christmas generosity

Today the girls and I wrapped our Christmas gifts. For the first year, the girls bought and made gifts for one another. They were so sweet and thoughtful and creative in their choices for one another. Alybug told me today she's so excited for Em and Pumpkin to open their gifts from her. Then she added that she's as excited for that as she is to open her gifts. I sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction.

My girls do such a good job of loving one another. It's touching the ways that they take care of one another. Rob and I definitely model that for them. I want to model taking care of others, too. I say that I value loving and taking care of those less fortunate than us. But I don't live out that value well. Occasionally, we offer money and less occasionally than that, we offer our time. I want to cultivate generous hearts in my girls, and I know I must begin with myself.

happy solstice

Tonight is the longest night of the year. We marked the night with a lantern walk. Today we made lanterns using glass jars and little pieces of tissue paper painted on the sides with watery glue. The girls did it themselves, with just a little help wrapping a wire handle on. We put handrolled beeswax candles inside and walked around our yard singing "This Little Light of Mine." I have talked to them this week about the light we always have inside of us- the big girls seemed to really connect with this light/dark imagery. At the end of our walk, there was a large jump rope waiting for them. We jumped rope in the driveway by the light of our lanterns. All 3 girls figured out how to jump at least a few times in succession. Little Pumpkin never ceases to amaze me with her agility. Tomorrow night we'll have some friends over for dinner and do our usual winter solstice candlelight litany.

another lost tooth

Em lost another bottom tooth yesterday and there was angst this time. Her first tooth just fell out on its own while she was playing one morning. This one was hanging on by a thread and she couldn't go to sleep with it so loose, so we all gathered round while Rob pulled it out. It didn't hurt Em at all, although she was caught off guard by all the blood coming out of her mouth. Rob turned around and noticed Alybug wasn't there anymore. She was curled up on the couch crying. It's hard to watch Em's teeth fall out and nothing in her mouth is loose. My heart broke for Alybug. She was trying so hard to be happy for Em, and she was until she just couldn't anymore.

soccer update

Alybug and Em are loving their city soccer league. I am still shocked at this. After the first practice, I thought they might last 2 more before asking to quit. I was so wrong. My, how far they have come! Alybug is a great little defender and rarely hesitates to get the ball up the field and away from the goal. She loves everything about soccer practice. Em runs tirelessly after the ball and is great at getting her foot on the ball. Em struggles more generally with all the contact from other kids- physically and verbally. But she's pushing through the discomfort and she's having fun. I'm so proud.

pumpkin's version of jingle bells

Rob's dad gave the girls a karaoke machine for Christmas (we had an early Christmas celebration with him). They are loving this gift. They ham it up with the microphone and are happiest playing with it without music. Paige's rendition of Jingle Bells goes like this:
Flashing through the snow
On a one horse open sleigh
Oer the fields we go
Laughing all the way ha ha ha
Bells on frogtails ring
Making spirits bright...

I crack up every time she sings it (which is MANY times each day)

busy times

I am too busy knitting these days to get to blogging. I am so excited about all my handknit Christmas gifts, and it is taking lots of time. I need to get started earlier next year. I think I said that last year, too!

What we're up to lately- Alybug and Em are itching to learn to read. Pumpkin is throwing lots of fits when she is feeling deprived of attention, so we're having some challenging days. Alybug and Em have lots of energy for focused work. It's just often tough to pull off with Pumpkin. Things have been a bit hectic for us with company and an out of town trip since Thanksgiving. We have lots of activities to do during the holiday season. It's all fun, but we're certainly losing our rhythms and I think that's affecting Pumpkin the most. As for the big girls reading, we read books all the time- beautifully illustrated books with poetic language and simple Frog and Toad style beginning reader books. Chapter books, picture books, yadda, yadda. They have many books memorized. The girls know their consonants sounds perfectly well. We've begun working on vowels. Yet they're still not reading. I'm sure working with word families (we'll do this in January) will provide another stepping stone. I know we're delaying academic instruction intentionally and I know my girls are at home in their bodies and they're healthy and happy and smart. But... there are so many buts here. I guess I just expected them to figure out reading on their own by now.

Here are a couple shots from our holiday photo shoot. The girls realy wanted our dog, Toby, and our new puppy, Belle, to be a part of the photo. Taking a picture with 3 kids, a dog, and a puppy is difficult. We finally got a card quality shot. That one's not here :)