Ukulele Night

Recently Bentley tried his hand at improvisation. He rewrote a section of song that he didn't like. We encourage such innovation--of course!--but then Bentley told Opa he wanted to take his variation to ukulele night and have the group play the song his way. At first Opa tried to talk him out of that idea, but Bentley held firm, so Opa had to give in and support our budding musician. Opa was concerned that a lot of the group members might know the song as it was originally written and therefore they would have a hard time playing it differently (the ukulele group are mostly amateur musicians). Turns out that the song was not that familiar to the group, so they were fine with playing it a new way!

Last Friday Matt and Kara took Evan and Lincoln to hear their brothers and opa at ukulele night. Lincoln joined the players and played a little bit! The ukulele group was very welcoming to its newest member.

Train Time

Last Friday I and Lincoln built a train track together. Well, I built the track and he used it. At first we didn't let Evan join us because he doesn't usually play nicely with the trains. He takes the track apart and throws the trains. This upsets Lincoln. However, after giving us a few minutes alone Evan's mom insisted that we let Evan join us upstairs with the trains.  He was well behaved for fifteen minutes which is a long time for an eighteen month old. I even let him play with a battery operated engine. He ran it on his head--it was like getting a gentle massage! And he ran it on the track, too. He made it go down the hill over and over and over. Then he started holding the train wheels down which burns out the engine, so I took it away from him. He was angry and left.

Easter Photo

We took this last Sunday after church. The boys were all dressed in suits and looked so handsome and Viva had on a new, very pretty spring dress. Unfortunately there was a chilly breeze running through the yard and Viva was cold. The group all wanted to get inside, so we shot a few quick photos and this was the best.

Kara has purchased some matching shirts for the boys that also match Viva's dress, so we will try again to get a nice group shot. (The next photo will be in color so you can admire Viva's dress and the new shirts!)

Easter Eggs

The children dyed Easter Eggs on the Saturday before Easter.

Traditionally the Easter Bunny comes to our house Friday night leaving eggs to be found on Saturday morning, but it was a busy morning (karate), so he came on Saturday night leaving eggs to be found on Sunday before church. 

Evan was not a dedicated egg finder. He had to stop and play with the first egg he found: open, shut, open, shut, etc. When he finally moved on to his second egg, he discovered that he could fit his first egg inside his second egg, so more open, shut, open, shut. 

The Easter bunny left so many eggs that the hunt continued downstairs after church. Since our egg hunters are very dedicated they found almost every egg...and a missing orange wax crayon lost for many months in the seams of the kid size couch!

Bob Cat!

Matt, Jake, Lincoln, and Bentley had the chance to attend a den meeting on Wednesday where Bentley received his Bobcat award.  He was a good sport about bobbing for apples and having his face painted (although he 100% declined a picture of that!) - and Jake, of course, is frothing at the mouth and ready to join scouts ALREADY!

Lincoln?  He was there for the desserts.

Good times!

Buddies

SET

SET is our new favorite game. Jake, Bentley and Viva like to play it. It is simple and quick. It is a math game that strengthens pattern recognition. We've owned the game for years and played it a few times over the past couple of years, but it is only recently that it's become popular with the children. The name of the game says it all--you look for sets of three cards that match. Usually the children have fun playing, but sometimes they get too competitive and then tempers flare. The game can be played noncompetitively, too, so when tempers flare I suggest that they all play on the same team! Kara downloaded an app for the iPads and that version has been the favored one the past two weeks.

Bed Time!

We've had a nice stretch of time here with Matt not traveling much, and he's taken advantage of that to work on a bedtime routine with Evan and Lincoln.

Daddy and Evan are long time bed buddies. Evan is still our good little sleeper and is always nice about heading to bed after some rocking and story time.  Lincoln?  Mostly due to me he's not very good about bed time.  Stays up too late, sleeps in my bed, and then thrashes around wakefully and gets up early when I do.  Not a great combination of factors for a two year old despite the fact he's an awfully cute cuddle bug.

So we decided it's time he head to bed with Evan.  That poor little guy shouldn't have to be lonely in his room, right?!  We appealed to Lincoln's kind hearted sensibilities and it's working pretty well.  He tells me "baby not lonely anymore!".  Lincoln and Evan read stories together with Daddy, then watch some Piano Guys on you tube, get their backs rubbed, and head to bed.  All before 10 pm.  Total craziness!

Even crazier?  Our 18 month old is finally sleeping through most nights without getting up at 11... or 3... or 5.  For months he's been rather attached to extra Daddy time, but for the past couple weeks he's been a blissful dozer.  Love it!  

We'll see how well this routine carries on with Daddy's travel plans of the next few weeks.  I suspect it might be rough on Mommy who's not as dedicated to elaborate routines... wish me luck.  :)

The Playground

For the past week or so we've been getting in some quality time at the playground across the street.  It's Evan's first real experience with playing at the playground and it's a big hit!  The older ones are jazzed about it too.  Hurray for spring!

B's Garden

On March 19 Bentley came home from cub scouts with five big red Solo cups labeled bean, pea (3), and squash. In the very bottom of every 5" high cup was a small Jiffy peat pot. Each pot had been watered and two seeds added. I found a plastic tray and we put the cups on the tray and placed the tray in our kitchen garden window. 

After a day or two I cut the cups way down so the sun could hit the peat pots. Within days plants emerged from the pots--the three peas, then the bean, finally the squash. Bentley checked on his plants (almost!) daily. It would have been easier for him had they been in a lower window, but the garden window was the best spot in the house for encouraging growth.

This photo was taken on March 28. 

Bentley and I had just repotted the plants because the roots were already sticking out of the peat pot. 

Here they are on April 9 just three weeks after planting. 

Bentley took this photo to his cub meeting to show off how well they were doing. He only showed it to the leaders though, so he didn't receive feedback from the other cubs on how their plants were doing.

And here's a photo taken last Saturday, April 19. 

If you look closely you can see flowers on the peas! 

Our garden window, the Alaskan sunshine, and Bentley's (and my) care are a very winning combo. Of course, we cannot transfer these plants outside until Memorial Day weekend which is still five weeks away. (That's the traditional weekend for planting in our area.) The squash needs a larger pot. I really don't think they should have grown so big so soon!

Earthquake Drill

The Great Alaskan Earthquake ripped Anchorage apart 50 years ago on March 27, 1964. To commemorate this event last month the newspaper ran a week long series of articles on the quake and its tsunami. There were lots of public service announcements about earthquake preparedness and earthquake drills. I read about a suggested practice drill at 1:36PM on March 27, 2014. I decided the children should participate, so we ran an earthquake drill at our home.

First we read the guidelines for earthquake drills. Here was the standard advice: "If you're indoors, stay there. Get under -- and hold onto --a desk or table, or stand against an interior wall. Stay clear of exterior walls, glass, heavy furniture, fireplaces and appliances. The kitchen is a particularly dangerous spot." It is not advised that you stand in a doorway, but rather that you find an inside corner to huddle in.  In a major earthquake you might not be able to move about safely so you should not move to another room unless the room you were in was unsafe. 

We were having our earthquake discussion at the kitchen table which is located partially in a window bow containing five tall windows. The children could climb under the table and hold on, but it didn't seem particularly safe with all those windows near and cupboards filled with Fiestaware just a few feet away. We looked at the family room which is connected to the kitchen/dining area but it had one wall with windows and the two remaining walls were covered in toy or book shelves. The school room was similarly dangerous--windows and bookshelves filled with many heavy objects that could go flying.

Here was our best solution for the main floor:

I'm not sure this was a good solution, but I haven't yet figured out anything better. Our main floor is perfect for family living: lots of open space (i.e. few interior walls) with many windows to let in the light. It is not so perfect for staying safe during an earthquake.

And... the Bikes Are Back!

Spring in Alaska.  :)  The bike trails aren't quite clear yet, but they're good enough for these Alaskan kids.

The boys (and the big one, their Dad) are excited and looking forward to a season of biking fun together!

Red Moon PARTY time!

On Monday evening we stayed up late (but not much later than normal... ha!) to check out the red moon.  We had some clouds but they weren't bad, so we had a nice view of the moon gradually becoming eclipsed and then turning red!  Opa managed to grab a nice picture from the back porch:

This past weekend we watched some Ted-Ed videos about lunar eclipses, so the kids were ready/excited to check it out.  Viva decided to draw the eclipse:

Bentley avidly watched it, and Jake... well, Jake participated.  His formal opinion is that watching the moon for an hour is not terribly exciting.  I believe there was a comment about it being as exciting as watching grass grow.  I objected, as I don't normally see significant grass growth in the space of just one hour!  :)

If you want to learn more about the lunar eclipse tetrad, of which this was the first event, you can check out a short video here.  Fun stuff!

Party at Aunt Karla's!

My sister Karla invited the older three children to spend a couple of days at her home. Karla's spouse and son were going out of town so she needed some entertainment. The children and I had stayed there a couple of years ago when we went out to the state fair and they have wanted to go back since that time. Although Wasilla is less than hour's drive from Anchorage, everyone's busy lifestyles makes it hard to coordinate a visit, but finally it happened!

Karla picked them up late Thursday afternoon and returned them Saturday early afternoon (in time for weapon's class at karate). It was harder than it should have been to pull the event off. Viva had to skip a dance class which is very much frowned on since it's only a month until the big show. Jake came down with croup Wednesday night and Kara had to take him to the doctor's for some medication. We could have kept him home, but he would have so irate that we would have all had to spend the weekend in hiding--maybe the rest of the month. This trip was a big deal for the kidlets!

They reported back to us that they had a great time. They got to explore Karla's house (Viva loves exploring new places), they visited a really nice playground, they played games, they watched "Night at the Museum 2" which they had never seen, and they didn't have to do any schoolwork! Aunt Karla reports that she had a good time, too, so maybe they will be invited back.

What did Lincoln and Evan do without their older siblings? Lincoln did comment on their absence, but he had a great time playing with Evan.

New Ukuleles

After the boys faithfully attended ukulele night with him for months, Opa decided they needed better sounding ukuleles. When we bought the children ukuleles last fall they were nice sounding ones...for the price point. I asked Opa if the new ukuleles were truly a reward for the boys or if he really purchased them because he was tired of listening to lower quality instruments being strummed next to him on ukulele night? He just laughed at my question without responding.

Whatever the reason, Opa and Bentley and Jake researched new ukuleles for weeks. They listened to sound files on the Internet. They looked at different wood grains. Opa read reviews. After much agonizing they picked out their favorites and the order was placed. 

Here the boys are playing their new ukuleles:

I know that Bentley is making funny faces. It's not easy being a photographer. Sometimes you have to work with difficult subjects.

PS I now have nine ukuleles in my bedroom. Opa bought himself a smaller ukulele to travel with...because he travels so often? (NOT true.) I told him he has to get rid of one or two of the children's old ukuleles. I am tired of ukuleles cluttering my bedroom floor. We have to leave them out (and not stored away) so the children are enticed to play with them. (I'm not enticed...why is that?)

The Cat

Rameses is a very good cat. He puts up with a lot from Evan and before Evan there was Lincoln. I'm not sure how long we have had the cat--three years? Four years? Shall we say three and half years? In any case the twins were at least two when we got the cat, so they were nicer to him than Lincoln and Evan as babies have been.

Sometimes the cat hides out in the mudroom. He sleeps there on his scratching post even though I put a nice cat bed in the mudroom for him. He's never been much into cat beds. The door to the mudroom is kept closed so that Evan cannot gain access to the garage. The mudroom is a nice place to hide out because his food is in there and cats love to snack all day rather eat large meals. 

Our house is large enough for him to find a hundred good hiding spots. Sometimes Rameses invades the larger bedroom closets. He sleeps on Mark's clothes piles or under Matt's hanging clothes. He definitely prefers the men's half of the closets. Why is that?

Rameses does not always hide out. Sometimes he insists on being in the middle of the action. He sits on the back of the couch in the main family room and naps with one eye open. Being in the main family room leaves him available for all of us to pet, hug, and poke. He knows this so he much want our attention!

Another favorite hang out is the library. Most mornings Kara works with one or two of the older children in the library on English topics: grammar, handwriting, spelling, rhetoric. Rameses will compete with her for a nice spot on the recliner. In the afternoons great-grandma hangs out in the library exercising or using her computer. Rameses really likes hanging out with her because the library is a No Evan Zone.

Kara's Birthday

Kara is officially another year older. I think she'd agree with me that it feels like three years since her last birthday. It's been a busy year. 

I looked to the children for some help with this post. I asked them to tell me about their mom:

B: Mommy helps with schoolwork.
    Mommy signs us up for karate and fun stuff.
    She makes us the type of birthday cake we like on our birthdays.

V: She bakes yummy stuff.
    She drives us to our activities.
    She lets us do almost whatever we want. (Really?)

J: She makes sure I got a baby brother named Evan.
    She is the best mom in the world.
    She lets us go on vacations even when we are supposed to be doing school, plus she doesn't send us to school.

We had cake and ice cream in the afternoon and then pizza in the evening followed by a kid movie. This is why she is such a good mommy--she puts the children first even on her birthday!