After My Own Heart

This summer Rebecca has developed a love of reading. She has been able to read since Kindergarten, but now she will read for hours on end. We go to the library once a week, and she gets to pick out 10 books. Usually within two or three days, she has finished all her books and is asking when we will go back to the library. When she has books to read, if I ask her if she wants to do something else, she will tell me she just wants to read her books.

This reminds me so much of myself as a child. I loved to read. I remember making a list one summer of all the books I read just for fun. I remember hiding out in the bathroom with books to get a break from doing chores. I remember getting so absorbed in the stories I would read that I would have a hard time doing anything else.

Once I got to college, I didn't have time to read for pleasure. My addiction was squelched for some time while I focused on my studies. After I was married and started having children, I still didn't resume reading. I would occasionally get a book, but I was afraid I would have the need to finish the book keep me from caring for my home like I should. Within the past year, I have really started reading again. I am glad that I am starting to read since I really enjoy it. I make sure to do my other work as well, and I limit myself to one book per week from the library to keep myself in check!

I hope Rebecca continues to enjoy reading, and that she will eventually learn to have some balance in her life as well.

Children's Museum

Today we finally took the kids to the Denver Children's Museum. It is only about half an hour away and I have heard great things about it, but I was a little intimidated to take the kids by myself. I had heard that it was big, busy, and multi-leveled. It didn't seem like the ideal combination for me with three children who have different interests and abilities. So Jack took the day off to do a family activity--originally planning on going to a water park--but since the weather was cold and rainy, we went to the museum instead.

I discovered that the museum is multi-leveled, big, and busy. I think perhaps everyone in the Denver metro area decided to go there to get out of the rain! Even though it was packed, the kids had a great time. They especially liked the Junior Jobsite exhibit. Joseph put legos on the conveyor belt for at least half an hour. And when the legos ran out, he would borrow from other kids or put anything else that he could pick up through. Miriam built a house bigger than she is. Rebecca learned about circuits with her dad and even made a speaker work!

Needs Improvement

Jack and I have our own set of hair clippers. Joseph has only been to get his hair cut professionally one time. The other haircuts he has gotten have been from mom or dad. We are not experts by any means, and so we are still experimenting with how to cut his hair. The last haircut he got we tried using the attachments to blend around the ears. The first side looked pretty good. For the second side, he moved during the cut. Not good.

Oh, well. At least he is too young to be concerned about how his hair looks! Better luck next time.

Audio Books

Miriam loves listening to audio books. It all started about 6 months ago when Jack burned a CD of Clementine for the girls to listen to. Rebecca liked it, but Miriam LOVED it. She will listen to that CD over and over. The girls have a CD player in their bedroom, so Miriam listens to the audio books while she is getting dressed, cleaning her room, having rest time, going to bed, and just for fun. (Maybe this is why it takes her so long to do these tasks...)

Since Clementine was getting old, we started checking out audio books from the library. They have a good selection of classic stories for children, so we have developed variety in Miriam's listening as well as exposing her to a variety of literature. Yesterday we stopped by the library and found The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Other Stories. Miriam was so excited because there were 5 CD's in the case instead of just one. She listened to the first CD last night. Lots of fun.

Now I must mention that I usually really like that Miriam enjoys the audio books. They occupy her time, teach her about classic literature, and I am free to do other things while she is listening. There are times, however, that I do not like for her to listen to the audio books. 2:30 am, for example. Yes, at 2:30 this morning I was awoken to the Tales of Peter Rabbit. The story seemed especially loud at that hour. When I went into the girls' room, I saw both girls lying in bed. Was the CD player broken? When I turned it off, Miriam sat up immediately. Obviously she had turned it on. I talked to her about it, and she told me she wanted to know how many tales were on the second CD. I told her she couldn't listen to her book in the middle of the night.

After comforting a crying Miriam, upset about not being able to listen to her audio book, and tucking Rebecca back in, I was able to go back to bed. Turns out that the only one not woken up was Joseph. Lucky guy.

Ham

Joseph is a little ham. I was trying to take a picture of the side of his head for a post about his great haircut, and I thought having him strapped in his chair eating would make it easier. He saw the camera and started turning his head as far as he could toward me, saying, "Cheese!" He loves the camera, that's for sure!

Taste of Summertime

My kids like fruit. In the summertime, they especially like watermelon. When we go to the store, there are always big displays of watermelon. They always ask if we can get one. Once, we accidentally got a watermelon with seeds in it. I tried to teach them about seed spitting contests, but we haven't gotten another one for them to practice with.

There is something about watermelon on the rind that is more appealing for these kids. I used to cut it up, but now I just slice it so they can have fun eating it off the rind. Even Joseph really gets into it. He leans his head back and tries to shove the slice in his mouth as far as possible.

Yummy!

Sisters, Friends

Rebecca and Miriam are only two years apart in age. When they were little, it was difficult having two little ones needing so much attention all the time. When Miriam hit about 18 months, things started to change. They would play together! Miriam would chase Rebecca around the house. They played with their baby dolls. They started to become friends. Of course, there was always the inevitable argument. They tried out calling each other names. They would take toys away from each other and even occasionally hit each other. They were normal young children.

Now they are 5 and 7 years old. They still fight at times. Name calling has not gone away. There are times when I think they should spend the whole day in separate rooms! But that is the exception. Normally, they play together. They share secrets and do silly things together. They are friends.

This really became apparent to me this week. One evening before bed, Rebecca was writing this note. It says, "Dear Miriam, I'm sorry you weren't picked in the raffle. You can use my movie ticket. Rebecca." At the Sweetgrass neighborhood celebration, when the kids won a game, they put their name in for a drawing. Rebecca won two movie tickets, and Miriam didn't win a prize. To my knowledge, Miriam never said anything about feeling bad about not winning. But Rebecca thought of her.

Then last night, I got an email from a friend inviting Rebecca to go to the zoo with them today. I knew Rebecca would be thrilled, so I told her. Of course, Rebecca was excited to go. But it didn't take very long for her to ask me what Miriam liked to do. I thought of a few things, not knowing where the conversation was going. Then I found out she wanted to make something for her sister to enjoy while she was gone. First, she tried covering her pony in paper so Miriam could color it. Then she wanted to record herself reading a story. Finally, she made her a paper airplane.

I am so grateful that my girls not only love each other, but they like each other. They are friends. They think of each other's feelings. I know they will go through ups and downs. It is a normal part of life. I'm sure they will get sick of each other getting into their things and talking to their friends. But I hope they always remember the love they have for each other right now. I hope they know that friends come and go, but sisters are forever.