Gotta Love Boys

Every boy knows the noises you need to make in order for cool cars to move.

First Day of School...Again

From the moment we stepped into the Montessori classroom yesterday, I remembered why I had wanted our kids to go there. The homey feel, the calm teachers, every corner holding a hands on learning activity. There were no rules here about working in isolation at cold hard desks. Talking and collaborative learning are encouraged.

On Thursday afternoon, I received a call saying that Joe was accepted into a Montessori school. My knee jerk response was "No! He just started the school year, and he loves his class." In fact, I told the guy "no". Then I called Matt and he gave me a shot of sanity. We have been hoping to get Joe into a better school, and Montessori would be a great thing for him, not to mention the rest of the kids who would be automatically admitted. So, I called the school person back and asked for some time to think it over.

We talked to Joe about it, and he seemed alright, but a little...thoughtful. But the next morning he came downstairs with a big grin on his face and said that when he prayed about it he got a warm feeling. Yay! So, Joe and I went and visited the new school today, met his teacher and filled out all of the paperwork. He will be in a 1st and 2nd grade combination classroom. His teacher (who's class was outside in pe) gave us a mini tour. This year they will be doing a lot of research and writing reports about what they learn. There couldn't be a better curriculum for Joe! As we walked on the shaded walkway on campus, a butterfly floated by. The teacher commented that they had spent time the day before in the butterfly garden watching the butterflies. Seriously? I love Montessori!! Not only is the education more in line with my philosophies, and more likely to cultivate a self motivated love of learning, but the children perform well when they move on to junior high. If you couldn't tell, I'm excited about this new circumstance.

His first day is Monday.

The Newest Look

Last week, both Matt and Joe made visits to the eye doctor and discovered that they both needed glasses for the first time. Matt only needs them for night driving and for reading. Joe, on the other hand, really wasn't seeing well. I'm surprised he never really complained about it. It does make sense that he started sitting right up in front of the tv lately. The poor boy couldn't see it! Here they are sporting their new look. Joe couldn't be more thrilled about having glasses.

In other news, we met Joe's teacher (or long term sub) and I like her so far. His real teacher will get back in December.

More Emmy Insights

Every night, as part of the bedtime routine, I sit with Emily and "chat." I love getting an idea of what her life is like from her point of view. Last night she told me she loves me because I make the best stuff in the oven. My cookies are apparently "awesome." In fact, a few days ago, Joe and Emily performed a song for me. Here are the lyrics that I can remember.

I love Mom.

She is the world.

She is the greatest cookie maker.

She makes cookies and that means she loves kids.

Chorus:

I love mom.

She makes cookies.

Tonight, she said that she was going to be so strong - even stronger than dad. "Dad is this strong" And she flexed her arms, putting her forearms right against her biceps, "But I'm going to be this strong" And she made a square with her forearms while she flexed, and puffed out her chest. Then she told me that she was going to learn Karate. She wants us to buy a lot of little pieces of wood so that after she knows karate, she can break them.

We went to the store this evening, and the kids were commenting on the big, bright moon. Joe said "I wonder if a werewolf will follow us...Or maybe a roadrunner!" After they talked about that for a minute, Emily asked "Do you think a detective will come our way?" Matt replied that it's always possibly. Then Emily asked in a rhetorical tone, "What's detective anyway?"

On Sunday, the young women in our ward performed a song. For the entire first verse, Emily just sat mesmerized. Then she started singing along (different words and melody, but she was participating!). After the song ended, Emily said - in not hushed tones - "That was a good song, wasn't it mom and dad!" So thumbs up to the young women from the Hicken pew.

First Hair Cut!

Today, I gave Will his first haircut. It made me sad to see the sweet little curls on the floor, but it was time.

With the window in the background, you can't see his face as well, but this is such a typical expression for him. If you look closely, you can see that he's almost smiling (his eyes are twinkling too) and he knows he's being funny.

Pre-haircut. He was helping me sweep yesterday. He cried whenever I took the broom away from him.

Family Dynamics

One of the most interesting things for me as a mom has been watching how my children interact with one another. Joe and Emily were buddies from the time Emily could smile. They loved reading together and, as she got older, putting on rock shows and other performances. Then Mary came and both fell in love with her. Her increased mobility coincided with Joe starting school. Mary and Emily became good friends and played all day while Joe was gone - or fought all day while Joe was gone, depending on the day. The dynamic has been a little tricky since then. We have had a major case of third wheel syndrome. Each of the three has taken their turn as the one left out. Over the last week or so, however, I've seen a shift. Mary has suddenly become interested in playing with Will. Will is now fully mobile and able to interact more interestingly for Mary. This morning, Mary and Will were presumably sleeping in (both had made middle of the night visits last night). Mary came down a little while after Matt went to work and announced that Will had lots of toys and they were playing, but I need to carry him. I went to get Will, and his crib was almost completely full of toys. He was just standing there looking as pleased as could be. I love seeing them get along, but I also love that the three child dynamic is disappearing. The kids start to finish are only 6 1/2 years apart, so hopefully this will be a continuing trend!

Today, Emily is wearing a "danciful" skirt.

Proud

I went jogging this morning. I have been trying to get in shape for a relay that I am running in the future. It's amazing how motivations to lose weight were never enough for me. I had to have a concrete goal and someone depending on me to get me actually moving. Of course, it also helped that my youngest is older than a year.

On the trail, a group of runners passed going the opposite direction. They looked like they had just leaped off of a print ad. For a second I went down to that ridiculous place. You know the one I'm talking about - the "Man, I wish I looked like that!" place that will drive you insane. Then I stopped myself. I have earned every stretch mark, every wrinkle, every callous. My body is a living testament to the path I have traveled and I am proud of that path. It shows the creation of four little bodies for four amazing children. It shows the work of caring for those children and my husband. It shows lines from a million smiles at a million different simple pleasures. It shows the strain of carrying burdens of every shape and size. My body shows my life. It is amazing and beautiful. I pledged to myself this morning that I would never forget that.

Secret Agent Man...or Woman

The girls came down this evening after their baths dressed like this

and announced that they were secret agent partners. (Notice their secret "badges" that Emily apparently didn't need.)

Spider!

We have our fair share of ants and spiders at our house. I've tried to help the kids take a more scientific approach to the bugs so that they don't get so scared of them. However, it seems that Emily is inherently afraid of bugs and while Joe likes to pretend to not be scared, he gets just as frightened as Emily. Mary on the other hand...

Tonight I finally pointed out to the kids the giant garden spider that we have staying in one of our windows. During the day she (I believe it's female) stays up in the corner of the window hidden out of view. But as soon as the sun starts to set she comes out and rebuilds her web. I believe it is this prime spot that has helped her grow almost 3 inches around - including the legs. She has been there for a few days and before dinner I pointed out where she was hiding in the corner of the window to the kids. I don't think they got quite how big she was and didn't seem all that interested.

When she came down during scriptures and prayer I pointed out to the kids that she had come down. Joe and Emily went up and looked at it and freaked out. Joe decided that he was going to come sit by me on the other side of the room. Emily didn't say much but also moved to the opposite side of the room. Joe kept going on about how big the spider was and how scary looking it was. Mary took a look at it and said: "No, it's tiny and she's cute."

It's all about perspective.

The Boys

It seems that we highlight Emily and Mary a lot on this blog because they are always saying the funniest things, but Joe is getting quite a sense of humor and Will...is...well, a cute little baby.

Tonight, with all of the rain we decided we wanted some comfort food so it was Breakfast for Dinner at the Hicken house. Of course the Stephen's Gourmet Hot Chocolate (not that the rain here was at all cold) that we brought from Utah was a major plus. As a side note, if you haven't tried Stephen's hot chocolate then you really are missing out. We decided to break out the raspberry chocolate canister tonight.

Anyway, after trying the hot chocolate and eating some of the delicious dinner (scrambled eggs with sausage and blueberry pancakes) Joe proceeded to say thank you for the dinner. Since I had made the eggs and Cathy had made the pancakes Joe was sure to thank the responsible party. Then he asked about the hot chocolate and Cathy and I praised how wonderful Stephen's hot chocolate is and so Joe promptly proclaimed, holding up his cup, "Thank you Stephen!". Yes, indeed, thank you Stephen!

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Will learned how to blow on things (that is without including a little spit) last night. I was blowing on a little bite of the rice and stir fry we had in order to get it ready for him to eat. As usual he watched intently and then started to copy what I was doing. It's one of the cutest things seeing his fat little cheeks expand out a little more and his mouth squeeze all up and watch him blow.

Emily was talking about a cartoon where the character drank milk and in her words "Got his tough up."

Unleash Your Inner Boy Scout

Yesterday, we went to the zoo. In the Kidzone, they have several different areas for hands on discovery. We hadn't seen this one until yesterday. They have an area set out with logs of various widths and lengths, wire cages, netting, ropes, dried palm fronds and any other raw materials they could think of and left them strewn around so the kids could come in and make structures. Awesome! I'm thinking of setting something like that up in my back yard - okay, not really. It was a lot of fun, though.

Family Pictures

While we were in Utah, we were able to get family pictures with both Matt's side of the family and mine. Every single family member was present in both - which is super awesome! We also got two pictures of just our little family.

Here's my family

Here's Matt's family

Please, sir, may I have some more?

Will's one word: "Ma!" It can be used for "mom," "That's mine," or "Feed me now before I blow a gasket."

Today, we changed to the 1:30 church schedule. This morning was really good, and it was fantastic to be able to leisurely get ready for church. Once church started, however, it was a different story. The three younger kids were grumpy and wiggly from the second our seats hit the pew. Sigh.

During the sacrament, I gave Will some bread for the first time, and his eyes lit up with wonder and excitement as if he was thinking "That's what's been going on here this whole time!" Every time he saw one of the young men pass our pew, he yelled, "Ma! Ma!" and tried to climb over to them. Funny, but not so reverent.