Red

New Fish is interested in her colors so we are doing a series of color pieces to help her learn them. Just like I did with Red Fish a couple years ago. It's fun. Yesterday, they did collages with my sil "Lee lee" and today Red Fish did a mixed media creation.

Red Fish- felt, sequins, popsicle sticks, foam, pompoms, feathers and pipe cleaners.

NNew Fish- felt, sequins, popsicle sticks, foam, pompoms, feathers and pipe cleaners.

eRed Fish- markers, crayons, foam stickers, junk mail, paper, and paint.
The only problem with doing a red piece is that when my child got a paper cut and started bleeding, I thought it was marker!

On Thursdays

On thursday nights, my girls think they are cub scouts. Tonight we cooked playdough and made dinosaurs with mountains, canyons and rivers.

Random Pic

Little playgroup at the dinosaur museum last week.

Disaster

It's so fun seeing the drawings Red Fish has been doing the past couple of weeks. They are completely different than what she was drawing before. Most of the time, I love doing art with my kids and I love watching them do it on their own.

And then... there are the days I hate it. Today's art project was a complete disaster. These are New Fish's feet. Just imagine what the rest of the room looked like.

Bitty Skier

Today was Red Fish's first time skiing. Her tiny rented skiis were ridiculously adorable. They didn't even look real. We got her a little helmet (that will fit her next year as well) and a little harness and goggles. It was so much fun. She did great. She loved "the ride" otherwise known as the ski lift. She made a great wedge thanks to her edgie wedgie and she was even starting to make turns on her own. She made 12 runs down the bunny hill and would have done more but she fell asleep standing up in line and needed to go home for a good nap.

Red Fish was especially excited about my brother and his wife skiing with her. She's so lucky to have so many fun aunts and uncles to make her feel loved. It means a lot to me that our family members take so much time to do stuff with my kids.
This was the cutest picture of the day. My Dad came to Red Fish's swimming lesson this morning to watch her and then skied with her and took her home. It made Red Fish feel really special. She has been waiting to go with her Pop pops for awhile and after we got home she kept telling me she went on a special pop pops date today.

My tiny skier

First time up the ski lift.

"Doo & M.E" with Red Fish the skier.

Trying on her helmet last night. She was so excited she wanted to sleep in it.

Little sister is pretty jealous so Two Fish took her on a little daddy daughter date today and they got ice cream. It won't be long before she is out on the slopes beside her sister!

Left My Baby At Church

I put New Fish in the nursery during church today. It's a few weeks early but it's time. She WILL NOT go to Sunday school with me. She screams the second we step in the room and won't stop until I exit and she knows exactly what she is doing. I stayed with her in the nursery for the first hour but she didn't seem to really care that I was there so I left and went to relief society. She did great! Hopefully this transition will be trauma free! It makes me a little sad and nervous to leave her but hopefully my adjustment will go as well as hers seems to be going.

Bitty Art

Red Fish fell asleep early tonight and New Fish got into some of the collage stuff and a piece of contact paper I had taped to the table yesterday. It was so funny to watch how hard she was concentrating on her little creation. For the first part she was holding a closed bottle of glue and pretending to glue each piece on. It's fun to watch New Fish starting to love art already. I didn't start doing this many art activities with Red Fish until she was about 18 months so it's crazy to watch New Fish get so into it at an even younger age.

What Do You Want To Be?

Tonight while playing "blanket baseball" - a game of catch with Red Fish's blanket- I asked Red Fish some questions.
Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: A Mommy and drive a train. A purple train.
Q: What should Adalyn do when she grows up?
A: Maybe drive a train like me!
Q: What do you think Mommy does for work?
A: I think she drives train and plays baseball.
Q:What does Daddy do?
A: He drive car and sometimes he takes me and baby.

Then she sang me Rock a bye baby.

Rock rock bye bye baby in treetop. Wind blows and you fall and baby wants daddy. Big wolf comes and huffs and puffs and Blows baby down. Help says my baby and [Red Fish] comes save her.

Hmmm... not quite the words I remember.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

By Amy Chua

In case you have been living on another planet lately and have missed the controversy surrounding this book and the author's ideas you must read this article. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111504576059713528698754.html

I also enjoyed Steven Colbert's interview with Chua:
http://tv.gawker.com/#!5743483/tiger-mother-amy-chua-defends-herself-to-stephen-colbert

The book is much the same. Maddening and fascinating. There is a lot of preaching about the "Chinese way" and the "Western way." Chua does have a dry sense of humor and she does poke fun at herself and point out her faults in a way that is somewhat endearing and partly irritating. There are parts of this book that made me laugh outloud, mostly at some of her over the top "tiger mother" ways. A few things were downright hysterical. I don't think she really knew where she wanted the book to go and it kind of just stops- perhaps because she isn't through parenting yet. I always appreciate a book that makes me reflect on my own parenting values and makes me think about where I want to go from here. If there is one thing I learned from this book, it's that I yell too much and that's not who I want to be.

I would be fascinated to know what my fellow mothers out there think about all this hubbub and also - when/what do you think the best way to introduce music to your children is?

More

More snuggling.

More Collages.

The foam heart collaged Valentines from the last month were so popular with the girls (they made about 40 of them) that I cut out Easter eggs and shamrocks for them to start working on. New Fish is all about the foam stickers and Red Fish likes gluing things on and coloring. Usually it doesn't get this messy but today was a bit out of control.
New Fish wants to finger paint everytime Red Fish leaves for school. I think there is going to be a lot of painting in the tub for the rest of the winter.

Monsters

Monsters made from modeling clay and googly eyes ala filthwizardry.com Fun playmates for the girls tonight. It's like Mr. potato head but with more possibilities. I like that the modeling clay never dries out.

Precious Bane by Mary Webb

A story of superstition and harmony in the natural world set in the countryside near the Welsh border. The female protaginist, Prudence Sarn, is plagued with a hare lip and whispered accusations of witchcraft. Her desperation for love and acceptance are sharply contrasted by her ambitious brother and his unrelenting drive for wealth. There are some great descriptions of nature in here and Webb is a talented writer. It is beautifully written but completely morose and a tad boring. The religious allegory gets kind of lost in the dark and twisted plot. I didn't feel very invested in the characters or in their relationships. It is written in the local dialect of Shropshire in the early 1800's and it isn't difficult to read but did get on my nerves after awhile. Perhaps it was my mood but the story just didn't quite live up to my expectations. I'm kind of shocked by the majority of online reviews which seem to disagree with me.

Art of Late

Yesterday we broke out the stamps and liquid watercolor stamppads. For some reason these are the only stamp pads (that are nontoxic and washable) that we can get to work for us. We've tried several brands of inked pads and they are only good for one use most of the time. Plus the ink is usually hard to get off the kids hands and faces. This was New Fish's first time using stamps and she did pretty well. It took her a little while to figure it out but then she went crazy.

Red Fish

New Fish

Lately, we've been doing most of our painting in my shower or in the tub. It's so much easier to clean up. I'm looking forward to warmer weather so we can move back inside. Trying to keep my house clean is starting to bum me out.There has also been a lot of body painting. We have a couple of different brands of tub paint (colored soap) but the girls have really been loving these Avon rollers.

Sweet and Annoying

Lately every morning Red Fish zips into see New Fish before we can stop her. I keep trying to tell Red Fish to stop waking her little sister up in the morning and she keeps telling me: "I need my baby up. I miss her too much." That's sweet... but I need the baby to sleep! New Fish is getting cranky! Good thing they love each other so much.

Little Valentines

We decided to celebrate Love day today because Two Fish is home. I bought the girls teddy bears and roses last year after Valentines (on clearance for $1.50 total- love it.) They are particularly thrilled with the flowers and have been carrying them around all day.
We decided to do dinner for our family Valentines party this year. Last year we did breakfast. Red Fish kept singing Happy Birthday and decided that she and New Fish needed fancy outfits. Any excuse to dress up right? Also Red Fish said the blessing completely by herself tonight with no whispered hints. She kept stopping to remind everyone to keep their eyes closed. It was too cute.

I'm so grateful for my little valentines! And don't worry- I haven't forgotten about my main Valentine, Two Fish.

Sick Week

This week the girls caught a particularly nasty chest cold. We had to stay home all week. It was a bit rough because we were stuck in the house all week and couldn't do any of our normally scheduled activities and Red Fish had to miss school. I don't think I realized how attached we were to our schedule. There was extra cheering when Daddy got home every day.

We wore matching tights. Yes, they got their incredible fashion sense from me. We also played an incredible amount of dress up this week. The girls have been bedazzled every day.

We spent a lot of time on the couch. The couch also got covered in mysterious splatter marks. I'm still not sure which child did it but I'm pretty sure it involved a lot of milk. I will be cleaning my couches again and I'm seriously considering making covers that can be washed frequently.
New Fish spent a lot of time climbing on the counters and the kitchen table. She is becoming quite the mischief maker.
This is New Fish's new baby. Mimi gave it to her a couple of weeks ago and they have been seriously attached ever since. New Fish has to sleep with her baby, eat, etc. I have had to convince her several times that baby can't go in the bath tub.
New Fish has spent a lot of time teaching her baby to dance. It's pretty hilarious to watch. There is a lot of twirling involved.

80

Have I Mentioned Lately How Much I Love My Husband?

A Friday night spent building with blocks, doing puzzles and playing dress up! My husband is so great to let the girls dress him. (I fully encouraged them.)

Having two girls has been good for him. I'm pretty sure that two years ago he would have freaked if someone tried to put a boa and a sequined crown on him.

Plus- how can you resist these little faces?

Printing The Blog

Who has gotten their blog printed into a book or backed it up someplace? Which service is best?

The Mommy Payoffs

Just before Two Fish came in to take this picture, New Fish grabbed my face in both hands and gave me about 10 giant kisses. There is nothing better than having a sweet child let you rock them and hold them. That moment when their little body melts into yours and you can just smell their sweet baby hair and feel their heartbeat. It's my favorite. New Fish doesn't let me rock her (or hold her very closely) very often but I've gotten to twice this week for long periods of time. She must sense I need some snuggles this week.

Tonight for cub scouts we were talking about tall tales and the boys were illustrating a folktale for a little presentation to the den. Red Fish was watching them very closely and told me "they draw boys so I draw girl." It is her first drawing of a person and I think she did a fabulous job! Red Fish pointed out all of her body parts to me- head, eyes, nose, mouth, hair, tummy, arms and three legs.

We finally made it in for Red Fish's well check today and she is 38" tall (80th percentile) and 37 lbs. (90th percentile.) The doctor thinks she is going to be 5'9". We have yet another referral for a specialist (sigh) but the pediatrician echoed my thinking that Red Fish might not have apraxia in the traditional sense. Maybe this new specialist will give us a diagnosis that our insurance might actually pay for!!! Overall, Red Fish is doing very well and she is very healthy.

It's Starting Again

Today I went to the bathroom (for seriously less than a minute) and the entire time I could hear tiny feet running across the wood floor as fast as they can go. I called out for New Fish but no answer. When I came out I found an incredible mess. While I was distracted, New Fish managed to open the fridge, get herself some yogurt, open the yogurt, climb on top of the kitch table and finger paint the whole table and herself. She also had a glue stick. She was happily sucking the yogurt off her fingers and looked mighty pleased with herself. Heaven help me! Was Red Fish this little when the monkey business started?

Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

By David Sheff

A grueling and heartbreaking read. I think it is fair to say that just about everyone I know has had a drug addict in their life in some capacity. We are all affected by this insane siege of evil that seems to be destroying families everywhere. I admire Sheff's candid writing and found his journey riveting and disturbing. It is agonizing to go through each triumph and each relapse in the book. It tears at your heart. His denial, his guilt and his struggle to believe in hope is hard to read. Sheff battles his own demons as he tried to save his son and comes to understand and accept the disease of addiction.

The story is a little too long and after awhile I just wanted to stop reading about another relapse but I guess that just adds to the poignancy of the story. That is the journey that the loved one of an addict often has to take, over and over. I kind of want to read his son Nick's book about the same journey but I'm not sure I can handle the details.

Wax Melts

We've jumped on the bandwagon and made crayon shaving hearts. Red Fish liked seeing the crayons melt after I ironed them but she quickly lost interest so we only made two. They are pretty but I'm not sure Red Fish was impressed enough to make all of the pencil sharpener work worth it.

Kimono Baby

Taken before church on Sunday

Reviews

Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture

By Ariel Levy

I loved the first chapter about the rise of raunch culture and the decline of the women's liberation movement. Women have become equal opportunity chauvinists. It's as if someone said we couldn't be seen as equals of men so we decided to become "one of the guys." Women can objectify other women just as well as other men. Women wear accessoires emblazoned with playboy bunny logo. Porn stars like Jenna Jameson and Paris Hilton are idolized. Girls Gone Wild has become an empire built on women desperate for attention. These are not the self confident, powerful free individuals that the women's liberation movement fought for. It's an important topic for women to address and I feel like it is especially important because I am raising two daughters. The pervading raunch culture is not what I want for them.

I loved the comparison of chubby Jay Leno wearing a suit everynight on the Tonight Show, but when Katie Couric (One of the highest paid people on tv) guest hosted she had to cut a hole in the desk to show her legs and wear a low cut dress. If a celebrity with that kind of status cannot be seen for as a witty host without pimping herself out, how are women supposed to be taken seriously?

Now that we are "in on it" and can objectify women as efficiently as the neanderthol men we once fought against- have we really risen to a new level? I have to say, I think we have taken a dramatic step backwards. I'm not a traditional feminist, I wouldn't have voted for the ERA and I felt a little dizzy and ill when I went to see the Vagina monologues in London ten years ago. The hardcore girl power isn't exactly what I'm going for. However, even though I am a stay at home mom (by choice!) I don't fit into the fifties extreme. I most definitely agree with total freedom for women and equality (although in my mind this does not mean the sexes are exactly the same.) I'm sure somewhere a hardcore feminist is screaming at my definition of equality.

I have been known to defend myself as not a "true girly girl." I don't like chick flicks and I'm not afraid of getting dirty hiking and camping. Why I feel the need to defend my status as "less of a girl or not a wuss like some girls is a reflection of the status I see women as having. It has been interesting to think about my own actions and how they reflect my view of women.

This is a rather jumbled review because my thoughts on this topic are as varied as they are passionate. The book was witty and well written. There are a few chapters that were a little too much for me. I actually skipped after reading the first few pages. There is some foul language in some of the quotes. I found it really interesting though and would love to discuss the book with anyone else who has read it.

Black Comedy

Our play this month was funny but kind of on the stupid side. I liked the main convention used. For the first 5 minutes of the play the lights are completely out. When the power in the play goes out the lights turn on and the players spend the rest of the time stumbling about like they can't see. It was silly simple comedy.