snow days!

We have been having a tremendous snow storm in Portland - actually three separate storms following close on each other's heels, and dumping a mass of powder everywhere. The first blew in on Thursday afternoon, forcing an early dismissal from school and work. Liesl and I had been downtown enjoying hot chocolate at Cacao and a visit to Powell's Books (playgroup was canceled because of illness, and we needed a pick-me-up from the disappointment) - we drove up the hill into the beginnings of the storm and picked up Steve, and then Seb, and then pulled into our garage just as the snow was starting to accumulate and the wind to gust.

We haven't left since then, except to walk out and play in the snow. School was canceled on Friday and Steve could work from home, so we have been cozy and snug indoors together. Thankfully we went grocery shopping on Wednesday afternoon, so we are well stocked with food.  (As a side note, I have been reminded again of how much easier our family logistics are now that I'm not working - no scrambling to figure out coverage and caregivers when we have illness, or random inservice and vacation days, or snow days. Obviously there are things I miss about working - like income - but on days like Friday I am really happy to just be able to hang out with the children and not worry about anything else.)

We've had a really fun time playing in the snow, in part because it is kind of a novelty here in Portland. Sebastian in particular loves it - loves digging snow caves and climbing onto snow mountains and just being outside - regardless of conditions. On Friday we all went out in the morning (at 8 am, which was an hour later than the kids wanted!) to the school field. We made perfect snow angels, made and followed each other's tracks around the field, explored the woods. Seb made a snow nest and a snow castle. Liesl and I started to get cold, so we came home for snack/lunch, but Seb stayed out to play with his friend Anna for another hour - digging caves and benches and running around. He finally got hungry enough to come in, but after lunch we borrowed a sled and the two of us had a great time scooting down the little hill at the school (Liesl was napping). I came back in and he then spent two hours by himself playing out there, even though the second storm was by then in full gusting and snowing glory.  He seems totally immune to the cold. It must be because he's part Canadian. :)

Today was a little windier and colder, with snow falling most of the day, and Liesl was not particularly keen to be out. But Sebastian dug into the mountain of snow that was created by our neighbors shoveling out their driveways, creating a cave. He and I went for a walk down to the pond and then back up to the school, staying in the protected creek valleys out of the wind. We got in a couple more sledding trips as well.

When we've been indoors, we've had a good time too - some messy painting, playing games (including Mah favorite Mousie Mousie), doing puzzles, creating structures of Legos and Magnatiles. The kids have a huge box right now which alternates between being a pirate ship, baby's crib, family house, race car, dog's kennel, and probably some other imaginative things I've missed.  I had the idea to go through all of our bookshelves and library books and pick out every book we could find about snow and storms, including those (like Frog and Toad, Poppleton, and Oliver and Amanda) that just have specific chapters about snow play. We've read them all. :)  We've also read about half of Charlotte's Web, since we're going to see a play production of it next Saturday and I think they'll enjoy it more if they grasp the basic plot beforehand. 

 

Sebastian has been journaling about our snow adventures. Here's his first page (with more to come):

And finally, something about the snow has apparently triggered my nesting instincts, because I've been cooking and baking up a storm. I made blueberry buckwheat pancakes; creamy vegetable soup (leek, potato, celery root); a big pot of pinto beans and farro; a braise of lamb shanks in red wine and tomatoes; oatmeal raisin walnut bread; apple pandowdy; and Russian rye bread. I think tomorrow we might need to bake some cookies. We'll all come out of the storm fat and happy, I think.

Chinese New Year

I gave the children oranges and hong bao (lucky red envelopes filled with money) at breakfast, and they both wore red in honor of Chinese New Year.

Sebastian's amazing and inspiring kindergarten teacher organized an entire day to recognize and celebrate Lunar New Year and Chinese culture in general. Seb's classmates include two very recent Chinese immigrants (as in, they began the year with almost no English), plus three or four other Asian/part-Asian kids, so it was very appropriate and really fun.

Ethan Z. and his younger brother are wearing new clothes at the top of this picture, in honor of the day. Their father brought in red envelopes with a crisp, new $1 bill and passed one out to each of the children - Mrs. Huntley had them all recite "Xie xie" in response to Mr. Zhang's "Xin nian kuai le".

Here they are (with Liesl in the mix, next to Seb), singing a song called "Gung Hay Fat Choy" - Happy New Year.

They made yellow paper lanterns, decorated with streamers.

They decorated dragon masks and cut them out to do a dance. They also learned to write some very simple Chinese characters and then painted them onto a red scroll.

Ethan brought in a Korean lunar new year outfit that he had worn as a toddler, and we tried it out on Liesl. It fit perfectly, and she was super happy and so cute in it. Mrs. Huntley lifted her onto a table for everyone to see, and then paraded her around to all the other kindergarten classes.

And finally, for lunch they had rice and orange chicken, with tea, chopsticks, fortune cookies, and oranges, in a festively decorated lunchroom.

Cannon Beach (in January!!)

rain hiking...

 On Saturday, after Sebastian's swimming lesson (the first of the series; marked by tears and anxiety), I took the children to the Hoyt Arboretum to run off some energy. It was raining, but they were cheerfully undaunted. We ran from big tree cover to to big tree cover, cuddling under the protective awning. We "fished" in the little stream. We gathered big sticks which we pretended were tunnels to run under or ropes to hop over. It was grand fun.

And then on Sunday, once the rain had stopped, Sebastian and I walked up the Balch Creek trail to the fairy house. The normally sleepy stream had swollen to a fast-paced river marked by rapids and little waterfalls - very fun to see. We got to have a fun little conversation about flooding and water displacement and erosion.

Liesl was feeling tired and cranky, and Steve's knees were bothering him after an earlier long run, and so they only walked in a little way - they visited our favorite ice cream store instead and had tastings of the newest flavors. :)

I have really been noticing the passage of time during our recent hikes together. Walks that would have taken us a couple of hours last January - hikes that would have qualified as full morning activities, and probably required carrying Liesl - now take us under an hour. The children run and skip and jump half the time, and are not tired at the conclusion.  Seb and I made it to the fairy house and back in 35 minutes. I couldn't believe it. I love seeing the kids get stronger and faster, but it also makes me sad to remember that time passes so quickly when you have young children.

I can't take the cuteness.

Liesl is wearing a pink leotard (thanks cousin Evie!) and has her hair in a ponytail. She's right in front of teacher Jarmila here.

Liesl has the dark blue scarf with pink flowers.

And, she's flying!

Christmas break

We had a really nice, happy, and easy two-week break from school for Christmas and New Year's. My parents were here for three days; Steve took some days off from work, and we had fun adventures. We went to the Children's museum and the zoo for animals and Zoolights.  We went hiking and played outside at the Arboretum, the Rose Garden, Forest Park, Laurelhurst Park, and up to Council Crest. For New Year's Eve, we went to a party at our friends' the Zabaglios, where we made noisemakers, ate good food and champagne, and counted down to "midnight" at 8 pm. We went bowling and simultaneously watched the Steelers on the giant tv screen. The kids and I also baked granola, buckwheat pear muffins, cranberry bread, banana bread, cookies and more cookies. And we went to the library and checked out a veritable mountain of books. It was good. It was tiring - I find two children to be much more exhausting mentally than one - but nice to have the chance to hang out with Sebastian and for the children to play with each other.

On one of our hikes, we took our gingerbread houses into the park and smashed them to pieces. That was great fun and very memorable for both children.  :)

Another of our hikes was with friends Mary and Rowan up to Council Crest, where we could see beautiful, clear views of Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and other peaks. I hadn't been on that hike or up there since Steve and I did it with our families right before we got married here in 2005. Sadly, you can't see the mountains looming behind the children in any of my pics. :(

And now we are back to our regularly scheduled lives - Sebastian in school, and Liesl in a raft of activities. For the next six weeks, we will have swimming lessons, a dance class, art class, and weekly playgroup. Her first swimming lesson on Monday was a huge success - her first foray into the water without me, and she did wonderfully - no fear. She was super proud that "I did everything that teacher Kyle asked!"