B is for Blowing Bubbles

        Peregrine and I are having so much fun with our letter-of-the-week. We have moved on to B and I can't believe how many things start with B. There are more ideas than we could possibly do in one week, but here are a few that we have done or hope to get to in the next few days:
* Bake Bread and have it with Bean Soup
* Read about Bears, Birds, Bats and Bugs
* Learn about Butterflies and make these pretzel butterflies for a snack.
* Read about Bees and eat some honeycomb.
* Build with Blocks
* Make Butter and spread it on fresh Banana Bread
* Blow Bubbles
* Plant our Blueberry Bushes
* Read about Baby Animals
* Learn about and listen to Bach and Beethoven
* Make Bug shaped pasta with Broccoli
* Bar-B-que with Daddy
* Play Ball
* Sing Baa Baa Black Sheep
* Take a walk and look at the Blackberry Bramble. Talk about the seasons.
* Recite Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God". Talk about ways we can make peace and ask the Lord to help us.
* Read Blueberries for Sal, The True Story of Balto and Brown Bear Brown Bear What do You See?
* Look at the flags of countries that start with B and find them on the map.
* Talk about friends and family whose names start with B.
* Make the letter B out of frozen Blueberries and then eat it.
* Talk about being Brave and read Bible stories from the life of David.

Sisters, Part 2: Gloria

        It was a cool spring evening in Alberta. My Dad was graduating from Bible School that night and he was probably the only person on stage who wasn't smiling. Instead, he was casting worried glances my Mom's way. I was nearly six and had been the baby of the family for a long time. I knew my Mom was going to have a new baby soon, but I didn't realize that I would be dethroned by the event. Dad and Mom both made it through Graduation but found themselves in the hospital later that night where my Mom gave birth to a baby girl. The sky was dancing with Northern Lights and they named her Gloria Grace. Alyssa and I were a bit miffed that they didn't call her Crystal Princess or something like that, but we loved her anyway. My Dad hung her cradle from the ceiling in our tiny living room and we welcomed her into our lives.
        Even though she had usurped me as the littlest, cutest person in the family I liked my baby Gloria. You can tell because in family pictures from that era I was often pouting at not being allowed to hold her. I was delighted when all her hair fell out around a year old because it gave me a chance to use one of my new vocabulary words: molting. I didn't realize that it wasn't used to describe people. She grew to be a sweet little girl, creative from the start. As soon as she could hold a pencil she started drawing things that looked like what they were supposed to. It was pretty amazing. We would find her drawing little stick people and sunshines on everything from her legs to the back of our Scrabble tiles. It came in handy if you needed a certain letter. When she wasn't drawing she was having adventures with her imaginary friend Purple-ea.
        She spent about four years of her young life wearing a pink bathing suit. Since we lived in the Great Frozen North she often had to wear several layers over it to stay warm, but you could say it was her base layer, day in and day out. On top of the bathing suit would go whatever outfit she fancied at the moment. Seriously, this girl would change her clothes ten times a day and throw the last ones on the floor in a heap. It was the artist in her I guess. Clothes to match the mood or something like that. I'm not sure, but I think she still changes her outfit more often than most people do.
        Gloria was always sweet and eager to please, sometimes a little too much. People with more domineering personalities, like our youngest brother and myself, would really take advantage of her. When she was about 7 or 8 I would ask her if she wanted to play queen-and-servant. Eager to play with her much older and cooler sister she would happily agree. And let me tell you, I really made my little servant serve me! I owe her big time.
        As adults we've had so many adventures together. There have been lots of road trips in my sometimes-not-so-reliable Datsun to Seattle and San Francisco and Santa Cruz and all over Oregon. There were the three months we spent traveling around Asia together. We passed long hours riding in boats and snorkeling in crystal blue water, riding elephants, and drinking mango shakes on the beaches of Southern Thailand. In Nepal we cooked on our rooftop and rode in tiny rickshaws, made lots of friends, had cockroach killing contests before bed, and fell in love with that little war-torn Himalayan kingdom. We laughed as the people tried to figure out who was the older sister: didi, bahini? Bahini, didi? And then there was India. I had been there before but Gloria's welcome to India began in a train station that was so crowded there was barely room to move. There were men sitting staring at us as if we were movie stars. That night we were woken by loud knocking on our hotel door at two in the morning. It was five policemen wanting to see our passports. You really would think they'd have something more important to do than harass innocent tourists! The next day began the 19 hour train ride that is a story in itself. Let's just say it was hot, humid, and crowded. And I mean India crowded, like 22 people in a compartment meant for 8. That story deserves its own telling so I'll leave it for another day. We spent three weeks in India, up in the mountains where the Dalai Lama lives. We walked forested roads and ate roasted barley porridge and listened to monkeys play on the rooftops and fell in love with another land and another people, the Tibetans. Gloria was sick there and we played countless games of cards and ate mangoes together. We met all kinds of strange and wonderful people there before retracing our steps through Nepal, Thailand, and back to the U.S.
        Gloria is a wonderful auntie to my kids, and a wonderful sister and friend. She paints and decorates and makes things beautiful. We can finish each other's sentences, or say something like "Do you remember that time...." and both dissolve into laughter without ever actually mentioning the time we're thinking of. We can both talk and listen at the same time, which leaves my husband totally bewildered. I'm so glad that she lives just down the road and I get to see her often. She got married just a few months ago and now is living a new adventure. Her husband is a brave man to marry into our big and crazy family and I wish them every happiness in their life together. Sometimes it's hard for me to believe she's all grown up, my little Northern Lights Baby Sister.
        

First Blood and Broken Fingers

        As I was folding laundry last night Alethea was merrily pulling the piles down from the coffee table. She lost her balance and ended up sitting on the floor screaming. I thought that maybe she'd bumped her chin or something but then I noticed blood around her bottom teeth. A bit panicky, I wondered if she had knocked her tiny teeth into her gums. She stopped crying in just a moment and I realized that her tooth had cut her lip. She went on her way with nothing more than a bit of a fat lip, and I think I was more traumatized than she was. My sweet, unmarred baby was bleeding.         
        I remember Peregrine's First Blood. He was sitting on the couch (backwards) when he toppled and hit the back of his head on the edge of the coffee table. I scooped him up and wrapped him in my arms, cradling his head in my hand. And then I felt it through his thick hair- blood. It's amazing how many thoughts can tumble through a Mama's mind in a split second. Did his head crack open? Will he have a concussion? Do we need to call 911? Take him to the emergency room? Will he have brain damage? Will he even survive? So I did the only logical thing and called my Mom. She assured me that he would be fine and that head wounds always bleed a lot. I was comforted. I think. Peregrine stopped screaming after a few minutes and who should arrive at the door but Doctor Grandma herself. I'm not sure if she came for me or for Peregrine but we were both glad of her presence. There's nothing like a Mom who's been there, done that to speak words of peace and comfort in those situations.
        Now Peregrine has taken to breaking his fingers. At least that's what he calls it. He bends a finger back as far as he can and says "Mom, I'm breaking my finger". That's my cue to say "Okay Peregrine, you can break your fingers but I'll have to take you to the doctor." At that point he exclaims "No!" and proceeds with breaking the next finger. And so it goes with each finger, the same conversation, over and over and over and over. He informed me that his fingers break very easily. And that if he breaks his head off I can take him to the doctor and they can put it back on for him. I'll try to remember that.
        And the best of all? He told my Mom the other day that if he gets tired of Alethea he'll just kick her back to Jesus! I guess if she breaks anything in the process I'll know what to do.

Letter to Alethea

        Dearest Alethea,
        It's hard for me to believe that you just turned one! We celebrated your birthday with a little springtime party and you had fun eating your cupcake and rubbing the frosting in your hair and playing with the tissue paper from your presents. You delighted us all with your smiles and laughter. You are my springtime girl, fresh and sweet and pretty, like a little flower.
        Just a year ago you were brand new, tiny, blinking in the light for the first time. You mesmerized us with your dark eyes and your soft "wispy, wispy hair." You've learned so much in a year- how to smile and sit up and crawl and stand and laugh. It's a joy to watch you discover things and to get to know you. You've always been gentle. Instead of grabbing things you open your little palm and feel them instead. You don't pull Dada's beard; you stroke it. But you do pop everything into your mouth! (and usually with your left hand, just like Dada.) You do things at your own pace: even though you could sit up around six months you had no use for it because you always wanted to be on the move. So you'd "lounge" instead, and then take off crawling on your belly to your next destination! You have no fear, just an adventurous spirit; you love it when Dada flies you around and throws you on the bed. You enjoy pulling things out of boxes and baskets and drawers and shelves. One of the only ways I can get you to stay still is to give you a laundry basket full of clothes or open a drawer and let you take things out one by one. You love music, and especially when I sing and clap. You flap your little arms like a bird and smile and laugh!
        You like to be where the action is, especially if Peregrine is involved and will follow him all over the house. You light up when he squeals at you and you watch him like he's your hero. He has loved you from the start, but now that you're a bit bigger he's not as gentle with you as was. Now he seems to think that he can pick you up and drag you across the floor if you're somewhere he doesn't want you to be. But you let him know what you don't like and I think you'll be able to hold your own!
        You are small for one year, dainty and feminine. Your eyes are bright blue, like your Daddy's, and I think you look a lot like him. He says you have a winsome smile (and he loves you.) You get excited when you see him coming home from work. I think you just might be a Daddy's girl. You still have wispy wispy hair; it's dark and long and we put it up in a little "fountain" on top of your head. I call you my Dolly and love to put you in pretty little dresses. You are soft and sweet and I love the way you smell.
        I wonder what things you will enjoy as you learn and grow. Your first name, Alethea, means truth, and we pray that you will always love the truth. Your middle names are part of you too, Poppy and Joy. We called you Poppy from the time your heart was only the size of a poppy seed. Already beating, we marveled that you were being fearfully and wonderfully made within me. And Joy! The Lord has brought us much joy through you and we also pray that your life would be characterized by His joy.
        I love being your Mama and am so thankful that God gave you to our family. I have enjoyed you so much this past year and I look forward to each day that we have together. We shall have lots of fun, you and I! We will play and dance and cook and sew and grow things and have tea parties.
        I love you my tiny girl, my Poppy Joy girl. You do bring joy to your Mama's heart and sunshine to my days.
        Always,
        Mama
        

A is for Apple Crisp

I found this website that offers ideas for learning a letter a week with your preschooler. Even though Peregrine knows most of this letters and the sounds they make I don't think he's ready to start reading just yet. I've been wanting to start doing more structured activities with him, and I think this will give us a springboard to do that. More than anything, it will ensure that we get one-on-one time together. The more I've thought about this idea the more I like it and think of more things we can incorporate into it. I bought a board that is half cork and half dry erase and each week we will display our letter card as well as any art work or pictures we draw or find that start with the letter. I've previously mentioned the book called My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts and we will focus on one verse each week. In addition to that I hope to have one character trait to discuss and work on for every letter. Attentiveness, Bravery, Courage, Determination, Etc. I just ordered Picture Book Preschool that will help me to find story books to illustrate these traits. What else? This website has tons of activities, ideas, and printable coloring and tracing pages for each letter of the alphabet. There are snacks and activities and animals and countries and songs and the list goes on.
We are starting this week with the letter A. He seems to be enjoying it and so am I! Here are some of the things that we've already done or are planning to do for the letter A:
-Making Apple crisp and Applesauce with my Absolutely Amazing Apple Assistant!
-Reading Coral Reef Hideaway about an Anemone-fish.
-Looking through our big Atlas and talking about the continents and countries that start with A. There are lots!
-Memorizing Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turns away wrath", talking about what that means and practicing it.
-Thanking God for giving us strong Arms to play and work and hug.
-Making the letter A with Cheerios or chocolate chips. And then eating it of course!
-Cutting an Apple in half and stamping with it on paper.
-Learning about Astronauts.
-Talking about people we know (or read about) whose names start with A- Alethea, Alyssa, Aunties, Annie, Ashley, Andrew and Abbie.
-Talking about Attitudes.
-Learning and practicing being Attentive.
-Making Alphabet Soup
-Eating Animal Crackers with Apple Juice
I'm excited to embark on this journey of learning together with Peregrine. I plan to post the ideas I have for each week as well as how things have gone. In a few years time I'll be glad to look back on it when I start over with Alethea! I would love to hear ideas from others as well.