Question of the Day

Is bribing my kids with candy every time they practice their piano poor parenting in which I'm teaching my kids that they require external motivation to accomplish their goals...

or is it great parenting in which I'm providing consistent positive reinforcement that results in a desired outcome without strife?

Either way, they are practicing way more without my constant reminders, so I consider it a win.   

Not a Sad Good-bye

Today I got rid of all our cloth face masks.  Our abundant supply of masks saw us through the craziness of the past 2.5 years.  The pile of masks encompassed all the various styles and types we purchased or had made for us to find the most comfortable, cutest, best fitting, most stylish accessory to pair with our every outfit.  We always grabbed one as we headed out the door for school, the store, appointments, vacations, and community outings.  There were always extras stored in the car, my purse, backpacks, and coat pockets for the inevitable times that we'd forget. Of course, this pile does not include the many that were lost or left any number of different places or those that were tossed when they were past their prime.  It seems almost surreal to bag them up and remove them from the house.  

For almost two full school years, our masks were prominently stored in the mud room by the shoes and backpacks and mask lanyards, easy to grab as we left the house each morning.  Once masks were no longer required at school (in about February of this year), they were moved to a less prominent area in the laundry room, still easily accessible for those activities and places that still required them.  And although we do still keep a small supply of disposable masks in the car for doctor's appointments and for me to wear into work, our endless supply of cloth masks is no longer needed.  It was such a strange period of time as we navigated the novel world of covid.  The masks are a reminder of that time.  And as life returns to pre-covid normalcy, we still have all the memories and pictures and stories and blog posts about that time when our "new normal" was anything but.  We can never forget all that happened in our world and in our family during that time, but it's nice to finally be talking about it in the past tense...and to clear one more piece of it out of our home.

It's a pile of memories, but it's not a sad good-bye.

Truth

There are things I love to do.  Washing windows isn't one of them.

Family Milestone #355

We went out to dinner the other night.  Our family polished off a large pizza and an order of breadsticks without any leftovers to bring home.

And they aren't even teenagers yet!

Magical Moment

Over the course of the past two days, I straightened and organized all the rooms, cleaned our entire house, folded and put away all the laundry, and emptied out the recycling bins.  For one brief magical moment before anyone ate anything, dropped anything, wore anything, spilled anything, tracked in anything, played with anything, recycled anything, used anything, or touched anything, I reveled in the blissful feeling of cleanliness and completion.  And then...life resumed and the cycle started all over again.

Our School

I love our school district.  I love our teachers.  I love the community of kids and families that we share the school journey with.  I love that our school board and administration hold the same values that our family does.  That our community does.  I love that the school focuses not only on academics, but also on teaching our kids the importance of responsibility.  Respect.  Perseverance.  Service.  I love the opportunities that the school offers for parent involvement and partnership.  I love the variety of extra activities that are provided.  And I love the way that the teachers invest in my kids.

All 3 of my kids have had a great start to the school year.  They are enjoying their classes, their teachers, their activities, their friends, their learning.  Each day when I ask Briggs how his day was, he always either answers with "Great!" or "Two thumbs up."  And I have no doubt that his teacher making an effort to know him and to affirm him is a big part of that. 

And this is one of the reasons why I love our school!

Labor Day Fun

In celebration of successfully making it through the first 3 weeks of school, we enjoyed a family week-end in Chicago.

We started off with a day at the Museum of Science and Industry.

We spent the entire day exploring the museum.  Everyone had different highlights.  The huge model train exhibit was obviously top of Briggs' list.  We spent lots of time in this area.  And if the girls wanted to go see something that Briggs wasn't interested in, he would request to head straight back to the trains.

The fairy castle dollhouse was Adelie's favorite.  Just like Briggs, she kept asking for another chance to go back and see it again and again.

Staley's favorite was the mirror maze, Zach's favorite was the submarine, and my favorite was either the Lego exhibit or the fact that we found free street parking so we didn't have to pay for parking.

We all enjoyed the special Lego exhibit.  The art that could be created out of Legos was pretty extraordinary.  Other family highlights included the baby chicks, the funny mirrors in the circus area, all the hands-on fun in the weather area, the mirror maze, and the movies about climate change.

We followed up our day at the museum with a visit to Uncle Ethan to see his condo, meet his cat Pip, and eat some yummy pizza at Giordano's.

After a little swimming in the mostly adequate hotel pool, an adequate night's rest, and a less than adequate breakfast at our very adequate hotel, we ventured to Brookfield Zoo.  They were having an Ice Age exhibit, so along with the regular animal viewing, we also got to learn about giants from the Ice Age.

Although we got caught in a little morning rain, we still enjoyed a full day at the zoo.  (Since we hadn't packed for cool weather or rain, the kids all got new long-sleeved shirts from Target on the way to the zoo.)  The abundant okapi at the Brookfield Zoo have been a standing family joke since our last visit.  As we joked about all things okapi at the Brookfield Zoo, Adelie mused about whether or not they had okapi flavored ice cream.

Zach said that he wouldn't go to the zoo unless I could assure him that we'd see a saber-tooth tiger.  I'm glad I could deliver.  The Brookfield Zoo is really big, and we took all day to cover it all.  We especially enjoyed the monkeys and apes, sea otters, pygmy hippopotamus, dolphins, kangaroos, the carousel, and (of course) the okapi.

I always love our little family getaways.  And despite a little rain and Staley's ear infection, it was another winning week-end. 

Brutal Honesty

We were at the zoo over the week-end.  I was teasing Adelie about how the polar bear was looking right at her and thinking about how delicious she must look.  Adelie said, "I don't think I'd taste good.  I'm too skinny.  But I bet he thinks YOU look tasty.

#ouch

I guess only SOME of us are too skinny to be tasty.

My Girls

I had a friend recently send me pictures she took of my girls performing their solos for Rising Stars at the Washington Arts Festival.  She texted them to me, and the pictures were alternated between the two girls with a picture of Adelie followed by a picture of Staley followed by a picture of Adelie...  Scrolling through the pictures just made me laugh as I could enjoy the differences in the girls just based on the pictures.  Enjoy...

Good-bye, August!

August was a busy month.  It started with Beauty and the Beast and the St. Jude Run.  We fit in a few last fun summer activities before school started back up and fall activities resumed.  Apart from those big events, a few of our other August highlights included...

A fun day at the Bloomington Zoo and State Farm Park.

We enjoyed the zoo, went swimming at State Farm pool, played mini-golf at State Farm Park, and then went out for dinner as one last summer hoorah.

The girls performed a few more times with their Rising Stars group, including a scary storm performance at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield.

Both girls also got to do their solos when they performed at the Washington Arts Festival.  Staley sang 'Almost There'...

while Adelie performed 'Good Ship Lollipop' again.

We attended a fun patient appreciation event put on by our orthodontist at Tanner's Orchard.

There were lots of fun highlights like pony rides...

face painting (Adelie was the only taker)...

barrel train rides, which Briggs took of advantage of about 5 or 6 times...

a hayrack ride, jumping pillow, mini golf, playground fun, donuts, and apple cider.  It was a really fun family evening.  I guess I should be grateful that two of my kids need expensive orthodontic work if we get "free" family fun like this!

We squeezed in a few last State Farm pool swims with friends.

Adelie enjoyed a cousin sleepover with Caroline at Grammie and Grandpa's house.

Zach's race timing company has been timing some of the local cross country races.

And we've been enjoying the last of our fun summer activities before fall kicks into high gear.

August is always a month of transition as we say good-bye to our summer of leisure and hello to the beginning of a new school year.

Good-bye, August!

It's been fun!