Claire is on an absolute roll with refusing naps, and then falling asleep in odd places. I found her on the couch today after sneaking out of her bed and downstairs to watch cartoons with her brothers.
Awww……
She reminds me of a little tiger cub, all curled up and cozy.
Whad?
No, I dode have a code!
Talking fuddy? Who’s talking fuddy?
Me? I am?
Oh. Zorry. I’m just breading drough my moud.
It’s because of dat zmell.
What zmell? You know, that horrible zmell that zpread drough de whole houz, and Vlad had to oped de doors to air everyding oud.
I tode him id was going to zmell really bad and dats why I was zbending all dat time on de computer today – to avoid de job. I dode dink he realized how bad id was.
Vlad says he dinks we zhould have drown everyding in de garbage, tupperware and all. I dink he was right! But instead I dumped id all down de garbage disposal. And now I have to bread drough my moud so I dode drow up.
Dis is a nasty job.
What have I been doing? Oh, you know, just cleaning oud de fridge.
Spring Break has come upon us!
I actually didn't realize it had come upon us until the neighbor boy came over at 9:30 yesterday morning and wanted Spencer to play. When I asked if he didn't have school, he said, "I have Spring Break!" To me this was terrific news because I was already 1/2 hour late in starting my school morning partly because I am still learning the amount of time I have to allow for planning lessons ahead (I was still waiting for my library books to come in) and partly because I wanted to reorganize the way I teach this next chapter before we dive in. So my immediate thought was: "Hooray! Then we have Spring Break too!" Want to see what Spencer thought of that?
So Spencer spent the day playing outside and inside, and worked up a ravenous appetite that lasted into this morning.
I got several things crossed off my to-do list, and in general it was a really pleasant day. This morning I was greeted by the one thing that I was looking forward to the most as spring approached: as I came down the stairs I was met with fresh, cool, early morning air that had found its way inside through the opened window, and even through my socks I could feel the tile floor was cool. Everything was so fresh and crisp and friendly. That’s what I love most about this place this time of year.
Today I gotta figure out how to make the Ring of Fire, Krakatoa, Mt. St. Helens, and Mauna Loa come alive to my boys. I’m thinking play dough, straws, paint, and then baking soda and vinegar.
The funny thing? The neighbor boy really really wanted us to do home schooling yesterday so he could do it with us. I told him we were going to learn about volcanoes later in the week, so he could come over and help us make a volcano. This is going to be fun!
This week I did NOT forget to put my two year old child to bed for a nap. I did NOT forget to put her to bed after church, and she did NOT crawl into Katya’s swing around 2pm for some bouncy fun time – without a diaper - and literally swing herself to sleep.
Yesterday she did NOT come in for lunch, again around 2 o’clock, eat her soup, and then promptly turn herself belly-down on her barstool and fall asleep lying there, suspended above the ground.
I, the mother of four, also did go on a streak of forgetting diapers and wipes. I did NOT go to Women’s Night Out with an eight-month-old baby, and forget to take wipes or diapers. My baby did NOT poop through her clothes, and the lady of the house did NOT have to supply wipes, diapers, and a new sleeper for my baby. I also did NOT forget diapers when we took our kids to McDonald’s playland, and the baby did NOT poop in her diaper while we were there. I did NOT have to take her to the van and get wipes, and try to clean out the poopy diaper. I then did NOT line the poopy diaper with clean wipes so she could have a clean surface against her little bum. That was NOT the grossest thing I have possibly ever done with a diaper.
Yesterday I did NOT spend six hours cleaning the basement after my children trashed it. We did NOT pick up every single toy from the floor after not being able to find the floor in the first place. We did NOT throw away four bags of trash, many toys included. We did NOT bring up one bag full of laundry. We did NOT bring up one box of things that belong upstairs. We did NOT sweep up four dustpans of dirt and little trash. I did NOT organize all remaining toys - big toys into two toy boxes, and toy sets into clear boxes. I did NOT throw away all the now-incomplete sets of Skip-Bo, Uno, and math flash cards that literally littered the basement in every possible space. After organizing, I did NOT move all the toys shelves and boxes into the water heater room and then lock the door. That's right! The toys are NOT now in lock-down. The only thing I did NOT keep out (and under my supervision upstairs) are the educational activities like puzzles, logic games, and art stuff. I am NOT carefully considering a system for keeping the toys supervised enough that there are not catastrophic messes to clean any longer. How do you moms out there keep the hurricane-force messes at bay? Any suggestions for me? We cannot have this happening in our house anymore. It's atrocious.
What have you all NOT been doing this week?
Today I put up the baby gate 
because this little angel has finally gone mobile.
]
For about a week she was on a crawling treadmill, and every time she’d try to take a step forward, her knee would slip back and she wouldn’t actually get anywhere. 
But now she’s figured it out. And we’re so happy about it. 
Really, we are. I just don’t know where I’m going to get my baby fixes after she grows up. My baby…
I am Thankful for....my children’s creativity. I find that they are spending more and more time doing “projects,” experimenting with coloring and tracing, and drawing the things they imagine…not to mention the two packets of modeling clay we’ve gone through in two weeks. I love seeing them get so engaged in creating things. The bandleaders is Collin, who has recently taken up interior design for my kitchen walls:
I'm listening to...Our morning music, very happy and soothing and slow-jazzy. Also Claire playing on Katya’s swing, twirling round and round. Funny story about this swing coming in my Not Me! Monday in a few days! What I’m NOT listening to is the mutant canine barking her head off at ME. Thank God – some respite! I wonder if that rat poison had anything to do with it? Just kidding. We did save her from rat poison one time. Sometimes I wonder why. ;)
Looking forward to...spending June in Phoenix, our annual road/camping trip, and going to SPAIN in April!! Woo-hoo! Speaking of, I haven’t been brushing up nearly as much as I need to. I gotta get on that! The plan for sabbatical in Belgium fell through, but that’s just fine because I’m looking equally forward to staying here – in just one place – and making friends and putting down some roots over the next several months. Praying about...the children of Haiti. In particular, praying about “Tyler, Colton, and Glori,” who are the three siblings the same ages and genders as my oldest three. Also praying for their caretaker, Gertrude Bien-Amie, and the people of Healing Haiti that God would protect them all, keep them safe, provide for their necessities, and that he would teach the children of his love and give them forever families. Also praying that we can fit into His plan for Haiti and these children in any way He sees fit. Lately I’ve also been praying about my own internal world, as my own selfishness has been brought to light more and more often and I’d really like to have more of a servant’s heart, a heart of obedience, and a life that shines as a beacon for God’s love.
What's for Dinner Tonight...Leftovers, anyone? No? Well, then, It’d have to be cabbage rolls (pre-packaged from Superstore!)
Found...A way to hide the Nutella from my ever-sneaky children.
Spencer has ransacked the kitchen and still hasn’t discovered that those fat little Nutella jars it into these canisters!! :) So our Nutella is safe, and is disappearing at an amazingly slower rate. But, really, when you’re staring at a chocolate-smeared face like this, who can resist ?
Missing...Hmm….I’m not sure what’s missing this week. I’m missing my family, if that counts. Missing the times when I could drop by on my friend Paula and sit in her living room for a few hours. Missing seeing that special kind of joy on my kids’ faces when they’re surrounded by people that love them. Does that count? I never thought I’d say this, but sometimes I get homesick. I can’t image what Vlad goes through!
Burning Question of the Week...Would you mothers out there be able to send your nine-month old baby half way around the world with her daddy to spend a week with her grandma, which would also mean weaning her early? I’m just having a hard time letting go to do that.
We first read a book on mapping skills, then took out a map of Winnipeg and traced the route we were going to take during the day. Our first stop was St. Boniface, the oldest part of Winnipeg, and went to the oldest building in Winnipeg which was actually a convent in its earliest days. There we learned about the early settlers and the work done for the area by the nuns and priest of the convent.
The Old Convent today
The Old Convent as it looked then, brand-new. Amazing how it was just the convent, and the cathedral, and virtually nothing else. Today it’s surrounded by city.
The Cathedral next door . The stone face of the cathedral is all that’s left of the original. The rest was destroyed in fire. 
A view of downtown across the river, from the front of the cathedral walkway.
The old cemetery on the cathedral grounds.
Bust of Lois Riel, champion of the Metis people.
Next we went to the Forks to review the fact that Fort Gary had been built in the vicinity, and that the Forks market building had actually been a train station at some point. There the boys went into a train car that had been turned into a candy store, and picked a treat. We then read a book on city sounds, and then listed together all the sounds we could hear as we sat there in downtown Winnipeg.
The landmark bridge next to the Forks.
Next we went across the street to the Fort Gary Hotel, which is a beautiful, grand, old hotel in downtown Winnipeg and a city landmark. There we sat in the restaurant, chatted about the railroad, pretended we were people coming into Winnipeg from different places, and paid an absolutely exorbitant amount of money for three scoops of ice cream and a tart.
view of the front entrace from the restaurant
some ceiling detail in the restaurant
Collin and his lovely home-made ice cream.
My tart
Me and my girlies
Our server who was at first very stiff, and then warmed up and got into pointing out stuff to make the trip more memorable for the kids.
The owner’s HUGE MASSIVE GINORMOUS dogs that were lying on the restaurant floor.
From there we went outside and took a gander at the small section of the Fort Gary wall which still remains in tact.
From there it was a driving tour. We drove past the Legislative Building, through China town, and then to the train yards. We sang The Thomas Song as we drove over a huge bridge that spans the train yards. We saw cars of all colors and purposes. It was actually a fantastic sight. Then we went to the airport and noted that airplanes don't only take people places, but also transport things like mail. From there we went to the Assiniboine Park and drove around, past the sculpture gardens and the zoo, then went just outside the city to drive past the water treatment plant and the landfill. We also drove past the old residence of Louis Riel, who was champion and leader for the Metis people. On the way home we passed the Canadian Mint. It was quite a day, and we're zonked. But it was a lot of fun, and Spencer seemed to be soaking it all in, making the connections, and was enthusiastic about everything. So it was a really pleasant time.
*Sigh of contentment*
Now to plan next week....
Claire sneaking bits off of the dinner salad last night. 
Katya eating her very first solid food – mashed avocado. She liked it for the first few chunks, then….not so much! 
Oh-so-grown-up Spencer sitting at his dad’s desk, listening on the computer to Pokemon rules.
My baby stylin’. 
My toddler after stealing the baby’s style. 
Happiness is being on Daddy’s lap. with your favorite blankie. 
Katya’s teeth are bothering her all the time and she wants to be held. Hence, the football hold. 
Yesterday in our house full of toys and crayon wrappings and styrofoam shreds (thanks to the mutant canine), with a baby who is doing her best to army crawl around the house, I had to put her in a laundry basket for safety’s sake. She wasn’t too impressed. . But I thought it was cute. :)
