Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Christmas 2012
We have had a lovely Christmas.. here are some ramblings
Finn took charge of the Advent Calendar Nana made for he and Zoe. It
first started with Hershey's Kisses in about 10 pockets, 1 for each of
them. We had a party of kids over.. at least it seemed like a party..
and at some point, Zoe asked if she could have one. I asked Zoe and
Finn what day it was, and went to check.. sure enough, that day still
had them.. but then I noticed that all of the others were empty.. I
asked Finn and he said innocently enough: "I ate them". I gave Zoe
the others and didn't fill it again. The rest of the time we just
moved the candy cane marker that came with the calendar. Finn did it
almost religiously.. and each day took on the name of the picture..
"Mom, is it duck day today".. sometimes it would take me a minute to
figure out just what he was talking about. The last one became named
as "fire day"... Finn was sure that it was a fire place and he
couldn't seem to wrap his head around, "No Finn, that is the baby in
the manger".. of course, that is meaningless to Finn, yes, I haven't
given my kids formal religious training.. we talk about all faiths,
all beliefs, not to single out any one in particular.
Since Christmas was "Fire day" Finn insisted we use put candles in the
fire place (I told him our chimney was not fire safe, no wood burning
fire mistakes in there again).. so we used the candle holders we made
(tissue paper + decoupage + mason jars). It glowed beautifully with
votive candles.
Both kids were so excited for Christmas. Zoe was too excited.. she
was ready to got to bed at 4:30, stating that the sooner they went to
bed, the sooner Santa would come. She kept encouraging Finn to get
ready for bed.. it took all I could do to keep them out of bed up to
the point where I thought they'd actually be tired enough to go to
sleep. Sure enough, 7am on the dot, Zoe was up and came to get me.
She and I got up early, brushed our hair dressed, and took a tour...
we waited for Finn.. he had been quite sick.. for a week and a half..
and finally got antibiotics for his sinus infection/chest cold just
Christmas Eve (yes, 1.5 hours in the walk-in clinic on Christmas Eve,
and I wasn't doing too great either, lack of sleep from his cold, the
cold he gave me, etc.). The kids opened pajamas (Angry Birds was the
theme) and dress up doll sticker books (warriors for Finn, girls in
costumes for Zoe)
The kids started on stockings, we called Nana and Grandpa, and took
out time with presents. The kids were fantastic.. we'd take breaks to
enjoy the presents.. not just running thru the opening.. even stopping
for breakfast mid way through to fuel us parents (homemade sausage
gravy, eggs, and biscuits, blueberry scones).. Finn ate very little,
Zoe a biscuit with jam.
The kids enjoyed their gifts.. including:
indigo converse shoes (high tops for Zoe, have hardly left Zoe's
feet, low one for Finn, yeah, I know, that's all they had in his
size), Razor Scooters, James Mayhew books, Laurence Anholt books,
Useborn book of Art masterpieces, lego table and lots of legos (Zoe is
enthralled by the Friends girl ones, and disdains playing with the boy
ones.. unless her girl is planning to marry a storm trooper or a
miner, which she does at times; Finn's favorite lego is the coyote
[dog], that came with the fireman set), hungry hippos game.
They also received the "Guess Who" game, which has been played more
than 12 times in the last 24 hours. There were fabulous construction
sets, building robot dinosaurs and trucks for Finn. Zoe received a
fresh supply of highlighters, paper (colored, florescent, white),
pens, cooking supplies, art scratch pages. Each has a new scarf and
some clothes; although I plan to buy most of that this weekend when
we travel to Seattle.. Zoe has started to disdain pink/purple in favor
of blue and I want her to pick it (she even scoffed at her new purple
water bottle, wanting Finn's blue one instead); Finn wants new pants
that reach his shoes, preferably without buttons!
The last gift was opened after lunch.. a Xbox with Kinect... although
Finn does find some of it fun (jumping is the best), Zoe loves the
dancing games.. turns out the Disney one is the best.. she doesn't
seem to enjoy the other as much. Zoe and I got up first thing before
the boys and played.. it was nice and I really look forward to doing
it more with her.. good exercise, good fun. Although if the Just
Dance version had "Gangnam Style", I'm sure we'd do it over and over!
Today Bruce got the nasty cold Finn and I shared, so we just enjoyed a
day in.. Zoe and Claire played with Finn, although I'm not sure their
bums ever hit the floor.. they scootered around our room, played lots
of Xbox, a little lego. Oddly enough, Claire and Zoe are in sync..
Claire even arrived in her new pink converse high tops.. its strange
how in sync the desires of these kids are.. things are just right when
they are right.
pictures on blog from phone now.. from good camera later..
Finn took charge of the Advent Calendar Nana made for he and Zoe. It
first started with Hershey's Kisses in about 10 pockets, 1 for each of
them. We had a party of kids over.. at least it seemed like a party..
and at some point, Zoe asked if she could have one. I asked Zoe and
Finn what day it was, and went to check.. sure enough, that day still
had them.. but then I noticed that all of the others were empty.. I
asked Finn and he said innocently enough: "I ate them". I gave Zoe
the others and didn't fill it again. The rest of the time we just
moved the candy cane marker that came with the calendar. Finn did it
almost religiously.. and each day took on the name of the picture..
"Mom, is it duck day today".. sometimes it would take me a minute to
figure out just what he was talking about. The last one became named
as "fire day"... Finn was sure that it was a fire place and he
couldn't seem to wrap his head around, "No Finn, that is the baby in
the manger".. of course, that is meaningless to Finn, yes, I haven't
given my kids formal religious training.. we talk about all faiths,
all beliefs, not to single out any one in particular.
Since Christmas was "Fire day" Finn insisted we use put candles in the
fire place (I told him our chimney was not fire safe, no wood burning
fire mistakes in there again).. so we used the candle holders we made
(tissue paper + decoupage + mason jars). It glowed beautifully with
votive candles.
Both kids were so excited for Christmas. Zoe was too excited.. she
was ready to got to bed at 4:30, stating that the sooner they went to
bed, the sooner Santa would come. She kept encouraging Finn to get
ready for bed.. it took all I could do to keep them out of bed up to
the point where I thought they'd actually be tired enough to go to
sleep. Sure enough, 7am on the dot, Zoe was up and came to get me.
She and I got up early, brushed our hair dressed, and took a tour...
we waited for Finn.. he had been quite sick.. for a week and a half..
and finally got antibiotics for his sinus infection/chest cold just
Christmas Eve (yes, 1.5 hours in the walk-in clinic on Christmas Eve,
and I wasn't doing too great either, lack of sleep from his cold, the
cold he gave me, etc.). The kids opened pajamas (Angry Birds was the
theme) and dress up doll sticker books (warriors for Finn, girls in
costumes for Zoe)
The kids started on stockings, we called Nana and Grandpa, and took
out time with presents. The kids were fantastic.. we'd take breaks to
enjoy the presents.. not just running thru the opening.. even stopping
for breakfast mid way through to fuel us parents (homemade sausage
gravy, eggs, and biscuits, blueberry scones).. Finn ate very little,
Zoe a biscuit with jam.
The kids enjoyed their gifts.. including:
indigo converse shoes (high tops for Zoe, have hardly left Zoe's
feet, low one for Finn, yeah, I know, that's all they had in his
size), Razor Scooters, James Mayhew books, Laurence Anholt books,
Useborn book of Art masterpieces, lego table and lots of legos (Zoe is
enthralled by the Friends girl ones, and disdains playing with the boy
ones.. unless her girl is planning to marry a storm trooper or a
miner, which she does at times; Finn's favorite lego is the coyote
[dog], that came with the fireman set), hungry hippos game.
They also received the "Guess Who" game, which has been played more
than 12 times in the last 24 hours. There were fabulous construction
sets, building robot dinosaurs and trucks for Finn. Zoe received a
fresh supply of highlighters, paper (colored, florescent, white),
pens, cooking supplies, art scratch pages. Each has a new scarf and
some clothes; although I plan to buy most of that this weekend when
we travel to Seattle.. Zoe has started to disdain pink/purple in favor
of blue and I want her to pick it (she even scoffed at her new purple
water bottle, wanting Finn's blue one instead); Finn wants new pants
that reach his shoes, preferably without buttons!
The last gift was opened after lunch.. a Xbox with Kinect... although
Finn does find some of it fun (jumping is the best), Zoe loves the
dancing games.. turns out the Disney one is the best.. she doesn't
seem to enjoy the other as much. Zoe and I got up first thing before
the boys and played.. it was nice and I really look forward to doing
it more with her.. good exercise, good fun. Although if the Just
Dance version had "Gangnam Style", I'm sure we'd do it over and over!
Today Bruce got the nasty cold Finn and I shared, so we just enjoyed a
day in.. Zoe and Claire played with Finn, although I'm not sure their
bums ever hit the floor.. they scootered around our room, played lots
of Xbox, a little lego. Oddly enough, Claire and Zoe are in sync..
Claire even arrived in her new pink converse high tops.. its strange
how in sync the desires of these kids are.. things are just right when
they are right.
pictures on blog from phone now.. from good camera later..
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Letter to mom to tonight
Translation:
"I love you so much
you are the best you are a
rockstar you sooo much
I love your heart
I love your voice
I like the color of hair
on your head
on your head
You make the best
food you are a expert
you make the best pictures
Love Zoe to: Momi xoxo"
backstory:
I change my hair color to black
Bruce made dinner, in particular their cheese noodles tonight, but the kids did not appreciate his touches on the noodles.
I was working at the counter on my laptop, trying to debug some code, running ComicGalaxy app.. that is the picture she is referring to
our two philosophers (6 years old) in a car
On the way back from gymnastics (5pm at night), Zoe and her friend
Madison (both 6) started in on a conversation that I will attempt to
recall.. its will be missing parts, but I'll have the general flavor
here.
M: I wish I could be in a bubble and float into the sky. I would like
to see the clouds close up
Z: Only God lives in the clouds
M: My Nana and Papa know a lot about God. We go to church every week
Z: My dad has met God. Every now and then he comes down and talks to people
M: But God lives in your heart.
Z: <looks down> Hello, God?
M: You can't talk to God like that, you'd have to rip open your heart
to get to him
Z: Yeah, then you would die, that would be bad. And gross
M: You know God has God in his heart too. And in that heart is God,
and in that heart is God
Z: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Blah, Blah, Blah, goes on forever, I know
...
then there was some conversation about God, dieing... one of them
mentioned that if you die, God dies too
there was some debate on whether he died first. Zoe mentioned you
either die by being shot or growing old. Madison asked what being shot
means
Z: you know, when people go off to war, there is fighting, and some
people get shot
I was happy that I didn't have to make any decisions, I only had to
drive straight... boy do I wish I would have been able to start up my
recorder for that one.. it was precious and I had a really, really
hard time keeping from laughing from the pure joy of listening..
(Finn stayed silent the whole time...)
I love our young philosophers...
Amy
Madison (both 6) started in on a conversation that I will attempt to
recall.. its will be missing parts, but I'll have the general flavor
here.
M: I wish I could be in a bubble and float into the sky. I would like
to see the clouds close up
Z: Only God lives in the clouds
M: My Nana and Papa know a lot about God. We go to church every week
Z: My dad has met God. Every now and then he comes down and talks to people
M: But God lives in your heart.
Z: <looks down> Hello, God?
M: You can't talk to God like that, you'd have to rip open your heart
to get to him
Z: Yeah, then you would die, that would be bad. And gross
M: You know God has God in his heart too. And in that heart is God,
and in that heart is God
Z: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Blah, Blah, Blah, goes on forever, I know
...
then there was some conversation about God, dieing... one of them
mentioned that if you die, God dies too
there was some debate on whether he died first. Zoe mentioned you
either die by being shot or growing old. Madison asked what being shot
means
Z: you know, when people go off to war, there is fighting, and some
people get shot
I was happy that I didn't have to make any decisions, I only had to
drive straight... boy do I wish I would have been able to start up my
recorder for that one.. it was precious and I had a really, really
hard time keeping from laughing from the pure joy of listening..
(Finn stayed silent the whole time...)
I love our young philosophers...
Amy
Friday, December 7, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
Zoë at gymnastics
I totally missed filming the one where she just did the cart wheel into the pit... This one she was working on technique after the instructor showed her where to position her legs... Zoë is just fearless!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Re: photos.. pre-sleeping sleepover makeover
Psy's Gangam Style...
Sunday, November 25, 2012
5x7 Folded Card
Stars And Peace Christmas Card
Make unique Christmas cards this year at Shutterfly.com.
View the entire collection of cards.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Poppies and daisies
Treasure hunt
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Story in french.
I played with my cat and my cat played the friend!
I picked the flower with my friend and the friend picked the flower!
Friday, November 9, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Telling the ending
On Sunday, Zoe and I had a bit of a war going on... I was trying to watch the 90 minute finale of Avatar: the last air bender, and the show was kind of intense... Zoe kept asking me if she could tell me how it was going to end... Well, that is a pet peeve of mine and I refused to let this 6 year old, even if she is as cute as can be, and 6, tell me how the show was going to end... She tried to watch it with me, but just got more and more wound up... I started issuing idle threats, and then more threats, including grounding her to her room.. I know, over kill, but I was trying to also explain how important it was to me to see the end unspoiled... But she too got more and more upset to the point she was throwing things and crying... I stopped the show and took her to her room, where we had a little chat... In my discovery, and by putting myself in her shoes, I reasoned out that watching that show was a bit Intense for her and she was trying to spare me the feelings she had when she watched it for the first time... I explained how I really appreciated her looking out for me, how grateful I was that she cared, but how she needed to see my side, as I saw hers... That I love surprises, that there is something about watching something for the first time... I set her up with her own show in her bedroom,and finished Avatar without her.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
Chinese Proverb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Amy Ashurst Gooch http://www.csc.uvic.ca/~agooch
Assistant Professor amy.a.gooch at gmail.com
Computer Science amygooch at uvic.ca
University of Victoria agooch at cs.uvic.ca
(250)-483-5941 (Canada)
(801)-649-3923 (SLC Virtual)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
Chinese Proverb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Amy Ashurst Gooch http://www.csc.uvic.ca/~agooch
Assistant Professor amy.a.gooch at gmail.com
Computer Science amygooch at uvic.ca
University of Victoria agooch at cs.uvic.ca
(250)-483-5941 (Canada)
(801)-649-3923 (SLC Virtual)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bath tub fun
We have been experimenting with bath tub fun... Previously we have done a lot of glow in the dark tub time...
Today a package came, full of green styrofoam ...
Today a package came, full of green styrofoam ...
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Nana, Zoë made this drawing book for you
Nana, We will mail you the book when it is done, but I could not resist sending it to you.
Love, Amy and Zoë
Love, Amy and Zoë
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Slumber...
I got the 10 pm phone call...Zoë was crying..I couldn't make out much of what she said... Madison's mom said it was that Zoe said "I could come get her if I wanted to..." Of course I wanted to... But I didn't say that ... I gave her 10 more minutes to see if she wanted to stay.. but they called me up and I went to get her.
It turns out that she had probably fallen asleep on her own, but either Owen (the little brother) or Madison woke her up and then she was startled, tired, and couldn't get back to sleep.
Halloween!
We had a lovely Halloween yesterday.. I picked up the kids early (after Zoe got out of school) so they'd have some down time.. gathered up costumes, makeup, bags, jackets, etc. and we picked up Bruce and went to Kirsten and Asha's, meeting up with Lise and Claire. I tried my hardest to put purple eyelashes on Zoe, but they just would not stick.. she was very frustrated and mad at me (I had put my fake lashes on that morning and wore them all day). But she got out of that rut, we fed the kids pizza spirals, we had fabulous soup and this amazing Italian bread that I must go buy... Then we headed out the house.. after 2 days of solid rain, we were really lucky.. it even managed to warm up a little. The girls were off running together.. gaining more momentum the more candy they had, and poor Finn was left behind.. it soon got to him and he was ready to go back to Kirsten's. Bruce went with Lise and the girls and Kirsten and I headed back.. we saw the Bonfire, or as the kids say: "Bomb Fire", which is this huge house size pile of wood in the parking lot of the firestation... but it was just getting started and the firemen were not letting the kids at the hoses yet (they usually let them hold the hose). The rain sprinkled a little, but it was mostly a perfect night.
Back at Kirsten's Finn spent the rest of the night handing out candy.. he loved it... I didn't see him again until we were ready to leave (when the candy for the door ran out).
When Zoe and the girls came back.. they all ran into the room with their bags.. Asha immediately dumped hers on the table and wanted everyone to pick what they wanted. Claire dumped hers on and then wondered where hers was, starting to scoop up everything.. Zoe cautiously started to put hers out, but I kind of got in the way.. in the end we dumped them all together and divided it up... first all the girls got to pick the things they wanted, then we just looked for 3 of each thing and divided it up.. after that it was divided by the moms easily and fast.. narrowly escaped what could have been a bad situation... they were all getting tired. We hung out until nearly 8.. got the kids home fast and in bed... they were asleep very fast.
pictures up soon
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Halloween...
Zoë has been lucky enough to go to many per Halloween parties.. So far in a a different costume every time...
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
Chinese Proverb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Amy Ashurst Gooch http://www.csc.uvic.ca/~agooch
Assistant Professor amy.a.gooch at gmail.com
Computer Science amygooch at uvic.ca
University of Victoria agooch at cs.uvic.ca
(250)-483-5941 (Canada)
(801)-649-3923 (SLC Virtual)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First it was Madison's birthday part and she went as a witch princess... Dark black and red dress with a dark crown.. Next time the Halloween dance, as a gymnast... Today as Alice in wonderland (yes, the same dress from ... Last year...). We have one more party tomorrow... Wonder how that will go... :)
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
Chinese Proverb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Amy Ashurst Gooch http://www.csc.uvic.ca/~agooch
Assistant Professor amy.a.gooch at gmail.com
Computer Science amygooch at uvic.ca
University of Victoria agooch at cs.uvic.ca
(250)-483-5941 (Canada)
(801)-649-3923 (SLC Virtual)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First sleep over
Zoë is at her first sleep over away without her parents... Yes I admit, I miss her more than I am sure she misses me... And Finn asked for her repeatedly... Can't wait to hear how it goes...
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
Chinese Proverb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Amy Ashurst Gooch http://www.csc.uvic.ca/~agooch
Assistant Professor amy.a.gooch at gmail.com
Computer Science amygooch at uvic.ca
University of Victoria agooch at cs.uvic.ca
(250)-483-5941 (Canada)
(801)-649-3923 (SLC Virtual)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
Chinese Proverb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Amy Ashurst Gooch http://www.csc.uvic.ca/~agooch
Assistant Professor amy.a.gooch at gmail.com
Computer Science amygooch at uvic.ca
University of Victoria agooch at cs.uvic.ca
(250)-483-5941 (Canada)
(801)-649-3923 (SLC Virtual)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Halloween dance
Zoë, Finn, and I went to Zoë's school Halloween dance. It was a smashing success... Finn was not afraid to be in the dark on the sparsely lit disco dance floor all by himself jiving around. He went as a knight.. He was also very chivalrous.. Zoe went in her gymnastics outfit and spent the first bit before it got crowded practicing her cart wheels, which are getting very good. Mid way through Finn however got very tired ... But Zoe found her groove and all her friends... We finally drug her out 16 minutes before the close of the dance. In the car she was pumped shouting how this was the greatest night ever. How she had never had so much fun. How she was never going to another school, how this was the best school ever... Ahhhh... Even I enjoyed it.. I didn't take any pics... Just lived in the moment and tried to keep track of two kids in the dark... I never liked going clubbing, but watching your kids in a kid size club is a great moment I hope to repeat!
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
Chinese Proverb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Amy Ashurst Gooch http://www.csc.uvic.ca/~agooch
Assistant Professor amy.a.gooch at gmail.com
Computer Science amygooch at uvic.ca
University of Victoria agooch at cs.uvic.ca
(250)-483-5941 (Canada)
(801)-649-3923 (SLC Virtual)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
Chinese Proverb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Amy Ashurst Gooch http://www.csc.uvic.ca/~agooch
Assistant Professor amy.a.gooch at gmail.com
Computer Science amygooch at uvic.ca
University of Victoria agooch at cs.uvic.ca
(250)-483-5941 (Canada)
(801)-649-3923 (SLC Virtual)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Found a ring.. Theory of all by Zoë
[setting the scene: we were in the car, returning from grocery shopping, Finn found a ring with a non functional digital clock in it...]
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
Chinese Proverb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Amy Ashurst Gooch http://www.csc.uvic.ca/~agooch
Assistant Professor amy.a.gooch at gmail.com
Computer Science amygooch at uvic.ca
University of Victoria agooch at cs.uvic.ca
(250)-483-5941 (Canada)
(801)-649-3923 (SLC Virtual)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Z: Finn, you don't have to know how to tell time, just look into your heart. Find your destiny. You don't have to believe in this hooey stuff. The key is to find what you are. What is actually yours. It is time to look into your heart.
F: I don't have to!
Z: yes, you do. You'll learn to count .... and later you'll learn to tell time....
[I wrote this in the car as she was saying it... It was too good to get wrong. I may have missed some of it, but I have written the parts I caught exactly as they were said. Bruce and I did all we could not to burst!]
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
Chinese Proverb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Amy Ashurst Gooch http://www.csc.uvic.ca/~agooch
Assistant Professor amy.a.gooch at gmail.com
Computer Science amygooch at uvic.ca
University of Victoria agooch at cs.uvic.ca
(250)-483-5941 (Canada)
(801)-649-3923 (SLC Virtual)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday, October 12, 2012
over heard at dinner
At Dinner:
Zoe to Mom: "you are bossy"
M: yes, if I had writing on my shirt, it would say "Bossy"
Z: so, you are bossy shirt, Finn is bossy pants, and Daddy is bossy penis
(we laughed ourselves fluffy!)
Zoe to Mom: "you are bossy"
M: yes, if I had writing on my shirt, it would say "Bossy"
Z: so, you are bossy shirt, Finn is bossy pants, and Daddy is bossy penis
(we laughed ourselves fluffy!)
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Sunday, September 30, 2012
tastes like gramma hair
Zoe and I tried to make microwave smores.. although she did eat most
of it.. she said at the end that she didn't want it anymore because
"it tasted like gramma hair" (I had taken a bite right before that..
and I agree whole heartedly)
of it.. she said at the end that she didn't want it anymore because
"it tasted like gramma hair" (I had taken a bite right before that..
and I agree whole heartedly)
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Zoe's self portait done in 1rst grade
Monday, September 24, 2012
picking up kids
I pulled into the drive way to pick up Finn from Andrea's, and wasn't
sure they were home.. I asked Zoë to pop out and see if they were
still at the playground, or at home.. In the time it took Andrea to
open the door to let Zoë in, and for me to get out the car and get to
their door, Zoë had joined Evie, Finn, and Lauren in "naked swimming
in Evie's bed"... and yes, Zoë was naked too... So fun to see the joy
in those little kids.. ;)
I spent another 10 minutes trying to get them out the door.. in the
end.. Finn was put in the car stark naked and Zoë finally got too shy
and put her clothes on and headed to the car.
sure they were home.. I asked Zoë to pop out and see if they were
still at the playground, or at home.. In the time it took Andrea to
open the door to let Zoë in, and for me to get out the car and get to
their door, Zoë had joined Evie, Finn, and Lauren in "naked swimming
in Evie's bed"... and yes, Zoë was naked too... So fun to see the joy
in those little kids.. ;)
I spent another 10 minutes trying to get them out the door.. in the
end.. Finn was put in the car stark naked and Zoë finally got too shy
and put her clothes on and headed to the car.
Monday, September 17, 2012
ahh.. fall cold season is here
Zoe has had a fever since wee hours of Saturday.. sore throat.. threw
up twice on Saturday... once of course as we were debating whether or
not she should go to soccer (which she didn't want to)...she threw up
right in my hand.. sort of answered my dilema
.. and the newest fun is a full torso of rash
that she woke up this morning with... My sister said it sounded like
Strep.. Bruce took her in to the Dr this morning... they did the strep
culture, but said it was most likely a virus.
She's on benadryl now,.. taking some quiet time in her room.
Finn is fine..
I'm hoping it will not be a long week.
if you are looking for good TV, the whole family will enjoy "Avatar:
The last airbender" cartoon on netflicks.. we are all addicted.. great
show!
up twice on Saturday... once of course as we were debating whether or
not she should go to soccer (which she didn't want to)...she threw up
right in my hand.. sort of answered my dilema
.. and the newest fun is a full torso of rash
that she woke up this morning with... My sister said it sounded like
Strep.. Bruce took her in to the Dr this morning... they did the strep
culture, but said it was most likely a virus.
She's on benadryl now,.. taking some quiet time in her room.
Finn is fine..
I'm hoping it will not be a long week.
if you are looking for good TV, the whole family will enjoy "Avatar:
The last airbender" cartoon on netflicks.. we are all addicted.. great
show!
Friday, September 14, 2012
What color is the moon?
Zoë asked me tonight as we were lying on bed, "what color is the moon"
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
Chinese Proverb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Amy Ashurst Gooch http://www.csc.uvic.ca/~agooch
Assistant Professor amy.a.gooch at gmail.com
Computer Science amygooch at uvic.ca
University of Victoria agooch at cs.uvic.ca
(250)-483-5941 (Canada)
(801)-649-3923 (SLC Virtual)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I thought for a bit on this.... Thinking about how the images we think about of the moon are the stuff we were fed from the 60's, thinking about rumors of fakery, thinking about how it looks through our atmosphere and it sent me on quite an Internet search... I am still not sure I know the answer, but am very excited by Zoë's question.
I will have to show her what I found tomorrow.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
Chinese Proverb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Amy Ashurst Gooch http://www.csc.uvic.ca/~agooch
Assistant Professor amy.a.gooch at gmail.com
Computer Science amygooch at uvic.ca
University of Victoria agooch at cs.uvic.ca
(250)-483-5941 (Canada)
(801)-649-3923 (SLC Virtual)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Zoë's 6 and is in 1rst grade, well almost!
Zoë turned 6 years old this morning...what a smart, funny, sincere,
artistic young lady she has become. This morning or last night.. it
became clear that she expected something for her birthday.. and school
was not it.. (reminds me of Auntie Carrie!)... she kept saying
something about Asha coming to her school for her birthday to check it
out.. I kept reminding her that she did have school and that Asha and
Claire after their own days at school would come over for dinner.
Last night I made more than 26 cup cakes for her to take to school...
She had chosen lemon cake with purple frosting and gummy worms on
top.. I added oreo cookie crumbs.. She got to share them with her old
class mates and they all sang happy birthday to her before going into
school. Today was Day 2 of School, a full day (8:38 to 2:41), Day 1
was 9am to 11:30am.. and weirdly this school starts out with the
students in their old class rooms.
this whole school thing has had me in a dither.. all the students
(grade 1-5) are supposed to be in their classrooms tomorrow, after
first recess... apparently this is the same for other schools such as
Hobbs, but Willows students spent the whole day in their new
classrooms starting today. I heard was that they had an unusual
number of new students and they were still sorting the classes.. one
parent who does a lot of PTA
stuff said they have had problems in previous years with say an
English speaking class that was underprescribed and they did
a1rst/2nd year split or something. Another parent told me that the
district has to approve the classroom roles (sizes?) and they were
waiting for that. The fact is the kids did have class in the library
the whole day..with a really, really nice substitute teacher.. Mme
Gardner (her teacher from last year) was busy with orientation and
setting up class distributions for the french
kindergarteners...
When we picked our kids up they were on the playground.. (I found that
disconcerning as well)... I'm going to write a letter to the school
board, principal etc. listing my displeasure.. I've never seen such
and administrative overload of work on the first two days of school..
My friend tells me that it must be nice for the kids to return to
comfort, but I can't help but feel that idea is ridiculous and the
students should just have one day of anxiety, the first day, and not
the whole first week. We were not told of any of this, and as new
parents to 1rst graders I find the whole process atrocious.
That said, Zoe is very happy, all the kids seemed happy, and perhaps
it is just me being more anxious about the whole process. I just want
to know who she has for teacher and get on with the year. I went to
talk to Mme Gardner and it turns out I was going to quite miss her.. I
kind of cried a little.. felt very foolish, but she is such a good
teacher and Zoe's growth and how much she is changing brings me to
tears (happy ones).. its so monumental in some way.
drop off tomorrow is still at the kindergarten line up.. I'm
guessing they are in the library tomorrow again.. at least until
recess. Then when we pick them up, they will finally come out the
first grade door.
It sounded like Zoe had a good day, the only other word I heard was
that Luke called her "Bow-e" (long "o") and I asked her what she did
and she said "I ignored him. But it still hurt my feelings" We have
been talking a lot about how to deal with hurt.. I've given her both
the either ignore it (I too don't like confrontation) and the Gooch
method of annoy the heck of them back.. ie do the copy everything they
say thing to make fun of them, or get even.. "No, you're a Bow-e".. or
make something up. Seems like she is more like me... I just hope she
doesn't internalize like her dad. (you know, save it up, blow up
later).
When we got home, I finished making her choice of Spaghetti Dinner..
with meatballs.. it turned out delicious.. So much so that all three
kids had seconds (which you have to see as quite the accomplishment..
they never, never eat that way; sometimes getting them to eat at all
is a chore... they ate so much, they left no room for crumble and ice
cream.. although they tried to eat some). I seem to have lost my touch
for cooking pasta.. I didn't buy enough.. I'm the opposite of my mom
in that way.
Zoe and the girls and Finn played hard all night.. and really well..
we never had to find something to distract them. Once we said good by
to our friends, I put Zoe in the bath and Finn and I wrapped
presents.. no time like the present (lol). Finn was so excited to
give something to Zoe, he went to the easel and painted her a picture.
They were so cute together and Zoe was sooooo gracious when she got
her gift from him (I think I got video at the tail end of her thanking
him). Really she was so very gracious about all her gifts, ooooh and
awwww all the way, "thank you"s.. "you are the best mom ever, really".
In the end Finn drew two more pictures, and ask Zoe to make one for
him. A mom couldn't be prouder of her two kids.
Tomorrow is only Thursday, two more days of school.. longest week
ever. But it will all work out. But that is not how I want to end
this day. I want to end this day thinking about Zoe, and how she has
changed from that little baby we kept happy in the bouncy seat so she
would sleep, or co-sleeping when we had to... and now a 6 year old,
learning a second language, taking care of her friends, her brother,
and mostly going to sleep on her own.. except on those few nights that
she can't.. like last night.. where she comes downstairs... where I am
watching tv in a very quiet, dark room, she sneaks up on me, drops her
tiny toy stuffie dog on my head, like a spider, and makes me eeeek and
jump.. then giggles herself silly because she got me!
artistic young lady she has become. This morning or last night.. it
became clear that she expected something for her birthday.. and school
was not it.. (reminds me of Auntie Carrie!)... she kept saying
something about Asha coming to her school for her birthday to check it
out.. I kept reminding her that she did have school and that Asha and
Claire after their own days at school would come over for dinner.
Last night I made more than 26 cup cakes for her to take to school...
She had chosen lemon cake with purple frosting and gummy worms on
top.. I added oreo cookie crumbs.. She got to share them with her old
class mates and they all sang happy birthday to her before going into
school. Today was Day 2 of School, a full day (8:38 to 2:41), Day 1
was 9am to 11:30am.. and weirdly this school starts out with the
students in their old class rooms.
this whole school thing has had me in a dither.. all the students
(grade 1-5) are supposed to be in their classrooms tomorrow, after
first recess... apparently this is the same for other schools such as
Hobbs, but Willows students spent the whole day in their new
classrooms starting today. I heard was that they had an unusual
number of new students and they were still sorting the classes.. one
parent who does a lot of PTA
stuff said they have had problems in previous years with say an
English speaking class that was underprescribed and they did
a1rst/2nd year split or something. Another parent told me that the
district has to approve the classroom roles (sizes?) and they were
waiting for that. The fact is the kids did have class in the library
the whole day..with a really, really nice substitute teacher.. Mme
Gardner (her teacher from last year) was busy with orientation and
setting up class distributions for the french
kindergarteners...
When we picked our kids up they were on the playground.. (I found that
disconcerning as well)... I'm going to write a letter to the school
board, principal etc. listing my displeasure.. I've never seen such
and administrative overload of work on the first two days of school..
My friend tells me that it must be nice for the kids to return to
comfort, but I can't help but feel that idea is ridiculous and the
students should just have one day of anxiety, the first day, and not
the whole first week. We were not told of any of this, and as new
parents to 1rst graders I find the whole process atrocious.
That said, Zoe is very happy, all the kids seemed happy, and perhaps
it is just me being more anxious about the whole process. I just want
to know who she has for teacher and get on with the year. I went to
talk to Mme Gardner and it turns out I was going to quite miss her.. I
kind of cried a little.. felt very foolish, but she is such a good
teacher and Zoe's growth and how much she is changing brings me to
tears (happy ones).. its so monumental in some way.
drop off tomorrow is still at the kindergarten line up.. I'm
guessing they are in the library tomorrow again.. at least until
recess. Then when we pick them up, they will finally come out the
first grade door.
It sounded like Zoe had a good day, the only other word I heard was
that Luke called her "Bow-e" (long "o") and I asked her what she did
and she said "I ignored him. But it still hurt my feelings" We have
been talking a lot about how to deal with hurt.. I've given her both
the either ignore it (I too don't like confrontation) and the Gooch
method of annoy the heck of them back.. ie do the copy everything they
say thing to make fun of them, or get even.. "No, you're a Bow-e".. or
make something up. Seems like she is more like me... I just hope she
doesn't internalize like her dad. (you know, save it up, blow up
later).
When we got home, I finished making her choice of Spaghetti Dinner..
with meatballs.. it turned out delicious.. So much so that all three
kids had seconds (which you have to see as quite the accomplishment..
they never, never eat that way; sometimes getting them to eat at all
is a chore... they ate so much, they left no room for crumble and ice
cream.. although they tried to eat some). I seem to have lost my touch
for cooking pasta.. I didn't buy enough.. I'm the opposite of my mom
in that way.
Zoe and the girls and Finn played hard all night.. and really well..
we never had to find something to distract them. Once we said good by
to our friends, I put Zoe in the bath and Finn and I wrapped
presents.. no time like the present (lol). Finn was so excited to
give something to Zoe, he went to the easel and painted her a picture.
They were so cute together and Zoe was sooooo gracious when she got
her gift from him (I think I got video at the tail end of her thanking
him). Really she was so very gracious about all her gifts, ooooh and
awwww all the way, "thank you"s.. "you are the best mom ever, really".
In the end Finn drew two more pictures, and ask Zoe to make one for
him. A mom couldn't be prouder of her two kids.
Tomorrow is only Thursday, two more days of school.. longest week
ever. But it will all work out. But that is not how I want to end
this day. I want to end this day thinking about Zoe, and how she has
changed from that little baby we kept happy in the bouncy seat so she
would sleep, or co-sleeping when we had to... and now a 6 year old,
learning a second language, taking care of her friends, her brother,
and mostly going to sleep on her own.. except on those few nights that
she can't.. like last night.. where she comes downstairs... where I am
watching tv in a very quiet, dark room, she sneaks up on me, drops her
tiny toy stuffie dog on my head, like a spider, and makes me eeeek and
jump.. then giggles herself silly because she got me!
Sunday, September 2, 2012
vocabulary
Zoe has been expanding her vocabulary... in an less than lady like way... trying out F*ck every now and then. At a girls night out with Andrea, she mentioned that her oldest Megan had started saying it.. I promptly apologized.. I'm not sure who did it first. But after a week with the Frost girls, Zoe told me one night: "Mom, I have something to tell you...F*ck is God's brother"... I really wish I could have been the fly on the wall for that discussion.
last week of summer
22 Full steam ahead.JPG (image/jpeg) 325K
23 Beach combing.jpg (image/jpeg) 212K
24 has anyone seen my toes.jpg (image/jpeg) 248K
25 Climbing and jumping.jpg (image/jpeg) 239K
26 Megs and Finn rowing the boat.jpg (image/jpeg) 266K
27 Singing row row row the boat.....jpg (image/jpeg) 235K
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