We had been looking for quite a while for some sort of activity that Noah would really enjoy doing. He was adamant about not playing sports. Even though he seemed early on to have an ear for music, that interest seems to have dwindled. When I tried to sign him up for karate, he freaked out because he thought I wanted to take him to a place so kids could kick him and karate chop him, and he had to defend himself from that.
Sigh...
Finally, a flyer for Cub Scouts came home with him from school and I thought that might be JUST the thing. We wanted him to learn more about respect, working together, service to others, pride, and build up his self esteem a little bit.
I took him to one meeting and he just LOVED it.
LOVED. IT.
And immediately after that, we had an opportunity for one of us to spend a weekend at Camp Mataguay with him for lots of cub scout fun! So I stayed home with the twins, and Michael took Noah to camp for two nights this weekend.
They got to go fishing ("We caught a bunch of WEEDS!") and hiking. Noah was able to learn how to do archery and shoot BB guns, he threw a vase on a pottery wheel for me, they went canoeing watched skits, and Noah spent a lot of much needed quality time with his Dad.
Next time... I wanna go!
Michael took some videos and photos while there, so I thought I would share those.
This is my boy doing archery.
This is my boy getting a bullseye, baby!!
Luka has become quite the train aficionado lately. He discovered a friend's Thomas trains and little tracks and he hasn't looked back since. I got him a little set of used Thomas trains.
He likes watching that insanely boring show on TV, but I have to admit it is completely and utterly adorable to see him hooking up train cars, huddled over his tracks and moving his trains around making little chugging sounds.
My neighbor and I each have three kids, and while our eldest children were off getting their higher education, we loaded the little kids into one van and went off to the stadium where there is a San Diego Trolley station and climbed aboard. It was the perfect thing to do with four small boys.
The kids loved the trip, pointing out all the school buses, shopping malls and mountains they could see passing by out the windows. They loved not having to sit in car seats! We took two separate rail lines over to a small steam train museum where kids can explore a caboose and a climb into the engineer's platform on a steam engine.
Then we headed across the street to our favorite coffeehouse for moms with kids, Java Mama, to let them blow off some steam of their own while Audra and I filled up on caffeine.
Two more trains got us back to our van and then we headed home in time for lunch! That was enough to do me in for the day, even with the extra caffeine.
I had loads of good camera fodder. You can see more photos over on my flickr page!
Today, Noah became very frustrated with Luka about something and started saying some very mean and hurtful words. I told him that that kind of talk was not acceptable in our family, and so he stomped off to go draw a picture for Luka to show him his feelings since he was not allowed to do so verbally. He brings the drawing to Luka and presents it.
Noah: Here, Luka, this is for you.
Luka: For me?
Noah: Yeah. It's a picture of an evil chicken eating a boy and it's to show you how angry I am at you and that I really wish you would get eaten by something.
Luka: You made a picture for me!?
Noah: Yeah. This here says, "I - hate - you."
Luka: I LOVE IT!
Noah: You aren't supposed to love it. It's to show you how angry I am at you!
Luka: It's beautiful! Thank you, Noah!
Noah: It's not beautiful! It's MEAN! It says, "I hate you" on it!
Luka: What's this word?
Noah: It's HATE! It says HATE! H-A-T-E!!!
Luka: Good job, Noah!
Noah: You don't understand! You are getting attacked by this evil chicken!
Luka: Is me?
Noah: Yeah. And an evil chicken!
Luka: I love it! Thank you, Noah!
Noah: Oh... NEVER MIND!!!!!
Okay, so it's Luka's turn. He is a bit behind Ethan in language skills. Pretty good at saying what he wants to say, but not the greatest at comprehending what is said to him. I had to ask him some of these questions in different wording. And this interview was done in about three different sittings because he was a bit frustrated. But it's darn cute.
1. What is something mommy always says to you?
(makes a kiss sound)
2. What makes mommy happy?
A bandaid.
3. What makes mommy sad?
What about clothes?
4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
Look what I found!
5. What did your mommy like to do when she was a child?
I want to find you on a picture.
6. How old is your mommy ?
4
7. How tall is your mommy ?
Big!
8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
Dora.
9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?
Counting.
10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Five.
11. What is your mommy really good at?
Four. Or two. Or one.
12. What is your mommy not very good at?
I want to play my games.
13. What does your mommy do for her job?
Type.
14. What is your mommy 's favorite food?
Carrots
15. What makes you proud of your mommy?
Luka!
16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
What cartoon mean?
17. What do you and your mommy do together?
Play outside. Let me show you outside.
18. How are you and your mommy the same?
There's blocks in the jar.
19. How are you and your mommy different?
I'll brought you something.
20. How do you know your mommy loves you?
Loves me!
21. What does your mommy like most about your daddy?
Love him!
22. Where is your mommy 's favorite place to go?
Playground!
Well, I did this "interview your kids meme" with Noah the other week, and so I thought I would give it a go with Ethan next. Ethan is 3 and 1/3 right now. His language skills finally took a jump forward after lagging for awhile, so its kind of fun chatting with him now. Here goes:
1. What is something mommy always says to you?
Eat.
2. What makes mommy happy?
Play blocks!
3. What makes mommy sad?
Draw on the table. And microwave, too.
4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
Funny kinds.
5. What did your mommy like to do when she was a child?
Say "goo goo gah gah".
6. How old is your mommy ?
You are 5!
7. How tall is your mommy ?
Check your email!
8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
Daddy's video!
9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?
Make a Dora plate. And a Mario plate.
10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
25!
11. What is your mommy really good at?
Eating!
12. What is your mommy not very good at?
Draw on the table.
13. What does your mommy do for her job?
Checking your email on the computer.
14. What is your mommy 's favorite food?
Ummm... salad.
15. What makes you proud of your mommy?
Hug and Love.
16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
A girl. A man too with Daddy on it.
17. What do you and your mommy do together?
Dance!
18. How are you and your mommy the same?
We got names.
19. How are you and your mommy different?
A girl and a boy.
20. How do you know your mommy loves you?
Huggy.
21. What does your mommy like most about your daddy?
Hug him. I love Daddy and you.
22. Where is your mommy 's favorite place to go?
In the office.
The other weekend we were lucky enough to play host to my father's cousin Elana and her husband David for a few days while the stopped in San Diego during his book tour.
Elana and David Wesley live in Israel, having moved there (as newlyweds in their early 20s) to live on a kibbutz in the early 1950's, in the very early years of Israel's nationhood. Their kibbutz was on land near a village that was taken from the area's Palestinians, and this kibbutz used this village's orchards as their own, often hiring the Arabs who once owned the orchard as over hire employees during harvest time. They lived on this kibbutz for many years, but as their political views began to lean more to the left, their unease about co-opting the village's land began to grow.
Elana had always leaned to the left, politically, originally wanting to live on a kibbutz for its socialist look at things, where everyone was equal. She didn't see much equality for the local Arabs, though. Over time, David followed her beliefs, and today they both work toward a peaceful solution to the ancient strife, if not just for equality among the people of both sides.
David's book is about the difficulties encountered by the Palestinians who live within Israel (not the occupied territories) in their struggle for equal rights and full participation as citizens of Israel, which they are in name, but not in practice. David and Elana are touring America, with David lecturing about the book and their beliefs.
They already had some social events set up so I played their chauffeur while they were in San Diego and got quite an education by being able to participate in some amazing discussions about the history of the State of Israel, it's current dynamic, and possible solutions from folks who's ancestors came from both sides of the situation.
My first lesson was David's lecture at the SDSU Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies and the lively discussion with professors and students that followed.
The following night, we had dinner with a friend of a friend of theirs: (seafood and good wine overlooking the ocean!) and the husband of the couple turned out to have once worked for the Israel office of Foreign Affairs (if I remember correctly) and had quit after a few years because he was being asked to be a mouthpiece for Israel about things his heart no longer agreed with. He moved to America and now lives in SoCal.
And then on the third day, we had been invited to the home of a family here in San Diego, for an afternoon of coffee, cheesecake, and lots of congenial conversation with a group of their friends who were a mix of Israeli, Palestinian, Lebanese folks, etc.
We met in the home of Miko Peled, an Israeli peace activist and writer, and son of Matti Peled, who was an Israeli Major General in the Six Day War (in which Israel first seized the Gaza Strip and the West Bank) who himself later became a peace activist, and was one of a group of three generals who had clandestine meetings with PLO leaders, working to bring about the first official dialog between the PLO and Israel.
Miko has an interesting theory about how the conflict should be solved... not through a two-state solution, but through a one-state solution: a secular democratic state where every person, Israeli or Palestinian, is an equal citizen with an equal vote, leaving religion out of the whole affair. He writes about it here.
Among the other people at our little coffee klatch was a Lebanese artist, her husband who is a professor at the Jewish University of San Diego, and also a woman who is a playwright and founding director of a performing arts company here in the city, who has explored the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in one of her plays, in which she wrote my dad's cousin Elana in as a character with a pivotal role.
The talk was lively and friendly, full of lots of laughter and things to consider. I was able to ask questions that most of the folks in the room likely already knew the answers to, without feeling that I was an outsider or should know this stuff already. So it was a really fun and educational experience.
After taking my dear guests to the airport to fly off to the next stop on their American odyssey (their daughter's home!), I sought after and watched the documentary, Six Days in June, about the war in 1967, which filled in some gaps in my knowledge.
Being a mom, one often fills their head with more information about carpools and summer camps than about world affairs, and it was such a wonderful experience, stretching my brain for a good long weekend, giving it some exercise and fresh air for once in a long, long time.
More photos from our weekend can be found here.
I found a meme that some of my blog friends have been doing where you ask your kids interview questions and write down their answers word for word. I might try this one with the twins as well, but here is Noah's interview.
1. What is something mommy always says to you?
Time to go to bed! Time to go to bed!
2. What makes mommy happy?
My love.
3. What makes mommy sad?
My little brothers keep having problems. They keep getting hurt and having tantrums.
4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
You tell good jokes.
5. What did your mommy like to do when she was a child?
Play Tetris!
6. How old is your mommy ?
I don't know. 24?
7. How tall is your mommy ?
I'll get a ruler.
8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
House buying shows. (He means the ones on HGTV!)
9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?
Hang out with her husband.
10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Hmmm.... I know... singing! (then he starts singing "Figaro! Figaro!")
11. What is your mommy really good at?
Cooking.
12. What is your mommy not very good at?
Singing. And Art.
13. What does your mommy do for her job?
Usually you just do the kids' stuff. What they need.
14. What is your mommy 's favorite food?
Chinese food.
15. What makes you proud of your mommy?
I'm just impressed with everything.
16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
I've never seen a cartoon like you.
17. What do you and your mommy do together?
Play board games.
18. How are you and your mommy the same?
We both have very dark hair.
19. How are you and your mommy different?
I have dark skin and you have bright skin.
20. How do you know your mommy loves you?
She says it more than enough times!
21. What does your mommy like most about your daddy?
He's very handsome.
22. Where is your mommy 's favorite place to go?
To the park.
So, if I showed you photos from a holiday that feels like it was weeks ago, would it hold your interest?
Okay, I confess, this post is mostly for the Grandmothers so get over it! Right after the holidays I had some house guests for a few days, and spent a few days preparing for them, so the holiday post went on hiatus.
Michael and I come from mixed backgrounds so we tend to celebrate both Jewish and Christian holidays which can really rock if you like holidays!
And I do!
So, over the Passover/Easter holiday weekend, we headed up to Michael's mom's house. The first night we had Passover and it's traditional Seder dinner. This is a very ritualized dinner, and everyone was very excited to see that Noah was finally able to participate this year by reading the children's part, called The Four Questions.
Noah did a really awesome job and was proud when people praised him for sounding out words like "vegetables", "recline", and "Maror"!
Earlier in the day, Mima took the kids (and Michael) to the Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball Center which is an awesome display of hands-on kid-friendly exhibits including dozens of animals made out of everyday objects like violin cases, toilet plungers, springs, oil cans, bicycle horns and the like.
I went shopping.
That evening, after the Seder, we put the eggs and the baskets outside for the Easter Bunny so he could hide them in the backyard after filling them with... you know... KOSHER candy!
Uh huh.
That's how we roll.
We've found that we have had to limit Noah's time on the computer because he has discovered Super Mario Brothers and has become a bit addicted to playing it.
Okay. A LOT addicted to playing it.
But he recently found a downloadable program online that allows him to build actual Mario games, with different levels and such. I think this is actually pretty educational as he can figure out, as he plays his own games, what is too difficult or too easy to play and how to problem solve as well as get around inside menus and such.
Check it out.
