At the risk of sounding a little braggy...

A conversation with Emma:

*When will Grandma and Grandpa be back from Arizona?
*In about 4 weeks.
(time elapse 28 seconds)
*That's 28 days.
*Wow Emma, that was good calculating. How did you figure that out?
*I counted four sevens.

Very impressive if you ask me.

A very sentimental boy

Today, Gavin asked, "Will it EVER be 2007 again?"
To this I answered, "No."
"Even if... when..." but he had no words to finish these questions because he realized that it can't happen.

I believe this line of questioning stems from his tendency to become extremely emotionally attached to concepts, ideas, and inanimate objects, including toys (of course), clothing, blankets, towels, pillows, rocks, sticks, etc. Pretty much anything and everything he comes into contact with.

He gets upset about getting rid of anything, and it seems to tear him up inside. He often gets teary eyed when something breaks (doesn't have to be his thing) or when he's faced with the prospect of losing something that has once belonged to him, or something he has touched, he has seen, or even thought about. I once went to throw out his old beat-up toothbrush after he just got a new one from the dentist. He wanted no part of this. "We can just keep it, and I can use the new one."

The same scenario occurred when I was trying to hand down a pair of his shoes that he had outgrown.

The other day, we were getting ready to paint OUR (mine and Mike's) bedroom. Here's how our conversation went down.

Why are you painting it brown?
Because it's been green for 8 years, and I'm ready for a change.
Don't you like green?
Yes, but, I'm tired of looking at green. Daddy doesn't want the green walls anymore either.
Won't you miss green?
No.
Will you EVER paint your room green again?
Maybe someday.
When?
I don't know. Probably not for a while. I'm kind of tired of green.
O.K.


Toward the end of the conversation, he was getting choked up, so I think that's when he finally accepted that our walls are going to be brown.

Telling it like it is- or at least how she perceives it

How old will you be when we're (referring to E,L, & G) grandparents?
Pretty old, I guess.
Really, really, really, old?
Yes.
That 'uhcuz you're really, really old right now.

Thank you, Emma.

Living in the tundra

You know it's cold when you have to get into your car via the back door and climb over the seat to get into the driver's seat because the front door to your car is frozen shut.

Happy Birthday Emma and Gavin

This is one of my favorite pictures of Emma and Gavin, and, since today is their special day, I thought I'd post it. (taken on a Colorado hike)

The two munchkins are very good friends. The other day, after being told not to at least once or twice by his teacher, Gavin was playing with ice and snow on the playground. (I know this because I talked to his teacher about the incident after the fact) He threw some frozen snow, i.e. ice, down on the ground, and Emma accidentally got hit on her cheek by some of the remnants of flying chunks of ice. Gavin had a "teeny, tiny, time-out" but was very sad, and cried inconsolably because he felt so bad about the pain he had caused his sister. When his time-out was over, he went up to Emma and hugged her, and asked through a few remaining tears and a quivering voice, "Emma, are we still best buddies?"

Sneaky little girl

This morning when the kids were getting ready to head out the door to the bus stop, I noticed a pile of about 6 stuffed animals by the door. I said, "Who's stuff is this?" Emma replied, "That's mine, for nap." To this I responded, "Pick one. You only need one for nap." I thought we were clear on this subject, until I saw Emma pull out a bunch of stuffed animals from inside her coat while walking up the steps to get on the bus. She snuck those toys to school! I guess I won't hold it against her today, since today is her birthday.

Speaking of which, I can't believe Emma and Gavin are 6 years old. I remember the day they were born as if it were yesterday. I know that sounds so cliche, but it's true. It's weird, it seems like they were just tiny little babies, but, I also can barely remember life without them.

Hey, that's my birthday!

Emma and Gavin have both been thinking about their birthday for a while now. Um, let's see, since January 24th 2007! Anyway, Emma has this egocentric thing about the month of January. Whenever someone is talking about something that has happened or is going to happen on any date in the month of January, she relates it to her birthday. Like, hey, what a coincidence. My birthday is in January, too! It's like she's surprised that anything of significance happens during her month.

A few examples of this:

It sure is cold in January.
Hey, that's my birthday!

We honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the third Monday of January....
Hey, that's my birthday!

We'll begin a new year on January...
Hey, that's my birthday!

I'm leaving for Arizona on Thursday, January...
Hey, that's my birthday!

You get the point.

The most awesomest place

We went to the MN Children's Museum after school today. I've always heard that Friday afternoons are the best time to go because there's not such a huge crowd to contend with. It turns out all the advice I've received is accurate. The experience was nothing less than a blast.

We met Lilah's friend Mya there, along with her mom and sister. It was fun for me to have a "mom playdate" to talk to and admire the enthusiastic dramatic players in the museum. Mya came up to me at one point and said, "This is the most awesomest place in the world!"

There's a room there that has all this real life experiential stuff that the kids can do, like drive a bus while wearing a bus driver's hat, dress up like a postal carrier and deliver a bunch of fake mail, shop at a grocery store, be a cashier, control traffic, make a music video (sing and dance on screen), dress up like various community workers, and much, much more. The greatest part of the room is watching the determination that each kid exhibits while doing their fake job, and doing it well. My favorite part of "Our Word" is where the kids can work in a kitchen, cooking and cleaning, then also become servers and take your order and bring you different kinds of food. I sat in the restaurant for 30 minutes while my children, as well as other peoples's kids, took my order, brought me food, and checked back with me on numerous occasions to see if the food and service was to my liking. I faked eating bread, yogurt, applesauce, a t-bone steak, juice, more bread, and something that I wasn't exactly sure what it was. I sat in awe watching my children work so hard on their jobs- cooking, sweeping and mopping, cleaning up the mess that they made while preparing food, putting food back in the refrigerator, doing the dishes, etc. I asked Emma when we got home why she doesn't work that hard at home. Her response, "I don't know where the mop is."

My other favorite area of the kids museum is the Machine Warehouse where children move fake packages that look like rocks on a conveyor belt. This section used to drive me crazy because there was always some big kid bossing every other kid around, telling them where to get the packages, when to put them on the conveyor belt, and basically telling everyone what needs to be done. What used to be a pet peeve has now become the highlight of my experience at the museum. I'm fascinated watching the roles that the kids establish in this totally pointless exercise. They get a box, put it on the conveyor belt, turn the crank, and it goes up to the second floor. Then, it goes around a bit and comes back down a shoot and some kid gets told again to put it back on the belt, and it starts all over again. The "factory workers" all stand around the conveyor belt, hoping they'll be lucky enough to touch or move one of the boxes, and maybe someday, they might get to be the boss and tell everyone what to do, or at least turn the crank. Sometimes, the kids get too many packages on the belt, and all their hard work starts to back up and a package jam occurs. The self-appointed foreman/crank turner has to figure out who needs to rearrange the packages so everything flows more easily, so he can go back to turning the crank, and getting those packages to move, move, move on the conveyor belt. Time's a wasting people! Everyone works so hard to accomplish ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, but they do it with such vigor and purpose, I'd give each and every one of those kids a job on the spot if I had one to offer. If only this determination could transfer to cleaning up the toys at home!

The least enjoyable part of the experience is the fact that you are forced to walk by a store that sells all sorts of stuff that kids "really, really, want and are sooooo cute" after spending 3 hours in the Children's Museum. It went almost without a hitch, but that part might be a blog entry itself. And then there's the McDonalds that you have to pass on the way back to the parking ramp. All of this is worth the experience at any rate.

The last thing I have to say about this experience has to do with the face painting. The museum workers bring out the goods about every 3 hours or so. Emma was so looking forward to this, but I wasn't sure if it would be offerred, since we were there in the late afternoon/early evening. When she saw the face painting stand being wheeled out, her face totally lit up. She sat there, after claiming her spot at a mirror, patiently waiting as the table was being set up. She spent at least 10 minutes getting everything just perfect. They all spent the time perfecting their faces. Gavin decided to be Darth Mole from Star Wars, Lilah is a cat, and I'm not sure what Emma's creation is called. Emma was thoroughly disappointed when we had to wash it off before going to bed. She was planning on keeping her face like that until Monday, so she could show here teacher and all her friends in Kindergarten her masterpiece. Luckily, I took a picture, so I told her I'd e-mail it to the teacher.





Oh, and one more thing. When we got to the elevators, the kids had all figured out who would push which button. When we got inside the elevator and the doors started to close, Emma was going to push #5 (our parking ramp level), and Lilah said, "push 5." Emma started to cry because, in her words, "I already knew to push 5 but Lilah told me to push 5 and I wanted to do it without anyone telling me to push #5!" We sat on that elevator, doors closed, waiting for Emma to figure out what to do about this predicament. We waitd for about 30 seconds until she eventually succumbed to the need to push the button and we made it out generally intact and in good spirits.

LInking work to home

There is a boy in one of the classes I teach who is quite a talker. As a matter of fact, he rarely stops. The good thing is that his talking is almost always related to the subject at hand. He's very bright, and has a lot to offer in an inquiry-based environment. Today, he just kept jabbering on and on, asking all kinds of questions about penguins, which so happens to be the theme for that group. Finally, after a long string of incessant talking and questioning, I turned to him, exasperated, and accidentally said:

"GAVIN, PLEASE STOP TALKING FOR A MINUTE!"

His name is Mohamed.

Dinner Pranskters

During dinner, Gavin put a grape in his fist to hide it from view. Here is the conversation that followed:

G- Guys, do you think that this grape has a stem or no stem?
E- No stem.
L- Stem.

Gavin opens his hand to reveal that the grape does, in fact have a stem.

E- I was right. I said stem.
L- No, I'm right because it's opposite day.
E- Oh.

I know nothing about this opposite day Lilah speaks of, but, Emma graciously accepted her defeat in the guessing game.

P.S.

When Gavin got up this morning, he asked me:

How many more days until 5 more days until my birthday?
How many days until 8 more days until my birthday?

Birthday anticipation (Gavin)

Mommy, how many more days until 10 more days until my birthday?
How many days until 1 more day until my birthday?
Today is Jan. 7 and there are 16 days left until my birthday.

I think he's getting a little excited about his upcoming b-day.

Inquiring mind

Mommy, which do you think is better, sea creatures or land creatures?

line 'em up baby

The girls have a thing about lining up and sorting random playthings. Examples of this might include stuffed animals, dolls, and animal statues. Lilah and Emma slept together on Friday night. When we went to check on them before going to bed ourselves, this is what we saw lined up above their heads. I was particularly intrigued by the racoon sitting on top of the heads of the two dolls.

Inquiring mind

during a bath

G-Mommy, why can't I breathe under water.
Me- Because you're not a fish.
G- But why didn't God just make us so that we can breathe under water?
Me- I don't know.

One tough cookie

I tried with all my might to open a maple syrup this morning and couldn't. I was going to get a pliers, when Emma said, "Let me try." I thought, "there's no way she's going to get it opened, but what's the harm in letting her try." To my astonishment, she got it opened!

Last night, Mike and the kids were wrestling, then Emma and Gavin wanted to wrestle each other. I wasn't there, but I was told that Gavin didn't even stand a chance. When I asked Emma how the wrestling went down, she responded:

"I kept throwing him down, and he just kept doing nothing."

Eager Beavers

One of the many characteristics I find so amazing about our kids is their general enthusiasm toward life and some of the simple things it has to offer.
For example, whenever we encounter a flight of stairs, the three munchkins view it as an opportunity to find out how many steps belong to that particular set of stairs. They're so excited as they barrel down the stairs, faces bright with smiles of exhiliration, counting each step with determination, all the while, trying to be the first one down, or at least not to be the rotten egg. They have no awareness of the general public, so if you so happen to be in a stairwell with the Schulz kids, look out.
Whenever we go to the healthclub, we usually end up parking on the top level of the ramp. The kids love this, because they get to count all the steps in the 5 flights of stairs. Each time, though, they all come up with a different total, so yesterday I decided to count too. I believe there are 86 steps including the platforms.

Snow Princess

Loungy McLounge-a-lot

The books are no longer an effective barrier between dog and couch. For that matter, neither is a plastic lion statue, and whatever else may by chance be hiding under the dog.

Brooming

I came upstairs to find Emma sweeping the living room. She said, "Mommy, do you like how I'm brooming for you?"

Inquiring mind

How come you're only a baby for a little bit? And mommy, guess what. On the first day you're born, you're zero.

Why are there bubbles when you fluffer in the bathtub?