New Holes

Megan has reached another rite of passage. We decided years ago that ear piercing would be something special in our family. I didn't want them to have to wait forever but I didn't want to do it on a whim either, so we decided that we would let them get their ears pierced during their 2nd grade year before they received First Holy Communion. Today Megan was ready for her rising to Earringhood.

Megan had brought up ear piercing a number of times over the past few years and as her First Communion approached she was eager to have a date to get it done. Our weekends can get a little busy but today our scheduled Stream Clean Up was canceled because of rain and we used the rainy day for a bit of fun at the mall. Megan and I went together and Bridget was happy to come along "I'll always say yes to the mall" was her response.

Megan was a little anxious as we headed out and got very chatty as we walked to the accessory store. We waited just a little while and then she was up in the chair holding the store's bear. She picked out the "diamond ones" in white gold. It is a process for them to get set up and sterilize everything but Megs and Bridge kept each other occupied. The store manager put little purple dots on each ear and when they were in the right place, we went for it. Megan had a death grip on the bear but didn't move or make a sound. So much so that I had to check her ear to be sure it was in. With the second ear she did give my hand a squeeze before the trigger was pulled but again she had almost no reaction.

We were all really impressed, including a number of young girls and parents who were watching. Meg got lots of kind words and then we headed into the mall for a smoothie and pretzels.

I was really impressed with her composure. Her poor ears were bright red for an hour or so but they look really cute and she loves them. Her big sisters gave her a very positive response when she got home. It was a nice taste of feeling special in preparation for her upcoming Sacrament.

Emniss of the Hunger Games

Last year one of the women in my book club suggested I read the young adult trilogy - "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. I read it and was immediatly hooked. I cared about the characters and was not turned off by the distopian setting. It was the kind of book I longed to pick up if I had a few extra minutes and stayed up late reading just one more chapter. It has a pretty heavy premise - 24 teenagers forced to fight to the death by a Capitol in an attempt to keep the populous in line, but the book was all about maintaining human dignity. It is written from the point of view of Katniss, a 16 year old, survivor and protector. The Hunger Games showed evil for what it was and didn't make it gratuitous or overly graphic. The book also has an innocent love triangle that opens discussions without being inappropriate for the pre-teen and young teen set. I suggested the book to Emma as soon as I finished it. Emma isn't usually drawn to reading for personal pleasure but she couldn't put this book down.

The books were very popular and I had to put my name on a wait list at the library for the 2nd and 3rd books in the series. I brought the books home a few days later and Emma beat me to them. The stories are easy to read and very engaging. She was dying to talk to me about it and I was eager to get some resolution  too, so I read immediatley. She and I had lots of conversations about the motivations of the characters and how frustrating they could sometimes be, and our sheer disgust at some of the things people were put through. We also talked about the amazing tender moments of loyalty and humanity throughout. I loved being able to share these books with Emma. It is an easy way to bond.

We were really excited to hear that a movie was in the making and the past few months have been full of anticipation for it's release. We convinced Jim that he would enjoy it and I think his biggest motivator to read them was to be able to relate to Emma and actually have some sense of what Emma was talking about. (She talks about it regulary) Jim got them on audio book. He too was sucked into the story and finished all 3 books in succession. We gave Emma the hard back books for Christmas and I bought the ebook set. We decided that Rachael would be able to handle them and I suggested that she read them. Rachael doesn't take book suggestions from me so instead I walked around on Christmas break telling her that she difintly would not want to read the books. She grinned knowingly at my reverse psychology and relented. Rachael was glad to be part of Emma's world and enjoyed the stories. Some parts of the books were harder for her and left her unsettled, but luckily she is a very fast reader and was able to move past things and get to resolutions quickly. Rachael usually rereads books but this series she has not gone back to yet. Rae is looking forward to the movie but we are going to pre-screen it and make sure the visuals aren't too much.

Emma's countdown to the movie continues and she has to make an effort not to obsess about it. When you are months out it is hard to find info but HG has lots of fan sites and fan made videos. I am leary of this kind of stuff and asked Em to stick to the offical info. There is a lot less of that and certainly not enough to fill months of time, so Emma found her anticipation outlet in art. She has done some pencil drawings, written music to the song lyrics in the book, designed outfits for characters, but the biggest project is rewriting scenes from the book from the point of view of Peeta, the main male character. I love that she has picked these creative ways to direct her energy.

Emma found a dress at the mall that looked like one Katniss wears in the movie and didn't buy it because it was early in their shopping day and she is very careful with her money. But she wished she had and since we were heading back toward the mall that evening for a GS swim event I offered to pick it up for her (with her money). Bridget and I followed Emma's description and found it. It is a great dress and I have a feeling she will be wearing it to the movie on it's opening day.

Adventure is NOT her middle name

We continued the annual tradition of celebrating the winter cousin birthdays with a party at a nearby inflatable wharehouse. This year we celebrated 8 birthdays and it encompased 4 families. My 3 winter babies, Rachael, Megan, and Bridget, were included. The large wharehouse had 7 seperate inflatables that included big slides, an obstacle course, plain jumpers and a toddler Sesame Street inflatable. The cousins scattered energetically to the colorful aparatus but Bridget stood wide-eyed, leary of the gigantic inflatables. She tried the toddler jumper but got a bit of grief from her sisters, the bouncer police.  Bridget came out after a little while and looked around, unable to get up the nerve to try a big kid bouncer. She asked me to help her into the obstacle course but as soon as I lifted her off the ground I felt her go stiff and resist any forward motion. I put her down and she ran off. When I caught up with her I reassured her that she did not have to get on anything that she didn't want to. She relaxed, and said that she wanted to try the Disney bouncer. We went over to it together and as she was about to climb in realized it was full of bigger boys from another party and she slide back out. We looked around for her buddy Sarah but when I showed Bridget that Sarah was in the big dinosaur inflatable she backed away.  I have to say I had to resist the feeling that it was my job to get her into one of these things.

Rachael had a blast challenging cousins and conquering obstacles. I usually saw her with the older cousins, all boys. Emma got an invitation to hang out with friends and I had agreed but as we stood around at the party I regretted that she wasn't with us. I don't want missing family parties to become the norm. Right when we got there Meg had found Sophia, they are only 1 1/2 months apart, and the two of them roamed and ran together.

Bridget seemed to be enjoying herself even if it was in the toddler bouncer and she was 2 years older than the 0-3 year age limit. I had to occupy myself with talking to the adults and contain the urge to try to talk her into one of those things. The next time Bridget popped out she found Sarah and asked her to try the Disney bouncer. So together they entered the flat square bouncer with square walls. Bridget didn't jump but sat on her knees bobbing up and down with the  motion of the other kids. When she came out she looked surprised as she said "That was fun!" Bridget went in and out a few more times. She was enjoying herself more each time. Her cousins and sisters would run from one thing to another and Bridget would run along only to stop at the opening and back away as they entered. She did try the obstacle course. Jim encouraged her verbally through each stage. It started pretty flat and he even talked her over a 4ft hill but when she rounded the corner and saw the 15ft hill tension took over. She was not doing that.

  

 

 Play time was over and we moved to the party room for pizza and cupcakes. The 8 birthday kids gathered around as we sang all of them a Happy Birthday. We all had a fun time, even the adults. I found myself questioning if Bridget had a good time, but I really think she did. I feared that it couldn't be fun since she limited herself so much. But she found fun as she felt comfortable. I wish Bridget didn't limit herself because of fear, but pushing her makes it worse not better. When she feels safe she is willing to engage in a little adventure but Adventure is definitely not her middle name.