School work and weekend fun

We love Fridays because Kylie gets to bring her week's school work home. She proudly shows me everything she's done.


She did four inset booklets, two cutting exercises, nine poking exercises (3 cats, 2 fish, one shamrock, one leprechaun and two pots of gold), a gluing exercise with the Irish flag, and 6 coloring pages (3 leprechauns, 2 fish and 1 dog).

Her school had a pet appreciation day. Children with pets got to bring their animals to school and show them to their classmates. I put some pictures of Kylie's two cats, Phoebe and Chloe, together with a note that explained her cats were too shy to come to school. Her teacher told me that Kylie enjoyed showing the pictures to all her chums.

I'm not sure of the photographer of these photos. I found them on the school's Facebook page. The kiddo looks so tickled.




On Saturday Kylie and I, along with friends Sarah and Lily, attended the Spring Craft fair at our church. Much to Kylie's delight, they had two jump houses. Kylie had just come from running like crazy at gymnastics class to jumping around in these for almost an hour.







And what could be better to cool off two best friends than sugared ice?



I hope your weekend was as sweet and fun as ours.

{this moment} 02/18/11

{this moment} - a Friday ritual. Some photos capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

My special moment this week was watching Kylie learn to put her whole head in the water to grab pool weights.


Kylie took swim lessons for three months when she turned two years old (April to June 2009). We were living in Portland, OR at the time. Then we moved to Burke, VA and she took lessons again. (January to May 2010). She learned to stay under in a glide for around 8 seconds. But when she would glide, she would usually just hold her breath. She learned to blow bubbles and kick.

But when you asked her to blow bubbles, this is what she would do. She would blow them with her mouth and keep the rest of her head above water. To her thinking, going under the water and blowing bubbles were two different things.


On Wednesday's swim class, she learned to go under AND blow bubbles. She became enraptured for diving for these pool weights. She wanted to do it again and again. She got upset when her coach tried to move a weight closer to her. "I can do it myself!" Kylie would exclaim. I was so dang happy watching her dogged determination to master this skill and to get those pool weights.


And even happier to see her use that skill in the rest of her swim lesson.




Now she keeps asking me, "Can we go to the pool everyday? I want to do pool weights!"


This moment posts are inspired by SouleMama's Friday posts

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

What's happening

It's hard to believe it has been a week since I blogged. I looked at that this evening and thought, "Do I really have nothing to write about?" Hmmm.

And then I thought about having coffee with a friend in my living room. What would I want to share about our last few days?

And first off, I thought of how Kylie had an absolute meltdown when it was time to leave church last Sunday. I had to carry her screaming and squirming all the way to the car. I felt so very embarrassed. Even though I knew the parents I passed as I was carrying her could relate, I was still so shaken. It was the first time where the threat of a time-out didn't dint the little one freaking out. Of course, Kylie and I have both gotten past it. But it was a memorable event!

I would share how Kylie has been singing a new song she learned at school to the tune of "Frere Jacques". She sings:
Buenos dias. Buenos dias
Como estas? Como estas?
Muy bien, gracias. Muy bien gracias.
Y usted. Y usted.
(My apologies for not putting the correct marks and punctuation. I can't figure out how to do that on my computer).
Anyway, it's a lovely little song and she sings it so well. It makes me glad that her bilingual Montessori teacher from Bogota, Columbia is incorporating some Spanish into Kylie's education.

I would talk about how I take such simple delight in listening to Kylie explore new words. Today she said "collection" over and over. She rolled that word around in her mouth and practiced using it in different sentences. "I have a collection of seashells. Mommy has a collection of books." and so forth. I just beam at Kylie and think to myself. "I made her! That's so trippy!"

I would share how I found Jillian Michael's podcast through iTunes and what a pleasure it's been to listen to her on my iPhone. Karen and I are devoted Biggest Loser fans and will miss Jillian next year. I also found a worthwhile triathlon podcast.

I would talk briefly about training for the triathlon. I would share a few successes. And how I'm not progressing as fast as I first thought I would. I'm inching along rather than leaping forward. When I think about the gap between where I am and where I want to be, I get overwhelmed. So I divert my thoughts to working hard each workout and tell my monkey-brain to shut up and leave me alone.

I would tell you that I've scanned a bunch of Kylie's school work and artwork and plan to share it with you very soon. And that I took some pictures of Kylie swimming and will share those soon too.

I would show you this picture and talk about how the white towel thrown on the rocking chair bounced the light into Kylie's face in an interesting way. And how I was tickled I got off one unaffected shot...


before Kylie broke into the fake smile (which I think looks a little maniacal).


But mostly, I would want to listen to you and to give you my full attention. I wish you could each share a cup of coffee with me in my living room. But the blog communication will have to suffice for now. Cheers dear readers! Thanks for stopping by.

Books

She can create some getups can't she?

Below are three library books I thought I would share with you.

This first one is a joke book. Kylie loves jokes right now and my brain has a hard time remembering them or making them up. So when Kylie has asked for a joke I've said, "Go get your joke book and we will find one together". This one is very fun and full of preschooler humor.

The Hilarious Adventures of Mish and Mash: The Story of How Two Monsters-and YOU-Make the Perfect Joke Book! (Chickadee Books)

When I first read this next one I thought, "That's a pretty gay book" (in the best sense). But what I really meant was that this was a delightful book about a naked mole rat who wants to wear clothes. And even though his friends demand that he take them off and be just like them, he wears them anyway. My rebel heart sang when I read it. It has great illustrations and the right amount of words to pictures/pages ratio that works for Kylie right now. Plus it had the word "proclamation" which was a new word for Kylie's vocabulary. Check it out! I think you'll like it!

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed

This last one made Kylie laugh out loud in one of those can't-catch-her-breath-laughing-so-hard giggles. She loved to hear me do the different animals' voices as I said "Bee bee" over and over. It wasn't quite as funny for her after that first time reading it but she still really liked it.

The Baby Beebee Bird

Any recent library books that you would like to share?

Right now

Right Now I am

...surprised at how tall Kylie looks to me. She is still shorter than her classmates but has definitely had a growth spurt. She suddenly can reach so much more in the house. She's wearing 4T clothes now.


...excited that Kylie has started swimming lessons again. Here she is warming up in the car after her first lesson.


...touched at how she covers her sweet head with the sheet as she sleeps.


...recovering from the shrinky dink incident. Kylie colored a mermaid shrinky dink for the first time. Even though I explained how it was going to shrink into a little charm in the toaster oven, Kylie screamed horribly when she saw the finished mermaid. You would have thought I was cooking kittens from the way she freaked out. No more shrinky dinks for now.

...tickled at how Kylie used the word "available" over and over throughout the day. My favorite phrase was: "The cats' ears are available for their hearing."

...looking for a piano teacher for Kylie.

...bemused that a large pile of dirt can be vastly entertaining for over an hour. She got quite a workout.






...appreciating pictures of pure kiddo delight.


...loving and missing Karen. She's so awesome; my best friend. I sleep horribly when she's gone.

...not missing cable tv. We turned in our cable boxes. We are using Apple TV for the few programs that Karen and I watch and DVD's for Kylie.

...giving up Diet Coke for Lent.

...knitting nothing. I have half of a ruched pillow knitted. I have to wind two more skeins to knit the other half. The yarn I'm using has some silk in it and it knots horribly. It has not been fun to knit at all. So I've procrastinated on this project and haven't started another because the silk yarn was so expensive and I don't have any extra yarn at the moment. I miss knitting at night.

...scrapping a few pictures when I can make the time.




...appreciating you dear readers. Thanks for stopping by!

Church girls

Karen flew to Texas this morning for a week-long, work-related conference. Before she left, she snapped a few pictures of her church girls. We've started attending a Presbyterian church in our neighborhood. It has a good children's program with lots and lots of kids of all ages. So far, I really like it. They have three services on Sunday mornings. Right now, we prefer the traditional first service held at 8:30am. I think this church will be a good fit for our family.

Triathlete- February 2011

Since some of you have shown an interest in my healthy living journey, I thought I write a monthly blog post to share how I'm progressing towards my triathlon goal. Here are my results for the month of February.

I started the month of February with a cold. For five days I didn't work out at all. For the remaining 23 days of the month, I trained 18 days and had 5 days off.

Bike
The day I felt recovered from my cold, I ran out a bought my beautiful new Amria road bike. You can see a picture of it and read about my first rides on it here. For the month, I got in two outdoor rides where I tried like crazy to do the simple task of not falling over. I also got in two 30 minutes sessions on my indoor trainer. I'm a bit frustrated because my wireless cadence/mileage computer isn't working which means I need to take the bike back into the shop. But that's all right because I need to get some biking gloves and a bike lock. I have to admit that I'm still a bit intimidated by the bike but I'm looking forward to getting in some time on her in March.

I also attended three Les Mills RPM spin classes this month.

Swim
I am so pleased to report that I found a great pair of swim coaches. I started training with Gus and "Young Gus" from Planet Swim on February 16th. Gus accumulated some National titles and is a renowned coach at Bolles School. He created my swimming training plan. Young Gus is also a very accomplished swimmer. He is the one actually oversees my training practice. He coaches me through every lap--walking up and down the side of the pool watching my every movement. Both coaches are very straight forward and encouraging.

Gus asked me to share my triathlon training plan with him. I wrote out my plan in detail and we talked extensively about my goals and my plans to meet them. At the end of our long talk, Gus looked at me and smiled. He wisely said, "I know it's futile to ask you to be patient. So I'll ask you to be consistent." I laughed out loud because he really has my number!

I have swim practice on Wednesday and Friday mornings. Right now, we've been working on my kick. I've gone from having no kick at all (seriously, while holding a kick board and kicking I didn't move forward at all) to having a bit of a kick. We've also introduced bilateral breathing. We drill and drill and drill some more which is exactly what I wanted. I work hard in the pool and do everything Young Gus asks me to do to the best of my abilities. I'm able to leave the pool proud of what I've done. I'm still gasping for breath at the end of a simple lap but I trust my very knowledgeable coaches will help me meet my goals.

For February, I attended four swim practices.

Run
In the face of all the newness of the bike and the swim classes, I love to plug in my iPod and go for a run. Running remains wonderfully challenging yet comfortable at the same time. I got in 7 runs this month.

Easy runs
2/9: 6 miles in 57:30. 9:55 pace

Interval/tempo runs
2/11: 2 intervals at 1/2mi distance & 2 at 1/4mi. All at level 7 on treadmill which is 8.34mi. 6miles total in 56:30.
2/18: Tempo run 4.5miles in 42:38. 9:41pace
2/23: 4 intervals at 1/2mi distance at 8 minute pace. 4 miles total for 36:00

Long runs- all at 10 minute mile pace.
2/13: 9 miles in 1:29.
2/20: 10.25 miles in 1:40
2/28: 11 miles in 1:50.

Strength
My trainer Joy is still kicking my but every Tuesday morning. I completed 4 strength training sessions with her and did 3 sessions on my own.

Other
Body Combat
Oh, how I love my Tuesday morning Body Combat classes. I got in four classes this month and I simply love them. I get to "punch" out any aggression and the class leaves my shoulders and glutes sore for days.

Walks
Two late afternoon walks with my friend Sarah. We usually walk on Thursdays and get in 3-4 miles. Its a great way for me to stretch out tight muscles from my morning spin class as well as chat with a good friend.

Weight
125. I dropped two pounds from January. And I'm shockingly at a size 4. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I tried on that size and it fit. I don't see myself as that small but it was a happy, happy day when I was able to walk out of a store with size 4 jeans.

And that's it. Another month summarized!

If you are interested, here are more posts about the journey.
January 2011 summary
December 2010 summary


Goal: Triathlon in 2012- initial post from December 2010
One Little Word: Triathlete post

Marriage

Before she was even born, I've wondered when Kylie would start questioning us about the fact that she has two moms. It seems the questioning starts now...before she's even four.

One of the games that gets played on her preschool playground is the "marriage" game. I much prefer Kylie's game of Bats where her friends all flap their wings and soar around the playground emitting high-pitched noises and chasing one another.

But back to the marriage game, from what I can gather, the boys were picking who they were going to "marry" and no one picked Kylie. This upset her and she came home crying.

I have to add that the way parents put these roles onto their children is one of my pet peeves. While on our regular playground, I've seen parents who ooohh and aahh when a boy hugs a girl or vice versa. And they will make little remarks like, "Isn't that sweet? They are boyfriend and girlfriend. They might get married one day." This makes me roll my eyes and say an inner "Ewww!" Then I proceed to lecture them in my head. "They are friends. They felt a moment of affection for one another. There is nothing sexual about it so don't term it boyfriend and girlfriend. Stop your indoctrination of marriage to innocent children." Then I remember to stop judging others and to take some deep, cleansing breaths.

After the preschool marriage incident, Kylie became infatuated with marriage. Her dolls were marrying one another, her dog and cat bath toys were marrying one another, a grape was marrying a pretzel on her snack plate. Kylie came home from school with statements like "Two boys can't marry a girl" and "Two girls can't marry a boy." It went on and on.

Finally, over breakfast, Kylie said, "Clara is my best friend. I love her. I want to marry her. Can I marry her Mommy?"

I leaned in and looked deeply into Kylie's eyes and said, "You know Momma and I are married to one another, right?" Kylie nodded and I went on. "So in the real world, two women can marry one another and two men can marry one another. But in your pretend play at school, you and Clara probably can't marry one another. Does that sound correct to you?" Kylie nodded yes. "Ok then, sweetheart."

I was pleased with my response. I was pleased that I differentiated the "real" world from the "playground" world. And while my rebel's heart wants Kylie to shout out loud, "I can marry Clara if I want to!" I realize that this just won't work. At least not right now.

Hopefully the kiddos will go back to playing Bats on the playground real soon.

120 seconds

If you point a camera at Kylie for two minutes, this is what you'll get.

A few scrapbook pages

You can click on the photo to see the credits. These are all stories and pictures from last January and February. I can't believe I'm a year behind.