Getting those photos taken care of...

Grady, second from right on the bottom row, at his first Tae Kwon Do demonstration in January.



These three Tae Kwon Do shots come from the practice room. This is where a lots of wild rumpuses occur after class. Grady adores it.

Ainslie, in an "Ainslie original." Not one, not two but three dresses, layered. She went to church this way.

This is what happens these days when you tell Ainslie to smile for the camera. For some reason, those eyes just can't stay open...

Christmas morning, 2008. We never have too many shots, too busy helping the kids whirl through their gifts. Fionna here is receiving, what I am told, is a girl's requisite Barbie styling head.

Sad to say, my only xmas shot of Grady is this horribly blurry thing. At least he's happy (it's a pinball game that he's opening).

Ainslie very much loved opening gifts, anyone's gifts, this year.

Waiting for her sit-and-spin... (I just typed sit-and-spit. That would be the Grady version.)

A rare, these days, happy shot of all three. Ainslie, again, created her own outfit.

Fionna at her Winter school music show. She was thrilled to be front and center, right by the mic. A starlet's dream...

Making homemade gingerbread houses (also known as eating lots of powdered sugar frosting).

Grady, at that point, had eaten a little less than Ainslie. You can actually recognize what he's up to.

Bummer, I can't get it to turn the right direction. You get the idea. More corny kid holiday cheer. :)

Just a check in...

I don't seem to have the mental room these days to ruminate on blogs (I used to get around to posting only a fraction of the one's I'd mentally mapped out), much less share pictures with everyone). The picture deal is partly because the digi camera uploads to the desktop computer, and I'm always on my (new, and so fabulous) laptop.

But, I thought some sort of an update would be better than nada, right?

School for me is starting to get into full swing. I'm enjoying it far more than I anticipated. Before starting, it just sounded like adding "x" amount of work to my already full days but now I'm seeing the payoff, and thus the motivation, as I am becoming more and more interested and engaged with what I'm learning. It all seems very relevant and applicable, and those are absolute musts for me. I'm not good with theoretical crappola that I can't imagine ever using (I'm sure my high school math teacher heard me spout these words a few dozens of times).

School has proven to be a bit more frustrating for Fionna, of late. Homework is coming home in droves (I'm talking like 2 hours worth per night). I've reached the point where I have entered into "Grand High Executive Decision-Making Mode" and I just deem that she won't do most of it. It's worksheets, mind-numbing, repetitive, you get the picture. So, we do the more crucial stuff and pitch the rest. I plan to address it with her teacher in the next few days. I think some is AES stuff that is supplementary and supposed to keep her from being bored but it seems punitive to her when it just means she slaves away with her pencil for even more time at home. Our unfortunate children here are getting one mere 20-minute recess per day and that combined with the excessive homework has me very frustrated. I got to the point the other night that I offered her the option of pulling out of school for the remainder of this year, homeschooling, and re-evaluating in the Fall. Of course, she refused. She's a social little creature.

Grady maintains that he has no interest in attending kindergarten in the Fall. I think it's mostly a combination of separation and social anxiety. But, I honored Fionna's feelings when she was at this stage, and I'm committed to doing the same for Grady. We currently work, when the opportunity lends itself and he's in the mood, on number identification, letter sounds, the fine motor skills of beginning handwriting (with dot-to-dots, mazes, drawing letters). He's not really into this stuff but sometimes finds it exciting, and I try to capitallize on those moments. I do feel very positively about Grady's social circle and extracurricular activities right now. We seem to be in the midst of one of those golden times when we have lots of wonderful friends and lots of opportunities to spend time with them. I absolutely love our looong, extended park days and impromptu playdates. And soccer and Tae Kwon Do continue to be really fun, pleasing activities for Grady. I love seeing him so engaged and eager and having such fun.

Ainslie....I feel like she's made some developmental leaps just recently. Her pretend play is evolving and becoming more complex. What's really uncanny for me is how closely she mimics the ways in which Fionna engaged in pretend play. The themes, the behavior, it's all so similar. I use to call Fionna the "little director," and Ainslie is making an excellent play at being the Little Director Numero Dos. She has very, very particular ideas of what she'd like to play with me and how I should participate. So, it's not enough to play "house" type of games. I have to be in a certain spot, do a certain number of things, say just the right things, etc. I spend a lot of time on her bed (a prop, considering that she sleeps in the big family bed in THE bedroom) in her room, eyes closed, pretending to be the baby. My one weekly absence, on Monday nights for class, is really causing her an increase in sadness. She handled it well at first but her distress seems to be escalating. I've just decided, on someone's advice, to try to be more matter-of-fact about it and try to get away from making it a big deal. Hopefully she'll soon settle into it as just another part of our routine. Although it's a three hour class, she goes to bed within 30-60 minutes of me leaving so it's not anything that should disrupt her routine all that much. Ainslie is also starting to really love and seek out certain characters. Dora is an unfailing hit, as are Pooh Bear and the 100 Acre Wood gang. She also just started to notice and ask for Mickey and Minnie Mouse, which is funny because Fionna went through a Mickey and Minnie love affair at almost the exact same age. I was even able to dig through the big closest of saved clothing/shoes and pull out two pair of Minnie shoes in just Ainslie's size.

Well, the Dora episode which bought me the time to write is ending. And I have a LLL homevisit in about an hour which means I really ought to be showering and picking up the house (the mom is coming to me this time). Dear Blog, I promise to try to get some pictures up. I miss seeing evidence of our happy days on here. Until then...hasta...

What day is it?

Yes, I'll admit it. I frequently think that as I wake up in the morning these days. And it's not impossible that I have to ask myself the question again as I travel through the day.

School has begun for me, along with some other new family ventures, including Tae Kwon Do, spring soccer (those two for Grady) and Drama Club, SEMAA (a university/elementary cooperative science-themed after-school program), a day of homeschooling, and spring dance for Fionna. All while we continue Pistoleros and the things I was already committed to doing, like leading La Leche League meetings and doing home visits and teaching the primary class in Religious Education on Sundays at our local Unitarian Universalist church. My friend Nora just blogged about what a regular week looks like for them. I was struck by the contrast between what my former weeks looked like and what my current weeks look like. Life really does evolve dramatically as your children grow and develop interests. When you throw mom's and dad's interests into the mix, it can get quite insane. For posterity's sake, here's a page out of my weekly calendar right now...(I'll exclude all the entries relating to the nine credit hours I'm taking, the ones saying read such-and-such article or do this online quiz or write this paper).

Monday: 3 hours of bliss as Nora watches Grady and Ainslie (part of our child-care exchange). Simultaneously, Fionna is home as Monday is now our home-school day (she's staying home one day of the week to home-school). Fionna and I begin our time sans younger sibs with a half-hour walk. Then I try to work either on my own school needs or organizing the house for the week (this might mean menu planning, intense laundry processing or just cleaning). Fionna is working on learning to type, and then just follows her interests... When Ainslie and Grady return home, we have one of our quieter days with nothing much to do for the rest of the afternoon until it's time for me to get supper going. Monday night I have a class from 7:20-9:50 so I'm quite focused right now on Mondays being smooth and very on-schedule, to minimize any upset for the kids (and Lenny) as I leave and he takes over bedtime. After class, I often return home to study/read more before heading to bed.

Tuesday: Playgroup, as always. An addition though is I'm taking my cousin's daughter Kat to playgroup with us and then dropping her off at daycare afterward. We have a short break between playgroup and then it's off to pick up Fionna, drop her at dance, and then race to Tae Kwon Do. After that, we race again to pick up Fionna and then it's home for homework, supper, baths, etc. Again, I'm trying to make sure Tuesdays are smooth sailing as I have a weekly one-hour chat on Tuesday evenings for one of my online classes. Once a month, a mere fifteen minutes after I finish up that chat session, I will have to be on the phone for a La Leche League of NM Area Administration Team conference call. That takes usually an hour to an hour and a half. After that, it's studying again for me.

Wednesday morning is open (thankfully), and I often use this time to grocery shop. Fionna has Drama Club on Wednesdays after school so we pick her up an hour later than usual. We have an awkward gap between that and soccer practice so we've began heading to an area park for the kids to play, while I study on the sidelines. Soccer practice (did I mention I'm newly the assistant coach) at 5:15, lasting until 6 and then we race home to have supper (if I'm lucky, I've got supper going in the slow-cooker). Once a month, we have a potluck with some friends that we try to make, if my kids aren't too exhausted.

Thursday: My kids love this day as it means that Zephyr and Jubi are headed over to our house to spend three hours with us. Sometimes I accomplish household tasks (like folding or hanging laundry) but sometimes I just play. Either scenario works well. After they head home, we have another short break and then it's off to Tae Kwon Do. After that, we do our usual hustle to get Fionna from SEMAA (a program, cooperatively taught by the local university and the local elementaries, teaching science) and then we really have to race to make it to Pistoleros (we're often a bit late). You may or may not remember that this is the basketball handling group that the kids have done for a couple of years. Not only do we have weekly hour-long practices but we have several performances at university games scattered throughout the season. One week a month, the evening La Leche League meeting (held at my house) falls on this night and we go straight from basketball to that.

Friday: Only one monthly scheduled activity, a La Leche League meeting on the first Friday of the month. Other than that, this can be a catch-up day for me and a mellow, at-home day for my kids. Once or twice a month though, Grady does have the opportunity to attend an optional Tae Kwon Do sparring practice that we try to attend.

Saturdays: Almost always, we head to the Farmer's Market. We've been going there regularly (at least the kids and I, Lenny when he can manage) for probably 5 years at least. You can't beat the atmosphere (music, good foods, local goodies) and the opportunity for two storytimes (with tokens for free books at my favorite bookstore on earth). Right now, Saturdays are about to get busy with soccer games as well. At other times of the year, it can be a more mellow. And, there's always the variable of birthday parties and other social invitations. Today, for instance, we have both a birthday to go to and a supper invite.

Sunday: For the past year and a half, I've been teaching the Primary class (kids age 2-5) in Religious Education at the Unitarian Universalist we attend. For the curious, this class isn't really about teaching religion but about teaching that people believe and honor their beliefs in a wide variety of ways, across the world. UU's aren't really religious per se but rather are more often worried about social action, equity for all, respect for our fellow humans, some are spiritual, etc. (Just in case you thought it odd that I'd be going to church, lol. You're not the first).

Recently, Lenny and I have been switching off on the weekends to try to give each other kid-free time. For me, it's about studying and working on school word; Lenny has recently started playing paint ball with friends. So, for instance, Lenny may take the kids to the river, a local duck pond or the park. When it's my turn, I usually do our usual routines (like the Farmer's Market or church or a birthday party) and don't guilt Lenny into coming.

Busy times. It makes me smile to think of the days when I only had Fionna and looked forward to a weekly grocery shopping trip, or maybe picking Lenny up from work. Although, that was just as hard, the isolation and loneliness, as the busy schedule can be.

Sad beyond words...

I had some horrible news tonight. A good friend, someone I don't get to talk to much anymore, but nevertheless, a very good friend, has found out her young daughter has a terminal genetic disorder. She let me know, as she asked for help for another family, suffering from the same grim news, except in their case, they will lose two children to this disease. In honor of her little one, I pass on her request...

http://www.ahundredforahome.com/

If you can't help this family personally, pass the word around. The idea that keeps revolving through my head is: It could be any one of us...