Snippets

James and a puppy
A certain little boy's birthday is coming up soon (very soon!) and he's talking about it more and more. Earlier this week, he informed me that he wanted a baby puppy for his birthday. I balked at the notion, and told James that I couldn't get him a puppy for his birthday. "That's okay," he replied, "I can ask Aunt Erin instead." I don't think he was being tricky. I think he took me literally when I said "I can't" and he was just coming up with a different viable solution. I clarified my position that I don't want any puppies in our house. He thought about it for a moment, then asked to go to a baby puppy store so he could play with one instead. Okay, now we're talking.

Robert and field trip prep
This morning, just as we were shooing the big kids out the door to start their walk to school, Robert suddenly remembered that it was a field trip day. He calmly informed us in a cool and confident voice what exactly he needed: a sack lunch with disposable bags, closed-toe shoes, and a light jacket. Then he set about making it happen. With some help from me and Bobby, he got everything he needed and walked out the door only a couple minutes later. Can I tell you how shocked this made me?! Stunned! This kid had a problem, clearly stated the solution, and got to work right away making it happen. No screaming. No panicking. No moaning and crying that he would never finish the tasks on time...astonishing! I'm just not used to that kind of behavior around here ;) And, by the way, he's managed to pay off his car-bike incident debt in full.

Alice and bedtime fear
I had a bit of a breakdown last night (it boils down to being overscheduled and malsocialized recently) and I put myself to bed at 8:30pm. Alice was feeling especially scared last night, vulnerable, and she was expecting me to come in one last time and say good night. But I didn't. Alice asked Bobby about it and Bobby let her know that I was feeling too sad to come see her. This was too much for Alice. She burst into tears! As soon as I heard her get upset, I stopped crying. It was odd. You'd think that yet another demand on my time and energy at that moment would put me over the edge, but it felt more like, "Snap out of it. Stop wallowing. There's work to be done that only you can do." I listened a couple minutes from my bedroom to see if Alice would resolve this on her own, but I could tell she was only getting worse. I invited her to come lay down in my room. She asked why I was sad. I told her that everyone has a sad day every once in a while. She seemed to agree. Then she immediately calmed down and snuggled right up to my head and shoulder. She was asleep within 2 minutes.

I didn't feel like moving her yet, so I just lay there thinking about my own situation again. A couple solutions struck me. I felt better. Some time later, I rolled over onto my side, trying to put some air between me and Alice. I'm not much of a snuggler, y'know? Soon I felt a few fingers gently prod my back once, then again, then a third time. Then a still-sleeping Alice scooted over and lay right up against me like a mom-seeking missile, breathing on the back of my neck. Dude, I was ready to put her back in bed right then. I tried to carry her (ha ha ha!) and miraculously didn't hurt either of us in the process. She remembers me taking her back to her bed, but she doesn't remember the poking and snuggling incident.

Matthew ready for a nap
Speaking of sleeping, is anyone ready for a nap?

Me! Me! Meeeeeeeee!

One reason why I do this...

"It's hard," she complains.

"Okay, so what do you do when something is difficult?" I ask.

"Stop doing it," she snorts.

Piano lessons...good for the soul ;)

Strike a pose

My parents were visiting us this week and my mom managed to snap this picture of Matthew on the hearth. Who taught him that pose?! So....dang.....cute....!

James has been teaching Matthew a few new tricks, too. Just this evening, Matthew ran away from me, turned around, cocked his head to the side, stuck his fingers in his ears, swung his rump side to side, and sent a little sing-songy taunt my way. He was being playful, not belligerent, so it was more hilarious than infuriating, but still not something I want to see directed at me. For the record, James reserves that sort of rude behavior for his siblings and peers, not adults. This little Matthew is gonna get in trouble some day for something he didn't realize was wrong. Siblings. Argh.

Robert used to be a bit of a stinker, too, at age 3. I've gone back on this blog to check :) But he's come a long way in the last 3+ years. He got this thank you note from his teacher today:

The bells!

Some friends and I took a field trip to our local bell tower for a private tour and concert. I was so, so, so excited to see it up close and personal. The tower is part of Altgeld Hall on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. Real bells chime each quarter hour, and real chimers play a 10-minute concert every week day from 11:50am-12:00pm.

The kids got to use the "practice" board. You can see the real one behind them. It's a mess of levers and a few pedals that individually pull each bell's clapper.

It was stinkin' hot and humid, though, so when I do this again, I'll be sure to select a more temperate day. It was also nearly impossible to find close parking on campus, so I might opt to take the bus next time. And, to be sure, it's a nice long hike up several flights of stairs to get to the top, so I might not choose to do it after my regular gym work out again. Ugh.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the pleasant company. Here's a little video featuring 1) the bells playing above us, 2) Matthew watching himself and others on the phone screen, 3) James punching through to steal his moment of fame, and 4) my befuddled expression as I try to stop the recording. Enjoy!

The chimer who took us up happens to be LDS, and everyone in our group was LDS, so he played a few songs from the Children's Songbook during his 10-minute concert: Popcorn Popping, Do As I'm Doing, and I Am a Child of God were the ones I remember. There was also the theme to Looney Tunes somewhere in there, and a few others.

I took the little ladder all the way up to the bells themselves. What a treat! Snapped a selfie:

Can't wait to show the bigger kids this part of the tour!

The bells are engraved with the school name.

This was the view from the bells' height. Bonus points if you can spot James looking up at me. Extra bonus points if you can find Matthew. I can't find him.

First Car Accident

Robert had his first car accident.

Well, it's probably more accurate to call it a "car-bike incident".

He was riding his bike on our cul-de-sac, lost control a for a moment, and put a nice, long scratch along the driver-side door of our neighbor's brand new Mercedes.

Ugh.

It will take him months to work off his 10% share of the cost, even after clearing out his personal savings. He's taking it well, though, working diligently and keeping his debt in mind.

The most remarkable thing to me, though, was how Robert personally handled the situation. He didn't cry or scream at the consequence of his mistake. He wasn't outwardly embarrassed or humiliated or ashamed, either. He was a little reluctant to admit it happened. He was a little concerned about how much it would cost him. But once the details were sorted out, he accepted the consequence and moved on.

If only I could so readily forgive myself of my mistakes ;)

Robert recently fell asleep with his lip tucked in. Don't know why I snapped a photo of it.