Where does the time go?

It seems as though every time I write an entry, I begin by apologizing for how long it's been since I last wrote. So, why break with tradition? It has been sadly long since I've documented in any meaningful form how our kiddos are progressing in life, so now that it's coming up on their birthdays, I figured, no time like the present. 

Let's start with Oscar. I just got a glowing report from his teacher yesterday which outlined how much his attention and interest in academics has progressed since last year. He's choosing more challenging work at school, taking his time to complete it correctly and has started doing just a smidge of reading. It was very good news. If you're a follower, (and why would you be unless you're prone to following something only once a year, like Santa or Bruce Springstein?) you'll remember our concern on Oscar's lack of, how shall I put it? academic prowess. He's street smart and very observant and communicates his thoughts and questions very often and with great, great, sometimes mind-numbing detail, but we were never totally sure when the academic bug would catch him. Speaking of Oscar's thoughts, here are some Oscar-isms of late, just to give you a glimpse into the Jack Handy litany that is my life:

• While eating lunch at Chick-fil-a after a long silence: "You know, it's easy to know which shoe to put on because once you have one on, you know the other one has to be right, because it's the only one left!"
• Addressing my inability to answer his questions in an understandable, nay, audible way: "Mom, sometimes I can't hear the information you're telling me because I get confused when I ask you questions and what you say I just can't hear."
• On the way to school: "You know, infiniminity (read: infinity) has no end, but it does have a beginning." Brilliant, I say.

Now, onto Annie. I hate to say it but she has entered pre-adolescence all to quickly for my taste. She's already begging to wear lip gloss, paint her nails red, and wear high-heels. Anyone who knew me  when I was growing up knows the Barbie doesn't fall far from the tree. On the other end of things, however, she's very interested in doing "research" at school and then presenting her findings to her class. I'm sorry, let me rephrase: She loves to "teach" her class, including handouts and quizzes. How she still has friends is a mystery to me. All kidding aside, Annie is admired by all age groups at her school. However, because of her debilitating shyness, very few know she likes them back. It's an amazing sociological experiment to watch her interact with her peers. At times she's a little bossy. At others, she's deferential. But mostly, and I say this with all sincerity, she has an innate need for those around her to be happy and agreeable. She'll bend over backwards with her friends to try to work things out and make sure everyone is being fair. 

Notice I said her "friends." With Oscar, it's another story. I definitely see that big sister/little brother dynamic creeping in. They still play wonderfully together, but Oscar has that unique ability to annoy the pants off of her. Anyone observing this behavior would know it's just because he wants her attention and she's usually doing something solitary, like homework or reading, but Annie has taken to a little back-handing every now and again to put him in line. It's highly discouraged and infrequent, but completely understandable.

Annie as a Vampire and Oscar as Spider-Man, Halloween

And for the greater family as a whole? We're doing wonderfully. This past year we renovated the downstairs bathroom and even though the experience wasn't great, the result is wonderful. I have started freelancing again, this time for a company my mother put me in touch with. So, now I actually get to work with her on projects (she's an editor). Strange when on conference calls, let me tell you. I have to fight the urge to call her "Mom." I feel like I'm breaking the daughter/mother rules when I call her "Martha." Jay is starting a residency program in neurology at Carilion/VTech and is very busy as a result. We got six chickens this past spring whose names are: Mabel, Pippa, Chippy, Reese, Amelia and Fluffy (the latter named by Annie). 

Also, the day before Halloween, a little kitty showed up at our back door. And me, thinking it was Roscoe, went to let her in, and soon realized that she was about one-fifth the size of Roscoe and all black, save for a little dot of white on her chest. We searched for her owners, if she had any, but nothing came of it, so now she's ours. She's named Noke after Roanoke (as we seem to name our cats after where we're living (Roscoe, for Roscoe, NY, halfway between our homes in CT and Syracuse, NY; Mason, for the first time we lived south of the Mason-Dixon line). We call her Nokie and she's about 4-5 months old. She's very sweet but a little under the weather, so I have a feeling we haven't met the "real" Nokie yet. I'll keep you posted. Probably in about a year. Happy Holidays (and by that, I mean all of them, because who knows when I'll get to this again).

In other news...

We've been a touch remiss in updating the blog, but just know that since I last wrote the kids are alive and well-ish. Oscar broke his leg, oh, and his finger, and got stitches, all in the span of just a few months. I'd like for him to work on over-achieving at something other than ER visits. We're hoping next week he gets his full-leg cast off. I never thought of injuries as a "phase" in childhood. Apparently I was wrong. I'm hoping it ends soon.

We had Thanksgiving in Roanoke with the family Schindhelm, then over to Bethesda for Christmas Day and further festivities with the Ferrara clan. All were wonderful and illness free this year. The new year brought an uncharacteristic amount of snow fall (and even more snow days) and a new renovation project: the downstairs bathroom, because hey! we weren't yet crazy enough. This one has not gone as smoothly as the last, which is weird because it's like an eighth of the size of the prior project. We hired the same people but the best I can explain: the mojo is just off. Things have been over ordered, under ordered, ordered late, over budget, and it's taken longer than the big renovation that got us into this house. But I'm assured the final product will be amazing and I'll want to move to the guest room just to make it mine. Sorry, Jay.

Annie is quite the little performer. In addition to getting bitten by the "Frozen" bug (God help all us mothers) and treating us to numerous at-home performances of "Let it Go" (in which Oscar always has a cameo as Olaf, the snowman), she has performed in the winter ballet of the Roanoke Ballet Theatre's Magic Toyshop as a fairy with real-live ballerinas (and a professional DVD keepsake to boot!). She played Laura in her school's mini-drama adaptation of Little House in the Big Woods. Precious and riveting (because now that she is seven I can no longer just call her "precious"). This spring she'll be in another Roanoke Ballet Theatre production of some ballet that has a French name so it's lost on me, but I'm sure someone in it is sad at some point.

Oscar, well, besides the breaking of bones, is pushing our skills as parents. He is not quite as invested in learning the English alphabet or its coordinating sounds as his sister was at his age. In fact, she could read at this point. Not that I'm bragging, I'm just mentioning it so you know how woefully unprepared we are in dealing with this challenge. He's getting there though, just at a pace that a boy, well, with several broken bones would be going. He does make us smile a lot though, which is good, because I'd rather he keep us in stitches than himself for a change.

That's the news from these here parts. We'll see you in the spring! Hopefully this spring.

Coming up for air

So spring happened. Ok, and summer. Despite all appearances, we are still alive and happy and the kids had a great time getting to know their neighbors, going to camp, having visitors like Oma and Papa Joe, Beverly and Al, Aunt Jennifer and her gang, and Nana and Grandbob, not to mention our other set of cousins with Aunt Joanna when the Schindhelm half of the family went to Smith Mountain Lake for a week and, with the aid of many flotation devices, lived to tell about it. (See! That's why I don't have any time to update this thing!)

Now, we're settling into the fall routine which has been a bit of an adjustment. Waking up is not Annie's strong suit. In fact, I am ashamed to admit it, but there have been days I've dressed her while she's still asleep... no easy feat. Oscar started his Montessori school and it's a great fit. I even noticed him pushing in a chair after getting out of it at a restaurant. That, in itself, is a huge accomplishment. He's having fun tracing shapes for shape books, pin punching continents and countries, and making friends. Along with the beginning of school comes the beginning of Activities (and yes, it deserves a capital 'A'). Annie's doing ballet, piano, Daisy Scouts, and swimming. Oscar is easing himself into being overscheduled and is just doing soccer and swimming. Luckily two of Annie's Activities happen at her school, so the shuttling isn't so bad (I'm holding off on the minivan). She loves it all and it's fun to watch her learn a musical instrument even if she gets impatient with practicing after basically sitting down at the piano. We're working on it.

Oscar is at that lovely almost-four age where a kid's personality starts to come through and he's just so fun to talk with. He loves anything that involves using his hands, so when I suggested he help me make pumpkin ravioli yesterday, he insisted, "No, mama. I want to make dessert." So we made chocolate chip cookies instead (hey, you don't have to ask me twice). I got this little gem of a video. You can see he does not suffer from a lack of self esteem. He's also a great snuggler still and loves to give "moodgie" hugs where he basically grinds his face into your upper body while hugging you. Annie gets a little tired of it, but I love it, as Oscar would say, "to pieces and bits."

We are also happy to report that we have next-door neighbors who became fast friends with our troop. Caroline, 9; Kate, 7; and Will, 5; are a joy to have around and despite the daily destruction of their bedrooms (if I could bottle the speed with which they dissemble their toy bins, I think I could win the Indie 500), it's so nice to live in a place where the kids are happy and comfortable. 

On a sad note, we lost one of our chickens to (most likely) a raccoon one night. We hadn't been locking them in their coop at night during the summer, and have thus, learned our lesson. We will miss you Henny Penny.