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!

March is Reading Month

March is 'Reading Month' at Kindergarten and this year's theme is all about the ecosystems. Sydney's class theme is "Rainforests" and we helped decorate the hallways and classroom in that theme. I have to say that it was so much fun that it makes me want to go back to Kindergarten. One of my ideas for the class was to create a rainforest tree in the middle of the room and that be the reading corner:

I found some carpet rolls in our basement that we were able to make use in the class. We used a large carpet roll to form the trunk of a tree (with brown butcher paper crinkled up and covering it) and there was a large green carpet that was used for the base, where the kids can sit and read their books. Kids brought in various stuffed animals (monkeys, snakes, birds, frogs, etc) and put them around the tree and some dangling from the tree branches.

As soon as Sydney learned about the rainforest theme, she immediately said "Well, I've seen a rain forest in Malaysia". And she's right. She has had the wonderful experience of throwing bananas to the wild monkeys near my parents home and she has seen what the thick rain forests look like. I thought it was cute that she also thought my mom's backyard was a type of rainforest. There are a lot of banana trees and other trees that are foreign to her in that backyard.

Another lesson on "life's not fair". Sydney sometimes tells me of projects that the other kids in her class got to do while we were in Malaysia, and that sometimes she feels sad that she didn't get to do those projects. Once again, life's not fair, but not every kid gets to ride on an airplane and visit a foreign country and see a rainforest!

All because of Ginger cookies...

One day, Sydney whined about not wanting to go to school. She thinks that she's missing out on fun things while she's at school. I suppose, at times, Caleb has shared something FUN that he did while she was at school and that makes her feel left out. Well, this week, she used the words "not fair" because Caleb got to help me bake cookies for her school event. It doesn't matter whether she gets to eat just as many cookies as Caleb because she's still upset that Caleb got to make the cookies with me. And, oh......, it still didn't matter when I told her that Caleb only helped for 10 minutes and then took a 2 hour nap right before she got home from school.

Here's something I hope my kids learn.... and the sooner the better. Life isn't fair, and I have to say that over and over again. I'm sure glad my parents never treated us kids the same ALL the time.

A lesson on "Life isn't fair".........all because of ginger cookies. (and Mommy rolls her eyes)

Scientist of the Week

A few weeks ago, Sydney was the "Scientist of the Week" in her class. This means, she has to choose a simple science experiment from a book, practice it at home and then present it to the class. The other kids will observe and are encouraged to ask "I wonder why...." type questions. I think this a very fun and exciting project for kids.

When she was 3 years old, we did an experiment in our apartment that shows which items float and sink in water. Sydney remembered that and she immediately decided she wanted to present that same experiment to her class. We tweaked it a little by adding two other components to it:

1. She had a bowl of water and an orange. She asked the class whether they thought the orange would float or sink. Then she used a peeled orange and asked the same question. She learned the concept of "density" and how an orange skin peel contains a lot of air bubbles that causes an orange to float. However, a peeled orange is a lot denser than water and thus it sinks.

2. She poured soda water into a jar and then put some raisins into the jar. The raisins first sank, but after a few seconds, a few raisins floated up. The teacher asked her why the raisins came back up and she confidently answered "because the air bubbles from the drink attached itself to the raisins and that's what makes it float".

Sydney learns a lot from various Science experiments in the class and now she often asks questions by saying "I wonder why?"

The Circle of Life

As quickly as I typed the last blog entry, there was a sudden change in life's plan for our family. Little did I know that a single phone call later that night (Friday December 18th) would change my life. A very shocking and unexpected phone call came from home saying that my Dad had a stroke and was in the hospital with severe brain injury. It seemed like seconds after hearing those words on the phone, my world became a blurry mess.

We made flight bookings, packed our bags, got to Chicago to file Sophia's passport and flew out to Malaysia. The entire journey from beginning to end felt like one big nightmare and it came with so many roadblocks and challenges of its own. Somehow, by God's grace, we arrived in Malaysia on Christmas eve.

I will never forget the emotions I felt when I stepped into the hospital and never forget the sight of my Dad just laying there on the hospital bed - unconscious and on a breathing tube. I've never seen him so thin, unshaved for days, and just laying still. Words could not come out of me. Only tears. He had spent a beautiful 5 weeks with our family and now, only a week after returning home, this had happened. Unbelievable. Speechless.

Tired and fatigued, everything seemed like a fog to me. Long story short....5 hours after seeing him, he passed away on Christmas morning, slightly after midnight. I cannot even describe the emptiness I felt for days since that day. Christmas will never be the same for me. Christmas will always remind me of my Dad. Christmas day will be a reminder to so many people, of who my Dad was and all the wonderful memories we have of him.

People say that I just need to take one day at a time and let myself grieve and be patient. I feel that I can only take one step at a time. There are places in my home that are hard for me to go to, particularly the basement where my Dad slept and played with the kids a lot. Sometimes I smile to myself, thinking of how precious the time my Dad spent with us. Sometimes, I cannot help but feel sorrow and gloomy - where I don't even feel like talking to anyone. It's just strange. Never thought I would even be like this. The circle of life is interesting. We know that people are born into this world....people come and go from our lives. You anticipate that it's going to happen at some point, but when it does, you're never really prepared for it.

Life is precious. One minute we're here and the next minute, we're gone. We're like the grass of the field. I suppose, life has to go on. So much to be thankful for. So many memories to hold on to. So many lessons to be learned.

I hope my next blog article isn't too deep. I must keep blogging about the family as this will help us to move on. Thank you for all your prayers and support during the past month. The amount of cards and phone calls have been overwhelming and yet so filled with love. Thank you.

Family update

It's hard to believe but Sophia is already 7 weeks. She is such a good baby. She's already sleeping about 8 hours a night and some good naps in the day time. We've had the pleasure of receiving some cute smiles and cooing when we talk to her. She often feels uncomfortable in her stomach in the late evenings so we've had to give her some Mylicon to give relief. Sydney and Caleb continue to adore her and have enjoyed feeding her with a bottle.

This is Sydney's last week of school before the 2 week winter break. Today, she learned how to tie shoe laces for the first time and she's pretty proud of herself too. She got some new tennis shoes this week from Stride Rite and she wore them to school to show her friends. I'm so proud of her too because it took me awhile (I think I was in 2nd or 3rd grade) before I wore shoes with laces to school. It seems like she picked it up so quickly and she was eager to learn.

Caleb turns 3 on Saturday (19th). Hard to believe that my little boy is not a baby anymore. He's got a lot of energy these days. His attention span is pretty short, but he enjoys playing with his trains in the basement. He's also been potty training and improving each day. Last week (I think), he told me that he wanted to wear his Buzz Light underpants and said he did not want to pee in those. He kept his word at it too, which tells me he can now hold a few minutes before making it to the potty.

This is also John's last week of school. He has been grading the finals and is looking forward to the semester being done. He's had a full load of classes, and looks forward to having a small break. He doesn't have to teach in the Spring but will be very busy catching up on his research writing.

And for me.... well....what can I say. I'm a happy mom, but a tired mommy too. It seems like the minute I wake up, there's always something to do. It amazes me that there are always dishes to clean or put away, or laundry to fold and sorting through the mountain of papers and mail on my desk. Now that Sydney is in school, she comes home with paper and information that just sits on my desk until I have time to read it and sort through. I like to take a few minutes each day to look at Facebook or catch up on email - it's ME time, to relax a little.

Christmas is next week and the kids are more than excited to see what Santa will bring them. We are teaching the kids more about the meaning of Christmas this year, and that is helping us stay grateful as well. So much to be thankful for this year and so much to look forward to next year.

Sophia Ruth is finally here

Sophia Ruth Macdonald joined our family on October 29th at 2:18 p.m. weighing in at 6 lbs 13.6 oz. She has a head full of hair (like her other two siblings) and makes the cutest gurgles and squeaks. She comes with her own set of cute birthmarks that include a couple of stork marks on her nose. It makes me want to call her our little red-nose reindeer. "Sophia" means wisdom, and it was a name that Sydney first suggested several months ago. "Ruth" means Companion or Friend, and we chose it because it's John's Grandma's middle name as well as a biblical name. The pregnancy journey seemed short and long at different times, and it's hard to believe, but that journey has come to an end. Now we begin a new journey with her here in our arms. I only hope we can treasure each moment as it comes.

Adam and Eve

Caleb was working on a project in our art room and he was supposed to do a piece of coloring for Uncle Adam and Aunt Anne (John's sister). When I asked him if he was going to finish his art work, he said

"Yes, I want to make this for Uncle Adam and Eve."

Too funny. I guess it's just easy for Eve's name to follow right after Adam's.