Wintertime Update

Ninja training begins early here.
Ninja snowball

We had a lot of snow, suddenly, but now it's gone, in traditional Northwest style.

Saber and Jasmijn

We also call him Medicine Cat, because he curls up with the kids when they're sick and helps them feel better.

See how they team up!

Time to cook up something good.

A few wintertime updates:

We had a wonderful time with John's dad and youngest brother during Christmastime. John's dad got a tatoo (a heart with USA written across a banner on the heart and then our names written around the outline of the heart).

We had a massive snow (14"?) and spent a week at home.

We've all been sick a little too often this winter.

Unschooling is coming along well. Jasmijn enjoys traditional forms of learning, such as workbooks, while Joran will still run in the other direction if I sound the least bit teacherly. I have to be a detective in order to figure out what he's actually learning. This is one of the things I love about unschooling -- it pushes me to respect and trust my children, knowing that their intrinsic human curiosity will take them to knew levels of creativity and intelligence that I could not possibly design myself or with any curriculum.

Joran enjoys playing Spore and Minecraft, cooking, getting outside, visiting Grandma and Grandpa, playing with a handful of dear friends. He recently found that he loves bowling! He's also a really great brother, playing a lot with and watching out for his sisters.

Jasmijn is starting to learn gaming with Lego Batman and Viva Pinata, but she mostly enjoys playing in her kitchen or with her dolls, coloring, working with stickers and crafts. She prefers being with me over anyone else. She adores Joran and has been known to hug her sister a few times.

Aurora is into everything and especially loves to put things in her mouth. She just got a handle on the staircase, so we removed our gate, which I reinstalled in the doorway to the cat's room, so she won't play in and eat the cat's food. One of Aurora's happiest moments is when she hears Daddy coming home, being the first to greet him every evening. One of Aurora's favorite activities is to harass Jasmijn. She'll sneak up to Jasmijn, snatch Jasmijn's pacifier from her mouth, and run away, giggling with glee. And Aurora doesn't even take a pacifier! What a little rascal!