There's nothing as nice . . . (Week 5)

. . . as Women's Hockey on ice.


Okay, well, it doesn't exactly sound right, but the sentiment is 100%. This week I took the kids to see the Canadian Olympic Women's Hockey team play the USA team. It was the kids first hockey game ever, and I purposely chose women's hockey a)because they are good and b)they are also about skill not fighting. And as they grow up, they'll see how shamefully little is ever mentioned of women's success in this male-dominated sport (heck all sports are dominated by men, as is their coverage and financial backing) so it seems fitting to start them off with some knowledge of how women's physical skills are equally awesome. And it was indeed awesome! Our goalie Ms. St. Pierre was incredible. Leif was in awe of how well the defended the net, one goal out of 49 shots on goal. Hannah had a harder time focusing on the game itself, and instead worked her way through a box of cookies, a tub of popcorn and some licorice, and then took pictures of her surroundings. Way to be, sister!



Speaking of hockey, this week we had our own little celebrity visit. My Dad came over for the day, and I've told the kids often of his former role as their Uncle Ashley's hockey coach. I even have pictures. So when they heard he was arriving, they suited up for some street hockey and got some pointers from the Man himself.

First a little one-on-one . . .



then some help for Ivy . . .



and finally, some shots on goal for Mr. Khabibulin . .



Although Hannah did not take a shot to the teeth, she does have her first loose tooth. Woohoooo! A great milestone is approaching (and how about that segway?). She is having a hard time with it, because the tooth is indeed loose, but it is nowhere near ready to fall out yet. So it really hurts and bleeds when she forgets and eats with it. This prompted a discussion of how much we actually use those front teeth, and how hard it is to function without them. Then I challenged her to try doing things without her thumbs, and we discussed how our bodies are made up of so many function-specific parts, and without them it can be a real struggle to learn to work without them. But it can be done young Jedi.

Speaking of Hannah and food, we did a cool little activity this week. I've been thinking about her struggle with not liking what we're having for dinner, and eating the same few things again and again. While I do not want to frame food and nourishment in terms of proteins and veg/fruit, I did need a way to convey the importance of variety and balance. Things like food pyramids are, in my opinion, useless and unrelated to real life. A pyramid? Come on. Now a rainbow, that I can get into. I've always taught them that everything needs the Sun. Our weather, the plants, and our bodies. We set our rhythms by the Sun, and just like the plants and animals, we need to eat the Sun. Plants and animals grow from the sun, and when we eat them we're eating that life energy that everything needs. So we drew a rainbow together and discussed how some parts are bigger than others. That the red is bigger than the blue, for example. And that symbolises how much we need of one thing versus another. Red=veggies, orange=fruits, yellow=protein, green=grains, blue=treats and violet=love. She drew herself in the middle, and the love others feel for her was the big violet arc around her body. Then she listed off foods she liked and I wrote them in the appropriate colour. After awhile she remarked that she seemed to have lots of things in some areas (blue and orange) and not so much in others (red and yellow). So we decided to work on those, to try new foods and things that might fit in those areas that are lacking. I think it was a pretty cool learning tool.



Do you know what happens when you blast the K'Naan around here? Things get loud and crazy.








We worked on a great fall craft this week. Chestnut spiders and webs. Here are pictures of mine and Hannah's. Leif was trying out different ways of doing his and it's still 'in production'. They look really neat and were very meditative to create. I just may make some more.





xoxo

C