OMG I think my babies are little growing up people now!!!

I don't know who taught them to pose like that.

My kids and I spent a few hours today at the east coast distribution center. Though they could have stayed in the comfort of the air conditioned van, and played, or done workbook pages, or listened to the radio, they insisted that they wanted to help (even though it meant being outdoors in the weird 80 degree whether in early March that was "just too hooooooot!"...)

So cool...

It was a gentle reminder of not only the intelligence and love children possess and the capabilities they have to rise to the occasion, but of how lucky we are to have the relative safety and comfort that we enjoy in our own lives...watching them work, I got a glimpse of them in the opposite situation; were we in the shoes of the refugees, my amazing kiddos would be the kids - like so many Carry The Future has already encountered - helping each other out, keeping things light for their fellow travelers, and prevailing even when the family is sadly separated along the way.

Even carrying younger siblings when they have to.

These are kids just like ours, rising to meet horrid, unfair needs, and making it work. 

Actually caught a candid of them in action! You can barely see them but all three are in there actually working, the littlest asked to be in charge of collecting and sorting the 'trash'-all the silica packets, plastic bags, and discarded papers - while her sisters busied themselves opening the boxes, pulling out the carriers, removing the tags and directions from them, and putting them into the appropriate bags.

Can you imagine that here in America? Our schoolchildren forced to suddenly take on a grown up independence for their own sake and for the sake of each other, on a long, dangerous journey to the unknown?

My 8 year old carried her 3 year old sister around in a carrier (which was very part of a very large, generous donation given to CTF by Evenflo! So wonderful!) for a bit today, to illustrate what is so hard for us to fathom.

I think Cadence's face says it all here.

All three kiddos took their roles opening and sorting carriers very seriously (except that they giggled the whole time, which is admittedly not very serious!) 

Of course it *was* a race to see if they could finish the jobs they'd chosen before I finished everything I was doing...which I was not informed of until AFTER I lost. 

My kids helped me out for real today, and we only stopped because we couldn't fit any more recycling in our car! 

Seriously took us a solid 15 minutes just to pull it all out of the trunk and stick it in the bins.

(And of course they all insisted on helping with the recycling too; which admittedly took a little more assistance from the lone grown up in the mix.)

Actually Cadence figured out a way to do it unassisted...just took some skill and careful aim or it'd bounce right back at her.  She found a good rhythm pretty quick, though!

While she technically *could* do a variation of Cadence's trick, Hazel decided to conserve her energetically resources and just had me lift her up after the first one. Smart choice.

Calliope wanted very much to help with this too, but -probably in protest to my assistance - she would only do it if she was  stepping as hard as she could into my stomach for completely useless traction.

There is so much to be done, but my heart is actually soaring as I realize how much this work that my kids chose to do is going to help the helpers -kids, parents, extended relatives, caring friends - make that awful journey that much easier, safer, more sound...or at the very least, more comfortable.

In solidarity,

Kat

(And Cadence, Hazel, and Calliope)

Callie and I testing out the new evenflo carrier design.  Seems to be a general thumbs up, I'd say!  Thank you, evenflo!!!

Feel it in your Elbows...

Hazel asked me a series of questions just now about what things were made of...went through plastics, and petroleum and...at the end of this discussion she concluded that glitter is basically decomposed dinosaurs.

...and I then heard her tell Calliope (quite soothingly, while leading a yoga-like meditative session during which they were both covered in glitter):

"...and bend your arms and feel the dead dinosaur body in your elbows..."

This week in immersive learning: Theoretically December?

Well, welcome to December!...uh, I think?  

Someone forgot to tell the weather that it is almost time for the midwinter holidays... We have spent a LOT of time outdoors, no bundled...We're trying to fully enjoy it while we can, but it also feels kinda uncanny and a little unnerving...but I've been trying to prioritize outdoor time over indoor instruction since we don't know how much longer we'll be able to enjoy being outside for big chunks of time.

Hazel practicing moving from wobbly-thing to wobbly-thing

This week was the big show at the Alzheimer's home.  We took advantage of the lovely weather to meet and rehearse in a lawn across from the facility before we went inside, so we got to run through the entire thing a couple of times to make sure it was fresh in our bodies before heading in.  It was lovely, one of the kids in our group is an accomplished violinist, and he bookended the performance with some beautiful music.  The show itself went splendidly, the kids had a blast and the audience seemed delighted.  Afterwards, everyone came together to sing 'Jingle Bells', and there was much laughter.  It ran a bit short, so Cadence volunteered to recite a shel silverstein poem she had memorized, and she did so with ease and grace, and everyone loved it.  I was so proud of the kids!

It was also a great opportunity to talk to the kids about alzheimer's, and aging in general, and why these folks were living there.  We prepared them ahead of time to be understanding if their audience behaved in a manner that would be considered strange for adults, and I was very proud to see that everyone in our group interacted with and treated our hosts with the utmost respect.

The hardest part for me was the emotions that bubbled up when one VERY enthusiastic and excited woman in the front row continually singled out my kids from the crowd and shouted (not in a mean way, she was attempting to be friendly) "DO YOU LOVE YOUR NANA?" over and over and over again..."Nana" was the term my mom wanted the kids to call her, and having this woman fixate on that question...it obviously made me think of her. It reminded me of how Alzheimers was my mom's worst fear, and the very bittersweet thought that she will never be old, she will never deal with that particular horror, and I will never be faced with the choice of putting her in a home such as this...I was grateful all over again for having had the ability to care for my mom at home, but of course I miss her so much, and she was so young...The kids told me later that similar internal reactions to this incident, each tailored to their own memories and emotional journeys.  I am so grateful that they are able to talk about these hard subjects, and also very proud that even with the internal pangs, they were able to treat this woman with respect and keep a calm, grounded perspective until we left.

And of course, when we did leave, we all headed to a nearby playground to run out all the adrenaline!  (also it was like 70 degrees...what??)

Holiday dress on the right...Cadence opting for bike shorts because her dress was too hot, on the left. December??

While we were there, Hazel made friends with a little girl her age, and they played so well together that we stayed well past our scheduled exit time.  Socializing is so important to being able to grow up and operate in society, so I count that as a priority, too.

They really liked this stone turtle.

Cadence has continued the revisions on her lego plane, making it more complex with each new pass.  She is increasingly excited by her progress, but still doesn't feel that she is anywhere near completion of the project.

It has become a tradition in our family to do a sort of advent calendar, where each day we take on a new winter-themed craft.  It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun!  I'll just hit on a few of our projects here:

The idea here was to make puff paint by mixing shaving cream with elmer's glue and then using beading stones to add detail.  After drying, you should be able to peel your creations off of the tin foil and then use them as window stickers.

Unfortunately, I evidently grabbed shaving GEL instead of shaving CREAM, and the results were a hilarious blue mess. I wasn't home for the actual creation, James took on that task and was the one to discover my mistake, but they decided to press on anyhow as a sort of experiment.

Strangely, the paint did end up getting sort of puffy after they stopped messing with it...but I failed to get a picture before they discovered the gel-like puffy texture and tore them apart in a sensory experiential flurry of destruction.  Sorry snowmen! No window stickers, but a lot of fun and cool experimentation with the properties and chemical reactions of different substances.

This project worked out exponentially more flawlessly.  For this one, we used construction paper and wrapping paper (and a little bit of masking tape) to decorate our front door, and turn it into a snowman!

The kids really took the lead on this once I explained the concept.  The designed, cut, and taped everything they could reach (though I helped a tiny bit with the scarf design and reminded them to think about scale when cutting out the carrot nose.)  I lifted them so they could do the bits they couldn't quite get to on their own. the result was really cute!

They enjoyed that one so much they decided to revisit it the next day, and added arms, feet, and the little puffball of a floppy, santa-like hat (I think the window is supposed to be the hat).

This one was a little more chemistry based.  Crystal structures!  Yay!  

For this project, we made a solution of borax and water, and then poured it into several different jars.  We made snowflakes out of pipe cleaners, and then used pencils and string left over from our halloween bat project to suspend our pipe-cleaner snowflakes in the borax solution.  When we revisited them many hours later, crystals had formed on the strands of the pipe cleaner, making shiny, sparkly snowflakes that evoked the idea of real ice!  

These will likely end up being tree ornaments, though they are surprisingly heavy!  

Crystals even formed on the fine hairs of the string!

Kelly was here for this one, and she tried it out with a colored pipe-cleaner.  While perhaps slightly less evocative of a quintessential winter, it looks really cool!

This one happened to be in the bottom of the pot we had used to make the solution...since the crystals were also creeping along the floor, this one has large, flat proportions where it had at one time connected cleaner to floor. it was really cool to look at & explore!

Lastly, I realized that I haven't been including very much of the digital artwork these kids have been creating non-stop!  This little experimentation with color showed up in my photo gallery, so I'm not sure which of the three created it, but I thought it merited sharing anyway, to represent the class of kids' work that I all to often neglect to include here.

So...onward into winter we go! HEAVE HO!

This week in immersive learning: thanksgiving

I had all three kids sit down and write out their letters to Santa this week.  I like this exercise because - in addition to getting in some handwriting practice - it is an opportunity for us to sit back and think for a moment about what we really want...and what does that mean?  We always have interesting discussions about what to ask for; do we go totally grandiose with the most giant expensive materialistic bauble we can think of?  do we go completely in the other direction and only ask for things we need?

We decided that it was not appropriate vehicle for say, a grocery list, though it would still be a very nice gift to not have to spend the time or money on them, but that isn't particularly special, and it's ok to want special things somethings.  At the same time, Cadence was quite opposed to giving Santa too much work, and spent a lot of time narrowing down what it was that she wanted most, so she could prioritize that, and ask for just the important things without a lot of unfair superfluity.

Hazel really enjoys what has become a tradition now of incorporating wildlife rescue into our midwinter celebrations; be it donating to support the cause of her sisters' favorite endangered species or asking Santa to donate on her behalf. 

The result was that they both landed in a pretty human middle ground.  Cadence wrote:

Dear Santa, 

What I want for christmas is an American Girl doll

(PS I also want to donate money to the people in need.)

From Cadence.

She finished off her brief note with an illustration, although it kind of muddied her message a bit, I think:

Cadence's note

Hazel tried to write out her letter, but I think the excitement got the better of her and it ended up being an energetic string of 'R's with her name thrown in...but she told me that it says:

"Dear Santa,

I would like a kit to help animals stay unsick and alive, and also an American Girl doll. 

Love Hazel"

And she also added an illustration, for clarity.

Hazel's enthusiasm took over

And of course, since she is an artist, she decorated the envelope as well.

Cadence attempted to help Calliope with her letter, to mixed results...Calliope also wanted an American Girl doll, but she also insisted that she wants Nala for christmas.  Nala is one of the two resident dogs at Urban Evolution, and while Callie adores them both, she has a soft spot for Nala's calm, mama-dog demeanor.  Cadence, in trying to reason with her that Nala already had a home and a family who loved her, wasn't up for grabs, and suggested a Nala costume instead of Nala herself...Calliope somewhat reluctantly agreed to let Cadence write that down, but I think Cadence rushed through it in part because we all knew that wasn't REALLY what Calliope meant...she wrote it out quickly on top of the illustration Callie made and they stuck it in the envelope before it could become a problem.

On a writing kick, I suppose, Cadence popped up in front of me later on with a list of dishes to make for thanksgiving in one hand, and a list of the necessary ingredients to buy in the other.  In a sombrero and sunglasses, like ya do!

Puy seems intrigued, too!

There was much violin-ing!  Cadence and Hazel have been tasked by their teacher with practicing together, and playing composition/rhythm recognition games as well as getting used to playing duets. This is great, except that then Calliope wants to play too, but usually she just uses the violin of whichever sister isn't currently practicing...so this presents a problem.  I still have my 3/4 size violin from when I played, so I let her (carefully) play around with that.  She was thrilled, and frustrated, since it was so darn big.

Eventually, we decided to see if it would work better as a cello.  It didn't quite work, but I think it was easier than trying to hold it up!

Cadence got it into her head that she was going to build an airplane out of legos, and has spent a decent amount of time engineering her way to that goal.  She's proud of what she has done, but not satisfied yet and continually returns to the project to make improvements and change things as she comes up with better solutions.  It's fabulous.

One of the earliest versions.

We also got to visit one of our favorite places with some friends this week:  The National Zoo!

The surprise hit of this particular trip were the American Bison.  They caught our attention in part because this exhibit is new and this is the first time we'd seen it, but all three kids (and especially Cadence) were quite taken with them.  We spent a surprising amount of time at this one station, watching the two bison there, and reading every single plaque more than once.  And then coming back to re-visit them later.  Cadence has already asked for my phone on multiple occasions so that she can look up even more bison facts!

We timed our visit just right, and got to see the elephants getting fed, and got to watch one trainer play games with one of them - its supposed to be at least somewhat intellectually stimulating, which is crucial to maintaining their health.   The photo caught at a somewhat awkward moment, but the elephant laid down here after a correct response and was leisurely eating a treat.

And it was lunchtime for the iconic Pandas, too!

We walked around the cheetah enclosure because my kids wanted to see if there were still any cubs about. Last time we came, as we rounded the back of the enclosure, two fuzzy little puffball baby cheetahs came tumbling out of the grass and watched us as we watched them, and played with us a bit.  I had warned them that we probably wouldn't have another experience like that, but my attempts to temper expectations were evidently unwarranted...after watching for a while, we were about to turn and go when suddenly:

pretty grown up now!

It was one of the same two cubs, come to play again...though MUCH bigger and faster this time around!  It followed us up and down the fence, bouncing playfully now and again, and the kids would laugh an shriek and run...it was one of those really awesome, sweet moments tinged with a hint of "how strong is that fence, REALLY?"

We even got to see the beaver swimming about on this trip!  That happens pretty rarely, usually they say in their dam, but this time we lucked out. It was really neat to look at the mechanisms at play as it moved through the water!

We must have been walking in just the right direction, at just the right intervals, at just the right times, because we got to see even more special mealtimes.  How often do you get to (safely!) watch grey wolves have dinner?

All white gray wolf

Running with the sealions has become an all-time favorite, and we spent a long, lovely time with them on this trip!

We didn't have all of our classes this week, but we thoroughly enjoyed the time we did have!

Hazel and Calliope got into this (I think 1,000 piece) puzzle while we waited for Cadence at jiujitsu

And we got some hang time in. :-)

practicing! 'scorpion', I believe!

Even Calliope got in on the action!  Perhaps fueled on by her amazing new circus pants (We call them Polly Pants, after our good friend -and their first ever aerial teacher) Calliope asked to be allowed to try straddle back, too!  I helped her very gently, but she has watched me teach that move so often, she basically had it down pat.  Her technique puts many grown ups to shame!

And the big kids got to practice some of their partnering skills.  Partnering skills take so much communication, strength, timing, and trust, and I am happy to say that these guys bring all of that to the table.

And what would a thanksgiving post be without the big feast?

Cadence made a 'pomegranate salad' - which was basically a giant bowl of pomegranate pips, but I didn't argue.  

Yum!  but the kitchen...

Kelly didn't stick around for us to get to spend thanksgiving, but she did leave behind this packet of mushrooms; which she had acquired at the farmer's market but wasn't going to be able to use, but the catch was no one really knew what so...

into the stuffing they went!

Mushroom Mushroom!

Ultimately, I think the night was a success. The kids made color coordinated place settings for everyone - shaped like hearts; as Cadence would say: because thanksgiving is about gratitude and that is like love.

Hazel's face explains how we all felt about all of this food at this point.

Thank you so much to our wonderful guests for coming to join us!  It was such a lovely evening, and we were honored that you chose to share it with us.

Ready to feast!

...and with that, peace out...I'm beat!

I actually fell asleep like that...