One of the great, long standing traditions in our family is a group singing of the carol The Twelve Days of Christmas. In the past, the performance included the guests at a big Christmas party and each of us. Now, we've raised another generation so they can take care of it for us.
Presented below, this year's version (directed by Papa himself off camera).
Nothing special about this video, other than the fact that it records the morning arrival on Christmas. You know, posterity requires that I post videos like this so I can watch them later...
Oh yes, this is fine work from my girls. If you're seeking something meaningful or deep, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. If you're looking for something silly, you're in the right place. The first piece is about 1 minute long and includes the "introductions". My favorite parts of section one are Jesus' leg (brief appearance) and Lindy's whole introduction.
In section two, the highlight is Mary's mishap en route to Bethlehem. Don't worry, Mary and the baby are doing fine. (I also love how Handel's Messiah comes on just after the baby is born. I'm sure everyone present danced like this.) Oh, and as Aspen says, "Don't laugh" at her talent.
So I've changed my take on video for my kids. I really can't be bothered to produce something, so I'm going for what I can do, which are sort of "moving pictures", like Harry Potter or something. Here are a couple from Oakley's birthday party. Nothing particularly meaningful at this point, but still a picture of reality if nothing else.
Grammie and Grandpa gave this sweet little snowgirl to Oakley last year for her birthday. She was thrilled to pull it out with the Christmas stuff this year. Combine that with the opportunity to teach a class, and Oakley was thrilled.
Occasionally I remember to photograph or scan some of the kids' artwork for display here on the blog. This Thanksgiving's lucky winner is a poster created by Oakley. Stapled to the back was this (written totally by Oakley, spelling as written by Oakley):
My name is Oakley. We are pilgrims. We came to the new world on the Mayflower. It was a very long and very hard jorney. There was not very much room on the Mayflower. A lot of my freinds died. Then someone shoutded land ho! I was so excited. Oakley.
I just put Oakley down for a rest. As I do with each of the girls, I give them a kiss on the cheek when I put them down. Oakley, a couple of times of late, has decided to move her lips so they get the kiss. As I walked away, she said, "Is it still a kiss if it's not on the lips?"
My reply, "Yeah, it's just a different kind of kiss."
Oakley's parting words, "There are hundreds of different ways to kiss."
Nana and Papa visited a few weeks ago (before Thanksgiving) and we had a great visit with them. Among the highlights, this highly intellectual game they taught my girls...
We were having a nice breakfast here in Kingsport. Grammie and Lindy had put together the traditional items, toast, grits, bacon, and of course, eggs. I mentioned that when we have eggs at home, we often have a dozen among us.
Grandpa decided to test the girls.
Grandpa: Aspen, do you know how many there are in a dozen? Aspen (and Oakley): Twelve. Grandpa: And how many in a baker's dozen. Aspen (and Oakley): Thirteen!
a few moments passed, clearly long enough for a subject change...
Grandpa: Do you all know what the Santa Train is? Oakley: 14!?
Yet another silly, dancing video. Yet again, unedited or improved. But if you're really into my daughters, you might enjoy. I post videos like this one because I'm sure I'll like it a lot in a couple of years.
We took an awesome hike through Edwin Warner Park this weekend, and the halfway point become a knock down (literally) drag out (not literally) battle amongst the girls and their leaves...
Be careful, everybody. I am typically averse to the collision of my work and personal lives. I like both, I just don't let encourage them to mix very often. But my work, related to learning and the like, is colliding with my personal/family life as I read some blog posts. So, I thought I'd post a few thoughts here and see if anyone feels like I do, or feels like talking about them... (Mom? I'm talking to you...)
I started here, a post from Fred Wilson. Fred Wilson writes on Venture Capital and emerging technologies, and I read him for fun and to pay attention to emerging tools. Today, he stepped into my world by talking about learning.
That led me to this fascinating post... from someone I've never once read. This is, to me, a courageous message to send to your kids. I ask myself... am I ready to send them this kind of message?
And from there, I ended up in this particular comment, which brings me back to questions I ask myself all them time.
I have real complaints about school. It takes up such an obscene amount of time. How much of that time is well spent? Just last night, Jenn was talking to our neighbor Janet about their weekend. Janet's kids are brilliant. They went on a trip Saturday, and that meant that they spent the entirety of Sunday doing homework. Literally, the whole day. Is that useful? Is that something I want for my kids?
Before I had kids, I would have spoken out aggressively against home schooling. The home schooled kids that I encountered as a camp counselor were not well adjusted. Their social skills were lacking (it is, I think, part of why they were sent to camp).
But now? I am uncertain. My kids go to school in one of the top districts in the nation (Brentwood High ranks 192nd according to Newsweek). The report card on Lipscomb Elementary is very high. And yet, I still come many days wondering if their time was well spent.
So, my only conclusion right now is that I have doubt. I'm thinking about it. I'm not going to do anything rash (have no fear). But, I'm thinking about it a lot. I'm thinking about it when Oakley tells me that she already knows everything they're doing in class. I'm thinking about it when Aspen has to do homework, even though she's getting 100's on spelling pretests and she spent 7 hours at school that day.
I managed to capture a video of Aspen & Oakley on a ride as well. Note that Big Thunder Mountain is a much longer ride (3+ minutes) and the first portion is the uphill part (all in the dark). I don't any editing equipment here at this conference, so this is the best I can do.
I'm sure Aspen will love this video in 5 years... she'll be so proud (sarcasm). But, at least, she is proud right here. It captures her spirit so well, though.
That's right, it's been a while (3 months) since we published a video. Jenn was kind enough to video Oakley's soccer game yesterday (no small task). Oakley had herself a good game, and I boiled it down to about 4 minutes of video total. This isn't every play that Oakley was involved in, but it is a good representation of what she did well. So, enjoy! (Oakley is number 13, if that helps you.)
OK, so I managed to go through the whole of Jenn's birthday yesterday without taking a picture... Oh well, I'm sure she'll be crushed.
As the girls wrote on countless banners around the house, "Happy Brithday, Mammoo!"
Aspen (with Oakley's help) gave Jenn a really sweet gift. She took one of the sunflowers that had grown in the garden and harvested the seeds from it herself. No, they weren't in great shape. But Aspen collected them and packaged them up and wrapped them herself. It was really sweet. (This was on top of the vegetables that she snuck out of the house to get yesterday morning.)
Aspen packed the sunflower seeds by placing them in a ziploc bag full of water (so they wouldn't dry out), and then putting them in a gift bag, all several days before Jenn's birthday. Somehow, and boy am I thankful, the two ziplocs both managed to stay closed.
Do you all know that seeds are best kept dry? Can I tell you now, that never, not once, has such a sweet gift smelled so incredibly bad?!?! The smell literally knocked us all back as Jenn removed the ziplocs from the gift bag... and they were sealed! The odor was so bad we had to take them out of the house immediately!
So, happy birthday, Jenn. We do love you... enough to give you stinky gifts. (And thanks Aspen, for having such grace throughout the opening. Aspen laughed with us... she is so incredibly sweet.)
Lest they feel left out, Oakley and Lindy both brought sweet gifts for Jenn as well. Oakley's cards are everywhere and very cute, and Lindy drew pictures of both Jenn and me, Jenn's with far more hair than mine.
Yup, it's self indulgent to share these moments, but it is the prerogative of the author...
So, we were at a soccer store, getting cleats for the girls' upcoming soccer seasons. I've been wanting a US Soccer Team jersey to wear during the Olympics, etc. I was trying them on and coming out to see what the girls and Jenn thought of them. Jenn was talking with one of the high school age guys working in the store with Oakley nearby when I came out.
When Oakley saw me, she said to Jenn and the guy...
Holy Roma... Our first full day in Rome was dedicated to Holy Rome, the Vatican City and its sights. But first, we had to have some breakfast. Jenn woke up before any of us and headed over to Campe De Fiori on her own... she came back with some fresh fruit and a happy expression. Campo was excellent for our needs, and breakfast was great.
We had heard that the morning lines at the Vatican could be troublesome, so we booked a guided tour of the Vatican Gardens. It was a successful technique for avoiding the security lines (which were surely longer than an hour) and shot us right inside. The inside of the Vatican is not simple... it took some time to get the right tickets and find our way to our guide. While the tour iteslf was a bit longer than I might have chosen, the guide was good, and it was cool to see many parts of the Vatican City that few others see. My favorite moment was when she started complaining about the quality of some recent additions to the exterior of St. Peter's Basillica and the quality of the Roman water. She was, at least, honest.
We exited the garden tour and found our way back into St. Peter's. Lines weren't bad, and the timing worked to tether Lindy to my back with Keeley's backpack (which was quite helpful). Lindy slept while we explored the huge basilica and considered climbing to the cupola. We wisely chose not to, and instead headed over on the 2km walk to explore the Vatican Museums. This was an occasion where Rick Steves served us well. Visiting after noon allowed us to avoid all the security lines and shoot right in (again). We basically checkout some mummies (as the girls were into them) and cruised straight down to the Sistine Chapel. We felt it was something we had to see. While it was impressive, I was weary. And I have to admit... I just don't get historic pieces of art all that much. My eye sort of blocks out the entire area and labels it "old art". Good art, bad art, imitation art, I can't really distinguish it at all. But, I'm happy to have seen it.
My favorite moment, though, followed immediately after the Sistine Chapel. The museum is massively long and straight. A hall that takes many adults 15 minutes to walk without delay. Well, we were ready to be done, so we told Lindy to go for it. And she ran. Seriously, she was running full speed the entire way. It took Jenn walking full speed to keep up with her at all. The only time Lindy stopped was when Oakley told her she couldn't run. She yelled at Oakley and said, "I can't _walk_ that fast!" So, off she went again, full speed. It was funny to watch the train of Martins spill through the halls of the Vatican. To me, it was funnier still. I said to Jenn, "Lindy is the personification of my spirit released." It was time to go to the apartment.
And so we did. We relaxed a bit, rested, and picked a dinner spot. Alfredo e Ada was one Jenn had read about at home, and it wasn't far from the apartment. The entire restaurant has 5 tables, and no one there seems to speak any English at all. But they were more than hospitable. We sat down, and Ada herself joined us very quickly. She drew pictures on the table cloth, made Lindy sit in her lap, and we gesticulated at each other as we shared no language at all. (Although she was _convinced_ that I spoke Italian or some other language. For that matter, though, she was convinced that I was either Australian or German. I take this as a compliment; At least she didn't think I was a "dirty American".)
The food was fun (no menu at all... they just brought bread, pasta with red sauce, and offered us "beef or veal", and some biscotti. A fun experience, a memoable place, and a memorable proprietor. As Lindy removed her bib, Ada took it and signed it with the marker she had in her hand. (This is really funny to me, as it is literally the only bib we have for Lindy. It looks like we've written her name on it forever. Oh well.
One last funny moment... While were walking through the halls of the Vatican museum, we spent some time examining busts of various people. Oakley's reaction? "Will they make my body one day?" This one does not lack confidence in her body.
So, I was saying good night to the two older girls just now. It started with Oakley...
Oakley: Daddy, I was just going to ask... Aspen: [preempting Oakley] This headboard is getting annoying. Tim: Just move your pillow down, it won't bump it. Aspen: OK. Oakley: I said to Aspen, "I wish you could sleep in my bed." And she said, "I wish I could, too." Aspen: No, I didn't. Oakley: Yes, you did. Tim: You wish you could snuggle with Oakley, Aspen? Aspen: Yes. Tim: Well, that's sweet. It wouldn't be good for sleeping though, OK? Aspen: OK. Tim: In Italy, though, I'm sure there will be nights where you guys share a bed, so you can snuggle then. Aspen: OK. Oakley: Are we going to have bunk beds? Tim: Yes. Aspen: I wish we could have them for more than one night. Tim: Why, so both of you can sleep on top? Aspen: Yes. Tim: We will. Oakley: Yes! Aspen: How many nights will we have them? Tim: Three. Oakley: Who will get to sleep there the third night? Tim: I don't know, we'll see. Oakley: Mommy & Daddy can!
Having trouble downloading pictures here at the beach... so, for now, just words.
Oakley is the adventuresome one this week. She was on an inflated ring amongst the waves today. She got stuck in the break and got absolutely tossed on her head. It was enough that everyone watching noticed and I went running, camera in hand to get her.
Her first words when we dragged her out of the water?
At the beach. And it's excellent. We left early this morning, and were paid off in spades for the effort. Basically, we got here by about 3:30 and had a fantastic short day at the beach. The swimming conditions are literally the best I can remember in my 12 or so years at Duck. Waves are there, but not too big or crazy. The bottom is almost entirely sand.
Aspen, Oakley, and I spent a good hour in the water rolling around and playing. Each year, the ocean decides for me what my "game" will be in the water. This has been the case since I was 10 years old or something. Some years it's body surfing, some years flipping over waves, there was even that year I decided to try that thing where you slide on the thin layer of water on the shore. For me, that was called "falling on your *ss".
Well, this year's game is bowling. I go out to the point where I can body surf, and point myself in the direction of my daughters, and see if I can run into them. Good clean fun was had by all.
Well, I'll tell you. I've got a family that can eat some serious strawberries. Thus far, they have been eaten as part of jam, sorbet, frozen yogurt, parfaits, shortcake, and countless other things. And do we like them? Yes we do.
Lastly, an old picture... can you tell who it is that like strawberries so well at 9 months?
Tonight, we had dinner on the screened porch, and had recently finished. Aspen and Lindy were wrestling on the floor inside, and Oakley was finishing up her strawberries. (Yes, we finished the 16 quarts from last week, and yes, Jenn bought five more this week.)
Oakley stood up to go inside, and started to hand her plate to Jenn.
Jenn: You can take your plate in. Oakley: Do you want me to take your stuff in? Jenn: You can if you want to. Oakley: No thanks, I was just offering.
Following up on a popular post from a couple days ago, this conversation was had in my presence at dinner tonight (I was out with the three girls).
Oakley: Mommy ate a seed. Aspen: No, Daddy gave Mommy a seed. Oakley: Daddy laid a seed on Mommy's tummy. Aspen: How do I come from a seed anyway...
[after a moment's thought]
Aspen: Well, I guess I don't have to pretend, since I'm a seed. I don't have to pretend to be a plant or an animal anymore.
[moments later, seemingly out of nowhere]
Aspen: People have lots of different ideas about how the world started. Some people believe it started with Adam and Eve. Then there's what I believe, that it all started with dinosaurs and stuff.
On this occasion, I was left to my own devices (as Jenn was at home). And so I get comments related to evolution and reproduction. What's next?
I have to admit, I was not ready for this question...
We were upstairs helping the girls get ready for bed.
Oakley: How do babies get in mommies' tummies? Tim: ______ [shifty glance at Jenn, look at floor] Jenn: Well, Oakley... a man and woman... a husband and a wife... a husband gives a wife a seed, and it grows in the wife's tummy.
[a moment passes]
Oakley: How does he give her the seed? Tim: ______ [Very busy with, um, anything, please? Anything at all? Yes, Aspen's fingernails were very long, and they required great focus.] Jenn: The husband and wife lie very close together. Oakley: How does he give it to her? Jenn: Whoa, Oakley, we didn't finish brushing your teeth!
Let me just say, I am awfully proud of my wife's answer. It would have been easy pickings to say, "God puts the baby in the mommy's tummy," or some contrivance about a stork, but she did not. She faced it head on, and I liked that.
And if Aspen's fingernails hadn't been so dangerous, I'm sure that I would have been right in there with the answer. Without a doubt.
So I was waiting at a jewelry store with the girls today (as I do every weekend, right?)
A woman walked in with a serpent bracelet. It wrapped around her arm two times and had a head that pointed toward her hand. She mentioned to the woman in the store that a red bead had fallen off, and she was seeking a replacement.
Oakley: What's she doing? What does she need? Tim: Well, she doesn't want to have a one-eyed snake.
It is at this moment that I realize the euphemistic nature of my prior statement. Whether the woman did or did not, she went on to say...
Woman: I wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea. [Moments later]
Oakley: Daddy, what's a "one-eyed snake"? Tim: Well, Oakley, it's a snake with one eye.
Somehow, I suspect I am not the only one relating this story tonight...
Jenn has my car today because I took hers in for 30,000 mile service. That means that the kids get to experience some different music than normal. As I'm sure you all know, I'm pretty hardcore. At this moment, I'm kicking some, well, ok, I have showtunes in my CD player right now. Jenn and I went to see Rent last Friday at TPAC, and so I had been listening to it lately.
So, this is the scene in the car on the way to day school today:
Angel (Rent): New York City. Collins (Rent): Uh huh. Angel (Rent): Center of the universe. Collins (Rent): Sing it, girl. Angel (Rent): Times are shitty, but I'm pretty sure they can't get worse. Lindy: puzzled expression I don't know what sitty means. Jenn: pushes skip button quickly Oakley: No, Lindy, it's shitty. Jenn: Sometimes people use words we just shouldn't use.
We have no indication of whether Oakley knows what shitty means...
Well, we're in the spring soccer season, which means we're missing games pretty regularly. Rain seems to be killing us, especially the U7's, Aspen's team. We finally got our first games in on Saturday, and both were a lot of fun.
Aspen was her typical responsible self, and the final score of her game was 1-1. She was a big part of that. Frankly, her team has come a long way over the winter (absence makes them better, apparently). There was some passing, and the team was quite effective as a whole.
Oakley had a solid game as well. For her, that meant poking home three goals during the game and colliding with Zoe and a bunch of other girls. If we renamed the team now, we'd be called the Wrecking Balls.
Today's practice was pretty funny. Among our spectators for practice were a couple of Tennessee Titans (one former, one current). One of them has a daughter on the team. The other you have probably heard of... he's super freaky. Well, we were having a good time, and then the rains came. We've made a point with the girls that we'll play through anything. That meant that we just kept on playing. Well, let's say that certain members of our crowd made it to the car pretty quickly. Twenty minutes later, the girls were still playing duck duck goose, wet bottoms and all.
So, we're continuing to read many of the Magic Tree House books that we started prior to Christmas. They were the inspiration for our tree house and often lead to questions. Tonight, we read a chapter from Midnight On The Moon.
Aspen: Daddy, how big is the moon. Tim: It's big honey... smaller than the earth, but still huge. Oakley: Is it bigger than me. Tim: Yeah. Aspen: It's bigger than our house. Tim: It's bigger than Tennessee at least. Oakley: Is it bigger than Pennsylvania? Tim: Yes. Aspen: Is it bigger than China? Tim: Well, that's a country, not a state, but yes. It's probably about that size. Oakley: So Kiana's an astronaut?
Seriously, that was the leap of logic. Pretty impressive, I say. I mean, I can sort of see how she got there, but it is a pretty funny leap. And no, Kiana (our niece/cousin who was born in China) is not an astronaut, at least not yet. Although a little bird told me that she has started reading the Magic Tree House books with her mom, so we'll see what happens when she reaches book 8.
For those of you wondering (I just did the "research"), the moon's size, in comparison to the earth is as follows:
7.4% of the Earth's surface area 2.0% of the Earth's volume 1.23% of the Earth's mass
We had one of our big Tuesday's yesterday... Oakley had school, Aspen had school, both had soccer practice for the first time this year, and we finished it up with this... Oakley's spring show at BUMC Day School. I've spared you all the other classes and boiled it down to the 3+ minutes featuring Oakley and her friends. Enjoy it here by clicking play or click through to Vimeo for a higher definition version.
Jenn was cleaning out Oakley's school bag tonight, as she often does. I'd like to share with you the text... (Oakley, the writer, refers to herself as Iris.)
__________________ to: Joyce. From: Iris
If clowdy can come to school tommorrow cand you sind me in e-mail. That would be good.
So Oakley and Lindy get a fair amount of time at home without Aspen. Monday, Wednesday, Friday... that's their time. It's one of the cool parts about having three girls spaced as we do... there are different relationships.
Lately, they've really been enjoying playing "Kindermusik". Lindy has a class she attends with Jenn each week, but this is something a little different. Oakley gets to be the teacher, which she loves, and Lindy gets to be the mommy, which she loves. It's pretty cool. Check out Lindy's bear and how well it does in class.
And yes, Lindy does pull up her pants a lot... Her bottom is so little, it fails to hold up the pants.
OK, so yesterday, when I went to work, it wasn't snowing or anything. And two hours earlier, we'd received a call indicating school was canceled. Well, there were never slippery roads, but at least the snow came, sort of.
I was unavailable, but Jenn managed to catch the girls with a few snowflakes.
That's right, we have more video tonight. These are basically things I throw together because I know that I'll love them in 2 years. Right now, they're a little funny, but time will improve them.
As predicted, Cliff Batson (sorry I misspelled it last time) was a willing participant. Now, Cliff didn't have great material to work with, but he did a bit of work for all of you. Enjoy.
Tonight, after dinner, I decided to give the girls a bath early, and then play a game with them afterward. It worked out pretty well, because they did some funny stuff. After the game of Monopoly Junior (a Christmas gift to Oakley), we decided to read. Oakley had read The White Stallion to herself today (seriously), and she wanted to read it to us.
At dinner, she kept talking about Anna and "Grinch" as if they were both girls. I thought it a little odd that Grinch was a girl, but didn't worry about it. We got to learn that Grinch was actually spelled Gretchen.
As she was reading to us, Oakley ran right through another word, stating that the "Must-ej" did something. She missed the work mustang in this case, but I'm just amazed by Oakley's reading all the time. She really has no comprehension of phonics at all... she simply pays attention to words she's learned and the context of those words. Things like Gretchen and Mustang don't occur to her as wrong because they are words outside of the norm. She's not bothered, and neither am I.
Incidentally, this is one place where not watching TV really seems to pay off for us. I'm certain it plays a role in how well Aspen reads, and that spills over like crazy. Oakley has learned to read simply by watching Aspen and wanting to. As Oakley was reading, Lindy walked over to me with a Magic Treehouse book about buffalo and said, "Two buffaloes. Jack and Annie." I'm pretty sure that Lindy wasn't ready, but she certainly wanted to.
Lastly, Lindy was sporting some new pajamas from Uncle Dougie tonight. She chose them after the bath and was really into the "snow globe pajamas". The decal, like all decals, is kind of scratchy on the outside. She was rubbing it up and down with her fingernails and proceeded to say, "I'm playing my banjo."
I was being goofy this morning. That's nothing new, I suppose. Today, I was claiming that I knew every song ever. I challenged the girls to come up with one I didn't know, and every time, I just sang whatever song they created... with feeling.
Aspen said, "Daddy... I'm getting serious, do you really know every song."
Much like a 1st grader, I mocked Aspen by repeating her. Oakley's response?
