Band of Brothers

As I've dropped and picked up the kiddos during these first days of school, I try to listen while they each simultaneously tell me all about their day.  I need a few more pairs of ears during some moments!  At some moments some are more talkative than others - but they usually warm up at some point on the drive or during the time we are preparing for dinner and want to share what game they learned in PE, the story they are reading aloud in class, or what they are doing at recess.

The conversation with Bryson Jr. happened while we were talking about recess & P.E. yesterday - while we were talking I found out that Jacob's class also has P.E. on Tuesday like Bryson, which is good to know so that appropriate shoes & clothing can be worn on those days.  However, more important than wearing the right shoes is what Bryson said after....

"Yeah, I didn't know that Jacob had P.E. on Tuesdays so I waited and waited to play with him at recess, but they didn't come out because they were still in P.E."

"That was nice of you to wait for Jacob - was this the first day you wanted to play with him?"

"No.  I play with him every recess.  Well, not lunch because we don't have the same lunch recess, but I play with him for morning & afternoon recess.  {pause}  It's more fun to play with Jacob."

I sat there quite surprised by this news that Bryson has just shared.  I wasn't necessarily surprised that Bryson admitted to enjoying playing with Jacob - I have seen them at home play with each other, and I know they have a great time.  It's also, I've seen them at home tease and get on each other's nerves in a major way.  What surprised me the most is that they were choosing to play with one another when not at home - when it's completely open to choice and there are dozens of others to play with.

As I've thought more about this, I can see that there is the personality of each child that factors in.  Jacob is more social in nature, whereas Bryson takes awhile to warm up to a group & on more than one occasion has come with a broken-heart when playing in a group to say that no one will play with him, or that they "don't get" how he wants to play.  This is why we prayed that Bryson would get accepted into this program that he tested into at the new school - it's a program for Accelerated Learners and our Bryson's brain is sharp & quick...but it tick-tocks in a different way than most of the children I've seen him play with.  He doesn't do as well in large groups, but he is a very extroverted child.  He loves to have interaction with others - he wants to tell you a joke, or a fact about something he read, and he really enjoys the physical play of sports and the typical playground games.  Although he is older than Jacob, I think he enjoyed the fact of knowing that his brother was at the same new school and that he could join in and play with Jacob - it's something that he knows, he is comfortable with.....and he enjoys it!

A few weeks ago in Sunday School we had our lesson on the Army of Helaman.  In talking about these amazing young men and all that they stood for, one mother pointed out that this is what we want from our children.  We want to teach them in our families and in our homes & we want them to go out and choose good because it's what they know is right.  She noticed that not always will our children be quick to obey in our own homes or make those choices that they have been taught (to play nicely with their sibling!) - however, she said that it makes her heart so incredibly happy when she hears from others that her children are choosing the right when outside the home - when they are at a friend's home, or at school, or on a trip with the youth, etc.  She said, "When it comes down to it - I'd rather have my children slip a little at home but go out in the world and make the best decisions, because that is where it really counts".

I have thought about what she shared, and then with this situation with Bryson & Jacob I realized of course I feel the same way!  I love when the boys (and Madeleine) all get along together at home.  The sound of them playing together in harmony is a heavenly sound!  However, knowing that they have found that their friendship is what can bring them together outside of our home - on the playground of a new school - that is heaven itself.

I'm so thankful for all the many reasons that it might have happened - that Bryson & Jacob have found out how to be friends and rely on one another in a situation that counted for at least one - but perhaps both of them - while they were away from my watchful eye.

As a closing - there is reality as well :)  Bryson Sr. told me the other night that while he and Bryson Jr. were running errands they were talking about our family & home and Bryson Sr. asked him if he was liking sharing his room with Jacob (we started getting Jacob's old room ready for the baby).  Bryson Jr.'s response was -

"Well Dad, I just don't think it's a good match."

Bryson Sr. asked him what he meant by that & Bryson Jr. went on, "Well, I mean I don't think Jacob and I are a good match.  He likes to have a light on when he goes to sleep & I like it dark."  He went on to give another example or two - which Bryson Sr. couldn't remember - but he said that Bryson had really though this out - why he and Jacob probably weren't the best bunk partners.

And yet, as we tell him, his is great practice for when you have a college roommate or missionary companions...and yes even in marriage when you have to work it out with the person you are sharing some space with.  You have to learn how to make it your match :)

These two boys will do just fine together in life - even in the moments when I hear them teasing, yelling at one another or are chasing each other to the point that the other fears for his life....I'll take heart in knowing that at they found their match on the playground.

That makes me one happy mom.

missing

The boys worked most of the day yesterday turning a rectangle piece of wood into Bryson's dream Pinewood Derby vehicle.  And what type of fast, sleek, and amazing vehicle did he choose?  The WINNEBAGO.  Oh yes he did & thinking more about it, what a perfect match-up that is!  Bryson's an all-in-one type of kiddo, he wants the biggest bang for the buck in what he does and what he gets....so I suppose an all in one vehicle makes absolute sense for that boy!

The exact Winnebago he has his eye on to paint wouldn't copy - so click HERE to check it out.  Bryson Sr. & I have no idea how to accomplish that paint job on the piece of wood!

The only problem is that today no luck on finding the Winnebago.  He thought he put it on his dresser - and after searching his room, the house - it's nowhere to be found.

Either we hope and pray we can find it within the next 24 hours....or a new Winnebago will have to be made.  Again.

Thankfully Bryson's version isn't as pricey as a real one....although finding another few hours this week to sand and work on the wood isn't exactly what we need.  Please, oh please, let's find that Winnebago! 

on my honor

 Little B got his new Cub Scout uniform today & he is SO excited to wear it to scouts tomorrow! We are lucky that he gets to start a few months early with scouting...and of course it involves a story - what part of our life doesn't have a story with it!

A family moved in across the street from us few weeks before we moved in. They are from Omaha and their son is in 3rd grade - a year older than Bryson. They aren't members of the church, and the mom was lamenting to me one day that it has been hard for her son to make friends. I asked her if she'd consider signing him up for scouts and she was very enthusiastic, but asked if Bryson was in a troop. I told her that he wouldn't start until 8 years old, but that maybe they would let him come along with her son just so he could feel easy in a new group.

I shouldn't have worried, as once the leader of scouts found out the situation, they invited Bryson to start at the same time and so he and his friend Christian are the newest Cub Scouts in our neighborhood troop!

They have had such a great time at the last 2 meetings & the best news...the Pinewood Derby is next week! Bryson is super excited about making a car with his dad and trying it out next week!

I thought it was so awesome how excited he was to put on his uniform - he asked me to be sure that the picture showed the wolf on his belt.

We are excited for the road we are on with scouting with Bryson and then Jacob. Let the fun, adventure, and honor of scouting begin!

better than the movies

You know when you watch a movie, and they show a scene where everything is so upside down and topsy-turvy and crazy that it's not really possible? Or, really it is possible - and you laugh knowing you could live out a scene like that at your house?

We had those scenes today - straight out of the best comedy ever, in fact better than the best comedy because it was real, and you can't script real life like this!

The day didn't start out very funny, in fact it was pathetic waking up feeling like your body was a piece of lead. Our throats hurt, nose was stuffy, head hurt and in all the kiddos colds from this week came crashing in all at once. The children were up and Madeleine had even gotten ready for church on her own....when Bryson and I realized we were so sick we couldn't get ourselves to church. I called our neighbors, and they were willing to have Madeleine go into church with them, and then she'd come home with another family that lives in the neighboring building. I tried to go back to bed, but the boys were anxiously engaged in battling things out and I stumbled out to the couch while Bryson Sr. slept for a few hours.

A little while after the boys had some breakfast (the mommy award this morning was letting everyone get their own cereal), Jacob was laying on the floor watching a show (okay that was the 2nd mommy award) and looked up at me telling me his head hurt. Then his tummy hurt. Suddenly he was dancing around and saying he needed to throw up - so we ran down to the bathroom and up came breakfast. I was blown away - no fever, he had been feeling better from his cold, but throughout the day everything came up from his little tummy and nothing was staying down.

The highlight to the sickness came during late afternoon, when we were trying to get dinner cooked, and still working on writing assignments for Madeleine & Bryson to be turned in tomorrow. Jacob started his dance around, he seriously dislikes going down the hallway to the bathroom alone (we don't have a large place, so I'm still not sure why he dislikes the hallway so much!), and suddenly he decided to run down the hallway which was the signal that this was serious! I heard the splatter of Gatorade hitting the floor and right after Bryson Sr. ran down the hallway and then I heard them both turning back towards the kitchen and that is when I saw a fountain shooting out of Jacob's mouth and then a few seconds later they were at the kitchen sink where I hoped there would be less clean-up than the previous two spots.

It turned out, that Jacob threw-up most of the liquid in the hallway and then when Bryson scooped him up, there was a 2nd surge that came up and that was what came pouring out and hit the wall and went all over the kitchen floor. It was the craziest 2 minutes we've had in our house in a long time....and of course the clean-up was about 100 times as long!

After that was cleaned up, dinner was eaten and we were moving onto the next phase of the night - Bryson Jr. came up to me and told me he wanted to act out a funny joke he had seen on America's Funniest Home Videos. He had a rubber band in hand, and was going to jimmy rig the water sprayer attached to the kitchen sink to try and trick Bryson Sr. I told him this might not be the night to play this joke - we'd already had a lot of cleaning up to do, and another time would be better to laugh at this joke. I didn't stay the course to find out what he was doing, as I was finishing up editing Madeleine's writing. However, I figured out about 20 minutes later what Bryson Jr. had ended up deciding to do ---- I went in to the kitchen and needed to rinse something off when I turned on the water and a different kind of fountain than before came shooting out of the kitchen sprayer, right past me, and onto the fridge where all my papers were completely soaked! I turned off the water and started to laugh - turning to Bryson Jr. who had come running into the kitchen when he heard my cry of surprise. He was laughing, and it helped me to remember to laugh through the moment...because it really was funny, and thankfully I didn't get wet....my papers were soaked but thankfully there was nothing super important.

We went on to wrap-up the night, and I popped into the kitchen to get Jacob a drink of water after another throw-up incident, when I turned on the water and got a shot of water right on my arm! That little turkey had rigged the water sprayer up again - AND I fell for it again!

In a way it was nice to find the comic relief in the situations of today - having most of us sick, and stuck inside a tiny apartment had some moments of disaster. However, when looking at the big picture I realized that there are my 'I Love Lucy' episodes on a daily basis, and it really is so much better to laugh about things than cry, or pout, or whine, or get upset. Still learning on this - but hopefully it's an uphill progression in learning :)

as luck would have it...

Today I took the time off of life to spend time with the middle child - little B, Bugaboo, Bryson Jr. He needed a Mommy & Me date, and I had a Groupon that expired today. After an explosion last night with this temper (which shall be recounted later in a dramatic story telling....), I realized this child needed some one-on-one attention.

I told him that the two of us would head out to the NY Hall of Science and let him explore and discover. Oh his excitement was what I had hoped for! Instant smiles, a huge hug and the excitement that this was going to be his day!

After my Visiting Teaching appointment, I came home and we packed up snacks and went out to the car and buckled in for our adventure. Thankfully the museum is out in Queens and a much easier drive than a subway ride...at least it would have been an easy ride if the navigation system had worked completely, but after a few loops around we finally made it and I was impressed that we were arriving within a short time of 10 o'clock - the museums opening time.

As we drove into the parking lot Bryson commented, "Mom, there aren't a lot of cars here". I looked out and only thought how nice it was to find a spot near the front and that for whatever reason the Ticket Booth to pay for parking wasn't open. Hmmmm...must be an old ticket booth I thought.

We got out of the car and put the bag together to take in. I finally had my camera loaded with a full battery and the card reader so I could take pictures of this great day with little B. We walked up to the door - enjoying the bright sun on the crisp fall day. It has been freezing over the weekend with the crazy winter storm that came through on Saturday - so to walk with just a sweater on and feeling the warm sun beat down made my heart so happy. Bryson looked up at me and a big smile cracked across his face too. He started to skip and our hands swung together up into the blue sky. I thought to myself - this is one of the best days I've had in a long time ---- we both needed this day to do something different and just enjoy time away!

We were nearing the entrance when a big guy in the white uniform from the museum walked out.

"Ma'm - we're closed today."

"What? It's Monday - why would you be closed?"

"We're always closed on Monday."

"Really? Because it's not just Monday -it's Halloween! How can you be closed on Halloween? (which the holiday has nothing to do with science, but it made sense to link them together at the time) And I have this coupon - it expires today. It's good for the two of us to come into the museum - we've been planning on this!"

"I'm sorry. We are closed."

"Can he at least play out on the science playground for just....a....b...."

The man was shaking his head a BIG NO, and said, "No way! Are you crazy?"

I wanted to say - YES! Yes, I am crazy! That is why I planned this amazing day to have with my son, and didn't think to check the website. I only knew my Groupons expired today and that I needed to have some time with my son. Can't he just run on your playground for 5 minutes?!

Instead, we turned around and walked to the car. I apologized to Bryson and told him I was so sorry that it was closed - and that we would come another time. I felt terrible - he had been so excited for this day! Surprisingly - he was not drastically upset. I thought he would be screaming and throwing a fit (recent experience assured me that it could be a crazy one!).

When I told him he was a good sport for not getting upset, he told me "Of course I'm a good sport - I'm good at just about every sport I play!"

We spent the rest of the afternoon running errands - talk about a really good sport! We went to Aldi's - a favorite grocery store that was in Virginia when we lived there. We returned some things to the mall and then we came home and he sat on the couch and read for over an hour!

All in all, it was still a great day. We spent time together and we enjoyed doing something different for the day....I think he just needed a break from school - and I needed a break from school/PTA as well.

Even though it turned out well - I still felt a bit like Clark Griswald (played by Chevy Chase) in the movie 'National Lampoon's Vacation' when he takes his family to Wally World, only to drive up and realize it is closed. I haven't seen the entire movie, but I remember watching it on TV and the part where he drives up the theme park that they drove all the way across the country to visit.

I only drove across part of Queens - but I wanted that Hall of Science to be open! Next time....oh next time I'll check the internet and be sure to double-check the days & hours of operation!

Oui ou Non?!

Gazing out the window tonight, Bryson Jr. exclaimed,

'Oh look!

It's a croissant moon!"

{it must be that New York accent! He thought he was saying crescent - or that croissant was crescent. I love his little accent on some words...it's darling & hilarious!}

Which that darling little homemade french saying, brought me back to last week....a good laugh of a story. We went to a friend's home out in New Jersey last Friday night to escape Hurrican Irene....more on that will come, but it was rather interesting as we ended up going more into the storm that out of it . We didn't know that at the time, but of course hindsight is always quite perfect.

We stayed with friends that we know through work, as the wife and the children were off to another state to visit family. The entire home open - except for the husband, and one day, we were in the kitchen cleaning up after a meal and I asked about their recent adventures over in Europe. I asked what his favorite place was they had visited, and he replied enthusiastically, "Oh, it was definitely Ver-sal-es."

Hmmm...I thought to myself for just a moment. Ver-sal-es? Where in the world....and then he went on to say that the Hall of Mirrors were magnificent and the incredible gardens, etc. That is when I realized where he was talking about.

At an appropriate time in the conversation, to reply to what he was talking about this area, I told him that I also had been to and loved Versailles - trying not to be obnoxious but also speaking clearly so that hopefully he could hear that the ending of the word is silent, the LL's are dropped and your voice almost seems to sound like a sigh to go along with that you say it Ver-SIGH {this explanation is phonetic, not correct grammar!}

He once again was very excited as he came back with more things that he loved about Ver-sal-es. And I did a different kind of sigh and realized that unfortunately this was one French word that would not be pronounced correctly during this conversation!

Oh la la!

our charlie

Bryson Jr's class is reading 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. Yesterday, Bryson came home and told me....

"Mom, Ms. Z (his teacher) told me that if she were Willie Wonka, and the school were the chocolate factory she would give it to me."

His teacher has told me routinely she wishes she had a clone machine for that boy as well. Of course - he seems to have the golden ticket to life.

We are blessed to have him. Really, truly.

{pictured above} Bryson at a Poetry Publishing Party that his class had about a month ago. He has a love for learning that we are incredibly grateful for....and we love that he can remember facts about everything from tornadoes & volcanoes to homophones....and most things in between :)

don't let the parade pass you by!

{note: above title is a line/song from one of my all-time favorite musicals 'Hello, Dolly!' Click HERE to watch the part of the movie where I got this line from - if you want to skip the talking and just hit the music and the parade of ALL parades forward to 3:35 on the time bar. Ahhhh...I love this show! When will this come to Broadway?!}

The art teacher at the kids school was excessed last year due to budget cuts. At first, this was devastating news & we sat in PTA meetings trying to figure out a way to raise money that we could grant to the school to cover the cost of retaining him. The problem with that thought, is that the Dept. of Education mandates certain areas that PTA's can give money to the school - and paying for a teacher's salary is a big NO!

The administration told us about a program called Studio in the School, which other schools have used and that the Admin. had heard good things about. The program came into the school and worked closely with the curriculum taught in the classroom, creating projects based on what the students were learning. That was something that hadn't been done with the previous art teacher, and although we were so sad to think of this teacher leaving - there was hope that the new program we would pay for would work. The program would also be about 1/2 the cost of a full-time art teacher...and so with apprehension we signed up.

I have to say --- my words have been completely eaten this year with that I could not imagine a program that could do as well as the art teacher we had. How wrong I was.

The Studio in the School program blew myself and many parents away! The quality of work is amazing, and that they do study along with the class on their subjects has been a perfect connection. It's also nice to see that every grade level does a different art project and with a different medium!

Madeleine's class did a lot of printing - creating pictures of the different bridges around NYC and also created a banner of different buildings around the city - a printed skyline. All of them were beautiful pieces of art work!

Bryson's class (all 1st grade classes) studied about animals to go along with their non-fiction research they did in class about a variety of animals. They learned how to sketch a picture and did so in pencil. Then they learned how to paint the picture, working in stages on background, foreground and putting in the key elements of animals and landscape. Yesterday, the 1st grade showed us their latest creations in the world of their animal art work by having a parade.....an Animal Mask Parade!

Meet Bryson the DUCK!

{the masks were made by paper mache and then objects on the outside of the mask are all recyclable materials that the students brought from home - sans the cotton balls used as eye balls!}

Bryson and classmates - Samantha {Horse?}, David {Rabbit}, Bryson {of course!} and Renee {Rabbit}

Marching around the auditorium after we had a little talk by the Art Teacher who told us the process the children used to make the masks and then let us enjoy another photo opportunity as they wound their way around the auditorium again! Well done Bryson - we are so proud of your art work and creativity!

{almost} wordless wednesday: a night of drama

Why have Wordless Wednesday if I'm always going to say something?  

Well, it is motivating me to post.  Life gets going full steam and I think of dozens of things I want to post about and update, but I tend to write too much, and I get overwhelmed at myself.  And then day by day, I forget to write down the happenings of our life.  

So, the thought behind posting a picture was to make it easier.  Until I realized that years down the road, we'll want to remember the story behind it...so, perhaps Almost Wordless Wednesday is far more accurate :) 

Two weeks ago on a Sunday evening the children decided to present a dramatic interpretation of Rapunzel!  Madeleine had noticed a book I had borrowed from a teacher that gave an outline of the Rapunzel play, and she adopted that as her Sunday project to write it up, and have everyone be part of the amazing cast.  The children noticed we didn't have enough people for the parts, so they asked our friend from down the hall - she's the cutest little girl and a great friend of all the kiddos almost like another sister in many ways (the boys especially due to the ages and that she is a little tom-boy at heart)....however I think we intimidated her with the grand parade of costumes and cast members...so she decided to participate in a lesser known role.  However, she did promise to come back the next time the children do another play!  

The cast included: 

The King - Lord Bryson the Junior

The Miller's Daughter - Fair Maiden Madeleine

The messenger/knight - Sir Jacob {for every fairy tale must have a knight in shining armor!}

Narrator - Ms. Lillian 

and the little - TALLISH man - Rupelstilskin!  - Mr. Lord Bryson 

and other roles as necessary :)  

It was wickedly engaging...

 and charmingly sweet....

and as all good fairy tales go - the sweet princess got her way in the end! 

 ...and the good knight was only on call - never needing to go into battle

For a finale, Bryson lost his tooth....

....his 8th tooth that is!  Perhaps he should have tried turning teeth into gold instead of straw....the teeth might have made him richer much more quickly!  

funnies by Bryson Jr.

"Mom, this milk tastes a little funny" - Bryson Jr.

"It shouldn't, I just opened it this morning" - me

"Yeah. It tastes.....um, it tastes dry." - Bryson Jr.

Now that is a tricky taste to master for a wet drink!

 I opted to go out to dinner tonight with the kiddos instead of making it. It's been a busy week and I hadn't gone grocery shopping yet. :)

We parked the car, and when I went to put money in the meter I realized I had one quarter, a lot of random change and absolutely no other cash. Actually, I knew I didn't have any cash - that is why were are a restaurant eating and not the food court at Costco. They only take cash - which I believe is one of the silliest ideas they came up with....who does that?!

I drove past Costco and up Broadway to a place our neighbor introduced to us - Sac's this fabulous Pizzeria/Italian place over in Astoria - they really do a great job on thin crust, brick over pizza -- yum!  As the host was seating us, I asked if I could get change for the meter and dumped out all my change on the table...and along with those all the receipts stashed in the front of my wallet from PTA purchases for the Art Show/Silent Auction came tumbling out as well.  I put my OCD about my purse and wallet on the backburner this week, so that I could save it all for the class projects we are doing with 15 classes in 8 days before the big show/auction next week!  Anyway....as always I start to talk and I get sidetracked....the nice guy helps me count out $1.00, and comes back with 4 quarters, and so I turned to the kiddos to say....

"Stay right here, I need to go feed the meter"

"Why is it hungry?" - Bryson Jr.

straight faced, quick come-back, I don't think I've ever used that term around him before and so his response made me laugh. What a jokester!

 *****and what a cutie :) 

what a meatball!

We were trying to get back into the routine of daily living tonight after a great weekend. I was working to get all 3 children bathed after dinner, be sure that Madeleine and Bugaboo practiced the piano and trying desperately to keep Jacob off the computer and thinking about his new obsession - the computer games at lego.com.

I was putting the dishes into the dishwasher in between each of the events going on, when Bryson came into the kitchen telling me that his armpits hurt so bad! He had just finished bathing, so I thought they were dry & itchy....so I got the lotion and started to apply it to his armpits. I noticed an unusual feel and bent down to his level and caught a strong whiff....of, what was that? Oh, yes. Of course - it was the minty smell of Madeleine's ICY HOT that she had gotten last week after she hurt her neck. Coincidentally it has the exact same shape & look of deodorant.

Me: "Bryson, did you put on the ICY HOT?"

Bugaboo (caught between a grin and a grimmace): "Yes, of course!"

Me: "What were you thinking?" {yes, classic parent response - not the best I know....but that is what came out}

Bugaboo: "I wanted to smell good!

Me: "Well you smell really good, but that isn't deodorant honey. It's not the same thing that Daddy uses under his arms....this is really strong and it's used for sore muscles. You can't just use whatever you want to - you need to ask us, because some things can hurt you. Do you understand."

Bugaboo: "Yes. But it really hurts. HELP ME!"

We spent the next 10 minutes putting a lot of lotion under his arms, and trying to get him to think about something else....so we went on with practicing the piano.

What a goof ball. Or as he says - what a meat ball. One time, when I called him a goof ball he told me emphatically that he was NOT a goof ball.....I should call him a meat ball.

And ironically that is just what we had for dinner.

Sunday Funnies

My favorite part of the newspaper when I was growing up were the Sunday Comics - or "Funnies".  Actually, those are still my favorite part of the newspaper as I can count on understanding at least one section of the news.  In honor of those days of sitting down to read the Funnies, I bring you our own Sunday Family Funnies...

******
Two days ago (Friday) we got home very late from finishing up the Book Fair. More on that later, but it's always a crazy schedule for the family - particularly myself and the kiddos - during a Book Fair week.  I'm at school each day from beginning until about an hour after, and the last day is the doozy as it's take down, clean-up and sorting through the financials...it's at least a 12 hour day on that final day and that is even with a crew of volunteers!  My kids are such champs during Book Fairs - thankfully they love it so they don't mind getting to browse the fair every day, still I find ways to reward them for their patience and help.

This time around, I let each of the kids choose their own poster from the ones that had been sold on Friday night after the week of hard work. Bryson Jr. decided on the shark. I asked him a few times if he was sure because I'm not so sure about walking in and seeing the big JAWS picture on the wall. However, he loved it!

We got home around 8pm and Bryson Sr. walked in the door about 30 minutes after us, and right away Bryson wanted to show his shark picture off! Our children wish almost daily they had more than a Pillow Pet, Zhu-Zhu Pets and Littlest Pet Shop (thanks Dan for the realization via your FB post that we DO have a lot of pets!), but due to living in an apartment and more importantly allergies for Dad....pets aren't an option in our life.

Except Bryson Jr. came up with a pet we might consider.

No worries on where we will keep it - because he thought of that as well. When Bryson Sr. asked him where a shark would go, his ready response,
"Well, we can keep it in a cage out in the East River Dad!"

See. Problem Solved. One shark delivered to Roosevelt Island, NY, NY please!

*******

Today as we were driving home from church we were trying to keep Madeleine's mind off being car sick, and Bryson Jr.'s mind off of teasing Jacob. We were asking both of them questions about their primary classes, what they liked, if they were excited for school, etc.

Apparently Jacob got a little put out that no one as asking him questions. "Hey, I had a good time in class!" or "I had a fun time talking to ________ (friend in his class)", and "I was following ________ (other friend) after church!". But still, no was asking Jacob questions.

So, he took matters into his own hands. From the backseat we heard Jacob's little voice....

"Are you happy Jacob? YES I AM!"

******

Bryson Sr. taught our FHE lesson tonight on Money Management - specifically 1) Tithing, 2) Savings (Mission, Education, etc.) and 3) Fun.

Jacob trying to patiently wait to open his present from Daddy! 

opening up their NEW banks....let's hear a hooray!  

He was excited because he bought new banks from Deseret Book for the kids to put their money into. I got them a bank last year....from Ikea....on clearance. It wasn't nearly as cool. Then again, I'm not the specialist in finances - I've always been better at spending money than saving it. :)

As Bryson Sr. was focused on the lesson, Bryson Jr. was struggling. "I don't want to pay tithing! I'm never paying tithing. EVER!"

We kept plodding along with the lesson.

We got to the part where we paid them for the jobs that they did yesterday for their Saturday work. They were so excited to see their $2, and we started to talk about what the 10% for tithing would equal to. Madeleine started to count out her money, and put it into the tithing slot.

Bryson Jr. was not happy about giving his 10%. "But Dad, it's just 10%! What is the big deal if I actually pay it?!" And we kept plodding along, Bryson Sr. being able to convince him to put the money into the tithing slot - although still at bed Bryson Jr. was saying that he did not want to pay tithing.

Baby steps. Baby steps. With each of the children they struggle with one of the principles of gospel living that for whatever reason just doesn't make sense in their mind. Madeleine does not like getting a blessing (we were really worried she'd actually refuse getting the gift of the Holy Ghost after her baptism!....thankfully all went well) and with Bryson - well, it seems to be tithing that we need to keep speaking positively about.
 
******

For Madeleine - her funny moment wasn't all that funny, but how I realized she has this really great sense of humor in her writing. Her class finished a book this week, and she was working on a final project for it this weekend. She took the role of a reporter and asked the characters in the books different questions to learn more about their feelings and the development of the story and how each person grew and changed during the story.

The reporter had some funny lines - especially bringing the guests "on" and "off" the little show that was being written about. She had everything written out by hand and I needed to type it for her, and I really enjoyed reading her words and catching this glimpse of how writing really does open up ways that we can express ourselves in a much more free and liberating way.

Madeleine has always had a great sense of humor - I just really enjoyed the extra dose of it tonight in her writing!

******

That's all for this edition of your Sunday Funnies. Hopefully we'll have a new run next week to share :)

L says R - and R says L. It's all very confusing.

There was a funny scenario tonight at piano lesson that caused me to grin. In a very big way. I actually really wanted to laugh out loud, but I thought it would probably be rude. And disruptive.

So, I held it in and realized I had to write it down.

Our teacher is a wonderful Japanese older woman who was referred by our friends from school. I realized last week that our life here has led us to know and have many wonderful friends from Japan. Madeleine's best friend Aoi and her family moved here when we did, and sadly will be returning to Japan at the end of the school year. We adore their family, and all 3 children are favorites of my children and their mother is a jewel. One of the sweetest people I have ever met. At school two of Bryson's classmates - Hiiragi and Misaki - are from Japan and I got to know the moms as we started an English Conversation Class through the PTA. The children aren't in the same class this year, but they continue to be amazing friends that are so sweet and very willing to help when I need some "adopted family" around. These friends also introduced me to our piano teacher here on the island. I found out that both Hiiragi and Misaki were taking piano from a teacher in the building right next to ours. I met the teacher, liked her a lot and decided to have the children take - and love her philosophy and teaching methods.

At church one of the sisters that I got to know and really enjoyed getting to talk to on Sunday, was Japanese and her husband a mix of Japanese-American. They moved to Brazil with work, and I miss talking with her at church. She is so real, no pretensions and crazy enough...even though they lived way downtown and had moved to our ward from Brooklyn ---- they had the same piano teacher.

It's a small world.

Last week during piano we had Aoi with us as her mom had a medical emergency that day. As we came into our lesson, we introduced Aoi to Ms. Yoshiko and she glanced up at me and said, "You know so many Japanese friends Ms. Summer! How did you do that?!"

I have no idea how it all worked out, but our lives have been so blessed by these friendships. I tell my Japanese friends if only I had been having them teach me Japanese while we lived here....then I might have learned a few important phrases! Oh well, we were focused on them learning English, and I never had Japanese on my radar until now. I suppose I need to take the hint and be ready to learn any and all languages when the opportunity presents itself.

Now - the funny story with the Japanese language. One rule of their language that we now know is that they do not say an 'L' sound. It actually comes out as an 'R' sound. We learned this with Bryson's friend Hiiragi and his mom Yukari. I could not figure out his name - I saw that it was spelled with an 'R', but I would hear his mom and it always sounded like she was saying an L or would call him the shortened version of Hila. I was confused, until one time at our English Conversation class I asked her - and she said L and R is mixed up in Japanese - they can't really say the sound of 'R' in the English language. But then again, it's bizarre as the names that we know that have 'L' in them, we can hear them saying an R - and when there is an R we hear them with more of an L sound. Now I'm really confused.

Fast forward to today at Bryson and Madeleine's piano lesson. She does about 20 minutes while each child working on individual warm-ups and pieces on the piano. Then for 20 minutes she does theory and rhythm/beat exercises for a total of a 60 minute piano lesson. Today she wanted the children to clap for a 2 beat and then 3 beat rhythm. For the 2 beats they children were to say 'Lincoln' and then for the 3 beats it was 'Washington' - a way to incorporate President's Day she said :)

The only glitch was that when she gave them the example she said as she was clapping, 'Rincoln, Rincon, Wash-ing-ton'. And I started to smile.

The kids sat with their backs to me and she was facing them and therefore, me as well. I was being very careful not to overstep and say anything during the lesson, but the difference between saying 'Lincoln' and 'Rinkin' was very evident and I didn't want the children saying it the wrong way - they should know the President is Lincoln, but I wasn't sure they would actually say it with the 'L'.

And then right as the teacher finished her example and turned it over to the kiddos to clap and chant while she played the beat - I saw Madeleine lean over to Bryson in a quick instant and whisper in his ear....

'Remember R's are L's in Japanese!!'

And I then enjoyed the exercise and hearing the children's young and small voices counting out 'Lincoln - Lincon - Wash-ing-ton' while in the background was the strong voice of our beautiful teacher calling out 'Rincoln - Rincoln - Wash-ing-ton'.

It was definitely a favorite moment of piano!

past memory

I am cleaning through each area of the apartment - I started thinking we might be moving in February and I wanted to get a head start on organizing and throwing things out. Then we decided to stay, but I realized my spring cleaning was going to be done early on so that we can play once the weather turns nice again. If that ever happens!

Last week was the hallway and I went through the many, MANY notebooks/journals and writing tablets we have. In one of those notebooks I found this little gem. Dated from October of 2009, during General Conference. And it says....

"Why do you bring up Jesus in everything?"...quoteth Bryson Jr.

I wish I would have written the context of why he said this - because I think it's a little funny, in a not-laughing at religious things way. Just that his observation was probably spot on with it being General Conference and everything revolving around the Gospel and our Savior.

As I see it - he was stating the obvious. In his very sincere, open, and honest 5 year old way.

I'm so glad I decided to clean that hallway.

snow day!

We FINALLY get a snow day from school today! Yeah! I was talking to my mom last night, and was telling her about all the snow coming down during the day - I don't think it stopped, it only went from very intense, to intense, to small flakes that fell for about a half hour. I can't believe how much snow we got. Now if only we could go skiing today..... {sigh}

A few things that I wanted to write down from little happenings this past week - and I'm working to get my pictures onto a post. My camera broke last fall, and all my pictures have been on my iphone. Which I have no idea how to download to the computer - and was ready to try during Christmas break, but when Bryson went to sync his phone to his computer, he lost all of his information. Everything. I don't want to lose my pictures, and I've never downloaded anything from my phone (I know, I'm pathetic with technology)....so I email my pictures one at a time, and it is taking forever! Therefore, pictures will come at some point.

JACOB:

Yesterday before his preschool started we were working on his letters. He knows all his letters and sounds - something I wish I could take credit for, but he wasn't really interested in learning the alphabet with me....it was once he went into his pre-k class and Ms. Haya worked her magic. Love that lady.

Now Jacob goes around singing his alphabet and saying all the sounds and will do mini-lessons with me when he is in a good mood. Today we had a cherry on top experience. When I picked him up from class, Ms. Haya had me come in to see what Jacob had worked on that day. He had drawn a picture of our family, and underneath with her help he had sounded out and spelled 'Mi Famile' - yahoo Jacob! Seriously it amazes me what these children pick up on and how fast they are learning.

Other Jacob news - he got 2 boxes of Band-Aids for Christmas and has had at least one band-aid on his body at all times since then. My favorite was the Scooby-Doo band-aid that was on his forehead for at least 10 days. EVERYONE would ask him what had happened, and his response was always, "I was trying to take it off". Hmmmmm....we were all a bit confused. I would then whisper that he got band-aids for Christmas, and they were Scooby-Doo, and so then the person would nod knowingly at me. I finally realized that I needed to get the band-aid off his forehead, or there would have been a permanent mark.

Jacob makes us laugh.

Except when he is grumpy. When he is not in a good mood and does not want to do something, he will shout "NEVER"! Sometimes it's funny....sometimes it drives me nuts. Still, we love that boy.

BRYSON JR.:

Last week I was in my new cleaning routine, and found my egg cups that I got when I nannied in Paris. I was ready to throw them out...I have yet to use them, but then I remembered that I have a little boy that doesn't just like eggs - he loves them! So, one morning I boiled 3 minute eggs, and cut up the toast into little fingers (strips) and served the new breakfast to Bryson. The result - one of his new favorite meals! He couldn't get over how great it was to have his own toast strips to dip into the egg, and how awesome it was to have an egg sitting in its' own cup.

I love how easily entertained children can be. :)

In other news: Bryson's favorite subject is writing - which both the teacher and I love but are a bit puzzled over. Last year it would take him forever to get a story written out and he would protest writing anything. I suppose he has finally found his niche with writing. Hooray! With the love of writing, he loves-loves reading. One day he wasn't feeling good, so he stayed home from school and he enjoyed laying in bed and finishing one of his 'A to Z Mystery Books'. I wasn't sure if we would have anyone that loves reading as much as Madeleine - but thankfully Bryson seems to be holding his own in this area!

He is working on waking up more happily each day, something that he was not really great at. In fact, mornings were a time of day I dreaded. There was yelling, pretending to be asleep, not getting dressed - and just an overall horrible start to the day. Last week we did a FHE lesson on goal setting, and to make it something that the children could really understand and do - I decided to take areas that we wanted to improve in our family & home and divide those into monthly themes. The them we are working on in January is our MORNING ROUTINE. We each picked something from just our morning routine that would help our family and the spirit in our home. What a difference this made for Bryson to be working on a specific goal - and he did a much better job at waking up, and it made such a difference for the feeling in our home, and he loved putting the smiley face on his chart each day and working towards a reward. Now - if we can remember to keep those goals going for the 2nd week in a row and working on our new goal as well! Baby steps.

Bryson had a little Open House at his Tap Class this past Monday, and really rocked the coffee grinder move, and is excited to sign up for another season of tap. He's got rhythm..who could ask for anything more?!

MADELEINE:

Was given the role as Class President of her 4th Grade by her teacher (the student that reached 100 points first was given the role as President) and is thrilled with everything about school. Last week as we were walking out at the end of the school day, her science teacher saw her in the hall with Bryson Jr. and Jacob and she told her, "I didn't know you had two brothers! Wow - you must have a lot of patience!" I told her she definitely was an angel around our house, and the teacher started to go on and on about how much she adored Madeleine and was so impressed with how smart she is and that she gets along so easily with all students and is someone the teacher can count on. Madeleine was beaming in her quiet/shy way, and I was filled up with immense gratitude for this girl. I gave her a big hug as we exited the building and told her how much I loved her. That was a great day.

Madeleine took her goal seriously to get up early and practice the piano each day, and she even recognized the need to remind me to get to bed earlier each night so I could make my goal of getting up on time each day. She is usually my alarm clock - she has an internal button that the rest of us don't have, and will get up at the same time each day....as always, she is super reliable.

She also had her Open House for ballet - both she and Bryson have dance class the same nights...thankfully! She did a wonderful job, with another year of ballet she is become more graceful and is picking up on the steps very quickly. The main thing we are working on: flexibility. In my family we are not naturally flexible. It takes work - and a lot of it, to get our muscles to the point of being able to do what other people take for granted. The good news, as the teacher was doing her stretches and touching her foot to her forehead....she said she was the same way when she was a little girl. Now, we are working with Madeleine to get her ready for a ballet audition at a school in the city. It would be where she would go to school next year if she made the audition. We are exploring so many options right now with schools, moving, etc. - that I figured it would be worth it to have her audition and see what happens.

Unless we move out to Westchester before then.

The rest of the family:

We still aren't sure what we are doing regarding a move, and we need to know by TUESDAY! Yes, that is in 5 days. And crazy enough, we aren't that stressed about it. I think we are in denial.

I'll write more and fill in pictures later - I need to get these kiddos over to a friends' place to play, outside to play in the snow and a quick drive over to Costco - hoping that the drivers aren't more crazy today with the snow....it's always an adventure driving here, and with the snow it could be a lot more interesting.

Until later.

Redefining a Date Night...

On Friday night, Bryson and Madeleine had a daddy/daughter date.  Madeleine was SO excited to have a special night with just Daddy to herself.

Part of our resolutions with the New Year is that we can spend more quality one-on-one time with each of the children.  Madeleine was able to go first - probably as oldest, but also because we had tickets to an amazing show which I wanted Bryson to take her to...okay, I wanted to go as well, but Bryson Sr. had promised Madeleine last year that he would take her to a show for her birthday.  The promise only took 11 months to come about - but she didn't care, she finally was going with her Dad!  Also, we have noticed that one of the only memories Madeleine has of Daddy/Daughter date was back when we lived in Florida and she turned 4.  Bryson took her to Burger King for dinner, and let her play on the inside play area.  She STILL talks about that day with great excitement and has expressed that she really wants to do another event like that.  Well - luckily for her they don't have a lot of Burger King restaurants in NYC....instead there are incredible shows!

They went to see a Chinese New Year show at the Lincoln Center.  We found out about the show when a friend of ours at the school came to sell tickets to the show during our International Dinner last November.  She had a TV set up showing scenes from the production, and Madeleine was completely mesmerized.  With studying about China and the culture of the country last year in 3rd grade - she really does have a new love and understanding about the people.  We saw how excited she was with the "previews" and decided to go ahead and get the tickets.

{a late night - home at 11:30pm!  I'll have to talk to her Daddy about that one! ;) }

Thankfully all worked out so that she and Daddy could go on their date - we actually had more snow on Friday, although it ended up being more of a dusting than a storm.  Bryson has had some extra work this week, and has a big presentation on Monday....he had to work later than he had hoped, so they didn't quite get to go out to eat at a restaurant like we hoped...but Madeleine did get to eat dinner ordered in and enjoyed up on the 24th floor of his building with sweeping views of the city and over into Times Square before they went off to get the subway and head over to the show.  Perhaps that was a better eating experience anyway!  

Bryson Jr. of course wanted to go.  He was a little sad that he didn't get his turn, but I told him we already had the date set for he and Daddy to go at the end of the month...how exciting that they get to start their hang-out time at the Dentist office with back to back appointments!  He truly doesn't care what they do, however he has started to talk about different options, and asking Bryson Sr. what he might be able to do with his stomach still mending from the surgery/appendectomy.  As we drove home from dropping Madeleine off at Bryson's (Sr.) work, Jacob fell asleep and Bryson Jr. said from the back seat....'So maybe this can be like Madeleine and Daddy's date, and then you and I can have a date at the house, right?'  It was the sweetest request and melted my heart.  Which was a great thing.  This was a very hard week emotionally with that little boy.  He DID NOT want to wake up any morning and go back to school.  He was tired after the day and we had a few too many meltdowns - we both did.  I had a moment one day where I realized I really needed to find ways to enjoy being a mom to this boy - because it was a down in the trench moment and I could not think of anything to be particularly happy about at the moment.  So, I was thrilled to have our own one-on-one time together, that would be a much more positive experience than the previous week!

We enjoyed a little movie together once I got Jacob tucked back into bed (forget a transition going from a Parking Garage, walking over 3 buildings and bringing and elevator home!).  We popped popcorn, snuggled under a blanket and enjoyed a little show together.

All in all.....2 very happy children that got to spend extra time with their parents.  Moments of parenting where you get to have delightful and enjoyable moments with your children ---- priceless and very welcome!  I'm looking forward to more of our Date Nights or Special Hang Outs throughout the year....and I know 3 children that are as well!

2 different peas in a pod

While getting the boys dressed this morning, I realized a stark difference in their personalities and preferences.    I always work to give each child their own space and be their own person...I don't expect them to be the same.  However, they are both boys, they are siblings - they do have the same parents.  So some things are the same - and I try not to be too surprised the other times when they are complete opposites!}

*Bryson LOVES comfy pants - he'd prefer to live in sweat pants, and so I've ended up buying him more "gym" looking pants (our favorite are the pants that Gymboree puts out - he loves that they are soft and I love they are durable and comfy without looking totally tacky). He'll wear jeans and church pants when needed - but his first preference is comfort!

*Jacob wants jeans - or as he calls all of them no matter the brand - "Levi's".  When he gets dressed each day, his request is Levis each and EVERY morning.  The funny thing is that I bought a lot of "levi's" this summer when we were out in Utah, and then I came home and noticed that we had more pairs of jeans than I had remembered from Bryson's previous wardrobe.  I thought there would be no reason to need the 4 extra pairs of jeans I had purchased, so I set them aside to give away.  Because Jacob won't wear the many comfy pants that we have from Bryson from last year - he is going through jeans at a fast rate - more than half of his jeans have holes in the knees!...and we are already using all 4 of those pants that I had thought about giving away.  I hope that boy will love cut-off jean shorts this summer, because I am fairly certain that will be the main part of his wardrobe. :)

They are the same - they are different ---- and there is a very strong between these brothers!

What fun boys we have!  

that means I love it!

As Bryson Jr. was bringing his plate into the kitchen after dinner, he let out a little burp. He looked a little sheepish, until he said, "If I let out a burp - that means I love it".

So matter of fact was his little face and statement.

I do hope this child gets called on a mission to the Polynesian Islands where burping is still fashionable after a very good meal. His manners at this point are prime for such an experience!

all i want for Christmas...

are my TWO FRONT TEETH!Bryson has lost FOUR of his front teeth! The latest and greatest are his two teeth up top, so the song 'All I want for Christmas are my 2 front teeth' is his perfect song for the season!

He lost the 2 on the bottom sides (the eye teeth) about a month ago and they are still working their way up. And having 4 teeth out must not be enough, as there is another tooth up top next to the BIG gap that is super-duper loose!

Probably within the week we'll have a real gummy gentlemen. And you know....we've never seen a cuter toothless man! :)