Let's pretend, shall we?

That we're not merely halfway through one of the coldest, snowiest winters ever, and that it is June. Last June.

Our peonies and other flowers are all in bloom.  Easily my favorite (and shortest) weeks of the year.

We're picking strawberries...

 

And up at Lake Geneva...

 

 

And Ravinia...

 

And The Botanic Garden...

Hope you are faring well this winter. Spring (and Summer, of course) can't come soon enough! :)

Boden Sample Sales

Am I the only one who didn't know they did these?  If you are on the East Coast (PA & MA, though Boston was last weekend) and love Boden like me, check them out for me, will you?  The prices are about what you'll find in their better sales.  The only one I may have a chance of making is Springfield in June.  Happy Shopping!

• SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST, 2014

  HYNES CONVENTION CENTER
  900 BOYLSTON STREET
  BOSTON, MA 02115
  10:00am-4:00pm

• SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23RD, 2014

  THE PENN STATER
  215 INNOVATION BOULEVARD
  STATE COLLEGE, PA 16803
  10:00am-4:00pm

• SATURDAY, APRIL 12TH, 2014

  GREATER PHILADELPHIA EXPO CENTER
  100 STATION AVENUE
  OAKS, PA 19456
  10:00am-4:00pm

• SATURDAY, MAY 31ST, 2014

  DAVID L. LAWRENCE CONVENTION CENTER
  1000 FORT DUQUESNE BOULEVARD
  PITTSBURGH, PA 15222
  10:00am-4:00pm

• SATURDAY, JUNE 14TH, 2014

  MASS MUTUAL CENTER
  1277 MAIN STREET
  SPRINGFIELD, MA 01103
  10:00am-4:00pm

prices:

• Women’s and Men’s:

• Tops: $25
• Sweaters and Bottoms: $30
• Dresses: $40
• Coats: $50
• Shoes: $50
• Sneakers, Slippers and Sandals: $25
• Handbags: $50
• Accessories: $25

• Mini and Johnnie B:

• Tops and Bottoms: $15
• Knits and Dresses: $20
• Coats: $25
• Shoes: $15
• Boots: $20

 

Speech status update

It seemed a bit early, but we had our six month status update for speech therapy today.  The kids love their therapist, Miss Katie, and it has been really amazing how much progress they have made in just the last few months.  They are both talking like crazy and using two (and sometime three) word phases now.  We are going to continue therapy for now, but see in three months if we are going to continue (vs. scale back or stop) in case they plateau.  We discussed what happens at three, when they age out of EI, since it is a very long process leading up to then and special preschools, but we agreed they will likely graduate before then.

As much as we all love her, I have to admit from watching the therapist interact with them that she really isn't doing anything unusual, that we don't already do with them.  She basically just sits on the floor and plays with toys, puzzles, and books that she brings.  My sister is an SLP and while it requires a master's degree, it's not exactly rocket science (no offense if you are/love an SLP).  She still can't figure out how to say Marielle's name or spell Alistair's.  Oh well, she's sweet.

 

The (joke of a game) Superbowl viewing party that Mari set up by dragging the mat and Boppys from the living room.  She also thinks she wants to play.  These two crack me up...

 

Another thing we've been using the last few months are Preschool Prep Company's DVDs, since my mom gave us one as a gift.  I had heard of them, but we had been holding off on TV.  My sister swears by them, as her kids watch TV all.the.time.  We bought into the whole "no TV/screen time until two" rule.  I'm all for rules, but I think it's more of a slippery slope problem is if you are using it as a babysitter, as my sister does, or are not otherwise engaging with your children.  I myself was raised in front of the TV.  Anyway, the kids both know all of their letters now.  Not to brag, because I wouldn't really care if they didn't know them for several more years, but these damn things really work, like crazy.  In case you are interested...  We keep a second copy in the car, which helps pass the 20+ mins to preschool (each way, twice a week).  Alistair especially likes to yell out the letters enthusiastically from the back seat.  I love it!    We also just got the numbers, colors and shapes, which seem to be catching too.  They, like most kid's videos I would guess are annoying, but the things we do for our kids...

Happy Year of the Horse

Well the lucky "Year of the Horse" is here and my kids are insane for horses, even more than the other animals they are crazy for (like rabbits, which the Chinese zodiac says they and DH all are), which is saying something.

Last July, we took the kids to Arlington Park for the first time (since I was pregnant, pre-bedrest) on the Fourth (w/my mom and sister), though we spent more time up close w/the horses pre-races then actually watching the races.

 

Waiting patiently, so that we can scream like banchees when we see them...

Later in July, we celebrated Family Day at Oakbrook Polo with my dad.  This was back when Alistair wasn't yet walking independently.  That was a long summer, but one I'd gladly consider taking back now.

 Checking out the Teslas on display (love), which have the fun rear facing third seat (apparently because the founder has twins AND triplets, all boys!)

 

Stomping divots

 With our hands and knees...

We don't live in horse country (or the country at all, for that matter), though we are somehow surrounded by it in close proximity.  Wayne and Barrington are known for their horse farms, though this isn't Kentucky or Wellington.

I rode a bit as a kid, my step-mom/sister had a horse and a pony and my sisters and I took lessons for awhile, but I never got back into it before the kids came like I meant to.  Now I'm looking forward to all of us getting into riding.  DH is also a bit ridiculously obsessed with horses.

Are you a horse person?  Or as they say "horsey"? ;)

Filling the horse quota this week

Mr. Independent

It's been quite the first month of preschool...  We've had two cold day (as in freezing) cancellations so far and last week Mari started the family on the cold (as in snot/sneeze) train.  No biggie, though I worried how Alistair would do on his own for four hours after only having been there three times before, but it was also a good test to see.  He's never been at home without at least one of the three of us there, not mention out of the house by himself.  But I guess since they are our children and Mari is Miss Independent I shouldn't have thought twice.  He did fabulous, my brave little man!

This is really something since, as DH so aptly puts it, he is a level three clinger.

It is a good sized class, about a dozen cutie two to three year olds, with three great teachers.  The teacher that I spoke with when I picked him up said that when they were playing with bikes (there is a huge separate indoor room for winter play) he looked around a little like he was looking for someone, but no tears.  Their first, and subsequent, drop offs have been uneventful, which was a welcome relief even though we knew they were ready to get out without us, and when we went to visit they took to the place like glue.  I'm so glad we found a place they (and I) really like, finally.

Now we are faced with what to do for fall.  I'm considering keeping them there or going to one closer to home.  And I'm thinking of going back to work, so I'm debating how many days they should go (and where) if we hire a nanny.  And of course, I've also got scenarios worked out for other changes that might be coming.  So complicated, if exciting.  Thankfully they don't have to worry about any of this stuff...  I'm looking at Montessori and Waldorf schools, does anyone have any experience with these?

On the bloggity blog note, we are now beginning year five.  As most people have probably noticed, it seems like I'm not the only one who has less time to blog now than ever.  Even "professional" bloggers, who make money off their blogs, are disappointing me lately, but don't get me started on them.  I follow friends, but generally am finding the whole genre less rewarding.  I try to keep up with updates on the kids because, while I obviously have all the pics on my computer, keeping track of all the little fun things they do are prone to get lost in the everyday craziness that is the life of a SAHM mom of twin toddlers.  How do you feel about blogging lately?  I feel like by killing Blog reader, Google put a stake in Blogger.  Maybe it's just me.  Pinterest, Instagram, etc. are just not the same.

25 months old

It's been a busy month since the kids' 2nd birthday, with Christmas, New Year's, starting school, restarting speech and their classes, converting to toddler beds, and generally trying to get through what is hopefully the worst of this already long winter.

The kids are worse than me when it comes to getting their picture taken.  They usually either run for the hills or act goofy.  Case in point, I have dozens of pics of them both with their entire hands in their mouths in front of the tree laughing, which I've never seen them do before.  What the heck? ;)

They love to play with my cameras and especially my phone (why is it that it takes pictures when it's locked?), taking selfies and other randoms, but they don't hold still when I try to get posed or even spontaneous pictures.  And it's not just because Mari got her first bad haircut.  Oh well, what are you going to do...

We had an especially pretty tree this year, which made me happy since it was the first one I looked at at the KOC, since we skipped the tree farm (again, for the third time) this year because of the cold.

The kids' first day of preschool was cancelled due to the extreme cold we had at the beginning of the month, but this is from their real first day (she somehow found a nuk just in time for pics, SMH...) 

 My chivalrous boy insisting on carrying both his and his sister's lunch bags.  Love them and they love school.

The kids are at the stage where she wants to do everything I am doing and he wants to do everything that she does (we're a great team at emptying the dishwasher), so taking them outside on a snowy day to play while I shoveled the walk results in all three of us shoveling.



Getting ready for Sochi, zoning out to PBS...

Back at class, thank goodness for indoor playgrounds





 One of Mari's more stylized pics, she's getting good... ;)

Tiger Mom strikes again

I just finished "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" (out in early 2011, now in paperback, and a quick and easy read), and I guess I can see why it was so controversial given traditional American parenting styles (which would peg her as crazy and verbally abusive), but it is a satirical memoir, not a parenting handbook.  People take memoirs so seriously.  She (author Amy Chua) has a new book coming out next month which is already making waves.

She and her husband  (fellow Yale law professor, Jed Rubenfeld) have coauthored a book called  "The Triple Package..." about the three traits that they've found (in their research and from other data) make for success.  The "controversial" part of this one is they've singled out particular ethnic/religious/immigrant groups in America who they've found tend to possess these traits, which conveniently they are both a part.  But "The Bell Curve" it does not seem to be, since they aren't talking about inherent ability differing by group necessarily, but rather traits potentially anyone could adopt, which is why I don't get the controversy.  Except that she has baggage from her last book (which was a bit braggadocios for me, but that's obviously just her personality).

The groups of American they single out are heavily immigrant (big surprise):  Indians (yay!), Iranians, Lebanese-Americans, Mormons, Jews, Cuban exiles, Nigerians, and Chinese-Americans.

 

The three traits they've identified are: superiority complex, insecurity, and impulse control.  

I'm not anything but an honorary member of any of these groups (euromutt/WASP right here), but given my journeys from early childhood with a Jewish step-mother (and hard driving dad to counter my prep mother), Indian immigrant husband (and ex-BF, among other good friends), a stereotypical second-gen Chinese college roommate, and other long term exes who were a Cuban exile and second-gen Lebanese-American, I probably know more than most of the other people commenting on a book that is yet to be released as to what goes into the theory.
 

I'm not sure what they cover in the book, but of those I know in these groups they have a long basically unquestioned cultural heritage of valuing education, excellence, family, discipline and hard work.  There is no coincidence that the two highest earning groups in the U.S. (Jews and Indians) are also those who have the highest educational attainment.  Several of these groups also have a cultural history of persecution, which can be a unique cultural drive (to overcome obstacles, be resilient, etc.) for generations.  Many of these groups are also very insular, as are many immigrant groups, which is not always a good trait, but if they are successful and then look to their own peers to socialize, marry and hire, it is a self perpetuating cycle, even given their small numbers.  The largest of these groups is only a few percent of the total population.

The ability to pair the thought that you can do anything, and well (superiority) paired which the feeling that you aren't ever quite good enough no matter how good you are (insecurity) and a unique (anti-modern American) ability to put off immediate gratification for the long term benefit (impulse control) is a powerful combination that can bring uncommon success.

As the blurb suggests, and as she did in Tiger Mom, they delve into the pros and cons of these traits.  The moral of Tiger Mom is you can have really successful kids if you are strict, but if it doesn't meld with your kid's personality, it can backfire.  She always gives the flip side of her mantra, a bit of an out.  This may be what makes her somewhat palatable, but people still criticize her like crazy.  But she's laughing all the way to the bank...  Looking forward to checking this one out...

What Drives Success? (NYT, 1//25/14)
The Problem with the Triple Package... (The Atlantic, 1/28/14)