An Overdue Day in Nature

 

It always sounds like a lot of work to get the kids ready, pack a lunch and head out on a field trip, but this one paid big dividends.  I wanted to take the kids somewhere close-ish, yet not feel like we were in the city.  I found a family hike at Papago Park called "The Hole in the Rock." (Name is self-explanatory.)

It was a 200 foot climb in 1/10th of a mile with a rattlesnake precaution.  Grant said, "Let's go find the rattlesnakes.  As long as we leave them alone, they'll leave us alone."  Lucky for me, we didn't spot any snakes of any sort today!

It took about ten minutes to reach the summit, and we were rewarded with a full view of the valley.  The kids were astonished!  Then they got to climb all over the rock formation.  All three of them did sketches for school and asked to go back.  It feels so good to get out sometimes that I wonder we don't do it more.

It Must Be the Age ...

I just can't get enough of Grant's conversations lately.  He is always saying something funny or sweet or cute.  Here are some from this week.

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Grant entered the kitchen and found an onion that I had left sitting on the counter.  He started peeling the layers of the skin off and made a small pile with them.  When he felt like he had done enough, he said, "Look Mom, I peeled off several."  I looked and agreed.  Then he said, "I know what several means.  It means many.  Aren't I useful, Mom?"

* * * * *

As you are aware, Grant loves Mario.  He takes his guide book with him everywhere he goes, and he plays the game as much as he is allowed.  He talks about it to anyone who will listen, and he is constantly dreaming up new strategies to beat levels.  Lately he has started thinking of ways to improve the game.  Tonight, as he lay in bed and we sat in the dark having our nightly conversation, Grant said, "Mini dude is awesome, but I wish he could beat all of the bad guys like a star.  But that's never going to happen.  UNLESS, when I become big like Dad, I CREATE games for the wii.  Then all my dreams can come true!"

* * * * *

Nicole had drawn five stars on one of her school work assignments.  Grant asked her why, and she explained that the stars represented her best writing.  Later that night, Grant approached me and said, "Mom, I want to give you five stars.  That's how much I like you.  Well, maybe I would give you seven."

* * * * *

After lunch, I asked Grant to bring his bowl to the sink.  That prompted this thought:
"Mom, did you buy me, or was I sent to you?"
"You were sent to me."
"Oh, I get it!  Kids are sent to parents to help them clean up."
Something like that.

More Spelling with Grant

I realize that this post will probably only be interesting to myself.  Everyone thinks their kids do the cutest things and the rest of the world is either unimpressed or bored.  In my defense, I just want to say that when I was little I wrote my spelling words in my journal (I was a nerd, I guess!) and that I still find spelling lists interesting in their own way.

Normally Grant writes his spelling words on a dry erase board.  But this particular day I had him write with good old-fashioned pencil and paper because I didn't want to take a chance of him staining his new shirt with a permanent marker (as is almost always inevitable).  A positive by-product of this decision is that I have a physical record of his work.

The words on his list seem unrelated, but they're all from his current books.  Before we began, he told me that he would only be able to write 11 words because his hands hurt.  This statement is only funny to those who have spent time with Grant personally.  He is the classic definition of a hypochondriac.  Something always hurts, especially when it comes time to work.  At any rate, I appeased him and numbered his list to 11.  He wanted to count down, so he started at the bottom and worked his way up.  That's why he wrote the word "END" at the top.  Grant also crossed off each number as he completed a word, and then connected three numbers together "in a row, like tic tac toe."  Lastly, he crossed out all of the numbers from top to bottom.  I don't know why, but his hands never ache when he's doing all of this extra writing.

I like to look at kid handwriting as much as I like to hear baby talk.  It's just cute to see these skills in the developing phases. 

My favorites:

• After Grant wrote the word sunsEt, he wrote a line after sun and told me it was because sunsEt "has two syllables." 
• The big dot on Jim
• The capital G on HunG -- all G's are capitals.  G was also the first letter Grant learned to write.  His signature used to be G. H.  Now it's Grant H., so, as he always reminds me, I "know which Grant it is."
• The lines that connect each letter of EnD to the number 1

Humble

Grant: "I'm a good boy most of the times, right Mommy?"

A Little Story about Scotty

After lying in bed awake (and mostly quiet) for an hour yesterday afternoon, Scotty gave up on a nap and came downstairs to ask permission to be excused.  He walked cautiously toward me, put on a smile, and said in his sweetest voice (as he patted his chest), "Morning." 

Every morning when the kids wake up, I always greet them with "Good morning!"  So Scotty must think those are the magic words that allow someone to get out of bed. 

I couldn't resist smiling back at him and his logic and replied, "Good morning, Scotty."  He jumped, clapped his hands, and said, "Yay!"  And that was the end of Scotty's "nap."