My bookworm self cringes at the irony

I finally convinced Xander to try my oatmeal this morning.  Oatmeal, milk, brown sugar, and raisins.  "I LIKE it!!" he said.

We then talked about how he had heard of oatmeal before, in the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  What they called "porridge," we call "oatmeal."

He wanted to hear the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears again.

Great, I said.

Did he want me to read the story to him, as found in our nursery tale books?

No.

Did he want me to tell him the story myself, cuddled up on my lap?

No.

Well, what did he want?

To see the story.  On TV.  As told by the characters in the show SuperWhy.  

SuperWhy airs on PBS.  It's entire point - get this - is to promote literacy.

3 year old dreams

Xander and Jonathan's discussion today in the car, after someone in the next lane over had honked their horn:

"Daddy, we need to get another car."

"Really?" Jonathan responded.  "Why?"

"It needs to have two horns," said Xander.  "A new car with two horns."

"I see," replied Jonathan. "Where would we put them?"

"One for you in front," said Xander.  "And one right HERE [the back of the passenger seat] for me!"

This is me. I'm just older, female, and have a different biological parent story.

"On Children," by Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.


Utterly beautiful.  Thank you, Sheryl, for introducing me to it.  Here is a beautiful musical rendition from Sweet Honey in the Rock.

It is snowing right now.

*headdesk*

HUC Klau Library annual book sale

Shout-out to Rachael who picked me up at the ungodly rainy hour of 7:30am to get to the library at opening time at 8am.  Thank you thank you!

So what did I get, you ask?

- An in-line Latin-English translation of Cicero's major speeches. I just used the online version of this last night when writing my thesis!
- Volumes 1 and 2 of all the major church history documents, to be used in adult eds
- A hardcover biography of Alan Greenspan, to be sent to Savta
- A 1917 edition of "Old English Songs and Hymns," with lyrics to things like the original Robin Hood song, complete with notes and explanations
- A history of Hellenistic Rome
- The Prophet by Khalil Gibran, which I've never read before

Plus a few other things.  I limited myself to $20, and came away with 19 books!

How things work

Today at the Children's Museum with Yasha and Eden, Xander was all about the water table and the construction zone.  Every question about... everything, really... is, "How does it work?"

Even the Netflix favorites Dinosaur Train and SuperWhy have been replaced.  Now it's onto Netflix documentaries and YouTube videos of excavators, car motors, fire extinguishers, you name it.  Here are a few of Xander's favorites:




All About Construction on Netflix

How It's Made on the Discovery Channel, also Netflix.  His favorites are bread and cheese.

(Oh yes, and Yael and I just bought new Museum memberships and split the discount - buy one get the second one at 50% - with the promise to go with each other at least once a month.  It's boring to go by ourselves and just watch the kids play, and Saturdays are hectic.  But if we go Sunday mornings when it opens at 11, everyone's still at church - or at the very least not there - so it only gets crowded by 1pm when we leave).

Speaking of construction, the $5 red Craigslist pick-up truck has been our best purchase ever.


                                           

     Here Bunny wanted to go for a ride.

                                           

Next up was Ari.  Danyul's making sure he doesn't tip over.

Jonathan is showing Xander "how sewing surgery works" by fixing Dragon's toe, which came unraveled.  And as everyone knows, true surgery can only be performed while wearing a space hat.

And this has nothing to do with anything, but it's a cute picture, so here it is.  Me on date night.  The outfit was completed with a black slit pencil skirt and knee-high boots. :)

Thanksgiving

Thankful for husbands: felt supported, cherished, loved.  Not many people would follow their spouse around the world, then around the United States, for schooling.  And then be willing to do it all over again to follow a job.

Thankful for children: played, hugged, cuddled.  Only put on one time-out.

Thankful for family: lovely dinner with Natasha and Kevin and Kevin's mom, sister, and brother-in-law.  Not to mention the four dogs.

Thankful for food: Sweet potatoes.  Turkey.  Stuffing.  Corn.  Salad.  Garlic potatoes and gravy. Mac and cheese.  Homemade bread. Three types of pies.  Man, Natasha can cook.

Thankful for technology which lets me connect: Skype with my mom and sister, phone convos with Holly and Lois.

Thankful for kitty cats: Simcha is a 15-pound vibrating machine of purr.

Thankful for all of you, dear readers.  I hope you had as wonderful a day as I did.

Five items of interest, and their accompanying emotions

1) I turned in my first chapter of my thesis to my advisor today.  This = hooray!

2) I spent a few hours at work going through original documents regarding the 1935 Jewish boycott of the Berlin Olympics.  The material was all on onion-skin paper and included original sermons, a recording of Stephen S. Wise talking about it, and a timeline from the Canadian Jewish Congress. This = fascinating.

3) Xander surprises me sometimes by how adult he sounds.  Take this morning, driving him to school:

Ari: "aaaaaAAAaaaaa" squeak "aaaaaaAAAaaaa"
Jonathan:  "Thank you for sharing your feelings, Ari.  I'm so glad you and Sophie [the giraffe teething squeak toy] have so much to say.
Ari: [continues to babble contentedly]
Michal: "Xander, would you like to share your feelings?"
Xander:  "No.  I'll keep them to myself."

This = cute.

4) Last night Jonathan and I went over all the congregations to which I'm applying with a fine-tooth comb.  Today I officially submitted my form to the CCAR detailing where to send my resume.  This = a relief + anxiety-provoking all at the same time.  Now it's a waiting game to see where/if I get interviews.

5) We bought massive amounts of ice cream.  This = my way of coping with the above.

Swingin' in the rain

Xander actually turned down going to the Children's Museum today.  He preferred to go for a long walk in our neighborhood.  In the rain.  Do I get brownie points in some mom club for going?

These were taken yesterday with Rachael's phone.  Ari's first time in a swing.

So that you can see what Ari was staring at. :)