Shark Party Details

Ok, so I realize that Henry's Birthday party was over a month ago but if you can believe it, only yesterday did I just finish scraping the last window that I painted with glue and poster paint to look like an aquarium with sharks swimming around.  I wanted to have his shark party at the zoo, but that would have cost 500 dollars just for the space so I made my own aquarium with the many windows in my living room complete with over a hundred balloons covering the walls to look like the water.  

This party was pretty much out of control and whenever I don't blog about something ever(like my trip out to the NW by myself for two weeks while I was in my first trimester of pregnancy=exhaustion) or very late it means that it's taken that long to recover or it's just a blur from being too tired.  Some details of the party include...a total of 45 people in attendance, a really cool shark pinata filled with 20 lbs of candy and probably weighed more than Bea, singing the jaws song, playing pin the fin on the shark, reading a book about sharks, playing shark attack with a giant shark balloon to the theme music of JAWS which really scared some of the kids.  It really makes you realize how music influences how we feel.  Some people deny it but you can't deny a two year old who has never seen JAWS freeze in absolute fear after hearing the movie theme music.  We, of course, ate a ton of really yummy food that included shark cheese crackers, shark shaped sandwiches, three types of seafood dip with crackers and a giant fruit salad.

 

 The highlight was, however, the cake, which I painstakingly made over two days time.  I tried to copy another woman's cake on this awesome website but my perfect shark head coming out of the water turned into a super scar-faced shark with a collapsed mouth. No one noticed though and the kids all loved it.  It was also pretty scary!  The bottom of the cake was the most delicious cake I've ever made though which was a whole wheat version of this dulce de leche cake.  Best cake I've ever made and possibly ever eaten.  I also made my dulce de leche from scratch using a real vanilla bean and milk(as opposed to using a can of sweetened condensed milk), and that took three hours in itself to make.  I highly recommend it.  

After the cake we watched Henry's 4th Birthday slide show which was the best yet and he still wants to watch it over and over again.  I did it to one of my favorite Coldplay songs, "Death and all of his friends," which seems like a weird song title but I didn't even know exactly what the words were until I uploaded it for the show because they're almost inaudible and most of the song is just an instrumental, and a really fantastic one at that.  Anyway, the show was great and I know those slide shows make Henry feel really special so I'm going to keep doing them as long as I can manage.  I'm getting faster at creating them anyway. 

Henry then opened all his presents which were mostly transformers and other action figures.  He really needed some age appropriate toys since everything we had was either baby oriented or just blocks and puzzles.  He really loves his transformers and he and daddy spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to transform them and they also love playing with legos together now too.    

Henry still tells everyone, especially complete strangers, about his shark party. The best part about it was that we were able to coordinate it with Gammie and Grandpa Hohl along with favorite aunt Courtney(she chases the kids for hours on end) who helped out immensely.  I couldn't have pulled it off without them unless I had woken up at 4 am to get things started that day.  Thanks to everyone who helped out and who came to the party! I hope to never do anything that crazy again.

The New Neighbors

These last few days Henry has gotten the idea into his head that he has to make a present for our new neighbors.  If you haven't been keeping up, we haven't had very good luck with our neighbors.  Henry has pooped and peed on our neighbor's deck, the YW scared our other neighbor half to death playing hide and go seek, we got in trouble playing in our other neighbor's yard, etc. etc. I have felt kind of bad because we haven't even gone over to meet our new neighbors yet so when Henry said he was making a present for them I was thinking that this would be a great opportunity to formally meet.  He worked for three days drawing, coloring, and writing at least 20 different items. He wrote "I (heart) you neighbors" and "welcome neighbors" and of course wrote Henry all over everything.  He traced his hand a foot on at least half of the papers and if you see him you will notice his fingers and toes outlined with blue and green marker.  He put them into a giant box and I made some meyer lemon squares to go along with the strange gift.  We've been busy over the last few days so every night he's been disappointed that we haven't gone over there so this morning at 9am he convinced me to let him go over there to deliver the box.  I was SURE they wouldn't be home at that time so I let him go over while I stood in our driveway.  He rang the doorbell and looked back at me saying, "I'm going to wait for a long time mom".  After about one minute I said, "well, it looks like they're not home so we'll come back later." That's when he proceeded to open the front door, which was unlocked for some reason, and he poked his head into their house and yelled, "Hey, there's a package out here for you!"  Then my poor neighbor, in his underwear, came to the door saying that he had just woken up and thanked Henry for the announcement.  At this point I was in shock, hands over my mouth, at what had just happened, totally embarrassed, I yelled back that Henry had actually made that for him and that I didn't think they would be home and that I was really sorry.  I asked him if we could come back later sometime and he said to come back at 10am.  We went back and guess what? No one answered.  Big surprise. 

To my boy on his Birthday

My Dearest Henry,

Four years after you were born I find myself doing exactly what I was doing in the hospital before, during labor, and after your entrance into this world: watching the Olympics.  Now that your dad has finally had a breakthrough with your desire to ski, our dreams for you to eventually dominate the snowboard cross event in the Olympics in the year 2026 are slowly becoming a reality.  You should know that your father and I gave you your middle name Jackson thinking that if you were in the Olympics some day, Jackson Hohl would be an unforgetable name and therefore you would easily be a favorite to win! You are the perfect combination of your parents with energy that never ends and to your mother's dismay you use most of that energy to search for and ask for candy.  I have noticed that you have trouble discerning what your body is trying to tell you and every day it's a constant battle to get you to figure out if you are hungry or tired.  It's usually accompanied by lots of tears and many discussions about problem solving.  Cutting things out of magazines and junk mail occupies much of your time.  There are ziplock baggies all around the house that are full of coupon clippings and photos from The Friend magazine. You are an extremely thoughtful boy and announce every day that you want to make a present or card for someone which is really hard for you because your baby sister always climbs on the table and sabotages your projects.  You are usually very patient with her though and always scream for help with a laugh and a smile, knowing that she just wants to be a part of your life.  You are an amazing big brother and always complain when Bea takes naps because you are bored without her.  She copies everything you do and you laugh and wrestle all day long together.  Her Birthday present to you is that just yesterday she started saying your name instead of calling you dada.  Every time you cry she comes to give you hugs and frequently makes tears turn into laughter as she pokes you in the nostrils and lifts your shirt up to find your belly button.  You are going to preschool but your teachers still have to drag you, in tears, away from me and Bea.  You are learning how to read at home and we do a science experiment almost every day together.  We also sing and play instruments every day and I always catch you making up funny songs, especially as you lay down in the tub waiting for me to drag you out. You and I cook and bake everything together and get just as excited as I do when our bread comes out perfect and when I make home-made popsicles.  Your greatest passion, however, is the scriptures and several times per day you ask spiritual questions and we have many deep conversations about Heavenly Father, Jesus, the Spirit, the prophets in the scriptures and scary Satan.  You have read through the children's Bible and Book of Mormon three times and are now reading about Church history in the Doctrine and Covenants.  You always talk about making it to heaven where Jesus and your brother Georgie are waiting for you AND where you get to eat the fruit of the tree of life.  I hope you're not disappointed when you realize that it's figurative! Speaking of food, your favorite food is sunny-side-up eggs and any kind of fruit.  On your Birthday you set a record of eating 5 eggs in one sitting! You love your daddy and ask every morning where he went, even though you know he's at work.  You rejoice when he comes home and you always have a blast together trying to figure out transformers and putting together race tracks.  This winter has dumped down almost four feet of snow which you and your dad used to make a giant snow cave/tunnel with fort in the front yard which our entire family fit in.  Even though I don't think you've grown out of your terrible twos(or accepting the fact that you aren't the only child/center of attention yet) you still have many moments of pure sweetness and kindness. I love looking into your big gray green eyes and at your dimpled smile.  I can't wait to find out what this new year will bring and what new adventures we will have together.  You are the most darling boy in the world and I love you with all my heart.  Happy Birthday sweet Henry boy.  I hope you have had a wonderful four years of life!

Love,
Mommy

lady of the livingroom

This is proof that I actually don't clean my house.  Yes, my house is always tidy but this is what Henry found under the rug the other day which is a testament to how often I actually vacuum.  She has probably been there since last summer.  My family just came to visit and Henry had his Birthday party so I cleaned the floors for the first time since Thanksgiving which was the last time we had company and just so you know, the floor looked exactly as clean/dirty as it did two days after I cleaned as it did for those months of never washing it.  I'll say it once and for all.  Cleaning is a waste of time. Go live life and leave the cleaning for when company comes.  That's my motto. 

Sign of Independence

Today we went to Costco and Henry found a cart of his own and actually pushed it around the entire store.  I was pretty amazed that he didn't abandon his cart after 5 minutes.  He was really dedicated to that thing, especially after he started collecting samples.  I had to put all the yummy things in his cart because Bea was after all the food, being the hungriest baby in the world and pooped three times while we were out.  The entire baby seat was filled with samples that he collected and saved until we got to the tables after check-out.  At some stations he took like 5 samples.  Good thing all those ladies have known him ever since he was an infant with his mohawk and love him to death.  The most darling part was that his little smiling face was peaking through the center of the baby seats.  His dimples are getting more prominent as his face thins out.  Just loving that.  He did run into quite a few people but each time he yelled, "excuse me, you're in my way!"  I apologized many times but most people didn't care since he looked so darling. 

Never too early to learn how to read?

This week I went to a preschool meeting with Henry's teachers and all the other parents.  They were detailing the abilities of children in the three age groups they teach and in Henry's age group they said that they "aren't even introducing letters this year, but they have them all around the room for the kids to see."  I was really shocked at this.  I think they seriously underestimate the abilities of most kids.  I mean, do most kids really not learn how to read until they're 5 or 6 years? If you look back on Henry's blog, he recognized all his letters at 19 months old, probably earlier, because of Signing Time and now he's learning how to read before he's four and at this point I feel like he's pretty average in his development.  I don't know.  You tell me.  Anyway, this book goes really slow and it doesn't take much time each day to go through the lessons.  Even with Henry's short attention span he absorbs exactly what he needs to so he can move on to the next lesson.  Tonight he wouldn't go to bed without doing his lesson so there we were at 9pm doing the reading lesson for 10 minutes together which also includes writing.  He LOVES reading and can't wait to show everyone what he knows, even though it's only 6 letter sounds at this point.  I highly recommend this book to teach your kid how to read. 

Boys love cold

 Henry skiing in Gammie and Grandpa's back yard.  He would go from the top of the slight hill onto the frozen pond.  They also did it with Justin's old radio flyer sled all waxed up.  It was a blast!

Henry skied for the first time before he turned two and did remarkably well.  Last year, however, he had trouble enjoying it but it seems like he's doing a lot better this year since he has his own gear and has practiced at small hills all over the neighborhood and at Gammie and Grandpa's place in CT.

We really hope and pray that he will enjoy it and can learn quickly so that Justin will always have someone to take with him on ski trips since I seem to be pregnant every single winter and can't go.  I'm looking forward to next season!

 Henry shoveling snow in our driveway.  Look at the smile on his face.

Henry and Justin skating at PPG Place in downtown Pittsburgh.  The area is so beautiful because the surrounding building is made of mirrors so all the Christmas lights reflect all around you.  Henry thinks it's a temple.

Oh yeah, in case you didn't already know, I'm prego with a baby girl, due in May:)

More Christmas thoughts from Henry

                    Henry's Nativity.  Something's not quite right....

Henry is really attracted to music and he takes after me being able to hear a song once and never forgetting it and just about memorizing the music and all the words.  I've been listening to Handel's Messiah in the car and I caught him singing along to many of the songs.  One night he asked me, "Mommy, what does 'unto us a son is given mean'".  I told him what it meant and now he sings that part even louder.  He also sings, "Every kiss begins with Kay" about 5 times per day.  I don't even think he knows he's singing that one.

In Pittsburgh we see a lot of trains and the other night we saw a train pulling giant cars full of coal.  Henry remembered that it was what bad kids got in their stockings.  He thought for a minute and said, "Mom, is Santa going to put coal in Satan's stocking?" Haha! That one caused Justin and I to burst out laughing.

Henry is still in the Christmas spirit and he's milking me for all the candy he can get.  Enjoy it while it lasts son because on January 1st it's all going in the trash!  Muah ha ha!

Henry's Christmas Contribution

Today has been one of the happiest days on record for, say, the past year and a half.  I didn't hear crying or complaining all day from Henry.  We did some shopping this morning and since we had to buy ice cream, candy and honey crisp apples he was in a great mood.  We went to Enrico's on the Strip where he always gets a free chocolate covered people cookie and that made his day.  When he got home he spent about 4 hours putting presents together for his cousins and his dad.  He looked around the house and found Justin's favorite foods and spent a lot of time wrapping each item in construction paper with a LOT of tape and bows.  He wrapped a honey crisp apple, a clementine, a can of root beer, a bag of popcorn and a bag of oatmeal cookies.  He spent a long time making a card with stamps and even wrote his name on it by himself.  Then he found a box in the basement and put it all in and used up even more tape closing the box.  Then he went upstairs and found wrapping paper and wrapped it all up.  I was so amazed at his ability to focus for all that time and for being so excited about giving Justin such a thoughtful gift.  Henry wanted Justin to open it right away and I agreed since there were perishables inside, so he opened it and was so amazed at what was inside.  Henry packed all the treats up in a couple of small backpacks and we went to a giant Christmas light drive-through display.  We ate our treats and enjoyed the lights together.  Thanks for your sweetness Henry.  We love you.

Henry's Thoughts

The purpose of this blog is to ultimately get Henry to take it over and continue detailing his life.  It seems to me that he may be ready to add more to this blog because he's been pondering things a lot more lately.  These are some of the things that have been on his mind...

"Mom, do people usually have the same head and body when they grow up?"

I love his use of "usually" in this sentence.  He may be wondering how a head his size could grow to the ginormic proportions of his father.

"Mom, is there moisture in water?"

First of all, how do you know about the word moisture let alone be asking me about the concept of moisture?

And this is what escapes Henry's lips most often...

"Mommy, Bea is the cutest baby ever and she thinks I'm so cool"

Yes she does, Henry.  This opinion has averted many potential fights because of Bea's obsession to play with everything Henry plays with and eventually ruin everything he creates.  He also likes hearing his friends who don't have younger siblings say that they want Bea as their little sister.  She is really tolerant and really fun to play with.  I'm so glad they get along so well. 

Thank you, You're welcome, May I and Will you vs. Can I and Can you

Henry and I have been working on grammar a lot lately.  He's doing a great job saying "may I" and "will you" instead of "can I" and "can you" which doesn't make any sense grammatically in the way we use it...not that I'm perfect at grammar but I do know the difference between their, there and they're and your and you're which I see misspelled ALL the time amongst educated adults.  I am pretty obsessed with teaching my kids at least what I know and hopefully they'll end up being mindful of other grammatical issues as they grow up. 

Henry and I just had this conversation

Henry: Thank-you mom for my piece of candy
Mom: Thank-you for saying thank-you!

20 minutes later
Henry: Mom, you didn't say you're welcome when I said thank you.
Mom:  Oh, sorry. You're welcome, Henry
Henry: Thanks for saying you're welcome when I said thank-you mom(sweet smile). 

Oh, and he just asked me if he could recycle his sucker stick. I just love that boy:)

Lunch? What?

 Marta, Henry, Thomasin

So as most of the other children are graduating to cool Halloween costumes my son likes to stick with his theme of really cuddly, plush animal costumes.  His cousin was a cool pirate and Henry was a fuzzy frog.  He loved his costume and it kept him really warm.  Neither of my kids needed a coat and that's always a plus(Just ask Jerry Seinfeld).  He raked in tons of candy which I threaten or bribe him with daily.

I'm about ready to throw it away since he's shed a lake full of tears already when I don't let him have it whenever he thinks about it which is usually first thing in the morning...and every second until he goes to sleep.  I also realized that he has no concept about Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.  Have any of you had trouble with this? I have tried to teach him and there's even a song that he knows from Signing Time about it but he still can't remember what Lunch is and when it's eaten.  That may be an issue stemming from me not having any sort of regular eating schedule until just recently.  I tell him he can have a piece of candy after lunch and he eagerly eats his breakfast and then asks for candy at 9am.  I tell him, "no, after lunch, which is in a few hours" and then he bursts into tears, sometimes for extended periods of time.

Two of the most disturbing costumes ever

He's also started turning my techniqes for threatening back on me like when I tell him I'm going to throw his candy away if he doesn't start behaving he'll say, "If you do that, then I'm going to hit Bea all day long and be really mad." Then I say, "Well I'll just put you outside all day then." at which point he says, "I'm just kidding mom."  It's getting cold out there.

Tears for Tomatoes

Today I broke down my garden and threw the withered, dry tomato plants in the compost along with all the tomatoes that Justin forgot to pick while we were on vacation that rotted on the vine.  When he saw they were all gone Henry burst into tears.  I held him and told him we would plant new ones next year and that we could go out and buy some today and he wept..."But I only love Heirlooms!"  That's my boy:)

BTW there are beautiful heirloom tomatoes at Right by Nature(local organic store) that are almost $6 per lb.  Is any other produce you can think of that's that expensive? I don't know that there is. Any ideas?

Henry also caught a walking stick the other day all on his own.  I'm so proud that he's following in my footsteps, loving bugs, nature, gardens.  He really loves everything now that I think about it.  I have so many interests that I usually can't choose between any one of them so I do them all.  I think Henry'll be like that too.  We can't wait to get him up on his own skis this year.  Many wipe-outs are to come!

Henry the Pirate Farmer

Pretend play is at a all time high these days with our little Henster.  He's constantly babbling and if I respond to cries for help or questions he's asking I frequently get the reply, "I'm not talking to you mom!"  Lately, however, Justin and I have been included on the fun as we play pirates almost every day.  Our couch is the main boat, the chair is the life boat (for rowing ashore) and a huge poster of the movie, "Land of the Lost" is our treasure map.  He has a periscope and his ride on toys are the dinosaurs he has to kill before he can collect the treasure. 

To give this a comprehensive description, you must know that everything is said in rough, scratchy pirate voices.  The first day I asked him who was going to be captain and he said in his usual voice, "I'm captain," and then I asked him what I do and he said, "you take care of the baby".  Not much of a roll change for me.  He gets off the life boat where he was supposed to fight a T-Rex for the treasure(I was the T-Rex growl) and as I was trying to play the part, he told me that he was only poking him in the bum but hadn't chased after him yet.  Finally he was chased and he used his sword to slay the beast. 

The all-time best was, though, when Justin was playing with Henry and they went around the house collecting pretend things to put in their treasure chest and when he was done Justin asked him what he had collected and in his pirate voice he said, "food, drinks and seeds." Justin asked him what he was going to do with the seeds and he said gruffly, "plant a garden so we can eat vegetables."  Justin and I couldn't hold in our smiles and chuckles.  That night for dinner he wouldn't eat his squash but I turned pirate and told him that he had to eat it because we grew it in our pirate garden and while he was laughing, I shoved a huge mouthful of it in and he happily chewed it and swallowed.  We just love our boy. 

I'm also going to start including my thoughts about the many reasons I wish to home school and time to pretend play and be creative is one of them. I heard creativity usually starts petering out as soon as kids enter the public school system.  Tragic! I want my kids to have all the time in the world to write plays, paint, roll-play with their siblings, etc.  I remember my sister spending hours writing and illustrating books when she was only 5.  I still think she could have been an amazing author but I think the busy life of a child going to school doesn't allow kids to develop their natural talents enough to make it enjoyable, at least.  I had talents in many things but I was always stressed and rushed to get practices in my busy schedule which makes things not fun at all. I even see it with Henry. He used to create these fabulous abstract paintings but now he thinks he has to draw or make something recognizable or it's not good enough.  He gets frustrated and won't continue.  I want him to think that whatever his hand does is fabulous and that he doesn't have to think or reason to create art.  I think I'll have to take him down to the museum of art and show him some abstracts to bring back his confidence.