Sukkot 2007

Buddies

These boys were so silly tonight. Eliot and Sam have known each other forever, literally. They have never been particularly interested in each other, although I think they took comfort in each other last year in preschool. Eliot goes to a different preschool now and I seldom take Sam to Sunday School, so he doesn't see much of Eliot. Tonight, at the Sukkot party, these two were inseparable. It was very cute. Sam spent the night in his Spiderman costume while Eliot went through (I think) each and every costume we own. They spent a lot of time in this basket, for some reason, giggling to each other. I am so glad they had fun...everyone seemed to have a good time, although we came up short on the alcohol, which was lame of me. Delicious food and good friends though...what else is really important? Happy Sukkot, everyone!

Growing up

Mae is doing a lot of growing up lately. Her newest thing is to "write" her name. And mine. And Sam's. It's just scribbling, of course, but still! When I write it for her, she'll trace it over and over with her crayon. She seems to be a leftie like Ted, but that might change I suppose. What a different child she is from the boys. Cutie.
She had a BLAST tonight at our Sukkot party, with Randi, as usual. I think she ate 3 or 4 slices of pizza and tons of watermelon. She was happy as a clam and independent from me, which was really nice. Randi is so great with her...we are so lucky!!

Testing

Today was a surprising day. Testing for Tiny Tigers was at 9:30am. Mr. D. and I had exchanged emails yesterday; he wanted Sam to test for his Orange Belt. He thought that advancing would add to his confidence. So, both boys were suited up and it all began. Warmups with all the Tiny Tigers, followed by the Tiny Tigers creed, and finally testing. Lowest ranks go first. This meant that Sam's group was the first on the floor. I had no idea what he would do...would he stand there with one finger in his nose and not do a thing? Possible. But no! He did it! He didn't say a word (usually the students repeat the command after the instructor) and his Self-Defense was more funny than it was correct, but he did it! We were all so proud of him. And he was PSYCHED and sat the rest of the testing with a huge grin on his face, occasionally calling out to me, "I'm going to get my Orange Belt!" Then there was Ted. Now, in class, I'd rank Ted as #3 when it comes to doing his form. He is usually loud, firm and relatively correct (he reverses his position a lot-probably because he is a leftie). When his group was called up, he did this weird waddle-walk. WTH?! When he was told to go back to his place, he did straighten up, but certainly didn't run on with the excitement of his practices last week. His form was fine, if silent, and his self-defense the same. But at the end, when he was being awarded his belt (AND his silver patch), he got all silly again. So he didn't get it. (He did, eventually, afterwards, when Mr. D talked to him). I feel so bad for him...how awful must he have felt inside, knowing he was messing up but not being able to have the self-confidence to shake it off and get on with what he was supposed to do. He must have felt paralyzed and trapped. As usual, Mr. D handled it beautifully and I just hope he can shake it off and move on. I wonder if he somehow internalized Sam's insecurities as his own. "I didn't want the big kids watching me," he said...but those kids are his friends, and are nothing but encouraging. It came out of left field and surprised us all. This reminds me of two things. First, he is only 5. And second, something is going on inside him, and we need to help him through it. Patience, encouragement and lots of love...this kid is going to get some TLC in the next few weeks.
Lots of pics on moeltini.

Giraffe Talk

Last night I went to Horizons for a K/1 Parents Meeting, explaining the Giraffe Talk/Non Violent Communication philosophy they employ a school. (A giraffe has the largest heart of any mammal AND because it has such a long neck, it can see 'the whole picture' of what is going on...thus it's name). The concept is similar to many I've heard about, but how sweet to use it with little ones...to take the TIME to use it with them. Rather than dismissing a child as being unreasonable, the teacher and the kids talk it out, with concrete steps. The kids LOVE this and are very good at it, BTW, according to the teachers. "What good does 'I'm sorry' do? It doesn't make the hurt child feel better. Talking it out and repairing the relationship is more important, and usually the kids part as friends." I love this school.

Today Sam and Mae are home for Sukkot so we are a-baking again! 2 batches of waffles, 2 loaves of challah and 2 batches of Easy Pleasin' Oat Bars are baked. Cleaning up the house and catching up with the laundry are also getting done. Tonight there is a Sukkot potluck at the temple that I'd like to go to, but both kiddos didn't nap long and Ted is having a full day at his friend Omri's. So, we're going to pick him up around 3ish and I'll try and glean how his emergy is. I almost feel like just coming home, but that's not very celebratory. Tomorrow we're hosting a Sukkot party, so that will be fun. Sam wants to bake pumpkin bread...more baking! Tomorrow is Ted's testing for his Tiger Belt. Sam is going to wait til next cycle to test. Should be exciting!!

just call me Mrs. Cleaver

I kept Ted home today because he was up most of the night coughing. He was fine though and played by himself or entertained Mae all day. We went to Wild Oats for some oils and bulk items and I went to town with my oven. I baked 2 loaves of Wendy's honey wheat/spelt bread, a batch of Vive!'s Easy Pleasin' Oat Bars and one of our favorite dinners, Aloo Gobi, the Bend It Like Beckham recipe). Ahh...

While at Wild Oats we ground our own peanut butter and bought some local honey in bulk. Tuesday after TKD we stopped at Red Wagon and picked up some cauliflower, spinach, apple butter, peaches, apples and pears. For lunch tomorrow Ted has 2 peanut butter/apple butter sandwiches, 2 oat bars and 2 pears. Living local is so easy at this time of year...it's almost winter and I'm already looking forward to the creative ways I'm determined to find to use our Keeper Share. Hopefully putting Ted back on his oils cocktail will help his asthma as it did last year.

Yesterday we took Sam to his cooking class and Mae went to day care. I went for a short run and then took an hour-long yoga class!! It was me and a handful of seniors, but it was plenty challenging enough. It was surreal, and wonderful! Tomorrow Mae has a little Tumbling class and then I'm going to do that class again...so refreshing!! Maybe I'll make it til January after all, with a shred of sanity left to boot!

Want to hear?

After chatting with Marcia S. and not being able to find the CD of one of my recitals, I thought it would be handy to have a place to store my recitals' audio files. I think I may have found a pretty basic, easy spot. Hop on over to Podbean and check it out! I should forewarn you that the site is in a trial mode so everything might not work correctly, but hopefully you can hear the files. I plan to add the translations to the songs soon too.

cuteness

I am going to miss it when Ted gets his "th" and "r" sounds in. It's so sweet. I think he must have learned this song in school.

And a still I pulled from the movie (thus the grainy look) of his new toothless grin.


And, for the record, his other bottom tooth is now loose. I predict it will come out a week from tomorrow, if the timeline is the same as the first. Cute!!

Yom Kippur Dress

Services this morning were relaxing...because I left Ted at home. He was coughing a lot after our playdate with Jacob (something with the basement I think) so he ended up spending the entire day outside with our neighbors Jake and Sergei. Tonight we went to Jen's for the Break Fast (WOW I was hungry!) and the kids were good as gold. Rachel took good care of Mae and she had a blast. She looked so cute tonight and was so happy. She's much like Sam was-happy out and about but grumpy at home. Ted got to show off his tooth to his friends, which he liked. He got Max to play Bionicles with him for a while, and all the older kids spent a good amount of time in the basement playing a board game. Fun times. I'm not sure how I squeaked an invitation to that one, but it was wonderful. I really hope to keep these friendships...it's tougher than I thought, with Ted in a different school. But these holidays remind me...they are my community and I need to take the time to keep these relationships strong.

Old friends

After school today (half day on Fridays), Ted, Jack and Jacob met up for the first time in a while. They played beautifully together, although Ted and Jack did have an overtired fight on the way home. One of the games they played was Labyrinth, which neither Julie nor I could figure out, but the boys played happily for a long time. Tomorrow is Yom Kipper and as far as I know, no one is hosting a Break Fast. Hmm. That's never happened before. Either I am entirely out of the loop or everyone is as harried as I am.

It's out!

It's official! Ted has lost his first tooth! Sept. 12 was the night we noticed it was loose...a week later and it's out. It's under his pillow tonight. He is so earnest about the Tooth Fairy...it's so cute. Here's a close-up:

Sam's Well Check

Sam weighed in at 37# (50%) and 39" (25%). He is only 3.5 inches taller than Mae...Ted was 41" at his 4 year check up. He certainly doesn't seem small to me, but I guess he's actually on the smaller side! He is such a goof and was happy as could be to be there (no shots; I said No Thanks to HepA) and chatted with her all about what he was up to. What a nice visit. It's funny-she said by age 5 she likes them to know their phone number and address. Ted knows them only with prompting so I'm going to get on it...perhaps if we practice it every day (and maybe have Ted write it too!), when they can say it without help they can win something. What a great kid Sam is. Funny, sweet and loving. I'm so lucky to have such great kiddos.

Journals

On the mornings that Ted's class does not go to Movement, they start the day with Journal Time. This has been going on since the very first day of school and provides a mellow way to start the day. Anything special about that day is written on the board (We're going to the library today! for example) and beneath it is a suggestion of something to write about. Today's was "What are you excited about?" Ted's answer is below. Now, for a kid who could only write his name as far as I knew, this was very exciting, for me!!


I take it he and Sierra were having a discussion about their respective ages...
Click each pic for a larger view. If you're still confused, here are the translations (transliterations?):

*I have a loose tooth! Good!

*Sierra is 5 not 6.

Kitty in a Basket

Phew

Snack was a success today. Their teacher wants the recipe for the Oatmeal Zucchini Chocolate Chip cookies and the peaches were completely gone. I'm so happy that the kids like the snack-you never know. This morning we biked to school (from the rec center) and actually were the first ones there!! That never happens. They start in the gym now with "Movement." Yesterday was jump rope and today was yoga. It's only 20 minutes and they think it helps wake the kids up as the mornings get darker. Sam had his cooking class (Orange Julius smoothies today with Butterfly Bagels) then we were off to swimming. For the 3rd week in a row, the other 2 kids in Mae's class weren't there, so Cynthia said Sam could get in and then we could leave early. Sam had a blast pretending to be a baby and Cynthia did a really good job of keeping him swimming most of the time, like he would in his class. This gave Mae a chance to nap for an hour at Wendy's before picking up Ted. He swam great but developed serious stomach pain (cramps?) and didn't do TKD-preferring to lie on the floor of the van. I felt so bad for him. Sam didn't do very well but was at least being quiet and he ended up with a star! Figures that when Ted really needs a star, he misses the class! I contemplated bringing him to Urgent Care, but after an hour and some change, he said the pain went away. Phew! I wanted to go to my meeting tonight and decided to bike. Oh, the naivete! In the car, 88th St. looks like gently rolling hills. On a bike, it's 4 hills, one right after another, and they are steep-at least to my un-trained quads. Still, it was refreshing. This leaving the house at 7:15am and getting home at 6pm is for the birds! I'm exhausted and still need to prepare snack and pack all the lunches. I also need to come up with a better budget for next year, because we're living like movie stars over here (according to that bastard Quicken) and that just isn't our reality. Swimming is an easy one to drop because Ted can just go onto a swim team or drop it completely if his asthma is OK. I really want Mae to start preschool in January, so I'm going to talk to Ted's school about the 'optional' Kindergarten fee. I appreciate that it's optional, and it is much less than the standard K-care cost at most schools, but it would pay for Mae's preschool. Heck, when she's in preschool maybe I can come volunteer in exchange! We'll see. Good thing I'm back into cooking so we won't eat out much and I truly believe that eating the local foods is going to end up being cheaper. After all, it's in season and it's not being shipped from somewhere. I'm newly resolved to put up as much as I can for the winter so we can have some variety in our meals til the spring. Oy. Tomorrow is Sam's 4 year well-check at 3:45. I really love well-checks with no shots.

Mmm...

As is our Monday post-TKD custom, we stopped at Red Wagon Farms on our way home. It was overflowing with so many of our favorite things and I couldn't resist taking a picture of how beautiful and fresh it all looks waiting on the counter. If you're interested in the Eat Local Challenge, there's a post here.

REALLY loose tooth & reading!

Ted's tooth is getting grotesquely loose. *shudder* He is having so much fun with this. Besides the tooth fairy (who will be giving him a $1 coin), he will also get a star at TKD for his first tooth. Cute! He only needs 2 more stars to earn a Silver Victory Patch for his dobok (uniform). Right now he has the first (Blue) patch. Only one other boy in his class has a Silver patch so Ted is REALLY motivated! He's been behaving beautifully in class, but lately there have been so many kids in his class (over 10) that I think the instructor can't pay enough attention to know which students are really behaving well. I've been commending him though and I think he's got it pretty well down. Very exciting stuff!

Today was my volunteer day in Ted's classroom. It was during DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read). First I read to a small group of kids, and then they chose a book to read to me. This was just the kindergarteners so they were little books. Ted brought his book home so he could read it to Daddy. You can tell he's memorized it, but still. He is so earnest about it! I love it. I loved being in there too...it's so very calm and peaceful during 'work time' and then when they transitioned from reading to clean up to recess...holy cow! The chaos! A nice combination, IMO. Enjoy!

bye bye, training wheels *revisited*

One of the things I've noticed about having kiddos so close in age is that as soon as a milestone is finally reached by Ted, it's time to start on Sam! Sam woke up on his (4th) birthday and told me to take his training wheels off. Now, for the record, I would have preferred to wait until next Spring, but he was adamant. So I did and we've been working on it a little bit. He is very excited to try it and actually is capable of doing it on his own (if it's a flat straightaway) but as soon as he sees that I'm not holding him, he FLIPS OUT. *sigh* Anyway, today he did a really good job (still flipping out) so I'm going to try and get him out a few times this week and I think he'll have it. Like so many things in life, it's all about his confidence in himself. On Friday I took Alex and my kids to a park so Wendy could do a shoot in peace. Sam practiced on the tennis courts for a while but ended up learning how to pump a swing! He actually figured out the leaning part. Ted just learned this in May so I'm impressed with him. For a kid who didn't walk until almost 18 months old, he is turning into my little athletic go-getter! Look for a video in the next few days, if I can get him to stop screaming long enough to film him!!

apples and flowers

I learned something today. Something that is perhaps life changing! See that cute little flower icon on the left? I've had my camera for a few years now, a gracious gift from Rob, and never read the manual because I don't think we have one. Turns out this sweet little flower lets you zoom in REALLY close but still stay focused. And as a bonus, the surrounding background is slightly blurred, a look I LOVE in Wendy's shots. I played around with it tonight but the light is obviously bad at night (you can't use the flash with this feature or it will just be a big blur) but I get it! It's so cool!

Scrumptious eats

Today was rather domestic. Paul took off this morning for the mountains and a day of shooting (clay) with the chavurah guys. So the kids and I had what felt like a rather normal day. We went to TaeKwonDo at 10:15 and then home for lunch and a nap for grumpy Mae. The boys played with the neighbors for hours, until Ted came home crying because he'd been stabbed in the eye with a sword. I spent the time shredding zucchini, freezing said zucchini, and baking zucchini bread for Ted's snack on Monday. I was also very inspired to create a pizza sauce for our Ninja Turtle pizza night tonight, so I scoured the internet. My recipe is based on this one, but I'm much too lazy to take the skins off tomatoes and I didn't have any fresh basil. It was SO INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS. I may buy out the tomatoes at market and do this again to freeze. It was, literally, a taste of summer. I did our standard pizza crust in the bread maker and topped it with shredded cheese, sliced olives, and green pepper from the CSA. I also made another one with just cheese for the kids. They loved it and had 3 slices each. In the past I've always used soy cheese and I think I'll just give it up and keep pizza to a monthly treat, thus making me feel OK about giving cheese to Ted. It was so yummy. Here is my version:

Heat olive oil and add 8 cloves of finely chopped garlic. Heat but don't brown. Add 1/2 TBSP cayenne pepper powder, then add 1 small bucket of cherry tomatoes, halved. Add salt and 1 tsp dried basil. Cook 15 minutes or until tomatoes are liquefied. SO good. More Eat Local Challenge ramblings here.

L'shana tova!

Happy New Year, everyone! This morning Ted, Sam and I went to HHS for Tashlich and then dropped Sam off at day care while we went to a special Family service. It was a bit long for Ted, but he did fine and really enjoyed the sermon. It was really special to have him there and I think he was a little bit proud to be old enough too. After services we grabbed a quick bite to eat with Wendy and the gang and got home to set up for our open house. Every year I host the open house for our chavurah and 2 other families. Neither of the other 2 families came so I urged Wendy to come and they did. After everyone left, around 5ish, we went to the farm to pick up our CSA share and spent some time in the hay again. Bedtime was quick and easy with very tired kiddos. Thanks so much for the pics, Wendy!!







Mae loves Randi and Aidin. It seems as though every chavurah she spends more and more time with those girls, so that I seldom see her during our get togethers. I love that smile! Randi is tickling her.









Ted is a nut. For whatever reason, he thought it would be funny to put on one of Mae's dresses. He had it on for a long time! He would have been such a cute little girl!!

Horizons and biking

One of the things I loved about Horizons was their Outdoor emphasis. Sonny's husband (Sonny is the 'lead teacher' i.e. principle) fits any kid who doesn't have a bike with a mountain bike for Middle School mountain biking and Moab bike trips. Freiker was also mentioned in this article (written by Sonny's husband). Velonews is one of the top bike magazines in the country...how cool!

Loose Tooth!

Yes, it's true! Ted has a loose tooth! He's been pining for one for MONTHS now and tonight while flossing him, it moved!! Really moved! He is so excited. I'll take a pic of it when it starts looking more sideways.

Field Trip

This week at Horizons is Outdoor Education Week. For grades 2-8, they have a 3 day-2 night overnight trip with outdoor activities. For the K/1 classes, they stay at school but have local field trips. Monday it was 50 degrees and raining, so they rescheduled their trip to the pond til Tuesday. They brought their microscopes, nets and various other things to sample the water and the creatures around it. Today was a field trip to Sombrero Marsh, which is an education center with a natural salt marsh in the middle. It was a bit hot, but very fun for the kids. Pics on moeltini.
Yesterday, Tuesday, Sam took his first cooking class at the rec center (WISH I had had my camera.) He had an apron and his own bowl and spoon. They cooked beignets ("a French donut" said Sam) and they were GOOD! He loved the class and can't wait for next week. Mae spent some time in the day care and did fine so next week I may try going for a run during that hour.
Today Sam told me he wants me to take the training wheels off his bike, so when Paul gets home we're going to take him over to the school. I personally think he's too young, but we'll give it a try! He is very excited. We also got Mae a 'real' bike helmet. She had one from Target that BARELY fit on her huge melon, so this one will last her a few years. All my kids have huge heads!

Here are Ted, Kai and Peter. They are so sweet and are good buddies.

Pics!!

More pics on moeltini. Thank you again Wendy!!!

shadow box

The glare is pretty bad on this picture, but you can get the idea. In retrospect, I wish I had chosen a darker background for the box itself. This is a shadow box of the outfit Mae had on when I received her. I also want to do one with her beautiful Changsha hand-embroidered silk formal Chinese outfit. She wore it this year for her 2 year pics but it was pretty big still, so we'll re-visit it next year. Once she's outgrown it, I'll do another shadow box with it and a picture of her (and her Huaihua sisters) on the red couch. Maybe at that point I'll buy a darker background and swap the boxes. Anyway, this will go in her room and probably inspire some discussion. I was looking for a post about shadow-boxing the gotcha event and came across a post joyfully announcing the first time the child said "China" in reference to herself. (China movie, I believe was the phrase.) I wish I had paid better attention, because Mae's been saying "Mae-Mae watch China movie, Mama. See SuSu" for a long time now. We point out Auntie Ellen in the movie (because she's met Ellen twice and knows her, more so than Daphne) as well as the other moms we can see in the movie, especially Angelina's mom, who fills the screen at the end.) She knows the names of her China sisters and we go through her book often too. If you ask her where she came from, she'll say "China!" with a true smile. Rachel, Elyana's mom, told me recently that a lot of stuff came up around age 3, so I hope we can spend the 2's learning and enjoying what we know of her past.

Fun Party

Sam's birthday party was simple and fun. We only had cake and no pinata or goodie bags, which pretty much removed any and all stress! I did ask Paul to make a Starbucks run for the 12 cup box because it was REALLY chilly. The kids enjoyed the bouncer although there was a lot more crazy sliding than jumping going on. Ted got pretty wild and eventually ejected from the thing (by me, not officially) but all in all, it was a good bouncer. Sam was remarkably calm this year. In years past I think he's melted down about something (don't all birthday kids?) but he was fine. A few people did bring presents, which was fun for him.

Just Friday, Sam told me he wanted a Power Rangers cake. Since Ted had one when he was 4, I thought it would be cool if Sam had one, so we went to Safeway to try and change it. Sadly, it was too late. We improvised and had a Power Ranger kicking the (gigantic) soccer ball. It all worked out and Sam was happy. The kids were riding bikes around and Zach H's dad told me how I could raise the pedals and bring the front handlebars in closer on Ted's bike. I think that might help a lot, so we'll give it a try. I came away from this party with the same overlying feeling, though, that it's better to keep the birthday party on or right near the actual birthday. It was weird celebrating it again, singing again, all that jazz. So, next year when his birthday lands on a Thursday, we'll have a Thursday afternoon party. Just to keep it simple.

finally...a restful day

This morning the kiddos woke on schedule at 6:30. That is great with me...I want their clocks to be set to this time so I don't have to drag Ted out of bed every morning. At the same time, any earlier is torture. So this was perfect. The boys spent the morning building Star Wars Lego sets with Daddy while Mae griped. She was hot and miserable this morning and spent most of her time lying on the couch with a sippy of Pedialite, whimpering.

I took the boys to TaeKwonDo while Mae napped (and puked) and they did great. I am so impressed with Sam's cooperation. He is really into it, although he doesn't say a word. There are a few others who took a while to 'shout it out' so I think he'll get there. His total joy is enough for me! Then we got Ted a nice trim (hooray! We both explained to the stylist what we wanted and she did a great job keeping most of the length but getting the dried ends off.)

Then Ted wanted to build more Legos so we dropped him off at home while Sam and I went on my major errand of the day: picture frame shopping. Not only am I preparing for the pics I'm about to receive from Wendy, but I also wanted to create a 'wall' of pictures that I really love. Wendy has one in her house and I love it. Here is what mine ended up looking like...it looks better in person, so come on over! I plan to add to it as favorite pictures pop up.

Mae was up from her nap and grumpy once again, but after she had a little more toast and Pedialite, she seemed to perk up quite a bit and started acting more like herself. While at Kohl's frame-hunting, Sam found costumes! Since I am all in favor of getting the most use possible out of Halloween costumes, I bought them, first phoning Ted at home to be sure he wanted to be a Transformer. Sam is the (new) Red Power Ranger and Mae has (happily) inherited Ted's Day-After-Halloween score from last year. Between their costumes, the music we could hear from Chili Fest going on at Community Park, and the Legos, the evening passed calmly.

My next task is over a year late - a shadow box with the outfit Mae was wearing when we met. I should have that ready sometime tomorrow, amidst the excitement of Sam's birthday party. Whew!

Worth it

Watch this. It's really moving. It breaks my heart while at the same time, the fact that they WANT to go, to visit, to learn, fills it back up with hope.

Watch it here.

is that a wig?

Our neighbor hadn't seen Ted in a few weeks. Ted was running down the street chasing Sam, his crazy hair wild in the wind. I'm going to try and get him in for a 'trim' this weekend...perhaps a professional can tame those locks!
Mae had fun at her first PALs of the school year. Oh boy will January be sweet! Bittersweet though. I've been in a PALs class, more or less, for 4 years. It's such a gentle introduction to the world of preschool. Sam is having such a blast at school. We've heard this before but again we heard what a leader Sam is in his class. His class made pink challah today (his class is the Pink Spidey (as in Spiderman) Butterflies. He and a little friend dropped by the PALs classroom today, completely covered in flour. It was so cute.
Tomorrow I'm going to take the boys to TaeKwonDo in the morning. We don't usually do the Saturday morning bi-monthly classes, but since I don't think we'll be able to go on Tuesdays with swimming, this will be a good way to squeeze an extra class in. Then Sunday is Sam's birthday party at the park! As usual, a ton of people are coming and it should be a blast.

So many pictures, so little blog space...

Today was quite a day, to say the least. Ted had a great day at school today and actually played with a boy (Omri) he hasn't mentioned before, so I am happy that he's branching out. Plus he's Jewish-always a plus! We were 5 minutes late today because we rode to school in the RAIN and that made us both very cautious. It was worth it...what a great feeling, to be hot and sweaty but feeling the cool rain on your face and legs...it was good. Plus it REALLY wakes Ted up. My mom brought me an article about an Asian country (can't remember which one, perhaps Japan) where the kids run a mile (literally) after every subject. Apparently the test scores shot up once they started doing that, linking oxygen to the brain to learning development. All I know is that Ted was a whiny, sleepy mess in the car and by the time we neared school, he was racing me and winning!
I took Mae and Sam to have their 2 & 4 year portraits taken by le photographe extraordinaire, Wendy. Mae was extremely uncooperative, but she also started puking this afternoon, so there's part of the reason! These are my absolute favorites. I think Wendy is such an artist. She's captured not just how cute my kids are but their personalities too. I love them.




After all that excitement, the kiddos napped and then Sam and Ted had TaeKwonDo. Sam was SO CUTE. He completely participated and followed directions in class. He had this precious smile on his face the whole time, only made bigger by a PAPERCLIP at the end of the class (they get paperclips for attendance but can be denied one if behavior is really poor). Here he is getting his white belt and saying the Tiny Tiger creed with Ted. Could he BE any cuter?! I sure hope age 4 is as sweet as age 3.



And last but certainly not least, I asked Wendy to create a collage for Ted's Triathlon. I love the clean look-just like a race poster.

And thus an environmentalist is born...

I try to be a good example, but the proof is officially in the pudding. It's what goes on at school that cements what we do at home. Tonight Ted marched down the stairs indignantly, waving an empty plastic medicine bottle at us. "This doesn't go in the GARBAGE!" he huffed. "It goes in the COMPOST!" I think he meant the recycle bin, but still. He was so proud of himself. I've seen the kids taking their bins to their respective spots so I know they do it at Horizons. And I'm glad!

Mmm...

Everyone in the class loved these cupcakes. We had plenty to share with other teachers and friends too. I think Jason and Sarah were surprised they could eat them...we had to assure them they could eat them. Who says you need a cow for scrumptious treats? Mmmm.

Oh yes I did

I was up late last night baking two batches of Isa's famous Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes. This morning, the large plastic bag I had put them in to stay fresh was topped with a most surprising frosting...a cat. *sigh* While the cupcakes tasted the same, they were almost completely flattened (due to the extreme lightness of these delicious cupcakes!). So, Mae and I went to the store this morning for more flour and did up 2 more batches. The 2nd batch is in the oven, the first batch is cooling, and the frosting is ready. These are so fabulous and Sam loves Newman-O's so he will be psyched. I am particularly happy because we have a no-nut school with dairy and egg allergies in Sam's class. There isn't anything in these cupcakes that will hurt anyone so everyone can have one! I love that. Now, if Mae and I can just resist eating the whole batch before we head out to school at noon...Mmm...

thoughtful

"I don't feel four yet, Mama. I was just three yesterday so I still feel three. Soon I'll feel four."

Sam's first TaeKwonDo class

Since Sam is now officially four, he took his first TaeKwonDo class today. His dobok (uniform) should be ready on Thursday for him. He was a bit goofey but very cute and he did the whole class, which says something. Here he is doing "Power Punch!" and "Front Kick!" He fell over while doing Round Kicks...those take some practice.

Happy Birthday Sam!!

The boys were up at 6am this morning, scuttling downstairs to see what presents were waiting at Sam's place. He LOVED the storm troopers and was very excited about the crocodiles. All in all, a very sweet and fun morning. He has both swimming and his very first TaeKwonDo class today!

The last day of summer

I know the official end of summer is a few weeks away, but today feels like the end here. For one, we went to the pool...it's last day. While it was wonderful to be there, it was chilly and the kids didn't actually swim much. We spent a cool evening playing in the backyard and biking in the cul-de-sac. Sam is beside himself with excitement for his birthday tomorrow and I am worried about the start of Freiker at Horizons tomorrow. Tonight, with my 2 remaining humongous zucchini, I baked 2 loves of zucchini bread and 4+ dozen Oatmeal Zucchini Chocolate Chip cookies. We are OUT of everything but kale and green & yellow wax beans. I sent Ted to school with a cucumber chain for his fruit/veggie. Geesh! Below are links to Sam's bday presents. I'm not sure that these are all typical presents for a 4 year old, but we are pretty darn certain that he will love them all.

A K'Nex set that he's loved playing with at his friend Adam's.

A set of 4 clone troopers he loved playing with in Iowa with his cousins Max & Henry.

A crocodile Playmobil set that he would have loved last Hanukkah but we didn't end up giving it to him, so he gets it now.