This recap-approach is getting old, I know.
Last month, MSC soccer started up - we spend about 3 hours each Saturday at the sports complex watching the girls learn new moves. In ballet, Taia was moved up one level, which is great but it makes for longer Wednesday nights... She started attending an after-school program for gifted 5th graders, called "Enrichment Club". So far there are twelve kids in it and their focus has been on taking apart/reassembling computers, and programming miniature robots called Crickets. Girl Scouts really got going, but I haven't found a troop for Kira yet. The first quarter ended, so both girls had conferences, and they're both just really great students! Kira's teacher is sending home more challenging homework, so now it takes her 10 minutes to finish it instead of 5. Taia's really turning out to be a good clarinet player... So, school's all good.
As for Remy, well, he's just taking in all he can while he's with C, the boy I babysit. Their friendship is complicated, like a soap opera, with joy and betrayal and competition wrapped up in giggles and hostility. So they
want to play together and they ask for each other when they're apart - but once they're together, there's sure to be one-upping and tattling before long. I love it when they're just relaxed, humming, eating PB&Js, drawing, or walking the dog with me... C's mom went on vacation in October, so we had a few extra days of babysitting. His sister comes to our house after school for about an hour, so we have a full house/full mamavan - with
my kids that means just one thing - it's
LOUD.
Remy and I have been making it to story time at
Pandemonium Book Store on Wednesday mornings. I like Pandemonium because it doesn't have the Big Brother vibe that the public library has... I don't know why libraries creep me out that way, but I remember the walking-on-eggshells feeling ever since my early days at Nome's library and the one we went to in Fairbanks when I was 6. I remember thinking that even though the dolls on display at the Fairbanks library were called "Ginny" dolls and that that alone should be thrilling to me, it was just a creepy place and the air was heavy with
rules and
SHHHH. Remy loves story time because he's a commentator. I hate to quash his enthusiasm but I've started to ask him to
be quiet please and
let the lady read the book.
Our good friends usually go to story time too, with their 18-month-old son. They've been inviting us over to their house for all kinds of delicious homemade food... now my pants are all straining to hold my expanded parts. I'm not complaining at all because I love scratch cake, homemade doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, halibut chowder...
It was the big convention week for
AFN two weeks ago. Dad was in town so we got to visit with him :) I got to take the kids to the last day of the convention, when Senator Begich talked to the audience and the AFN President's Awards were presented. Educators, hunters, elders, and culture-bearers were honored alongside parents, healers, business people and others. I'm hoping that one of these years I'll get to bring the kids to the dance performances!
Oh yeah I had a birthday last month too. That week I was burnt out from reading the Twilight series instead of sewing Halloween costumes, and consequently from staying up all night to actually finish the costumes before we had to leave to trick-or-treat. Clearly, getting older doesn't go hand-in-hand with getting wiser.
