Father's Day

Will's perfect day: wake up and go running, then get back in bed so we can bring him his oats in bed. No lazy bones in this man! Then we all went to the club and played tennis while the kids were in daycare. Next we all went swimming and out to lunch. Will got to take a good long afternoon nap and then a good healthy dinner and chocolate cake.

Will has a way with his kids to make the mundane fun. Kai definitely identifies that he is a boy just like Daddy and can be very attached to him; it's especially hard on him when daddy travels. Daddy and Mommy energies are so different and both are so valuable to children. I am so much more protective and coddling of the kids and Will just expects them to do things. After he tells me what he got the kids to do, I think wow! I didn't think they were ready for that. It all starts when they were babes and he threw them into the air to catch them. It got higher and higher and I need to leave the room because I'm hyperventilating. Kids need a mommy's grounding, safety net and a daddy's push (or throw) to ignite their confidence and sense of adventure.

Here’s to Daddy!

Air Show

We read something one Saturday morning about an airshow out at the Boulder airport and decided to check it out. So much fun! The kids got to climb and crawl around airport fire trucks, military helicopters, WW2 bombers (Mommy, what’s a war? A: It’s when two countries never learned to take turns and share.), and watch stunt flying up above us. Lorna now has a new appreciation that Poppa is a pilot and that Uncle Tim flies helicopters.

Horse Camp 2011

Both Lucy and Lorna had horse camp last week. It was the same camp as last year but the teacher (and friend of mine) has moved to a new location. This was Lucy’s first school –like experience apart from mom. Lorna and her friends took good care of her and made sure that she was always included.

Now most kids are nervous around the big horses and will just observe the first day, maybe ride the donkey on the second day. Lucy wanted to ride the biggest horse right away. (Lorna again thought that Lucy must have had riding lessons at the orphanage.) She joined right in and played with new friends. But probably the most exciting thing was to eat lunch out of her spider man lunch box.

The kids also learned about beekeeping, barn swallows and caring for goats and chickens.

Brenda!

I’ve been working out with Will’s personal trainer, Brenda. He started working out with her after his shoulder surgery and PT left him still very weak and with little mobility. He’s now in the best shape of his life.

After doing something impressive, like doing squats while standing on an exercise ball, I find myself saying, “how’s that for a frumpy housewife!” Brenda has a degree in sports psychology as well and sports medicine. When she refers to me as an athlete, I know she’s working that psychology thing on me. And I appreciate hearing more words like ‘athlete’ as well as mom and housewife. There is an individual in there that needs remembering.

My main motivation for working out with a trainer was to help me run pain-free. I have always wanted to run a marathon but have hip pain from an old childhood ski injury. Brenda was confident that if my hips and core were strengthened, my hips would be fine. And she’s right!

And my jeans fit better.

Summer has started!

Summer has come to the Paradise kids…sleeping in, going to the pool, lazy afternoons in the garden and mommy chasing the kids with sunscreen and big hats. This summer has such a different tone to it. Kelsey was with us full time last year and this year it’s mostly just us. We’ve been going to the pool most days and finding our daily rhythm. Lucy is getting quite comfortable in the water and Kai is gaining confidence. (Lorna thought that Lucy must have had swim lessons at the orphanage.) Without another adult, I don’t venture into the big pool. Instead we hang in the pool that is just 1 foot, 6 inches deep.

End of the Year!

Lorna has graduated from Kindergarten, which in the Waldorf system signals the beginning of academics. Next year she will start with her teacher Marilyn Fox who she will continue with through fifth grade. There are 15 children signed up for her class next year and we know most of them. All of the first grade ready children have had many celebratory occasions in the past week. They all went on a 3 hour hike up a significant Colorado hill, put on a puppet show for the friends staying on in the kindergarten with puppets that they sewed themselves and then the bridging ceremony on June 8.

This was a gorgeous ceremony where the kindergarten teachers led all the "graduates" into some specially placed seats as the parents sang them some simple songs with a guitarist. The regular entrance into the yard, was decorated with a yellow sheet and garlands of yellow roses. Then one by one (Lorna was first) the children were hugged by their teacher, given a key, and led out the gates of the kindergarten and only then did they realize that they were led into the welcoming embrace of Mrs. Fox. When the class was assembled, they sat down to a proper lunch together while the parents and younger siblings shared a potluck picnic inside the gates. Lorna has been wearing her golden key around her neck all week! I only have some pre pictures of this event because a professional photographer will share her photos instead of the event being overshadowed by snapping cameras. I'll share them when I can.

Pictures coming soon - still trying to understand my mac.

Music Together

As the little ones will be starting preschool in the fall, there are some things in our life that are coming to an end. One of them is music together - a child and parent music program that serves infants to age 5. I started with Lorna when she was less than a year and so have been doing these music classes for almost six years straight. There are various collections of songs and rhymes (with CD's) that repeat every three years or so. For the past three years, I'm the one mom who remembers all the songs from the session three years ago.

Music Together has been such a lovely part of my children's first years. And I have to tell you I think my own musical abilities have improved - some of the activities have really challenged me. How wonderful it has been to have the shared experience of joy in music, to actually sit in a circle and make music. Instead I usually have it in the background and tune in to it, only when I transition from one thing to another.

Usually these CD's are the only thing the kids want to listen to in the car. So on my few rare outings by myself, I find myself singing along to "John the Rabbit" before realizing that I can actually listen to some of my own music!

The classes have also been a great socialization and pre-pre-school activity. They learn to listen to the teacher, keep voices low when teacher is talking or singing, share, take turns, have fun with friends, transition between activities and props, participate as well as keep a beat and sing in tune.

So I've graduated and the parting is bittersweet. As I will have kids in school three days a week next year, I am slowly finalizing this chapter of my life. I'll miss the teachers and the weekly ritual in my life - it's actually inspired me to think about learning an instrument!

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend is always a good time here in Boulder. There's the Boulder Creek festival with rides and demonstrations for the kiddos - so we did that one day, and part of another. We also went to a farm-to-table dinner which included a tour of the farm, a wonderful dinner with all ingredients from the fields and/or livestock. With some fiddle-playing dancing at the end. Sunday, we worked in the garden after lots of rain the past few weeks and inspiration from the farm visit.

On Memorial Day itself, I always run the Bolder Boulder 10K. My start time was about 7:30 so I was home by 9:30. (I ran it in 57 minutes a PR, if I do say so myself).

Not too many pictures of Kai. He's two AND a guy. Although adoreable, he's had to catch on the camera.