Learning

I'll just start off by saying I'm exhausted. I'm headed to the gym tomorrow to cancel my membership. I don't need it anymore. . . and I certainly don't have time for it anyway. Don't worry - I'm getting my exercise. In fact I just came down off the mountain behind our house 10 minutes ago. A certain young man was getting a little miserable and frustrated with everything and I decided to give him a change of scenery (or at least give him something different to think about). He had been playing with his hot-wheels for quite awhile and had turned to drawing on a huge piece of paper. Sister came along and drew something on HIS picture and he was NOT happy about it. Brianna kindly cut him a new strip to draw on and apparently it wasn't the right size. . . They both woke up tired and dragging so this was actually my second hike. We hiked the irrigation ditch for an hour this morning. My goal is to get through the day without any trauma and to physically wear the kids out so they will go to bed early and wake up more rested. They have been here close to a week and the high level of excitement is dwindling down to utter weariness.

Brianna has been teaching Little Girl how to play dollies. She had no idea. She came with several little dolls and my girls have some really nice German dolls and there is a set of dishes, but in the week they've been here Little Girl had not even touched them until today. She finds it hilarious to treat the dolls like real babies, but she's enjoying it. Brianna has made a big deal of taking the dolls potty and Vanessa has helped her to make a fleece blanket for them. My garden baskets have been turned into bassinets.

Both kiddos love to help in the kitchen. We have to have eyes on all sides of our heads... They are into stuff so quick! The stirring spoon goes in the mouth faster than you can blink. "Wash your hands. Please, don't wash the celery with dish soap - plain water will do. Wash your hands. Don't touch the hot stove. Wash your hands. Stir slowly so it doesn't all spill. Wash you hands."
I sounds like a broken record, but those fingers have a way of going in and out of the mouth, you understand...

These kids have missed out on so much in their 6 years. They don't know what a porcupine is. They have never heard of a skunk let alone a marmot. They call deer kangaroos. Robins are just birdies. Our first job it to teach them to observe. They don't notice and don't appreciate what they do see. On our walks I pointed out the first spring yellow bells, the coyote scat, the deer droppings, the apple trees and the view from the top of the mountain. In the world of nature there's not much of a knowledge base established for them to compare the new observations. The first 5 years of their lives they were kept indoors and on sedatives. The last year they have had a backyard in the city to play in. The horizons have expanded considerably and I aim to teach them to observe the world around them with all 5 senses. They aren't dumb. They know what they know....we just have to expand that.

I took the kids to the church (since we had to clean) and let them explore and discover their children's class. I needed to return a key to Delores, so I introduced her to them as their SS teacher. They were very excited to go. They were up and dressed and ready at the crack of dawn. Honest, we were ready an hour early!! They enjoyed the class very much. Jared and Joyanna met them at church with gifts and showered them with attention. Jared was a bit disappointed that Little Guy wasn't quite up to his level (*eye rolling * This kid is a genius - you know the kind that taught himself to read when he was 3 and isn't afraid to write detailed letters to the church board about how he thinks things ought to be done). Little Girl was very grateful for Joyanna's friendship and repaid in kind. Steve was suppose to have the sermon and at the last minute found out about a visiting minister. Yeah for me... It took both of us to contain them during church service.

My services are being required in the diaper realm. Little Girl has been filling them one after another all afternoon. (That's a good thing... RIght? )