Isn't that ironic

I've taken to reading to pass the time during Sparkle's dance class. Today I got a book about disciplining toddlers from the library today ("Raising Godly Tomatoes"). While I was trying to read it, two toddlers were running back and forth across the waiting room flicking the lights off and on. Every now and then their mothers would scold the them, but a few moments later the toddlers were back at it. I couldn't settle back to read my book until those families left.

When I recounted the story to Wander this evening, he graciously commented that those moms must have had a lot on their plates. Sigh. Shame on me for not being more understanding.

Glitter's Holidays

Glitter has recently become infatuated with the Christmas and Halloween.

Currently, when she wants me to read to her, it's been "The Night Before Christmas," "My Sparkle Pumpkin Book," or "Barny's Alphabet Soup."

At our last visits to the library she has chosen another version of "The Night Before Christmas" and "Spot's Halloween."

I hope that her taste in books changes soon.

Sparkle, growing up

Today was more educational for Sparkle than I expected it to be. I expected that today would be devoted to play. In the morning we joined a group of friends for open play at a place with giant inflatables for jumping on. While we were there Sparkle got thirsty, but I didn't have anything to drink. Instead I showed her the sign pointing to the restrooms and suggested that she follow them to see if there was a drinking fountain by the restrooms. I also made her look around to see how to return to the play room. (At church, she had to get up to go to the restroom and freaked out a bit on the return trip because she had trouble finding us.) Sparkle successfully navigated the maze of hallways to get her drink and return.

Then we returned home for lunch. Fridays is Sparkle's turn to make lunch. Usually she makes sandwiches, but today she didn't want to make sandwiches. I told her that lunch was up to her - she could make anything she wanted within her power and within reason. (And pumpkin pie is not an acceptable meal, even though at breakfast both girls begged for the pumpkin pie I made last night.) Sparkle wanted soup. After a bit of musing, I decided to let her try warming up a can of soup on the range. She opened the can. It was a pop-top, and bits of soup went flying when she opened it. She cleaned up the mess. She poured the contents into the pot. *I* turned on the range and shooed little sister away. She stirred the soup while I lectured about safety. Finally, she carried the hot pot of soup from the range to the table, with me hovering close by.

The next big learning experience was at the library. Last week I had picked up some Flower Fairies Friends books. I had heard that they were good books for helping young readers transition to chapter books. Well, Sparkle loved them and wanted more. So, I had her go up to the librarian and explain what she wanted. The librarian looked up the series and wrote down where to find the books on a slip of paper. I helped guide Sparkle (pointing out were the aisles were, the author's name on the spine, etc.) but she found the books herself. Then we couldn't find one of the books, and went back to the librarian, who discovered that the books were filed elsewhere. On a whim, I decided that for all that effort, Sparkle deserved her own library card, so I got her one, and let her check out her books herself on her own card. It took her three tries to get all of her books checked out properly (I checked the receipts), but she was really proud. (Now I'll have two library cards to maintain, sigh.)



After the library, the weather was not abominably hot, so we went to the park next door. We didn't have any of our drawing stuff, so we just checked out the Gardenia and then swung on the swing. We played the observation game while swinging. This is one of my new favorite activities for killing time while being slightly educational. We each take turns stating one thing that we see/hear/smell/feel. No repeats unless you're under 4 years old. It helps us notice details, put thoughts into words, and share with each other. By limiting it to one thing per person, we don't get bored waiting for our turn, and we don't get put on the spot for describing too much.

Sparkle's Birthay

I forgot to post about Sparkle's birthday.

On the day of her birthday, we had a simple celebration at home. I got a cake mix and Sparkle got to bake her own birthday cake. I was grateful that she wanted a bundt cake, as I have a horrible time trying to make a traditional cake. Sparkle is getting quite good at cracking eggs. After supper we had the cake and some ice cream for dessert and I played "Happy Birthday" on the piano.

We had her party at a local park. We also got a reservation for the community building at the park so we could enjoy air conditioning. Several of Sparkle's friends came, but I am lousy at building a guest list. After the party Wander and I remembered some other friends that we should have invited. By taking the party out of the house and to the park, we could have invited more friends, and I didn't have to come up with an activity to entertain the kids. (This was the first time our girls had a party that wasn't a home party.)

The weather was super hot, but the air conditioned building was nice. The kids would go play on the park for a while and the dads would supervise. Then they'd get hot and exhausted and come back into the air conditioning to cool off and have a drink. Then when they started running around the building too much, we'd shoo them outside again. The moms mostly holed up in the air conditioning, and everyone had fun.

The weekend before Sparkle's birthday party she got to attend a beautiful ballerina/tea-party themed birthday party. As much as I'd like that sort of party, I can't do that sort of planning. So, we just had the park, balloons, pizza, and cake.





Sparkle got lots of presents. I'm really impressed with presents she got. She got some flip flops which have become her new exclusive footwear. She got the game "Guess Who" which is a new favorite game. (I even like playing it with her due to the combination of thinking and luck involved.) She got a make-your-own-fairytale-book and some paper dolls. She loved the craftiness of both of them, and glued and sticker'ed and accessorized to her heart's content. She got some new clothes which have become her new wear-the-day-after-mom-does-laundry outfit.

Vacation Bible School

Sparkle is in Vacation Bible School this week. It's a morning program from nine to noon, so I have to get going in the morning a bit earlier than I'm used to. She gets to have fun with other kids and feel good about the church. In the car on the way to church, I coach her how to answer if someone asked her about her age, grade, or school. It probably won't come up, but I wanted her to have a ready answer just in case.

Meanwhile, I get some time to focus on Glitter. This morning Glitter got to do some pages from the Kumon Tracing book, we played a game of Command Cards, and she did a page in her reading lesson.

At the end of the week the parents got to watch the kids sing their VBS songs.