Somebody is making it difficult for me to write blog entries.

Can you guess which one it might be?  These first two photos are deceiving because the Little One looks happy.

That's more like it!  Actually, he's quite the happy baby.  Loves to smile at everyone.  But he doesn't like to nap for more than thirty minutes at a time.  And interestingly, the length of time he's been doing things this way corresponds to the length of time since my last blog entry.  Huh.

At least he falls asleep quickly.  And he does take four or five naps a day now.  But I got kinda spoiled by him taking usually two one and a half hour naps and one thirty minute nap.  Thirty minutes is not much of a break or much of a chance to get things done. 

Somehow, I feel like I've been really productive since we started homeschooling again after the holidays, though.  We moved to a slightly larger apartment the week before Christmas (it was just upstairs, so don't pity us too much, but it was still rather disruptive), and since we moved, laundry and housecleaning have fallen into place a lot better.  It helps that the kids now have a large playroom upstairs and that most of their toys stay up there (per parental request).  For some reason, I seem to have found a system of laundry that works well for me.  I've also found a system (method? technique? set of expectations?) of homeschooling that I am comfortable with.  I'll write about those things sometime if The Boy ever decides to start napping.

But right now, I think he's just soiled his diaper.  Such a cute little interruption, though.  Well, not the soiling part.  But he's a cute Little Boy.

Sit! Stay!

They look so sweet.  Or are they planning something?

I've always envied those Moms who have managed to teach their kids to say, "May I be excused?" before wandering away from a meal.  Heck, I envy Moms who have gotten their kids to stay seated while chewing.  "Sit like you're going to stay there" is something that I say to my five-year-old at least twice a meal (both legs on the chair is a good start).  My three-year-old simply refuses to say anything on command.  And since we've tried on occasion to insist she say "May I be excused?" she now refuses to say any phrase that includes the word excuse.  Bye-bye spoken manners for a few more months. 

My imp

I see the Family Meal as a special time.  It is a bastion of culture in our easy-going society.  There are generally expected rules of decorum, which, even if you violate them from time to time, you probably wouldn't if "company" were there, or at least if you were having a "special meal" of some kind.  At the very least, you probably have a vague idea of what I write.

Sorry this is so blurry—hand-me-down iPhone and all.  It's the outdoor chapel area at my in-laws' church in Ohio.

It is also one area of life that I feel like I have mastered.  I can cook.  I can set a table properly. (And I usually make an effort to—more often than I think sometimes, because my three-year-old surprised me this morning by getting her own silverware and putting them in the proper places!  Score one for Mom.)  And honestly, I don't have to think about it the way I do cleaning up the kitchen or doing the laundry.  My Mom is a great cook and always puts dinner on the table, and I can't imagine life any other way.  (Thanks, Mom!)

Just what is so funny to this child?  She usually has this expression on her face.

Don't misunderstand: (1) I do put a lot of thought into it and (2) I am certainly not perfect, nor do we have six-course meals every night (some days, more than one dish at the meal is just too much).  But I plan menus, pour over cookbooks, and have many opinions on the Weekly Menu idea.  I also, start cooking too late, neglect my crying baby who wants to nurse now in order to finish cooking a dish (he can eat when the rest of us do, right?  Well, sometimes....), etc.  I don't have some streamlined, very clean, elegantly running kitchen.  But dinner always manages to happen.  (Can't say the same for cleaning up the kitchen or laundry, although, now that I think about it, those things happen often enough that I need to stop beating myself up over it.)

Don't blink. Don't even blink.

Back to my kids sitting at the table.  Up until the very recent past, it was enough effort for me to get them to try something on their plates that I wasn't about to worry too much about how long they sat at the table.  They are five, three, and six months, after all.  However, if I want to get them to sit there sometime in the future, it follows that I do have to start sometime in the present.

My husband had a thought (he's clever about things like this).  What if we had them stay until most of us are done eating (let's be honest here: I'm the one who takes the longest—and of course we're not going to expect them to stay as long as us boring adults keep talking) and then we sing a hymn or prayer and let them go?  Andrew had gotten in the habit of doing this in the St. Tikhon's Seminary dining hall.  Once most people are finished, they stand and sing a hymn of thanksgiving.  We could do the same thing, and we had just the hymn to use.

Sometime back, Andrew's father composed a table grace to use at family meals.  Our brother-in-law set it to a familiar western hymn and typed it up.  Conveniently, we have a framed copy hanging in our dining room.  Once in a great while, it has gotten used as our family's prayer before the meal. 

We prepared the kids during some meal (might have been something as boring as a weekday lunch), telling them we wanted to sing a song when we were finished, so they needed to stay at the table until then.  There was very little resistance.  They like to sing, so they were intrigued.  Once the meal was finished, we stood, faced the framed sheet music, and sang.  We repeated the performance at dinner.

The simply worded hymn was a hit!  The kids even began singing it to themselves during the day.  For some reason, they think they need to stand on their chairs to sing it. (It is probably because Maggie wants to see the music, but Susannah just does it—and it makes me giggle to think of some stranger looking in at our post-dinner ritual of standing on our chairs and singing.  Maybe I'm imagining the adults doing it too.)  Now they have even started reminding us that we need to sing!

We don't always remember to do it, but any time the kids are wandering off well before the rest of us are finished eating, we casually remind them that they need to stay until we sing, and they come right back.  There might have been the occasional "I-don't-wanna" but it has been minimal and relatively subdued.  And they are getting the idea that we stay at the table together for a meal.  We don't stuff our faces and run off with a mouthful of food.  (Although, at one time, I considered sitting at the table just long enough to stuff their faces an accomplishment.  Progress, not perfection.)

I'm finding with this and some other behavioral things, that it's easier to wait a little longer than I'd like for my eldest to get these concepts.  If I wait just long enough for her little sister to catch up, I'm not singling out Maggie.  Instead, I am just showing the kids what their responsibility is.  Of course their standards won't be adult standards; they will be tailored to fit children.  But they will be on the spectrum of forming them into adults.  And it won't be a huge surprise later.

Kishler Family Table Prayer

(to the tune of Immortal, Invisible)

We thank thee, Dear Father, from heaven above

For Thy goodness, Thy mercy, Thy kindness, and love.

We thank Thee for family and friends so dear,

And all of the blessings that we enjoy here.

Amen.

© Robert Kishler, 2000

The Author, Grandpa Kishler, with the latest grandkids (not both mine—could you imagine??)

Please see Leila's post The Reasonably Clean Kitchen starts with rules for the kids for more great ideas on this general theme!

Mary Dolls and Coming Series

Blessed Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos in the Temple!  (That's a mouthful!)

I have a friend who lives in a very small Orthodox community in a small town.  If memory serves, they can only afford to have a priest out for Liturgy once a month.  The other Sundays, she takes her children to Sunday School at a nearby protestant church.  We were catching up over Facebook and through the course of our emails, she asked if I have any particularly spectacular resources for creating an Orthodox home with small children in mind.  I've been wanting to do a post on that, but I think instead it will turn it into a series.  This won't quite be the first post because I'd like to organize it a bit better and suggest several resources for similar aspects of an Orthodox home.  This is mainly me gushing about a new favorite resource.

We learned about Sunday's feast last week with the help of Orthodox Christian Craft Supply.  I knew it would be a hit in our household because for any story my children hear, they instantly want to have dolls to act it out.  And they really do get excited about and love Mary.  Veneration for the Mother of God is hardly something I have to teach: it comes naturally to my children.

It's interesting for me to discover their love for the Theotokos and how they identify with her.  I was raised in churches that gave me the idea that devotion to Mary was "a Catholic thing" and probably wrong.  It could be because they are girls that they identify with the Theotokos—that is certainly the case with a feast like the Entrance.  Or possibly, they identify with the child Christ in Mary's arms, and their love of Mary comes from their love for me.  They are very connected to their own mother, and the Mother of Christ naturally attracts their devotion.  (If that doesn't instill the fear of God into a mother, I don't know what will!)

Incidentally, one of the first icons my children have really identified with is the icon I've had as my blog title banner for a long while.  Have you noticed that it's an icon of Mary nursing Christ?  When my kids (who have all been extended nursers) see that Jesus is having milk(!), their faces just light up.  Jesus has milk just like me!  I can't think of a more intimate and meaningful way to begin to communicate the mystery of the incarnation to a small child.

Back to dolls.  Let me heartily recommend the Feast Day Boxes at Orthodox Christian Craft Supply.  The only thing I had to supply for the project was a couple of kinds of glue.  I did most of the "crafting" because I wanted them to make something lovely and their little hands weren't ready for some of the detail work.  However, they helped paint pieces and assisted in gluing on jewels and ribbon.  Older children could probably handle most parts of the crafts themselves.

I'm adding a button on the side of my blog for this wonderful resource.  The boxes are inexpensive and nicely organized.  When completed, children have a box that teaches many lessons of the particular feast but that is also, essentially, a box of toys!  My kids love to take out the box, put Mary in a princess castle, pull her around in their princess carriages, and generally make her an intimate part of their imaginative worlds.  With all the secular toys, secular images, and secular music that my children encounter, any way to insert Christ and the Church into their world on a more regular basis gets my approval!

***Addendum to the post: the Feast Day boxes also come with a teaching guide.  Before doing each little craft, I read the accompanying short story from the simply worded guide to give the kids an idea of why each item was in the box.***

That Pesky Question

Michelle has written a fabulous post on having a large number of children.

The Question That Keeps Being Asked

Go read it!

It's Still Summer Here!

Can you guess what we've been up to?

 

We have just discovered the beach.

You don't necessarily think "beach" when you think "Chicago," do you?  There happen to be quite a few nice ones along the lake.

  

 Nice little waves to make my kids giggle (and not scare them)....

 

 Plenty of sand to keep little ones and little princesses occupied (and covered) for hours....

  

A hot dog stand—well, "beach house"—that offers other things too!

  

All Mama has to do is sit back (or wade in), watch the big kids, and nurse the little one.  (Well, aside from putting up with all the screaming on the way there and the way back....)

 

We all felt like this at the end of the day.

But we're going back soon!  (First, must do some laundry and various household chores... and make sure we have some supper plans in place next time.)  But I think, partially to make up for the kids spending most of their Summer indoors this year (blame Baby John), and partially because it's just so darn gorgeous and pleasant to be a beach bum, we'll be back there as many days as we can until Labor Day!

Feel free to join us if you're in the area!

Of Lost Slippers and Monions

My daughters, like many their age, are fond of princesses.  They own many tiny princess dolls, dress up in princess costumes, and play various "princess games" of their own creation.  Here are two of the most recurrent and my favorites: 

Cinderella ~ This game goes something like this: One girl is Cinderella and one is the Prince.  Cinderella arrives wearing some kind of (preferably heeled) fancy shoes.  The Prince takes Cinderella's hand and the two dance to some kind of music.  Then, they often take a seat together and look like an awkward new couple—they do not speak.  Suddenly, Cinderella remembers the time!  Both her hands fly to her cheeks (think Home Alone).  "I must go!" she cries.  ("Go" is said with some sort of mock British accent.)  The Prince is horrified.  "No!  Don't go!" (Both "no" and "go" are said with similar mock British accent.)  Cinderella stands and rushes away, struggling to kick off a shoe in the process.  Once succeeding, away she runs with the remaining shoe.  The deserted Prince retrieves the shoe and either looks off wistfully or runs to find his love.  The girls then switch roles, exchange shoes, and begin again.     

Snow White ~ For this game, some kind of apple or apple-stand-in is required.  Their are long and short versions of this game, but it generally goes like this: One girl is the Witch and one is presumably Snow White, although her identity is apparently determined by the apple, as you will see.  The Witch offers Snow White an apple and says, "Try it!"  Normally, Snow White takes a bite and then falls down dead (or, I suppose, asleep).  Then, I think the girl playing the Witch takes on the role of the Prince, who kisses Snow White.  The princess pops back up with a ridiculously large smile on her face.  Switch and repeat.

The other version of this game begins in similar fashion.  The Witch offers Snow White an apple.  "Try it!" she begs.  Snow White takes a bite, but instead of falling asleep, she declares, "I like it!"  The Witch cackles, "Then you are my monion!" (We've tried telling Maggie that the word is "minion" but she'll have none of it.)  Once again, they switch roles and do it again.

I can't get enough of watching these!

Being Mommy to a Newborn Is...

...finally getting around to eating a rock-hard English muffin that has been toasted three times throughout the day.  And having to eat it cold anyway, because if you toasted it again, you wouldn't be able to bite into it.

...rejoicing at being able to see the veins in your feet again because said appendages are no longer waterlogged.

...trying to nap with your newborn (Child Three) and being joined by Child Two who nurses and falls asleep next to you, only to be pushed aside by Child One who sucks her thumb and holds on to your leg to fall asleep wedged in between you and Child Two.  Mommy wakes up feeling like a Mama cat sleeping with a litter of kittens (but she's thankful that Child One and Child Two are finally getting some rest after this weird week).

...deciding between tweezing stray hairs or loading your iPod with some relaxing music in the time between laying down the newborn and whenever it is in the (very near) future that he will wake up.  (The iPod won.)

...being ready for a nap before 9:30AM.  I'm going back to bed to enjoy my 40 days!

Siblings

The title of my blog being what it is, I think it's appropriate to share this article from SimpleHomeschool.net:

Learning Is Better Together: Fostering Strong Sibling Relationships

A Typical Dialogue in Our House

I was helping Susannah into a new princess costume, and the following dialogue ensued. [Mommy's note: the names below refer to the fairies in Disney's Sleeping Beauty.]

Maggie: "Are you Flora?"

Susannah: "No."

Maggie: "Are you Fauna?"

Susannah: "No."

Maggie: "Are you Merryweather?"

Susannah: "No. I'm pink!"

365.4: Readers

Many of our mornings are spent thus: Mom on the computer while the girls entertain themselves. Maggie loves to "read" and has actually been making comments that lead me to believe that she may be ready to learn to do more than look at the pictures and recite the stories. She points out when two words on the same page are the same or when a word has two of the same letters. She knows all of her capital letters and most of her lower case letters.

We have begun a very informal and loose home pre-schooling with her this year, using the Five in a Row curriculum. I think it may be time to add some phonics.

Happy Thanksgiving!

These two photos are a couple of my most recent favorites. As you can see, I need to update our title photo, as my kids no longer look anything like it. We are going to Philadelphia this week for Thanksgiving with our friends the Germanys. Hopefully we'll take lots more photos!

Melt My Heart

I guess Maggie has noticed what we say when we eat at someone else's house. Lately, after many of our meals, Maggies says, "Thank you for eating."

And I dissolve into a happy-parent puddle.

Catching Up

The kids are both sleeping (and Mommy managed to get in a little nap and then sneak away!) so I am going to try to get us caught up. On a related note, our updates may need to pause for a while because I just tried to turn on our camera and nothing happened. I replaced the batteries to no avail. We have been using a digital camera donated by Andy's Uncle Dave and Aunt Patsy at I think my first Thanksgiving with the Kishlers, and it may have retired!

This must be just after awakening because Maggie is in her "kity 'jamas" and she's got a great smile. Ok, so that means it must be several hours after awakening because Maggie never smiles just after awakening. I must also point out "Maggie's George" as Maggie calls him, who Maggie just very excitedly noticed in this picture.

Susannah has a pretty smile too.

"I'm so cute."

Susannah loves to bounce in her seat suspended from the door frame, and Maggie likes to entertain her while she's in it. As long as Maggie isn't grabbing the straps and violently pushing her to narrowly miss the walls in the hallway, this is a good thing.

Maggie reading from her prayer book to Susannah.

"I know I'm cute."

P.S. This "pink doggie dress" is Maggie's absolute favorite. She would wear it for days on end if we let her, and it is always her first choice when I ask her what she wants to wear. Most days, I have to tell her it's dirty, to which she replies, "I'll wash it."

And, We're Back

Maggie discovers "chocolate toast" (Trader Joe's take on Nutella -- this photo was taken Saturday).

Last Night's Activities

Last night, Daddy and Maggie read a Sesame Street book on Sign Language together. Daddy would say the name of whatever was in the picture, and Maggie repeated nearly everything he said. This photo just doesn't convey how cute it was.


Meanwhile, Mommy did some dishes while practicing her new "back tie" for her wrap. (Remember that bus trip in the snow? That's what we went to learn.) Susannah seemed to like it and snoozed.

Babies in Bed

Maggie loves her sister. And they both love Mommy and Daddy's bed.