Thursday, September 21, 2017

March 2017

still way behind … cookin’ it up as fast as I can! 
Lukas Life
—Lukas’s 10-penny bad day:
As delightful as most days are in Miss Bingham’s class, there are still some doozies, and Lukas had one this month — involving a semi-meltdown and hitting another kid, resulting in his losing a whopping ten pennies from his jar. His face, when he was released from class, told the whole story before I even knew there was one; he just crumpled into my arms and cried before he told me what happened. Poor kid pulled it together the next day, though; it was apparently a good lesson.
—Getting the gang together: We’ve formed a little crew with his running buddies Emmett and Manir; one afternoon, we all went for ice cream at Rite Aid with the boys, another day we spent the afternoon at Parma Park, etc. Annika goes along with more or less grace, and usually spends her time with Amira (who thinks she hung the moon).
—Annika the reading teacher: Big sister has become concerned with the pace of Lukas’s reading education and has taken it upon herself to nudge him along in the mornings, setting him words to learn and rewarding books read with cash incentives (usually 25 cents per book). As with most things she sets her mind to, this appears to be working, and he actually likes it 
All About Annika
—Beauty & the Beast:
We went with Anne and Grace to see the new Beauty and the Beast movie (the live-action one starring Emma Watson), and then out to lunch after; the theater was surprisingly crowded, so the girls sat together a few rows ahead of us, which seemed to make them feel very grown-up.
—Reaching out: Since Annika seems to be kind of tightly-wound and had been open to the idea of talking with a counselor about her anxiety, we had her meet with a therapist and, on the therapist’s recommendation, take part in a kids’ anxiety group. It really did seem to be good for her, to talk about her fears and anxieties, and be around other kids who were dealing with similar issues (once a week for six weeks).
—Fourth grade, sorted: We got the news that Mr. Dinh would be looping, which means he will be moving to fourth grade next school year and taking the class with him (if they opt in). I wasn’t sure Annika would want to do that, but she positively lit up when she was told, so we are in for 2017-2018! 
Family Fun
—Cirque du Soleil:
R. got us all tickets to see Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia show, which is all about Mexico — and it was fantastic! We all loved it — so much fun, and nothing too goofy or inappropriate. We’ll have to do that again sometime!
—Guinness party: The Marshalls’ St-Patricks-adjacent party returned this year, and for the first time, we all really got to relax; nobody has to hover over the kids, so they were free to run around and play while we hung out and drank from the kegerator, heh.
—The barfening: These kids really don’t get sick much, but there are exceptions. One delightful evening this month, both of them had some sort of hurling sickness — Lukas went down first, then Annika. They managed to get sick into the toilet and/or their trashcans, not on carpets or beds, so that was helpful … poor kids, though, they were so sick and pitiful. It lasted about 24 hours, then they bounced back.
—Thomases’ party: We went to a little get-together at the twins’ house, catered by Chipotle (some sort of prize-draw win), and for once, we actually got to hang with grownups and let the kids manage themselves! Parties are getting better around here …

Quotable
—We were talking about poppies — the wildflower blooming all over the place this month — and Lukas asked: “Do they grow up into dogs?”
—Annika re: recasting all the roles in new Wimpy Kid movie: “The kids have grown up, and the parents are like ... really old, or … R.I.P.” (Particularly funny to us, because the actors in the first run of movies are just a few years older than R. and I … )
—Lukas requested "Salty water. You know that kind with bubbles that goes fizzzz." Seltzer? 😂
—Lukas re: Michelangelo, in the Lego Batman Movie: “Mikey-langelo"

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

February 2017

oh my gosh I’m so behind … quick, have a months-late update! 
Holidays
—The Superb Owl: Per our new tradition, we had the Carneys over for Super Bowl Sunday. The older the kids get, the easier and more fun these kinds of things are — they watch movies, they play Pokemon, there’s occasionally yelling but we have enough beer and snacks in us to not get bent out of shape about it. Heh.
—Valentine’s Day: This year each of the kids made a “mailbox” for Valentines, which was a fun afternoon’s project. Annika handed out Harry Potter valentines, and Lukas went with PJ Masks, a current fave. I gave them treats at breakfast (chocolate, and a fuzzy little critter each — a fox for Annika, and a lion for Lukas). Later that day, there was an ice cream party in Lukas’s class — super cute, and super messy. 
—Spring Break: Once again, we went to Tahoe with the Carneys — albeit to a new house, since the one we’ve been to before was reclaimed as a primary residence by the people who own it, heh. Between R. still recuperating from knee surgery and me having recently sprained my ankle (training for a half marathon that I will not get to actually run), we didn’t even bother trying to ski this time; instead, it was all about sledding, snow fights, and building snow stuff. This house was near a big open place with a big slope to sled on — we did some truly epic runs. The kids are all old enough now to really enjoy it, and have enough stamina to stay out there for awhile.  
Annika central
—Annika’s braces come off: This phase was relatively short, although I’m sure it felt like forever to her — but the day did come where it was time to remove her upper braces and get a retainer. I let her play hooky from school, since the appointment went till after 10:30 — it was a fun day when she got to pick where we went for lunch and we hung out together, but also I made her do some schoolwork on her computer so the day wasn’t a total brain vacation and I was a Very Responsible Parent. ;-)
—Girl Scout cookies: Ugh. I ate more than we sold, but it all counts … she didn’t do a single sale on her own, just the booths we were signed up for, ha!
—Grace’s birthday: Grace had her party at Sharks Ice, and after a few tentative laps with the buckets, Annika got right out there and started making the big loop of the rink. Lukas was so excited to try it, but at first, it was so weird and scary that he cried a little. He kept at it, though, and by the end, he loved it! I only showed off my backwards-skating a little bit.
—Leveling up in swim class: They kept at me to put Annika in the one-hour class, so we changed our swim day to Saturday mornings. It was an instant and total disaster, both kids hated it, Annika announced that Saturday used to be her favorite day of the week and now it is her most-hated one. Good times, good times. 

Quotable
—Lukas playing hangman: “It has … 6 letters.” The word was: XLE
—Lukas explains it all:
“Mummies are zombies wrapped in toilet paper.”
—“Snow is made of salt and sour stuff.”

—Lukas names his most beloved new stuffed critter: Pokie the pokeball
—Annika, hearing some pop song or other from the 60s in a shop: “I don't like vintage music.”

January 2017

(this is gonna be a short one — January was long and busy and it’s May now, so …)
Goin’ places, doin’ stuff
New Year’s Eve:
The grandparents were in town, but no good bands were, so we had another NYE at home (mostly) — Annika was invited for a sleepover at her friend Kaia’s house, so she made it farther into 2017 than most of the rest of us did, heh. Other than that, all quiet until the illegal fireworks started!
Girl Scout cookie rally: Oh boy, here we go again! Annika went to this one with her troop, and the big excitement was the new cookie variety (S’mores); she came home with the expected assortment of sales slips, brochures, and goal markers. First sale day is Feb. 1 …
Alana sleepover: The school break was long (well, not long, but it started late — 12/23 — and went an extra week in January) and the kids were restless. Alana invited Annika for a sleepover; cupcakes and pancakes were involved …
Moana: I took the kids to see Moana in the theater — they liked it, and I LOVED it. I had no expectations beyond “it’s Pixar, it’s gonna be good” — but WOW, did I enjoy that. Gonna make a good one for family movie night when it comes out on video!
My birthday: This wasn’t a big milestone number (43), and plus R. was still recovering from knee surgery and couldn’t do much, so it was relatively quiet; we had a good dinner and a cake, and I got some great presents, and the kids made me sweet cards … that was all I needed!
The Women's March: The Saturday after that awful nightmare of a presidential inauguration, I joined with Anne, Laura, Laura’s daughters, and millions of women worldwide in marching as part of the Resistance (our march was in downtown San Jose). I would have liked Annika to go with me, but R. and I both felt that although the possibility for violence or other trouble was low, it wasn’t zero, so we decided she would stay home — but she was with me in spirit, as I carried the sign she made (TRUMP IN THE DUMP, it said, with a helpful illustration of an orange creep in a garbage can), along with my own (RESIST on one side, and SHE GOT MORE VOTES on the other). 
Girls’ trip to San Francisco
Back in October, I won tickets to the San Francisco Ballet. I chose a performance at the end of January, and took Annika up to the city on the train with me to see it, tour the city, and stay overnight. She loved the hotel more than anything, of course — we stayed at the beautiful old Westin St. Francis, right on the cable car line. I got to take her on the cable car, show her the city R. and I used to live in, and have her meet the people who own the Hyde Street Seafood House (one of our favorite special restaurants in SF). Meanwhile, R. and Lukas had what Lukas called “two dudes weekend,” which mostly consisted of watching Star Wars and eating pretzels. Annika agreed with me that we should do this kind of thing more often.

Quotable Lukas: The All About Me Poster
(answers taken from his first responses to the poster, for his “special recognition day” at school)
Favorite animal: one that can bite you
What I want to be when I grow up: a wand, a dinosaur, a parent