awwww

z & i were working on his writing today. i told him, "wow! that v looks great! that's the best one you've ever written!" he looked me straight in the eyes and said, "i love you, mommy!"
awwww....

no training wheels!!!

here is another video of z riding without training wheels on friday, this time at home.

kittys

s & the stroller

 on friday, my two morning students had switched to other days, so i had a chunk of time free. it was a beautiful morning, so s & i went for a walk. we went through the "secret passageway," threw a few baskets, and played with the neighbor kitty, mitty.

s chasing mitty

s offers mitty some cheerios

fun

z is reading "pat the bunny" to s

s on the rocket ride

z climbing

first recital

this is a video of z's first appearance on one of my recitals. he is playing "hot crossed buns." he did a fantastic job!!!

ice cream!

to sweeten the experience, we stopped at the dairy queen on the way home after the biking session. such a fun day!!!

no training wheels!!!!

yesterday was a spectacularly beautiful day outside, so i thought it would be a nice time to try z biking without training wheels. j removed the wheels from z's bike and loaded it into the car, and all four of us went to pick z up from school. he was happy to see daddy coming to pick him up, and then s & me in the car, and even happier to hear we were going to the tiny park to go biking! he was pretty excited to try the bike without the training wheels, and above is a compact version of his evolution from training wheels to none. he is still wobbly, but it's a start, and boy - he is SO proud of himself!!!

water slide

some water sliding from z's lesson this past thursday. i took z by myself, because a guy was giving the a/c & furnace a tune up, and replacing our dryer vent. abuelo/a stayed home with s. it's always nice to have my hands free to take videos, so that we know what to work on when we go to the family time swimming. there is a really large slide at the pool where we go, and z went down it for the first time last sunday by himself, so he was really ready to do it in the "fun time" part of his lesson.

beach haiku

here's the second haiku z & i have memorized, also by j.w. hackett:

over this smooth beach,

between each wash of the moon, -

our vanishing prints. 

snail haiku

z recites the daily haiku, by j.w. hackett

snail may creep his way,

but see how he binds in silver

each moment he leaves.

climbing & biking

the weather has been gorgeous this week. we went to the tiny park after gymnastics this morning. i'm not sure if we should've gone to gymnastics, because z woke up with a slight fever & coughing & a stuffed up nose at midnight. he seemed fine this morning, though, and has been since. s had fun climbing, while z was biking. i think we should try the bike without training wheels at the tiny park this friday.

friday night fun

j was away friday after i finished teaching, to help set & rate routes at the climbing gym, preparing for a competition the next day, so it was just s, z, & i. craziness ensued. in this picture, z has a pig's nose, which was his creation. that's my son!

busy weekend

z does "this little piggy" on s. very cute.

on friday, z counted to 100 for the very first time in his life, and did a lot of it on his own on our drive to his school. i've started using the driving time to work on his counting, and to have him practice saying his address. now he needs to take the safety town class, so he doesn't tell it to the world! he was wait-listed for it, but i got the call yesterday that he got into the class. i remember taking it as a child. this kid doesn't understand stranger-danger. he likes asking strangers what their names are.

this weekend was a busy one. i had my students' recital, and z played for the first time, and j was helping set and judge routes for a climbing competition, and then helped judge, too. sunday was full with church, baking lasagna, and swimming in the afternoon. i started making a website for my teaching, with the help of j. it is a very frustrating and time consuming project, but hopefully if the kids continue to nap, and i continue to wake up early enough to work on it before they wake up, it will be finished soon. yesterday i was awake from 4:30am on, and i got up around 5:30. unfortunately s woke up early, even before z, at 6:15, so it didn't give me much free time.

yesterday was a wacky day because carpet cleaners were here the whole day. one guy arrived around 10, and then the other guy arrived, and it took them over 7 hours to clean all the carpets. they did one area rug in my studio for free! it was really expensive, but they did a great job. it made the day a little complicated, though, because it was all very noisy, so i took the kids to nap at g'ma & g'pa's house in tigard. it was exciting for the kids because they're watching someone else's dog, so there were two dogs to play with. pepper ate a dead mouse or bird, which z found very interesting. of course he didn't really nap. i think he's starting to drop it, and sleep more at night. i barely got home in time to eat some lunch, open up the studio before teaching, and lose both cats to the outside. the front door had to remain open for the cleaners, so i had both cats in the "hot tub" room, with the intention of moving them into the master bedroom, but the cleaners had all the doors open, and it didn't really seem feasible, but then persia got free. luckily she was so freaked out she just stayed inside. everything is still up on little pieces of foam while the carpet dries.

both kids seem to have a cough. s just woke me up crying, and something really weird happened in her room. i saw a flash of light by the wipe warmer, and then the lamp started flickering on & off, along with the fan revving softer to louder. the wipe warmer & lamp were plugged into one outlet, and the fan was in a different one, so it didn't make any sense. i woke j up, and he went into s's room & unplugged the wipe warmer, & switched plugs for the fan. i hope the house doesn't burn down. she cried several times, so i had to go in and rock her. time to go back to bed.

one morning i made toast and nutella for the kids instead of oatmeal. they loved it!

practicing.

oh my goodness. my son never fails to surprise me. i woke up really early to have time to take a real shower & make a run for coffee before j left for work. z was up after my shower, before any opb kids programming was on, so the only option i gave him was to practice until wild kratz started (10 min). he watched his two shows. i was in the bathroom, and i heard him say, "mommy! it's violin time!"
what the heck? had he just forgotten that we had already practiced? perhaps. who knows, with this child. the past week, i've been limiting his tv watching in the morning to two shows (1 hour). he has 5 shows to choose from, if it's not a school day. he also has to choose when we will practice the violin in the morning, during which show. since i've begun doing this, he always chooses to watch wild kratz (which makes no sense, because it's on again in the afternoon, which he could watch then) and curious george, with practicing afterward during the cat in the hat 30 min segment. he was so much in the pattern of doing that, i guess, that it was just automatic to say "violin time." but being my child, my sweet z, he also said, "yay! i get to play the violin!"

please realize that practicing lasts for 4-5 min before he says, "i'm tired. i'm finished. i don't want to do anymore." we only practice 5-11 minute bits at a time, and at his age, that is totally okay. i'm just thrilled that we have now done 14 days of straight practice in a row, without any tears!

park!

 the weather has been spectacular so far this week! after gymnastics, we went to a different park today. i brought z's yellow bike, a baseball & bat, a soccer ball, and a frisbee. in this picture, z threw the ball up himself (tennis style) and hit it - see the ball? it's an action shot!

s tried the big kid swing and did a pretty good job with it! another first for me. she was really fussy, though. she was sick this past fri-sun with a fever, which at one point got up to 103.2. j & i were supposed to go to a symphony concert sunday afternoon, but i cancelled the baby sitter and gave the tickets to my parents so that i could take s to urgent care. of course, nothing was wrong with her. i think it might have just been teething. her last canine is coming in, and i just noticed she has a bottom second molar (she already has the first four). i think more are coming in. z got his really early, and they all sort of came in at once, so i think that must be what's going on. poor s. it's not much fun for either of us!

gymnastics

here's a quick video of z jumping into the foam pit at the end of his gymnastics class. 

after class, we decorated foam cubes. the oregon gymnastics academy is having a fundraiser to fill the pit, so for $2, you can decorate your own foam cube.

playground

s was trying so many new things i had never seen her do before!

while z was in school, s & i took adantage of the sunny weather & played at a playground after her "music together" class. she really had fun climbing UP the slides.

i love how you can see her mirrored in the slide

picnic

after a whole lot of rainy weather, the forecast was supposed to be sunny last wednesday, so i packed a picnic lunch before we headed out to gymnastics. after z's class, we went to magnolia park & played. it wasn't quite as sunny as predicted, but we still stayed to eat a little. s was too small to reach the table sitting at the picnic tables, so we ate on this little wall. the only downside was that she kept trying to set her food down, thus getting it all covered in bark dust. i decided we should wait a little bit until our next picnic, at least bringing a blanket next time. it started raining after we finished lunch, so we went home a little early. the kids still had fun!

funny

most mornings, my children and i eat oatmeal for breakfast. i cook instant oats in the microwave, and then add raisins to theirs. z insists on my hiding all his raisins in the oatmeal. one morning when i was particularly tired, i began calling the raisins flies. from then on, z called them flies. this morning i told him that people do actually eat insects. he didn't believe me, so i showed him this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVu33-cYQLU
he found it pretty interesting.

there have been lots of things i've failed to blog because i got so behind, but here is something i remember him saying the day we left for the coast on spring break - "this is the BEST DAY EVER! i got to crack two eggs in a bowl, we're having pancakes for breakfast, AND we're going to the coast!"
somehow getting to crack two eggs just completely made his day. it was really cute. he is getting really good at cracking eggs. i have him do the eggs for me every time i bake.

children's museum

last sunday, we spent the morning at the children's museum. it was our neighbor g's birthday, so z went to the birthday party while j & i played with s. here's a clip of s going down a slide while wearing a climbing hat.

this weekend was busy with my students' piano rehearsals for next weekend's recital. z will be playing "hot crossed buns." it's his very first recital! the rest of the weekend was busy. j & z went swimming yesterday so that he could practice his swimming skills. s had a high fever this weekend. i took her to urgent care today, but nothing was wrong. it got up to 103.2. she has been really fussy - not much fun. i spent the afternoon cooking, doing laundry, & washing dishes. we were supposed to go to the symphony this afternoon, but grandma & grandpa used the tickets instead.

mice!

the mice came back. we caught one in a trap here in the island in our kitchen, so once again, i had to wash everything very thoroughly, and bleach the inside of the island. i hate cleaning!

s during z's gymnastics class

belly sliding...

teeter totter!

last week was beautiful weather, so we went to the magnolia playground after gymnastics for a bit, before running a few errands. z did not want to leave! s managed to get a bloody lip at one point. all of a sudden she started crying while climbing up some steps. i had no idea what had happened until i saw blood on her sweater later.

playground!

while z was at school, s & i played at a play ground.

 

peekaboo!

 

i still love to swing!!!

here i come!

easter '13

 sadly, our spring break vacation at the coast had to come to an end. luckily, we had an easter celebration at abuelo & abuela's to look forward to! our little cuties. one napping, one entertaining us with faces. we had a couple hiccups on the way to canby. we tried stopping at the otis cafe to bring abuela some brown bread, but it was closed. then we tried stopping at the archery summit winery to pick up some wine (and do a little tasting), but it was also closed! we had lunch at burgerville in newberg, and then drove to canby. we got there a lot earlier than we had planned, so both kids took a nap before dinner. thanks to the picture taking by uncle j & abuela.

s playing outside

s & abuelo

s loves swinging!

z plays some music for us on a peruvian pan flute

z & aunt m face off

z hunts eggs

s hunts for eggs

working together

hiding in a fort

everybody's enjoying the sun

pacific city

e and his sausage, with doggie lucy, looking on.

 friends were staying in pacific city during spring break, and we were invited over for dinner one evening. actually, they invited us over a second time, but we needed to stay home to pack. here are some of the kids, finishing up dinner.

friends a, e, daddy, s, and s

some extra spring break photos

z dug this hole. it kept filling with water, which he found maddening.

trying... to dig... to china...

s loves her counting book, and she also loves her duck!

movie night, with popcorn

some extra spring break photos

from our drive to the st. innocent winery

awake and ready for some wine tasting! actually, they got to eat a really great white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. they were very well behaved. the adults around complimented them on their great behavior.

out for dinner at the mcmenamins in lincoln city

this was THE worst dinner we had had in a long time. bad service, messed up order, and a burned brownie sundae. so sad. such a waste of a brownie sundae.

s at the beach.

look what i made (with mommy's help), which i am about to destroy!

making sand castles

playing at the oregon aquarium