The love of my life

Since this is my blog, I get to write whatever I want ;) If you don't want to read mushy stuff, then just ignore this post. I just need to tell my hubby how much I love him.

The past few months (really the past year) has been especially trying for Rob and I. He has carried a very burdensome and heavy load in all aspects of life. He is carrying a 5 person workload in his lab... seriously. He is training undergrads, graduate students, and post docs on how to use the lab equipment and how to run the protocols he has developed, he is teaching graduate students, he is co-authoring papers with many other students, he is trying to publish his own research, he is taking undergrad EE students to competitions and wining 1st place internationally, he is the go-to man in the lab for pretty much any question or if anyone needs help. He is pulled in every direction at work alone. But on top of that he is working as a contractor for a defense group in Washington D.C. which brings in the "cushion" money that has made grad student life comfortable for us. On top of that he is the husband of a very demanding, emotional, and crazy wife!! On top of that, he is the father of two very playful, energetic little boys who constantly demand his every attention the second he walks in the door. Right now he is reading to our boys in the bedroom. I can hear him drifting off every couple of lines.... reading lethargically... it's really funny :) The boys are jumping on him every time he stops reading. Poor Rob.

So, I just want Rob to know how much I love him. He is my knight in shining armour, my David, my royal Egbert King, my ultimate frisbee layouter, my soul mate, my best friend, and the sexiest man I've ever met. No matter how many time I say I've had enough of this crazy 7 year old graduate school life, I'll always stand by your side. I'll always be your LOUDEST cheerleader. I'll always brag about how smart you are. I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine. I'll hold your hand and wipe away your tears. I'll never stop loving you, Robbie.

Love, Jeanie

Jet Packs

I came across a tutorial awhile back on how to make jet packs out of mostly recycled materials. I've been storing up the needed materials for a few months and finally got around to assembling them today. Let me just say that they were a huge success with my boys. They loved them.

First I'll give you a little run down on how I made them.
1. Spray 1.25 liter soda bottles with Krylon Plastic Fusion spray paint- I used silver but you could make them any color. Let dry.
2. Cut out a piece of cardboard about the width of two of the bottles side by side, and about six inches long. Spray it with spray paint too. I just used the the plastic fusion stuff on the cardboard too.
3. Using tulle of red, yellow, orange- acordian fold pieces together and hot glue into the openings of the bottles. You can do this how ever you want. Make them long, short, fluffy, whatever you like.

4. Hot glue the bottles onto the cardboard.
5. Cut straps to the desired length to comfortably fit your child like a backpack (I hot glued the top of the strap on between the bottom of the bottle and the cardboard, fit it to my child, then hot glued the bottom).

Then my boys put them on and ran around the house like crazy making all kinds of terrific noises I had no idea they were capable of. 

Full day vs. half day kindergarten

I've been doing a lot of reading the past few weeks about Kindergarten. To be perfectly honest, I feel overwhelmed with the idea of navigating through the school system and figuring out what is best for my son.  I'm beginning to lean toward homeschooling the first year or two. I feel very, very conflicted about full day Kindergarten. I told Rob tonight that I just won't do it. If we live somewhere with a half-day option then I'll gladly and happily consider.


At this moment, I'm really mad about everything I'm reading online about full day vs. half day kindergarten. Much of the information I find tells me the following:

"Children who attend full-day kindergarten programs learn more in literacy and mathematics over the kindergarten year than those in half-day programs.

"Children who attend full-day kindergarten spend 30% more time on reading and literacy instruction as well as 46% more time on mathematics than children in half-day programs.

"The full-day advantage in literacy amounts to slightly more than one month of extra learning and the advantage in math is slightly less than one month.

First of all, the "benefits" of full day kindergarten are not on my "to-do" list for my boys. I am not sending my kid to Kindergarten to learn math and reading! Jasper is already beginning to read and he does math constantly when out counting sticks or leaves, or doing multiples of two's while playing legos.  

Kindergarten originated from the words "children in the garden" (http://www.froebelweb.org/) where kids learned about socialization, exploring the natural world, learning about the true nature of work through play, etc. Why are we, as a society,  mainstreaming our little ones so early? Why are children in kindergarten expected to have reached certain academic "benchmarks" by the end of the school year? Why are these benchmarks more important than fostering imaginary play and self-guided exploration? Why are 5 year olds having to worry about "success" and "achievements" in kindergarten today? All of this actually makes me quite mad! I think it's all a bunch of garbage! I think all this pressure we are putting on the young minds of our children is stifling creativity and will ultimately lead to early childhood depression, anxiety, and other health problems. I believe that the children who grow up to become highly successful adult are those who had a childhood full love, nurturing creativity, imaginary play, and learning the value of hard work. 

Okay, so I need to be talked down from the high horse people. I'd love for some feedback. I'd love to hear from all of you what you chose for your child(ren) and why. Even if you don't have kids of your own, I'd love to hear your personal opinion and ideas about this topic. 

Favorite Sounds of Mothering

I've been wanting to write this post for a long time. As difficult as it is mothering two young boys who occupy pretty much 100% of my time, energy and attention, I want to remember this stage of life forever. Along with the trying times, come the most wonderful, happy, moments I've yet experienced in life.

This stage of life is full of the most precious sounds. Sounds that I know I will someday miss...

Right now, my boys are in bed. I tucked them into separate bunks but they inevitably end up in the same one :) I can hear them whispering and giggling. Gideon's giggle is a bit louder than Jasper's. Sometimes the giggling is on the verge of crying, like one of them is getting smooshed or pushed. But the sound of them together reminds me of my childhood, sharing a bunk bed with my sis Anna. We'd do the same thing at night and I think much of our bonding came from that nighttime chatter.

The sound of my boys running laps in our apartment. That sounds of their quick, light footsteps. Someday their footsteps will sound heavy and methodical. I will miss the sound of their little feet someday.

The sound of their "smooshy" kisses. Jasper started insisting on giving me smooshy kisses a few months ago. I hope he never stops giving me those kind of kisses. I love them even when there are boogers and snot involved :)

The sound of the boys in the bathtub. Although this is not my favorite sound because it means they are splashing water all over the floor, there is a part of me that will be sad when they are too old to take baths together and they think splashing is for babies.

Tonight we got caught in the craziest rainstorm. Rain means puddles to my boys. I listened to the sound of my boys splashing in the puddles left from the rain. I love that sound. It makes me happy.

Their cute little voices. My boys both have a little quiver in their voice when they are sad or upset. Their little quivery voices are adorable. I love them so much. I will miss their little kids voices someday. They will grow up and go through puberty and sound like grown up men someday... I think it might make me cry when their little kid voices disappear. I hope that their kids have quivery voices, just so that I can hear it again when I'm an old lady.

Okay, this post if making me cry so I'll stop there for now. I am going to keep adding to this list, though. If you have sounds of mothering to add, please share!