Dirt

Z: mom, did I eat dirt when I was little?

M: probably at least once

Z: oh, that makes sense, I can still taste 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)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ordinary moment

Finn has a student teacher at his school and she is writing up ordinary moments in the moments of the kids at school.. I think I'll give it a try.

My Zoe ordinary moment:

Zoe cleaned up the toy room when I asked her to, without help.

perhaps not so ordinary moment

After dinner Zoe, Finn and I went out to the park, Zoe on her skates, Finn on his bike.. at the end of our hill, Finn did so good managing the hill up to the intersection.. but for some reason Finn kind of couldn't stop or wouldn't stop at the cross walk and it was close to the intersection.. I started to shout, to grab.. I was holding onto Zoe on her skates, trying to keep her balanced.. Zoe grabbed Finn's bike and stopped it.  We worked as a team. Phew

My Finn ordinary moment:

Finn is a good listener.. I only have to tell him something once and he gets it, remembers it, repeats it.. today I watched as he biked on his own (with training wheels) and he kept to the high sides of the drive ways.. something I told him on our last outing... he did it on every drive way, smooth and even going.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    
"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)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

so sad

something was really bothering Zoe tonight.. She watched the cartoon "Kaijudo", and said the show didn't end well.  We read two princess stories, oddly both about loosing their mom... not good.. for the last year, she has cried often right before bed; her worst fear is loosing me.. that is also my worst fear.. loosing Zoe, Finn or Bruce.. or them loosing me.. not that I've ever told her that.. but she often has night time going to bed fears like that but tonight it seemed worse.. she cried for more than 30 minutes.. really crying.. and I just held her and told her everything will be alright.  I told her just to cry it out.. I told her I sometimes I have fears too, sometimes I get scared too, but that just crying it out, and then know it will all be okay makes it all better.  But she had a really hard time letting it go... she pretty much cried herself to sleep tonight.

It does seem to be age appropriate... Zoe's friend Asha has a fear of being robbed (something to do with a movie she saw with her Dad).

I held her as tight as I could.. snuggled her in.. she finally fell asleep.. boy does it make my heart ache to see her so sad.

Moon sand

We played with moon sand today after our bike around the reservoir... This is 12 cups flour, two bottles of baby oil.. Kids loved it. In fact is was hard to convince Zoë that getting naked and hopping in was not an option. They are now working on legos... A great day off from school.

My cousin Mary's graduation

Bedtime

We had many joyful bedtimes. However it is rare to have caught them all seated at the same time...

Many such baths were had during our visit

Tug a war

At auntie Holly's with Bailey beagle

Climbing on Dino's

Many Jurassic poses

Zoe vs raptor

Utah and dinosaurs

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!  And it was an easy going day.  After baking muffins that taste like donuts, eating an eggy breakfast, Bruce and I finished spreading mulch in the backyard.  During that time, unknown to me, Zoe made me a bowl of granola, and a plate of oranges and muffins.  She got the plates out of the cupboard, poured the milk and everything... But they were coy about it and did not tell me... Just asked me to come in.. Which of course I did not want to do, since I was covered in muck from the garden.. I felt and continue to feel so bad that I didn't.  After the yard stuff was finished, I spent the day with the kids.. Lots of Lego, some drawing.. It was a lovely rainy day.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    
"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)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Big spring day

We spent all day Saturday in the yard, weeding, trimming, spreading mulch... The kids kept themselves entertained, outside mostly.At some point Zoe asked for food... I told her I'd be in soon... When I finally finished up,  I came in and she and Finn had already finished the jelly and toast sandwiches with glasses of juice... The first meal she has made without help!

At some point in the day, she asked to ride her bike... We put her on two wheels and she had it mastered... Perfect!  Took some part of the day to figure out how to start, but she has it down.. Now we can bike to school! 

I can not believe how self reliant she has become!  I am proud of 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)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Margaret Ashurst

Margaret Ashurst, 91 years old, died on April 21, 2013.  We made the pilgrimage back to Utah... The trip started off bumpy, so much so that Zoe's stomach disagreed with the sudden drops and she coated her iPad, pant shirt and plenty of the plane.  Bruce and I stripped her kicking and screaming as we taxi'd on the water, and covered her in my jacket.  Luckily we had full access to our luggage upon deplaning and we had a change.  From then on, the trip was smooth sailing.  We stayed at Carrie and Scott's with cousin Quinn (2).. And boy did they all have a blast.  The trip started with a shy Quinn, but before long Bruce was "my Bruce" and at some point mom was told she could not get Quinn out of the car, Auntie Amy must do it... Of course before the trip, Zoe already had "my Zoe" status.  We also spent some time with cousin Anna and Holly, and of course Bailey the beagle. And as much time with Nana, grandpa and the baby golden doodle Koda.  It was a fantastic trip, full of wonderful times.. One of my favorites was watching everyone try their hand at golfing on the course behind Carrie's house.. And watching the kids run full out on the hills of the golf course at dusk.. Beautiful.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    
"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)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Look what i did with DressUpFairyBallerina!

All four kids worked on this tonight...