Naked Butts

After letting the naked kids run and jump rampant on my bed JUST before getting them ready for bed backfired and I had 3 wired kids to calm down.......I was getting August into his jammies and yelling at er I mean respectfully and calmly asking Sawyer to "get his butt over here and pee before bed" Yelled back at me was "You want my butt, ok, here comes my butt, I'm taking my butt off, it's coming at you now, my butt's on it's way" Of course all 3 kids were busting their sides at this one.....I expect idioms are going to go over well with this kid.......

Playing War

We went to a pumpkin carving party today. The kids, 8 boys from 3 to 7, had fun, except when all the kids began playing "war" and August came to me because 1. he didn't know how to play 2. he didn't have a toy gun and 3. I think he felt uncomfortable with it. These were 7 year olds. Hmmm, don't know what to think about this.....

Pink Socks and Knitting

My kids wear pink and flowery socks.....and that's ok. So far. They love the colors and fight over who gets to wear which ones....and that's ok. So Far. August expressed an interest in knitting (There must be some developmental stage where kids want to figure out how our every day things are made) this is after we "weaved" with grasses all week.....So I take him to the local Village Yarn Shoppe and the store owner recommends the best needles and shows us the sale yarn.....He chose a funky red-yellow-orange - yellow - green -yellow morphing yarn. He is thrilled. And knitting is hard for 7 year old fingers. And his concentration tongue is sooooooooooooooo cute.... I`m so glad my son thinks it`s ok to knit. If he went to school he may get it figured out for him that it`s a `girl` thing, like figuring out PINK clothes are for girls - I was really sad the day August pointed to the aisle of girl clothes and said ``**Those*** clothes are for girls....` Of course all the bright and colorful clothes are there. Boys clothes, for the most part are pretty dull and drab. Sawyer is stuck right now. His favourite shirt is a pink beaded flowery shirt an older female friend gave him. He wants to wear it. He loves it. Yet he feels somehow he`s not supposed to. Once he showed me he was wearing it under another shirt.....
The best thing about some of the blogs I follow is the pictures of other kids....SouleMama`s son has long hair and was wearing a funky hat.....my kids can see other kids are like them....

Photos of Tshirts and Pillowcases

Sawyer drawing his rainbow















Holdy choosing crayons for his hands....

ironing the "transfer"

Peeling the transfer and it worked!!

Look at my hands!

Poop Vac

Remote control poop vaccuum. Yup, someone's baby had an accident during swimming lessons today and we were all told to get out of the pool Let me tell you, watching the cleaner guy vacuum poop with a remote control vac was WAY more fun....

I read on a blog somewhere, wish I remember which one, about a cool activity - a blog linked from "unplugyourkids". So after swimming today I bought some sandpaper, 100 grit, and brought it home. The kids made pictures on them with crayons. Then we turned them over on t-shirts and pillowcases and ironed them. COOL!!! A transfer. They loved it! And if you color in the same place again it's reusable......August went outside and colored a maple tree that's beside our deck, Sawyer did a rainbow then balloons and Holdy wanted to do his hands so we traced them and I colored them in for him.....what an EASY awesome activity!

Sawyer, "Mummy we're doing lots of things, why?"

Overheard Sawyer on the phone to a 30 year old friend "so, what do you want to talk about?"
This was after he played 2 songs on the piano for her "old macdonald" and "twinkle, twinkle" (he's had like 5 lessons) and the three boys all sang "Moose Song" on three different phones with her....and he waited to call her back after she went to help a friend who ran out of gas......Can you say 5 year old ladykiller?

Tide is High....

So we head down to the beach again yesterday to cut grass to weave. We noticed the high water, but assumed that was it. You would never have known I grew up there......so we go down to the low water line. It's quite a hike thru a bunch of dried up river beds.......and then over some grass flats to the beach....We cut a bunch of grass, collect sticks to make a frame, goof around, see a seal swimming out the mouth of the river (there *must* be salmon going up the river) and make our way back across the grass flats and ..... the tide is up and I have to carry the boys across the first wet spot, laughing and giggling about what a geek mummy is. And "good thing mummy wore boots today!" and "when we can see the moon we should know the water is coming" and me "when I was little we would see our cat swimming across here when she got stuck..." Then we get to the completely flooded dried up riverbed that is over my boots!!!! I watch the water and figure it is slack tide so we sat down to weave as I did as a child. August picks the technique up right away and loves it. (He is now on his 3rd mat.) And the water keeps coming up. I decide that we better get across now before it gets any higher and we're stranded for hours......and this mummy, who hates being cold, takes off her boots and socks, hikes up her pants and wades across the river, carrying her boys and all our stuff. It is soooooooo cold it hurts......Like I said, you'd never know I grew up there. We LIVED for high tide. The tide coming up over the warmed by summer sun mudflats, up the river for a deep warm swim....I knew how to read tide tables young! On the drive home August told me that rule number one is to remember the mobile phone so we can phone daddy. Who had the piano in pieces when we got home......

Today we went to a different beach and watched how fast the tide comes in - the power!

Salmon, beaches and leaves....

Robin at OurBigEarth.com gave me the idea to check out the salmon starting to come up the rivers around the Comox Valley, the beautiful place we call home. Why not the river where I grew up? The river about oh 5 kms from where I live now. The home of my childhood. The home of all my memories and dreams. The smell of childhood. I got out of the car at the end of a cul de sac where I rode bikes FOR HOURS as a child. It did seem like a steep long hill. It's a street with about 5 houses along each side. We walked down the trail, which is totally different, someone bulldozed the embankment - we used to have to balance down a slippery log. The smell though, it was familiar, it made my heart and stomach ache for the innocence of childhood. The days when all you had to think about was what to do next? When such a huge pallette was open to the young mind full of nothing but curiousity and brilliance. I ached for the child I was and the person I became and the person I want to be for my kids. I watched them run ahead with eagerness to see what was next. I gazed around at the overgrown riverbeds that have changed so much in 30 years since I played there. I have tears in my eyes now. I had no idea then my mother was an alcoholic. A functioning medical doctor alcoholic. I had no idea my dad - gosh I have no label for him, he was a product of his misguided parents. I had no idea school and misquided parenting was going to ruin any innate intelligence I may have had, the search for praise, awards and 'A's would sap the curiousity and love of learning from me, that I would be able to memorize and regurgitate anything but not truly enjoy it, that I wouldn't realize I wasn't the brilliant daughter of doctors that everyone thought I was until Professors at university truly challenged me to think and learn and I couldn't....I didn't know who I was or what I wanted....all this from a walk where the innocent me used to roam....My beautiful eager children running ahead of me, my little guy holding my hand, how I hope I can provide more for them, but I fear I can't I'm too damaged. Now I'm openly sobbing alone here in my chair. I wish I had the neverending patience of the beautiful unschoolers I read about. I wish I could always be there for my kids. Why do I ruin a perfect day with impatience at bedtime??? Why do I finally get frustrated and shout the 5th time I ask them to do something??? Wow, I was just going to write about the great time we had and all this came pouring out. I'll let the pictures tell tale of the rest of my day.....ending with my 3 year old stripping naked at bedtime to dance in the leaves, because you can only jump in the leaves naked you know. And then the big brothers crash at bedtime. Aren't they the best?