Andrew's First Play

Anyone who has met Andrew, knows how much he enjoys the limelight. How outgoing he is, what an incredible memory he has, and what a huge personality. So we decided to enroll him in an 8 week drama class this winter, thinking he would be in heaven. They were going to act out a different fairy tale each week and then at the last class, perform a compilation of parts of all the fairy tales. I couldn't imagine anything more perfect for my star performer.



I picked him up after the first class. He very matter of factly informed me that he would not be returning, that he had sat out of most of the games and that he missed me and he did not want to go to "make believe" school anymore. He told me that he kept asking his teacher when I was coming back. I was baffled. I spoke with his teachers at the next class and they were very sweet and told me that it was normal for 5 year olds to be shy, that he was well behaved and caused no problem, so there was no reason for me to be concerned. He just didn't want to perform. REALLY???? He didn't want to perform? He was shy? It came as a huge shock to me! I told them how outgoing Andrew is, how he performed for an audience from the stage at church when he was barely 3, how he participated in a talent contest in front of strangers when he was 2 singing the ABCs, how he memorizes long speeches and gives them at church in front of 50 kids and parents. Now it was their turn to be shocked. I am not sure they really believed that we were talking about the same kid.



When I got home and had time to think about it, I realized that Andrew had never gone to class without me present. I was there where he could still see me at soccer, gymnastics, and swimming. He knows lots of the grown-ups at church, and he knew the moms when we did preschool. This was really his first time being in a place where he knew no one. And he shut down. It took him 4 weeks of classes to feel secure. He still did not choose to participate every time, but eventually he was eager to go to class with his friends and he came home happy. His teachers both really liked him and he liked them. It was a great growing opportunity for Andrew (and me).



With that background, I wasn't sure what to expect at Tuesday's performance. But his whole family was there, so he got up there and said his part loud enough for everyone to hear and he was happy. Here is a video clip of his performance. And yes, that is Molly's voice in the background. And yes all of the kids got to choose their part and Andrew chose to be a troll. (All of the boys chose to be bad guys and the girls were all horses or princesses)!

The play was a cute mix up of several different fairy tales. We tried to condense it down to only show the parts that Andrew was in. We didn't think anyone who reads our blog would care about the rest.

Helpful Molly - 45 weeks

Molly is very helpful these days. She likes to help empty the laundry basket (while we fold it), she likes to help take out toys (as we clean up the playroom), and she likes to help unload the dishwasher (while we load it).

Truckin' Along - 44 Weeks

I realized this week that Molly doesn't really have any "girl" toys, other than a baby doll. Not that it is a problem, she has plenty of her brothers toys to choose from. She loves their trucks, balls, and trains. I spent many hours sitting in child development classes learning that kids should not be steered towards gender specific toys. But perhaps for her birthday we should find her a couple of girly toys so that she has some options. Not that she could enjoy herself anymore than she did with this dump truck. Maybe it comes in pink?

A New Olympic Event

I don't know about your house, but at our home getting my toddler ready for church on Sunday mornings is an athletic feat of Olympic proportions. It requires precise timing, endurance, preparation, and skill. I have even been known to work up a sweat, wrestling clothes or shoes on a two year old and then needed to change clothes myself.

I have always been a punctual person. But I am being stretched to the limit with Ry-guy. Chad has to be at the church by 6:30am, so I am on my own, (like most of you), to get the 3 kiddos ready. Being the control freak I am, I try and plan for all contingencies. I give baths, pack our church bag, and lay out Sunday clothes the night before. I get up a full hour before the kids and get myself completely ready. I have breakfast on the table for them before I go and wake them up. That leaves me a complete hour to get the three fed and dressed. In theory, it is plenty of time to do those two simple things. Andrew eats what is there and dresses himself with 30 minutes to spare. He just needs help with his hair and tying his shoes. Molly is only 10 months old, and allows me to get her dressed with no fussing. It is my dear, sweet INDEPENDENT 2 year old who makes the 1 hour time limit a challenge.

Ryan is really going through his "do it myself" phase, which I usually appreciate and want to encourage. You see, I want him to turn into a 5 year old who gets himself ready for church. But I struggle with patience for his independence when I have a time schedule. I HATE to be late. Letting a two year old do things himself and at the same time not allowing that 2 year old to get his way by tantruming takes TIME. Time I don't have on Sunday mornings. Take this morning for instance. I had cereal and fruit out on the table. Ryan did not want any cereal. So he had a meltdown. When he calmed down he decided he only wanted bananas and strawberries. I offered him the fruit that I had pre-sliced. But no, he wanted to get a plate out himself, get his own banana and his own "vewy big stwawbewwy" and cut them in very tiny pieces with a silver knife... not a blue one. Then he insisted on pouring milk on top, by himself, and then eating it with "not a spoon" which he had to get by himself.

After all of this we only had 20 minutes to get dressed (yes, for those of you doing the math, it did take 40 minutes to cut up fruit and eat it and throw 4 or 5 tantrums). The other 2 munchkins were ready, so surely this was plenty of time to throw on some pants, sweater, and shoes...right? No. Ry-guy "needed" to wear underwear and not a pull up. This was a non-negotiable point. He is not quite ready, and I didn't want to clean a pew in the middle of sacrament meeting. Next he "needed" to button his shirt himself. Which he can do, but it takes a LONG time. Then his brand new shoes that I bought a size too big were "too tight." He was finally dressed and I had miraculously not lost my cool. I looked at the clock and was excited to see that it was exactly 8am. I got us all out to the van, and on the road and to church on time. I was pretty excited and feeling pretty proud.

We sat down on our usual bench in the chapel. I looked over lovingly at my kids and I realized that Ryan had strawberries and dried banana all over his face. I had also not brushed either boys' hair. They both had huge cowlicks sticking up in the back.

Like Olympic sports, there is a lot of luck involved when you are trying to get anywhere with kids. An athlete's ski might break, the ice might be rough, the snow too powdery, it might rain. Andrew could have had a nosebleed, Molly a blow out, Ryan could have peed all over the playroom floor and his Sunday clothes while we were getting dressed, or I could have locked the keys in the van. (All reasons we have been late before on other Sundays). Even with all of my preparations, one little event could change the entire outcome and we would be rushing out the door, late for church.

So I think that if you are able to get your 2 year old to church on time, fed, dressed, milk mustache free, and with his hair brushed, you deserve an Olympic gold medal. I believe it is truly an almost impossible feat. One I am sure I have NEVER accomplished.

He works hard for the money

The men of the house worked on clearing up the branches that had fallen in our yard during the ice storm, carrying branches from the backyard to the road.

Ryan filled the wagon all by himself and insisted on pulling it himself.


Andrew kept pushing himself to pick up bigger and bigger branches.


I was really proud of their efforts. It was a big project they worked for close to 2 hours with their daddy.


On one of their trips up the driveway, I overheard Andrew's conversation with his dad from our kitchen window. "Um Dad. I am going to get a lot of moneys for this job. I am gonna get paid like a thousand." Ryan didn't want to be left out. "I will get 40 moneys."


We had not discussed the subject of payment, but apparently they had decided that this deserved a salary. Andrew started to receive a small allowance on his fifth birthday and also the opportunity to do "money chores". Some chores he does without payment, because he is part of our family. Then there are extra jobs he can choose to do and get paid extra for, like 10 pennies for scrubbing the baseboards. So one thousand was quite the jump for my little entrepreneur. At story time at the library this week, the librarian asked the kids how you get money. Andrew responded, "You have to work REALLY HARD to earn money. It is not easy." I guess he figured he had worked really hard all morning with daddy, so he deserved money....a lot of money. His reward was quite a bit shy of his first bid, but he was still happy to drop it in his bank with the rest of his coins and plot what he will buy with his hard earned money. Either a transformer, a star wars lego ship, or a super hero game.

The Train Park

I have a love/hate relationship with my kids' favorite park. I love it because it is fenced in, is sunny, has a pond where we feed turtles, a great picnic shelter, bathrooms that are opened year round, and a nice little walking trail. It is an easy place to talk to other moms, and still see all of your kids at once. But, alas, these are not the reasons why my kids love the park. No, they love it because it has a train. An actual train that comes by most afternoons. I would not take issue with said train, if it was punctual and appeared daily at a scheduled time, like trains are generally expected to run . I would love it if would actually appear after blowing its whistle and then chug on by at the speed of, well, a train. We could run back over and play on the playground. But no, this park is blessed to be located near a train cargo loading area. So most afternoons that we are at the park, we do get to hear that train whistle. My boys become very excited. They beg to run over to the fence from which they can see the train. We have to run quickly, because on some visits, the train speeds by before their little legs can reach the fence, and we have very sad kids. Some days, we run over very quickly and then wait for 30 - 45 minutes next to the fence while we can hear the train sitting still while it is being loaded, just out of sight, and then it never comes by the park. Then again, I have sad little kids. But what keeps my boys' faith alive, is that occasionally, that train comes forward and parks itself right in front of the park fence. And then that little engine just sits, and sits, and sits. Anyone with train obsessed munchkins knows that you cannot possibly leave before the caboose goes by, and sometimes this is 20 minutes or more. (delightful for my boys,me...not so much). There is also a really nice engineer, who is very aware of his little spectators. He blows the whistle and the horn repeatedly for his enthusiastic audience. Then there are no tears, only happy boys waving and shouting hello to the engineer, begging him to blow the whistle again. He happily obliges. (again, delightful for my boys, me...not so much). Luckily for them, Friday was one of those happy, tear free days. When I tucked them in that night Ryan said, "Tank you for taking me to the twain park. I love you, Mommy." So I guess we will have to go back again, to the park that I love (and hate).

10 Months Old

Molly is 10 months old! She is pulling up on furniture, scooting around, signing "more", and loves swinging in swings. She still loves to clap and still loves to sing. She also ate grits and eggs (yolk) for the first time to celebrate the 10 month milestone.