Baby Pool

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First Day Back at School

Eva had her first day back at school. It went MUCH better than I expected! Even last night she would start tearing up at the very thought of it and I worried it would be tough this morning.

We have spent quite a bit of time preparing for this day. We counted down the weeks and days so it wouldn't sneak up on her. We did a little art therapy- I had her draw the things she was looking forward to and the things she was worried about. (Her concern was missing Mommy). And last night we had a long talk before bed. I reminded her that she had a choice about whether she concentrated on the sad things or the fun things. That there were good and bad things about everything. And I prayed for her.

More answered prayers! I walked her to her class, and her English teacher invited her over to the English classroom to help out. Eva took her hand and away she went. That was it!

I think it helped that she scratched her arm and got a special bandaid before school, and then got bitten by an ant right before we went into the schoolyard. Served as distraction.

When I picked her up she said that it was a "good" day. Her teacher confirmed that it had gone really well too. No crying, good socializing, and Eva was excited about going to the flag raising ceremony. Later in the afternoon, Eva mused, "Actually today at school was pretty fun!" I'm so happy!!!

The Luckiest Kid

Last night Eva was invited to attend the wedding service of her teacher Raquel. What are the odds that within the same year both of a child's teachers will get married and invite their students? Pretty cool. Unfortunately these weddings occur after Eva's bedtime so her self-consciousness was magnified. She clung to me and would not pose with Raquel for a photo.

Raquel and Oscar with Eva's classmate Ana

She almost missed out on the group photo too...


...but finally got up the courage to get in there.


At one point during the service Eva leaned over to me and whispered, "I am the luckiest kid ever. I have a trampoline and I got to go to two weddings and I have pretty shoes." My mother's heart sang.

Beautiful candelit ceremony.

Middle Name Poll

Andrew and I want to know what you think about the importance of middle names!

Cloth Wipes

Another project complete! Two dozen flannel wipes.

Another Tennis Video

I messed around a bit with iMovie.... I have a long way to go but it was kind of fun and now we have video proof of their skill levels at ages 4 and 2...

Date Night

We had a wonderful date night yesterday! The kids were thrilled to have Bertha here and were playing balloon volleyball when we left. We started by doing a little shopping. It was very nice to freely browse around. Got a couple of things too. Then we headed to a restaurant that was recommended to us and were blown away by how awesome it was. Decor was beautiful, service was terrific- they even custom made fresh salsa at the table- and the food was delicious. Good prices too! And we finished up the evening with a movie. We went to see My Sister's Keeper and really enjoyed it. I thought the characters were really human. The acting was great.

Slowmo Micah....The Tennis Star.

I love the amount of power this kid generates.

Easy Awesome Creamy Homemade Salad Dressing

My good friend Jen has a real gift for whipping together delicious homemade salad dressings. I have been trying but the only one that really comes together for me is a greek style dressing (splash of olive oil, splash of balsamic vinegar, dash of salt & pepper, sprinkle of dried sweet basil).

Today Andrew asked for a creamy basil dressing for the salad he had made. I went to Google and tried a recipe that came up. It was perfect! Here's what I used:

1/4 c mayo
1/2 c plain unsweetened yogurt
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tbsp dried sweet basil

And that's it! The recipe actually called for a cup of loosely chopped fresh basil but my plant didn't have nearly enough. That version needs to be run through the blender. My version just needed a shake in a jar.

Dryer Balls

Any of you who have been to a Norwex party have already heard about the dangers of fabric softener. I quit using it right after I was enlightened, and my clothes didn't come out all stiff and static clingy like I'd been led to believe. I dabbled in fabric softener alternatives like baking soda or vinegar but found I didn't generally need them. That said, I did still have a problem or two. My front loading washer does such a good job of spinning that sheets in particular would always come out of the dryer really wrinkly. And if my dryer load was really small, the clothes would just ball up rather than tumbling, and they would come out looking terrible.

The solution to both problems? Dryer balls! This summer I ordered these dryer balls pictured above. And they are totally doing the trick. I highly recommend them.

Speaking of laundry, can someone tell me how to get stains out of clothes that are supposed to be washed only in cold water?

Tennis Update

I figured out why Eva says she doesn't like tennis. It's because the instructors are male. She is used to having female instructors and it's been tough for her to get comfortable with the change. It's such a relief to know why! I was so frustrated because she looked like she was having a good time in there but then she'd come out and say she doesn't like "anything about it".

I reminded her that her music teacher at school is a man. She acknowledged that but said that her female teachers were always there. So I pointed out that I am right there on the other side of the glass, the whole time. That gave her pause. I asked her if they've ever growled at her, yelled at her, bit her, or been mean to her. She answered no, chuckling a little. Hoping that she'll work this through now. I think this is a great opportunity for them to (a) get some exercise, (b) learn a new skill set, (c) feel that sense of accomplishment that comes with skill development and of course (d) have some fun!

As for Micah, he sometimes says he doesn't like it but I can tell it's just because he hears Eva saying that. The last two Wednesdays Micah has done tennis while Eva stays in the crafts class, and he's a little shy about getting into the squash court at the beginning, because he's not used to doing the class without Eva, but he does fine once he's in there. Yesterday he cracked me up. They were supposed to be bouncing the ball then hitting it but he decided it would be much more efficient to just kind of let it go in front of the racquet and whack it. He stood right beside the ball basket and fired dozens one after the other until it was empty. I admired his enthusiasm!

NEST!!

GROSSgrossgrossgrossgross......!!!

We used to see a few cockroaches just about every morning in the laundry room (mostly). We installed a door sweep to eliminate their access via the space at the bottom of the back door and that seemed to make all the difference. In the last few years cockroach sightings have been rare. Until lately. We've been seeing far too many cockroaches for our liking (like, one or two a day) in the last couple of weeks. And the last couple of sightings are the grossest yet- in our pantry!

So today I asked Cori to clean out the pantry. Mystery solved! My blissful innocence has been lost but at least the source of the cucarachas has been located. I hope this reduces our sightings again back down to rare. Still looking forward to coming, Mom? Are you going to pack your own food? ;)

All 'Dressed' Up and Nowhere To Go

One of the pitfalls of having an elder sister....

Yummy Healthy Pancakes

I love serving these pancakes because they are wholesome and tasty. It makes quite a big batch, which feeds the kids and I and leaves lots of leftovers. Micah and I like to eat the leftover pancakes cold or toasted. I base my recipe on this one I found at allrecipes.com.

1 1/2 c oats
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c buttermilk (add 1 tbsp vinegar to regular milk to make buttermilk)
1 c milk
1/4 c plain yogurt (which I use instead of oil)
1 egg
1/3 c sugar or honey (if I use honey I use a little less milk)

often I use a little less flour so I can sneak some bran in too

Grind the oats in blender or food processor until they are fine. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

In another bowl or mixer combine all the wet ingredients.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry with a few swift strokes. Lumps are ok.

We enjoy eating our pancakes with pure maple syrup, raw honey, or jam.

Gone Fearless

Micah has let go of his fears about swimming! All of the sudden he is swimming a few strokes unaided underwater! He was on fire yesterday! So exciting....

Tennis Pics

Here are a few of the snapshots we took yesterday during Eva and Micah's tennis lessons.

Eva was trying to catch the ball in the cone.


Eva's two handed forehand! Look out Serena!


Micah practicing his backhand!


Great work Micah!