Category Archives: Preschool Age

Elephant and Piggie

Leave a reply

New York was a wonderful trip. We had fun just being together, seeing the touristy things of the city like the Statue of Liberty, etc. I took lots of pictures but have not had a chance to look through them yet.

I went to a book expo, and it was okay. I don’t read a lot of modern fiction, and of course that was what it was about. I did enjoy meeting a number of picture book authors (although I missed meeting Mo Willems; I couldn’t get a ticket). I also did really enjoy the Book Blogger Convention. Notable authors I met include Katherine Paterson, Jan Brett, and Judy Schachner (Skippy Jon Jones).

One highlight of the week for me and for Paul was I got to meet a life-sized Elephant and Piggie. Apparently, Paul was telling all his preschool friends about them the next day (after I talked to him on the phone). They did not know what he was talking about.(Sorry, awful pictures, taken with my phone)

IMAG0169[1]

IMAG0171[1]

We love Elephant and Piggie in our house. Perfect for a budding reader. Paul reads one of them (usually Gerald) and I read the other. Gerald always has more words because he is a worrier, but it’s amazing to me how much Paul is able to read.Our favorite of the 15+ books is We Are in a Book. I’m thinking I may need to track down a copy for our permanent collection.

Quick Update

2 Replies
  • I did not forget my fifth wedding anniversary on Friday. Ryan worked at the temple until late. We’re celebrating starting tomorrow when we head to NYC together, sans Paul!
  • I’m working on scanning pictures and archiving them in a personal flickr account. If you befriend me on flickr (rebreidfamily) then you can see all the albums. I’m going to post some of the images on our new Family Gallery page, but most will, for privacy’s sake, be hidden to strangers. In honor of our wedding anniversary, see our Wedding Festivities page.

  • Paul is very excited to spend time with his friends (two nights) and with grandma (the rest of the week). He started packing a bag last week, but I’ve been trying to convince him it’s still too early to pack.
  • Paul’s imaginary friends are still around. They keep multiplying. One of his newest friends is Pinecone.
  • I took my first Karate belt test on Saturday night. If I passed, I’ll be a red belt. If I didn’t pass, I’m still a white belt. Either way, I’ve got to keep working out. My stomach is no longer satisfying to me.
  • For three days in New York, I will be attending Book Expo America and a Book Blogger Convention; I’ve been invited to be on a panel talking about special issues for bloggers writing about the classics. They have paid my way to the convention. Although I don’t read a lot of newly published literature, I’m still ridiculously excited.
  • Today was Paul’s last day of gymnastics class. We might do it again in the fall; I don’t know yet. Trust me, even though he’s getting lots of help in this video, he’s much improved.

Reflections

Leave a reply
  • In Paul’s primary talk, he said, “Jesus rose for us.” He then, in a different context, saw the  picture of the Risen Lord appearing to Mary and said, “Look, Mommy! Jesus rose-ing!”
  • Normally during Sacrament Meeting, Paul sings “mah blah blah mah!” as loudly as he can in time with the music, as he or I points to the words on the page. Today, the speaker introduced the song, “Behold, the Great Redeemer Die!” Paul sang along with the correct words for the first two lines. I was amazed: he knows that song. I know that is because we go to church every Sunday.
  • Regularly, Paul stops playing to say, “Mommy, I say unto you, I love you!” This is how I know he really does hear the scripture study we do together, even though it seems he’s not paying attention.
  • Paul is regularly teaching me a lesson in humility and generosity, from his sharing his fruit snacks to his outpouring of love. From his example, I better understand the Savior’s injunction to be as a little child. I’m to approach life with sincerity, to love and give without thoughts of “scarcity” and selfishness, and to be honest in my thoughts, words and deeds. (Although I should mention that Paul has learned to lie, he is still for the most part a very truthful, loving, sensitive child.)

Paul’s First Primary Talk

2 Replies

The subject Paul was given for his talk was “Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer.” We got our favorite pictures of Jesus from the gospel art kit, Mommy put it in order, and to help herself, she wrote the words of Paul’s talk on a paper on the back. To her surprise, Paul was reading the words on the back. Here is Paul’s talk for Sunday.

We watched this video together and Paul said, “Mommy, I want to follow Jesus.” Yes, dear. I do too!

Paul’s Friends

Leave a reply

I think it’s about time to introduce the rest of the family.

Paul has a mommy named Rebecca and a daddy named Ryan. Also in our family is Goldbug, and Pootie and Frosty and Frosty Goo (who is sometimes just called Goo).

Goldbug has a pink shirt and white pants, and white socks. He is a little bit short.

Pootie is a boy. He has yellow pants and a blue shirt. He is short.

Frosty and Frosty Goo have blue pants and white underwear pants. They both have pink shirts and gray socks. They are not snowmen, even though that’s what they were named after.

Sometimes they change their clothes, so tomorrow it may be different.

Paul also has a lot of other friends that visit every day. Pinoochio; Huckle, Lowly, Pig Will and Pig Won’t, and Hilda Hippo (from Richard Scarry); and ABCD; and “no more” (he says right now).

Most days, Paul will ask about random letters. “What does QXRG spell?” and I’ll try to pronounce it. He’ll repeat it and say “that’s my imaginary friend! He’s coming to play today!”

He also pretends real peopel are imaginary all day long. A pretend Brother B– from church, for example, or a pretend mail carrier who comes with Christmas presents (already, yes).

As we talk right now, he says, “No more imaginary friends!” but I know there will be more tomorrow. It’s just how it is today.

Goldbug and Pootie are here to stay though. They are his brothers. They live in a house above ours, but it is in Florida. They share a car with Frosty and Frosty Goo, which has  three toilets in it. In short, they are pretty cool friends to have. He loves to bring them along every where. When we’re going for a long drive, he often talks about how he wishes we had a toilet in our car too, either because he needs to go or because he really didn’t want me making him use the toilet before he left.

One week when Goldbug was new to our family (last September?), Paul begged to bring him to church with him. I said, “as long as he is reverent.” When Paul started squirming during the meeting, I said, “Paul, show Goldbug how to sit reverently,” and Paul sat right up. It’s very convenient.

Here is a video of a few conversations I had with Paul about his imaginary friends. He mostly wanted to tell stories about his friends, but he does introduce them a little bit too. It is quite funny, if you ask me. The video was taken April 10, 2011. We both have colds then, and somehow we already both have colds today too.

 

Zoo Flakes ABC Snow Day Activity

Leave a reply

I certainly hope there is not snow in the coming 48 hours, but in honor of one last crazy storm this winter-ish season, here’s one more “snow day” book that Raisin and I enjoyed. It’s one that would be fun any time of year.

Zoo Flakes ABC by Will Howell is a fabulous ABC art and craft book. Each letter of the alphabet is represented by a snowflake cut in the shape of an animal, and they are fantastically detailed. Given Raisin’s love of the ABCs, he loved following the alphabet in the book. I loved how it was a different ABC book, because sometimes the same old thing gets boring. There are plenty of same old thing ABC books, and we’ve read them all. We both also loved finding the image of the animal in each snowflake. As an adult, I personally loved the details in the images of the animals.

I cannot find any online page images from Mr Howell’s book to show you, and I’ve already returned it to the library. But since Mr. Howell included detailed directions on how to make our own zooflakes, we did just that.

You should know that I am completely not an artistic or crafty person. I’ve never made an attractive snowflake in my life. But I was finally successful on this project. At least, I felt like I was.There is one image below that I intended to be a sheep and Raisin insists it is an octopus. Okay, then, maybe not.

IMG_1239[1] IMG_1243[1]
IMG_1240[1] IMG_1241[1]

 

 

Can you tell what animals I was trying for? If not, here they are. The first is a fish. It fell apart; there weren’t enough edges to keep it together. The second is people (Raisin calls them “Munchkins” since we went to The Wizard of Oz musical recently.) Then the four are a chicken, a sheep (sitting on his rear hunches, he looks like he just has two legs…), a cat face, and a snake. My favorite is the chicken, which is, I think, the last one I made. I was improving!

Paul with our creationsIMG_1242[1]

This post cross-posted on Rebecca Reads.

Spring Has Sprung!

1 Reply

I took these pictures and the video on Wednesday, March 17, 2011. I had intended to post them as a “Wordless Wednesday” post to contrast with the post from a few weeks ago. But I didn’t have a chance. The first day of spring is a good reason to celebrate a day of sunshine, though!

Here’s Paul on the day he wouldn’t come in. We were outside for at least four hours.
MG_1147[1] MG_1160[1] MG_1168[1] MG_1203[1]
MG_1187[1] MG_1181[1]

Guess What Song Paul Is Learning in Primary?

Leave a reply

As he was eating breakfast the other day, Paul stopped mid bite and said, “Mom! I know who I am!”

I congratulated him. Then a few bites later. “Mom! I know God’s plan!”

Aw, how sweet!

He also told me “I know who you are, too. You are my Mommy. I know that because I love you.”

He also has been closing his prayers “In the name of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints.” Combined with his recent confusion as to who to pray to, his prayers have been a bit confused lately.