Life Goes On

In spite of challenges we've been facing, there have been many good things happening in our household and lives these last few weeks.

Liesl's 10th Violin Recital: Although our family is dealing with the pressure and uncertainty of Tom's unexpected layoff--not to mention a broken bone--Liesl actually did quite well at her violin recital last Sunday. She played the next Suzuki piece, "Lightly Row," and at this point, only played half of it, without piano accompaniment. Not bad, considering the stress that has gone on in our household. I considered not having her in this recital due to lots of stress and uncertainty in our lives, but we quickly dismissed that idea for two reasons--Life has to continue with some semblance of normalcy for the sake of everyone's sanity, and Liesl performs so well at recitals--I think the pressure of an audience brings out the best in her playing. (She gets that from me--my performances in theatre are always kicked up a few major notches when opening day arrives and there is a real, honest-to-goodness audience in those seats.)

Oktoberfest at our church: Once a year, we Germans gather to celebrate our nuttiness heritage with food, music, games, and dancing. (And beer.) This year's event was the 2nd annual Oktoberfest. The food was amazing, the company terrific. Nothin' like hanging out with your pastor and his family while forcing our poor, unsuspecting children to partake in the ultimate humiliation that IS the Chicken Dance.

Games and activities

Ava was the duck pond's best customer. You could get prizes for selecting a duck with a black spot on the bottom...but she didn't know, or care. Seriously, a puddle of water indoors with brightly-colored plastic water fowl floating in it? That's a prize in itself for a toddler.

The game attendant knew her by name. Told us that MSU has a pretty good ornithology department. We told him thanks, but we're opting for marine biology.

Sausage, authentic German dumplings, and apple strudel = baby bait.

(See how she's trying to sucker Daddy out of his dumplings with that cute little face? She was wildly successful.)

Liesl and Sarah, who is also my Mother's Helper on occasion. Sarah's family and our family are good church/homeschooling buddies.

Coloring: If Sissy does it, Ava has to do it.

The Chicken Dance: Humiliating ourselves is half the fun.

One of our pastors (right) and his 2 year-old son agree

There's other dances to humiliate yourselves with

See? (We love this German Oompah band. They did our gig last year as well.)

Too much beer German food.

Schooling Continues: Our homeschooling adventures were momentarily halted, but have restarted with gusto, this time with Daddy playing a much more major role. Last week we hosted a verimcomposting workshop at our homeschool co-op, with help from my friend Kelly—who is not a homeschooler, but is a master composter and vermicomposter. She is the one who got me started with worm bins (all of my worms are decadents of hers, so I guess you can say we’re in-laws in some weird sick circles.) She is always willing to share her expertise and experience.

Our homeschool co-op learning about worms...

...and then making their own small worm bins.

(Isn't it too bad that homeschooled kids don't socialize?)

FAMC Halloween Party: Again, I have to fawn over the amazingness (is that a word?) of the Farmington Area Mom's Club. We are a really diverse, fun, resourceful group of ladies. We had our Halloween party yesterday--in the freezing cold, no less--and had such an amazing time.

The girls do have costumes planned, but it was too cold yesterday to wear them to the outdoor party. So we improvised. Here, we see Ava portraying a very convincing grape.

The Blessing of Friends. :-)

My friend Stacie's 6 month-old daughter, R. I could eat her up with a spoon. Stacie might frown on that.

Kim and little Charlie. Charlie was going to dress as a vampire, but again, too cold for his costume. I called him Edward anyway.

One Down, One Still Going: Liesl is 100% potty-trained. She hasn’t worn a diaper in over a week. We just decided to cut them out cold-turkey. After just ONE nap accident, she has woken up dry from every single nap. Nighttimes are a different story…we’ve had about a 66% success rate, but the wettings are becoming less frequent as time passes. It’s exhausting—and a lotta laundry—but it is worth it. Only one kid in diapers! Haven’t had that for two years. Easy peasy.

Work, work, work, work: I have been so blessed to have been given so many job assignments in the last 3 weeks. I've had to turn many down due to Tom's outplacement seminars, job interviews, and other things, but my first paycheck from my referral agency arrived yesterday, and it was a whopper. I keep pretty meticulous records, so the number on the check wasn't a surprise to me...but still, to feel like I can help out the family in our time of

Interviews, already? Tom had a job interview yesterday. It was a good experience for him. It will not result in full-time employment, but he definitely learned a lot about what is out there for him, and he also has the possibility of part-time contract work with this company. Hey...extra cash and experience are nothing to be sneezed at. He has a phone interview scheduled for tomorrow.

All in all, we are doing ok. We will survive. Our budget has suddenly become a very focal point in our lives, but I am confident that we will make it work. We have each other, we have a decent backup career (mine) that is able to be--and was--picked up at a moment's notice, we have our health, we have the support and love of many friends and family, and we have our faith. We have a lot more than most people in our situation.

Sometimes...it just clicks

I had one of those perfect job assignments tonight. Fantastic clients, delightful team interpreter, and a fun topic, to boot. It was one of those situations that makes you realize you're in the right place, doing the right thing. I am committed to being a full-time mom, and being home with my children is (usually) wonderful, but I do love these opportunities to get out and stretch out my interpreting muscles. (The paycheck is kind of nice, too!) If only all jobs could be this perfect...and yet, if they were, I don't think I'd appreciate the field I'm in as much as I do now. And the people I get to meet, the lives I get to take part in...it's simply amazing. Often, we interpreters find ourselves in frustrating situations, brought on by hearing clients who don't want us around, indifferent or incompetent team interpreters, and topics that are intense, complex, and sometimes unpleasant. And yet, that IS the job. But occasionally, an assignment like the one I had tonight comes along, and everything falls into place. There's no greater feeling to an interpreter than when everything comes together and the job just "clicks."

Quiet (not really) on the Set

Last week, I was on stage with Wild Swan again--this time as the ASL performer for "Jack and the Beanstalk." I have been working for Wild Swan for about 9 years now, occasionally taking time out to have a baby (though I did do a show for them while I was 7 months pregnant with Liesl. Hey, it's children's theatre.) They are an amazing group of actors, and incredibly compassionate human beings.

Wild Swan Theater is legendary for their commitment for making theater accessible to children of all ages and abilities. Besides providing ASL interpreters/performers in every public production, they also offer backstage touch-tours and audio-description during the performance for the visually impaired. A few years back, one show was even modified to accommodate a deaf-blind patron. Because of their commitment, Wild Swan is fairly popular with the Deaf community. So I can usually count on having Deaf patrons in the audience for at least one performance in each production. But I was incredibly lucky this week: I had Deaf patrons in 4 out of the 5 performances. I know that the hearing kids can get a lot out of having the ASL performers woven into the shows, but it is so much fun to have Deaf kids come up to me after a show and talk to me about what happened during the show, laugh at the jokes, touch the props, give me hugs. I always feel very welcome in Wild Swan shows, and I love interacting with all of the kids (hearing, Deaf, sighted, blind); but when I get these kinds of hugs, and chats flowing from those tiny, pudgy little hands, I feel like I am where I *belong.*

My parents are huge supporters of Wild Swan--my Dad brought his school to their performances every year before he retired--so they were willing and able to watch the girls while I was performing. And they even brought Liesl and Ava to one of the shows, which was geared towards the very young set anyway, so it was perfect for my kids.

I only wish I had a picture of all of our costumes from head to toe--that also included our rainbow-striped knee socks and Converse high-tops in varing colors (mine are turquoise). That Wild Swan costumer...she really has a sense of humor.

With some of the students from Michigan School for the Deaf, having traveled all the way from Flint to see the show.

The MSD kids were much more interested in Milky White, the cow, than me...I guess that's as it should be.

Heigh-ho, heigh-ho...I have nowhere to go

My interpreting job assignment ended last week. It was a fairly good gig, I knew it was going to end when it did, but it was very lucrative while it lasted. Still, it is so nice not to have to work tonight! I don't have to fret about dinner for Tom and the girls, worry about dealing with the breastpump (I consider pumping to be akin to legal slavery), or fight the rush-hour traffic. And it is so nice to go to bed at a decent hour.

But...in a few weeks, it will not be so nice to not get a paycheck.

Rats. There's always a trade-off, isn't there?

Hopefully I will get another gig after the New Year so I can keep paying for violin lessons and instruments. Tom's salary covers everything we need (and a fair amount of what we don't), but music lessons are not cheap. I have to admit, too...it is very nice to get out of the house for a few hours, just one day a week, and talk to adults who want to discuss more than just poopie diapers and runny noses. My dressy work clothes get a chance to resurface. And then, when I get back to my kids the next morning...I feel sort of refreshed, like I've touched my adult life just briefly. So now we can get back down to the business of making pine cone turkeys and reading the Belly Button Book. (And, of course, discussing poopie diapers.)

So here's hoping for another good job assignment in a month or two, even if it does wear me out a bit.

(In case you're wondering what the guy up in the corner is doing, he's signing "Complaining" in ASL. What...who, me? Complain? Nah....)

Much ado about...everything

I started teaching Liesl "baby" American Sign Language (ASL) when she was 7 months old. At 9 months, she was signing back to me. By 13 months, she was learning 2 or 3 new signs every day. By 20 months, she was stringing four or more signs together to form sentences in sign language. She had very few spoken words, but I was not concerned, she was communicaticating very early. Her sign vocabulary was much larger than the spoken vocabulary of other non-signing kids of her age.

Several well-meaning friends, acquaintances, and family members--including both Tom's and my parents--were very concerned when, by her 2nd birthday, she wasn't speaking much--fewer than 10 words in English, really--but she was signing all the time. I kept telling everybody that she would talk when she was ready, but they should recognize that she was advancing very well--she was able to communicate very, very well.

Well, if all the non-believers would like to come to my house for a visit, I'll cook up a big 'ole heaping batch of crow while Liesl waxes on about life around us. In English. A constant, and I mean CONSTANT stream of dialog (uh, no, make that monologue) is happening during our days. All activities must be talked about. Endlessly.

I am working hard on teaching when we need "peace and quiet" during some times. Such as when I am trying to make a left turn on a busy street. Liesl knows I need peace and quiet. How do I know that she knows? Because she comments on it. Constantly. When the left turn blinker is on--just the left, mind you, not the right--she sits back there in her car seat and says, "Mommy need peace and quiet. Peace and quiet for Mommy. Mommy make left turn. Mommy need peace and quiet. Peace and quiet, peace and quiet, peace and quiet...left turn, Mommy need peace and quiet." Then, when I complete the left turn, she announces, triumphantly, "Peace and quiet all done!"

So, it's back to the drawing board. (I think I left some ear plugs there.) In the meantime, I'd like to send a shout out to anyone who is worried that signing with your baby will delay their speech: Um, no. It won't. Trust me. Has anyone seen my Excedrin?

Pictures above:
Liesl signing "please" in her high chair, March 2007, age 15 months
Liesl signing "teddy bear" (her version of the sign), March 2007, age 15 months

Liesl signing "duck" (her version of "duck," anyway) on Mother's Day, 2007, age 17 months

Liesl signing "all done" at 15 months

Signs of Change

This is amazing...I've done just a little bit of reading about the program, it is really cool!

Sign Smith Signing Avatars

Naturally I'd love to purchase the software, it looks like a fun way to add comments to my blog. However, with it's $3,000 price tag, I think it's going to be a while before I'm ready to make my blog THAT cool. :-)

The introduction in the blog banner is indeed being signed in grammatically correct American Sign Language (ASL) by the avatar. What's really amazing is that the avatar shows complex facial expressions that are also grammatically correct. That is so important--what most hearing people don't realize is that facial expression in ASL has a huge impact on the meaning and tone of what you are signing.

I am so impressed. Technology is amazing! This product has the ability to help deaf and hard of hearing children learn independently, something that is hard for them to do in this media-saturated culture of ours. Wow. Simply amazing.