My kids have the force!

Anakin finished skating lessons this week. Here he is skating backwards. You can't really tell, but it is so cute because they just swivel their hips back and forth. Amazingly, they actually go backwards!

While Anakin was having skating lessons, Luke and I would have races up and down the ramp. Gypsy Girl would also join in! Oh the joys of being a Work Widow!

It warmed up during the week, so I went for a walk. I work/take classes three days a week, so Tuesdays and Thursdays are mine--well not really, but it's nice to have a little diversity. On Tuesday afternoon when the boys went to school, GG and I went for a walk. I didn't have time on Thursday, plus the weather turned sour :(

Here we are at the Library for story hour. We had dentist appointments Thursday morning (too early for our family) then we went to the Library. Luke has a mouth full of cavities, and Anakin has none. Isn't that strange when I'm sure Luke brushes his teeth more! Anyways, Luke was very nervous and scared. Whenever he does not understand his emotions, he goes into a stubborn control mode: "I am not going to the appointment ......." It's not very pretty! I'm learning (through parenting classes and parenting books) that if you deal with the emotion rather than the behavior, the poor behavior goes away. The results are pretty instantaneous and miraculous. With Luke, I need to identify the emotion, which is complete guessing game for me. I said to him, "Luke it seems like your nervous and scared about going to the dentist." He broke down in tears and said, "Yes." Me: "It's alright to be nervous and scared--I get nervous and scared." (I was actually nervous and scared about taking him to the dentist). His behavior changed, and he did a great job at the dentist office. Anakin watched Luke's entire appointment, then bravely went into the chair and followed the routine exactly. It was an exhausting day, but I won't have to do it again for another 6 months. Mike is taking Luke back for his fillings. Luke seems more secure with Mike. Plus, he'll have the one on one attention.

Anyways on to the picture: Luke's new webkinz (reward/bribe for the dentist) is using the force to hold open the library door. He lost his first tooth at the library, which was great because he did not want anyone else to pull it out, especially the dentist.

For family--he'll post it on his blog soon, so save comments for his blog!

This is how they usually stand--using the force to open the door. Every Thursday, they each take a door and hold it open! The force is integral in their life. While playing Star Wars (which is an all day everyday occurance), I'll hear one say, "I'm using the force to get my lightsabor, then the other will hand him the lightsabor. They are also very clever because they'll say to me, "I'm using the force to hang up my coat." Being a huge Star Wars fan, I hang up their coats. Luke once said, "I wish the force was real." It seems pretty real to me, they are using the force to hang up coats and everything.

Finally, our school district does not do parties any more. No exchanging of Valentine's day card, ect. ect. They do, however, offer educational opportunities on those day. As a parent, I love it! I think the whole party thing had gotten completely out of hand. (My sister's kids come out of school with balloons and stuffed animal, come on, what happened to the store bought Valentine's Day cards.) Yesterday, on their non-Valentine Day party, they invited families to help. While there they did a very cute number dance. (Counting to 100 while doing the macareena (sp) Gypsy Girl jumped right in! The entire kindergarten class gave her a round of applause and she loved being the center of attention. I hope it made up for the dentist where she was not at all happy.

Note to self, find a babysitter for Gypsy Girl the next time we go to the dentist, but always, yes always bring her to class parties where she is the star of the classroom!