This morning I took the kids to the dentist to get their teeth cleaned. Ivy and Ethan were called back first. Ivy came back really quick and I asked her how many cavities she had--she didn't know. After a little while they called Eva and Nathan back. Ivy and I waited and waited for Ethan. Pretty soon Nathan came back and we were just waiting for Eva and Ethan. At this point I'm wondering if Ethan was missing half a tooth or something. Or maybe Eva and Ethan need braces...wouldn't that be great? Pretty soon someone comes to get me saying "the Doctor wants to visit with you". Lovely. They take me to a room where Eva and Ethan are waiting with the doctor who tells me that the three kids he looked at have no cavities--which is amazing! But still--we needed to find out about Ivy. The receptionist checked for us and she had no cavities either! For the first time ever! I was stunned. Part of me was tempted to say that there must be some mistake and maybe they'd better check again but I resisted. Perhaps Ivy said it best, "I don't know why...." We were all a little puzzled but very pleased!
We got a call from the U of U Speech clinic this week and Nathan gets to start weekly 2 hour group sessions the first week of June. It is an expense but it is not terribly bad. We are excited for him!
Ethan has been working for money. He has always been very interested in having and earning money but working for money has not seemed worthwhile to him in the past. But not anymore! He has worked in the yards of 4 neighbors and is a GREAT worker! We are very proud. One job in particular has been very difficult--I don't think the area he has been weeding has been weeded for 2-4 years. He gets EVERY weed out--very clean work. And he's been spending almost all of his free time working on it. Go Ethan!
Yesterday Ivy had her friend birthday party. I made her a ladybug cake but we couldn't find the camera so there is no picture of it. The exciting part is that I made fondant and it was fairly simple! Ivy had a spa party complete with an exfoliating scrub (wet cornmeal) and face mask (bananas and honey) and all the girls wanted cucumber slices. The girls were really excited for that part which I thought was weird but they had a good time. Then they watched a little movie while Eva and her friend painted the girls' nails. Ivy invited 9 friends and all 9 friends came. Surprisingly this wasn't at all stressful--probably because Eva had a great time helping the girls with their stuff and Nathan and Ethan took care of little details like answering the door (nothing like a little get together to draw every other child in the neighborhood) and cleaning up.
When the party was over we borrowed a few hammers and headed to Aunt L's to pound nails in the floor. They are putting new laminate down and removing the vinyl left TONS of staple/nails sticking up everywhere. Eva and Ethan worked as well as any adult for almost an hour before they started getting tired. It was hard work and I started getting tired at that point too.
It's so fun to see the kids grow up and witness what great people and hard workers they have become. I love how they (for the most part) take care of each other try to do the right thing.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
A Letter to Eva's Teacher
Dear Mr. Becker,
I saw/observed/glanced at/perused/gazed/watched/looked/touched/approved/noticed/ appreciated/complimented Eva's fantastic/great/fabulous/marvelous/flawless/ satisfactory/super/super duper/wonderful/amazing/excellent/superior/superb report card.
Linnea Olcott
Eva said I could only write one sentence with six words. I couldn't decide which words to use so I gave you options. She won't be happy when she's sone practicing and gets this but I think we've established that doesn't bother me. In fact, I enjoy it because I think when she gets that exasperated "You're so embarrassing!" look that it's cute and it's a parent's prerogative to embarrass their preteen/teenager to make up for the first three years of life....mostly the third year. You should read my blog--good stories there.
Uh oh--she's coming.
The next day Ethan needed a note saying that I had read his report card and it went something like this:
"Dear Mr. Peterson: I saw Ethan's report card. I would write more but the boy is more clever than the girl and I have run out of paper."
It's true--Ethan brought me a leeeetle piece of paper for his note. Smart boy!
Eva was mortified when her teacher read her note out loud to the class. The next morning at the gym a fifth grade teacher saw me and said, "By the way, you get the award for best parent letter of the year...no decade! That's the BEST parent letter I've read--so funny!" Mr. Becker had shared the letter with several teachers as well and while he let me borrow it so I could blog it for Eva's children to read one day he was very adamant that we return it...I have to send it back to school tomorrow.
I saw/observed/glanced at/perused/gazed/watched/looked/touched/approved/noticed/ appreciated/complimented Eva's fantastic/great/fabulous/marvelous/flawless/ satisfactory/super/super duper/wonderful/amazing/excellent/superior/superb report card.
Linnea Olcott
Eva said I could only write one sentence with six words. I couldn't decide which words to use so I gave you options. She won't be happy when she's sone practicing and gets this but I think we've established that doesn't bother me. In fact, I enjoy it because I think when she gets that exasperated "You're so embarrassing!" look that it's cute and it's a parent's prerogative to embarrass their preteen/teenager to make up for the first three years of life....mostly the third year. You should read my blog--good stories there.
Uh oh--she's coming.
The next day Ethan needed a note saying that I had read his report card and it went something like this:
"Dear Mr. Peterson: I saw Ethan's report card. I would write more but the boy is more clever than the girl and I have run out of paper."
It's true--Ethan brought me a leeeetle piece of paper for his note. Smart boy!
Eva was mortified when her teacher read her note out loud to the class. The next morning at the gym a fifth grade teacher saw me and said, "By the way, you get the award for best parent letter of the year...no decade! That's the BEST parent letter I've read--so funny!" Mr. Becker had shared the letter with several teachers as well and while he let me borrow it so I could blog it for Eva's children to read one day he was very adamant that we return it...I have to send it back to school tomorrow.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Dear Kindergarten
Why did you have to grow up? Remember 30 years ago when we had snacktime and naptime and painting and the teacher told my mom she was worried about me because I didn't know how to use scissors? How come you don't do scissors so much anymore? What happened to snacktime and naptime?
Remember when my sister's happy kindergarten swinging picture was in the paper? How come you don't do recess anymore?
Remember 6 years ago when you did finger painting and brush painting and fruit loop necklaces and masks and spider hats? That was fun. Remember letter of the week and you did letter puppets and letter songs and letter games? That was fun too.
Remember when kids went to kindergarten to make and play with friends? We liked that.
Now you just do worksheets. No offense, but they are boring...and kids don't learn as well. Coloring the worksheets would help but I guess you are too old for crayons.
Kindergarten, as I have watched you grow up I have decided that I never want to outgrow: coloring, swinging, recess, friends, cutting, snacks, naptime, puppets, playtime, picture books, ..... All those things that made you great 30 years ago.
At least you are still teaching me.
Remember when my sister's happy kindergarten swinging picture was in the paper? How come you don't do recess anymore?
Remember 6 years ago when you did finger painting and brush painting and fruit loop necklaces and masks and spider hats? That was fun. Remember letter of the week and you did letter puppets and letter songs and letter games? That was fun too.
Remember when kids went to kindergarten to make and play with friends? We liked that.
Now you just do worksheets. No offense, but they are boring...and kids don't learn as well. Coloring the worksheets would help but I guess you are too old for crayons.
Kindergarten, as I have watched you grow up I have decided that I never want to outgrow: coloring, swinging, recess, friends, cutting, snacks, naptime, puppets, playtime, picture books, ..... All those things that made you great 30 years ago.
At least you are still teaching me.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Ivy
Ivy tells me that she likes my computer "and that's because when it is blank and nothing is showing on it, no pictures or anything, then it's like a mirror--that's why I like our TV, too, because it is like a mirror."
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Last Sunday
A few months ago Vince and I joined a community choir--we actually tried out and made it although we readily admit that we were coaxed, cajoled, and begged to try out by the director and so she had to let us in at that point no matter what our try out sounded like. Anyways. Choir practice is every Saturday night from 7:00-9:00. Since we have 9 AM church Sunday morning we always have to remember to tell the kids to SHOWER or BATHE while we are gone. Last Saturday we forgot.
Of course only Eva had cleaned herself so we (and by we I mean I because Vince had early meetings) had to wake them up early to get it done before church. I decided to wake Ivy first--since she is the slowest. She got right up and took a normal bath which was a relief because we didn't have time for her to spend the normal 60 minutes in there. Actually, all the bathing went very smoothly and I remember feeling very relieved and happy about it. Then we had to start breakfast which was easy because I had cold cereal in the house and there is nothing better than cold cereal when you are rushed in the morning. Except when the person who did the dishes the night before doesn't turn the dishwasher on. All the bowls were dirty. So we had cereal in soup mugs. Which worked out well. One soup mug did not fill them up so I told them that they could have another when they were COMPLETELY DRESSED. Just as a reference it was 7:45 when I made this announcement and Ivy was dressed--all she had to do was comb her hair and put shoes on.
8:35 (we were supposed to leave at 8:30) Ivy announces that she is ready for her second mug of cereal and I have to tell her we're leaving and it's too late which prompts a response like: "WHAT?! That's not FAIR! I was going to have another bowl but YOU wouldn't let me and I was hungry! And I HAD time then but you wouldn't let me and that's not fair! I'm STAAAAARVING!!!! I CAN'T go to church so hungry!" She can spit all of that out in like 3 seconds and of course it was accompanied throwing and contorting of body parts in various directions. I tried to reason with her: "But Ivy I woke you up FIRST so you would have time. You had 40 minutes to find your shoes and comb your hair. You should have moved FASTER." It was no good--there was no reasoning with her and really I should know better anyway.
8:38 We get in the car with the crying Ivy.
8:40 We are halfway to church, Ivy is still moaning about breakfast but abruptly stops when Ethan says: "I get to pick the bench today!" This of course started a cacophony of "What? Why does HE get to choose? I never get to pick it! It's NOT FAIR!"
8:41 I announce that only Mom and Dad will choose the bench from now on. Forever. Ethan responds with, "OK but can we sit on a little bench?" I have NO idea why he is obsessed with the little bench thing but we have this talk. Every. Week. We fit on a smaller bench. Barely. And no one likes to sit that close to each other. I tell him that we are not sitting on a little bench--that's one reason we leave early.
8:43 We arrive at church and everyone gets out of the car to go in. Except Ethan because he is upset that he doesn't get to choose the bench and that we don't get to sit on a small bench.
8:45 Eva, Nathan, Ivy, and I sit down on a bench to wait for the meeting to start. Ivy resurrects the breakfast drama. I tell her that she now has a strike because I don't want to talk about it anymore and if she gets 2 more strikes she will not have dessert. She hits me.
8:47 I take Ivy into a classroom so she can stand in the corner.
8:49 I leave Ivy in the classroom and tell her that when she is done with the yelling about breakfast she can come to the chapel and sit with us. I go back to the chapel and sit with Eva and Nathn and realize that Ethan is still not there. A friend points him out to me. He is in the chapel. Sitting on a small bench.
8:51 I go sit by Ethan. Right. By. Him. Hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder. He tells me that there is plenty of room and WHY can't we sit there! I start to think of how to coax/beg/drag him back to our bench and then get a bright idea. I say "Ethan--are you OK with me sitting this close to you? Because if you're OK with this we can sit here but you have to sit right next to me the whole meeting." He agrees.
8:54 I motion Eva to our seat and tell her we are going to switch benches and ask her to get our stuff. She acts like Ivy and says something like "What?! Just because HE wants to! Why do We have to move!" And then stomps off to get our stuff. The ladies behind me are giggling and I am fighting giggles because the whole morning suddenly seems very ridiculous.
8:55 Eva comes back with Nathan and our stuff and sits down with a big SIGH. The ladies giggle more. Then I remember where Ivy is and that she needs to come back but I can't leave without compromising my spot Right. Next. To. Ethan. So I tell Eva and she sighs again and goes to get Ivy.
8:57 Eva and Ivy come back and Ivy immediately earns another strike. Because of the breakfast drama. The ladies giggle some more. I say to the ladies "I wore yellow because it's a happy color" and "Nathan's happy!" They giggle some more. I smile and fight down the giggles. Ivy lays her head down on my lap to cry silently and Ethan asks if I can move down a little. I tell him that's not part of the deal.
8:59 Vince comes and looks at us and the bench. He has a questioning look in his eyes when our eyes meet. I can hear him asking: "Why are we sitting here? What's wrong with Ivy?" Before he can say anything I say: Don't say. A word. Just sit down." He says "OK." The ladies laugh some more. We are past giggles at this point.
3:00 PM I tell Vince about our morning and why I was a little short with him just before the meeting. When I get to the end he says, "I was going to ask you why they were so reverent and how impressed I was!"
Of course only Eva had cleaned herself so we (and by we I mean I because Vince had early meetings) had to wake them up early to get it done before church. I decided to wake Ivy first--since she is the slowest. She got right up and took a normal bath which was a relief because we didn't have time for her to spend the normal 60 minutes in there. Actually, all the bathing went very smoothly and I remember feeling very relieved and happy about it. Then we had to start breakfast which was easy because I had cold cereal in the house and there is nothing better than cold cereal when you are rushed in the morning. Except when the person who did the dishes the night before doesn't turn the dishwasher on. All the bowls were dirty. So we had cereal in soup mugs. Which worked out well. One soup mug did not fill them up so I told them that they could have another when they were COMPLETELY DRESSED. Just as a reference it was 7:45 when I made this announcement and Ivy was dressed--all she had to do was comb her hair and put shoes on.
8:35 (we were supposed to leave at 8:30) Ivy announces that she is ready for her second mug of cereal and I have to tell her we're leaving and it's too late which prompts a response like: "WHAT?! That's not FAIR! I was going to have another bowl but YOU wouldn't let me and I was hungry! And I HAD time then but you wouldn't let me and that's not fair! I'm STAAAAARVING!!!! I CAN'T go to church so hungry!" She can spit all of that out in like 3 seconds and of course it was accompanied throwing and contorting of body parts in various directions. I tried to reason with her: "But Ivy I woke you up FIRST so you would have time. You had 40 minutes to find your shoes and comb your hair. You should have moved FASTER." It was no good--there was no reasoning with her and really I should know better anyway.
8:38 We get in the car with the crying Ivy.
8:40 We are halfway to church, Ivy is still moaning about breakfast but abruptly stops when Ethan says: "I get to pick the bench today!" This of course started a cacophony of "What? Why does HE get to choose? I never get to pick it! It's NOT FAIR!"
8:41 I announce that only Mom and Dad will choose the bench from now on. Forever. Ethan responds with, "OK but can we sit on a little bench?" I have NO idea why he is obsessed with the little bench thing but we have this talk. Every. Week. We fit on a smaller bench. Barely. And no one likes to sit that close to each other. I tell him that we are not sitting on a little bench--that's one reason we leave early.
8:43 We arrive at church and everyone gets out of the car to go in. Except Ethan because he is upset that he doesn't get to choose the bench and that we don't get to sit on a small bench.
8:45 Eva, Nathan, Ivy, and I sit down on a bench to wait for the meeting to start. Ivy resurrects the breakfast drama. I tell her that she now has a strike because I don't want to talk about it anymore and if she gets 2 more strikes she will not have dessert. She hits me.
8:47 I take Ivy into a classroom so she can stand in the corner.
8:49 I leave Ivy in the classroom and tell her that when she is done with the yelling about breakfast she can come to the chapel and sit with us. I go back to the chapel and sit with Eva and Nathn and realize that Ethan is still not there. A friend points him out to me. He is in the chapel. Sitting on a small bench.
8:51 I go sit by Ethan. Right. By. Him. Hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder. He tells me that there is plenty of room and WHY can't we sit there! I start to think of how to coax/beg/drag him back to our bench and then get a bright idea. I say "Ethan--are you OK with me sitting this close to you? Because if you're OK with this we can sit here but you have to sit right next to me the whole meeting." He agrees.
8:54 I motion Eva to our seat and tell her we are going to switch benches and ask her to get our stuff. She acts like Ivy and says something like "What?! Just because HE wants to! Why do We have to move!" And then stomps off to get our stuff. The ladies behind me are giggling and I am fighting giggles because the whole morning suddenly seems very ridiculous.
8:55 Eva comes back with Nathan and our stuff and sits down with a big SIGH. The ladies giggle more. Then I remember where Ivy is and that she needs to come back but I can't leave without compromising my spot Right. Next. To. Ethan. So I tell Eva and she sighs again and goes to get Ivy.
8:57 Eva and Ivy come back and Ivy immediately earns another strike. Because of the breakfast drama. The ladies giggle some more. I say to the ladies "I wore yellow because it's a happy color" and "Nathan's happy!" They giggle some more. I smile and fight down the giggles. Ivy lays her head down on my lap to cry silently and Ethan asks if I can move down a little. I tell him that's not part of the deal.
8:59 Vince comes and looks at us and the bench. He has a questioning look in his eyes when our eyes meet. I can hear him asking: "Why are we sitting here? What's wrong with Ivy?" Before he can say anything I say: Don't say. A word. Just sit down." He says "OK." The ladies laugh some more. We are past giggles at this point.
3:00 PM I tell Vince about our morning and why I was a little short with him just before the meeting. When I get to the end he says, "I was going to ask you why they were so reverent and how impressed I was!"
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Congratulations Eva!
We are very excited that Eva received a $200 scholarship to her violin suzuki camp this year. She was chosen because she "demonstrated that she is working very hard on her music". In addition to the $250 she earned from fundraising she has almost earned the entire cost of the camp!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Didn't I Already Finish School?!!
I have so far managed to not "help" with any school projects this year. Ivy had BEAR month (Be Excited About Reading) where the kids are supposed to do several cool projects about books they've read and I didn't help. At. All. Because I've been busy with Nathan, piano,... Besides it's HER project and it ended up OK so I felt vindicated for my lack of participation. I also didn't help with science fair projects--that apparently worked to Eva's advantage as she not only advanced to the district competition for the first time ever but also advanced to the regional competition. I didn't want to help with Reflections projects either so I convinced the PTA board that it would be super helpful to have a "submission clinic" where the Reflections committee prepares the art for submission. I was quite proud of myself, to be honest.
But Animal reports are due this week. Yay. The teacher sent a note home saying that they WOULD need parent help--we were supposed to sign a form and return it (which I didn't but I DID read it). Ethan has to construct a diorama, write a written report, and prepare an oral presentation. We've known about this for a long time but have procrastinated in order to prepare him for college because everyone knows that when you go to college you have so many projects and papers due all the time that you have to do them all at the last minute anyway. So we are responsible parents.
Last night we started (and finished) the diorama (Vince and I are both college graduates--we can start and finish big projects quite quickly now). It was really big because we decided that Vince would be the best person to help with the diorama and I would be the best to help with the written report--we made no determination about the oral presentation but I will try to go watch and smile encouragingly. Anyhow. The diorama turned out big. Because Vince was in charge and I am reminded of what Vince's Aunt Betty said about our coffee table: "It turned out bigger than you thought it would, didn't it--that's because those Olcotts always make everything big!" It's true.
Eva woke up this morning and was asking about the really cool features of the horned toad lizard diorama like the anthill, ants, prickly pear cacti, giant boulders, grasses, horny toad,... She said to me: "Why is it so big?" and then "Mom, how come you didn't make my animal diorama this cool?" She didn't wait for an answer to the first question because--duh--and I was a little surprised/hurt/sheepish/giggly when she didn't wait for the answer to the second question either. She just walked out of the room laughing. Rude. Just because when Eva did her animal diorama Vince was really busy and I helped with the whole project. Apparently even though her frog diorama included a pond with actual water and lily pads (among other things) it was neither large (true) nor cool (debatable since she thought it was cool at the time and said the other kids were ooohing and ahing) and doesn't compete with what Dad can produce. Not a huge surprise, I guess.
Now I have approximately 20 hours left to help Ethan finish that written report...
But Animal reports are due this week. Yay. The teacher sent a note home saying that they WOULD need parent help--we were supposed to sign a form and return it (which I didn't but I DID read it). Ethan has to construct a diorama, write a written report, and prepare an oral presentation. We've known about this for a long time but have procrastinated in order to prepare him for college because everyone knows that when you go to college you have so many projects and papers due all the time that you have to do them all at the last minute anyway. So we are responsible parents.
Last night we started (and finished) the diorama (Vince and I are both college graduates--we can start and finish big projects quite quickly now). It was really big because we decided that Vince would be the best person to help with the diorama and I would be the best to help with the written report--we made no determination about the oral presentation but I will try to go watch and smile encouragingly. Anyhow. The diorama turned out big. Because Vince was in charge and I am reminded of what Vince's Aunt Betty said about our coffee table: "It turned out bigger than you thought it would, didn't it--that's because those Olcotts always make everything big!" It's true.
Eva woke up this morning and was asking about the really cool features of the horned toad lizard diorama like the anthill, ants, prickly pear cacti, giant boulders, grasses, horny toad,... She said to me: "Why is it so big?" and then "Mom, how come you didn't make my animal diorama this cool?" She didn't wait for an answer to the first question because--duh--and I was a little surprised/hurt/sheepish/giggly when she didn't wait for the answer to the second question either. She just walked out of the room laughing. Rude. Just because when Eva did her animal diorama Vince was really busy and I helped with the whole project. Apparently even though her frog diorama included a pond with actual water and lily pads (among other things) it was neither large (true) nor cool (debatable since she thought it was cool at the time and said the other kids were ooohing and ahing) and doesn't compete with what Dad can produce. Not a huge surprise, I guess.
Now I have approximately 20 hours left to help Ethan finish that written report...
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