Another Summer Bites the Dust

I know I probably say it every year, but, THAT WAS THE SHORTEST SUMMER BREAK EVER!!

Today was the first day of school for the girls. Kind of. Audrée has to wait until next Thursday for her start date but the other two started today. This morning after the girls got on the bus we made a paper count-down chain, 9 loops for 9 days. It almost seems cruel that we've finally arrived at her year and she still has to wave to the girls as the bus disappears around the corner.

Anyway. The girls are ready. They were excited to see all their friends again and find out who their teachers are. Amelia's class is back together after having been split for 2 years so she's excited to be with Charlotte and her other girl-friends that she's been separated from. Evelyn's class will be split this year so she was a bit nervous to find out who she'll be with.

Turns out it's split with 15 of her classmates in one class and 4 of them in with the grade 1's. She's one of the four. At least she's with three of her closest friends but I'm not sure how I feel about her being with the younger grade when there's only four of them. I wish there was an easy way to keep tabs on what she's covering versus her counterpart classmates but I suppose if she seems to be getting smarter she must be doing ok. At least she enjoys reading and in the grand scheme of things if she doesn't cover everything that a normal grade 2 should cover she'll probably still survive in life.

Amelia's excited because this year she gets to learn English! Which really just means they can finally speak English at school and not get in trouble. Apparently they'll also be allowed to read the previously outlawed English books. It's the little things.

In the meantime, I have a couple more weeks of only having to get two girls ready, two sets of teeth brushed, two lunches made, and two bags packed. And I have my super Audrée helper home to help me entertain her little sister. Oh how different it will be when Audrée's not here.

Get Moving, Part I

I've been trying to think of ways to get this family a little more active. Summer is easy, the girls love playing outside, riding bikes, swimming in our little pool (once I get around to setting it up), going to the park, etc. But with this cold, cold winter we're in a bit of a slump. Swimming and skating lessons have ended, except for Amelia (although I don't really consider swimming "good" exercise as a 1/4 of the class is spent watching the other kids swim) and Evelyn's birthday gymnastics won't be starting until March.

Idea #1, have them walk the dog.

Today was a snow day (again...the girls had one on Friday too). After a morning of laying around in pajamas, playing video games, watching tv and doing not much of anything I asked the girls if they would like to take Paris for a walk. Part of me wanted them to walk more than 4 steps in a row but part of me also just wanted a quiet house for 10 minutes while Lucienne slept. I've let them walk her down the street and back but this time Amelia asked if they could go a bit further...maybe around the block? I gave Amelia the cell phone "just in case" and sent them off with a skip in their step. I think they were all feeling very grown-up and Audree was over the moon to be included in such a big girl activity.

They were gone 2 minutes before the first phone call. "How do I get Paris to stop pulling?"

1 minute later, "She's still pulling."

1 minute later, "Which way are we suppose to turn?" The were suppose to go down our street, first street they came to turn left, first street after that turn left, first street after that turn left, come home. They hadn't come to the street yet but Amelia was calling just to confirm.

1 minute later, this time Amelia is in tears, "She ran after a squirrel and I fell. Can you come get us?" They still haven't made the first turn so I told her to just turn around and come back home. By the time I wake Luci up (NEVER!), get ready and get in the car they would be home.

1 minute later, after passing the leash off to Evelyn, "How does Evelyn get her to stop pulling?"

1 minute later, "Evelyn's hand hurts and my knee hurts, can you come get us?" Ummmmm, no.

1 minute later, "Audree's crying now, she thinks we're lost." So I talk to Audree, "I don't know where we are and my umbrella keeps blowing around."

At this point I'm outside in front of the house waiting for them. As I'm talking to Audree I can see them come over the hill down the street...a street we've walked on a million times.

They're all in varying degrees of distress...but Paris is happy. At least she had a good walk. She got to chase a squirrel and everything.

A quick side note on Audree. She has discovered time, age and location. Almost every time we're in the car she asks if I'm lost because she's pretty sure we're not in Orangeville anymore and that she doesn't know where we are (this is usually within 2 minutes of leaving our driveway). She's also trying to comprehend units of time by statements like "Can I watch tv in five minutes which is one hour from now?" or "I've been waiting for 500 hours". And conversations about age go something like this, "I'm going to be a mother when I'm 12 and you'll be 100."

One by One

Amelia has been eight for a whole year. At church there is a "Faith in God" program where 8 to 11 year old girls set and accomplish goals for themselves. It works out that to complete the program they need to do about 6 a year. As her 9th birthday approached I thought it was about time to crack open that sucker and see what she's accomplished. I don't think that's really the way it's suppose to work but sometimes we just have to do what we can. She had done a couple through Activity Day Girls and her book club counted as organizing an activity for children and their parents (thank goodness we invited the mothers along!). That put her up to 3 goals...3 to catch up on for last year and then we could get working on this one.

I thought I should probably be a bit more pro-active and attempt to be an "intentional" mother (been reading up a bit on that lately). So, last Sunday I sat down for an interview with her. I brought out some M&Ms to make it more appealing and asked her to bring down her journal and a pen. It's hard to get private time in this house though. Evelyn and Audree hovered for the most part wondering what was going on then asking when it was going to be their turn. I hadn't intended on doing everyone but I quickly saw that was not going to be an option. Amelia and I set out some goals she could accomplish for February...do a Family Home Evening on genealogy, research an art museum she'd like to visit and make a plan to get there, work on memorizing an Article of Faith. We also talked about how things were going at school with friends, how she was enjoying swimming and skating, what other interests she would like to pursue (karate...thanks to her cousin Addison! (and I know she's not in karate per-say but close enough)) and any other goings-on that she felt needed some attention. 

As we wrapped up I saw Evelyn waiting eagerly at the door, pen and notebook in hand. I dismissed Amelia and Evelyn seriously approached the table. She sat down and said, "Mom, don't forget my M&Ms". We talked about similar things. She committed to do a Family Home Evening as well, wanted to work on memorization of an Article of Faith, spoke about saving money for gymnastics and planned some playdates. I wrote everything down for her to copy into her notebook. As we finished up there was Audree, waiting patiently at the door, pen and notebook in hand. 

With four children it's hard to find one on one time with each of them. Lucienne is in the "my mommy" stage where the girls lay a finger on me and she runs over to stake claim. But they crave that time...and need it...and deserve it. Daddy-Daughter dates are coveted and a trip to Home Depot is precious (although I'm often sending them along with strict instructions to not let him purchase anything that looks like a tool). I find that multitasking is a necessity and I'm often helping Evelyn on piano while overseeing Amelia do homework as I'm cooking dinner with Lucienne running around naked and Audree up on a chair "helping" me. But I usually manage to devote a few minutes a day with each of them. Sitting down at the piano with Evelyn in the morning while others are getting ready for school. Reading a chapter out of a book with Amelia after the younger ones are tucked into bed. Playing a game with Audree while Lucienne sleeps. And Lucienne, well she still breastfeeds 100 times a day but for some of them I put the book or iPod down and just enjoy her.  However, I need to remind myself to carve out this time because it's so easily missed. 

I sure do love these girls. 

If I take time to figure out how to get the red-eye out I'll never post this!

Say Awwwww...

Today the girls all had their yearly checkups. I'm pretty sure I missed last year. It was one of those things that occurred to me in July when I should have had Lucienne in for hers (which I didn't) and realized I hadn't taken the other girls either. I have to be fair.

So we took over the Doctor's office for a good hour. The nurse asked if I could undress Lucienne to get an accurate weight. Undressing her is never a problem... getting clothes back on is another issue. I'm just hoping she doesn't think it's now okay to take off her clothes in public places. None of the other girls have ever done that but if one of them is going to it would be Luci. It really is cute watching her watch her sisters though. She really wanted to get measured and weighed on the "big girl" scale like the girls and the nurse kindly obliged.

Then comes the wait for the doctor. There's nothing like cooping up four children in an office full of things they shouldn't touch...one of them being naked. They all got to play with a glove. Take turns standing on the scale. Getting up on the table. Sitting on the swivel chair. Sitting on the stool. Playing with the lamp. And that was only the first two minutes. All this while trying to prevent Lucienne from going through the file drawers and typing on the computer (still naked of course).

Have I mentioned Lucienne has mastered the little-girl-piercing-scream? The kind that makes your ears ring for a minute after? Well, that scream sounds GREAT in a small room. Especially when it's repeated over and over and over again because she wants to climb everything and touch everything and stay naked. The doctor (once she came in and went through some examination questions) mentioned we might want to encourage her to use words. Will keep that in mind.

Audree stood on one leg while spelling her name in the air...she's doing great!

Evelyn is "backed-up" a bit and was encouraged to drink more water. The doctor also asked her to show me her poops so I can get a sense of whether we need to be concerned about constipation.  I told her I'd give her an empty container in her lunch just in case she went at school and would need to bring it home for me to see. She looked at me then at the doctor with the best expression! I haven't seen any of Evelyn's yet but Audree has shown me all of hers!

Amelia needed some blood work done. Nothing serious, just ruling out a few minor concerns from being connected. I didn't tell her until we were en-route to the lab. When she was four she had some blood drawn and it was less than a pleasant experience - I knew this would be the same. After freaking out in the car for about 5 minutes we were good to go in. She did amazing! They were so good there. She barely even flinched and on the way back out to the car said, "That wasn't as bad as I remembered." I told her to erase her four-year-old memory and replace it with this one.

So, in the end we are a happy, healthy family.

Off the Charts

On this post back in March I stated my belief on sticker charts and my consent to try them. It was a failure with the guitar trial. I don't know if it was because the stickers went missing or the incentive wasn't worth enough but it lasted about 2 weeks before fizzling (just enough to get one package of plasticine).

At the beginning of the summer I was speaking with a good friend who devised a motivational chart to get her kids reading. I liked the idea but thought I want my kids to be doing more than just reading. There's work to be done, music to be practised, gardening and other stuff I'm sure I'm missing.

So, I worked out a chart that would cater to the fact the girls love to colour. It's a rainbow chart with colours assigned to tasks: reading - purple, writing - red, music - orange, housework - yellow, garden - green, physical activity - blue and extra - pink. There are blocks of 100 squares in 5 rows of 20 to colour in when they complete a task under any category. We went to Bulk Barn and they each got to pick out a candy that they would get when they finished colouring in a row. At the completion of the block of 100 they would get something bigger, like going to the movies or picking something out at a store. I figured a row might take a week or so to complete and a block about a month.

The first day they had all earned a candy. Two weeks, they were at their "block" reward. Amelia went and saw Brave with Rene and I went shopping for a new dress with Evelyn.  It has slowed down a bit now but we're almost into August and it's still generally working. I have double point days when they can blindly pick a colour so when they do that job they get to colour two squares instead of one.

My favourite has been the "extra" colour. That's for when I need something done, like folding diapers, helping with dinner, sorting the tuperware drawer, etc. I just call out "extra square task" and they come running, ready to do whatever I ask. It's like living in the twilight zone. It's fantastic! Sometimes I'll post notes on the tv for when they get up so they know what extra tasks there are for the day. There was one day I came downstairs and Evelyn was folding laundry, Amelia was dusting furniture and they had already swept the floor. That's not everyday by far but it has been nice to not have to do too much nagging...in general.

I'm sure our neighbours think I'm crazy when they hear me threaten to take away squares. That's the downside of these charts. I hate using them as threats but it comes out of my mouth before I can stop myself.

Today I threatened to make a chart I would colour in black every time they fought, hurt each other, talked back or didn't listen. I got the idea from scripture reading this morning that talked about being clean to enter into the kingdom of God. They were, as usual, fidgeting, playing with other things and generally not seeming to pay attention. I haven't created it yet, but it would already be pretty black. Not sure if that's the route I want to go with these charts but it sure is tempting. As a consequence of being mean to a sister I've already made them give one of their squares to that sister. I feel like I'm grasping at straws, trying to find something that will motivate them to not be so mean to each other. One thing at a time I suppose. At least my windows and bathrooms are being cleaned.

Like Fishes in Water

Yesterday marked the end of this session's swimming lessons. We opted for twice a week which seemed a little hectic but the girls improved so much faster. They all did wonderful. It's kind of neat seeing where Amelia is at now (being able to swim the length of the big pool) versus Audree's level (which is where Amelia started).

Amelia loves doing things she's good at (don't we all) and swimming is one of those things. She loves going, she puts her heart into it, and can see how much she's improving. I wish she would put that same heart into other areas that don't come as easily but that I know she could excel at (guitar comes to mind...I feel like that's a common thread in these blogs). If there is water around, Amelia is in it. If we're at someone's house with a pool she is in it the whole time. Even other parents have called her a fish. Chalk up another way she's like her Aunt Erica.

Audree started lessons not being able to put her head under and wanting to cling to her instructor the whole lesson. We told her if she put her face in the water we'd buy her goggles like her sisters. She did it, we bought them then forgot to bring them for the next lesson...which made that lesson pointless. She sulked the whole time and refused to do anything. That week, Paris chewed them and that was the end of the goggles. But, with the little pool in the backyard she gained confidence and little by little she was putting more of her head/face into the water. By the end of the lessons she was swimming forward with her whole head under. I think she's just as excited about this feat as we all are...so cute!

This set of lessons was Evelyn's first time in the big pool. Since she's 6 we took her out of the "animal" named lessons and put her into the "numbers". She was the most nervous of them all at the start. The water is way deeper (I wasn't even sure she'd be able to touch in the shallow end but it goes up to her chin...as long as there are no splashes or waves she's okay!) and much colder. Her endurance and stroke greatly improved but most of all her confidence sky-rocketed. She's able to jump into water now without being able to touch the bottom and swim back to the edge.

I love watching the girls learn and seeing the pride in their faces as they accomplish new things. Up to this point they've been doing swimming lessons once a year but I want to keep the momentum so I've signed them up again in the fall. We might take a break through the winter because the thought of being wet in the cold is not very motivating (plus the rec centre's parking lot is super windy and poorly designed so the walk to and from the car is torture in the winter).

Soccer Stars

Soccer started a couple weeks ago. There's a great league a little north of Orangeville that is way less competitive than in-town. All ages are on one night in one giant field...there are probably 20 games running at the same time from ages 4 to 16. They practice for the first half hour then have an hour game. The girls played a couple years ago but spent most of the time picking flowers and holding hands (yes, those were my children) so we opted out last year. This year some of their friends were playing so we're giving it another try. So far, much better.

The Easter Bunny brought them shin-guards which seems to have given them a little more confidence in going after the ball.

Evelyn is the cutest. She has the biggest grin the whole time she's on the field and gets right into the scrummage (6 kids on the field for each team means 24 feet kicking at the ball). Amelia stands out a bit and waits for the ball the emerge. Turns out, she plays sports as a lefty. She also spends a little too much time waiting for the ball to come to her. One game we kept yelling at her to go get the ball. Apparently we yelled her name too much and she came off for break in tears. I felt terrible but should have known. Every time she heard her name she probably felt like EVERYBODY was watching just her, and she's not a spotlight kind of gal. We now don't say her name at all and she's having a much better time.

Tonight, Rene opted to stay home and out of all nights both girls got shots on goal (neither went in but it was a pretty big accomplishment for them just to get there). I imagine he won't miss another game!!