On a recent beautiful day we headed down to Coney Island. I learned two things: 1--No matter how warm it is in Manhattan bring a sweater; Coney Island can be chilly. 2--I can totally take a double stroller and 3 kids there all by myself. (With subway elevators, ramps, and plenty of entertainment for the hour long ride, of course!) A warm weekday morning trip is in our near future.
I have a bit of a confession to make: I'm not an avid reader. I read well and I enjoy reading, but leisure reading is not a priority for me. I was an avid reader, always had a novel in my bag, until I went to college. I just couldn't keep up with all my school work, employment, social life, and reading for pure enjoyment. I kept thinking I'd get back into my old habits, but life kept getting busier and busier and priorities kept changing. Reading is still fairly low on my priority list. I'm embarrassed to finally confess and admit this since I come from a large family of literary giants. But enough of all this pretending. I can still be intelligent even if I'm not "well-read". I hope!
All the experts taught me that I should read to my children, even as infants. I tried, I really did. But my busy little Isabella never liked listening to a story. Books were torn, fits thrown and all unpleasantries that I stopped trying for a season. Fortunately, seasons change. In the past several months Isabella is very interested in books, reading and writing. Overnight she finally recognized the letters of the alphabet and all of a sudden could spell every family members' name without any help at all. About a month ago we were walking by the movie theater and she excitedly exclaimed, "3-D! It says 3-D! I can read!"
I'm still working on finding a good time, every day, when we can read together. A time I can dedicate myself, when my children are fairly amiable to listening. Often while my children are confined to the table eating a meal or snack they are content to listen. Goldilocks and the Three Bears is fabulous for the mornings oatmeal is having a hard time making into the mouth.
With the amazing weather we've had lately I've packed a few books in the stroller to be enjoyed outside. I actually expected the kids to not be interested in reading when they could be running all around, but it has been quite the contrary! There have been times when kids (we don't know) have stopped playing and joined us for a bit of a story. Reading to my kids in the shade of a tree has brought me so much joy!
One of the unexpected benefits of using Before Five in a Row (B4FIAR) as a preschool curriculum is I am learning to link books and life together. It is so much more fun that way. The books become alive for me and the kids. I was inspired by Let's Explore's post on It Looked Like Spilt Milk. So we did it.
cloud gazing
painting clouds
Another fun book for outside reading is Bunny's Noisy Book. After reading the book we listened and identified all the different noises we could hear. (Yes, there are a lot of noises in NYC, but we usually tune them out, so it was a fun game to become aware of all those sounds.) We often play "I spy with my little eye..." as we walk all over the city, but I think I might start playing "I hear with my little ear..." I love those quiet little moments of piqued curiosity.
Brian has an amazing knack for finding good deals. Especially when it comes to travel (and technology). Many friends and family have asked for tips on how to find great deals. It's not so much "tips" that I can offer, but signing up for the right promotion at the right time.
So, I just want to give you a heads up about the current deal we just signed up for. It's through British Airways (also American Airlines). It is a credit card, so I hesitate sharing it with some of my credit dependent loved ones. Please be wise and don't sign up for the card unless you can. We have never had credit card debt. We just pay off our bill every month and reap the rewards that the card offers.
This deal can earn you up to 100,000 flight miles which translates into 4 round trip domestic flights or two round trip flights to some international locations (i.e. London). There are, obviously, some restrictions on flights. But I'm all about free flights!!!
Fill the zipper bag about 2/3 full of water. Zip it up. Hold on tight and push a sharp pencil all the way through both sides of the bag. Make sure the point of the pencil gets all the way through. Repeat with all the pencils you have. You might want to practice over a bucket or sink the first time.
I repeated the experiment (with a 2nd bag) and had Isabella push the pencils in. Twice she started to poke the bag and then wanted to put the pencil in a different spot (causing the bag to leak). So I had her do it fast. Spear it!
Questions to ask while experimenting:
What will happen if I poke a hole in this bag of water?
What if I do it again?
Why doesn't the water leak out?
What will happen if I take out the pencils?
What is happening:
All plastics are made out of polymers. Polymers are long links of molecules that are usually very strong and stretchy. When you poke the pencil into the plastic bag the polymers move and stretch (rather than tear) and then seal around the pencil; preventing any water from leaking.
Extreme experimentation:
Do it over an unsuspecting friend's head.
Notice how Isabella quickly moved her legs because she thought she would get wet.
Isabella loves to make things and she also loves to give her creations away. (Our sweet neighbors are usually the recipients of her creativity.) She also loves to send things in the mail, especially to her cousins. When I saw this idea to mail easter eggs filled with goodies in the mail, I knew she would flip. She basically did. As soon as we gathered the supplies she wouldn't let me rest until they were in the big blue mailbox. We sent one to each of her cousins (except the babies, sorry Kate & Marek) and almost all of them made it. (We do feel terrible that a couple didn't ever show up or arrived broken.)
Ceci, my oldest niece, was so happy to find the surprise during her grueling week of finals.
The ladies from church put together a very fun Easter egg hunt today. We loved it!
one mom made amazing "cake pops"
so many eggs, so few hiding spots
the little kids got a head start, the big kids getting ready to storm in
her loot
he had no interest in finding eggs but played the piano instead
he was happy until right when I took this photo--another little boy touched the piano
my interpretation: "I just can't take it anymore!"
I love Isabella at 4 years old! I feel like she really loves these little traditions. I haven't felt much of a need to form family traditions until lately. She finally gets it and loves it. I actually haven't dyed Easter eggs with her until this year...which made it all the more fun for me. I've missed it.
When I saw this simple idea on the Artful Parent I thought we'd give it a try. Draw, with crayons, on the eggs while they are still warm and the wax will melt and create cool designs. Then dye. We used the dying directions on the back of the food coloring box.
Last week we worked on the book Ask Mr. Bear from our Before Five in a Row (B4FIAR) curriculum. It's about a little boy who tries to figure out what he should give his mom for her birthday. He asks a variety of animals and then Mr. Bear gives him an idea of the best birthday present: a big bear hug.
Here are some of the activities we enjoyed with this book:
matched the sounds to the animals
compared the brown bears and the grizzly bears at the AMNH
Did you know the brown bear is the largest carnivore?
They weigh over 1600lbs!
Simon has had a busy month. He sprouted his first tooth almost two weeks ago (teething at 3.5 months = crazy). His eczema also got pretty bad. I'm still in the process of jumping through hoops with our new insurance so we can get him to the doctor. Unfortunately, he spends a lot of time with socks on his hands and swaddled to prevent him from scratching and sucking his hands (which also have eczema). He's such a little trooper.
Despite his obviously uncomfortable skin he is all smiles. I treasure those moments when I am busy, busy, busy but I glance over at him in the bouncy seat and he's just grinning, oh so lovingly, at me. It melts my heart. He still gets super excited and squirms with delight when I reach to pick him up. The biggest, guaranteed grins come when I talk to him in a super high-pitched voice. He loves it!
He almost turns over on his left side. He's just got to swing those hips and he'll be belly down. Although he can squirm himself all over the place while he's on his back. He's working on his reaching and grabbing at objects. But loves to hold my finger while nursing if his hands are free.
His nighttime sleep habits have taken a turn for the worse (I'm assuming maybe because of the teeth?!) In the last two weeks I think he has slept more than 3 hours only once. Most nights he's up every hour after about 2am. It's been a bit rough. But his naps are awesome! 2.5-3 hours at a time.
He is truly a delight. Mellow and super happy. We all adore him. Isabella loves to hold him and make him laugh. Oliver tries to get him to play sometimes.
We love you Simon and were are so happy you are our baby boy!
Last week we received Isabella's acceptance letter in the mail. Phew! She finally got into PS 87. She was #10 on the wait list for awhile. Have you read this Wall Street Journal article? An Unhappy Rite of Spring: The Wait List. I love it.
Since posting my very brief thoughts on our experience with New York City public schools a lot of family, friends and some strangers have been quite generous in sharing their thoughts and experiences about school and education. I love learning from others and really appreciate everyone's concerns and insights, especially concerning homeschooling. Homeschooling is one of those funny topics that everyone has an opinion on and everyone loves to share their opinion!
Much of my (extremely limited) free time is spent researching education. It is the most important decision we will be making in our near future. Isabella and education: what is best for her and, therefore, best for our family?
If you didn't know, I'm a non-conformist by nature. (It's a blessing and a curse, trust me!) I have 6 siblings and I'm the only one without red (very red) hair. That's how it all started, I'm sure. As a kid, when it was time to pick an instrument to play I chose the violin when all my siblings were budding pianists. They all chose to learn German, I picked Spanish. I never graduated from high school (nope, not even a GED) but have a college degree.
It's in my nature to question conformity. And so, I must learn. Since so many of you were interested in my thoughts the last time I wrote about school I thought this might be a good forum to share some interesting articles, lectures, etc. as I come across them.
Do you know Sir Ken Robinson? I love his lectures and agree with a lot of what he has to say.
This animated lecture by Sir Ken Robinson is great:
And, just in case you are curious, here are my five brothers:
**I do have an awesome older sister (who has matching red hair) but for some reason I don't have any good digital photos with everyone.
