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Monday, January 30, 2012
The Year of Clock
For ahwile now I've come up with some sort of theme for the new year. I tend to lean towards Chinese titles too. You know, this year is the year of the Dragon. I was born in the year of the rat...that sort of thing. Last year was the year of accessories. The year before that was the year of the scrapbook. This year will be the year of the Clock.
I have been less than impressed with my time managment skills. Little things like working on the blog, rocking a baby, or taking kids to variious activities have interfered with keeping a steady routine. Now it is a very loose routine that allows for some wiggle room but things like getting dinner ready so that we can all sit together or completing basic yet necessary chores to help our home run smoothly have been left unattended.
My track record hasn't been all that great. Yeah, I did complete Clarissa baby book but I didn't finish a book for Molly. I have bought quite a few accessories to enhance my outfits but I haven't been wearing them anymore lately. So I'm really nervous about keeping to my clock. I just hope by the end of the year I can manage my time and the family's time a little better than I have in the past. I feel a little more improvement. That is until I sit down to write a new blog post....
I have been less than impressed with my time managment skills. Little things like working on the blog, rocking a baby, or taking kids to variious activities have interfered with keeping a steady routine. Now it is a very loose routine that allows for some wiggle room but things like getting dinner ready so that we can all sit together or completing basic yet necessary chores to help our home run smoothly have been left unattended.
My track record hasn't been all that great. Yeah, I did complete Clarissa baby book but I didn't finish a book for Molly. I have bought quite a few accessories to enhance my outfits but I haven't been wearing them anymore lately. So I'm really nervous about keeping to my clock. I just hope by the end of the year I can manage my time and the family's time a little better than I have in the past. I feel a little more improvement. That is until I sit down to write a new blog post....
I just teach real language
I have friend that teases me. She insists on eating all organic food, she refuses to touch anything with soy, and thinks I'm silly for not teaching Jonah sign language. She used to teach at a preschool and found it very helpful to have the kids sign to her what they needed something. I laugh and tell her that as a language teacher, I just teach real language. Now I know, sign language is a real language too. I mean no disrespect to the hearing impaired that rely on that form of communication. But I find that barriers I would have with spoken language is no different with that of sign. I say cut out the middle man. Instead of teaching him to sign drink or cup I'll just teach him to say it. I'll still be left wondering what he wanted to drink or put in his cup no matter what. I remember Clarissa called all food cracker and so I had to go through the list of food she liked to learn what kind of cracker she wanted. Was it the green bean cracker, the pasta cracker, I just didn't know.
Jonah is doing a great job with his language skills. He is starting to babble away like he's really talking. It really is exciting for me to hear him pick up patterns and sounds. He learned "Daisy" first. But they are playmates during the day so I'm not surprised. Not even when the second word was a bark : ) He also says "Ada" for Adam. He yells his name up the stairs. But that is just copying me. He says "ma" for more and "ma-ma" for me. (I particularly love that mama thing. He will follow me around the house or look for me saying that one. Warms my heart everytime.) There is also a "na" but I'm not sure yet if it means no or mine. He says it with an intonation of mine but sometimes the context is more like a no. He hasn't really attempted his sisters names yet but definitely knows who I'm talking about when I say their names. He will also make a cute smacking sound to my cheek when I say kiss.
This is such an amazing time for him...and for me! I have loved watching all of them learn their language. Once their brain clicks it just starts flooding in. They recognize words so quickly and then begin producing those words almost instantly. I absolutely love it! And that's why I just teach "real language".
Jonah is doing a great job with his language skills. He is starting to babble away like he's really talking. It really is exciting for me to hear him pick up patterns and sounds. He learned "Daisy" first. But they are playmates during the day so I'm not surprised. Not even when the second word was a bark : ) He also says "Ada" for Adam. He yells his name up the stairs. But that is just copying me. He says "ma" for more and "ma-ma" for me. (I particularly love that mama thing. He will follow me around the house or look for me saying that one. Warms my heart everytime.) There is also a "na" but I'm not sure yet if it means no or mine. He says it with an intonation of mine but sometimes the context is more like a no. He hasn't really attempted his sisters names yet but definitely knows who I'm talking about when I say their names. He will also make a cute smacking sound to my cheek when I say kiss.
This is such an amazing time for him...and for me! I have loved watching all of them learn their language. Once their brain clicks it just starts flooding in. They recognize words so quickly and then begin producing those words almost instantly. I absolutely love it! And that's why I just teach "real language".
Jonah is One Year Older....I want to cry
Oh what I would give to go back one year and hold that tiny infant (albeit 9lb) in my arms again. I so love the infant stage and everything about it. I love how quiet they are. I love how they mold into my arms. I love cuddling them. I still remember worrying about baby Jonah whenever we doing anything. He was such a quiet baby. I'd be in the middle of helping one of the kids with a chore or homework and panic "Where's Jonah?" Or we'd pull out of the driveway for baseball practice and I'd start to drive away when I'd yell "Is Jonah back there?!" The kids thought I was crazy but that's just because they have no idea what all I have to think about in a regular basis and just how much an infant can mess with your brain. Oh but I miss it so much!
He is so lovely now too. He started to walk the week of Christmas. He was just brave enough to take a few steps from one couch to the other. By the end of the month he was walking all over the house. He has a fun routine...fun for him anyhow. He walks to the entertainment center and pulls out all the video games, next is a trip to the recycling center and he takes out all the bottles and boxes, after that he goes through several cupboards in the kitchen to empty out whatever he finds. If I haven't closed the door to the laundry room then he goes to the dog dish and splashes the water and dumps out the food. If the door is closed then he looks for an open door to the bathroom where it is necessary to unroll all the toilet paper and dump the baskets with the girls hair accessories. Once that is completed he climbs up the stairs, goes into the toy closet, and begins to throw several toys down the steps. By then he's good and ready for a nap. Oh and did I mention there is basket full of toys sitting in the very room where all of this began. I'm just very grateful the kids are willing to help me pick up his mess. It surprises me but they don't even complain. They must really love him a lot!
He is so lovely now too. He started to walk the week of Christmas. He was just brave enough to take a few steps from one couch to the other. By the end of the month he was walking all over the house. He has a fun routine...fun for him anyhow. He walks to the entertainment center and pulls out all the video games, next is a trip to the recycling center and he takes out all the bottles and boxes, after that he goes through several cupboards in the kitchen to empty out whatever he finds. If I haven't closed the door to the laundry room then he goes to the dog dish and splashes the water and dumps out the food. If the door is closed then he looks for an open door to the bathroom where it is necessary to unroll all the toilet paper and dump the baskets with the girls hair accessories. Once that is completed he climbs up the stairs, goes into the toy closet, and begins to throw several toys down the steps. By then he's good and ready for a nap. Oh and did I mention there is basket full of toys sitting in the very room where all of this began. I'm just very grateful the kids are willing to help me pick up his mess. It surprises me but they don't even complain. They must really love him a lot!
I think I'm crazy!
The girls have been in gymnastics for quite a few months. They both really enjoy it a lot. And I really like the facility. They train kids for the Olympics here and help them understand what to expect in competitions. I had Clarissa go to help give her an edge for cheerleading. That is what she really loves the most. So when registration for cheerleading came up I had her on a squad right away. Molly really goes just because Clarissa does. And although it works really well for gymnastics, it doesn't fair too well with cheerleading. They are on the same squad to make it easier for me but truth be told, she doesn't really like it. And then Adam wanted to try basketball. I thought sure why not? The cheerleaders go to their games to cheer, with any luck they'd all be at the same place at the same time. Which of course would be true if they were all in the same age brackett. But nooooo.....they are not. And so the girls practice 5:30-6:30 at one facility and Adam practices 6:00-7:00 at another. The first game Adam began at 9:30 at one gym and the girls had to be at another by 10:30. The next game is at the same time at two different places. Luckily there are other parents that can help me out if Todd is unable to be around. But still, what was I thinking?! I must have been crazy! Yet as I watch them play/cheer and see them interact with other kids their age it doesn't seem so bad. I want them to have fun and I want them to learn new skills. It's good to be a part of a team.
Happy New Year!
I love a new year! For me it so exciting. That's because I love making goals. I love organizing the steps that I need to take in order to reach those goals. I love looking back at the goals I had written the previous year to see how much I accomplished and then determine what I need to do follow through with old goals. Though I'll admit that I'm nerdy enough to look at my goals several times a year to make sure I'm right on track. I love a new year!
This year is going to focus on Time Management. I want to make sure I follow the routine. It's not a very tight routine but it doesn't take much to throw one off course. And with a baby in the house, believe me, it gets thrown off course very easily. But since I'm focusing on managing my time better it has really encouraged me to get creative in my solutions. For example, I was having a difficult time juggling the help I gave to Clarissa for her homework, settling Jonah, get the kids to their various activities, AND making sure we sat down to dinner together. So now I make my meals in a slow cooker 3-4 times a week. It's nice to have dinner prepared early in the day while the kids are in school and have it ready to eat just at the right time. Of course the kids complain about what I've fixed so they end up eating cereal. But hey, that just means I get some good leftovers for lunch : ) I'm very excited about what will happen this year. I think it will be a very productive year.
This year is going to focus on Time Management. I want to make sure I follow the routine. It's not a very tight routine but it doesn't take much to throw one off course. And with a baby in the house, believe me, it gets thrown off course very easily. But since I'm focusing on managing my time better it has really encouraged me to get creative in my solutions. For example, I was having a difficult time juggling the help I gave to Clarissa for her homework, settling Jonah, get the kids to their various activities, AND making sure we sat down to dinner together. So now I make my meals in a slow cooker 3-4 times a week. It's nice to have dinner prepared early in the day while the kids are in school and have it ready to eat just at the right time. Of course the kids complain about what I've fixed so they end up eating cereal. But hey, that just means I get some good leftovers for lunch : ) I'm very excited about what will happen this year. I think it will be a very productive year.
Christmas Memories
It was another warm Christmas in Hawaii for 2011. Only we were in our house at Ft. Shafter. I don't think I was able to really share my feelings about moving to our house on post yet. We missed the holiday lights of Waipahu. Those people really know how to celebrate! But we did enjoy the relaxing, small town feel of our new neighborhood. Christmas fell on a Sunday this year so it was a little trickier. Adam was still baffled as to why we had to go to church on Sunday when it was Christmas. (I've definitely did something wrong when training this boy.) We were scheduled to meet for the first hour only so it wasn't really that bad. We had a lot of fun sitting around the tree; opening our gifts. The kids were very happy with what Santa brought them: Adam received some legos, Clarissa a bike, and Molly a talking My little Pony. They were also happy with what we and the rest of the family got them. They played the entire day. And since I did the closet cleaning the day before we had plenty of room to put our new items neatly away. We never did make it out to the North Shore to sit with the giant sea turtles this year. Having four children does drain your motivation a little bit. That would be my only regret. But I suppose if I can get out there sometime before the winter ends I will be alright. Yet I felt right to just stay right at home. It was calm, it was peaceful, and it was restful. Just how a Sabbath day should be. Especially one that was intended for us to ponder the birth of the Savior.
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