Sky High

Our last official unit of the school year was Buildings and Architecture. We learned about all kinds of buildings: pyramids, castles, houses. But mostly we learned about skyscrapers! We read books about how skyscrapers were built, we built our own skyscrapers out of everything we could find, and we learned about the skyscrapers right in our own neighborhood. When my grandma (Max's great-grandma) heard what we were studying, she had a genius idea. Why not take a tour of the tall buildings right in her neighborhood? She and my grandpa live in a 16-story condo in downtown Minneapolis, so we had the perfect starting place. We met my mom there on Friday morning and we set out to see the city from up high!

First we took the elevator to the top floor of my Grandma's building, then up a few steps to a door leading onto the roof. It was windy and cold but Max ran from end to end oblivious of the chill, pointing out the tiny trees below and claiming to see the Statue of Liberty off in the distance!

Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa's tall building

Since the weather threatened rain any moment, we took the skyway route to our next stop, Macy's 12th floor. The skyway trip was an equally exciting part of the day; Max stopped to sip from every drinking fountain and examine each piece of artwork he passed. He had an endless stream of questions for Great Grandma and she fielded them like a pro... I was sure glad to pass the buck for a day! Instead of answering incessant questions I just got to push a stroller and enjoy the walk.

The top floor of Macy's houses a cafeteria-style restaurant called the Sky Room. Its walls were painted blue with clouds, and it had huge windows on three sides for a great view of the city. We ate lunch while we checked out the sights. (though I think for most of the workers on lunch break, my kids were the sights during that hour)

Macy's Department Store

On our way to lunch, my mom had called my uncle who works on the 42nd floor of the IDS Tower in downtown to see if he was around. Sadly he wasn't in that day, but he gave us the name of his secretary and told us to go on up and she would show us around. So after lunch we got to walk right past the sign saying "Private offices- no viewing beyond this point" and hop into an elevator bound for the floor Forty Two!

Ho--lee--cow. Forty-two floors is really, really, really high!! I felt a little woozy the whole time we were up there, but Max wasn't fazed. To give you some perspective, in the photo below you can see the Foshay Tower, 607 ft tall and formerly the tallest building in Minneapolis. Doesn't it look kinda shrimpy? 

Max and Great Grandma looking down on the Foshay Tower

We even got to see the St. Paul Cathedral far off, and we pointed to the general area of our neighborhood, although Max didn't quite understand why we couldn't actually see our house. When we had gotten our fill of dizzying heights, we squeezed back into the elevator (pretty sure they didn't build it with a double stroller in mind) and onto firm ground again. Since the rain had never come, we took the outdoor route back to Great Grandma's condo, taking a pit stop at some cool big rocks outside one of the buildings on Nicollet Mall. I mean, what kid can pass up the chance to climb onto a big rock?

We took a snack break at Great Grandma's before heading out. As soon as we were all in the car, the downpour started! The timing couldn't have been better. It rained pretty much the rest of the day, but we had gotten clear views and a nice walk outside before the storm. What an adventure, and what a perfect day. What other kid gets to take a tour of Minneapolis with his Great Grandma?? Thanks for showing us around Grandma; Max will not soon forget it.

Max and the IDS building 

View of the IDS from the sidewalk

Max and his Great Grandma

Brothers on an adventure!

Llama Llama Duck

We have just introduced our children to a mainstay from our college days... the Llama Song! (Listen at your own risk, it's quite catchy and incredibly annoying)

We brought it on ourselves, we really did. Max really likes llamas, especially since watching The Emperor's New Groove. What with all the llama talk around the house, both of us have been sporadically breaking out in song,

  Half a llama, twice a llama
  Not a llama, farmer, llama 
  llama in a car, alarm a llama, llama, duck!

The kids have their own version, which goes something like this:

LLAMALLAMALLAMALLAMA
LLAMALLAMALLAMALLAMA
LLAMALLAMALLAMALLAMA
LLAMALLAMADUCK!!!!

At dinner last night, this refrain was getting to be too much for us. Over and over and over and over again, at the top of their lungs, they would sing it. They even started making up their own verses. "Lion, lion, lion, lion, zebra!" "fishy, fishy, fishy, fishy, whale!" "apple, apple, apple, apple, chair!" My head was about to explode, and I think even Audrey wanted to crawl under the table. Paul finally put the kibosh on it, threatening a time out to the next person who sang the Llama Song at the dinner table. This quieted things down quite quickly, and we moved onto other topics of conversation.

A bit later, Max started talking about llamas, not an unusual occurrence. Suddenly next to me, I heard the familiar refrain quietly coming from the mouth of my beloved. "llama, llama, llama, llama, llama, llama, duck..." Lucian's head snapped up and he pointed accusingly across the table.

"Daddy! You get a time out!!"

Smarty Pants

Lucianese, part three

My oh my, he's three years old and he is still going strong on the one-liners. I'll do my best to write them phonetically, but there are some doozies! I'm not even going to make you guess them, because let's face it, you wouldn't stand a chance with half of them!

1. Offie - Lucian's pronunciation of his dear sister Audrey's name. "I yuv you, baby Offie!" is a common refrain, as is "NO, Offie! That's MINE!"

2. Didi duh-dee-um - Lucian's rendition of "Children's Museum". We have a pass to the Children's Museum in St. Paul, so we try to go as often as we can. When Lucian tells me he wants to go to the didi duh-dee-um, I stare at him blankly for several minutes before the lightbulb finally clicks on.

3. Roskeeta Bug Bug - The ever-popular Okee Dokee Brothers have a song about Rosita the Skeeta, and Lucian's version of the chorus sounds something like this: "Roskeeta a skeeta/ ay no skeeta fweeta/ but she's a nameeta/ Roskeeta Bug Bug!" (I'll let you guess the original lyrics!)

4. Paypus! - Each night during prayers, we say a litany of our family's patron saints. After each name, we all say "Pray for us!" Lucian is enthusiastic and energetic in his responses; I hope the saints can understand his language!

5. Das a bumma- He hears "That's a bummer" all the time, and like any child, he repeats what he hears. It's way cuter coming from him than from me.

6. You are ba-dem ba-det! - During Lent, the boys took up acting out the Stations of the Cross. Most often, Max plays Jesus and Lucian plays Pontius Pilate and the soldiers. I fill in as Mary, Veronica, Simon of Cyrene, the Women of Jerusalem, and I announce the stations. When I announce the first station, Jesus is Condemned to Death, Lucian/Pilate points a finger at Max/Jesus and shouts, "You are ba-dem ba-det!"

I don't know how much longer we will be able to enjoy these Lucianisms, because his language is getting clearer by the day! His mannerisms are much older than his age, so I am thankful he has a baby face and a baby voice... it makes it seem like he's not growing up quite as fast as he is.

Saying Adios to Megan

Dear Megan,

I would say it's been quiet around here without you... but that's not the case at all! It seems that having one less adult around the house has amped up the volume and the craziness. Our first Sunday Mass without you was an hour of acrobatics, and believe it or not I think it was Lucian that had the toughest time that first day. No matter how many times he yelled "NO, Auntie!" at you, he always loved you so much. He just had a passive-aggressive way of showing it. (Now where on Earth did he get that??)

It is so hard to believe that you moved in before Audrey was born, and that this has been her longest stretch without you! You were there at the hospital when she came into the world, the very first family member to meet her. You guys became the best of buds, especially every day from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. If you could be a fly on the wall, you'd see that my kitchen is one big disaster since you left because Paul and I got so used to you swooping in to hold a baby while we cleaned up after dinner.

I don't know if I ever told you this while you were here, but I'm so thankful that my mood swings during the last few weeks of pregnancy and the first few months of Audrey's life didn't affect your opinion of me too much! You got to see me cry, lose my temper, and (my personal favorite) sit in stony silence when I got upset about something trivial. It was probably hard for you to live with a couple of introverts, but it was amazing for us to have someone full of life and energy to jump in when we needed a break from our Energizer Bunny children.

Life is going to be different without you here. We will survive- we're starting to get into a routine with just the five of us- but I still expect to see your car parked outside when I glance out the window. I still assume the boys are waking you up when they stomp around the living room at 7 am. I miss the constant supply of heavy whipping cream in the fridge, because I never think to buy it! But most of all, I miss seeing you spending time with the kiddos... they so adore you.

We miss you, Megs. It was a great year, but you have greater things yet to come!

In Our Element

For the moment, I will feign ignorance and pretend that it won't be snowing later this week. We took our first hike into the woods, and that means spring is here, no turning back! Monday was absolutely gorgeous, so we took off as soon as Lucian woke up and made for the bluffs. Audrey was a pro in her backpack; she was awake the whole hour-plus that we were out, but that girl didn't make a peep. She's been a lover of the outdoors since day one. 

We had our doubts about Lucian's ability to complete the hike. See, our hiking path goes downhill a long way first... then the uphill hike comes at the end. Not ideal, but it's worth it for the discovery potential. Caves? Check. Waterfall? Check. Railroad track? Check. Lake? Check. Old brick oven? Check. I could go on, but you get the drift.

Anyways, Lucian has never made the whole hike on foot before. He's not exactly a ball of boundless energy like his brother, and he gets pretty stubborn when he doesn't want to do something, so we weren't sure how it would go.

He LOVED it.

He threw rocks, hauled sticks, jumped over puddles, and was generally much more daring than I was ready for him to be. On the way back up, we sang the Alphabet Song from Super Why over and over and over... and over... and over again, per his request, and that got him all the way to the top! What a trooper!

Max would have never come out of the woods if we didn't make him. All winter, he pointed out the head of the trail every time we drove by it. "Those are our hiking woods!" he would exclaim. He was beside himself when we told him we'd finally get to go exploring again. This was not a bit surprising. What did surprise us was that our kid who won't sit still for a picture to save his life suddenly wanted to pose for photo ops every 20 feet!

"Take a picture of me! I'm Jesus carrying my cross up the hill!"

 
Take a picture of me with my bow and arrow!"

"Take a picture of me sitting on this tree stump! Take a picture of me walking the plank! Take a picture of me! Take a picture of me!" Who is this kid??

The crowning jewel was, for me, the fact that we got a decent self-portrait of all five of us together. Sure the photo quality is poor, but look at those adorable children! And look, you can see all of their eyes! And there are no fingers in noses! Score. Double score.

Look out world, we're out of hibernation!

Kids Around the World

Japanese Tea Ceremony

It's been awhile since I've given any update about school around these parts. We've had a great year of dabbling and following Max's interests, while being sure to incorporate plenty of letter and number basics (most often in the form of word games, which Max loves! Hooray!) Our curriculum has been dictated by Max, covering such broad-reaching topics as pirates (surprise, surprise), Ancient Egypt, pets, outer space, the human body, Under the Sea, famous artists and famous scientists, and now Kids Around the World.

Using a cool map with velcro labels from Grandma Yantes, we learned the names of the continents and oceans. Starting in Asia, we chose a few countries on each continent to study more in-depth. We then moved to North and South America, Europe (including Austria, of course!) and now we're in Africa. In each country we learned about the games children like to play, stories they would know, foods they are likely to eat (I even made borscht!) and how to say "hello" and "goodbye".

The biggest takeaway for Max has been that kids from different countries really aren't that different than kids in our own neighborhood. They might eat different food and play different games, but they are more like us than not, and we are all one big human family! Sadly I won't be able to fulfill Max's new wish and travel to every country we learned about. I sure would have liked to add some field trips to this unit.

Nigerian Animal Mask

As we wrap up our first year of homeschooling, I am so excited to tackle Kindergarten next year! I have found a great Catholic phonics program that I'm thinking about trying, and beyond that I think we'll continue our Max-led curriculum, seeing as his hunger for knowledge has not lessened a bit! Who knows what we'll study come September? He continues to surprise me.

Like anyone, I have my fair share of crazy, hair-pulling, hide in a corner, plug-my-ears-and-sing-loudly-to-myself type of days (Wait, you don't have any of those? Oh...), but I truly love having my children around me and around each other! Max and Lucian are such great pals already, when they are not dumping water on each other and trying to run each other through with swords, and I can't wait to see how their relationship blossoms with each coming year.

I've said since the beginning that we are taking homeschooling one year at a time and we will re-evaluate each summer, but I'm happy to say that year one was a resounding success! 

A What?

During college, I was a camp counselor for two summers. One of the games I remember playing was called "Whosit-whatsit". To play, everyone sits in a large circle and the leader has two objects, a "whosit" and a "whatsit". The leader hands the object to the person on her left and says, "This is a whatsit." The person to her left replies, "A what?" and the leader repeats, "A whatsit." The person then turns to his left and repeats this information to the next person. When that person responds, "a what?", the first person turns back to the leader and asks again, "a what?" As you have probably guessed, the leader repeats "a whatsit", which is echoed by the first person to the second person. Confused yet? Just wait.

The leader then takes the second object, the "whosit", and repeats this pattern to her right. Somewhere in the middle of the other side of the circle the two objects cross paths, causing crazy hilarity. The poor person who is caught trying to hand off a "whosit" at the same time as someone is handing her a "whatsit" is faced with a few seconds of pure chaos.

This game occurred to me a few days ago as my two wonderful boys were both vying for my attention, alternately asking me questions and telling me absolutely vital information. It sounded something like this:

"Mom, I have a question for you." (Lucian)

"Yes, Lucian?" (Me)

"Mom, do dragonflies really eat mosquitoes?" (Max)

"Yeah, Max, they do." (Me)

"Can I have a glass of milk?" (Lucian)

"Is it because they like us? Are dragonflies nice?" (Max)

"Yes, you can." (Me, directed at Lucian)

"Yes, they're nice?" (Max)

"I want the blue cup." (Lucian)

"No, that cup is dirty. Here's another one. Yes I guess they're nice." (Me)

"What did you say?" (Max)

"I want lots of milk. Not just a little." (Lucian)

"Why are they nice?" (Max)

"You can have this much. I don't know, Max." (Me, handing Lucian his cup)

"Can dragonflies get into the house? Are they usually blue? I like blue, but red is my favorite color" (Max)

"I like blue, red and orange." (Lucian)

"I don't know, Max." (Me)

"What did you say?" (Max)

"I like blue, red and orange. Those are my favorite colors." (Lucian)

"What did you say?" (Max)

I could go on. But I won't, for your sake. This is my reality, sometimes for what seems like hours on end. Lucian simply hasn't developed an understanding of the word "wait"... and Max just doesn't want to.

I remember hearing once that women generally have more words that they want to use during an average day than men. Early in our marriage, this was definitely the case between me and Paul; anyone who knows him knows that he is a man of few words. But as my two little boys have gotten bigger and more talkative, I feel as if I use all of my words for the day before lunch! Now more often than not, my time with Paul is spent in glorious silence. Ahhhh, silence... something I never truly appreciated until it was gone.