this and that

What are the boys up to lately? Hmmm...

Elijah continues to learn to read. We make regular trips to the library. His latest favorite is a book about the planets (he can't read it all yet, but he likes to have it read to him). The last couple of nights he took it to bed with him because he said "When I wake up in the morning, you can read it to me the first thing." He loves our MegaBlocks/Duplo/whatever they're called. And he has been asking tough questions like the following: "I was just thinking about something. Do the worms like it when the birds eat them? I'm not sure about that." LOL That was a tricky one.

Noah is talking quite a bit now. He loves to be read to--his favorite is "Goodnight Moon" and he likes to find the mouse on every page. He is learning his colors and some of his alphabet letters--so far he knows A, M, and O. He recognizes the word "Daddy" which I discovered when I wrote it on a piece of paper to keep him quiet in church, and he pointed and shouted "Daddeeeee!" quite loudly. Any other word that I write for him, he assumes says "Mama." Ever since he got over his tummy illness, I have been hearing a lot of "Eat someping, Mama? Eat someping? Hunnngeeeee." His favorite foods are spaghetti and ketchup. He also likes applesauce which he calls applesalsa. Oh, and he is very polite, always saying "Peese" and "Thank you" or "No thank you," usually without being reminded (he learned that soooo much more quickly than Elijah did!) Last but not least, he has a cute sense of humor. Here is a conversation from the other day:
Me: Do you like to eat pizza?
Noah: Noooo!
Me: Do you like to eat peanut butter?
Noah: No! No thank you.
Me: Do you like to eat chocolate chips?
Noah: No thank you. Eat CARS! *laughs and laughs* Noooo, no eat cars. (said in a "how silly" sort of tone)

And what am I up to lately? Hmm...well I put myself on a strict schedule which has made me surprisingly productive. I made sure to schedule some crafting time too. :) Perhaps I'll post some pictures soon of some of the crafts I've been working on.

On Feb 10th we took our first walk to the park. (2.7 miles round trip, thanks again g-map pedometer) Elijah seems to have gotten out of shape over the winter--last summer he would happily run/walk the whole way there, but this time he prefered to ride in the double stroller, which of course made it much more challenging for me. I am still longing for a nice double jogging stroller, and if I ever find one used, I will buy it, even if I do have to resell it in five months when I move.

Last but not least, I got a new computer from a friend of a friend, whose workplace was selling their old computers for $25...this one runs sooooo much faster, and even my internet works better, strangely enough. Oh, and I discovered Google Analytics. Pretty nifty. I can track traffic to my blog and to my Etsy shop (yes, I have an Etsy shop, but there's nothing in it yet--when I put something in it, I'll post the link here).

Okay, that's all for now, and don't miss the next post about my new favorite piece of music.

All right, here it is

My speakers still aren't really working--I had to hold the speakers up to my ear to hear this, but it sounds good enough to do for now. I might edit to change the video later.

Saturday mornings in the summer, the boys and I like to go to our local farmer's market. The local farmers' market is more than just booths selling fruits and vegetables, potted plants, honey, and locally raised meats--there are also usually a number of musical performances to see. You might see anything ranging from the lone musician with his/her instrument and/or voice, to a small orchestra set up on the plaza in front of city hall, and everything in between. They might be playing anything from traditional folk music to jazz to classical. Suffice it to say that for those who appreciate good live music, our local farmer's market is quite a treat.

Anyway, one summer morning I took Elijah into city hall to use the bathroom. Sitting in the lobby was an Asian man playing an instrument that I'd never seen before, with a long neck and a bow (later I learned that it was probably a traditional Chinese instrument like an erhu). The music was unlike anything I'd ever heard, and breathtakingly beautiful. The acoustics in the building were perfect for a lone musician of that sort. Sadly, the farmer's market was drawing to a close, and after a few minutes he packed his instrument away. I left wondering what the instrument was and wishing that I could have heard more.

Then a few weeks ago I was listening to NPR late in the morning, and heard the following piece. The violin music sounds much like the music I heard that morning last summer. I was thrilled and of course wrote down the name of the piece to look up later. I'm a little disappointed that the instrument played here is the violin rather than the traditional Chinese instrument, but the violin here is played in a similar style and sounds quite beautiful. Enjoy!

Coming tomorrow!

Coming tomorrow: my new favorite piece of music--the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto by Chen Gang. I heard this on NPR and fell in love with it. I'll check out a few videos on Youtube and pick one to post tomorrow. Right now it's bedtime!

Noah made a pun

I was getting Noah ready for bed last night and when he was all set, I gave him a few pats on his bottom. He giggled but shook his head "no" and said "Stop spankin' me, Mama." I said, "What, you don't want a spanking?" ...and he said "No spank you." LOL

Snow Day

Today is a snow day for me. Indiana University is closed for the day, which is highly unusual; and of course all the local middle and high schools are closed as well, which means that all of the parents of the girls I watch are off work for the day; therefore I have an unexpected day off as well.

The above picture is the view out my front door. Looks like most of my neighbors are staying in for the day.

And here's my own car. I don't think I'll be going anywhere any time soon. :)
The only thing that bothers me about being snowed in is the fact that I really need to make a trip to the library. I have overdue books to return, and I need to check out another book to read for a book club this Saturday. But the library is closed due to the weather, so there's no point in shoveling the snow off my car and attempting the short drive.

Yesterday evening I went for a walk in the snow and sleet. The sleet accumulated on my glasses but I was well bundled up and quite enjoyed my tromp through the snow. I went 1.3611 miles (thank you Gmaps Pedometer) and listened to the hush that falling snow creates. The roads were slick--even the snowplows were moving in slow motion--but the sidewalks had all been shoveled recently enough that my non-booted feet stayed dry.

For my southern readers who may be assuming that all Midwestern winters are like this--well, they're not; here in southern Indiana, we only get a snowfall like this once every couple of years. Usually we don't get more than a couple of inches of snow, and it's often melted within two or three days.

All righty, better go be productive.

a few borrowed pictures

If you read Leah's blog you've already seen most of these--but here are a few pictures from our trip to Texas. Enjoy!

Here we all are at dinner--myself and sons, Mom and Dad, Jesh and Ben, Caleb and Leah, and Mercy and Mark. Sorry you can't see everyone. I love not being the only adult at a meal.

After the above dinner, we went to the Aquarium in downtown Houston. Here Elijah is reading the sign to Noah, with Jeshurun supervising.

Caleb and Leah took Elijah for a ride on the carousel. Elijah rode on a dolphin, if I remember correctly. Pardon his goofy attempt at a smile.

And this picture has nothing to do with me but I had to borrow it anyway because it's such a nice picture (hope you don't mind, Leah). These are three of the four Smith sisters--the one on the right is married to my brother Caleb, and is expecting a baby girl in the spring. (As is my sister, by the way--I'm so excited!)

Okay, that's it for now and the children have had more than enough time playing by themselves (they are playing soo nicely, I might add!) so I should go fix lunch. I have absolutely no idea what I'm fixing, I might add, so this will be fun. I suppose we haven't had peanut butter and jelly for a while. :) Oh, on the topic of food, last night I discovered that a can of tuna goes nicely with a pot of white beans--cook the beans with a little onion and garlic, salt and pepper, and when the beans are tender add the tuna and top with chunks of cheddar cheese and Saltine crackers--a great way to use up all those cans of tuna in my pantry. Note to self: Noah LOVES crumbling crackers into his food--you should have seen his delighted face. Must serve more cracker/soup combinations.

January 12th

Noah spent the weekend in the hospital with a severe case of croup. My poor baby! Friday night when he was admitted, he was struggling so hard just to take a breath. I am very thankful for modern medicine; every time he had another attack of croup, he was given a breathing treatment which had him breathing normally within minutes.

The ER doc diagnosed Noah with pneumonia without even listening to his breathing first. He approached with the stethoscope but Noah cried when he came near, so he (the doc) gave up after a couple of seconds. Because of the pneumonia diagnosis, Noah got a shot of antibiotics and also had his blood drawn to check for the spread of infection. Well all that turned out to be unnecessary as he didn't have pneumonia after all--thankfully our regular pediatrician caught that right away and told us we didn't need to continue the antibiotics. I'm a little upset about the misdiagnosis though and the unnecessary treatment. I mean, Noah didn't even have a fever--pneumonia? *sigh*

Noah is now terrified of anyone wearing scrubs. Which is too bad really, as all the nurses in the pediatrics ward were really nice, as is our regular pediatrician. Actually, come to think of it, Noah didn't mind the pediatrician so much. Perhaps the pediatrics nurses were too much for him because they were all so over-the-top...you know the type..."HI there SWEETIE! Aren't you the most PRECIOUS THING! We'll have you better in NO TIME!" all said very loudly about a foot away from his face. Elijah just loves that sort of thing--when the attention was turned on him, he would beam all over and jump up and down--but Noah is a little bit overwhelmed by really expressive people.

Noah came home Sunday morning. Now all three of us are dealing with a hacking cough and runny noses, and Noah points to his cheeks and says "Owie," so I think he may be dealing with some sinus pain. But at least we can all breathe. Today all my childcare girls came as usual and it was kind of hard; I was able to get everything/everyone taken care of as usual, but I was just tired I guess. Hopefully tomorrow is better. I guess I should get to bed!

no pictures, sorry

I am safely back from Texas as of Tuesday night. Somehow while in Texas I neglected to take any pictures. If anyone wants to e-mail me some pictures from last week so that I can post them here, that would be great! I know a couple of people got pictures of the boys.

While in Texas, my wise brother pointed out that moving trucks are expensive, and that I should consider selling off all of my furniture here in Indiana, and just move down with what I can fit into my car and my mom's (as Mom will come up to help with the moving process). I thought about it and decided that my brother is right (as usual). But, wow! That means I have a lot of stuff to get rid of! I suppose I'll have to sell most of my furniture on Craigslist, which is always a hassle. Maybe once the weather improves, I'll borrow someone's yard and have a big yard sale.

Anyone want to buy a bookcase? It's solid wood, and folds up. Quite nifty really. Or perhaps you would like an electric ice cream maker? Or a big trunk with Stockholm shipping labels from the 1920s?

I am headed to the local children's resale shop to see if they will buy some of our outgrown boys' clothes and maternity clothes. Perhaps then I will stop by a local used book shop to see if they are interested in purchasing any of my books. Adios!

I'm in Texas!

My friends in Indiana knew that I was planning this trip, but my family in Texas did not (except for Jeshurun, who helped me plan). We left Indiana at ten till 4:00 a.m. on Thursday and arrived at 1:30 a.m. Friday. Mom and Dad were asleep when we got here, so Dad was very surprised when Elijah walked into the kitchen in the morning and said "Good morning, Grandpa," and Mom was even more surprised when Dad woke her up and she found Elijah standing at her bedside.

The weather here is phenomenal (one of Elijah's favorite words, by the way). We slept with the windows open, and the boys have been playing barefoot in the driveway. This is definitely the right time of year to visit Texas. Sadly Noah came down with a bit of a tummy bug, but he seems to be recovering already. Perhaps it was the stress of the trip, though the boys were remarkably cheerful in the car, which is why I drove straight through instead of stopping for the night someplace. Though they handled the drive well, I was exhausted! I don't think I'll do that again any time soon, at least not when I'm so far behind on sleep to start with.

The rest of the family is enjoying dinner at another family's house. I am home with Noah since he was sick earlier today. Hopefully he is fine in the morning so that we can visit the aquarium downtown with Caleb and Leah and others. I think the boys would love it.

Off to do some housework. Bye!

Photos! Yes, photos, at last!

I was trying to get a nice picture of the kids together--that is, my two boys, and the two little girls I watch full time (I also watch a littler one part-time, but alas, she was not present for this picture-taking session). Well, as I'm sure many of my readers are already aware, getting small children to pose for photographs can be a bit challenging.

Take one: (I have at least a dozen similar to this one)

Take two: (I find this one hilarious!)

Take three...aha, they are all looking at the camera! Close enough!

In the above pictures you may have noticed some shaggy-looking hairdos on my boys--well later that evening, I took the clippers to their heads (took some bribery) and the result is as follows:
This picture represents a sweet moment in which Elijah gave Noah a hug and kiss. Of course the camera was too slow to capture the moment, but I still thought it was a cute picture. Doesn't Noah look so much older with his curls cut off? I think he looks adorable (but I always think that). Elijah's hair looks pretty good too.

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, yes the couch cushions are standing up against the back of the couch--the children love it when I do that for some reason. And yes, the littler girl is still in her pajamas. She was brought over in her pajamas, but for some reason they didn't look particularly pajama-like to me, so I kept forgetting to change her into her regular clothes. I didn't get her changed until about ten minutes before her parents came to pick her up! Oops!

ETA: I uploaded these as "large" pictures. Is there any particular reason not to do this? Do they take longer to load this way? Will I run out of space in my blogger account or something?