Mother's Day Tea

We had a lovely tea at the Pickwick Society Tea House in Frankfurt for Mother's Day this year.

My mother and my tea sandwiches, etc.

Blizzard 2011 cont.

After we finished digging out the back yard and Brett helped plow the neighbors driveways and sidewalks, Beckett woke up from his nap. I suited him back up and we sledded down the block to the Beaty's (the snowshoers :)) for some back yard sledding. Craig had created a sled run from the top of his deck down his back yard, so we'd step over the railing, sit on the sled, and sail down. That was at least two hours of amusement. I picked Phoebe up from around the block and walked her back to the Beaty's to join the sledding merriment. She was up for it. Unfortunately, the camera battery died after I videoed Brett jumping into the snow pile from the roof in the back yard, so I don't have images of all the sledding. It was great, though. The penguin sled that Beckett got for Christmas was the best one for this particular sled run--it was smooth and fast. I think the adults had the most fun. Finally, I took the kids home and put them to bed. They were exhausted, but we knew that the temperatures were about to plunge, so we stayed out until sundown.

Blizzard 2011 cont.

After a little bit of play in the tunnel it was nap time for the little ones, so I put Beckett and Phoebe in the sled and pulled them around the block to drop Phoebe off at a friends house where she stayed and played for the next four hours. Beckett and I went back home, and while he napped, Brett and I tackled the back yard. I dug out the stairs and the patio and Brett took care of the sidewalk and the flat roof.

Blizzard 2011 cont. Play Time!

Blizzard 2011 cont. Play Time!

Fun in the snow. Phoebe was barely inside all day. Our neighbors from the next block snowshoed their way down with the kids in sleds just in time for mid-morning breakfast. Then we all headed out to see what we could make of the powder. Braydon and Beckett took turns sledding through the front yard while Nicky and I (mostly Nicky) with the help of Maddy and Phoebe dug a tunnel through the yard. Brett was still on clean-up duty.

Blizzard 2011 cont.

More snow details. My poor lilac bush is in there somewhere! The side of the house was buried.

Blizzard 2011 cont.

The next morning while the snow was still falling...

Blizzard 2011

A pictorial post--how we spent our day. We will begin with scenes from the initial snowfall Tuesday February 1.

Team Neurosis returns Pt. 1 (preschool)

I update sporadically with bits about Phoebe and Beckett and especially updated pictures, but Team Neurosis has been working overtime for the past few years and we haven’t really chronicled any of it. It might make us look like loons, but it’s who we are—and someone might benefit from the ridiculous amount of research we put into preschools, kindergartens, and home buying.

Clearly, we have finished all of those processes, but how did we get here…

It all started in the fall of 2007. We knew we had to begin considering preschools because registration happens any time between late November and early January the year before. We talked to our friends and read many online descriptions. We considered Montessori, but it seems that there are a lot of schools that claim to be Montessori, but are not really—so you have to be very discerning and know what you are looking for and realize that it is fairly expensive. We looked into the local neighborhood preschool, but some of our friend who went to the open house said that the teachers talked about wheeling out the television for t.v. time on certain days. Of course, I thought—if she’s going to watch T.V., she can do that at home. I want her to go to preschool to manipulate and play with things that I don’t necessarily have at home because I don’t have a school room full of children or a house with space for a large playroom full of simulated learning environments (that’s what preschools and children’s museums are for!) I also want her to go to preschool to continue to socialize with other children because she already spent two school years at day care where she had a daily routine and many friends and where she did many crafts and projects and spent hours doing free play. I wanted her to continue to have some of that two times a week for a couple of hours so that she wouldn’t lose those social skills and that enjoyment of spending time with friends and teachers outside of her house. I couldn’t wait to have the time at home with her, but I also knew that she would respond well to going to school two days a week because she was used to going five days already. I did not, however want any of those 2.5 hours spent watching T.V.—that seemed like worst idea any early childhood teacher could have considering the limited time they spend with the children. I also did not want them drilling letter memorization or doing worksheets. I wanted structured play time where most of the games also helped the children recognize important concepts. For Phoebe this would merely help her keep the things she knew in her head because she already knew her colors and her letters and many of her numbers. For Beckett, I imagine, preschool will play a larger role here since his language acquisition has been slower.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa

Today is Grandpa Shobe's birthday. As we were driving home from Target, Phoebe began this conversation:

Phoebe: Mommy, I’m sorry to say, but since it’s Grandpa’s birthday, no grown-ups are allowed

Me: Allowed where, Phoebe?

Phoebe: To go shopping with Grandpa for his birthday

Me: Who’s going shopping with him?

Phoebe: Me, Sydney, and Beckett

Me: So you’re going to take Grandpa shopping and buy him a present?

Phoebe: No, I’m not going to buy him anything. He can pick out whatever he wants.

Me: So you’re going to take Grandpa shopping and let him buy himself something for his birthday?

Phoebe: No, ok, he can pick out his present and me and Sydney will buy it for him. You have to give me some money, though.

Me: You have money, Phoebe.

Phoebe: I’m not going to use my money! I’m saving that for when I’m a grown up.

And while I'm at it, here are some Thanksgiving Parade pictures.

Don't Tread on Me

Phoebe has this funny thing she does--she made a snake out of one of Brett's old ties in preschool when she went to the children's farm. When she comes across this snake in her toy box, she stuffs it under Brett's pillow for him to discover when he goes to sleep. We never know when it happens until he goes to bed and indeed finds the snake. It's an unspoken game they play. I'll see if I can find a picture of said snake to include here.

The Graduate

My life whizzes past as my children grow. Phoebe graduated from preschool today. They did not do a big ceremony--which was wonderful because I don't think graduating preschool should be monumental--but they did a fabulous show and some cute songs. They put on an abridged preschool version of the Wizard of Oz. Phoebe was a witch. Before school this morning, she almost was not allowed to go because she told me "I am going to push Colleen into my chair, and I am going to stand up and be Dorothy. I can stand up whenever I want." Of course, we decided that being a witch was very important, and pushing other children is never the way to solve problems. Happily, she played her part without any complaints, and we had a great picnic outside with her class and families.


And as a preschool graduate, she has decided the direction of her life. As we drove home, Phoebe was looking at the houses that we passed and said, "I'm not going to get married when I grow up. I want to live in a house by myself. I can get a dog or a cat if I want to or some fish or chickens." I'm glad she knows she can depend on herself for happiness.

Moved

So, we moved, and I haven't done a good job of updating at all. I want to send out address cards and invite people over for dinners, etc., but apparently, I'm not doing too well there either. I will post a few pictures of the house. If you are reading this (anyone, anyone?) and are tired of waiting for a formal invitation, please feel free to come over. Our phone numbers are the same, so if you are not sure where you are going, call us. We like seeing people, we just feel bad inviting them to our mess and not preparing--if you don't mind unprepared mess, stop by :)

Here's what the place looks like, anyway:

Splashin' in the tub

I turned the water on and walked away while it warmed up. This is what I returned to about 30 seconds later. (I took the picture about a minute after he got in because I didn't think of it right away--and Phoebe insisted on getting in too.)

Here is Phoebe and Brett reading If I Were You by Richard Hamilton.

This was recorded in early November 2009.