It's all about blocks (Week 20)

This week the theme has been around blocks, bricks, building and understanding. For Leif this meant a big talk about Haiti. we talked about what happened, why it happened where it did and not somewhere else. He asked about the Dominican R. and why they were comparatively unaffected so I found a quake reference online from years ago that shook up the Dominican but left Haiti untouched. We went online to Wikipedia and found photographs of the destruction (not the injured) and we talked about why it mattered so much that their city and infrastructure were destroyed (bricks and buildings) and what they need now (to be built back up and not have efforts blocked by politics and mismanagement of funds). We talked about the Richter scale and how coastal cities have experienced major quakes (San Fran) and that Vancouver Island is situated on a fault, yet there's been little to no quake activity during my entire lifetime (oh the balance of telling the truth without causing a panic). And we also touched on Search and Rescue efforts and how people can survive being trapped for many days, and that dogs are useful in these searches.

It was a big chat. Who knows what parts stuck with him or were of interest to him. He went off to build with Lego.

Thanks to a great holiday gift (gracias Shona!) Leif has been delving into the art of comic strip drawing this week (blocks!). Without any suggestions or ideas from us he created Bob and Lob, two guys who reminded me very much of Akbar and Jeff from the long-ago Life In Hell series. I found some of those comics at the library and Leif has been perusing them this week.



Hannah's week has been full of tough concepts to grasp and concrete ways she can help out (no pun intended I swear!). We've been working our way through the series Ivy & Bean and Hannah has really enjoyed it. We're waiting for book 6 from the library, which has had a few holds ahead of us. But the other day we saw it in the bookstore (hardcover no less) and so Hannah said "let's buy it!". So I explained why buy it when we can borrow it in a few days? Why trade our money for something that will end up cluttering our house forever and we'll likely never read it again? She sort of got that, as it's a concept we've discussed many, many times before. This is why we are at the library at least once a week.

Then she was checking out the Lego.com site and decided she really *really* wanted this Star Wars set ($200). So I mentioned how she'd gotten a similarly priced set as her one and only b-day gift last year and that once assembled she'd never played with it, and now it was broken into a million pieces anyway. That she could get so many diff things for such a sum, and that hey, she didn't even have that much money anyway. These concepts were tougher. I told her how I used to buy things that were 'okay' and 'on sale', instead of waiting for what was 'just right' and not focused on the cost. Meaning one good pair of quality, long-lasting shoes that I really need, instead of 4 cheapo ones that are just for fashion. That if she had to earn $200 it'd take her X amount of time at a job she didn't even have yet, and the Lego would be something she'd get little use out of, because it's so complicated and fragile. Is it worth her money? She really could not grasp these big ideas, so we dropped it for awhile. In the meantime I've committed to helping her find all the pieces (798 bricks people!) for her broken set and help her re-assemble it.

To soothe her over-taxed brain Hannah has been helping Kit and Terry outside with the front patio work (bricks). She really enjoys helping adults, it gives her such a feeling of competence and usefulness. I so remember enjoying that feeling too as a child. She's helped dig out the driveway, hammer down the concrete wall, lay patio stones and glue the stones on the stairs. How great it will be for her to use these areas over the next decade and know she played a part in it. (Pssst Al, we'll need some Hannah-projects for the new cabin as well!).



This week has held the usual run of soccer practices and games, aikido, skating lessons and good old skating and ice hockey fun for both kids.

A new addition to Hannah's week is drumming lessons. She goes 30 min each week and then we try to encourage some practicing at home (we know if we insist or push her she'll just drop out of lessons entirely). Right now her teacher has her working on the drum part of this great White Stripes song (since she's mastered Doorbell already). It's called Seven Nation Army and we're loving it. When we finish our house reno she'll have her own drum room to bust out in.

Ivy's week has had it's ups and downs. The babysitter thing didn't work out. It's so funny that I just assumed it would, when I have never had a sitter for the other two kids. I'd just forgotten why and have been more focused on getting a bit of freedom for me. So we're back to doing everything as a foursome, and I just bring along a stack of books and snacks for Ivy.

We are all excited about watching the upcoming Olympic hockey games. Yes you can be anti-Olympics and pro-athletes. :) We're thankful that it will all take place in our time zone, and we hope to get to Grandma and Grandpa's to watch things on the BIG screen.

C