Christmas fun

now that the holiday is over, i finally have the time to write! we had a great time celebrating Christmas with friends and family. here are some highlights.

on Christmas eve, we attended the Christmas service at our church for families. there were lots of carols for the kids to sing and the nativity story acted out by some of the older children. Skye loved it. she sang really loud all the songs she knew and eagerly watched the older children up at the front. after the service, we went to a friend's house for an early dinner.

Christmas day, Skye woke up before Claire and came downstairs. we had told her she couldn't open any gifts until Claire was awake. that was a little hard for her! well, Claire knew something was afoot because she crawled out of the room super fast once she woke up and was in a hurry to get downstairs! the girls had a great time opening gifts and were quite wound up for breakfast.



after a hearty meal, we bundled up and headed out for some sledding. and because the days had been warm and then suddenly gotten cold again, the ground was really icy and fun for flying down the slopes. even Claire had some fun on the sled.



in the afternoon, while Claire napped, i took Skye ice-skating. well, technically not really ice-skating. we had bought her some "bob-skates" for Christmas. they are skates with double blades for young kids. she had a great time. i think i'm going to have to get some ice skates myself as the girls get older!



after an active day, we returned home and spent time reading the books Skye and Claire got for Christmas. Snowy and Chinook and Sunny. both books come with music CDs and activities for kids to do. Snowy and Chinook inspired us to make some hot chocolate. Sunny inspired Skye to make a guitar. when she was finished with her guitar, Skye decided she needed a strap for it like Lisa Loeb (we have been listening alot to Lisa Loeb and Elizabeth Mitchell's "Catch the Moon" CD lately and even watched the music video for some of their songs and in all of them, Lisa Loeb carries her guitar on a strap). here is Skye with Phil, having "band practice." she put on her sunglasses to look like Lisa Loeb. :)

Temperamental weather

we've had some bizarre weather for the past few days. it got warmer, but was cloudy and we had lots of fog during the day. it looked eerie, but since it was warm, we could go out a play. so that's what we did. here are some shots of Skye and Claire out and about with some of the neighbourhood kids.

here Skye and our friend Josie made a snow man (with the help of Josie's dad, Rob)


here's Claire sporting some new snow boots. i had to go out and get some - she was walking outside in her soft leather shoes and they got sopping wet and her feet were frigid! she is very eager to walk around outside, but still holds on tightly to my hands.



Skye having a great time sledding in our neighbour's backyard.


Skye and Nathaniel (who lives next door) by their "snow volcano".


after the two warm days, we got some coldness today. temperatures dropped to the teens. there were gusty winds that brought snow flurries. so we had to cancel our dinner with Phil's family since they were driving up from Illinois. we rescheduled our dinner to Wednesday, Boxing Day.

Ballet recital

today was Skye's end-of-semester ballet recital. the class had read the "Nutcracker" story and was to dance the part of Clara. we also got to see all the various ballet positions and steps the girls had learned. here are some shots and movies of our morning. Skye had a great time dancing for us all!

here is Skye with all the girls in her class. they are all dressed up as Clara from "The Nutcracker"


Skye with her teachers, Miss Amy and Miss Melissa


Skye as a cancan dancer!


here are two movies out of the numerous movies we made of the recital. enjoy!


Cancan dance from slkim on Vimeo.


Nutcracker (sort of) from slkim on Vimeo.

Fun in the snow

here are some shots of the snow! and do check out the new movie.





we finally managed to get both girls out for some sledding and that was alot of fun. Skye loves it now - last year, she was still getting used to the snow spraying in her face. Claire is curious about the snow, but still hates the wind and the cold. she enjoyed the sledding for a few minutes and then got too cold for it. i do feel badly that Claire is unable to walk around outside. when Skye was Claire's age, we were in North Carolina and we were out all the time to practice our walking. Claire has to make do with her walker in the house. she's like a little tornado with it though. she flies around, bashing walls and furniture, running over toys, books, whatever is on the floor and in her way!

Winter Days

every time i back out of our garage, i feel like i am playing luge. my car bounces off the snow walls if i don't steer super straight. it's almost impossible to see if there are pedestrians or cars coming down the street - that's how high the snow has piled up.

so, we're spending lots of time inside. here's a shot of Skye with her finished gingerbread house! we had lots of fun baking it and putting it together.

Kim family's Top Ten Christmas songs

10. Deck the halls
9. O Little town of Bethlehem
8. Hark the herald
7. Away in a manger
6. Silent night
5. Jingle Bells
4. We wish you a merry Christmas
3. Go tell it on the mountain
2. Joy to the world

and number 1 is....



Jackson Five's Santa Clause is coming to town! we tried many other renditions, but they all failed to elicit the excitement and booty shaking as this one does...

Snow, snow, and more snow

did i say i loved the snow? there is now so much snow here that snow piles are turning into snow mountains. the sidewalks are lined with snow walls. i kid you not. and we are expecting more snow this weekend. wow.

fortunately, our heater is working and we have a warm home. we are happily busy indoors with Christmas activities. Skye and i are planning to make our first gingerbread house this weekend. we'll post a picture when we're done! :)

Claire got up off the floor and stood up all by herself yesterday and looked mighty proud! now, all she needs to do is get those feet moving...

here's the latest shot of Claire in her kindermusik class!

First Sunday of Advent

we didn't make an advent wreath as we've done in the past - this year, i decided to just have candles - does that still make it legitimate? i hope so! in the past, Skye enjoyed celebrating Advent because it gave her the opportunity to learn all the words of the Christmas carols. then when we went to church for Christmas eve, she'd be able to sing along with everyone else. today, she asked what "hope" meant because we were talking about hope. Phil explained it's like wishing for something. Skye wishes for things all the time. i told her it's like Christmas day - you're waiting and waiting for it to come quickly, you know it's coming, but you have to wait for it to arrive.

it's sort of daunting to think about a day when all our hopes and dreams and longings are fulfilled. so much of our life is made up of hopes and dreams and waiting. it's hard to imagine what it would be like to not wait and not long for anything anymore. but how wonderful that day will be!

Claire is busy learning to communicate with us. these days she points to things with her finger and says something that resembles "this" (th-ssssss). i think it's because we respond to her usually with "do you want this?" she's very careful around the Christmas tree. i expected her to pull off all the ornaments in her reach, but they remain mostly on the tree.

Snowed in

today, we had our first snowfall of the season! and it came down in abundance. it snowed all day long. it was really beautiful. we could hear the constant "shrrrrr"-ing sound of the snow falling. the first snowfall is always breathtaking. of course, by january, we'll be over it, but for now, we are enjoying the beautiful white world.

we spent the day doing some Christmas stuff - we painted Christmas wrapping paper (please see the video on side bar). we also trimmed our tree. then we went out to play a bit in the snow. we made snow angels, shovelled our driveway, and went sledding down our neighbour's backyard. Claire wasn't crazy about the snow, but Skye loved it. and after romping in the snow, we came back in for some hot chocolate.

these are what i enjoy most about Christmas. yes, the gifts and all that are wonderful, but i love watching Skye listening intently to the CD player so that she can learn all the words of the Christmas carols. i love trimming the tree. and i love the quiet and peace the snow brings. yes, it's temporary and doesn't last too long, but still, at least we are given a taste of beauty.

Thanksgiving and birthday celebration

we had a full and fun weekend. my parents arrived tuesday evening. we hadn't seen them since the summer. i was amazed how great Claire was with them - it only took her about 10-15 minutes to warm up to them. Phil and i were relieved because we had planned a dinner outing, just the two of us, the next evening. we couldn't even remember the last time we ate out without the girls! Phil had made a reservation at L'Etoile for 6pm, so that we could be back to put the girls to bed. i thought we would be the first customers at the restaurant, but we weren't. we were the second. but we got some great seats by the window which overlooked the capitol that was lit up and it started to snow, so we had a fantastic view. the food was delicious and it was really great to be able to just enjoy my food uninterrupted. most meals, i'm scarfing down as fast as i can or i'm getting up from the table a million times (mum, i need this or that, someone else is screaming to be taken out of the high chair, etc). when Phil and i got home, Claire was screaming. fortunately, it hadn't been for long. i think it went well for her first time without mum in the evening! my mother said she did great until the very end.

it was so great all weekend to have my parents playing with Skye and Claire. i was cooking up a storm (or so it seemed!), so it was great for the girls to have my parents to play with them.

thanksgiving day, we went over so a friend's house. there were several other families so there were lots of playmates for the girls. friday, Phil's parents and brother, Mike, and his wife, Megan, came up from Illinois to celebrate Claire's birthday with us. there is a Korean tradition for the first birthday: you set out various items that symbolize different things and the baby gets to pick something out. for example, we used a ball of yarn to symbolize long life, $20 for wealth, pencil for wisdom/intelligence, ball for athleticism, and then my parents sort of threw in some other things too. like a paint brush for artistic talent and a stethescope for doctor. guess what Claire picked out? so she sort of went for the money, then she sort of went for the paint brush and then decided on the money!







both Skye and Claire are wearing hanbok the traditional Korean dress.


if you'd like to watch the videos, i've posted them at vimeo (you can access them from the sidebar). it was great fun for the girls, but i also realized how hard it can get for Skye with all the attention on Claire. she's a much kinder sister now that all the celebrations are over and all the people oggling over Claire are gone! not that she did anything horrible, but there were moments when things just weren't easy.

all in all, it was a fun and busy weekend. now my parents have returned to Michigan and we are getting back into our regular routine. and before i know it, Christmas will be upon us!

Thanksgiving weekend

my parents are in town for the weekend, so i'll return to blogging after the festivities are over. happy thanksgiving everyone!

Terrible Fours?

the so-called "terrible twos" and even the threes were not so bad for us, but i'm beginning to wonder if our time has finally arrived. overall, i still have to say Skye is a great kid and gives us very little trouble. a woman once said to me, if i had kids like yours, i'd have ten and more (she obviously has no children of her own). however, she's in this stage where making jokes is the greatest thing and brings home lots of "bathroom" language from school. there is quite a range of words that gets used to call each other. she called me "stinky piece of trash" once. so we had to have a talk about what words are ok to call people and what words are not. we're trying to teach some discernment, but it's hard at this stage. i'm sure all the kids in the class think it's hilarious whenever these words get used. Skye did come home from school the other day and told me that she told one of her friends he couldn't come over to our house for a playdate if he used bathroom words. his response? well, then you can come to my house to play. the world of four year olds!!

while Claire and Skye have some great sister moments, we also have the other end of the extreme. for the past two days, we've had lots of shoving, hitting and screaming at Claire because Claire is "ruining my stuff!" i'm sure it's only going to get worse until Claire is old enough to understand. i find myself making mistakes too, like not setting up a rule like: Skye can't play with the things that'll make her upset if Claire touches them while Claire is awake. those are toys to be played with during nap time. and of course i'm always harder on Skye because she's older.

but as you can see, not all sister times are terrible. there are some sweet moments like this one where Claire is giving Skye a hug!

Goodbye to Pete Bosscher

over the weekend, a friend of ours passed away - he had been battling cancer. we met him and his wife, Marcia, when we first moved to Madison and they were so gracious to us. if there was ever a man i would have wanted for an uncle, Pete would be that man. he was so great with Skye - he would get down on his hands and knees (he was a rather tall man) and play with her. whatever she said, he thought wonderful and brilliant. there aren't too many "big" people Skye gets excited to see, but "Mr. Bosscher" was different from other big people. so it was with difficulty we explained to Skye that Mr. Bosscher had died. we had visited the Bosschers a few weeks ago and Skye got a chance to see Pete who was quite changed in appearance. now, i'm glad she got that opportunity. it was heartbreaking to see Skye crying to hear about Pete. she kept asking why he died and then she said she didn't like it that people died, that she didn't want to die. we're planning to take her to the funeral - it'll be a good way for all of us to say goodbye to Pete and to hopefully give some comfort to Marcia.

Passions

Skye is passionate about ballet and playing doctor these days. she looks forward to ballet class every week. this weekend, she has been asking constantly, when do i go back to school? because tomorrow, she begins the new theme at school: hospital! she plans to play doctor with her friend ALL the time.

Claire is passionate about crayons. before, she would simply put them in her mouth, but now she has discovered the wonder of making marks with them. and of course, she's always passionate about copying Skye. the girls were in the tub tonight and Skye started splashing with her feet. Claire followed suite and found it incredibly funny. the girls were splashing and giggling, making lots of noise and mess. it was fun to watch.

Claire's one year check-up

we went to Claire's one year check-up today. she is in the 25 percentile for weight and length and 50 percentile for head circumference. she has a good sized head, but we were slightly concerned about the rest. Claire's doctor didn't seem too concerned because Claire looks and acts very healthy. i guess she's just a petite little thing. Skye was always above the 50 percentile. just another reminder that Claire is different from her older sister. she just has a different physique.

Claire received some shots today. we got a little history lesson about the varicella (chicken pox) shot because Claire's doctor's husband was one of the first doctors to receive the test shots to administer to his patients. they came up with varicella mainly because society lost too much money with parents staying home from work for their kids sick from chicken pox which usually lasted for about a week. not so much that kids were dying from the disease. interesting, no?

Preparing for the cold

yes, it is that time of the year again. i was thinking this as i zipped a screaming Claire in her snowsuit today. fortunately, Skye has learned she needs to bundle up and is bringing home all kinds of winter gear ideas from her friends at school. she wanted a hat that completely covers the mouth and nose. apparently one of girls at school has one. the down side to winter is how expensive all the gear gets. fortunately for Claire, she received lots of hand-me-downs and all i'll have to get her are some boots for when she starts to walk. but Skye, who is shooting up, will need some new snow pants since she's already outgrown last year's.

Phil reminded me that Skye, at Claire's age, was busy smelling flowers, both real and not real (pictures, flower patterns on clothes, etc). i had to remind him we were living in North Carolina at the time, taking leisurely walks around our neighbourhood every day where we could spot flowers almost year round. how often does Claire get to see flowers? maybe 2 months? 3? instead, she'll get to know snow really well!

here we are enjoying one of the pleasures cold weather brings - eating roasted chestnuts! except Claire has climbed onto the table and scattered all the peels all over the table!

Happy Birthday, Claire!!

here is Claire eating her sweet potato pie for her first birthday! the story behind the pie: the evening before Claire was born, we ate sweet potato pie for dessert. we think it had something to do with her quick entrance into the world! :)



Happy Birthday! from slkim on Vimeo.

when family comes over next week during Thanksgiving weekend, we will have a traditional ceremony for Claire, but for now, we just enjoyed our sweet potato pie. and if i sound rather stuffed up on the video, it's because i was a sick, sick mama. if you're up for it, there's another video of Claire actually eating the pie - you can click on it on the side bar.

and here are some photos from last year when Claire was actually born. this one is of Claire getting weighed on our kitchen island by one of the midwives, Anastasia.



here is everyone that was involved with the home birth!


Skye gets to hold Claire minutes after the birth.

More thoughts on motherhood...

your various comments on the Michelle Obama entry prompted this entry. i keep wondering why we women feel so unprepared for all the changes, emotionally, physically, psychologically, having children brings into our lives. do we blame our mothers for this? but i think my mother had us at a very different time and place than where i'm raising Skye and Claire. my mother worked and my grandmother took care of my brother and me. she could do that because my grandmother lived with us. did she have a choice? i'm not sure. i think she had to work - she was the breadwinner at that time. things changed once we moved to Kenya - she was much more involved in our lives. as for me, i have a choice. to stay home and raise my kids or work. i wouldn't be working out of necessity. and yet our struggle remains. some women i have met are perfectly content with raising the children and not working (by working, i guess i mean a real paying job). i'm happy with this too. but there are those of us, who have certain desires and passions to do certain things, whether it be work, something creative, whatever it might be, and we have to constantly battle this tension. it's exhausting some times! and yes, while kids grow up and leave the house but the work is always there, i sometimes think the time/opportunity can pass for certain things. i often think about my writing and wonder if i'll ever write something that is relevant at the time or will i have missed the right time for it?

A grump and a scare

i've been such a grump these days and i have no idea why. my tolerance level seems much lower with the kids and i find myself being less patient. i often tell Phil, i used to be such an easy-going person - what happened to me?

here is an example of why perhaps i've lost that easy-going self. our car broke down over the weekend and we borrowed a friend's car. this morning, i was returning home with the girls from ballet/kindermusik class with a brief stop at the store. Claire was playing with a small carton of yogurt and of course i hadn't thought that she would actually bite through the top. and of course she throws the carton down and Skye is telling me, mama, the yogurt's spilling out. onto our friend's immaculate seat. once i pull into our driveway, i get out of the car, run over to Claire's side to wipe up the mess. except the car door is locked. i run back to the driver's side but the door has locked somehow! and yes, the keys were still inside. i'm starting to panic. i'm yelling at Skye to go to the front of the car and press the unlock button. she tries several other buttons before finally locating the right one. in those few minutes, i can feel my hands starting to sweat and my heart thumping. fortunately for me, Skye is old enough to unlock the car. Phil reminded me how fortunate it was that it wasn't just me and Claire!! i can't even think about that without panic level rising.

i'd like to think that i'm a mum that takes advantage of every waking moment to enjoy my family, but to be honest, lately, i haven't been. i guess what i'm trying to say is that sometimes i'm so torn up between wanting to be selfish and then feeling awful for feeling that way, i end up being a grump.

Michelle Obama

i recently read an article about Michelle Obama (Vogue Sept 2007). here are some things about motherhood in the article that i found interesting.

"Every year, Michelle Obama considers quitting her job and staying home full-time to take care of her children...But having experienced the pleasures of work outside the home, she is reluctant to give up her independence. 'Work is rewarding,' she says. 'I love losing myself in a set of problems that have nothing to do with my husband and children. Once you've tasted that, it's hard to walk away.

"People don't tell you how much kids change things. I think a lot of people give up on themselves. They get broken, but if we can talk about it, we can help each other."

the question i always come back to is, how do women manage to do it all? how can we be devoted mothers and work at something else that we love all at the same time? something has to take second place.

Exercise post baby

ok, so Katie Holmes ran the NY marathon and was seen in heels a few hours later...she trained for the marathon for 2 months. how did she do it?? Phil's been asking me when i'm going to start exercising again and i'm like, excuse me, but exercise is like at the bottom of my priority list? i know it shouldn't be, but come on, after a full day, the last thing i want to think about is getting some exercise. fortunately for me, i don't have pregnancy fat to be rid of, but i do have other indicators telling me i need to get back into shape. my wrists and arms ache a little more these days when lugging Claire (who is growing heavier) around. Claire likes to suck on my belly after nursing. it's hard to believe i once boasted a firm, flat belly. and i sort of get a little breathless when pushing the double jogger up a steep slope.

yep, i suppose i need to bump up exercise on my priority list. i'll let you know when it happens!

Snow?

by now, i know Madison is cold, but snow flurries already? i thought i was seeing things today when i looked out the window. the day was a little colder than usual and extremely windy. then, in the afternoon, it started raining hail. then the sun came out. and then it started to snow. it was quite a temperamental day. we are supposed to get snow this week though, so i'm getting ready to pull out snow gear. Phil keeps telling me the snow won't stick, but who knows?

Ancient Korean wisdom vs western medicine

the other evening, the girls were taking their bath and i heard Skye singing, "hurry up and wash up, we are going to see the king." we started laughing so hard - Skye mainly because i was laughing, but i thought it wasn't too far from the original, "soon and very soon, we are going to see the king."

ever since the weather got colder, we are once again battling various illnesses Skye picks up from school. last time, it was the ear infection. this past week was a pink eye. Skye complained of her eye hurting and so we took her in to urgent care. they told us it was a viral kind and it would go away in 3-5 days. all they told us was to give her tylenol if it bothered her. her eyes got a little red and puffy, but not too bad. my parents suggested i flush out her eyes with salt water which Skye hated, but it seemed to help because the redness and swelling disappeared the next day. our neighbour, an eye and ear doctor (can't remember the medical term) looked at me rather oddly when i told him i used salt water to flush out Skye's eye, but hey, this is ancient Korean wisdom we're dealing with here! :)

Happy Halloween!

here are some photos of our fun-filled evening. Skye was SO excited about dressing up and going out to trick-or-treat. it was rather chilly, but we had fun, especially since all the neighbourhood kids came out and we went around the block as a group. it was a great time to see all the neighbours we don't get to see too often. Skye did get scared by some of the older kids' costumes who came trick-or-treating to our house later in the evening, but we were part of the early young crowd.


here is Skye and Claire with their friends Avery and Colette.


here's a shot of the very cute little black cat and a very beautiful princess. i should point out Skye made her own crown!


here we are, ready to go trick-or-treating! and yes, i had to dress up to match my kids!


isn't this the cutest?


some of the neighbourhood gang :)


thawing out inside after the trick-or-treat


and this was from last year's halloween - what a difference a year makes!

Activities on the homefront

whopeee! they've finally started to pave our street! it no longer looks like a disaster zone outside our front door. we're so looking forward to saying goodbye to all the diggers, bobcats and bulldozers and so looking forward to being able to use our driveway and walking on our sidewalks again. perhaps our block will actually be almost back to normal when we hit the street wednesday evening for trick-or-treat.

here are two movies i wanted to share with you. one is of Claire dancing to music - i was able to capture it finally! and the other is of Claire busy in the kitchen and Skye busy with her project.


Dancing to music from slkim on Vimeo.



Rearranging Cutlery from slkim on Vimeo.

Fall days

the temperatures are dropping! and the trees are turning glorious reds, oranges, yellows. if it wasn't for all the construction on our street, we would be seeing lots of beautiful signs of fall around us. it is great to get out though. as long as the sun is shining, it feels wonderful. but i know winter is coming and i'm reminding myself to start thinking about winter gear for the girls. and what about our daily walk to school? not sure...i have considered pulling the girls on a sled, but that's if there's snow on the ground. what about those freezing cold windy days when there's no snow on the ground?

Claire is finding creative ways to communicate to us. for example, i've noticed the last few days that when she's ready to come out of the tub after her bath time, she'll stand up and look at where her towel is hanging, telling me it's time for me to dry her off. it's such fun to be amazed each day by her new progress. at the same time, we're in the stage where there's lots of falls and tumbles. so, lots of tears. also lots of tears over frustrations. i remember this stage with Skye, where they know what they want to do, but can't do it because they can't walk. i'll be glad once Claire walks. i know many parents wish to delay the walking, but frankly, i feel like they are so much happier when they can walk.

here is a recent shot of the two girls.

Pink tutu

so i dug up my old pink tutu that i had worn for "Cinderella" performances during my ballet days and passed it down to Skye. here is a movie of Skye when she first put on the tutu.


Pink Tutu from slkim on Vimeo.

and here is a shot of me wearing the very same tutu at the age of 8, i think.

Unfamiliar territory

yesterday, we entered a new territory with Skye. she had had a playdate at her friend's house and when i went to get her, she looked like she had a great time. but when we got home, she tells me, "my friend said she didn't like me." i tried to get what exactly happened out of her, but of course it's very difficult to interpret a 4 year old's version of events. but what got me was Skye saying, "i was worried about my friend." this is a friend Skye considers one of her closest friends and so it must have affected her enough to mention it to me and to Phil later on in the day.

i talked to her friend's mother today and got the full story. apparently, Skye's friend wanted to move on to another activity while Skye did not. and so her friend said she didn't like Skye, her reaction to Skye's lack of compliance. the girls are fine today and are best friends, but we mothers had to really work hard at resolving this! i realize this is just the beginning. i have years and years ahead of me helping Skye work through issues with peers. and how do you teach a four year old about the give and take of friendship? any ideas anyone? even adults still have to learn that lesson. i did explain to Skye that the next time one of her friends wants her to do something and she's not ready to move on, then instead of just saying no, she should try explaining to her friend that either she's not ready to move on, or she doesn't want to move on because...etc. i'm glad Skye is strong minded enough to not have to do everything her friends want her to do, she has her own ideas in mind, but at the same time, when you play with friends, you can't always just go your own way. then you're not really playing together.

i think this incident was a lesson to both girls, and to both mums! we have lots to learn ahead of us.

A Good Day

today was a delightful day. Phil and i looked at each other and asked, when was the last time we had such a good day? we couldn't remember! isn't that awful? but then, it was so pleasant, it was a gift. Claire took an unbelievable 2 and a half hour nap. Skye played happily. it was raining outside, but we were cozy inside, drinking hot apple cider and doing puzzles, wrestling, making risotto and brownies for dinner and folding the laundry. i know, it sounds really boring, but it was such a calm and relaxing day. i don't know when we'll have such another!

yesterday was U of Wisconsin's Arts Night Out, an annual event at the university. it's an evening when the different departments in the arts at the university open themselves to the student body and to the general public. there are lots of art exhibits, concerts and workshops. most are geared for adults, but there were a couple of events that were family friendly. we ended up at the metal works studio in the art department where people/kids were allowed to carve their own designs onto cuttlefish bones and then students of metal works melted pewter, poured it into the designs and then you ended up with a pendant. Skye and i carved a star onto our cuttlefish bone. it was great fun watching them melt the pewter over a plate of hot coal and then pour it onto our design. then a student filed down our star for us, put a hole in the middle and threaded it onto a ribbon. i'm not sure what Skye thought of the whole event. to Skye, making art is painting, drawing, cutting, pasting. this was completely beyond her ideas. but i think she is fond of the star pendant. she hangs it in a special place. as for me, it was fun to be back in an environment that reminded me so much of my days at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. one of my friends asked me if it was inspiring. i think it made me wistful, more than anything. it made me itch to make stuff, to create. and that requires time. i'm still hoping there will come a day when i can go back to doing the things i love. as for now, i was happy to show Skye a glimpse of that world and perhaps it's been tucked away in her brain to resurface later in her life when she's ready for something like metal works.

Many Firsts

i've been feeling rather scattered lately and haven't had the energy to blog, but hopefully i'm back to being more regular here!

there have been several firsts for us in the past couple of weeks. the happier first is that Claire claps! here is a movie of me trying to capture Claire clapping. do watch to the end because it is quite rewarding.



the next first was Skye's ear infection. she woke us all up in the middle of the night last week complaining her ear was hurting. since we've never dealt with ear infections before, we had no idea what was wrong. plus, Skye didn't have a fever so i didn't think it was an infection. when we got to the doctor's office the next morning, we discover there are ear infections without fevers. i decided to hold off on the antibiotics to see if the ear would take care of itself. i kept a rather disappointed Skye home from school and she had to miss a field trip to an apple orchard. by evening, Skye said her ear wasn't hurting anymore and was in good spirits. i was really thankful the infection cleared up so quickly.

phil and i also got new phones which means the kids can finally play with the phones they've been so eager to play with. but now they've lost interest of course and would rather play with the brand new ones.

Skye continues to love her ballet classes. i asked her if she'd prefer to go to gymnastics class instead of ballet and she says, no, i like ballet. and Claire is doing great in kindermusik. she gets really happy whenever we play the CD from class or i sing the songs to her. she also does this really cute dance whenever she hears music. i'll have to try to capture it, but very difficult to do.

Rain & construction

over the weekend, the construction continued on our street. they tore up part of all the driveways and then filled them with dirt. then it rained all night, so you can imagine what our street looked like this morning. our neighbour's car was stuck in the mud when we got out. our car wheels were spinning too so i ended up parking elsewhere. but it was great fun for the kids. we were out in our rain boots, splashing in the puddles, squishing through the oozing mud.



and here is Claire doing her thing, climbing the stairs. she must do this at least 3 or 4 times a day!

Windy Day

yes, it was a very windy day today, so we went to a park by the lake and flew our kite. it was lovely. usually, Skye is running around to keep the kite up in the air, but today, the kite had no problem staying up.

here are some movies of Claire. in the first one, Claire shows you how she's trying to talk/read. and in the second one, you'll see her happy dance, her little pirouette on her bottom.

Children's books

have any of you read some good children's books lately? would love some titles if you come across interesting ones. Skye loves books and Claire is beginning to show interest in books too. Claire actually looks at some of the pictures now instead of eating the pages! she makes cooing sounds and acts like she's reading - very cute. with Skye, we recently finished reading Ramona the Pest. she enjoyed all of Ramona's crazy antics and thought Ramona was very "silly." while she found Ramona's character funny, i'm not sure she related. perhaps i related more than Skye since i'm a second child like Ramona. but, the book inspired Skye to write her own book and that's been quite exciting. Skye spent several days writing and drawing her own book, "Ramona goes to the store", and we've read it many times. when i told her that i was writing a book and showed her the manuscript i'm working on, she sort of looked at me funny and then said, wow, that's a lot of words.

we also love this book - Windy. the illustrations are fabulous and there are instructions on how to build a kite!

happy reading!

Growing up

can't believe it's already the end of Skye's second week back at preschool. we've been busy - Skye's made several new friends and Claire is going through some new phase in her development because she's not sleeping much during the day.

Skye keeps wishing she could go to preschool in the morning because that's when most of her friends from preschool last year are going this year. but silly mum took too long registering Skye last year we didn't get into the morning class. i had no idea mothers came extra early to school on registration day, filled out the forms right then and there and handed them in! i was busy adjusting to Claire so i took my time and now i'm having to listen to Skye's wistfulness and being reminded of my negligence. BUT Skye is making some new friends and i think this wish for morning class will soon disappear. Avery, Ruby and Gianni are names that come up frequently in our conversations. and one day a week, when Skye has lunch bunch at school, she gets to see her friends in the morning class. Skye's circle of friends is expanding and i think that's always a good thing.

Claire makes us laugh and cry these days. she is getting so mobile she climbs onto everything and grabs whatever is in sight for her little mouth. her favourite activity is to climb to the top of the stairs and scream for me to come up and get her back down since she hasn't quite mastered the getting down bit. when she discovers something new to touch, bang and suck on, she does a little happy dance - she does a pirouette on her bottom - and then gives a happy squeal. all wonderful, endearing things. but she does make us cry because she doesn't sleep. i thought i had it bad with Skye because she never slept much during the day. but Claire is just as bad, perhaps even worse. i keep telling myself this is just a phase and i hope i'm right!

and of course Claire's lack of sleep translates to my lack of time for writing while Skye is in school. i think i would be a much happier mum if i just gave up my writing all together. but then, i don't think i could do that. how do i stop doing what i love to do? so, the compromise these days is, i write on those good days when Claire does nap for an hour. can't plan for it. there's no guarantee that i'll get it today or tomorrow or the day after that, but when i do get it, boy, i better be inspired and ready to write!

i overheard two mothers talking after dropping off our kids at preschool (i was eavesdropping, but how could i not?) and one of the mothers was telling the others about how she dropped off the kids on the first day of school and the first thing she did was go to the mall, to the makeup section, and ask one of the ladies working behind the counter what new products she had. the mother had no need for any new makeup, but she spent over $100 and she does this every year after dropping off the kids on their first day and never tells her husband.

the first thought that came to my mind was, are we that miserable raising our children? and then i thought, no, we aren't miserable. in fact, we'd all probably say that our kids are the most important people in our lives and having them made us immeasurably happy. yet we all have to celebrate to a certain degree by pampering ourselves when we are released for a short time from the responsibility of motherhood. i couldn't imagine spending over $100 on makeup - actually, i could - but there are other ways i'd pamper myself if all my kids were off to school and i suddenly had no one to take care of but myself. i think what made me a little sad about the whole overheard conversation was that we feel entitled to some reward for all the hard work we put into raising our children.

i reminded myself that these early years fly by too quickly and i should try to enjoy them while they last. already, with Skye being at preschool every afternoon, i feel she is moving on and growing up all independent. and Claire's not too far behind.

Apple and grape picking

today, we went apple and grape picking. we did this last fall - we picked tons of apples and grapes and made apple butter and grape jelly and canned a year's supply. it was well worth the work! last year, Claire got to enjoy the whole experience while in my belly. this year, she got to participate! and participate she did!





this is Claire sitting with all the apple peels she has taken out of the bowl. they've all travelled through her mouth and hands and into her lap!


check out the latest movie. it's of the whole family making apple sauce.

First day of school

here is Skye at school on her first day.

she had been excited all morning, constantly saying, "i want to go to school now!" but when it came time to actually saying goodbye to me, she clung to my legs and didn't want to let go. "now, you're not going to start crying like you did last year, are you?" i asked. i know, i shouldn't pressure my poor child, but i didn't want to have to go through the whole separation thing we went through last year. thankfully, Skye said her goodbye and when i picked her up, she said she had so much fun and that room 4 (her room this year) is much more fun than room 1 (her room last year).

now, this is Claire late in the night. she has been waking up constantly until i head to bed. it's driving me batty, having to run into her every half hour every evening. i seem to get nothing done in the evenings. oh well.

The Coming of Fall...

amazingly, fall seems to have arrived already. today was one of those "champagne" days - sunny, but brisk. the construction on our street has finally moved on to the next block, so we seem to have some sanity back.

and since i barely keep track of the days, i was reminded of what day today was when i was writing a cheque. back in 2001, i remember it was a perfect day much like today. sunny, clear. i had just returned from several days of flying (i was a flight attendant for United Airlines at the time). how surreal it had all seemed then and how surreal it was when i caught just a short glimpse on TV of the memorials going on today at the crash sites. and then it was back to making lunch for the kids, putting Claire to sleep, etc.

so here is Skye, in her leotard, tights (under her leggings) and holding her ballet slippers, ready for her first ballet class. she had a great time and is already looking forward to next week! (notice Claire's little bottom off to the side? busy trying to climb the stairs!!)



here's my big girl! she has finally learned how to pump with her legs on the swings, so she's very proud of herself.



my two girls at the park.

Transitions

today was the beginning of many transitions this week. Skye moved up a room in Sunday school. one thing we've learned over the years with Skye is that she needs lots of time to accept change. what with being sick and all, i forgot to prep Skye last sunday with the idea that she would be in a new room with new teachers today. alas, i forgot to mention it to her until we were driving to church. she went reluctantly and with some tears but was quite happy and her usual i-love-sunday-school self when we picked her up. she also begins ballet lessons and returns to preschool. these two changes, she has had PLENTY of time to get used to and is quite excited about them. one of our pastors told the story of his first daughter who had a really hard time adjusting to kindergarten - i guess it took her something like 8 months! i'm trying to prep Skye as much as i can before changes happen, but today was a reminder of how i failed. not that i'm beating myself over the head about it, but i'm reminded once again of my duty as a parent to equip Skye for life. at the same time, i hope she'll learn as she gets older that life is unpredictable and she can be ok with that.

Claire, being the second born, seems to know so much more than Skye did at Claire's age. Claire is so busy these days trying to get into Skye's things and wanting to do whatever we are doing. i remember feeding Skye was much easier - she would eat pretty much whatever we put in front of her. Claire often refuses to eat unless we give her what we are eating. she doesn't want baby food, no, she wants the good stuff! and she knows what toys are not for her - she heads straight for those!

now that we are all feeling healthier, life doesn't seem so bleak as it did last week. i'm excited about this week.

More recuperation

one of my fears since becoming a mum was that i'd be sick while my children were sick too and it would be next to impossible to care for them because i was trying to take care of myself. well, that fear was realized last week. minus Phil, all three girls came down with a cold. fortunately, Skye's was pretty mild and mine was too until i ended up with a fever. i ran a fever for 2 days and Claire ran a fever for 3. it was awful because Claire was marathon-nursing day and night while i was feeling like i was about to drop. today was the first day we've all felt normal, although i still have this horrible hacking cough. mine seems to be lingering the longest. everyone else is healthy now.

so, that's why i've been unable to blog all this time!

this week, we're in preparation mode for school. Phil began his semester already on Tuesday, teaching 2 courses. Skye's preschool starts next Thursday - rather late due to some construction. she's eager to get back to school. i think she's getting rather bored at home.

i don't know how parents who homeschool do it. they must really really love the company of their children or are so super organized. and have lots of patience. after spending every waking moment with both children for the past month, i'm ready to hand them both off if i could! i run out of energy to keep both kids occupied long enough during the day just to clean the house. in some ways, it's much easier to abandon my duties at home and take the kids out to the park.

Claire's Milestones

Claire is amazing us these days. she's started cruising around and crawling. yesterday, she had climbed up almost to the top of the staircase before i discovered her! and on top of all that, she has 3 teeth coming in! she had been busy working on those while we were away on our trip. now they are finally breaking through. she walks quite well now holding my hands, so i'm sure she'll be walking by herself soon. her curiousity is twice her size. she's so busy checking everything out, but at the same time, her new mobility makes her a little needy at times. still looks around to make sure i'm in sight. lots of tumbles and bumps with all the moving, but it's wonderful to see little Claire. it's amazing to me - she still looks like a tiny peanut and she's already moving around! she's also doing this kind of salute to other people - she sort of holds her hand up at you. it's really sweet.



Walking at last! from slkim and Vimeo.

Construction & recuperation

the past week has been full. we returned to our dear home in madison late in the evening, so we went right to bed, only to be woken up early in the morning by this!




yes, they're bulldozing and tearing up our street to replace sewer pipes. the construction began back in july, but they were working on a different block. now, they're on ours. i'm glad to say we missed some of it while we were away, but i realize the work has only just begun. it is fun though to watch the diggers, but we do have to leave the house to escape the noise. the workers are very kind, even giving us a huge boulder for our garden that they dug up while digging the street!!

and then Phil went and had all four of his wisdom teeth pulled. his brother Mike came up to take Phil to and from the surgery - i was really grateful for that. when Mike brought Phil back, he and i had to walk Phil from the main street to our house since we can't park in our driveway anymore (due to construction). one of the workers turned off his digger and offered to help us carry Phil in, but by then, we were almost home.

and it has been raining every day.

i'm afraid i've become this witch, storming around our house. i've felt like i have 3 babies to take care of and only today have i felt semi-normal. tempers have been flaring. there's been an unusual amount of crying and whining. today, though, was a good day and we can all laugh about the past few days. my kids drive me insane.

i was reading an article about this couple that have created this new diaper bag. they are parents of one child and the mother says: "when you're a mom, you're overwhelmed. but when you have things in order, when you can open your bag and see everything you need without desperately rooting around, you can think, i'm not a bad mom, because i am organized."

i think we all learn to cope with our insanity in different ways! i'm guessing this mum might be a freak about organization?

Pix from our trip

Philly pix

a shot of the cousins! Amoz, Skye, and Claire, spent most of their time only half clad due to the heat and humidity of Philadelphia.

to celebrate the birthdays of Amoz, my dad, and me, my brother and his wife christe threw a party at a park.

Skye made a friend with Abby. the moment we took this picture, both girls shouted at the same time, "can i see? can i see?" what would we do without digital cameras?

Skye gives Amoz some loving.

at a sushi restaurant on my dad's birthday.




we visit Penn campus and Phil gets to revisit his college haunts. here we are at the broken button.



New York pix

first stop, the M&M store! Skye and i go crazy over the ceiling high dispensers filled with beautiful M&Ms!! there are even "Shrek-sized" M&Ms. Skye's favourite colours were pink, purple and turquoise.


Times Square

Skye falls in love with the doll house at the ABC Home & Carpet store.

at the carousel in Central Park.

Claire enjoys some time with grandparents at the park.

after a busy day...

people took to the streets for the Dominican Republic parade. lots of music and people dancing.

after the parade...the streets were completely deserted except for flyers and trash, it was sort of eerie.

one last gathering with my parents for my birthday at a restaurant that serves naeng-myun (it's a cold noodle dish). this is in NJ and it's the best naeng-myun i've had!!

Skye, Claire and i went to the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre in Central Park and both girls loved it. Claire eventually fell asleep, but Skye was mesmerized from beginning to end.



we met up with my friend, Darlene, who lives in NY.

tea time at Alice's Tea Cup. here's Skye with her special tea goodies: pb&j on banana bread, scone, and chocolate mousse

and Claire with a book!

Claire loved playing in the bathroom sink of our hotel.

one final visit to Central Park!


we loved our time in both cities. it was hectic and full, but so much fun. it was great to catch up with family and friends. but it's also great to be back home.