MY little goat

In the past few weeks, Sophia has been busy crawling around and we've learned that she likes to chew books. The other two kids didn't really do much of that so I had nothing to worry. However, once I started seeing corners of pages missing, I knew I was in trouble. The kids usually alert me to this and I run to drag the scraps of chewed up paper from her mouth. She is SO good at hiding them in between her gums too -- it's amazing. When I think I've gotten it all out, I'll see her chewing like a little goat, and that's my clue that she still has more in there. Even the tiniest little speck of paper, she'll be chewing for a long time. Sophia has lots of nick names around here....and the most recent is "little goat".

Reviving my Blog

Ever since summer started, I simply lost track of time and forgot about my blog. At one point, I decided to give up on it because keeping up with Facebook and the Blog was getting to be too much. I like jotting down thoughts and stories, especially about the kids that I decided to keep it going. So, here's a cheers to reviving my blog!

What's the latest with the family?

* John started teaching again at MSU today! 3 classes from 10-4 p.m. with little breaks in between. (Let's hope he drinks lots of fluids and doesn't loose his voice with all that teaching)

* Sophia started crawling on her knees about 2 weeks ago.

* Sydney starts 1st grade the day after labor day and Caleb starts pre-school 2 days after her. We're feeling like an older family already.

* Vivien is busy planning Sophia's 1st birthday / halloween party already....thinking of some fun family costume ideas. As a family, we're going to all 5 dress up this year.

I'll have to write some other things in a separate blog item. More to come....

Expecting dead birds

On Saturday, we decided to do some long-awaited spring cleaning around the house. One of the big tasks on our list was to wash and clean all windows including the screens. That job alone took up half the day while watching all three kids in between. It's such a nice feeling to have the job crossed off our list and to feel like the house is cleaner. It really makes a difference to look out of our windows and see through it so clearly. Of course, it doesn't help to see so much cottonwood fluff flying around the neighborhood and sticking to the window screens when we open up the windows. The windows are so clean that I'm starting to prepare myself for birds flying into it, as they often happen around this time of the year. At least if I expect dead birds, then I'm not so disappointed when my windows get dirty again. Sigh.

We're no different than Adam and Eve

We rented the movie "Dumbo" from the library and the kids watched it for the first time Friday night. Along with that, they had popcorn, which they absolutely love. The only person in our family that doesn't really enjoy popcorn is John. We'll see if Sophia grows up to be a popcorn fan or not.

Anyway, the movie ended and the kids went to bed happy. There was some leftover popcorn in the bag and I threw it in the garbage bin.

The next morning, I saw my little boy with some crumbs on his face even before we started breakfast. I asked him what he was eating. Apparently, he found the popcorn bag in the trash can and decided to eat some. He said that Sydney ate some too. Sydney immediately in defense said "well, he leaded me to eat it". John responded in laughter by saying "boy....this is sounding all too familiar".

We're not too far off from Adam and Eve, are we?!

Catch Phrase

Have you heard of the game called "Catch Phrase" ? It's a game where there's usually two teams of people competing and there is a word that you need to have your team guess by giving them clues so that you can pass the game device (its' like a mini computer) to the next person before the buzzer (timer) goes off. Whoever is caught holding the device looses and the other team gets a point. Since Sydney can now read, we were both playing it by ourselves -- couple of days ago. On one of my turns, my word was "Grape Soda". So, I started giving clues to Sydney by saying...

"it's a purple round fruit and it comes in bunches".... and Sydney said "Grapes". Then I continued to try and get her to guess the word "soda".... so I said "it's a drink that has lots of bubbles and fizz in it and very sweet and mommy doesn't usually like you to drink much of this".... and Sydney immediately shouted out " Carbonated drink ".

My jaw just dropped..... wondering how on earth she knew what a carbonated drink was. Of course, I quickly went on to say, "yes...but another word for it is ? "..... she couldn't guess.... So I ended up telling her the answer was Soda. She was disappointed for not knowing the correct answer but I tried to cheer her up and encourage her that I was so proud that she knew the word "carbonated" AND that was a better word than Soda. I don't think she was impressed like I was.

Spring Break

So much happens in the Macdonald family from day to day that it seems like this is getting harder to keep this blog updated. It's April? Where did January, February and March go? I try to "live in the moment" and "savor each day as they come" but it sure is hard to do with three kids. That said, Praise God for every new day that comes and the opportunity to start over.

Sydney had Spring break last week so I scheduled a couple of fun things for the family to do. She also came home with a project from school, to be done over Spring break. Apparently, her teacher has been reading them a chapter book in class each day and they finished a book called "Flat Stanley". Each kid brought home a picture of Stanley to color, cut out and decorate and they are to take Stanley with them everywhere they go on their break and then write about what they did.

Monday: We took Stanley outside in the evening and did yard work as a family. Stanley was happy to sit on a rock while we weeded.

Tuesday: The kids had gymnastics class but Stanley was sadly left behind at home

Wednesday: Elisabeth came over for the day and had a sleepover. Sydney made Stanley some pajamas and he slept with the girls.

Thursday: Impressions 5 is a wonderful Children's Science Museum in Lansing. Mommy took the kids to visit the Museum and they had a lot of fun discovering fun things there. Their favorite was the Bubble Room and moving magnets with an electric machine.

Friday & Saturday: As a family, we went to Zehnders Splash Village in Frankenmuth, MI. The kids really loved this water park...so much so, that Sydney wants to come back here for her birthday! Flat Stanley was happy to stay in the backpack so that he didn't get wet!

This was a full, busy and fun-filled Spring break.

4 month old Sophia

What is Sophia up to these days?

* well, she's been rolling over this week - that's fun to watch. She doesn't like being on her tummy, so she has motivation to roll onto her back. But not vice versa.

* started on some baby rice cereal, but not too thrilled about it yet.

* enjoys sitting in her bumbo seat and watching everyone around her.

* if you put a rattle in her hand, she loves to shake it and tries to put it in her mouth, every time.

* Caleb and Sydney have been taking turns playing "peek-a-boo" with her and love to make her laugh over and over again.

* Sophia has gone for walks in her stroller (for the first time) this week. Temperatures have been in the 60s all week, so Caleb has enjoyed going to the parks with her.

* If the TV is on while she is drinking milk, she will turn her head towards the TV. She's probably wondering what's so interesting that everyone else is starring at.

* At dinner time, she has to be in a bouncer right by the table or be held, otherwise she'll start to complain. She wants to be with us!

* She's already starting to hold her bottle by herself. Good, strong grip!

* Enjoyed sitting in the baby swing at the neighbor's play center this week.

Piano lessons & Tumbling

Sydney has already had a one month of piano lessons with her music teacher from school and she is doing very well ! Ms. Nielsen gives her private lessons every Wednesdays after school and says that Sydney is very musical and has great finger movements on the piano. A few months ago, I was told that Sydney might be a little too young for piano lessons but Ms. Nielsen thinks that Sydney is very ready and keen on learning. She will ask me if she can practice the piano almost everyday but she doesn't like to practice the difficult pages. I can relate to that. We are so proud of her. Now, Caleb asks if he can practice the piano as well. I love the way the "positive" things rub off on him as well.

Caleb is doing tumbling / beginners gymnastics at Twistars in DeWitt. He loves it...and he's always bouncing around and asking me to look at him doing all his fun flips and kicks. His favorite is the trampoline and doing donkey kicks. I hope to enroll him in kids soccer this summer because I think he'll enjoy that too.

I wonder what Sophia will be interested in.

Sunday school humor

After church, we came home for lunch as usual. I often like to find out what the kids learned or did in class. Sydney had a lot to say about her lesson....she even went as far as saying that Abraham lived in a city called "Ur".

On the other hand, Caleb learned about Daniel in the lion's den but he wasn't interested in talking about his class. Mommy still decided to ask questions and the conversation went like this:

Mommy: Caleb, did you make a lion puppet today?

Caleb: **silence** (but nodding "yes")

Mommy: Who was in the lion's den ?

Caleb: Noah

Mommy: Noah? Noooo.....

Daddy: "Was it David in the Lion's Den?"

Caleb: Nah....

Mommy: Caleb, who was in the lion's den?

Caleb: ** still no answer**

Sydney: (she always has to try and say something on behalf of little brother) It's Daniel !

Mommy: Caleb....why was Daniel in the lion's den?

Caleb: Uhm....because Daniel liked the lion's den.

** rest of the family laughing... **

Mommy: Did Daniel pray to God when he was in the lion's den? What did God do?

Caleb: God spanked the lions.

** Daddy, Mommy and Sydney burst out laughing **

Needless to say, I stopped asking questions after that. Looks like Caleb's learning a lot!

Fighting over the broom

I don't think it's too early to start a 5 and a 3 year old on chores around the house, right?! After dinner, John usually does the dishes and Mommy ends up on the couch feeding the baby. Somehow, we came up with the idea that Sydney and Caleb can help clean up as well. There's usually food crumbs that surround their chairs so we've asked Sydney to use the big broom to sweep the crumbs into piles and Caleb takes the small broom and sweeps them up. They usually fight over who gets to do what and both seem eager to clean up. Caleb has to learn to stop running to the trash can with the little dustpan as he often drops everything he cleans up. Sydney has to learn to stop giving so many directions to little brother, who's only concerned about sweeping a little here and there and running to empty it out. Mommy has to learn to be patient as she steps onto little crumbs that have fallen all over the kitchen floor because she's got to do the job all over again with a vacuum cleaner instead. If only the excitement about cleaning kitchen floors could last till they become teens!