????

as i was cleaning up after dinner tonight, i noticed z's practice chart and stickers were on the kitchen floor. i went to reattach them to the magnetic clips on the fridge door, and found that the clips were now holding one coin each. one nickel, and one penny.

i can't tell you how FREQUENTLY weird stuff like this happens around the house. my son is so quirky. i do love it, though. i never know what i will find each day, after he has left for school. 

the kids always have a couple minutes to play around after z & i practice violin in the morning. during this morning's little play break, he wrote on the white board in my studio "i have the best mommy ever," or some sort of statement, written in kid-ese. it made my heart melt. unfortunately someone erased it before i had a chance to take a picture. 

big girl bed!

last weekend, j & i were very busy getting all sorts of things accomplished. one of those things was buying new mattresses. z got a new mattress and bedsprings, and so did s. she has transitioned well from the crib, or at least so far. this is a little video from her very first night in the new bed. she will eventually have the mattresses on a bed frame. that is this weekend's project. 

abuelo visit

abuelo came to visit s. abuela was in san antonio. 

banana bread

one afternoon, it was just me & the kids, so we made banana bread. we baked the loaf in the shape of a heart (a heart shaped tube, so that when you slice it, it looks like a heart).

z loves making and eating banana bread!

s likes it, too!

ROAR!

funny clip of s and her little ROAR

snow!

a couple weeks ago, it snowed in portland. we called it the snowpocalypse. i was sick that week with a fever and sinus infection. it is the first time ever i have cancelled a whole week of teaching! i was sick from sunday on, and the snow began on thursday. z went to school that day, but he came home early around noon. g'ma & g'pa were coming over to drop off some soup, so they picked up z on their way here. daddy came home early from work, and it took him at least an hour to drive home, because the traffic was so bad with everyone trying to get home in the snow. 

my little cuddle bug, painting on the stool.

here's a movie of it snowing. i found it fascinating to watch the wind blow the snow in blustery gusts.

getting bundled up to go play outside.

whoa! snow!!!

mommy, i'm stuck!!!

vinny prints

z in the snow

i didn't get nearly as many movie clips as i'd like because i was sick. i spent a fair amount of time outside on saturday, but then sunday i felt a lot worse, so i guess the cold air wasn't good for my cough. the next time it snows, i will be healthy, and ready! both j & i vow to ski in our neighborhood. being sick & hacking up a lung sort of takes the fun out of life. 

here's a brief clip of fun with the snow.

z and the neighbor kids

here is a random cute, funny clip.

here is s, in an igloo in the neighbors' yard. it was a group project by all the neighbors. i think one night they even lit a fire in there. 

movie night!

this was the first time s went by herself along with z to the neighbor's house for a movie night with the neighbor kids. thanks to l for being willing to try it! s had a great time, as did z. here is a little video of the kids returning home. z came first, and we didn't see little s. we asked z where she was... she was just trailing behind. no worries. 

ice cream

this is a random movie of the kids eating ice cream. s enjoyed eating her ice cream sandwich with her finger. 

new "cousin!"

welcome to the world, baby "cousin" m!!!

hair accessories overload

i came home one day to find s had decorated her hair a "little."

ninja outfits

j did not return empty handed from his trip to japan. he brought a wallet for me, and cute little traditional outfits for the kids. z loved his! he called it his ninja outfit. he wore it a lot that week. 

kids strike a "ninja" pose. 

deck demolition

bye bye, old deck!

j left for japan, and the deck was demolished. thus began an era of noisy work outside the house, beginning at 7:30am every morning. 

spiderkids

my children are entertaining. they randomly got dressed up in their halloween costumes and started chasing each other. then z started trying to scare me, and then s started roaring. i never knew spider girl roared.

food

here are a couple random pictures of food.

this is a silly dinner i made one night.

this is my first attempt at making 3 day chicken broth. it worked well!

happy new year 2014!

happy new year! i made blueberry pancakes with holes in the middle, because eating things that are round with holes in the middle is supposed to bring good luck. 

z and his pancake, with syrup in the middle.

s & her pancake, cut up into pieces.

z gives a thumbs up for the whole new year's celebration thing.

here's a silly video of s doing this new tongue thing, along with a lot of whistling. 

eating lentils on new year's day is also supposed to bring good luck, along with eating pork. therefore, on new year's day, i made a lentil stew with pork. it turned out pretty tasty! the kids ate it, at least. i also made cornbread (which had to be baked in the turkey roaster). the abuelos came over to visit, so j & i got a quick trip to mcmenamins for a little away time. we used it to plan our vacation plans for the year. thanks, g'ma & g'pa, for the mcmenamins gift card! it lasted for two visits, thanks to going during happy hour. 

happy new year's eve!!!

cheers!

 we ate a great dinner of crab and steak. the kids had pasta, as they have no appreciation for crab or steak whatsoever. we also drank a great wine, but i forget which one. probably st. innocent shea. 

z looks suave! s is cute. 

as i posted before, the kids & i watched the movie, "elf," and then went the kids went to bed. in the meantime, friends started to arrive, and the party continued!

it was a pretty relaxed gathering. 

uncle a provided entertainment. 

funny

z, the talking slug.

s dances like an egyptian. z was being a stinker.

s dances alone, in mommy's shoes.

s dances some more, and z gets jealous...

this is how z uses old climbing rope

more climbing rope fun

nutella toast

one of z's latest favorite foods is nutella toast. just this past weekend, z asked, "is today a special morning, like one where we will get to eat pancakes or nutella toast?" i went with the nutella toast, as we were busy getting things accomplished, after a week of snow and illness. it is so good to have life back to normal. this picture was taken before new year's eve, when the tables were still set up from christmas dinner. 

christmas 2013

we cut off the beginning of this little snippet, but oh well. you still understand z's excitement.
christmas 2013 was fun. grandma & grandpa came over for christmas morning, and we opened presents. then they went home, and j & i cooked dinner & prepared the table and house for all the guests. the kids went down for a nap. then everyone came over (g'ma, g'pa, aunt m, abuelo, abuela, my student j, and m). uncle c & aunt r made a brief appearance, too! fun times. 

g'ma does s's hair

z opens stocking presents

s opens stocking presents, although she needed a little help

z finds big presents behind the tree...

s tried to open her presents using chopsticks

wow! check out that bacon turkey!!!

m is helping j with the carving

g'pa gave out carving advice to j

m opens a cracker

christmas eve, 2013

bathed and ready for bed... and santa

we left the gingerbread house for santa to eat.

where is everybody?

sigh. normal behavior after dinner.

you're mama! you're dada!

this is a good example of our normal dinner time conversations.

amiguitos posada '13

all the cookies i made for the posada at amiguitos. yes, i frosted and decorated them all.

z & amiguitos santa

z & the men

my son, the reindeer

z's class

z's class performing

the song.

z's turn

z's turn at the pinata

z and a christmas decoration 

secret?

my son is so weird. i don't know where he gets these things... this makes no sense whatsoever. just a random little clip.

saxophone

z plays a scale on the saxophone. he made the modifications to the sax himself.

santa pics

here are pics from our visit to santa. the actual pics with santa are posted earlier on the blog.

at home.

on the way to wait in line.

killing time while mommy waits in line.

artsy shot, courtesy of daddy.