Scratch That

Sadly, there will be only one night of the cooking class for Mia. Ella and Diva signed up for the cooking class as well, and knowing how the three of those girls interact, I forewarned Mia that she had better behave. I explicitly told her that if at the end of the class I received a bad report from the teacher it would be her first and last class of the session. She asked that I reiterate this message to Ella and Diva when we saw them and I did - in front of the teacher. She was kind and sort of brushed it off and said she could handle it, that she'd "been a teacher." I don't think she knew what kind of mayhem they could unleash. Long story short, I did receive a bad report. The teacher also noticed, coincidentally, that Ella and Diva were only in 2nd grade and that you were supposed to be in 3rd, 4th or 5th grades to be in this class. She asked that Jess sign her girls up for the next session which would be for younger kids and refunded her money. She suggested that I give Mia next week to see if she would do better. I'm sure she would do better, but that is pretty much beside the point. I'm really disappointed and sad and Mia is as well. She has hardly said a word since we left the church and has cried several times. They made French crepes today and they looked really yummy. She said the class was a blast. The really sad part to me is that I am pretty sure this will not be the last time we have to try to learn this lesson. Poor little Mia is so sweet, but she just cannot make herself listen to instruction.

Mia Update

So, we are "home schooling." The only reason I put it in quotations is because we haven't really started quite yet. My books are rolling in. I now have a couple of English books, a science book and a history book. I'm still trying to decide on a math curriculum, but hopefully we'll have that figured out pretty soon too. I'm starting to try to get a grasp on what our days are going to look like when we start doing some work. I sent in my letter on intent to the district a while back, but have not yet gotten our official letter from them saying that they received it and approve and all that. So far we are enjoying our nice, leisurely mornings and our long early fall days.

Mia is taking piano, ballet and a science class. Her piano teacher is this great Russian woman named Anna who comes to our house during Lennon's nap and it's working out really well. The lesson is a half hour and she expects Mia to practice for 15 minutes every day. Mia is enjoying learning and doing really well. Anna says Mia will be playing some simple version of a classical tune by her summer recital. It's really fun hearing her practice and sing along with the words in her book.

Ballet is through a school called The Northeast Youth Ballet, the same school where Naomi has been taking classes through for a few years now. The usually do a really great Nutcracker, but this year don't have the funds for it. I was partly sad and partly relieved. We have loved going to see Naomi in this version because it is great and much cheaper than the Boston Ballet version. However, for Mia to be in it, it would have meant several night per week rehearsals for a tiny little part on top of a fee of something like $150 just for her to be in it. They are planning to do Cinderella in the spring instead this year. Mia is enjoying ballet, but really missing gymnastics too.

The science class is through the YMCA and I'm not sure how it's going to be yet. They've only met once and it seemed like it was mostly kids that were a lot younger than her, and all boys. I was peeking in at her class periodically between that and Lennon's swimming class and it looked like a pretty rowdy bunch. Mia seemed pretty quiet, but was laughing a lot at the rowdy boys. They did some experiments on mixing water with different kinds of liquids. Also in the science arena, on Tuesdays I am going to be taking Lennon and Bianca to gymnastics class and Claire is going to do something science-y with Mia and Mateus while we're gone.

I just remembered that I also just signed Mia up for a 5 week long cooking class through the church where I go to Mom to Mom. It sounds awesome. Each week they cook a dish from a different country and on the last week they put all the dishes together to serve to a class that meets at the church. The best part is it's only $15 for the whole thing.

It's amazing how busy our weeks are already. We're all having fun being together all the time. Shelby built us a nice new fire pit with some big stones from around the yard. It's much cooler than the metal hunk of junk we've been using. I actually built a couple fires in it too and did a pretty good job. The fall is fast approaching and we're all excited about all the fun activities to come.

Sunday... or What Seemed LIke It Would be a Hard Day, But Ended up Being Pretty Good

We had a fun filled day today and it would have been really great if Lennon had not been having one of his more challenging days. He was up late last night just finding excuse after excuse to get out of bed and then woke up a little earlier than usual this morning in a funk. We went to a special members only snow leopard event at the zoo this morning before heading out to Monkey Joe's for a birthday party. The kids had a blast running and bouncing and sliding the morning away. Then it was time for cake, and now that Lennon has discovered the world of birthday party cake, there is no stopping him from at least having a couple bites of the dreaded stuff. Luckily, he's not nearly as much of a sugar fiend as Mia has always been, but he is much more sensitive to it. He ended up taking a much too short nap and then we went out to The Victorian Fair in Melrose, a town over. We've become friends with the owner of a local coffee shop and she had a booth at the fair so we went out to see her and check out the fair. The strange thing was that we could not figure out why this was called The Victorian Fair. It seemed like a regular street fair to us. It was nice, but funny that they call it that.

As we were leaving Lennon was asking to do this ball toss game again that he and Mia had done when we first came in. As it became clear that that booth had already packed up Lennon asked me to pick him up so that he could tell me something.

"Mommy."

"Yes, Lennon."

"Mommy. I was almost going to be sad about that ball game, but then I stopped it."

In case you are not aware, Lennon has a bit of trouble controlling his temper, and this being a rather challenging day in general, this was a really huge mile stone for him. I was so proud of him for not only taking charge of his emotions, but also for recognizing that he had that power and utilizing it so well. We left the fair all smiles and had a great evening at home playing. Shelby and Lennon played in the living room while Mia practiced on the piano. Mia declared dinner another of her favorites, which is always nice to hear and the kids went to bed with little trouble.

Love and Marriage

While stopped at a red light Lennon noticed some wedding gowns in a store window next to us. Lennon: "Mommy, are those older grown up dresses?"

Me: "Yes."

Lennon: "Are you an older grown up?"

Me: "Yes."

Lennon: "Mommy. Maybe some day when you marry you can buy one of those dresses."

Me: "Lennon, I already got married. I'm married to Daddy."

Lennon: "But, Mommy! You have to fall in love!"

Me: "I did fall in love Lennon, and then I got married."

Lennon: (with disappointment) "But Mommy, I wanted to fall in love with you and marry you! ...Mommy, falling in love - is when you love somebody and you are standing on a piece of wood, and you both fall down."

Lost Kids

One of the favorite games of our back yard is called "Lost Kids." This morning, Mia, Miranda and Lennon have been outside playing "Lost Kids" for over an hour. Happily, they have only come in to request more blankets to spread on the hammock they have made out of a low bush. Shelby is out there playing his guitar, and reports that he has not been needed at all. I have been inside getting some much needed house work done. Mia has a piano teacher coming by the house for an interview this afternoon, so we had to dig the piano bench out from under the piles of books, papers, art projects and general junk that had piled up on it. Hopefully when piano lessons are under weigh the piano will be in use too much to serve as a seat for anything other than Mia's tiny little bum.

Papa's Recovery

Papa just had a knee replacement and we have been talking about his recovery progress a little bit with the kids each time we get a new update. Today in the car as we were discussing his pain level Lennon said "Phew. Glad that's not me! Because I don't like metal bones."

He's not the most sympathetic person there is, but he's honest.