i give up.

last night after teaching, i took the kids to burgerville, because j was off on a work dinner, and wouldn't be home until around 10pm. i got z & s kids' meals with fresh strawberry smoothies. s didn't really need one, but she would've fussed if z had one and she didn't.

20 seconds after i gave it to her, it crashed against the back of the front seat and the top popped off upon impact. strawberry smoothie oozed everywhere. i quickly pulled over into a parking spot and commenced cleaning. i put what was remaining in the cup in the cup holder next to me up front. i started driving home again. a minute into the drive, i decided i didn't want z to get full drinking his whole smoothie, so i reached back to hold it for him until we got home. what happened? it slipped out of my hands, the top popped off, and it splattered all over z's floor. i was in the middle of traffic, and had used up all the cloths on the first accident, so it just had to sit there until we got home. it was not fun to clean up when i got home, and my food was cold by the time i got to eat.

despite beginning antibiotics yesterday, s continued to wake up about every other hour last night. so much for my hopes of a good night's sleep after a crappy one. i think she's just in the habit of waking up now, which means i get to try having her cry it out tonight, which is even less sleep for me than having her wake up, because i have to stay up longer waiting for her to stop crying.

s cried the last time at 6:15am, and so i got up, and found z awake. i told him last night that he needs to start taking responsibility for morning teeth brushing, so he was proud to tell me that he had already brushed his teeth. in my drowsy state, i was a little less than enthusiastic. i practiced with him for 1 minute after he ate some yogurt, and then j came up the stairs, so i headed off to bed. that only meant 30 min or so of sleep, as j usually leaves at 7 when he bikes to work, but every 30 minutes counts.

when j woke me before leaving, it was 7:24, so i guess he did me a favor and drove to work. the kids still had one tv show left to watch, so i told z that i would be on the couch lying down if they needed anything. i know that doesn't win me the mommy of the year award, but the kids were supposedly safe, and i was not 100% asleep.

i got up when i heard the show finishing, and found s freezing because she was all wet. what happened??? z had been squirting water at her, conducting a small indoor water fight, using a syringe that was lying on the counter (with all the medicine being consumed here, they're everywhere). i was so furious!!

after changing s in to dry clothes, z & i had a real practice session, and i was the meanest mommy ever. i don't recommend that sort of practicing, but we actually got a decent amount accomplished. it was so awful.

the rest of the morning continued that way. i had to be sure the kids had a decent amount of food in their stomachs before giving them the antibiotics, but s refused to eat much. food fell on the floor. she put her hands in her oatmeal and then all over me. noses continued to run, and my temper flared. this was the low point of the morning. i meant to just go take a mommy time out in the bathroom, but realized i still needed to shower & get dressed, so i left her in her high chair, playing with play dough. z was there to keep her company. i yelled while running down the stairs, "mommy is going to take a shower. and don't even think about playing with g-d@#$%d water!!!" i never swear in front of them,  but this time it happened. z's ears are all clogged. i'm sure he didn't even hear it anyway, because i've had to repeat every single thing i've said today (also adds to the fun).

eventually, los abuelos arrived, and i took off to do errands i had meant to do yesterday, but i couldn't do due to the sick kids. i went to the bank and tried depositing 13 checks at the atm, but they all got spit back out at me, so i had to go inside to deposit them. when i went to return things at target, i accidentally left one item in the car, so i had to go back out to get it, and then back in the store. next, i went to get some achievement certificates from the teacher store, but only found a small selection, so i made the best decision i could. upon checking out, i asked if that was the whole selection, and they said "oh, no! there are a bunch more right over there!", so i had to stop the transaction and go pick out something else. the whole reason i even went there today is because one of my students was scheduled to play a book recital on saturday, and i needed a certificate to give her. when i returned home, there was a message from the mom asking to reschedule. i could've used that 15 min to go get something to eat.

ugh. nothing this morning is going well. i give up. i'm going to bed. and i'm sure z will wake me up once i fall asleep. 

more sleep, please.

once again, the kids are sick. z was crying yesterday, while i was teaching, complaining of ear pain. my mom came down to get me to see if i knew where the garlic oil drops were (they're good for ear pain). we couldn't find them, so she finally just gave him tylenol, and he perked up. last night, z woke me up at 3:30am, crying and complaining of the same ear pain & a headache, and he had a fever. s woke up numerous times. i took them to the doctor this morning, because z still felt hot and cried from ear pain. he even asked to eat something cold for breakfast instead of his normal oatmeal.

both kids have ear infections. both of z's ears look awful; s is at the beginning of one in one ear, and the other ear is on its way. one of z's tubes is about to fall out - it's not where it should be, and the other is blocked with pus. z & s will have oral antibiotics and z will also have antibiotic ear drops.

despite being sick, z & i still practiced the violin this morning. i returned j's violin, which we were renting, and with the credit from renting the whole year, i purchased a tenth size violin for z, because he has grown! his first one is a sixteenth size. we now own three violins for the family. he played his new violin this morning for the first time (granted, for a short 6 minutes, since he was feeling so awful, and i was so sleepy from waking up so much).

z told me that s can have his smaller violin - very sweet of him. he was also very good in the doctor's office. s was crying a lot from the doctor looking at her ears, and z gave her lots of hugs & said, "it's ok, s, it's ok." he is a good big brother (and the doctor told him so).

one evening, after playing outside, z was really hot, so he wanted to play with less clothes. i thought it was cute.

from this morning - sick kiddos, eating fresh cookies out of the oven.

my violin, z's new violin, and the old violin (i guess s's violin now).

somebody has claimed her new instrument and loves carrying it around!

teething?

this was a busy day. in the morning, we all went to the tiny park to play. z rode his bike, and s rode in the stroller as we explored the new path through the woods. we bought some plants from the library plant sale, and then j, z, & the neighbor kids planted them, while i made lunch. j put the kids down for a nap, while i drove across the city to a meeting in se portland. i came back just in time to teach two group classes. z participated in my first class, and he did a great job! his behavior was wonderful. he's not quite good at putting his violin up in playing position all by himself, but he still got a lot out of the class. kids learn so much from their peers!
s was incredibly fussy this evening. she wouldn't eat dinner, and i finally decided to just try putting her down for the night. we took a shower, i gave her some medicine, nursed her a little, and then she perked up. we went upstairs and watched a little tv with z, and she ate a large amount of the leftover dinner, before i put her down for the night. poor thing. she just woke up. another back 2 year molar has come through, so i'm assuming that's why she wouldn't stop crying.
we all still have colds. weather is still beautiful. j gets the day off before swimming. i'm planning on taking the kids out to lewis & clark state park before sunday school/church, and then lunch/naps before swimming at 4:30. sometime i have to fit in grocery shopping and cooking. yuck. hopefully s won't poop again in her swim diaper. that's what happened last week - it put me in a bad mood for the whole evening.

gangster talk

z was playing with s, pretending to shoot her, and he started talking with part of his mouth pulled over to the side. aside from the pretend gun play, it was pretty amusing, so i thought i'd get a video of him talking that way. i have no idea where he came up with that... most likely from school.

sleepy

we've all been sick with colds here. z even had to have steroids for his croupy cough. it started on saturday. anyway, last night i had to take two benadryl pills to be able to sleep well, and this morning i was really tired. it didn't help that i was up from 4:50-5:20am because s was crying. i slept until j left to bike to work, and was in quite a fog. thankfully, s slept until i woke her up after 8am. one child is always a little less stressful than two. practicing was not the best. i tried lighting a candle at the beginning, with the incentive of blowing it out at the end. this helped marginally. i began having z figure out the first part of twinkle yesterday, and tried to continue on the rest of it today, but he fizzled out. on these tired mornings, i have learned that i need to practice what i preach to my students: the most important thing is reviewing pieces already learned, pieces on the "review" list. i need to begin with them. new pieces can wait. it's not about reaching the end, it's about the process, having something i share with my kids which enables me to develop a close bond.

anyway, after practicing, z told me he wanted to make a puppet. for some reason, in my antihistamine induced haze, i was thinking a puppet was a marionette, something involving strings. i told him to draw something on paper, and then he could cut it out & we could use ribbon or dental floss for the strings. then i realized it would be easier to just use a stuffed animal and tie ribbons to it. THEN i realized a marionette isn't a puppet. did i mention how tired i am? by that time, though, z had drawn something on a piece of paper and HAD TO CUT IT OUT AND MAKE IT INTO A PUPPET. (steroids do not help one's behavior.) so i cut a piece of paper & taped it to the back of his "bee," and he was really happy. here are some pictures from this morning's craziness:

raggedy andy came from s's room

poor, poor raggedy andy

the bee - yes, it is really a bee

bee made into a puppet

what have the kids been doing while i typed this? they've been destroying my couch with a fort. i brought my computer over next to it, because z was shouting at s, "NO! I! SAID! SIT! DOWN! S! CAN'T! YOU! UNDERSTAND! ME!???" sigh. back to reality. time to get ready to head to swimming. is it bedtime yet?

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!