What's In a Name?

I love to hear toddlers talk using their own toddler-ese. And one of the cutest things to note are the names that toddlers assign to various family members. When we brought Michael home, Alex dubbed him "Mi-Mal." In turn, as Michael reached toddlerhood, Alex became "Ashy." And Jacob still calls Alex "Awex." Now it's Audrey's turn, and she has the most creative names of all.

Last night during devotions, I asked, "Who would like to pray?" Audrey gave an enthusiastic, "Mee-ee!" So she prayed in her normal fashion, repeating words from my phrases:

Mommy: Lord, please help Alex.

Audrey: Da-da

Mommy: And Michael.

Audrey: Bize

Mommy: And Jacob.

Audrey: Bize

Mommy: And Audrey.

Audrey: Baby

Mommy: And Mommy and Daddy.

Audrey: Mommy, Daddy

We aren't sure where "Da-da" came from for Alex, unless it caught on when I've occasionally called Alex "Alexandra" (usually followed by her middle and last name as well as a reprimand!). And, until she began calling Daddy "Daddy" rather than "Dada", it got confusing around here. As for "Bize," the last time Audrey prayed, she called Michael "Ba-pal" (I can hear that), and she called Jacob "Deese" (don't ask). It is my theory that "Bize" comes from us always referring to the pair as the "boys." At any rate, Audrey-ese is truly creative and unique!

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet; however, I think 'tis much sweeter coming from the mouth of a Princess requesting a brother or sister's attention!

My Compassionate One

I still remember the Christmas season when Alex was two, and I was reading Colleen Monroe's A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree to her. As the details were being painted of a lonely tree who never gets picked to be a Christmas tree in someone's living room, I glanced at my little girl. She was listening with rapt attention...and a huge tear rolling down her cheek. She had the same reaction when we read about Charlotte's death in Charlotte's Web.

This evening, Alex's tender heart took over once again. A few weeks ago, we studied New York, and I gave some brief details to Alex about what happened to the Twin Towers. Now Alex has taken to blaring her stereo during her shower, so The Fish tunes were once again wafting throughout the house this evening. After her shower, she came to join the rest of us upstairs and immediately prefaced her presence with, "I'm not crying; I just got soap in my eyes." I empathized with her for a few moments and left it at that.

About 10 minutes later, Alex shared with me that she had heard a man on the radio talking about a family member he lost on 9/11. I asked, "Is that why you were crying?" She didn't answer, so I offered, "It's OK to cry. I still cry even 6 years later when I hear the stories." She then admitted that her tears were real. She also seemed to want to talk about it, so we had a conversation about more of the details of the day. She was interested to hear that on 9/11/01, she and I were in my room packing to head to Florida the next day.

Alex shed a couple more tears when we prayed for any families affected by 9/11. Her compassion touches my heart, and her wisdom in understanding difficult events always amazes me. She has said many times before that she wants to one day work for Samaritan's Purse. I know her tender heart will have much to offer should those dreams be realized.

Jacob's Night

Jacob has had such a rough time lately with all the transitions at church. He's getting better because we aren't forcing him to go to Sunday School if he doesn't want to (he sits very quietly in church with us). I think the next thing he really needs, though, is more alone time with Mom and Dad. I don't know why we've let "Special Nights" fall by the wayside, but I decided to start them again tonight. Each child has a "Special Night," and on that night the other three kids have Roomtime beginning at 7:30. During Roomtime, the child of honor gets to spend 1/2 hour of uninterrupted (at least "no interruptions" are the rules anyway) time with us doing whatever he wants to do, with the exception of TV and video games. When I told Jacob tonight would be his night, his eyes sparkled and he shared one of those adorable, timid smiles with me.

Jacob has had an all-around good day today anyway. He started the day by requesting that he be first to have one-on-one school time. Usually Jacob goes last because he doesn't yet do independent work and therefore doesn't require the extra time in the day that Alex and sometimes Michael require. So he got to go before the other two, and his first request was that he wanted to read 8 of his Bob books. I wondered why 8, and he quickly explained that 8 was all he had left on his reading chart. Clearly the boy wanted some ice cream! I actually wasn't able to accommodate his request right away to read 8 books because we got a late start today, and we had to eat lunch so his reading was interrupted. We also had a trip to the store. But he didn't forget, and he finished his 8 books late this afternoon, resulting in a yummy ice cream dessert.

A Completed Reading Chart!

My boy also earned a dollar for the "Disney World Bank." I must digress to explain what this is since, in an earlier post, I mentioned that our cruise was to take the place of a Disney trip. Saturday was really not a good day in the Pierce household. If there was misbehavior to occur, it took place on Saturday--poor manners, attitude, fighting. Then there was the whole pee and poop in a cup incident. Yes, the boys peed in one cup and used another cup to scoop some other "stuff" out of the commode. Long story short, there was a long shower, a scrubbing of the bathroom, and then a lengthy lecture on Common Sense. As Mark was delivering said lecture, I could see his mind working to come up with some sort of incentive program to whip these kids in shape. And as he began to explain to the kids that good behavior could earn "dollars" and once $100 was accumulated, we'd go to Disney, I shot him an Are you forgetting about the cruise? look but then thought to myself, Why would I turn down another vacation? So the Disney "bank" is on the fridge with its lonely $2--Alex earned one today for behaving so well on our shopping trip.

The Disney Bank

And back to how Jacob earned his: We studied China today in history--the Tang Dynasty and how China flourished during the 300 years that were this dynasty and that became known as the Golden Age of China. We learned about how the Chinese invented stamps (the ink kind, not the postage kind) so they could mass produce books...as opposed to the Monks we studied a few weeks ago who would meticulously copy books page by page by hand. So naturally after history, we got out the many stamps I have so the kids could create whatever kind of book they wanted to make. After they were done playing, Jacob cleaned up all the stamps--by himself! He certainly deserved to contribute to the Disney Bank!

Stamp Explosion!

Jacob's Stampin' Hands (the red ones!)

Jacob's a sweet little guy, sometimes misunderstood with his timid ways. We're trying to make a concerted effort to pay him special attention which hopefully will build his confidence. Hopefully soon we can get some days out with Daddy for both of the boys. In the meantime, Jacob will, I'm sure, be asking tomorrow how many days it is until his next "Special Night."

First Co-op: Success

Jacob was very apprehensive about going to our homeschool group's first co-op yesterday. I have to admit: I was too. I joined this group a year and a half ago. Then last year, after I had already committed to helping them out on several dates throughout the year, I realized I was totally over-committed in every area of my life, and I backed out on my commitment to them. So yesterday I felt like a loser showing my face again. However, I was welcomed warmly and even talked to a couple of other mothers who found themselves in similar situations last year, so I didn't feel so bad.

Co-op itself was a great hit with the kids. Every first Friday of the month, we are working from "Keepers of the Faith" for the girls and "Contenders for the Faith" for the boys (the third Friday--our second meeting of the month--will alternate art and debate/presentation). Yesterday the girls learned stenciling, while the boys took up painting. The world once again proved itself small--despite its grandeur--when the hired art teacher turned out to be my former cake decorating instructor! It was fun catching up with her.

I was so proud of Jacob. He didn't want to go to co-op at all, but once we got there, he got totally into the project and listened well to instruction. I was surprised that all of the boys paid such close attention to the instructor and stuck with the duck painting project for an hour and a half! Jacob even continued to work while I left the room for 5 minutes to change a stinky princess.

Alex had a great time too, although I think the socializing aspect of co-op captured her attention more than the stenciling project. As we were leaving, she begged me to let her run back in to say good-bye to one of her friends. Michael, too, quickly became buddies with the boys sitting on either side of him. We stopped for ice cream on the way home to reward Jacob for doing so well in a new situation, and there the kids couldn't stop talking about co-op and asking when we would get to go back. And just this morning Michael claimed that, "Next time we go to co-op, I want to stay forever!"

Just Gettin' By

It really has just been one of those weeks. This yuckie bug is taking its time leaving the premises, so each day one or more of us has been less than up to par. Most of this week it's been me, so everything has pretty much been neglected: laundry, cleaning, quality academics, family fun, fitness...

And I guess blogging can be added to that list because all I've got left to say is: Do I get a do-over next week?!

Go Fish

Broken Bridges on Lake Hartwell

The Bridge to Nowhere from SC on the left; the Bridge to Nowhere from GA on the right.

In preparation for our first Labor Day fishing expedition, the kids got fishing poles, which were--of course!--first tested in the pool. As soon as we got home from Wal-Mart, Michael with his Spider-Man pole, Jacob with his Cars rod, and Alex with her Barbie fishing pole headed out to the backyard. Only the Princess--with her Princess fishing pole of course--stood to the side as she was still feeling so rotten. As soon as the kids caught on to casting, their time poolside quickly turned into a competition to see who could cast the farthest up into the yard. From there, the competition took them to the playhouse to see who could cast closest to the pool from the fort.

Today the competition was officially moved to Lake Hartwell where we found a nice, peaceful picnic area right on the lake. The kids got right down to business, first exploring the lakeside while Daddy got their rods prepared and then to the business of fishing. It's difficult to explain to a child who thinks he possesses Total Fisherman Power through the rod he holds in his hands that one does not always catch fish the minute one casts his line; in fact, one can not necessarily expect to catch anything at all. Surprisingly, despite the fact that each of the children expected fish to be lining up to get a bite of their hook, they were rather patient and diligent during their task.

Unfortunately, the only fish we saw were a big, dead fish on shore and several tiny little fish feeding on the bread we sprinkled on the water. However, it was a fun family outing all the same!

My Three Boys

Looking for Adventure

We set sail on the Norwegian Pearl on December 9! For the longest time we have been looking for an adventurous, NEW trip to take as a family. We were pretty much set on Disney, but we've done the Magic Kingdom before so when this cruise opportunity came our way, we moved quickly to reserve our 6 spots--no easy task we discovered; it takes two adjoining rooms to accommodate us. The kids can hardly wait, although Jacob was at first a bit hesitant about a new and unknown experience. However, once we told him about the 24-hour ice cream bar on the ship, he was sold! (We also had to promise him that he could have ice cream for breakfast one day!) I have to admit, I can hardly wait either. Having just come to the end of an official "no-school week" mainly due to the yuckies, we are in desperate need of adventure and relaxation. 'Tis a shame to only be a month into the school year with already one defunct week, but such is life.

Yesterday began for Audrey, Mark and me at 4:30 am. The Princess was burning up and THIRSTY! She asked for milk, which I know is not the best thing for a sore throat and fever. But she wanted milk and I wanted some sleep, so she got milk. She gulped it down very quickly and asked for more. Knowing his little girl, Mark voiced his worry that she drank it awfully fast but he said he would get her more anyway (he wanted some sleep too!). No sooner had he spoken when up it all came...all over our bed. So that was the end of that night with the exception of a few winks in a recliner and on an unmade bed.

Outside is Audrey's favorite place to be, and she wasted no time yesterday in making her request clear. Sick or not, she wanted to go out. She struggled with the closet door but managed to finally get her shoes. She brought them to me and then enlisted my help in getting her socks. And then out we went. I love to watch the older kids play with her as they are so good with her. Michael took her under his wing yesterday. He drove her around in the Escalade and then helped her on her tricycle. Tucking a mini football in the trike's basket, he explained in a sweet, sing-songy voice that he was going to take her to a football game. He carefully steered her over to the front porch and explained that they were going to "park" and then head to the game. After parking, he led her over to the "football field" where he tossed the football with her. In the meantime, Jacob was busy creating some sort of contraption with his bike, a wagon, and one of those rubber strappy things.

Alex made one appearance outside but only to tell Michael that she would pay him a penny to go down in the gully to get the basketball. I don't know what that was all about because she disappeared back in the house as soon as she had paid Michael for his services. She's quite the entrepreneur these days: She has a complete pricelist of services she can provide. I've explained that some of the items, such as cleaning her room, must to be done pro bono, but she'll weasel out a penny wherever she can.

Alex hasn't felt well for the last couple of days, but that hasn't stopped her work on her Art Show which took place last night at 7:00. The Box Office opened at 3:30 yesterday afternoon for Art Show tickets and at the bargain price of $.10 a ticket with a 50% discount for children ages 2 and under, she sold out quickly. It was quite a show with such pieces as "The Butterfly and the Color Storm," "Crayon Junction," "The Crucifixion," and "Bouquet of Flowers." My favorite was her watercolor entitled "Sunset on the Water." I inquired about purchasing this piece and was told it was $.05; however, I informed the artist that it was worth at least a quarter.

For a slow-moving, sometimes frustrating week, it has had its bright moments. And with a long weekend, perhaps everyone will recover and be ready for a new beginning in the Pierce world of academia. Since our cruise adventure will take us one day to Cozumel and another day to the Cayman Islands, I suppose I better get to planning some appropriate geography lessons to cover before we leave Miami's port.