does not want to practice. It's like I'm asking her to walk on fire. There is never a good time of day. Even when she has nothing to do ALL day, nothing is still more attractive than practicing. The only way it has seemed to work is to have me sit with my guitar and practice with her (which I do love) but with 3+ other kids, homework, dinner, bedtime and whatever else is going on after school it's hard for me to sit down and practice for 30 minutes with her. If I need to go tend to something else, she stops playing and waits for me to get back. I've tried having her in the kitchen while I'm making dinner but the divided attention doesn't work either. She wants to play but she wants to play by osmosis...by sitting and looking at the guitar as it imparts its wisdom to her.

So yesterday, I was done with the nagging and the sulking and the "how much longer do I have to do this". I asked her what would get her motivated to practice. With a smile she said slowly "What?" (I think she knew what I meant, she just wanted to make sure I was actually offering her what she thought I was offering). "Yes Amelia, what can I give you that will make you practice?". She thought all of 10 seconds...
"An iPod?"
"Okay, practice for 5 days every week for a year and I'll get you an iPod."
"A t.v. in my room?"
"2 years, 5 days a week."
I suggested she do something that would be a week-to-week or every-other-week thing.
Since this doesn't regularly happen in this house she said she needed some time to think about it.

In the meantime, she spent the next hour designing a tracking chart for the next few months. Can you tell what she does like to spend her time doing? She then said that she would like some plasticine. Maybe a different colour for every week she hits her 5 day goal. That is doable.

So, today will be the first day of her reward-based motivation. I'm interested to see how long it lasts. If this works, I think there will be a few more charts going on around here. There are even a few things that I could use a sticker chart for. The reward? Maybe a manicure or facial. The possibilities are endless!! I'm off to design my chart.

The Changing of the Earrings

Amelia has been faithfully counting down the days she can change her earrings. I can't believe how fast 6 weeks flew by but last night was the night. She's been carrying around all the earrings she has managed to accumulate over the past few weeks (mostly from her birthday) and has been gathering opinions on what her first real pair should be. She settled on hoops, I think because they were the most different from the studs she's been wearing. I also suggested she start with one of her sterling silver pairs to be on the safe side.

I forgot how hard those first studs are to take out! I really had to pull hard and it startled Amelia but she said it didn't hurt. She lost a bit of colour but otherwise fine (I think it brought back memories from the initial piercing!!). As I was putting in the first hoop I mentioned that she should still be careful about having clean hands to touch them with...and here's where I made a big mistake. When she asked why I went into a story about how one of her classmates went to Great Wolf Lodge and how one of her earring holes get infected. It got so swollen they had to take out her earring and as it healed it closed up the hole. She now has to get them re-pierced. I only meant to educate her on how they can always be at risk of infection and that she still needs to be careful. With this story she lost a little more colour but said she was fine.

I took the second out with a tug, she lost a little more colour. Then as I was inserting the hoop she went white, then green. She then started to hyperventilate a little and said she was going to puke. I got her sitting with her head between her knees until she felt steady. The dilemma...I still needed to get that second hoop in. I managed to get her talking about all of Evelyn's suitors at school and pushed the hoop all the way through.

I'm not sure when she's going to be up to changing them again. She said the second hoop pinched a bit when it went through but she has a fairly high pain tolerance so I don't know why the reaction. Was it my gruesome teaching moment of a story? A little over the top?

Evelyn is still begging to get hers done. It will be interesting if I make the rest of the girls wait until they're 8 or just give in by Lucienne.

Amelia's Hidden Talent

Amelia has now been to a couple of Activity Day Girl Activities. It's a large group of girls, around 15 or so, and so far she says that she's really enjoyed going. I have a feeling she's still in her "observant stage". Ever since she was a baby she would sit back and get a feel for what was going on around her before jumping into any activity. When I go to pick her up she's been on her own but hopefully that won't last for long.

The one downside is that there are only 3 girls in her CTR 7 class and both of them have older sisters. She's not particularly close to either of them so she's going in without any pre-existing friendships. On top of that, as of the Ward split from last Sunday, one of the girls is out of our Ward and since the other is semi-active she's the only consistant one in her class. I think I might push to have her class combined with the Valient 8. I wonder if there is anything said to having a junior and senior class combined. Since Amelia's bday is in January and the other girl in February I don't see a problem. And maybe since I'm in the presidency I can do a little more pushing!! Plus, she would then be in a Sunday class with girls who are in Activity Day Girls and hopefully form some stronger friendships there.

Anyway, today's activity was a talent night. Amelia had been set on building a castle out of brownies for her talent. Over the course of 2 weeks I finally persuaded her that Rice Crispy squares might be a bit easier (another one of Amelia's traits, stubbornness!!). I finally prevailed by giving her the analogy that building with brownies would be like building with mud and Rice Crispy squares like Lego. Plus, she could make the squares almost all on her own with minimal supervision (I think that's what finally sold her).

At one point of her building it (I was trying really, really hard to stand back and let her do it on her own, after all, it was her talent night, not mine!!) we both took a look at it and realized it looked much more like a temple...so I pulled a picture of the Toronto Temple up and voilà, she created a Rice Crispy square Temple look-a-like, complete with flowering bushes! Once I get around to downloading my pictures off the camera and figure out how to post pictures to this blog I'll erase this sentence and replace it with a picture of the creation.

My favourite part (other than eating it) was seeing how proud she was of her project and taking in the compliments from the night. Especially when everybody kept asking me if I helped and I could really say she built it on her own.

Turns out she does have a talent of building with food...who knows how far that will take her!