Wordless Wednesday: Writing his name from right to left

D (age 3)

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Tiny Talk Tuesday helps parents focus on one of the many joys of parenting - the funny things that our little ones (and sometimes big ones) have to say.

Join in the fun and record the Tiny Talk overheard in your house! Publish a post on your blog and link us to the laughs. Then be sure to link to the blog carnival on this post so more bloggers can join in the fun.

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.
____________________________________________

K: I wonder why the Disney Store lets kids buy things with their passies?

I laughed out loud. I finally had to break it to her and T (age 6) that they don't really do that. I explained that we talked to the saleswoman about taking T's passies when she was 2 and letting her pretend to "pay" for her Lightning McQueen car. We did the same thing when D (age 3) was 2 and let him "pay" for his toy.

I had no idea they never realized it was a set up.
____________________________________________

We were going to the Walter's Art Gallery for the Family Wonders Festival. Walter Wick, creator of "I Spy" stories, was going to be there autographing books because his exhibit is currently there.

I told the girls to go get their "I Spy" books for him to sign. The got them and came back downstairs...

T: But we don't need to get him to sign these. His name is already there.
Dad: You are going to get his autograph.
T: But it already says, "Walter Wick". See. Right there...WALTER WICK.
(she was pointing to the cover where it had the author's name)
___________________________________________

T was getting dressed for our day at the museum. She picked her Halloween dress, sunflower tights, and black sparkly shoes. Her white shirt that was under the Halloween jumper was on backwards. I took it off to help her turn it around. As I was putting it back on...

T (age 6): This shirt is plain white. I don't like "just plain white".

(Yep. That is a very true statement. This outfit was pretty normal for her style. Ironically the shirt had an orange border at the neck and sleeves as well as pumpkins on the sleeves...but to her...that is plain white)
___________________________________________

Now for our featured Tiny Talk Family.

This week, I'd like to introduce you to Natalie, writer of Mouse Grows Mouse Learns. Like some of you, I am just getting to know Natalie, so I took an extended trip to her blog this week. Her little gal just turned 4 and is as cute as can be.

First, I loved the book titles I was able to grab from her blog hop, What my Child is Reading. She hosts this every Saturday, so check it out! I can't wait to get, "Growing Vegetable Soup" for my kids sometime soon. It'll fit nicely with our health unit!

There some great ideas over at Natalie's blog. I love her approach to geography and the activities she shares. I think my favorite quote about her approach to Geography is..."We don’t bother learning the flags, the capitals or even a lot of facts about the country – sometimes these things are mentioned in the books we read, but I don’t think it’s important for a four year old to know trivia facts. I just want her to be aware how big the world is, how many places are there to visit and how much fun it is to learn something new about them." I couldn't agree more!

But now...a little from Natalie:

Tell us about yourself and your family.
I am Natalie, and I write the blog Mouse Grows Mouse Learns. We are a trilingual family in Silicon Valley. I was born and raised in Belarus, and my husband came from Germany. We speak English at home and try to "introduce" both German and Russian to our daughter Anna who just turned 4. Both of us are software engineers. My husband works from home while I work full time for one of the biggest technology companies in the world. Our daughter goes to preschool 3 days a week, and has fun with her papa the other two days.

Tell us about your blog. What do you tend to write about? What are some of your favorite posts/topics?
We love to read. I actually started this blog to document my daughter's journey on the reading road. She was only 2.5 then. At the age of 3 she became a fluent reader. You can read more about our approach by checking out Learning to Read topics on my blog. I also host What My Child Is Reading meme every Saturday, and everyone is welcome to join up.

What is one thing about you that we might not find on your blog?
I don't mention it often, but we are older parents. We had our daughter at the ripe old age of 38. She is an only by choice. I don't regret waiting to have children. I had time to establish my career, travel the world and enjoy adult company. We also had savings that allowed us to reduce our income, so my husband could be a stay-at-home dad for the first 3 years of our daughter's life.
____________________________________________

If you are willing to be featured as a Tiny Talk Family, let me know! I'd love to get to know your family better! Email me at notbefore7 at gmail dot com. OR let me know in a comment today.
____________________________________________

Your Turn:

Piles. Piles. Piles.

My dear friend, Carolyn, went out of town for the weekend to visit a friend of hers in Florida.
Her friend doesn't have kids, so it was a quiet weekend of adult conversation. The home was beautifully decorated and clutter free.

She was able to relax and enjoy some time away.

Then she came home and was suddenly overwhelmed by the piles of stuff all over her house that she never finds time to deal with.

Feeling a bit blue, she came on over here on Saturday so we could work on some school stuff and chat. She was in my house less than 5 minutes when she let me know that, "I am already feeling better."

Uh...I guess she saw all of my piles, projects, and general mess.

So come on by if you feel overwhelmed. It won't be a like a spa weekend, but you will go home feeling normal, or even better than normal!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Tiny Talk Tuesday helps parents focus on one of the many joys of parenting - the funny things that our little ones (and sometimes big ones) have to say.

Join in the fun and record the Tiny Talk overheard in your house! Publish a post on your blog and link us to the laughs. Then be sure to link to the blog carnival on this post so more bloggers can join in the fun.

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.
____________________________________________

Occasionally, D gets in a "three year old mood". This means that he is whining, can't be reasoned with, and has no real point to his complaints.

D (age 3): I need help.
Daddy: What do you need help with?
D: I need help with my hot dog.
Daddy: What do you need help doing? Getting it into your mouth?
D: No.
Daddy: Well if you don't eat your hot dog, you aren't going to get a snack.
D: I can't do it. I need help.
Daddy: Do you need help getting it into your mouth?
D: I need help chewing.

At which point all of the kids and Daddy cracked up.
_________________________________________________

K had her friend J (age 7) over to play the other day. J's daddy is a BIG TIME Redskins fan. BIG. TIME.

Me: Do you like your teacher this year, J?
J: Yes. Except that she likes the cowboys.
Me: Oh, and you like the Redskins, right?
J: Yea. I like the Redskins and the Ravens secretly. But don't tell Daddy or he'll throw me out of the house.
Me: (laughing) Did you say he'll throw you out of the house?
J: Yea. One time I told him I liked the Cowboys and he told me to go pack my bags.

*The funniest part of this is that she was so serious. I think she believes him.
___________________________________________________

D spent a good amount of time just screaming for fun tonight. Then he told me, "I am LOUD!"

*Yep. That you are.
___________________________________________________

And now...time for a Tiny Talk Feature Family.


I'd like to introduce you to Anna and her family. I met Anna through blogging about two years ago. We were excited to learn that we live in the same state, but we have yet to meet.

Her oldest child, Max, is in second grade and her daughter, Mini, is two years old. Those aren't their real names, but I am going to have a hard time using their real names if I ever get to meet her precious children in real life!

I began reading Anna's blog because of her open and beautiful writing about her children and the process of adopting them. Open adoption is a topic near and dear to my heart. I absolutely love reading the perspective of the adoptive mom on her journey to adopt.

Anna has a beautiful and loving heart. I cry tears of joy every time I read the posts that talk about her children's birth moms. Anna has always kept such a special place in her heart for the birth moms of her children. This post, a letter to Mini's mom, is an example of such writing.

Of course, some of her posts are a bit more random. And others are motivating, like this one, which happens to be the reason I got back into doing The Shred. (Thanks Anna!) And of course, her kids are just darn cute!

Now, here's a little bit about Anna from Anna...

Hi, my name is Anna, and I live in a suburb of Washington DC, where I grew up being dragged downtown in our wood paneled station wagon to the Smithsonian every time we had company. Little did I know back then how much I’d appreciate living here now! As a homeschool mom, who may or may not have been doodling in her notebooks too much when she was in school, I couldn’t ask for a better place to learn history with my kids.

My husband, Mike, and I have been married for nearly 14 years. God has built our family through open adoption (meaning their birth parents chose us to be their forever family) and we are blessed with two outgoing, energetic, fun-loving kids. Max is 8 years old and Mini is 2, going on 13. We are busy with lots of fun things like church (Mike is a youth pastor), martial arts, fitness, MOPS, homeschool co-op, and beach trips in the summer.

I started my blog, Sincerely Anna, a few years ago while we were in the adoption process. The long part of the process called WAITING. Blogging became a lifeline for me as I found a perfect venue for writing out my thoughts and feelings and documenting Max’s preschool days. After Mini’s birth and adoption, it also become a great way to stay connected to the birth families of our children.
______________________________________________________________

So, take a moment to go swing by Anna's today! Introduce yourself and "meet" her cute kiddos.

But for now...it's Your Turn:

Rules

I have two very different daughters. And their differences are highlighted in almost all aspects of their lives.

Let's take the art of clay making, for example.

They learned various clay techniques at the BMA.

The learned to make things with sturdy bottoms. They learned how to use toothpicks to provide structure to a piece. They also saw how to attach appendages and pieces by using the toothpicks and then connecting the clay together. Finally, they knew to make their pieces "thick" enough so that they wouldn't break.

Daughter #1, K (age 7) follows the rules without question. She created a wonderful variety of animals. They are thick and sturdy! They were each put together the "proper" way and she made sure the bases would hold them up.

I adore her little zoo of creatures. The penguin is my favorite. He is located all the way to the right.

Daughter #2 thinks of the rules as "guidelines". She loves to bend them and break them to see what will happen. Ironically, she has a mother who follows the rules, who is learning when they might just be a bit more like guidelines...

As soon as I saw the piece she was creating, I immediately began correcting it. I reminded her that it needed to be thick or it would fall apart.

"But I want it that way, Mom."

Then, I noticed that the head was not properly attached and I pointed that out. I began to connect the clay head to the clay body.

I was immediately stopped.

"No! I want to be able to turn her head from side to side."

Poor gal. She has a rule follower for a mom, but I backed off and let her do her thing, impressed by her ability to think outside the box.

(though I admit, we did make the piece thick enough that you couldn't see every toothpick, after all, I wanted this creative creation to last)

And her piece screams, "Look at me! I don't follow the rules!"

And the piece in the back, the one with the overly large head, sits and stares at her friend. She has her hand on her hip and seems to be saying to me, "Yeah. Check me out too. My head is WAY bigger than you would have made it. And my body is way too skinny to hold up my head. But here I sit."

I love these girls. I love the way they approach the world. I love their unique perspectives and their individual talents.

It is my prayer that I can foster what makes them each unique. And I pray that I can use little moments like these to direct them to the One who made them with their individuality.

And, of course, I pray that my rule breaker knows when the rules AREN'T just merely guidelines...sigh...

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Tiny Talk Tuesday helps parents focus on one of the many joys of parenting - the funny things that our little ones (and sometimes big ones) have to say.

Join in the fun and record the Tiny Talk overheard in your house! Publish a post on your blog and link us to the laughs. Then be sure to link to the blog carnival on this post so more bloggers can join in the fun.

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.
____________________________________________

We were all talking around the kitchen one evening. I am not even sure what we were talking about...

K (age 7): Daddy, remember when it was just you and us (the kids) for the weekend? When mommy was gone?

Daddy: Yep.

K: Remember how we only ate french toast all weekend?

Daddy: (laughing) Uh...yeah. (Mommy is laughing now too)

K: I want to do that again.

*Yep, daddy was BUSTED. But hey, it beats fast food all weekend!
____________________________________________

BEFORE it is "your turn", I have a little idea.

I admit that I can't get to all of the Tiny Talk posts every week, as much as I'd like to. BUT, there are so many great blogs out there that are participating and some wonderful folks that I'd love to "get to know" better.

So here is my proposal.

Each week, I will "feature" a Tiny Talker participant. I'll let them give an introduction to themselves and their family and their blog. I'll also visit their blog and add in my 2 cents. We can all make sure to visit the featured Tiny Talker's site and say hi in addition to the other sites we visit that week! Then over time, we'll get to know everyone a little better and hopefully connect with some other moms raising little ones. (or working with little ones)

So, if you want to be featured in the coming weeks...then you need to do the following:

1. Send me an email letting me know that you'd like to be featured.
2. I'll assign you a week.
3. You need to send me a brief introduction to yourself, your family, and your blog. Maybe I'll get an organized list of questions to send you and you can answer them...? We'll see :)
4. That's it!
___________________________________________

Now...it's your turn:

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Tiny Talk Tuesday helps parents focus on one of the many joys of parenting - the funny things that our little ones (and sometimes big ones) have to say.

Join in the fun and record the Tiny Talk overheard in your house! Publish a post on your blog and link us to the laughs. Then be sure to link to the blog carnival on this post so more bloggers can join in the fun.

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.
____________________________________________

K (age 7): I am reading, "Pride and Pre-juicy".
Mom: (laughing) Do you mean, "Pride and Prejudice"?
K: Uh...yes. I guess.
Mom: That is a great book!
K: What is it? (I think she meant Prejudice)

*interesting to explain prejudice and the basic plot of the book.

**and if you are wondering, she is reading through all of the "Great Illustrated Classics," so I dont have a 7 year old attempting Jane Austen quite yet.
____________________________________________

We were putting together the Geopuzzles of Asia and Africa. K was working on Asia with D (age 3) and T (age 6) and I were doing Africa.

K: Asia is easier because Asia has more hookers than Africa.

LOL! What she meant is that Asia has countries that are so big, they broke them up into pieces that have several puzzle "hooks" on them that help you fit them together. Africa doesn't have that so you just have to piece together all of the individual countries.
_____________________________________________

Your Turn: