earning the soccer mom badge

I have a problem with volunteering. Actually it's more of a problem with not being able to say 'No' (to people over age 8). So, I'm the cub scout master- which is kinda cool because, who masters the cubs? I DO.
But then I teach CCD, which is just not flashy. And then I bring mediocre food to pot lucks and bake sales.
Anyhow I realized the extent of my problem the other day when I found myself introducing myself as "You may have known me as Professor Wilma" (my starring role as the kooky scientist at our science lab of vacation bible study.) Sigh.
Anyhow- when I'm not being helpful I sometimes take pictures. Today we went Ice Skating with Nanna Carrie and I was not as useful as the wall for holding the wobbly kids up.

Snotablog tribute

I've noticed that some people have these blogs that are more than funny and venting. Some blogs have music and videos...beyond that some are useful and full of information. We'll call them snotablogs because they're justnotablog they are MORE. (And also beacause I'm jealous and haivng a snotablog sounds gross). Snotablogs include craft projects and recipes AND amusing anecdotes AND links. Well, I've considered this for some time and decided to keep my plain little blog as it is...no frills (see, it's a decision not just laziness!)

But here's my contribution to the Snotablog movement; it's a recipe:

2 cloves ( or 1 or 5...whatever)
2 Tablespoons Olive oil (or seasame oil)

Heat up, set to cool 1 hour, drop into achey ear and watch child go from grumpy and whiney to happy and giggly. Top it off with a cotton ball so the oil stays in and you have an excuse to yell "Use a tissue for heavens sake!!" a little louder than usual.

As we enter the season of children wiping runny noses on their shirts, hands and into their hair...the season of a hacking cough all over the turkey baster 'microphone' before handing it over to the kid standing next to them during the living room rock show. I thought I could put this info out to other Moms who might need to help their little ones through an earache. We haven't really dealt with earaches in our family too much and I had no idea what to do for Billie last week when she was miserable all morning. Another Mom told me about garlic oil, I googled it and tried it out and had a happy kid by trick or treat time.

Happy Winter.

Halloweenies

I didn't change the clock in my bedroom when we got an extra hour. So now I wake up BEFORE 8am and look at how productive I am!!! Two blogs in two days. Billie and Cort are from Teen Titans, Jackson is obviously Ash Ketchum (I made it) and Sloane is a weak link at Butterfree- a butterfly looking Pokemon. Sloane didn't want to wear the antlers.

He heard it from me

Today I taught my son the s-word. Here's how it went.
J: Mom, what's the s-word?
A: There's lots of words that start with S...sunshine...super. (Ever so casually) In what context did you hear that?
J: Well Charlie said that his little sister said the s-word and he didn't even tell me what the s-word is!
A: Oh well, in that case he was just saying the first letter because the word is impolite in itself. I think he was referring to 'Shit' which is a rude word people use sometimes.
J: Oh. Well, what does 'Schut' mean anyway? (Isn't that cute he's so unfamiliar that he mispronounces it with a German accent and everything?)
A: I think it means poop.
J: Oh.

So, that's the day I taught my son a curse word. For a moment I thought "I guess it's best that he hear it from me." But then that sounded wrong. It would be best to hear it from some bad older kid who shows us all the examples of ways NOT to behave. There are some things my kids are missing out on by not being in school with a large group of peers for 40 hours a week. Maybe I should start organizing playdates with more bad kids...pretty soon we'll be doing a lesson on how to make spitballs. What would it be like to grow up without knowing that, if you throw a wad of wet TP on the ceiling it will stick there? I guess we'll see.

virtual friends

Today I caught up with old friends. What a lovely day I had, peeking in on people I love, seeing their children grow, guffawing myself silly over their hilarious stories of what happens during ordinary days at home. Does it sound wrong to thank God for blogs?
One thing I'm good at: making friends. Bill has pointed out that I keep making friends with female versions of him. It's true, I have all these strong, determined, passionate friends. They have all these amazing skills, they're organized and changing the world and Mothers and struggling and creative and wise and selfish and warm and sometimes I agree with them. They even keep up with current events. Imagine! Here's the thing about having wonderful friends...I am HORRIBLE about keeping up with my friends. I'm not one of those people who loses friends. (Certainly not as often as I lose cameras.) There are a few who've fallen between the couch cushions, I'm sure. For the most part they're still here...around here...somewhere (as, I'm sure the camera is.) I'll find time to send out an email and a Christmas letter at least once a year.
I'm weary about much of the 21st century stuff- gave up Nutrasweet just last week and I do run a whole house without dryer sheets in the laundry. But I do loves me some blogs! Thank goodness for the women who write them. I'm sure they'll be fun and horrifying when I'm old and look at them as records of life but for now they're just this incredible connection to my friends all over the world. Thanks, girls. I love you. It's nice to hear from people who aren't making popcorn and string cheese for dinner tonight.

family fun

Nannou and Boppy came for a visit. They were up for all kinds of adventure. So much fun taking walks, playing chase in the parks, spending 3 nights in a Cappadocia castle and playing Chess with Jackson.
Jackson is a true kindness-to-all-creatures sort. He attracts stray cats and dogs everywhere we go.

earning the Dork badge

I have a problem with volunteering. Actually it's more of a problem with not being able to say 'No' (to people over age 8). So, I'm the cub scout master- which is kinda cool because, who masters the cubs? I DO.
But then I teach CCD, which is just not flashy. And then I bring mediocre food to pot lucks and bake sales.
Anyhow I realized the extent of my problem the other day when I found myself introducing myself as "You may have known me as Professor Wilma" (my starring role as the kooky scientist at our science lab of vacation bible study.) Sigh.
Anyhow- when I'm not being helpful I sometimes take pictures. Today we went Ice Skating with Nanna Carrie and I was not as useful as the wall for holding the wobbly kids up.

The Biggest Loser

Tell me about it! I wanted to post this blog with before and afta pictures of Bill from last summer and this summer- it's a major difference but he's such a beefcake now that we'd get all sorts of the wrong kind of attention on our blog. Playgirl will have to find their next calendar man elsewhere. He runs races, works out MORE than once a day, bikes to and from work 4 days a week!!!! (and Ankara has hills!) He's even doing Yoga with me...but in a very macho way.

I had a loss of my own; in the hair department. Wouldn't it be cool to have dreadlocks? To have a hairstyle that requires no primping but can still go into braids, pony tails, chopstick buns and other variations. And what about the message it sends. Hair with a message...that's what I'm talkin' 'bout. Something that says "Hello world- I don't buy into your narrow view of beauty." I want dreadlocks. I managed to get three of my disapproving and conventional friends over under false pretenses and then pleaded with them to put my hair into dreadlocks. It's a very complicated process- as you can see from the picture.

Dreadlocks take patience. One must release any concern for what others think as your hair spazes out and looks nothing like dreadlocks for weeks and smells funny from the Apple Cider Vinegar used for shampoo. I hang out with a lot of kids so there were the occaisional whispers of "why is your Mom's hair doing that?" and the more frequent and direct..."why is your hair crazy today?" I was going strong for a few weeks and then there was the Egyptian food poisoning episode (see previous blog). Writing about this is sort of like when you taste something gross, announce "This is gross" and then hand it to someone and say "Try it." We had food poisioning...it wasn't a stomach bug where one person gets it first and then when they just get over the worst of it, you get it, and then the next day the other kid gets it. We all got hit with nausea on the same night. Picture this- we're all in ONE hotel room, with ONE bathroom. At first I'm all 'ick' and dragging pukey bedsheets to the tiny bathroom sink and spot washing with laundry soap. But after getting up 5 times in the middle of the night to clean up after 3 different sickos- and feeling totally rotten myself- I just started putting the smelly blankets on to the balcony and going back to lie down. (Alright, it was really only once that I tried to clean before moving on to the balcony of leave-it-for-the-maid technique).
Anyhow, with the smells and the cleaning and the general smog and dirt of Egypt I got to the point of wanting nothing more but to take 3 showers a day and my new baby dreadies wouldn't hold up to that much washing. I just relented and combed them all out. Which is sad now. I miss my hair and want dreadlocks even more than ever.

Seeing stuff that's really quite old

Egypt was fun. What would a trip be without the inevitable moments of feeling like you were married to Chevy Chase and in the movie Vacation rather than on vacation? Apart from the 48 hours we spent with food poisoning (note: when you go on the dinner cruise on the Nile...avoid the buffet food) we had a great time seeing lots of really old things and playing in the hotel waterpark pool.

take that Bully!

home body

This year is the year I've enjoyed staying home. Not that we actually spend much time IN the house but I do try to schedule at least one day a week where I'm not driving and we just hang around here, maybe go to the park or walk to the market but no major events. A day when we're not going from here to there does a lot for our stamina through the week.
That said, we've been SOOO busy. I feel like we're constantly involved in stuff..even when we don't leave the house Billie, Jackson and Sloane even are going to their friends' and they invite their friends over here so there's more than 8 kids here at least 3 days a week- so being home certainly doesn't equate to down time. Ask me how many times I had to 'turn on the light and say "Something is not right!" in my Ms. Clavel voice yesterday as EACH of the six girls who were here took turns being Madeline in our re-enactment of the story book...and you will get a sense of how un-down-time it really is.
I've noticed I really like it. I haven't been itching to take any trips, I'm not envious of all the places our friends and those around us are traveling to this summer. I think the kids would rather meet their friends at the park in the backyard than see ancient ruins and I'm enjoying our summer of no travels. At the same time I can hardly wait for September. I am eager to get back our quiet mornings of lessons and reading while all the other kids are away at school. For now our lessons seem the only 'down time' in our day as soon as they're done we're off in the van or Jackson is on the phone to his friends- gathering up a gang for outside 'army'. If this has a thing-of-the-past air about it, it's because we'll be taking a trip to Egypt soon...I'm pretty sure.

Sooooo big!

Cort is cute

Look at all Cort's teeth. His look is really messy at a birthday party after eating cake and chips....fourth child gets chips before he turns one. Billie didn't have french fries until she was over two. When he was like 7 months old the kids would just hand him half of their balogna sandwich with mustard. Cort has been witness to more bad behavior now than Billie at age 4. Crazy how you can grow up in the same family and have such drastically different lives. Sloane and Cort (set #2) are like a whole new franchise.

And now we are six

Jackson spent his birthday being a pest. Apparently the rush of a waterslide is nothing in comparison with tormenting bikini clad women. He was giggling and hiding behind bushes all day, like a watergun ninja, squirting innocent park attendents and gleefully stirring up smokin' hot girls. I didn't feel too bad about his pesky behavior because the Turkish girls are not the kind to react with mere squealling and peevish looks. They were always up for his game and instantly swiping off their boyfriends hats: makeshift buckets to soak Jackson with.

I love it that the Turks are so friendly and playful...the whole country adores kids and their misbehaviors. It's little brother heaven. PLUS Nanna was here with us to celebrate the big day which makes everything more fun...even waking up in the morning is exciting. We got sunburns and then made cake.

family visits

It's addictive

We got the results from the standardized test Billie took a few months back- the official first grade test. I have to say that, apart from moments of sheer panic every once in a while, I get more and more addicted to homeschooling the more we do it. (Now that I can breath a sigh of relief and say that Billie is not, by a long shot, falling behind her peers in any subject.)

When you first consider homeschooling it sounds so out there because it's not what normal people do and you have this idea that homeschoolers are making a strange choice. But then we had homeschooling mecca with our groups and we got to be exposed to so many families and you could see that the older kids were kids who loved books, kids who played well with their friends, kids who weren't intimidated to speak with adults, kids who did what worked for them and not the crowd and it didn't seem at all like homeschooling was ruining their lives. Eventually it felt normal to be homeschoolers. And then we became official- it wasn't just Kiddiegarden anymore...now we were in the big time...SCHOOL age. Now we have come to the dark side
we're so enmeshed in following our interests and learning all the time...that conventional school seems so ODD. Like, who are these kids that actually sit at their desk?! Kids can do that?!
-waking up early in the morning...EVERY morning?
following a schedule?
getting homework done there's other kids outside at the park?
do your kids survive from 9-11:25am without a snack (because mine swear they would perish)?


Put Jackson who is academically ahead, refuses to sit still, CAN NOT contain himself from interrupting other kids, and resists authority with every atom of his being...put Jackson in a room with 20 other 5 and 6 year olds? That just seems like asking for trouble. Send Jackson into a group of his peers to learn manners, respect for others, proper speech patterns, math, spelling, don't do drugs, and State history? Um...Billie, yes...I can see that she might overcome the influence of others to memorize some facts; she LIKES following directions...but Jackson?!!!! I just don't see how it could possibly work.
With Billie I worry more about the opposite happening...she'd follow directions so well- those of the kids as well as the teacher, she picks up on trends instantly, she'd stop raising her hand if it wasn't 'cool'.
When I started homeschooling I thought it was something I could do for a while and just switch over to conventional school if I wanted to in the future. I think we'll still always give our kids the option of attending a school...and I'm not making commitments for high school at the moment. Lately, I've just been noticing that the further we get away from school...the gap grows wider. I didn't mean this to be preachy- just prepare yourselves for having some of those 'homeschooler' friends/cousins/grandkids for now and the future.

Earth Science

Yesterday we met up with friends and went exploring in the pond. We caught tadpoles. Sloane really got into it. Let's hope they don't go the way of the hermit crabs we used to catch at Oura-Wan.

it turns me upside down

The kids finished up their soccer season.

Billie is totally hopeless with skateboarding...as with most things that involve balance or athletic skill- that is just not her strength. Jackson is actually pretty good at skat boarding- which is scary.

Here's a day at the park.

Sloane has turned into this super-great kid and when in a group of her peers (playgroup of 2 year olds) she is actually sharing, polite, gentle, thoughtful and happy. Her responses to me still frequently begin with the words "No! Because..." but it's nice to see she has the capacity for something other than world domination outside of our home.

blame it on six

I've been busy. For a while I felt like I had my life pretty well under control- there were a few years there where I was feeling all giddy about getting to 'be grown up' having our kids and a home was fun and the livin was easy. Along came six. Not the number of people- the age SIX. Which, now that we're on to seven with Billie, I can see was just like a mood swing that lasted a year. But guess who's birthday is coming up soon? My kind, helpful son who has just happened to turn AWFUL in the last few months. Here we go again....
yikes.
Why didn't anyone tell me that six was the year from emotional hell?!!
And then we had to figure out a strategy...because our non-yelling-time-outs didn't seem to be making anything better. If only there were some kind of time out that lasted a year...that might have been useful.
I decide to go with the 'no punishment' option. Bill thinks I'm insane. We really NEEDED time outs when there were 2 and 3 very little kids around and that worked well for us for many years. But, I don't see that working forever. I think now they can start taking on the idea that you do the right thing because you respect others and because it is the right thing to do, not just to avoid punishment. So...that's what we've been working on here. That, and having family visits, attending an absurd number of bbqs and birthday parties before people leave for the summer, Bill getting moved right up to a higher position at work which involves busier days during work hours, taking Turkish lessons, keeping Cort from darting off to the bathroom when no one is looking, weekly field trips to augment homeschooling, Billie and Jackson being 'official' 2nd and 1st graders- continuing our 'lesson's through the summer, reading reading reading, pool time and playing outside. Then there's Bill who wanted to climb Mt. Ercyie with some friends and then he came up with a work-out plan and then he had the gall to actually STICK to his new plan, he's running five miles for 'fun' (??!!) and doing all this other excercise-y stuff with those fit-type people like running races and Saturday morning bike rides all over the hills of Turkey. I remain committed to a nightly snacking pattern and my yoga class is on hiatus for the summer so I am alone in my couch-potato status in the family. phew. i think that's it.
But I'm going to start blogging again, with renewed commitment- so that there's some record of all the life that's happening here at the speed of light.