How cute is Sera?
Seriously?
She can walk . . .
She can surf . . .
She matches with her sister. . .
Aw.
Oh, right. And we have some other kids too.
Theo and Addy with their tree crafts for Earth Day
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Is It Spring Yet?
So we’ve made it to the end of April, and the flowers still haven’t peeked out of the ground. Sure we’ve had a day or two of 70 degree weather (exactly two, actually), but that’s obviously not enough to coax the buds onto the tree branches. The down side of this chilly equation is that the Easter pictures I planned to take after it warmed up have still not taken place. If our house was some other color than Aqua-fresh green, I’d take the pictures in front of it. But we’re talking about one of probably two pictures that will be taken of our entire family this whole year (and no I don’t mean a professional photo shoot that costs money, because we have yet to invest in those EVER), so I’d prefer looking at it in the future without cringing. Maybe you’ll see them next month.
Aaron wins for best news this month—he passed CCM’s notorious comprehensive written and oral exit exams! After seven hours of essay-writing, and another four of the most boring conversation ever, Aaron passed with flying colors! All that’s left now is finishing up the dissertation that Aaron already has a strong start on. It has been a long, hard road to get to this point, but now that we’re nearing the finish, we can see the rewards. Aaron finished the choral season with a performance of Carmina Burana, and is now looking forward to four months—yes four—before he returns to teaching for the new school year. Although we’re not to the point where we can fill those months up with vacations and playtime yet, he will have time to polish that dissertation, do some work on our house, spend time with the family, and squeeze in a cool, if work-related, trip to Copenhagen (hopefully with Britt).
In news for Theo this month, I must share an anecdote. The boys in Theo’s class at school have all gotten hard-core into Transformers. Although I, like any reasonable person, realize that vehicles which transform into robots are the end-all in cool, I haven’t been such a big fan of all the shooting games that have been part of the package. I’ve tried my best to encourage Theo to focus on the other parts of the game and leave out the violence. His response was lukewarm at best. Then, a few days ago Theo came home from school and told me that he and his friend Justin started a new game called Spies because Transformers was too violent. Yeah! Mom still has influence! Theo also started tennis classes this month and is really enjoying them.
Addy sports a new haircut this month. We planned to get our hair cut the same day in celebration of spring, but eventually I just chopped hers off for her. I think I did a pretty good job—it’s cute! I only wish I could cut my own. Her other big accomplishment this month is the perfecting of a blood-curdling scream which she has found to be extremely versatile. She unleashes it at her brothers any time they cross her, and at Aaron and I whenever we do something awful, like making her go to bed. Although it has landed her in time-out more than once, she apparently still considers it a useful tool.
Emerson continues to crack us up on a regular basis. Last night when I was serving pieces of chocolate cake to every one, Emerson spontaneously said “there’s chocolaty taste . . . in every bite!” We obviously allow way too much television. Theo also has him trained about as well as a circus monkey, to mimic all his own opinions and ideas. Ask Emerson if he likes Dora, and you’ll get a thumbs down, accompanied by “doink.” But ask him about Tom and Jerry, Theo’s favorite cartoon, and you’ll get an enthusiastic thumbs up, also accompanied by “doink.” Don’t ask us what “doink" means.
As for Sera, she continues “toddling” around the house. She’s all about climbing and throwing these days. She can get up the stairs pretty well by herself, but we don’t trust her going down yet. In the morning, she wakes Addy up by pitching all her blankets, books, and toys at her (those baby biceps are still underdeveloped, so most of her pitches fall short—phew!). Her verbal prowess continues to awe us, as she has progressed from sentences to paragraphs, and occasionally, novels. Of course, we can only make out a few of the words at this point, but this is undoubtedly more a result of our own ineptitude than hers.
As for me, chalk it up to having too many irons in the fire, but I’ve been feeling decidedly incompetent lately. I don’t have any good excuse, but house cleaning and laundry and cooking and everything else seem to take longer and longer, and I seem to accomplish less in 24 hours than I used to. I’m hoping (rather desperately) that May will be better!
Aaron wins for best news this month—he passed CCM’s notorious comprehensive written and oral exit exams! After seven hours of essay-writing, and another four of the most boring conversation ever, Aaron passed with flying colors! All that’s left now is finishing up the dissertation that Aaron already has a strong start on. It has been a long, hard road to get to this point, but now that we’re nearing the finish, we can see the rewards. Aaron finished the choral season with a performance of Carmina Burana, and is now looking forward to four months—yes four—before he returns to teaching for the new school year. Although we’re not to the point where we can fill those months up with vacations and playtime yet, he will have time to polish that dissertation, do some work on our house, spend time with the family, and squeeze in a cool, if work-related, trip to Copenhagen (hopefully with Britt).
In news for Theo this month, I must share an anecdote. The boys in Theo’s class at school have all gotten hard-core into Transformers. Although I, like any reasonable person, realize that vehicles which transform into robots are the end-all in cool, I haven’t been such a big fan of all the shooting games that have been part of the package. I’ve tried my best to encourage Theo to focus on the other parts of the game and leave out the violence. His response was lukewarm at best. Then, a few days ago Theo came home from school and told me that he and his friend Justin started a new game called Spies because Transformers was too violent. Yeah! Mom still has influence! Theo also started tennis classes this month and is really enjoying them.
Addy sports a new haircut this month. We planned to get our hair cut the same day in celebration of spring, but eventually I just chopped hers off for her. I think I did a pretty good job—it’s cute! I only wish I could cut my own. Her other big accomplishment this month is the perfecting of a blood-curdling scream which she has found to be extremely versatile. She unleashes it at her brothers any time they cross her, and at Aaron and I whenever we do something awful, like making her go to bed. Although it has landed her in time-out more than once, she apparently still considers it a useful tool.
Emerson continues to crack us up on a regular basis. Last night when I was serving pieces of chocolate cake to every one, Emerson spontaneously said “there’s chocolaty taste . . . in every bite!” We obviously allow way too much television. Theo also has him trained about as well as a circus monkey, to mimic all his own opinions and ideas. Ask Emerson if he likes Dora, and you’ll get a thumbs down, accompanied by “doink.” But ask him about Tom and Jerry, Theo’s favorite cartoon, and you’ll get an enthusiastic thumbs up, also accompanied by “doink.” Don’t ask us what “doink" means.
As for Sera, she continues “toddling” around the house. She’s all about climbing and throwing these days. She can get up the stairs pretty well by herself, but we don’t trust her going down yet. In the morning, she wakes Addy up by pitching all her blankets, books, and toys at her (those baby biceps are still underdeveloped, so most of her pitches fall short—phew!). Her verbal prowess continues to awe us, as she has progressed from sentences to paragraphs, and occasionally, novels. Of course, we can only make out a few of the words at this point, but this is undoubtedly more a result of our own ineptitude than hers.
As for me, chalk it up to having too many irons in the fire, but I’ve been feeling decidedly incompetent lately. I don’t have any good excuse, but house cleaning and laundry and cooking and everything else seem to take longer and longer, and I seem to accomplish less in 24 hours than I used to. I’m hoping (rather desperately) that May will be better!
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