I've Got that Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my Heart

This baby boy is a love and five months old. He is utterly easy and now naps well. He has started to regularly sleep in his crib with his big sister right next to him. He is working on a tooth right now and gnawing on everything. He is about 16lbs and I think we need to start him on some solid foods soon. He is almost sitting up on his own. He has a terrific laugh and continues to be the apple of all of our eyes...

Godly Play

These are just some pictures of Addie reading to Josiah.

The Christian Education program at our church has begun Godly Play. Godly Play is a Montessori approach to Christian Education that focuses on Biblical stories with children through play. It is an imaginative approach that supports, challenges, nourishes, and guides their spiritual quest. Godly Play assumes that children have some experience of the mystery of God in their lives, but they lack the language, permission and understanding to express and enjoy that culture. In Godly Play, children enter into parables, silence, sacred stories and sacred liturgy, in order to discover God, ourselves, one another, and the world around us. (Godly Play, Vol.2).

Today both the kids came home with responses and thoughts to their Godly Play, which was the Creation Story. I asked Elias what the story was today. He said "It was about the night and the day and the heavens and the earth, and the wide open sea." Oh, I said, "The Creation Story?" "Yes," he said. I added, "And did God rest on the last day? he said, "Yes." I said, "What day is our rest day? and he said, "Church day." I was amazed. I had never mentioned that to him before. He then expounded on that thought..."Yes, I wear church clothes on church day so that I can look very handsome. I am very handsome." I might add that he picked out jeans, a blue and white argyle sweater vest with no shirt underneath with a plaid shirt over the top, and white tube socks this morning. I finally got him dressed in brown khaki pants, the argyle vest, with a white shirt OVER it, and brown shoes. Better, not necessarily handsome.

This week at school, the kids were being read a book about someone who got a second chance. Apparently, Elias told his teacher, "That's just mercy." I can only attribute that to Godly Play.

Meanwhile, Adelaide has been singing the doxology. Tonight she took out her napkin and tried to fold it between her legs the way that the kids do in the Godly Play classroom. They have a special way of folding their napkin for the feast and then folding it up so that the crumbs don't spill. This process mimics the folding and unfolding of the corporal during the Eucharist. And, Addie carried that over.

Godly Play is truly an amazing program and I'm so grateful my kids get to experience it at Christ Church.

Socks!

Some months ago, I wrote about trying to find a laundry system that works. I think I finally found my groove. I have decided to do a load or two of laundry every day. I no longer carry baskets up three flights of stairs, only to let them languish there for weeks before I find a free night to watch Tv and fold. I now make sure I fold the clothes in the laundry room. I then make a pile for every member of the family. By Friday night, the piles are pretty high. Come Saturday, I take all the remaining clothes from everyone's baskets and do catch-up. Usually Saturday involves 3-4 loads, especially if I can remember to wash sheets. (Yes, this is not a hotel. Fresh sheets usually appear only if you pee in your bed. Needless to say, some members of the household (Addie and Jed) get more sheet attention than the rest of us.) Because our lifestyle runs on a different rhythm I try to have everything done by Saturday night. It is that way that we can "rest' a bit on Sunday. I really don't do laundry on Sundays. That is one small offering on the Sabbath and one way to make a deadline for myself.

Thanks for all the laundry suggestions from my faithful readers. I took you up on the idea of having a basket for everyone and doing those as they fill. That has been working really well with the kids. Oh, and the socks. These are all the socks that were in need of matches at the end of the week. In the second picture, only the kids socks are displayed. However, I matched many of Adam's black socks. I can't wait until the kids are better at sorting and matching. The socks will be a good chore for them.

Prepubescent Braces

The latest on the poor girl is that she now wears braces at the ripe old age of almost three. The dentist confirmed that she had fractured her mouth and is hoping to solidify the bone and the teeth at the same time. If this doesn't work, she will be toothless by age 3. The dentist said in all of her time at C.H.O.P she had never managed to put braces on a child so young. But, Adelaide was so brave and only whimpered at the end when the dentist left a piece of wire languishing in her mouth. I took her to get her haircut afterwards just so she would feel better--and try and stay cute!

Yo Ho, It's a Pirate's Party for Me!

We had a smashing success of a pirate party on the HMS Kradel. The kids were greeted with pirate masks. They played for a while and then decorated their own pirate flags in preparation for the treasure hunt. The treasure hunt was led by grown-ups (because Daddy'

s clues were very hard and some of the grown-ups didn't even get them), but the kids found their treasures. The marbles, the necklaces, and the gold coins were all a hit. We finished with cake and ice cream, more playing out on the pirate ship, and then opened presents. Elias got lots of pirate and knight apparati. What a swashbuckling day!

Just a few packages!

Mom and dad rounded it off with a sleeping bag for school and a night out for pizza.

Good bye four, hello five!

To be a parent of a five year old is to feel like we are parents of a child. Now we seemed to have put away the days of toddlerhood for sure, and even in some sense, preschool. Even though Elias is still in preschool, (yes, he's on the three year plan), he has begun to look and feel like a boy. Just the other day, I noticed the blond hair on his legs and the way he holds his body now. His face is thinner and longer and his body continues to stretch out like a slinky. At five years old, he is barely forty pounds soaking wet, but he is big. Last night, he said it was going to be his last day as a four year-old and something in that statement wanted to make me weep. I held him last night like I hold Josiah now, stretched out in my arms looking up at me, as we said our prayers. I realized that I had missed prayer time alone with him since Josiah was born. We now usually consolidate storytime together with the big kids and a book and a prayer while the baby gets his own nursing and quiet time. But, I realized I needed to hold onto prayer time with him--and with Adelaide.

A few nights ago at prayers, Elias asked if God could hear our prayers. I told him that God hears us and he asked how. I tried to explain that God is so beyond what we are that God can hear us always. He then wanted to know why he couldn't hear God. I explained that we often don't feel like we hear God's words, but we can hear God through people we know. Then Elias added that we hear God in the seasons. This is my boy. The thinker. The wonderer. The prayer.

This prayer is not the quiet, contemplative type though. He prays with a rambunctious and impulsive body. That little body expresses its love by grabbing onto Josiah every morning and saying, "How did you sleep? Josiah, are you a Maya? Do you like papaya?" Many times those hugs are a bit stronger than they need to be. In the past year, his body has learned to independently buckle himself in the car. He has learned to swim doggie-paddle. He is now on the verge of riding a bike. That body climbs trees, slides down stairs on capes and cushions, and finally falls asleep after shorter times than it used to. That same busy body is still slow to make letters, and when he does he writes backward claiming he is a Hebrew. He struggles to build with big boy Legos and his hands are still working on using small tools like scissors.

Creativity is my five year old boy's life. He still vacillates from being a pirate to a knight and to anything in between. He makes weapons and swords out of lollipop sticks, Lincoln logs, Madeline dolls, and whatever else works. Our house could really be devoid of toys, but just be filled with dress-ups, blocks, Legos, and books. That is all the boy needs inside to create his own kingdoms, forts, and interior life. (I'm glad my blog this year has documented some of his creative moments in dress.)

Our five year old is not a perfect child. He struggles with anger, tantrums, and sensory-motor issues. He plugs his ears when the washing machine or the dishwasher is on. He still engages his sister a fair amount by head-butting her. On the flip side, though, he loves her and plays with her lots. Lately he has taken to talking to her as if he is the grown-up. Today Adelaide showed him her new sippy cup and he said, "Wow, Adelaide. That's neat." Such a big guy. His younger brother is the apple of his eye. A week ago, he said that he loves Josiah so much because he is like his twin and they can do everything together. He regularly tells me that he loves the outfit I picked out for Josiah.

Elias is my boy of questions, whether it be about the planets, the fires at St. Paul's Cathedral, or why teachers use matches, but kids don't. I hope you stay this way, Elias. Elias, we love who you are. And, we are so proud of our five year old.