The Love

Vinay and I went out the other night to a friend's house to play The Newlywed Game. We didn't score very well, but we did learn a lot about our friends! After thanking my parents for watching the kids, I peeked into Amiya's room to see that the kiddos were covered up.

This is what I saw:

Nevermind that he's got his own twin bed inches away.
Nevermind that his sister is perpetually nasal-congested lately and isn't a quiet sleeper.
Nevermind that his right arm is probably more asleep than he.
Nevermind that his sister's toys and stuffed animals take up 2/3 of the space.

Nevermind any of that. He had a chance to get in next to his big sister and cuddle. He saw an opportunity and he took it. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Amiya the Author (Part 2)

Amiya, our budding historian, has missed two days of school now due to nasal congestion, cough, sore throat, etc. But projects wait for no illness and I wanted this one off our lists - so she hammered it out. Her text was handwritten out, then we typed it together with her adding bits and pieces of information to liven it up. I'm so thankful for computers - she is a better, more vivid writer when she can type. Handwriting is a challenge for her - her brain (and mouth) work much faster than her hands.

The poster was (I'm thinking) larger than it needed to be. But, it's what she wanted to do and no parameters were given. (Don't say I didn't tell you earlier to buy stock in science fair boards.)

(Have I mentioned that I like parentheses?)

Here she is with her poster:
She told me what to google and then we sorted through pictures together to find the images she wanted. Remember that thing I said above about loving computers? I don't love them so much when I type in a simple string of words that are directly related to a subject that is completely non-adult in nature and the results are nothing (literally) short of porn.

So we found and printed pictures together. Then we cut them out, mounted them on paper and did a mini-math measurement lesson to figure out how big her white caption labels had to be. Then we scooted over to the computer (back to the loving the computer mood) and created text boxes to her caption measurement specifications, typed in our text, printed 'em off, etc., etc. She can't do things the easy way (further proof that she is my daughter). But I guess in this social studies project she got reading, research, history, medicine (discussing polio and vaccinations), sociology (discussing the racism of the Japenese internment camps), math and computer-literacy practice. A single-discipline focus, but a multi-disciplinary experience. I love it.

Anyway, that's all for now. I am having trouble cutting and pasting her text into blogger, but I'll work hard at it since I know you're waiting on the edge of your seats. It's titillating stuff, this third grade history.

How Cute Is This?

I have a friend at Amiya's school who is crafty in ways I am not. She does awesome paper projects that involve supplies I do not have and do not want to have. So, when I saw this on a blog recently, I asked her if I could pay her to put one together for me. And she said yes! Whoohoo for us!

It's a birthday board - the person who's birthday is approaching gets to pick out six dinners for the six nights before the big day. We (meaning I, let's be real, they're too young and we'd be watching The Land Before Time every night) also get to select six birthday-ish activities to do before their big day.

If Blogger is playing nicely and will let you enlarge the picture, you'll see that Kev selected pancakes for five out of six dinners. (I had to talk him out of pancakes on Friday since we're having company for Indian food.) So please, think of me and the carb-induced coma we'll all be living in starting tomorrow night.

Our activities include watching Kev's baby movies, making a "We Love Kev" poster, having a dinosaur lunch, making dinosaur cookies, having a lunch date with Mommy and Daddy and going on a birthday walk. (I'm not sure what a few of those are about - I'll have to do some more thinking.)

Anyway. I love, love, love this board and am so grateful to Ms. MaryAnne for making it! Birthday season is my favorite season and this makes it even more special!

Amiya, the Author (Part 1)

Amiya's teacher this year is fantastic. Really and truly fantastic. She is demanding, but also encouraging. She is strict, but also warm. She gets Amiya and she lets Amiya be who she is - equal parts goofball and mini-scholar, with a lot of curiousity thrown into the mix. She allows Amiya the freedom to read what she wants and doesn't hold her to the grade level, but she also guides her to texts that are not only fun, but also enriching.

Pretty much I'd like Vinay and I to become polygamous so we could marry her and have her teach our kids forever. I would do dishes and laundry, floors and bathrooms. She could just teach.

Maybe that's a stretch, but she really is great. Case in point: the Presidency project. Each child in class submitted their top three choices of US Presidents to research and report to the class on. This is NOT a small project. This is a big project - the list of topics that each child must cover is longer than I anticipated, the format fairly complex. Sources must be cited and said sources must be varied. For a third grade project, I think this is big.

But that's the thing. This is what our third grader can do - and maybe it's what is missing today for a lot of kids who are capable of doing more than the curriculums demand. I fully understand that this is perhaps asking more than some children are capable of and that it seems daunting to them - to the point of shutting down. But for our child, this child, I love it. She needs to be pushed or she will just stagnate.

On to this project - Amiya submitted FDR, JFK and Ronald Reagan. (Are you scratching your head at those three? Hmm, which one doesn't fit? I was confused, too.)

Happily, for we already had a great biography, she was assigned FDR. It doesn't hurt that Grandma and Grandpa had spent a good deal of time touring FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt sites this past summer/fall on their way down here. Or that Eleanor was a pretty awesome woman whose quotes are uttered at least weekly around these parts. Or that they had a super, super cute dog and our little chicky is dog crazy.

We spent some time at the Roosevelt Memorial this Thanksgiving while in DC.
It is a beautiful memorial and I think we went at the right time of year. The fall leaves, both in the trees and on the ground somehow fit perfectly with what I know of Roosevelt and his terms in office. Serious, serious times for our country. It wouldn't have felt right to be summery and have people in shorts and flip flops.

Wasn't Eleanor just the coolest woman? I think so. She knew she didn't have looks, she didn't have grace, but she had brains. Not a bad role model for a seven-year-old, you know?

Anyway, I've digressed. Back to the report. It's big and it's daunting. But she's got it covered. Stay tuned for Amiya, the Author (Part 2). I'll put her text in here so you can see what she wrote. The rough draft is pretty nice - I can't wait to see where she ends up!

Kev the Aviator

Kev's school had some sort of helicopter company come in to talk to the kids about aviation. I don't really understand it (at all), but whatev. It may have been the marketing that I didn't love - we knew nothing about it until the sheet came home asking for $20 for the pictures.

Mwa ha ha ha ha.

Surely they were joking. No way were we going to pay $20 for pictures of this - so when the sign went up saying they needed volunteers to help the anklebiters in and out of their suits, I was the first to put my name down. In exchange for my time, we got the picture package for free. I can deal with that - and our little guy wouldn't be so glum when his pals got their pics and he didn't have any.

The kids listened to a fifteen minute spiel about aviation and then were paraded outside to check out the mini-copter, don a mini-flight suit and get their pictures taken.

Now's the time when I cast off my aspersions, shut up the negative chicky in me and just say that it was a cute experience. Kev, as evidenced by these pictures, thought it was pretty awesome.

I'm not sure that the kids actually learned anything significant about aviation and I'm not convinced that someone (the company, not his school) didn't make a lot of money off of this little event, but for the time I spent, I'm glad we have these pictures. If nothing else, they prove that Kev is actually capable of looking at the camera and smiling. That knowledge alone makes it worthwhile!

Life is Sweet

I am still in a crafty mood around here - there are so many interesting things being done and shared on blogs lately that I can't help it!

I love having my girlfriends over and I love baking, so I concocted a brunch with a purpose. I got to bake, I got to be a bit crafty, I got to hang out with fifteen lovely women.

The invitation:
Again, I found graphics online that I liked. For a small price, I purchased them and was able to use my minimal graphic skills to make something cute. It was the bunting that really sold me on it - I love how bunting is so popular right now. (You may have noticed. It's all over our house these days!)

The backs of chairs at our dining room table:

My Mom is probably rolling her eyes - they are completely unfinished with raw edges, but they were super cute and tied this table in with the rest of the theme. I think I might leave them up forever.

The food table:

Again with the bunting! Love it!


I tried to have all sorts of yummy things - mostly sweet, in keeping with the theme, but a bit of savory, too. In the long basket in the back, we had cranberry breads in darling little bread pans, blueberry muffins, and cherry almond scones that are (happily!!! finally!!!) Vinay approved as an acceptable baked good. And of course, chocolate covered strawberries because it's strawberry season here and it's just the right thing to do when having a bunch of women get together.

On one of the tiered serving trays we had fresh pineapple, fresh strawberries and the very best brownies I have ever eaten in my life. Ever. In my whole life. And I've been around the brownie block, so to speak. On the other were chai cookies, an onion and gruyère tart and smoked salmon with chives and cream cheese on bagels. In front of that was an Irish Cream Bundt Cake that does nothing for the waist, but is unbelievably delicious.

For drinks we had coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice and a chai concentrate that the girls who drink tea said was lovely. I'll take their word for it! I found a great website where a girl can buy all sorts of interesting containers and packages - so instead of using our mugs which are well-loved and tea stained (but not without their sentimental value), I used these.

But the best part of all of this was the humongous pile of stuff that accumulated in my foyer. I asked each friend to bring something that they no longer needed to be donated to a domestic abuse shelter in Tampa. The Spring is both a shelter for women, children and even men who are fleeing abusive situations, as well as a thrift store to help offset the costs of operation. Everyone has something to give - those of us with kids have a lot of extra, outgrown but still good stuff laying around. I am overwhelmed by what these girls brought:

It doesn't seem like all that much, but there are eight medium sized moving boxes buried in there underneath all the bags. There is a TV, there are pounds and pounds of clothing, dish sets, kitchen linens, golf equipment - the list goes on and on. My car is stuffed to the gills and my Dad is going to haul stuff down there in his truck as well. I love how caring my friends are.

So, a wonderful morning. A creative outlet for me, a few hours of chit chat with my girlfriends and a few carfuls of stuff to help others get back on their feet. Life is good!

Super Bowl Fun

I don't know if you've heard. Maybe you have, since most of you live in the land of cheese. THE PACKERS WERE IN THE SUPER BOWL. Some things have to be yelled. It's just the way it is.

They hadn't been in the Super Bowl since I was in college. And even though that was just a few years ago (ahem), it was still a big deal and we had to celebrate, so we invited some friends.

In light of the fact that we are Cheeseheads (Vinay by marriage) living out of the land of cheese, I decided we needed to go with a classic Green Bay meal - sloppy joes, cut up veggies, Lays potato chips, root beer and rice krispy treats. This was Mary Hounsell food through and through. We also decked out the house a bit in green and gold. (Consequently, I know a fair amount about buying astroturf at Home Depot if you ever need help.)

The kids had never watched a football game in their lives, but they were very, very excited, too.

(Maybe not for the same reasons.)

Kev, sitting at the front door hours before guests were to arrive, waiting for his best buddy Brody. Fruit. Nothing remarkable except that my Mom had this cool way to cut pineapple. Who knew?

Also too, the three little boys in attendance pretty much ate all the strawberries and 95% of the pineapple on this tray. No scurvy here. Rice krispy treats. YUM! Léna made the flags. Go Packers!
The coffee table - also known as the place where the children congregate. I don't think the kids had ever had such easy access to chips before - they all pretty much hovered right here the entire time.

Also, please leave a comment in the comment section applauding Vinay on his excellent craftiness. He cut out the Packer letters. I am proud.

The cutest Cheeseheads in the world (even if it's only temporary).

Our company took off right before the start of the third quarter, which was a good thing because I was sort of a grump then (I was very, very nervous that the Pack was going to shut down). But they didn't leave before the girls (and one Mommy) got in some dance time to Justin Bieber. Ozzy might not know what a Bieber is, but these girls definitely do!

The DinoShow

Had you looked in our living room the other day, you would have seen Grandma, Amiya, Lena, Grandpa, Vinay and I perched on an assortment of chairs, watching the show you see below:

It was a dinosaur extravaganza. We expect Disney to call Kev any day now to sign him on as a master choreographer.

Scene 1: The sharpteeth came charging toward the peaceful herbivores, but the triceratops was able to fend off their attacks.

Scene 2: The sharpteeth (at Kev's right knee) was able to breach the line of three-horned defenses and was on the verge of attacking from inside the longneck lines. Horror! Angst! Woe!

Scene 3: The sharpteeth (in Kev's hand), mounts the attack. But wait! The longnecks have regrouped! Momma Apatasaurus is not having one last fervent cuddle with Papa Brachiosaurus - it was all just a clever ploy to lure the sharpteeth in closer. He moves in, ever closer, ever more terrifyingly until suddently, WHAP! Momma Apatasaurus smacks him with her long tail and he runs away squealing.

The End.

I need some help.

Can someone please tell me how we've gone from this:

to this: She used to be all about the buddha and the big, open-mouthed grin. Now it's all posing and tilting and draping. I'm not sure where she gets it (not from me!) or where she's gotten all these ideas from (!?), but from a parent's perspective, it's a lot of fun to see her go from baby to toddler to big girl.

Really?

Couldn't you just eat him up? I know that nobody in this whole world finds our kids as cute as Vinay and I do and I can deal with that because that's how parenting goes. But, it goes without saying that a kid who is happy - who beams with that sort of happiness that is impossible to fake - is the cutest, most heart-warming thing to see.

Science Fair Project, Completed

Remember this? Well, Kev and I got tasky this weekend and decided to finish the project up.

Here's the result:

He couldn't be prouder! He did the coloring on the section titles (no, really!?) and he classified the beasts into their proper categories. Léna and Vinay had previously helped him draw the dinos, so I just had to help him plan out which dinos go where and then make the identification cards.

He decided that each card should tell the dinosaur name, plus the area and time period in which they lived and whether it was an herbivore, carnivore, pescatarian, insectivore and/or scavenger. He knew most of this info. without looking it up, so we got to work. A few stumped him and we had to drag out the books and do a little weseawch.

He's very proud of himself and his project - he took it into his school today to show his friends and he's taking it to Amiya's school this afternoon to show one of her teachers.

I can't end without adding - Kev was not happy that he was bwockin' the whole postew in the above photo, so he took one of this own. If you click on it, you should be able to see it in better detail.

The moral of the story? Buy stock in science fair display boards, folks. I feel a trend coming on.