He can also be very NOT cute, but this was cute... So, anyway, we announced the coming baby last Sunday, and then that evening, after our nephew had been put to bed he was caught out of bed a number of times. When he was finally asked WHY he was out of bed, he apparently used the first thing that popped into his head as the excuse for his being awake! His words were, "I don't know when I'm going to have a baby..." The poor kid, lol! The idea of having a baby cousin had him so worried because he didn't know when HE was having the baby!
And... both our niece and nephew regularly ask me how big the "babies" are. Now, to my KNOWLEDGE, there is only one baby. We'll find out in a few weeks, I suppose, when they decide if I'm measuring right and all that, but for now we are working on the assumption that there is and will only be, one baby coming. So, I've been correcting the miswording every time! Of course, Justin isn't much help, seeing as he is still insisting we're having twins, and regularly makes the mistake of saying "babies" instead of "baby"!
Well, I had my biometrics appointment yesterday, and was finished there before my appointment was even supposed to happen, so I suppose that means everything went well. We should have work and travel papers sometime before the middle of June! Isn't that exciting? :-) We're hoping to have the travel papers before the middle of May, actually, but who knows if that will happen or not.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Big News!
Well, I was going to wait until tomorrow to post this, but I think I will post it tonight! You may notice a little "ticker" at the right now, and it is a count down... to our due date! We are expecting a baby in October... well... really, it could be October OR November, because the due date falls on October 31 (or October 30 by my calculations, but it never hurts to have an extra day there)! Anyway, there's our big news!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.
That quote is from Ralph Waldo Emerson, but I thought it quite fitting considering the conversation I had with my niece this afternoon!
She was going through my basket of yarn, looking for little (and big) balls of left overs that I had saved for future use, and found a little bit of fluffy pink stuff, that I had used for a friend's little girl. She asked the little girl's name, and found out she had the same name as the other little girl! She was a little disturbed by the fact there was another girl "just like her" who had blonde hair, and a little brother, just like she does. She was extremely relieved to discover that this other girl has blue eyes instead of having the same big, deep, brown eyes my niece has. Well, after deciding it was okay to have the same name as another person, and having been informed that there was no other little girl just like her now, nor would there be, because God made her uniquely special... she has decided to adopt this other little girl as a long-distance buddy of sorts. She's now in the process of making a present for her!
Sorry, Ev, but you may have a very odd looking necklace arriving in the mail sometime! LOL! I'll see if I can convince her to make something a little more... normal...? Right now she is quite insistent that a "scrap yarn necklace" is the perfect present for a 1 year old, hehe! You may just end up with the necklace and a picture too (she likes to draw)... I guess it's an interesting time to strike up a friendship of sorts between a 6 year old and a 1-almost-2 year old, hehe!
Let's see... other than that, I figured out how to make fish sticks from scratch, and how to make ketchup (or catsup as my dad sometimes calls it!) as well! I thought it tasted pretty good, though I had a picky eater saying it didn't taste "as good as the fish sticks I sometimes gets in my lunch do". Oh well. It's not like I was trying to compete!
I was given an idea for a meal for tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes... if it flies, we'll have it again, and again, and again, and again... Just not every day in a row! I really want to make nalischneky (no clue if that is the right spelling or not), but I don't think I can get the right sort of cheese here! It's some sort of dry curd cottage cheese, and I'm honestly not even sure if it exists around here!
It's quickly turning from what I would call spring, to summer already! We actually had seventy degree weather this afternoon, and I saw a purple iris in bloom today! I feel so strangely out of place, because to me, irises are LATE spring, or early to mid-summer flowers, and here they're blooming! Well, the "leafless" magnolias (they'll get leaves later) are almost finished their blooming, the apples, plums, and other fruit trees are in full bloom, and now I think we are just awaiting the blooming of the shiny leafed magnolias that are all over the place here! A nice relief is that the American Elms are nearly done with their seeding season, so I'm no longer having such horrible reactions every time we go near some of those!
Outside the apartment complex, in the river/inlet, there are a number of birds making regular visits. Today I saw a pair of ducks, about six sand pipers, probably a few dozen seagulls (no surprise) and one brown pelican! Normally we don't see the pelicans, but we see a lot of herons. I found out last night how to tell the difference between a white heron and a white crane-- cranes fly with their necks stretched straight out, and herons curl their necks up. So, I now know for a fact that we see a pair of cranes, a lot of white herons, and the occasional Great Blue Heron.
And, since I'm just rambling, I suppose I should stop talking! I have quite a bit to accomplish around here anyway, including writing two research papers! :-)
She was going through my basket of yarn, looking for little (and big) balls of left overs that I had saved for future use, and found a little bit of fluffy pink stuff, that I had used for a friend's little girl. She asked the little girl's name, and found out she had the same name as the other little girl! She was a little disturbed by the fact there was another girl "just like her" who had blonde hair, and a little brother, just like she does. She was extremely relieved to discover that this other girl has blue eyes instead of having the same big, deep, brown eyes my niece has. Well, after deciding it was okay to have the same name as another person, and having been informed that there was no other little girl just like her now, nor would there be, because God made her uniquely special... she has decided to adopt this other little girl as a long-distance buddy of sorts. She's now in the process of making a present for her!
Sorry, Ev, but you may have a very odd looking necklace arriving in the mail sometime! LOL! I'll see if I can convince her to make something a little more... normal...? Right now she is quite insistent that a "scrap yarn necklace" is the perfect present for a 1 year old, hehe! You may just end up with the necklace and a picture too (she likes to draw)... I guess it's an interesting time to strike up a friendship of sorts between a 6 year old and a 1-almost-2 year old, hehe!
Let's see... other than that, I figured out how to make fish sticks from scratch, and how to make ketchup (or catsup as my dad sometimes calls it!) as well! I thought it tasted pretty good, though I had a picky eater saying it didn't taste "as good as the fish sticks I sometimes gets in my lunch do". Oh well. It's not like I was trying to compete!
I was given an idea for a meal for tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes... if it flies, we'll have it again, and again, and again, and again... Just not every day in a row! I really want to make nalischneky (no clue if that is the right spelling or not), but I don't think I can get the right sort of cheese here! It's some sort of dry curd cottage cheese, and I'm honestly not even sure if it exists around here!
It's quickly turning from what I would call spring, to summer already! We actually had seventy degree weather this afternoon, and I saw a purple iris in bloom today! I feel so strangely out of place, because to me, irises are LATE spring, or early to mid-summer flowers, and here they're blooming! Well, the "leafless" magnolias (they'll get leaves later) are almost finished their blooming, the apples, plums, and other fruit trees are in full bloom, and now I think we are just awaiting the blooming of the shiny leafed magnolias that are all over the place here! A nice relief is that the American Elms are nearly done with their seeding season, so I'm no longer having such horrible reactions every time we go near some of those!
Outside the apartment complex, in the river/inlet, there are a number of birds making regular visits. Today I saw a pair of ducks, about six sand pipers, probably a few dozen seagulls (no surprise) and one brown pelican! Normally we don't see the pelicans, but we see a lot of herons. I found out last night how to tell the difference between a white heron and a white crane-- cranes fly with their necks stretched straight out, and herons curl their necks up. So, I now know for a fact that we see a pair of cranes, a lot of white herons, and the occasional Great Blue Heron.
And, since I'm just rambling, I suppose I should stop talking! I have quite a bit to accomplish around here anyway, including writing two research papers! :-)
Monday, March 3, 2008
Modern Culture Children... What's the Excuse??
Why do people excuse children from good behaviour at things such as music recitals or plays, leaving them home instead of bringing them along, when those same children are quite likely sitting around at home with a sitter watching television or a movie? How is it that people think two hours of listening to music is not something a four and six year old could handle doing, but the same four and six year old could watch two or three hours of television without them, or anyone else batting an eye?
I don't think that "it's going to be a long time to sit and listen" should be an excuse. Children are forced to sit for two hours at a time in school, they are allowed to sit for a few hours at a time at home in front of the television, and sometimes (though now a days it isn't often) children will sit and read for a few hours at a time. But as soon as you want to TAKE them somewhere? It's too long for them to sit and be quiet.
Hmm... what's the difference? I do have a theory. I think our society has been conditioned to treat children very differently than they ought to be. Children have very few expectations placed on them in the modern culture. They are often permitted to talk during church (if they are taken to church at all) and sometimes during school. Television has advertisements, so they don't have to keep their brains on one subject for more than ten or fifteen minutes at a time, and have a three minute break every ten to fifteen minutes so they can talk, run, and jump, and ignore what is going on.
A hundred and fifty years ago, a child of any age, be they four, ten, or any other age, would have been expected to be still, not just quiet, for a full church service every Sunday morning, sometimes stretching to two or three hours in length. Even one little fidget would have been good for a whipping. They were then expected to sit for the same length of time, in the same manner for the Sunday evening service, and Wednesday service as well! They were expected to sit quietly in school, no fidgeting, no talking. Parents didn't simply leave their children home because they were "afraid of how their child would behave", because they knew their children were trained better than to misbehave in church, school, or any other social situation in which quite, appropriate decorum was necessary. Why should it be any different now??
We took our niece and nephew to a music recital yesterday afternoon, expecting it to be about an hour, maybe just slightly more. It turned out it was two hours long. Well, there was a brief intermission half way through, and at that point we already had people commenting on how well behaved the kids were, and how they wouldn't have dared bring their own children or grandchildren to something such as this. They were even surprised when they found out we were planning to stay for the second half! Why should they be surprised, when we came in the first place?? The kids made it through the second half of the program just fine as well. We didn't force them to be perfectly still, though we also didn't permit them to be entirely distracting to those around us. We were seated in the front row, so they were able to see what was going on, and we were sure to tell them the composer's names, and the title of the song (if it had something more "titly" than "opus 81. no 3." or whatever, lol). The kids kept the beat, pretended to be conductors, found pieces they particularly enjoyed, and ones they didn't really like. Yes, by the end, they were getting fidgety, but having been told to be quiet, they remained relatively so, right through not just the first hour, but the second hour as well.
Were we brave to try taking them to something like that? Maybe in some people's minds. Many informed us they felt we were brave to have done so. We simply told them they had been well trained by those who care for them, because we had only had to tell them they were to be quiet while there were people on the stage.
In my mind, though, those people who don't teach their children to be quiet when they are told to be, and who are too afraid of how their children will behave at somewhere to be willing to take them, are doing their children a great disservice. How many things will modern children miss out on? How many events will be "too long" or "too difficult" for children to experience? Why should a four or five year old not watch The Nutcracker (unless you have a problem with the dancer's attire)? Why should they not attend a music recital? Why should they not listen to two hours of a symphony, or go sit through a two or three hour play with only a fifteen minute intermission? What's wrong with them going to a wedding, funeral, or any other church thing, for that matter? Why should children be excused from the church service so they can play in the nursery, or go to Sunday school? What is wrong with them simply attending church with their family, and having Sunday school at another time?
What is the difference between any of that, and television? Only one thing: In order to attend anything at which they must be quiet, children must be taught from the very start to sit and be quiet for periods of time, gradually increasing the length of time, instead of permitting their minds to only focus on the subject for a few minutes at a time and then babble away every ten or fifteen minutes. I think that is a pretty significant difference.
...and people wonder why we don't want a television in our home...
And of course... that's my opinion, and hopefully I haven't hit anyone's nerves (unless you agree with me, lol). I have aimed not to insult anyone, but really... if you are insulted, because you can't make your child be quiet for an hour or two in a public location, maybe you need to work on it a little.
I don't think that "it's going to be a long time to sit and listen" should be an excuse. Children are forced to sit for two hours at a time in school, they are allowed to sit for a few hours at a time at home in front of the television, and sometimes (though now a days it isn't often) children will sit and read for a few hours at a time. But as soon as you want to TAKE them somewhere? It's too long for them to sit and be quiet.
Hmm... what's the difference? I do have a theory. I think our society has been conditioned to treat children very differently than they ought to be. Children have very few expectations placed on them in the modern culture. They are often permitted to talk during church (if they are taken to church at all) and sometimes during school. Television has advertisements, so they don't have to keep their brains on one subject for more than ten or fifteen minutes at a time, and have a three minute break every ten to fifteen minutes so they can talk, run, and jump, and ignore what is going on.
A hundred and fifty years ago, a child of any age, be they four, ten, or any other age, would have been expected to be still, not just quiet, for a full church service every Sunday morning, sometimes stretching to two or three hours in length. Even one little fidget would have been good for a whipping. They were then expected to sit for the same length of time, in the same manner for the Sunday evening service, and Wednesday service as well! They were expected to sit quietly in school, no fidgeting, no talking. Parents didn't simply leave their children home because they were "afraid of how their child would behave", because they knew their children were trained better than to misbehave in church, school, or any other social situation in which quite, appropriate decorum was necessary. Why should it be any different now??
We took our niece and nephew to a music recital yesterday afternoon, expecting it to be about an hour, maybe just slightly more. It turned out it was two hours long. Well, there was a brief intermission half way through, and at that point we already had people commenting on how well behaved the kids were, and how they wouldn't have dared bring their own children or grandchildren to something such as this. They were even surprised when they found out we were planning to stay for the second half! Why should they be surprised, when we came in the first place?? The kids made it through the second half of the program just fine as well. We didn't force them to be perfectly still, though we also didn't permit them to be entirely distracting to those around us. We were seated in the front row, so they were able to see what was going on, and we were sure to tell them the composer's names, and the title of the song (if it had something more "titly" than "opus 81. no 3." or whatever, lol). The kids kept the beat, pretended to be conductors, found pieces they particularly enjoyed, and ones they didn't really like. Yes, by the end, they were getting fidgety, but having been told to be quiet, they remained relatively so, right through not just the first hour, but the second hour as well.
Were we brave to try taking them to something like that? Maybe in some people's minds. Many informed us they felt we were brave to have done so. We simply told them they had been well trained by those who care for them, because we had only had to tell them they were to be quiet while there were people on the stage.
In my mind, though, those people who don't teach their children to be quiet when they are told to be, and who are too afraid of how their children will behave at somewhere to be willing to take them, are doing their children a great disservice. How many things will modern children miss out on? How many events will be "too long" or "too difficult" for children to experience? Why should a four or five year old not watch The Nutcracker (unless you have a problem with the dancer's attire)? Why should they not attend a music recital? Why should they not listen to two hours of a symphony, or go sit through a two or three hour play with only a fifteen minute intermission? What's wrong with them going to a wedding, funeral, or any other church thing, for that matter? Why should children be excused from the church service so they can play in the nursery, or go to Sunday school? What is wrong with them simply attending church with their family, and having Sunday school at another time?
What is the difference between any of that, and television? Only one thing: In order to attend anything at which they must be quiet, children must be taught from the very start to sit and be quiet for periods of time, gradually increasing the length of time, instead of permitting their minds to only focus on the subject for a few minutes at a time and then babble away every ten or fifteen minutes. I think that is a pretty significant difference.
...and people wonder why we don't want a television in our home...
And of course... that's my opinion, and hopefully I haven't hit anyone's nerves (unless you agree with me, lol). I have aimed not to insult anyone, but really... if you are insulted, because you can't make your child be quiet for an hour or two in a public location, maybe you need to work on it a little.
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