pictures coming!
Whew! What was that? November flew by way too quickly.
I'm sitting here in my living room with snow on the trees outside and my two little monsters running around with blankets hanging out the back of their pants (their tails), trying to remember what made November interesting. There was lots of driving early in the month, as we finished up swimming and craft circus and all that, then things sort of settled down. Aaron and I had about 59 "discussions" about a visit down to Utah to visit Grandma Ruthie, involving about 4 different scenarios, and ultimately decided on a visit over the holidays for all of us (initially I lobbied for a shorter excursion with just me and the younger two kids). We're looking forward to escaping the sub-zero temperatures (who goes to Utah in the winter to warm up?), a round or two of decent Mexican food (refried beans are stocked in the "Ethnic foods" aisle at the grocery stores here), and most importantly, a bit of time with the people we love. We're not looking forward to a 16-18 hour drive in the freezing cold of winter, or the hit our bank account will take. Still, we haven't spent many Christmases with family, so we're pretty excited!
We had a chance to visit with the kids' teachers at school this month for parent-teacher conferences, and I couldn't help going away feeling pretty good. Theo's teacher this year is a smart cookie. She caught on pretty quick that Theo does well on his schoolwork, but that his organizational skills are somewhat lacking. Together they've made goals to improve his organization, including staying in from recess once a week to clean out his desk, and checking in both at school and at home for his daily agenda. Amazingly, she's pulled this off in such a way that Theo is excited about it! I'm so grateful for a teacher who takes the time to teach what kids really need, not just what the provincial curriculum tells them to teach.
Speaking of which, let's have another round of applause for M. Dube, Addy's teacher this year. He was a fantastic teacher for Theo two years ago, and we're lucky to have him watching over Addy this year. Although I have a feeling he flatters all the parents (he regularly told us that he'd never seen a student pick up French as quickly as Theo), he expressed great admiration for Addy's gorgeous journal entries. How could he not? Her illustrations at the top of every page are filled with such careful detail. I need to have her bring her journal home so I can scan and post some pages. Until then, I can say that I've seen a good many picture books with illustrations not quite up to the artistry Addy invests in hers. Both her French and reading are coming along, and his only complaint was that Addy is too nice. She is! She came home a little sad and frustrated a few days ago because everyone keeps asking to use her markers and she lets them, even though she's kept such good care of them and other people have lost theirs, and she's worried that hers will run out of ink. I told her she doesn't have to always say yes, but she insisted that she does, because she doesn't want to be mean. I often wonder how she came out so sweet with a mother like me!
Joy School this year has turned into a bit of a zoo. What do you expect with boys boys boys, three of them just barely three? I think every week is a bit of a struggle for all the moms, but I'm glad we're soldiering forward (for now) all the same. Joy School has some really great lessons for kids, and I'm especially loving the little "helper elves" I've had in Emerson and Sera lately. We end up skipping and cutting a lot of stuff in the lessons, and sometimes I worry that I'm not giving Emerson a fair shake both in that, and by not spending more time reading with him. He can read short words with nudging now, but I haven't taken the time to really get him reading books yet. That means I have him nearly a year behind my other kids, literarily speaking. I can't decide if that makes me a bad third-time mom, or if my excess ambition is just wearing off. Either way, it doesn't seem good.
Piano lessons soldier on as well, though I have self-doubts more frequently these days. I think Theo might be ready to have a teacher who is not his mom, although I plan to finish out this year. He doesn't seem as interested in playing piano, other than transposing various Crazy Frog songs up and down the keyboard. I feel like I'm always badgering him to practice (and do his chores; thankfully he still finishes most of his homework at school, which the school strongly encourages). After a while it becomes exhausting and I just think to myself "too bad for him, he's going to be sad when he grows up and can't play piano." Which of course makes me feel guilty, so then I yell down to the basement and tell him to turn off the Crazy Frog CD, put on some clothes (not counting his red Blazers jersey and blue nylon shorts that are going to adhere to his flesh before long), and finish up his practicing first. Not the world's most attractive parenting, I admit. Addy is having fun sight-reading through Christmas duets with me, and is pretty steady about her practicing (though Theo was at six too, so my hopes are limited). I've started Emerson on a different piano course than I've done with the older two, using the Faber and Faber My First Piano Adventure series that I use in my piano classes. There's a music CD that he practices with, and he honestly can't get enough of practicing. Maybe if I'd started the older kids the same way. . .
So, Christmas letters are almost done, Christmas concerts are nearly upon us, and Christmas itself is coming way too fast. Though the shopping is mostly done, the wrapping isn't, and blast if there isn't enough time to bake ginger-snaps for eating with egg-nog often enough! There's never enough time during the holidays, I find. Our fake tree went up this year (since we're going out of town), and though I had delusions of grandeur regarding actually putting matching ornaments and garlands and ribbons on it, the kids attacked it with their foam and popsicle stick ornaments already, and I don't have the heart to change it. For at least for one more year, the Mitchells will have the tackiest tree on the block. Singing Christmas carols to the kids at bedtime has always been one of my favorite holiday rituals, but I find that I'm only getting to it a time or two a week, and the kids don't have the songs memorized to sing in church. I want to read more Christmas stories, bake batches upon batches of holiday treats, make a gingerbread house, and blast holiday music through the house all day long. But the days disappear so fast, that I only get to do a handful of the things I want to. Hopefully I can get things under control soon!
