Tired Arms

I'm learning 2 new skills and they make my arms tired. I worked on both of them today.

Ice skating and knitting.

Both make my arms tired. I wouldn't have known that either of them were such a good upper body workout until I tried them. But when you're as tense as I am while participating in these activities, your arms get tired.

Yes! I'm gonna be so buff!

By the way, I was trying some Olympic moves on the ice today. I turned in a circle. I had a bit of trouble stopping, but I did turn in a circle.

Kendall was a bit better at the Olympic moves. I asked him to skate without his hockey stick. (It seems to be a bit of a crutch for him on the ice.) He said it felt awkward to skate without the stick, but agreed to demonstrate. Then, at my urging, he skated backwards and did some fancy tricks when I begged for a pirouette. He also did some scary tricks, including skating straight at me full speed ahead. There I was, directly in his path, balancing on my ice skates. I couldn't move. (For 2 reasons: I was frozen in fear and I couldn't move.) He flew toward me then screeched to a halt a few feet from me.

Kendall was happy to get his hockey stick back after the pirouettes and triple axles. With great relief he said, "I feel like I need to take a couple slap shots after that!" and raced off toward the goal with the puck.

An Olympic Dream

Thank you to Rodney and Nathalie Coeller for making this Olympic dream possible.

There is an abundance of enthusiasm in this house lately. (Okay I'm faking it a bit.) But Kendall and the boys are LOVING the Olympics. It is fun to follow.

Kendall and Eli are true Canada fans. I tend to cheer for Canada- I'm here so I may as well. And Evan... Well, for reasons unknown to the rest of us, Evan is a die hard USA fan. It makes us laugh. I'm not sure if he started out just trying to be disagreeable with Eli or what happened. One day I heard them arguing about Canada vs. USA issues and Eli told traitorous Evan to "get out of Canada!"

Let me pause a moment and ask him. Ohhh. It is clear now. I just asked him why and he said, "Cause it has stars. And I like stars." He also added that if the US isn't playing, he cheers for Canada.

So, our family is divided, but tonight we're all wearing our Canada jerseys. And that's why I am thanking the Coellers. They bought all of us jerseys for Christmas in hopes of a moment just like tonight.

A Silly Streak

Today Eli brought home a not-so-happy note from his teacher. It seems he is sometimes "disruptive" in his classroom. We weren't shocked- we've heard from teachers before that he has a... silly streak. We took time to discuss it with Eli.

He claims he is bored. They have to sit and hold still so much! Then, a profound exclamation from the boy: "Kids are made to run around!"

Hmmm...I've noticed. (going crazy here)

Temptation

Eli was sent to his room when he chose not to obey me. I went to talk with him and told him that before we move on, he would need to apologize to me. (I don't actually know how I feel about forcing an apology, but for better or worse, that was how I handled it.)

I told Eli that I didn't just want him to say "I'm sorry," but to say "I'm sorry for...." and let him fill in the blank.

After awhile, I went back to his room to accept the apology.

"I'm sorry, Mom, for disobeying you and tempting you."

Suppressing a smile, I accepted his apology. Then I asked him, "How did you tempt me?"

"I don't know. I don't know what that means!"

Well. We worked on a definition. And while I may have been tempted to lose it with him, I'll take responsibility for that.

Fragile

Yesterday afternoon Evan started a major wrestling match when he decided to keep a video away from his brother. With great conviction, he said, “It’s fragile.”

“Evan, do you know what ‘fragile’ means?” I asked.

Evan answered, “It means special.”

It was funny watching them wrestle over the movie. It brought back memories of how you have to use every available appendage in these matches. Eli had Evan pretty well pinned with the movie just out of both of their reaches. Evan stuck his foot out and tried to grab it that way. Never Give Up.

I let them wrestle, though, as so often happens, it eventually turned into a less happy event.

Later Eli and I explained the true meaning of ‘fragile’ to Evan.

He seemed to grasp the meaning: “So when Samson had long hair, he was fragile!”

Now we need to work on the facts in our Bible stories.

An Amendment

This is an amendment to my prior post...

Eli explained at supper that he wasn't embarrassed of my stocking feet. He was just concerned that there would be a fire alarm and I would have to go outside without shoes.

How considerate. :)

I've written before about how Mr. Eli was not excited about the idea of me being in his classroom. I was slightly annoyed to find that the "being-embarrassed-of-Mom" stage was here so early.

However, it is important to me to be in his classroom while I can. If I'm not working and have no children keeping me at home, I want to spend time in his classroom. So, I arranged with Eli's teacher to go to his classroom once a week.

Well, silly Eli betrays his true feelings every time I go to his class.

"Mommy!" he has said in an excited voice when he's seen me. Or he comes over to me and sheepishly wants a little side-hug. One evening he even went so far as to say that "Centers" was one of the best parts of his day because Mommy was there. So I know his true feelings.

Not to say there's none of that "being-embarrassed-of-Mom" stuff going on. Today I was with his small group for a few minutes. I was in my stocking feet because it is Canadian etiquette to leave shoes at the door. Outdoor shoes are not supposed to be worn inside the school. Students and staff have indoor shoes, but it isn't uncommon for parents to simply leave their boots at the door.

I was sitting on the carpet and I noticed that Eli gave me a once-over. Then he suggested, "Mom, you should get indoor shoes." Poor guy. What an embarrassing Mommy.