February update

Ack! It's mid-February. All is well here, just busy with work, school, soccer, Wordle, and other pursuits.

We celebrated Chinese New Year with lucky money and extremely good Chinese food (dumplings and noodles) from Bao Bao. 

Liesl has played three games of her spring soccer season -- one in Eugene, and two here in metro Portland. They've lost two and tied today, 2-2, against Capital FC (Salem-based team). She's been having a terrific season so far, playing strong defense and really contributing to her team. They are playing in the premier division of Oregon Youth soccer, which is the top tier, so the level of competition is intense. The foot problems that plagued her all fall and into winter are finally receding, thanks to some new arch supports and a new regimen of thrice-daily stretching. Here are some terrible photos of a recent night game.

And here she is with Lilly, Elia, Bailey, and Hannah, at a post-practice boba tea stop.

She has also continued with dance classes -- ballet, jazz, and hip hop, each once a week -- and the classes are starting to learn the routines they'll perform at the spring showcase. She's so excited to think about getting dressed up in costume and performing on the real stage again, after two years of cancelled shows. She reports that she's in the front row for all of her routines, which is of course thrilling.

Sebastian got braces installed last Tuesday morning, so we had a week of applesauce, yogurt, soup, mashed potatoes, creamy peanut butter, and food cut into very small pieces. He did really well during the process and has been handling the adjustment and discomfort very well. Is a photo in this instance a good thing? I'm thinking no. 

High school forecasting opened up and we spent some fun days looking at the options and selecting his choices for math level, second language, and electives. He'll be going to the local public high school, Lincoln, as it's a good school academically and most of his friends will be there; they'll be opening a brand-new building in August (just in time!).

Seb's soccer season is also continuing; they played today and tied 1-1. His team is looking better and better with each game as they dust off the cobwebs and get into shape. Seb has been really enjoying winter practices, as they share a field with the 2009 boys on Tuesdays and the 2005 boys on Thursdays, and get to scrimmage against both of those teams. He's having fun and feels like practicing with the older boys in particular is helping him grow. Here are some terrible photos of a recent game in Ridgefield. (He is usually chosen as team captain for the initial coin toss.)

I've been running a lot. Anja and I are training for a 25 km trail race in April, in the Ancient Lakes area of Washington. We'll do 7 miles tomorrow, and then 7.5 the following Sunday, working our way up to 13 miles in the week before the race.

And then of course there's Wordle, our daily obsession. Everyone got in on it and Wordled tonight after dinner.