Charlotte Writes Her Name And Gets a Library Card

 

A couple weeks ago Charlotte wrote her own name for the first time.  We were signing in at preschool, like we always do.  There is usually a scribble/writing sheet for the kids right next to the parent sign in sheet.  (After Charlotte had proudly written her name, I realized that the potluck sign up sheet had been put in the same place...oh well).    

Of course, she learned to write her name gradually, but it felt like it was all at once.  In November, Nova showed her letters using Popsicle sticks.  A few months later Charlotte made the document below, all her own creation.  Circles, lines and loops combine with A, N, H and S.  Proudly displayed on the fridge, the document was exposed to a little bacon grease.  

In our family, when a child can write his or her own name in a small space, it is time to get his or her own library card!  Charlotte was VERY excited.  Our library has several designs.  She chose the arts themed card.

And checked out her first books!

The Orphanage Museum

Did you know that Owatonna Minnesota is home to the only Orphanage Museum in North America??  Its official name is the Minnesota State Public School for Dependent and Neglected Children.  Quite an imposing edifice, especially to a child.  The main building housed the administrative offices and the dining hall.  Today the building is the Owatonna City Administration Building, in addition to housing the museum.  

Our book club took a field trip to the Minnesota State Public School after reading The Extrodinary Education of Nicholas Benedict by Trenton Lee Stewart, which takes place in an orphanage.  The book has been nominated for this year's National Homeschool Book Award, along with three others.  While the buildings, grounds and displays are interesting, the best part by far was listening to and asking questions of Harvey Ronglien, the director of the museum former orphan (technically ward of the state).  Harvey lived at the Minnesota State Public School (MSP from 1932-1943.  He was about five in 1932 when he and his brother entered and he left when he was old enough to be independent, about 16. Harvey and his wife Maxine are the driving force behind the museum.  Here he is speaking to our group in what was the dining hall.  

Though Harvey liked MSP, he emphasized just how important a family is by describing the things he missed without even knowing.  For example, as an adult he had no idea that one should celebrate birthdays or visit relatives on holidays.  Maxine set him straight.  It was interesting to hear the ways in which being brought up at the State Public School was advantageous, and ways in which it was not.  The children were fed, housed and clothed at the height of the depression.  They received a high school education at a time when lots of kids did not go beyond the 8th grade.  The orphanage had electricity before the town.  On the flip side, the children grew up in an institutional setting.  Creativity and individuality was discouraged.  Discipline was harsh.  Socially, it seems might was king, which did not translate to the outside world very well.  On the brochure it says "for some, it was a circle of hell; for others, a safe haven."  

Ariadne was especially taken with the infant display.  The mannequins where just her size and right at her level.  I think she wanted to ride their rocking horse.  

Here are all of the kids along with Harvey Ronglien outside cabin 11 (c-11), where he lived for the majority of his childhood.  In fact, his memoir is entitled Boy from C-11.  The door behind us the main entrance, but all the kids were required to use the basement door to the right.  Similarly, there was a formal living room, the children weren't allowed in it except for special occasions like Christmas.  Instead they spent most of their time in the basement.  So did our kids.  All the toys were down there.  

We ended our visit with a picnic on the extensive grounds.  During Summer there are audio stations throughout the property, where Harvey Ronglien's stories are available at the push of a button.  

Sewing A Rain Suit

Charlotte's preschool requires rain pants.  They really do use them almost every day.  They are justified.   For reasons I cannot entirely justify, I decided that I should make them, for everyone.  Except Ariadne, she got a whole rain suit (and a whole blog post to match).  

The first step is finding some good affordable gore-tex fabric.  For us this meant a trip to the SR Harris warehouse.    We came back with six distinct colors.  All the better to grab the appropriate pants and not get to the woods with size 4 rain pants. 

Gore-tex calls for a heavy duty sewing machine needle (I think I used 90), heavy duty waterproof thread, and paper clips in place of pins.  

Next, get some good pajama patterns.  For the rest of the family, we are just using pajama bottoms.  For Ariadne I used a hooded sleeper pattern that I modified slightly.  The first modification was a placard that goes behind the zipper to keep the rain out.  The top folds over a bit to make a little stop to keep the zipper pull from pinching Aria's chin.  (I copied this from an old Land's End rain suit).  The second was a had brim on the hood.  It is four layers thick, to make it stiff enough to stand straight out.  And...a rain suit.     

 

Ariadne is One! Easter Celebration!

This year Easter fell on March 31st, which also happens to be Ariadne's first birthday.  I looked it up--this will happen again, but not often.  She can look forward to an Easter birthday again when she turns twelve, 74 and 85 (should she live that long--lets hope).  We celebrated both with grandparents at our house.  All aunt and uncle types were far afield this time around with Matt, Marianne and Sylvan visiting folks in Winnipeg and Brynn at home in Brooklyn.

  

We started off with Easter baskets in the morning.  An egg hunt occupied the kids while the grownups chatted.  The egg in the vase of flowers wasn't found until late in the day.  Ariadne's eggs had chocolate and vanilla bunny cookies (like animal crackers) which she turned out to be quite fond of.

Our dinner was more the Easter side of things with salmon, herbed carrot soup, roast cauliflower, green salad and fruit salad.

Dessert was decidedly birthday--we continued the tradition of a banana bread bunt cake for Ariadne's first birthday.  She was happy with the cake, but what she really wanted was the vanilla ice cream.  Her dad was holding off--knowing it would be messy.  I finally slipped her a scoop and she said "yes!"  for the first time.  Not the 'yes, thank you' kind of yes, but the 'yes, score, awesome' kind of yes.  A highlight of the meal--everyone laughed.  It was fun to watch her eat.  Ariadne has a strong gag reflex--much like Solomon did.  Only recently has she been able to eat anything without mishap.

Ariadne was starting to get the hang of present opening by her birthday.  Having two older siblings' birthdays a few weeks before her must have helped.  Charlotte was ready to lend a hand at any point.

Nova is Nine! (and we survived our first sleepover)

Nova turned nine on March 3rd!  This year we ventured into sleepover territory.  Nova requested a dragon sleepover party.  And while some part of me was looking forward to leaving the whole themed party thing behind, it actually made it easier.  

 

As you can see in the photo there was some 'dragon slaying' piñata action going on (actually a triceratops with wings added by Nova--the mail order dragon piñata did not arrive in time).  We also rented dragon themed movies--How to Train Your Dragon (or perhaps it was the sequel), The Never Ending Story, and Spirited Away.  Narnia also got in there on its own merits.  The kids made dragon eye pillows while we were waiting for the pizza to arrive.

 Charlotte got to stay up through cake pops (if I were a professional blogger, I would also have posted about making gluten free cake pops), piñata whacking and present opening.  Gifts were all very Nova-appropriate and some also dragon themed.  Her friends know her! Solomon got in on the first movie.  I figured the girls would go to sleep around 1:00 a.m.  Really, it was about 3:30 a.m.  

The surprise was that they were also up by about 6:30 or 7:00.  A great number of games ensued.  Hide and go seek, night at the museum, twister, and pictureuka to name a few.  All the girls got along beautifully.  Most of them only knew Nova and one other party guest, so this particular group had never been together before.  Charles whipped up a breakfast of eggs and bacon while the preplanned rice pudding baked... turns out kids that wake up at 6:30 need breakfast before 9:00--who knew they'd be up by 6:30?!  (We tired party throwers enjoyed that rice pudding at lunch after our guests had made it home.)  The only late-night rule infraction we discovered was a little indoor pogoing on Nova's new pogo stick.  Reviews from parents in the next week were glowing.  All in all quite a success.  

That evening, which was Nova's actual birthday, we headed over to Grandpa John and Granne's house to celebrate with family.  They graciously hosted, which was even more wonderful than I thought it would be.  Sleepovers have a way of turning a living room upside down. Grandma Roberta, Grandpa Barry and Uncle Matt joined us there and we had good evening celebrating Nova's 9th birthday.  Nova's likes were well anticipated as she not one but two duplicate gifts this year--one a Lego kit and another a particular toy dragon.  Both were well loved and the Legos turned out to be even more fun doubled.  Aunt Mary (my God Mother) caught the end of the party, which was extra fun.  Though they don't see each other often, Nova and Mary get along famously.