Long Winter

I am rather overdue for an update, aren't I? We are well, all in all. Don't the boys look so grown up all of a sudden? The'll be SIX in a few weeks! 1/3 of the way to legal adulthood. The boys like school, and are learning a lot. They are lucky to have science, art, and music in addition to gym and media every week (as not all schools do, anymore), but are also extremely into reading and math. They are both reading quite well, and our library trips now include a lot of leveled readers in addition to the Dr. Seuss, fairy tale and nonfiction fare they adore. I have very mixed feelings about kindergarten being the "new first grade" as it is these days, but thankfully, my own boys seem to do well with it and enjoy the more academic approach. There are kids in their classes who would have benefited from a year of the kindergarten of 20 years ago, I think--it's an awful lot, so soon. It helps that the Montessori approach is so hands on-- the manipulatives are really engaging -- and that they do have some control over what they're doing for some of the day and get to move around quite a bit. My boys are so very tactile, which can be a problem at times, but at their school, that can also be a strength. When I pass Olive*r's classroom on my way to volunteer in No*ah's, he is always deeply engrossed in a "work", looking quite focused and content, as is No*ah in his. The kids are sweet to each other, mostly, with lots of encouraging each other and hugs goodbye at the end of the day. On Friday, they are having an "in-school field trip"; the Co*mo Zoo is bringing a couple of live penguins right into the classroom and doing a presentation on Antarctica.

The winter has turned out to be quite brutal, and it isn't over. We've been sick a ton, as has everyone one we know, it seems. Viruses just spread so nicely when everyone is cooped up together all the time! Ollie had one night in the hospital for asthma a couple of weeks ago. We've had two good blizzards, and many more very cold days interspersed with snowfall. There are huge piles of snow all around the house, as our bungalow style of house is prone to ice dams and we have to rake the snow off of the roof. After the first blizzard, roofs all around our 1920's bungalow neighborhood leaked and caused major damage inside. We had a smallish leak as well, and now we're trying to prevent a basement flood when the thaw comes. Others will have it far worse, though - major flooding is predicted for this spring in many parts of Minnesota, including St. Paul. We're not in a flood zone, thankfully, but are nonetheless praying for a slow thaw.

Those who Faceb*ook with me know that I'm pretty good about writing down what the boys say, lover of words and humor that I am. Below are some to share with you non-Faceb*ookers:
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Oliv*r: "I still sometimes worry that gravity will end." No*ah, "That won't happen. But if somehow it does, let's hold hands, quick."

I asked Ollie where he got the idea for one of his "space adventure" drawings. He said, "From inside my 'magination. There's some really good stuff in there."

I have a sleeping little guy cuddled up next to me in our bed as I catch up on work. He had a bad dream. Lately, I keep thinking about how these tender moments won't last forever, and find myself being more patient with the need for reassurance, the band-aids for dubious injuries, a boy between us in the bed after a bad dream...

Found this next to No*ah's bed, after he spent a couple of happy hours by himself upstairs. He seems to have a head start on knowing thyself...

Oh good heavens - I am not ready for round II of Snowmaggedon. Blech. Time to start the seeds and dream of spring.

We walked past a decommissioned cannon near the Falls yesterday, and No*ah asked, "were people really tiny back then?" Because it didn't seem quite wide enough to shoot people out of at the circus.

No*ah: "Do chickens ever wish they were as smart as people?" Me: "I can't prove it, but I really don't think so." No*ah: "That's probably a good thing. Because we take their eggs and sometimes even eat them and everything - they might figure out a way to prevent that from happening."

Loved the Hiawatha Heartwarmer (winter festival) experience of standing on the lake making snowmen with about 50 other smiling kids and adults in the warm sunshine. Glorious.

We were talking about when the boys were babies someone dropped a huge box of diapers on our front step anonymously. Oliv*r's eyes grew wide, and he asked, "Did you need them because you were so busy you couldn't even stop to go potty?"

I got distracted by Oliv*r when I was decorating the cake, and wrote "O" for Oliv*r instead of "J" for Joel. Thankfully, I gracefully improvised...

Dentist today - 2 cooperative and polite boys, no cavities. Oliv*r wanted to know if there was anything he could do to move things along and finally get a loose tooth. I ♥ our dentist.

Me, in the car: "You're kinda quiet back there, No*ah." No*ah: "I'm just reading things as we go by them. Could you please slow down a little bit?"

Oliv*r: "I had a dream last night that the number 14 was made into an odd number somehow. It was TERRIBLE!"

No*ah: "I think people need to make up their minds. They can either *say* the d in Sun*dseth, or I won't write it in!" Oliv*r: "Yeah!"

Windchill of -25 to -35. My neck gator froze to my nose. Send tea.

Some kids count sheep. No*ah...recites the life cycle of the ant.

Oliv*r: "I think it's time for some tea and crackers, and some jazz, and maybe some drawing or a game of Uno in my slippers." Such a little aesthete - he has all his senses covered...

Oliv*r: "I just don't understand why *every* computer in the media center broke on the same day!" We had a little talk about the meaning of "the network is down". He asked if I got to watch a Magic Schoolbus movie at work when that happens too.

I have Magic Schoolbus-obsessed children. The original J. Cole ones only, though --none of those new smaller dumbed-down ones. Fun, though I'm not so fond of being "The Frizz" in their Magic Schoolbus games. Sensitive subject, the frizz.

Oliv*r: Mama, did you know that there are music people called "The Bare-Naked Ladies"? Me: Yes, I did. Oliv*r: I don't think they must play their music in the wintertime.

Methinks that perhaps only thing more beautiful than a man folding laundry is a man teaching his son how to fold laundry...

No*ah: "Ollie, my favorite thing to do in the whole world is to play with you. And read books." Oliv*r: "I'm too young to know what my favorite thing is yet."

The Works

We've been having a lot of fun at The Works, a hands-on engineering museum for kids. Here are some Facebook pictures you can see even if you aren't on Facebook.

It's been such a particularly cold, snowy winter this year - and this is the point where it always hits me that we still have a couple of months to go before it gets all that much better. This week, it's barely been above zero. Ugh. So we really appreciate these cheery indoor places where we can use our minds and our bodies!

indoor fun

As our winters are about 5 months long in Minn*sota, we always have to find lots to do indoors. In addition to our usual repertoire of crafting and doorway-climbing, here's some of what's been keeping the boys busy after school:

Puzzles, of course.

Every year for the last several years, we've put our tree outside still in the stand after Christmas (and after removing the ornaments), then create ornaments for the birds. We've done garlands, and pine-cones covered in lard and birdseed. It's a nice way to enjoy the tree and share it without all the pine needles in the living room!

The boys have ways of spending time with grandparents too. Grandma often stops by first thing in the morning and walks the boys to the bus on her way to walk at the YWCA. The boys also visit there, and it's so nice that they're only a couple of miles away. To visit with Omie and Opa beyond traveling to see them, the boys Skype and get read to through Readeo - which I highly recommend if you have young kids with far-away relatives that want to keep in touch. The picture of them above is of them being read to by Omie. She reads the book aloud and turns the pages, just as she would if she were sitting right with them. The boys can see her face as she's reading, and she can see them too. Grandma is a better bet for sitting on their cold feet, though.

Christmas 2010 (continued)

A few more pictures from our NYC visit. Jo*el took the boys to church camp for the whole weekend, and in addition to lots of laundry and a bit of sleeping in, I finally had a chance to sort pictures.






Rockefel*er Center


Reading to Omie and Opa--the boys are getting to be good readers and are having lots of fun with it.



Noa*h's "stuffies" are as big a part of his play as ever.




Museum of Nat*ral History. I loved the mushroom display.



Noa*h always seems happy with a clipboard in his hand. He's a rather studious sort, it seems. The boys loved the Touch and See room.

And horsing around with Oom (uncle) Ke*an.

Christmas 2010

Happy New Year! We went to visit my family in New Yo*rk City for Christmas this year - here are a few videos to share.


Apparently, the boys still remember the Dutch word "lekker". This is a video of them watching a video of Oma - kind of a funny transcontinental happening if you think about it. Do you notice any similarities between what Omie and No*ah do with their tongues? Is it genetic, maybe?


The boys made up a song and tried to sing it to us, but apparently, Oliv*er didn't quite do it right, according to No*ah. Pretty typical stuff, you see here.


The boys had a great time with their Oom K*ean too.


We stopped by Opa's office and picked him up on the way to Rocke*feller Center to see the tree, and No*ah demonstrated that he can count. He almost got the job, but he was a little too short yet.

better

What a couple of weeks! After recovering from flu, No*ah contracted a tummy virus and threw up for a few days, and then, as Ollie was getting better, we were terrified that he'd get that too. His doc was prepared to admit Oliv*er right away if he started throwing up --we had to work so hard to barely keep him properly hydrated. I spent hours spoon-feeding him water that he would only swallow one sip at a time with time in between. It wasn't easy on No^ah either, who'd also been recovering from the flu - he's lost almost 5 pounds, and we're really trying to fatten the little string bean back up. We separated them for a couple of days (that was fun - a sick, needy kid on each floor!) and No&ah thought it was pretty great getting to watch movies in his bed. Lots of people lent us DVD's to get through the time after the surgery. We didn't think we'd need them for 2 whole weeks!














But last Wednesday evening, No*ah was a mite better, and we went and bought a little Christmas tree together. I wasn't even going to get a tree because we're going to Manhatten for Christmas, but it was the one thing the boys seemed excited about. I was so very tired and so worried that day - Oliv&er just didn't seem to do anything but sleep and cry, and it was 10 days post-surgery. The nurse I checked in with over the phone seemed concerned, and suggested that he might need to come back to the hospital if he didn't perk up a little and eat more. No^ah, who can take quite a long time to make a decision about something, picked our little tree with an uncharacteristic singularity - a $15 understory tree that we had cut down to make it even smaller. He even asked the saleswoman where we should bring our car. He also picked out a couple of ornaments for Oliver that he wanted to hang in the living room windows so that Ollie would "have something lovely to look at". That boy can be such a stinker at times (especially with his parents - we hear nothing but good things from his teacher!), but sometimes his loving empathy is so beautiful to witness. When we got back home, No*ah completely lost his energy and asked to go to bed. His brother, meanwhile, was drinking on his own, and eating a bit, and had some color in his cheeks. After No@ah went to bed (at 5:30!), Ollie got up and helped me decorate the whole tree. I don't think I'll ever forget that evening - being with my sweet boy who politely picked out the tree and a gift for this brother and then with the other boy as he revived and helped create a thing of such beauty to help us to wait for Christmas.














I pretty much let him decorate it however he liked, being both so grateful for that moment and of the belief that a tree in a house with children ought to look like it. He's been steadily better ever since, though he's still up at night a lot. The steroids he was on so he could breathe he cause lingering insomnia (and impulsiveness and restlessness - fun when you're recovering from a tonsillectomy and the flu, and for your parents too!) . On Friday, he even went to school for just a couple of hours, and he'll go to a full day (with no gym) tomorrow. It was a messy, difficult couple of weeks, but we're just about through it now. Friends and family were really supportive and kind - sending little things for the kids, helping out No^ah while Ollie was in the hospital, bringing food. It made everything so much easier and more bearable.



As you can see, we had a snowstorm the other day. It was really hard to get my suddenly couch-potato, movie-watching kids back outside, but we did it, and we had a great time. (See how the boys switched the hoods on their jackets?)



The boys made a beautiful "snow lady".



Now I'm off to see how much butter I can sneak into the boys' dinner, because the wrong half of the family is losing weight before the holidays...

flu

Oh, for Heaven's sake - according to the on-call ENT, the boy has the FLU. Actually both boys, (though No*ah was getting a lot better by the time we figured it out). Relatively mild case, as they did get shots, but still not what Oliv*er needs. He's miserable, aching inside and out when he's not asleep. Really wishing we could just fast-forward a week.

recovering

Ol*iver has had quite the couple of weeks. He had a bad cold that kept him home for days, during which he learned a few new tricks.











Then this past Monday, we showed up at the hospital for his tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy. After many, many cases of strep, it was time to get rid of the "extra body parts", as Ollie put it. He spent the first half hour of waiting examining the mechanics of the bed, as he spent much of the hospital tour doing the week before. The nice tour lady kept trying to explain to him about the surgery and where everything was, and he just wanted to know all about the interesting bed. Very typical Oliv*er!



Every person who checked on Ollie that morning got a slightly different story about how he was feeling, from " REALLY nervous" to "not even a little bit nervous. I don't even care about the surgery. " Then he'd look at me and smile slightly in our own little inside joke. He watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when we had to wait longer than expected.



He was so calm and trusting, and didn't even need the customary sedative going into the anesthesia. Jo*el and I went to the family waiting area and the minutes ticked by. And ticked by. And. Ticked. By. And the time range we'd been given to expect came, and then went, and then doubled. It was pretty terrifying, and when we were finally led back, we found out that while the surgery itself went OK, Ollie had a laryngial spasm in the post-op area and needed to be "re-tubed" and given epi to open up his seriously blocked airway, all while awake. It was asthma-related, and related to the unfortunate timing of yet another cold setting in just then.



Thankfully, he remembers none of this, though it's hard just knowing he went through all that while awake. He had some trauma to the inside of his mouth and a very swollen tongue from when they had to put the tube back in, so he's now dealing with recovering from the surgery, asthma, another bad cold with a high fever, and some extra trauma to the inside of his mouth and the surgery site. Fun times. Given all that, though, he's doing OK. He spent the night in the hospital, and came home later the next afternoon. Jo*el was a daddy superhero and spent the night with Oliver cradled in his arms, the position he most wanted to be in. The staff was great - very kind and attentive to his emotional and physical well-being.



He was clearly glad to be home. No*ah was glad to have him back too (and is giving him a kiss here). On the way home, No*ah said, "Ollie, if they had wanted a bunch of money to let you come home, I would have given them all my money!" Not sure where he got that from, but it was very sweet. Right after we got to him after the surgery, Ollie was asking about No*ah - "How will No*ah know what is happening to me? How will No*ah know how I am doing?"



No*ah misses his wrestling partner quite a bit, but they're bonding over the suddenly unlimited movies and popsicles around here.



Ollie is still very tired and intermittently quite feverish, and spent most of the next day sleeping.


We had some pre-Thanksgiving snow for No*ah and Jo*el to play with.



We did actually make it to Thanksgiving at Steve and Kathy's.





Some of the grown-ups played games, a wonderful meal was eaten by most of us, and No*ah got to release some pent up energy with his buddy Zo*e.







and Oliv*er got lots of love and hugs.




And this sweet baby was a delight, as usual.


Obviously, there is much to be thankful for, even amidst the stress and chaos of the last week. On the short list this year are:

• Good health
• Healing
• Family
• Friends
• Medical Insurance
• Employment
• 2 loving church families
• The laughter of children
• Good teachers
• God's love
  
• Sunshine in an often dreary MN November
• The opportunity to use talents and gifts
• The time to appreciate all of the above.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!