Influences

Well, I've been on a Jada Pinkett Smith kick lately and found this great video on You Tube. I've always been a fan of this couple. I love every movie Will Smith is in because of what he brings to his characters. Jada is equally as amazing and I have the utmost of respect for her.

I have to admit that when picking names for our son...both Will Smith's quality of character and the movie 'Good Will Hunting' with Matt Damon influenced our decision to call William "Will" instead of Bill or Billy or Willy. Whenever a new daycare provider asked what name he liked to be called, we'd ask them to call him WILL. He's got grandfathers and great-grandfathers with William in their names, my twin brother's middle name, my husband's last name and Will Smith and Matt Damon movies to watch for the rest of his life. Lucky kid!

Miss Kira has a similar story for her name. I went to see The Dark Crystal with my dad when I was about 9 or 10 years old. It had what at age 10 felt like a spiritual element that I was drawn to and the girl, Kira, had "fire". I love strong women. I'd hear the name every now and then over the next 25 years - a dad calling to his daughter when I was shopping...a little girl visiting a relative in a nursing home I was working at. I'd hear the name and pause, "There's that name - I love that name - My daughter's name".

I'm an Angelina Jolie fan and love what she brings to the characters she plays. I love that she's the Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR. I love watching her kick ass in Tomb Raider. Angelina sounds like "little angel" to me and as much as my daughter is my little angel - I want to raise a really strong little angel.

I've been pregnant 5 times. I have 2 children. After my 4th pregnancy with still only 1 child, I have to admit to feeling pretty sorry for myself. "Will I ever have my KIRA?" I'm so thankful that she is finally here with us and I believe my wise son WILL when he tells me that "she came here for us".

WILLIAM MATTHEW
KIRA ANGELINA
WILL
KIRA
KIWI

I almost think the universe was just waiting for the right little soul to inhabit her body because she was going to have big shoes to fill with a name like that. My children are so different. Will is so sensitive. He is intelligent and wise and caring and gentle and intuitive. He cries. I help him learn coping skills and relaxation and deep breathing techniques. Kira is such a different baby than Will was. She was much easier and is much calmer - less intense. She was the typical "good baby" (although I hate that label). She has a strength and a self-assured calmness about her. She is rock-solid like my sister Sarah. Yet she is fierce. She is powerful. She doesn't cry so much as she screams. She shouts. She's loud. William would sit in his high chair and eat. Kira stands up in her seat and turns around and shakes the back of the seat. Her daycare provider thinks she might be the type of child who will learn to climb out of her crib. She has a calm strength. She can hold her own.

The actors in the movies we watch and the artists writing and singing the music we listen to influence us in more ways than we may like to admit. I've been listening to MaD Son's - Peace Amongst The Madness CD and the Unknown Prophets - The Road Less Traveled CD lately. I just think Mike's words have such substance and reflect his quality of character in such a way that his music almost has a healing effect on the listener. It has so much heart and soul and it is so honest and real. It brings me back to my core and keeps me centered when I lose my balance. I will be planting UP seeds wherever I go hoping one will eventually bloom for them. These guys deserve it. They are the influences our WILL's and KIRA's need.

KIWI update

Kira is crying when we drop her off at daycare now. She hates being caged in with the baby gates that her provider uses. She apparently screamed like crazy the other day when she couldn't go into the next room with the older kids. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Will twisted his ankle today. He tells me is leg is only "half-broken". We finally bought him a bike helmet and he's anxious to take the training wheels off. He hasn't been eating his sandwiches at lunch lately. I cut his PB&J into 6 little star shaped (cookie cutter) mini-sandwiches and taped a note on his tupperware "EAT ME OR NO TV". I told him that each mini-sandwich was worth 10 minutes of TV time. He showed his friends the note and the sandwiches and ate 4 of them. We're making progress!

Happy 1st Birthday!

Life and Death

So I was reading an article in Minnesota Good Age about building a local blue zone in Albert Lea, MN. (I just now realized this is a journal for seniors. No wonder there were so many ads for cremation and assisted living facilities.) It was pretty interesting and led me to the following sites on Blue Zones and Ikaria. I might move there. I also found this great sun catcher on a cremation site. What a great idea...to be able to hang from the window and reflect light.

Grandpa

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet white doves in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there. I did not die.

- A Hopi Prayer

One thing leads to another...

Well I stumbled across a great site today. I think this is how it happened. I was thinking about my DAGOBA organic chocolate gift and then I was thinking about my Story People art that I need to get framed. I started thinking about how I better buy Will some Shel Silverstein books before he gets too old. Then I was thinking about the book we read tonight before bed Old Turtle by Douglas Wood. I did a search for the book to see if the author wrote any other books we'd like...and then I found this site with some interesting sounding books and great toys. Now I realize that my blog is really just a bunch of random postings that I often delete after varying timeframes depending on my mood but a common theme seems to be my need to have my children play with wooden toys. (It's less about the wooden toys and more about the lifestyle). Now this site also has wooden toys! Thank goodness for Kira's 1st birthday this month since it gives me a chance to splurge. These are the books that are in my shopping cart at the moment.

Blessings from Many Faiths & Cultures
Raising Children Compassionately
Nurturing the Spirit
What is God
Children Learn What They Live
Parenting From Your Heart

I see that Amazon has some good ones too:

All I See Is Part Of Me
Wild Child

I think I'm saving the wooden toys until Kira is a bit older. We have the Skwish already. I think it's packed away so I need to see what we have before I spend too much.

It's bedtime so we'll save the ordering for tomorrow - if there's time. We have parades on Thursday and Friday and birthday parties on Saturday and Sunday. It should be a fun 4 days!

Kira's 1st pickle