Whose Line Is It Anyway? Props

          I have a cream-colored Boppy that is no longer in use.  Or so I thought.  I asked Caelin to put it upstairs; instead, he picked it up and put it around his neck, declaring, "I'm a walrus and these are my tusks!"  He then took it up to be put in storage.  Not two minutes later, Levi appears with said Boppy like a huge U on his head, crying, "Look, I'm a raging bull!" and charges me.  He procedes to the living room,where he puts the Boppy around his neck, and tells Caelin, "I'm a beaver, and these are my huge teeth!"  "No, wait," he turns the Boppy like a U again, with the ends up by his ears and declares, "I'm actually Santa Claus, and this is my big beard!"  By this time, I was remembering a show we used to love called Whose Line Is It Anyway? which had a segment just like this called "Props".  My boys could be masters.

Kids' Perspectives

     In the bathtub this morning, Tirzah was playing with some plastic cups.  "I'm making peace!" she says cheerfully.  "You're making what?" I ask, not sure what she said.  "Peace!" she responds.  I'm a little dense.  "You're making peace?" I ask, wondering what new kind of food that is.  "Yes! Like a peacemaker!" she clarifies.  OK, OK, I get it.  Maybe she's overheard a few of my talks with Levi?   A couple minutes later, she starts asking what things are for. "What's a house for?"  "What do you do with a house?" I prompt.  "Live in it." she responds.  "What are yours legs for?"  "What do you use your legs for?" I ask.  "To hold up yours buns!" she answers.  Of course.  What else?   ;-)
     Levi was working away on his subtraction drill this morning, when his head pops up and he bursts out, "I wish I could go to heaven right away, so I could see all my friends.  I looked in surprise, wondering what friends he's thinking of.  Then he continued, "Like Great Grandpa and Aunt Elaine."  There's no answer for that, just hugs.  :-)
     Speaking of perspectives, Aila is viewing the world right now from the confines of the pack n' play.  She is cheerful, however.  Her rampages of destruction have gotten a little out of hand, and a bit of structure might be just what the doctor ordered.  Now to put away the tapes, CD's, cat food, Uno game, clean dishcloths, dirty laundry, books and toys she has scattered!

Levi's Punishment?

     As I walked into the schoolroom this morning, I noticed a pushpin, point up, on Tirzah's seat. I picked it up and announced, "Look what was on Tirzah's stool!"  Caelin remarked, "That's because Levi put ithere so she would sit on it!"  I turned my eye on Levi, sho looked a little abashed at being caught.  I launched into a speech, asking him what he was thinking, and if it were wise or foolish to do such a thing.  "Foolish," he responded.  "And do you know what the Bible says about fools?  The need to be corrected." I continued.  "What can we do to correct your foolishness?" I asked.  "Umm," Levi looked thoughtful.  "Miss out on something?" he offered.  "Like what?" I asked.  "I could miss out on doing school." he suggested.  Oh, yes, that would be a terrible punishment, I'm sure!  Nice try! 

The Bad and the Best

     At supper "yesterday night" (kid language) Tirzah was chattering away at an unprecedented rate about anything and everything.  In the midst of her commentary, she announces, "And I am the best kid...ya."  (She regularly ends her statements with "ya", as if confirming to herself that she knows all about it.) After a brief pause, she looks at Scott with her sweet little smile and adds, "Just like you, Daddy!"  I roll my eyes; he chuckled and said, "We'll keep you around, Sweet-Tart". 

     As a note, Scott came up with the nickname Sweet-Tart for Tirzah after I told him about the time I overheard Tirzah talking to Aila, "My name is Tirzah, but Mommy and Daddy call me Tirzah."  I think she was used to the boys being called by their nicknames, so I mentioned to Scott that she should have one.  (He used to call her Sour Squaw, but perhaps she'd not appreciate that in the future!)
     I was at a friend's house this afternoon, looking at some curriculum, when Scott called.  He had an idea that we should go on a little off-road adventure in the Suburban, and offered to call in a pizza.  I, of course, thought that was a brilliant idea, since it involved no work on my part.  We picked up the pizza on our way home, gobbled it down, and headed out onto the back roads to check out some potential biking/hiking/ canoeing/camping/hunting areas.  We were travelling on an abandoned railroad bed, designated as a DEC truck trail.  The boys had unbuckled and were trying to get a better view out the front, when we came to a particularly rough patch.  "Sit down, boys, this looks really bad!" Scott warned.  "I love bad!" yelled Levi.  "Things that are bad are fun!"  I am afraid this may be his motto in life.

Our Day

     We all slept in this morning, after a busy weekend, and a late night last night.  School was a bit delayed and rather hectic, as I tried to get the laundry done as well.  Levi was doing his math, counting by 10's starting with various numbers.  He was saying 26,36,46,56, etc, in an ever-increasing tone and pitch.  When he got to 86, he was straining, and I braced myself for the final one, 96.  All of a sudden , he drops his voice to a surprisingly deep tone, and says slowly and loudly, 96!  What a goof.  He was like a jack in the box all morning, although he did well in everything, and even read a library book to me. 

     After he was done, he went to the living room where Tirzah was "cooking".  He asked her what was for lunch.  "Banana pie." she answers.  Hmm, sounds good to me!  Levi for two days now has been walking around randomly calling out, "Milk a cow for Hospice!".  No one knows why.

     I read 2 more chapters of "Heidi" to the children; we have only one left to finish the book.  Tirzah has a terrible time sitting still, but seems to catch more than I imagined.  She walks around saying, "Schwanli and Barli" to her self.   (Those are the names of their goats.)  Levi keeps waiting for Peter the goatherd to get a whipping. 
     Caelin has fallen a bit behind in his social studies, so we are trying to make up some lessons.  We are studying economics and the Great Depression.  Today we made stock certificates and play money so we can buy, sell, and trade stock this week and see how we fare.  While he and I were doing this, it was strangely quiet.  Levi and Tirzah had been playing store so nicely; when I found them they were in the bathroom, painting their hands with red food coloring mixed with rubbing alcohol.  (insert yelling, followed by sigh of resignation) The laundry is still not done; it's in piles all over my bed.  The kitchen/dining room is a mess.  It is almost 5 and I haven't started dinner.  I got no nap today.  But it's always interesting!

School with Levi

     Teaching Levi, or for that matter, doing school with Levi, can be a real challenge, and always interesting.  This morning, I was reading from Proverbs chapter 13.  I asked, "You wouldn't want to be lazy and poor, would you?"  "No!" Caelin emphatically responded.  "Well," said Levi, "It would be nice to be lazy, but not poor."  I think we all might tend to answer that way if we were honest! 
     Later on, Levi was reading a little book called My Pet Zack, about a boy and his pet fish.  He still stumbles over some words, and occasionally gets a little frustrated.  At one point he stopped and declared, "I would just eat this fish!"  Oh, my sweet little carnivore!  ;-)
     In math today, he was learning to use a ruler to measure inches.  He had a page with various lines he had to measure and write down their lengths.  He enthusiastically declared, "This makes me feel like a real scientist!"   

Impressive

     Caelin has taken up burpning as an art from/sport.  He claimed the other day that while doing his school work he had burped 100 times in a row.  Wow.  I'm so proud.  I always knew he had hidden talent.
     Today, Tirzah walked out into the living room to see what Levi was doing, put her hands on her hips and says,"I am not impressed!"  Haha- wonder where she's seen that!  ;-)
     Speaking of impressive, Caelin had been at the shop with Scott the other day;when he got home he said, "Look, Mom!  Do you know what this is?" and showed me a long stick of wood with about half a shingle screwed onto the end.  He flapped it in the air.  "It's a people swatter!  Like a fly swatter, only bigger!"