How does Helen's mind work?

Is it being three, or is it being Helen? This is a story that really should have photo illustrations, but like all the best stories, they happen before a camera can be procured.

I had just gotten home from work and was ready to put on some "mommy" clothes. While stripping work clothes, I was keeping up a conversation with Helen. I usually do this, just so I can keep tabs on where she is and what she is up to.

"Helen, what do you think I should put on today?" [For the record, rhetorical questions are a terrible idea with a 3-year-old. Since I already knew what I wanted to wear, I was just asking for trouble.]

"Nothing," Helen replied, matter-of-factly but in a tone that tolerated no argument.

"Hmm...then how can I leave the house after lunch to go to the store and buy groceries?" I asked, thinking I had an airtight case. But Helen was not to be so easily cowed.

"Let me think..." she offered, playing for time.

Since I was getting cold, I wasn't sure how long I could wait on the whims of a 3-year-old. "Umm, I think I will just put my jeans on."

"No!" Helen shrieked, alarmed. "Let me think!" She sat down on the edge of my bed, head bowed and face covered by both hands. "Quiet, please..." she muttered at me in an irritated tone. I didn't realize it then, but she was still hard at work on my question - how to put nothing on, and yet get to the store to buy groceries.

After a pause long enough to leave me shivering, she looked up. "I've got it! Dad will make the house fly!"

Umm...huh? "Okay, how will he do that?"

"He can put feathers on it!" (Duh!)

While I spent the next few minutes figuring out that a flying house was her solution to get to the store without leaving the house, she started nagging..."When (oh when!) will Daddy get to the feather store?"

There is nothing quite like the literal mind of a 3-year-old. Or is it Helen?

Baby birds learn to fly

From outside the nest, it seems that a baby bird learns to fly almost all at once. There is just a helpless chick, then one day a chick stretching and flapping her wings, and then the next day the nest is empty. 

But now I know, a baby bird learns to fly in uncountable different steps, most happening so rapidly that we only discover them when we look backward. 

Some steps are tearful, 

Credits: imgarcade.com

some are jubilant, 

Credits: urbanpeek.com

some are barely perceptible. 

Credits: wallpaperhere.com

The only truly common denominator is that all are bittersweet. How is it that my own baby bird could be cruising down the sidewalk on her own 2-wheeled bike, faster than I can keep up walking, while I still have her toddler seat attached to my bike? Since I somehow missed the obvious time to remove it, I may just keep it, now. Bittersweet.

Writer's Block is a drag, but so is writer's overload

Could it really be almost 5 months since my last post? Such radio silence is usually reflects a complex situation...too busy to post, or not busy at all (meaning undisciplined with my time). Nothing to say, or too much to say (so I don't know where to start).

Whatever the case, it seems that the words pressure is building. In the past week, I have frequently found myself composing in my mind. The only cure for this is to start writing things down. And yes, I must cure it, because otherwise I become increasingly, and dangerously, internally focused. At some point, I have to quit writing stories in my head and start taking care of life again. So... my goal is to write a bunch over the next few weeks. I hope life cooperates with that.

Time to post again

Which is the prettiest flower in our yard?

Helen chooses all her own clothing these days. 9/10 days, that will be a dress.

Wow, it has been two months since my last post?!? That is a good sign, in this case, that we have been busy cramming lots of fun into our last weeks here in Massachusetts. We had visitors in April (first the Wunder family for a week, then Grandma Di, Grandpa Glen, and Grandpa Tom). We have done something every weekend in May, and the kids are starting to get busy at school, too, with end-of-year things.

I have lots of photos in the first few June posts of the older kids doing stuff for school, so I will first put a few photos of Helen in here, so that you don't forget about her!

Mostly, Helen is too busy to sleep these day. But even superheros need a break once in a while. While Grandpa Tom was here, he was happy to demonstrate for Helen.

Kids' Spring Activities

Although I have stuck to my guns and kept extra-curricular activities to a minimum this year, the kids have talked me into just a few things. In late winter (March and April), Jame and Meg each took on a science fair project. Jame elected to learn about solar cookers and build a hot-dog cooker. Meg joined a group learning about branchiopods, which hatch in vernal ponds. I think this was a very sneaky way to get a pet, at least for the short term, as we had a makeshift aquarium in Meg's room for a few months. Fortunately, branchiopods are easy to dump in a vernal pond outside when the project is done.

This spring, James played baseball with the middle school team. They had a very short season, made shorter by lots of rain-outs. He seemed to have a good time, but I didn't manage to get any photos of him playing, so you'll just have to take my word for it that he looked very handsome in his gray baseball pants, red shirt, and navy blue ball cap.

John decided to play soccer, and while he doesn't care much for following directions when it comes to drills, or even necessarily paying attention during a game, he makes up for a lot with his speed and ferocity. And his ball skills are actually improving, noticeably, so I will call that a win, all around.

Meg decided that she most wanted to participate in musical theater. She played the role of Ms. Stern, the not-very-kind woman who runs the orphanage in an adaptation of Oliver. She looked so stunningly grown-up to me after someone else piled her hair up on her head and gave her stage make-up. It is a bit hard to get a decent photo from the back of a dark theater, but hopefully you can get the idea.

Kids' Art Show

The first week of June, there was a school-wide art show. I am way behind in posting school work from the kids, so for my first new post, I am posting some photos of their art show pieces. Of course it is a bit difficult to photograph art on the wall, but it will give you the idea. I think they have done neat stuff this year.

James's art teacher explained to me that the kids, in groups of 4-5, had 90 minutes to design and create their rope sculptures in place. James's group elected to do something that incorporated a person into the project, so the mass of brown rope at the bottom is how she adapted it to hang on the wall after they had to extract the "living" component.

Meg's class also had a unit learning about the mythological characters of Greece. Part of that unit was for each 4th grader represent the characters whom she researched in a clay sculpture. Meg had Ceres.

April Fool's Day

This is certainly Grandpa Tom's signature holiday. Over the years, the kids have caught his love for the day. As the day approached this year, James and Meg were making plans as to what they could do to celebrate. James thought he would bake a batch of brownie,s spiked with paprika and red pepper flakes, to hand out to unsuspecting friends and teachers. I discouraged this idea, fearing lawsuits or unforgiveness. Some people (like me) take their brownies very seriously, but not everyone appreciates April Fool's Day. Meg learned this - she gained her teacher's permission to switch all the nameplates on the desks before school, leaving them to be confused when they opened their desk in a new location but didn't find their own things. However, a spoilsport classmate who was NOT amused announced the joke to everyone as they entered the classroom.

I am posting a video of the kids opening the "care package" Grandpa sent to the kids, arriving on April 1. I don't know if everyone will appreciate the video, but I know Grandpa will.

Meg's Class Goes Hollywood

Meg's class made an anti-bullying video to play at the all-school meeting this week. She makes two appearances - once as the bully and once as the hero. I hope the video will show up here...let me know if there are password issues or other problems.

Okay, apparently it does require a password.
Try: S102
Thanks, Heather, for the heads up!

The Early Spring Slog

March. It gets me every year. It feels like it should be spring by now, but it is really still winter. This year, maybe more so. On the one hand, we enjoyed a week's vacation in February this year, which is an unusual treat and should help. On the other hand, it is still March. In fact, the only month on the calendar this year without a single day off school for the kids. They are tired, and I am too. Still, there are many moments of joy. I think I need to recount some of them:

• It is now light outside when Jeremy leaves for work and when he returns. That is a wonderful difference. The kids have taken to meeting him at the train stop when he comes home. Well, really, Meg started it, wanting some time alone with Dad. The younger ones have tried to make it competitive so we sometimes have to take turns. But still, it is nice that they can go get him. 
• Warmth. Several days in the 50s this week. We aren't out of the woods of winter yet - still single-digits several mornings this week. But the thaw is coming.
• Humongous icebergs. Well, maybe that isn't quite the right term for them ... I mean those ice mountains next to the parking lot at school. There is one that started about 20 feet high a few weeks ago. It is down several feet now, but still rock-solid, and John's favorite place to play. We try to stop after school most days for a few minutes. (For some inexplicable reason, the school authortities haven't been chasing kids off of this lethal liability.) James and Meg are of course too old to want to just climb ice mountains. However, they very kindly (and quickly) offer to escort Helen on it. Fine by me.
• James had a super-cool program at M.I.T. this weekend (Spark). It is run by an army of M.I.T. student volunteers which makes it nearly free, and he gets two full days worth of classes on pretty cool topics. Today he had 2 hours on the Philosophy of Law; 2 hours on Cryptography; 1 hour each on Absolute Zero and Modern Rapid Fabrication. Tomorrow's classes include A Brief History of Time (modest undertaking for an hour); Programming Simple Math in Python; How to Land on the Moon; and Languages of Middle Earth. Even though he is pretty worn out after a very long week of rehearsals and performances of the middle school musical (he was stage crew), he has been keyed up for these classes.
• Roller skating. While Jeremy took James in for his classes today (and spent the day working), I had the 3 younger kids for a long Satuday, plus Meg's friend Rachel. We decided to go roller skating. We found a rink about 30 minutes away. The older girls liked it. John loved it. Helen wasn't too keen on the skating, but liked the corner with the fancy disco lights where she stripped off her skates and danced liked a maniac for over an hour. Nice way to break up a Saturday. 
• Work. I actually made significant writing progress this week. My manuscript is still far from done, but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. And while I don't yet feel like an expert on the psychology concepts I have to learn, I do finally feel like I am progressing from student to ... knowledgeable, at least. Able to hold my own, soon, I hope.
• Tumbling. Helen goes once a week to a sort of pre-gymnastics class. It is actually with her daycare group, but I take her in on a Wednesday, when she is home with me otherwise. The teacher is great and Helen loves it. She now runs about everywhere turning somersaults and "making a cat-tail." (That is her teacher's talk for early-stages of learning a cartwheel - two hands down and one foot up in the air, like a cat's tail.) 

Florida Vacation - Day 5 and trip home

Jeremy had to work today - he had a looming deadline and spent the day at Jim and Barb's on his laptop. Barb went with me to take the kids to yet another beach. We started in the town of Venice, at the gift shops, where the kids wanted to spend their travel money. For John, a shark's tooth necklace. For Meg, earrings. For Helen, a dress (in a batik print). James was feeling frugal and still making up his mind. :)

We then drove over to the beach near Venice which was yet again different. The sand was coarser and there was a full line of jagged rocks/boulders at the water's edge. There was also a stiff wind and steady waves today. This made swimming tough, but the kids had chosen this beach to search for shark teeth fossils. They entertained themselves for several hours with digging and sifting through the sand in 2-3 feet of water.

Then, in the late afternoon, we picked up Jeremy and took a long walk along the Casey Key Beach from our first day. The kids doubled the size of their seashell collection, which was already substantial. 

I may have photos to add to today's post later, or maybe not. I had the smaller (pocket-sized) camera with me this day, and I haven't transferred those photos to the computer yet. However, it turned out that the camera card was nearly full when I set out that day, so I don't know if I have any photos of worth, anyway. 

Still, even without pictorial evidence, we had another great day. Well, except maybe for Jeremy.

The drive home (7 AM Saturday to 10 PM Saturday in southern VA; 8 AM Sunday to 8 PM Sunday) was fairly uneventful - we pushed hard. The only remarkable event was that Helen got sick - again. Strange, after a whole week of being fine. Then again, maybe it was her diet. To keep the kids happy during a 15-hour travel day, we let just about anything go. Including that Helen wanted to eat only baby-food pouches of applesauce (several) and an oversized bag of Cheetos from a gas station. Ugh.

This time, when she threw up, it was at 1 AM, in our hotel bed. Still, NOT in the car! (Yay, Helen!) A bit of an embarrassing mess to leave at the hotel, but nice to leave the dirty sheets and towels with someone else, for sure. And nice to be able to have room service deliver clean sheets when you are dealing with this in the middle of the night. I need to figure out how to get that at home, sometimes.

Florida vacation - Day 4

Thursday morning, the kids swam in the pool again with Jeremy and Jim while Aunt Barb took me shopping at her favorite consignment stores. I made out like a bandit, finding the new slacks for work that I have been needing as well as several nice blouses and sweaters. After lunch, we drove about 20 minutes to Myakka State Park, which was inland. The whole landscape changed. Suddenly the land was scrubby, ferocious biting bugs made an appearance, and the freshwater heralded the appearance of... the alligators.

The lookout tower above the treetops gave us a bird-eye view of a Florida-style forest. It definitely looks different.

Under the forest canopy, it was a completely different place. The light was eerily gray under the thick, tall vegetation, and everything looked brown and dead (yet thickly grown). 

Dr. Seuss trees!

Finally, along the shores of Myakka Lake, we saw our first alligator. We soon saw that he had many, many friends. Could that be why this state park lake is posted "No Swimming?" But they did have canoe and kayak rentals. We declined.

Alligator bait.

Thursday evening, we attended Circus Sarasota. It turns out that Sarasota is the winter home and training grounds of several circuses. (Ringling has his name on many things here.) We picked up the "cheap seats" tickets under the one-ring Big-Top, and were so glad that we did. None of the kids had ever been to a circus. Jeremy and I hadn't been since we were quite young kids. I enjoyed it, but the kids loved it. Helen didn't sit down for the entire show. She stood gripping the back of the seat in front of her, mouth hanging open. I understand the ban on flash photography during the circus, but I was sorry not to be able to capture the excitement in the eyes of all my kids, especially Jeremy (whom I think loved it more than any of us.)

Waiting for the circus to start.

The one act I captured without a flash - the aerial gymnasts.

Florida Vacation - Day 2 and Day 3

On Tuesday, Jim took us out on his sailboat all day. Meg loved getting to use the radio to call the drawbridges to open so we could motor out the Intercoastal waterway to the gulf. We all enjoyed the relative peace of the wind and sun once we cut the motor and unfurled the sails on the Gulf of Mexico. It was a very calm day so the kids could climb out on the front deck and take turns at the helm. They liked yelling out the locations of crab pots to avoid - mostly because it gave them a chance to boss around the sibling steering at the time. I don't have any photos of the trip as I decided not to chance a camera on the water. I thought just coming back with all 4 kids would be enough of an accomplishment.

On Wednesday, Jim and Barb treated us today to a "Sea Life Encounter" boat tour sponsored by the Mote Marine Aquarium in Sarasota. We toured the Intercoastal waterway on a pontoon boat with a marine biologist guide, spotted dolphins off bow, and trawled a net behind to haul in a "catch" to inspect before tossing it back in the shallow waters. After the boat ride, we went in the aquarium, where we enjoyed dolphins, manatees, a shark, jellyfish, and many smaller sea creatures.

After the aquarium, we visited a new beach - Siesta Key. It was voted the best beach in the USA last year, and not without merit. The sand there was incredible (soft and white) and stretched for miles. The kids swam again.

The best treat of the whole day for me was that my cousin Brian was able to join us for the day. It was great to see him for the first time in over 20 years!

Jim and Barb, waiting for the boat trip with us.

Helen exploring a small island in the gulf, and learning about the mangrove trees and palmettos.

Our boat, at the island where we took a short walk with the guid.

We cruised (quietly) past this protected bird nesting rookery. It was crowded.

One thing that continued to astound me on the trip was the real estate. Along the waterways (two banks of the intercoastal, plus the ocean/Gulf facing shore, there were miles and miles of beachfront property, all of it crammed with these multi-million dollar homes. Where are all of these tenants coming from? How many millionaires does the world hold? Jim says most of them are only occupied a few months each year...which doesn't help at all in answering my question.

Helen gets up close and personal with some small crabs fished out of the ocean.

John, Meg, Aunt Barb watch to see what else our marine biologist found in the net.

Cousin Brian manages to not look too overwhelmed at meeting all of my wild kids at once.

Florida Vacation: Day 1

Today we basked in the sun, enjoyed the warmth, and generally lazed about. We visited the marina and saw Jim and Barb's boat; we went to the ocean beach on nearby Casey Key and hunted up (many) seashells; we swam in the clubhouse pool. No one was sick, the sunburns were minor, and we had a great time. I guess there isn't much more to say.

Helen can't quite decide about the weather - shorts and a jacket. We had a nice walk in the neighborhood up to the marina along the intercoastal waterway.

Notice Helen is ready to commit to the weather, now. The jacket is off to reveal the swim suit.

Looking at Uncle Jim's and Aunt Barb's sailboat.

Enjoying a view of the Intercoastal waterway and the houses that look out on it.

This big heron swooped right in over our head as we sat near the marina.

John liked the water, even if it was a tad cold.

"Look at the size of this seashell!"

Jim and Jeremy are hopefully having more fun than they look like. :)

For the kids, a day at the beach isn't complete unless someone has been buried in sand.

Or, several someones.