I have so many little matters to tell you of, that I cannot wait any longer before I begin to put them down.
Oct 27th, 2016 by ECM
Math is always more fun for Elizabeth when it involves craft supplies and making lists of her friends.=) Yesterday, it was a question of categorizing families with just boys, just girls, and some of each. A fun concept to discuss when every other family on our pad has all boys!!!
Oct 26th, 2016 by ECM
On Monday, we took a field trip day up to Santa Barbara! First up, the Ty Warner Sea Center. We love this little museum out on the SB pier. Since we’re studying oceans in science this year, we did a lot of observing and talking to the docents about the various sea creatures.
As always, it was so fun to pet the baby sharks.
Their touch pools are full of all sorts of cool sea life!
The girls loved touching the sea urchins because they give your fingers a hug!
They also got to hold some little hermit crabs.
Elizabeth and I agreed that our favorites are the sea stars!
Tommy got to test the ph of the sea water. 7.5, just as predicted.
And at the end, they put on a little show for me.
The sea center just takes an hour and a half, so we popped into the zoo for half an hour to take advantage of our membership before we drove home.
We sure do love Santa Barbara!
Oct 20th, 2016 by ECM
We are loving the kids’private French classes with Marion, a French mom in TO. They sing songs and read books and play games and have a blast improving their accents and learning vocab. Our charter pays for the older three, and I just have to pay for Janie.
Tommy looks underwhelmed in these two pictures, but really he’s just recovering from dehydration yesterday. These Santa Ana winds really dry you out…
Oct 19th, 2016 by ECM
Somehow it doesn’t seem quite right to be getting pumpkin spice steamers while wearing our lightest summer clothes, but we’ve got to make it feel like autumn somehow!
Oct 18th, 2016 by DTM
(Note: this is Derek, checking the drafts I’ve had pending on the blog as I log in for the first time in a few years. Might as well start publishing them….)
Em and I have been parents for nearly ten years now, which is pretty surprising when I type it out. And I know that parents often love dispensing parenting advice. I don’t really like to. But, I can’t help but give these three tips, if you’re inclined to consider them. They come from friends around us and arise from my own experience, and I pass them along to you.
1. Before having your first child. Spend time together, doing things that are not very child-friendly (or, at least, not very baby-friendly). For example, Em and I visited the movie theater (while in law school, so it was the dollar show) weekly in the last trimester of her pregnancy–it’s not kid friendly, and it’s 3 hours of babysitting you’d have to sink into what would otherwise be a light date night. Spontaneous overnight trips, hiking and camping, decent restaurants… the kinds of things that would require a lot of planning, childcare, or extra accommodations.
2. Before having your second child. Buy a “big sibling” gift for the older sibling who’ll now be edged out as the sole source of attention. Deliver the gift “from” the new baby to the older sibling at the hospital. Tommy got a train set from Lizzie; Tommy and Lizzie got sleeping bags from Susie; Tommy, Lizzie, and Susie got scooters from Janie.
3. As the kids grow up. Take time, at least once a year, for a one-on-one trip with each child to something where you can spend quality time together. I’ve taken Tommy on day trips to Cubs, Pirates, Giants, and Angels games, or the auto show. I’ve taken Lizzie to a ballet and dinner. I’ve started that with Susie, too. As they get older, maybe camping, or overnight trips somewhere, with each one. That can be a quality time to invest in each child individually.
Oct 18th, 2016 by DTM
It’s been a few years since I’ve posted, but my login still works….
Emily and I will be password protecting the blog within the next couple of weeks. It will not require a username for you to log in. It should just require a password. We’ll notify many of you who read the blog regularly. But if you don’t hear from us and are still interested in reading, or if you have questions about it, just send Emily or me an email.
Oct 15th, 2016 by ECM
We got back from a long day of foster training to find our house transformed into a fine dining establishment.
We ordered the “scrumptous stuffed peppers” and skipped okra booger cupcakes, opting for extraordinary chocolate cake. The service was excellent and the food delicious!
Oct 14th, 2016 by ECM
Our homeschool pumpkin patch field trip happened to be today, so we drove straight from the airport to the farm and brought Grandma along on the field trip! This was the fifth year with this crew, and the kids love it just as much now as they did back then. The weather was perfect, a bit bright and windy, if you can’t tell.
We actually got a picture of all the moms for once! These girls are the reason I stay sane while homeschooling. I love them. And every single one of our combined 32 kids.
Oct 12th, 2016 by ECM
Elizabeth sure loves it!
It was a Blackstone recruiting dinner tonight, so Derek and Aaron and Janelle headed out to talk up Blackstone to Pepperdine kids while the kids and I played with Judah and Ari. Janie and Judah are quite a twosome!
