Even the Tooth Fairy has a Bad Day...

Last Friday we were at the Science Center enjoying lunch with our friends the Bozeks when Chloe lost her tooth! This wasn't the first one - it was actually the fourth - but she was, as always, very excited about putting it under her pillow and seeing what treasures might be there for her in the morning. Greg was at his weekly bible study meeting on Saturday morning and I was at my computer when a very forlorn looking little six year old tapped me on the shoulder.

"The tooth fairy didn't come! My tooth is still under my pillow and she didn't leave me anything!"

OOPS.

I had to think fast. Quickly, I came up with a scenario... so many little boys and girls all lost teeth yesterday that, believe it or not, the tooth fairy actually got behind! Yes, that is exactly what happened!!  In fact, the very same thing happened to me when I was a little girl!

"What did you do?" she asked, wide eyed.

"Well, ummm, I ummm.... I actually wrote her a letter reminding her that...."

The sentence wasn't even finished and Chloe was pulling out her pencil box and lined paper and asking me how to spell "fairy."

We did indeed send that letter to the tooth fairy on Saturday, and that very embarrassed and humbled Tooth Fairy left Chloe quite a few things Saturday night: a few bucks for the dollar spot at Target, some necklace-making materials for our crafty little girl, and the entire Chronicles of Narnia on audio CD, which Chloe is reading every night with her Daddy and is completely entranced with.

Thank goodness for grace... I'd be lost without it!

“But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'”

2 Corinthians 9

Babymoon

Greg and I snuck away this past weekend for a little "Babymoon." I am almost 26 weeks pregnant and we figured this would be one of the last opportunities for some alone time before Baby #4 joins our family.

We went to the Bedford Springs Resort and Spa, and it was fantastic!

We talked about what we wanted to do with our time away and both came to the same conclusion: eat great food and do nothing but relax.  Mission Accomplished! When we arrived we went straight to the pub and had absolutely delicious cheeseburgers and fries. Then we headed to the lobby, shown below, for their afternoon tea. Suffice it to say, I made several trips to the dessert table...

Completely stuffed, we headed to our room for reading and naps. It was such a luxury to just spend the afternoon reading books, watching movies on HBO, and snoozing in the super comfy bed. We even called and changed our dinner reservations from 8:30 to 9:30 that night because we were having so much fun just relaxing!

That night, we had a romantic dinner in the Crystal Room...

...and enjoyed several hours just catching up on work, the kids, and the impending arrival of our new little one. Usually our dinner is slightly less luxurious, as we wage a few battles over vegetables and the kids down their dinners in five minutes flat so they can go play with Daddy in the basement. We know these dinners are fleeting, and that all too soon there will be empty chairs at the table because kids are at soccer, dance class, and the like, so we try to enjoy them in all their imperfection. Still, what a treat it was to eat an entire dinner uninterrupted - and not have to clean up a single dish when we were done!

We slept in, read the paper and sipped coffee, and then indulged in an absolutely heavenly brunch before heading back to the Burgh with new books and bags of candy in hand for our waiting kiddos. We had a wonderful babymoon, and are especially grateful to my Mom, Dad, and Sister for providing our kids with more fun and love than we could imagine while we were gone.

  

"I will both lie down in peace and sleep, for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."

                                                                Psalm 4:8

Field Trip Friday: The Museum of Natural History

We spent Friday with some special homeschool friends exploring the Museum of Natural History again. It was our best trip yet! With the help of the Bozeks we discovered several exhibits we hadn't seen yet, and the kids loved them. We especially loved the Indian and Eskimo exhibits - there we several hands-on elements that the kids could explore, and Chloe in particular came away from the day with a fascination for Eskimos. The next morning she climbed into my bed and started chatting, full of questions (which of course, I couldn't answer!) about Eskimos and how they lived. Needless to say, we're heading to the library this week to stock up on some books! This trip really seemed to open up her curiosity. As she and her friend were skipping through the dinosaur exhibit I heard her say, "C'mon Meghan, let's imagine we're paleontologists!"

I told Greg that I wish we could go back without the kids some afternoon... the amount of fascinating information to see and take in in that building is unreal. The architecture alone is enough to just wander around and stare at - they don't make buildings like they used to!

Here are some highlights from our trip:

We got up close and personal with some great beasts:

Created dinosaur stories together:

Explored the way Eskimos lived and survived:

Learned what American Indian villages looked like...

 

... and how they prepared their food:

Explored the woods...

read a few books...

and pieced together the skeleton of the great T Rex.

Great fun, great learning, great fellowship with friends. A day well spent!

Field Trip Friday: The Fire Station!

Last month we had the opportunity to go to the Cranberry Township Fire Station with our homeschool co-op. I was thrilled to have the chance to do a little "fire safety" unit with the kids. Chloe learned about fire safety in preschool, but this was the first time the boys got a good, hands-on lesson about staying away from fire.

The instructors were all volunteer firemen, and their patience and enthusiasm with the kids was awesome!

Learning stop, drop, and roll:

What a fireman would look like coming to save you in a burning house... pretty frightening!!

Max and Sam were firemen last year for Halloween, so they especially loved the hats and learning about all the equipment.

After learning about the importance of staying away from fire and what to do if there is a fire in your house, we all went to the giant garage to learn about the trucks. Needless to say, getting in the trucks was the boys' favorite part of the morning!

It was an awesome trip, and a valuable learning experience! The volunteer firemen are truly selfless, heroic individuals. It was such a blessing to spend the morning with them!

For the Love of a Good Book

 "I choose free libraries as the best agencies for improving the masses of the people, because they give nothing for nothing. They only help those who help themselves. They never pauperize. They reach the aspiring and open to these chief treasures of the world -- those stored up in books. A taste for reading drives out lower tastes."

Andrew Carnegie

 

Chloe has begun reading quite well on her own, much to our delight. I took her to her first story hour when she was 9 days old... no joke. It was at the Cranberry Library, and I'll never forget the amused look on the librarian's face when I marched in with my five-and-a-half pound one week old and proudly announced as we went around the circle that her name was Chloe. All of the other babies were at least sitting up and most were toddling about the room, but I was determined that my girl would love libraries and books as much as her mother, so I thought I'd better start young. 

When the rock 'em sock 'em twins came along, I entered into an eighteen-month-long library depression. Chloe and I were by then devoted weekly library enthusiasts, and I stubbornly refused to give that up with her. She had learned that libraries were places to use her quiet voice, to read softly with mommy, and to do more looking and less touching, more listening and less raucous playing. The twins did not cooperate. They were loud, even as babies, crying through story hour and forcing us to leave so we didn't ruin it for others. My sweet, selfless sister would meet us as often as she could at the library before work so that one of us could stay with Chloe while the other walked the restless boys through the library in the stroller. I dragged all three of those kids to the library almost every week and, more often than not, left physically and emotionally exhausted a half hour later, mourning my pre-Sam-and-Max library visits and wondering if I would ever get them back.

Finally, a few months before they turned two, a tiny light flickered at the end of the long tunnel. The boys seemed to be beginning to understand. As we pulled into the parking lot each week I would ask questions about the appropriate behavior that was expected in a library, and they seemed to know all the answers...


Should they knock maniacally on the fish tank?


Nooooooooo.


Should they use only their quiet voices?


Yeeeeessssss.


Is it okay to climb over the barrier and touch the camel on display in the entry?


Noooooooooo.


Is it okay to look at the camel and discuss what he is wearing and why?


Yeeeesssssss.


Is it okay to take every book in an entire row off the shelf and throw them on the floor?


Noooooooooooo.


Can you choose one and bring it to Mommy to read?


Yeeeessssssss.

Things weren't always perfect. They still aren't. There are still times when the kids get a little too loud, a little too silly - and when they do, if stern warnings are ignored, we leave.  

I've tried as best I can to teach them that people go to libraries to enjoy books and quiet, not crazy children, and I think that's as it should be. Our community is full of places for kids to play... there should still be some sacred places where children learn to go and be quiet, shouldn't there? 

  

 

 Our local library, with only its few old, simple toys and puzzles, is on my kids' top five favorite places to go on a weekly basis, and I am so grateful. Studies show that one of the best ways to encourage a love of learning in children is by bringing them to the library as often as you can.

And that sweet, selfless sister who used to help me at the library?  She's already training her own little reader...

James Paul at four months, edifying himself as Mommy and Aunt LaLa bake Thanksgiving pies.

 

"The library is the temple of learning, and learning has liberated more people than all the wars in history."

Carl T. Rowan