my boys

A Sunday walk in Forest Park with my boys (Liesl was at Camille's birthday show) - it was warm and sunny and altogether lovely, and I could feel spring around the corner.

And.. this is just a random photo of Liesl on a random morning... She appeared downstairs at 6:20, dressed in this getup and declaring that she was ready for school. (!) It could be connected to the fact that the children have restarted swim lessons after a year-long hiatus, and she's SUPER excited about it. We've decided to spring for semi-private lessons - just the two of them in a pool with an instructor - in the hopes that it will move Sebastian along a little more. Stay tuned...

pizza parlor

It never fails... I start thinking about giving away an old, unused toy, and the children discover a freshly creative way of playing with it and I lose my resolve. The play kitchen has sat unused in Liesl's closet for months, but over the weekend it made a reappearance as the counter and kitchen for their pretend pizza parlor. We were the customers - the menus were elaborate - they had so much fun.

So of course the logical next step was to  make real pizza from scratch - yeast, flour, salt and water; canned tomatoes and herbs; fresh mozzarella and parmesan; assorted toppings. I've made pizza before but the children haven't helped much, so I was excited to have their enthusiastic attention. We made the dough first thing on Monday morning, let it rise all day, and then everyone got their own personal ball of dough to shape and stretch and top and bake.

Liesl went for tomato sauce, three cheeses, olives, and spinach.

Sebastian wanted tomato sauce, heaps of mozzarella, and spinach.

This is Steve's, who had three different pizzas on one medium-sized pie crust (indecisive?).
Mine is not pictured, but had butternut squash, brussels sprouts, spinach, olives, and chevre - it was absolutely delicious. Everyone was happy and pleased with themselves. :) 

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast - with blueberries - exchanged homemade cards, and then enjoyed a sweet and lovely home day.

We played soccer and frisbee and basketball at the school field; Sebastian and I played chess, Liesl and I played Connect 4 and a memory game; everyone read books; Liesl drew a picture; the children watched a tv show; Seb practiced piano; we went on a very muddy and fun hike on the Saltzman Rd trail in Forest Park. It was my kind of family day, full of good food and happy people and both outdoor and indoor fun. 

Oh, and we bought WAY too many chocolate bars at the New Seasons sale (50% off!) - we had a taste-testing extravaganza of the various bars, plus the remains of a chocolate cake I had made on Thursday. Yum.

Happy Chinese New Year!

random things

Sebastian's friends at school have nicknamed him "Subway". (In reference to the sandwich chain, not the trains, unfortunately.) That's what they call him on the soccer field and at lunch recess - he claims that "everyone" exclusively calls him Subway now. I kind of like it, it's fun and active and unusual, and it's a sign that he has an independent life outside of us.

In turn, Sebastian has taken to calling Liesl "Lees", which is the most obvious nickname, and yet not something that anyone else has ever called her. I wonder if it will stick? I wonder if her friends will call her that, especially if she plays team sports?  It's so fun to think about. My own nickname was bestowed by 3-year old Carl and stuck with me for a long while - no one called me by my full name until I graduated from high school and left home. Now, only Steve, and family when they're visiting, regularly call me Bri. None of the very close friends that I've made here call me that, and very few of my NY and Columbia friends and colleagues ever did. It's interesting to me that you can outgrow what was once your name.

On another note:  On Tuesday this week, Sebastian asked me who I was planning to vote for in the presidential election. I was a little surprised, by which I mean totally unprepared, to answer the question, since he's never before evinced any interest in politics. And Steve and I discuss issues and the candidates, but often when the children are asleep or otherwise not around to interrupt us.  So I sort of hemmed and hawed and talked about how it was a long process to choose the candidates, wondering what to say about the process of the primaries and the selection of candidates in various states, and the two-party system, etc. I basically froze at the sheer complexity of the American political system, in part because my sense is that he knows very little. While I was cogitating, Sebastian said: "I think you should vote for Trump." "What??" I said, "I would never. Ever. Unless the other option was Ted Cruz, and then maybe, but just no. Why do you say that?"  Sebastian: "Because everyone is voting for him and he's going to win anyway, so you should just vote for him too."  I was utterly floored, too flabbergasted to contest the statement appropriately. (Side note: a truly smart stance from an evolutionary perspective: identify the alpha male, and get behind him early.) Happily, I recovered my brainpower that evening and managed to have a really good conversation with him the next day about the electoral system, the two parties and their major policy differences, and my political views. Phew.

Liesl has been particularly interested in word meanings lately, which has been really fun - lots of definitions being given and discussions about shades of meaning - I can't remember a tenth of her questions, but just off the top of my head - what does "necessary" mean? what does object mean? what does collaborate mean?  Did you know that when you say food is hot it can mean two different things? what does charming mean?  Etc. It's a fun age and she is endlessly curious and interested, able to focus for a long time on understanding something.

Sebastian's piano recital

Sebastian's piano class had their end-of-semester recital yesterday. It was pretty informal, just in the classroom during the last half of the regular class time, but still everyone's first time playing in front of a largish group of family members. Sebastian was a little nervous but handled it very well - no grouchiness or temper, no upset stomach - and he played four (very short) songs beautifully.  He had to come to the front, introduce himself and the song he was playing, sit and play, and then stand up and take a bow at the end. He was a little shy, but did well, and I was proud.

We celebrated with an assortment of mini cupcakes from Saint Cupcake - yum! He will continue with the same teacher and many of the same children during the spring semester, again in a group lesson format. He has indicated that he's interested in private lessons, so we will most likely pursue that next year - so far so good! I admit I was nervous entering into piano lessons, fearing that it was a whim on his part that would be an expensive foray into horrendous nagging on my part. I won't say there hasn't been nagging, but he's mostly practiced his 20 minutes a day with minimum grumbling - especially since we moved the piano into the living room - and he's definitely still enjoying it. I hope it continues, as it's nice to see him exploring an alternative interest and side of his personality.

I took a couple of not-very-interesting photos, but my laptop is wonky and I'm letting it have a moment to itself, so the photos remain on the camera. I'll add the pics to this post later. :)
Edited to add:

preschool "endeavors"

Liesl's classroom at school is trying out something new: every Wednesday they meet in small groups, with a teacher and friends from their own Dragonfly class and the next-door Butterflies, with the aim of exploring a subject in depth. The children were asked to rate five choices: science (bugs and seeds), murals, movement (dance and gymnastics and yoga), sewing, and book-making. They'll stick with the same theme and teacher for the next two months.

Liesl picked science and murals as her top two, and was placed in the murals group (along with bestie Nina!).  They have so far spent time learning about the concept of murals, going on a field trip to see giant-size murals in downtown Portland, looking at pictures of murals in various library books, brainstorming together about the theme and subject of their mural, and sketching out their ideas. It's been amazing to see the excitement about the various projects. I wish all school could be like Liesl's preschool.

Their concept and display wall, with various photos of their sketches and collaboration, their field trip, and just their learning about the ideas of murals and seeing pictures of famous murals.

On an unrelated note, they've been playing around with felt collages and storytelling using collage materials. This is one of Liesl's creations and the accompanying story.

dancing queen

When I picked Liesl up from preschool yesterday, her teacher was playing Vanilla Ice's classic 1990 hit "Ice Ice Baby" at afternoon circle time. I couldn't help it; I busted out my best dance moves from high school and beyond. I rocked it, I danced, I kept on dancing.

Everyone laughed and cheered - all the teachers and student teachers were cracking up, the children were giggling and pointing, and Liesl was MORTIFIED. Bright pink cheeks, hiding her face: she could not have been more embarrassed. It was awesome - truly a proud moment - I look forward to so many more years of embarrassing my children.

a little Shakespeare

After our last mama hike, my friend Michela posted a poetic monologue on our FB page. It's too good not to share, and to keep for future remembering.

From Shakespeare's "As you Like It":

Now, my co-mates and brothers in exile,
Hath not old custom made this life more sweet
Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods
More free from peril than the envious court?
Here feel we not the penalty of Adam,
The seasons' difference; as the icy fang
And churlish chiding of the winter's wind,
Which when it bites and blows upon my body,
Even till I shrink with cold, I smile and say
'This is no flattery; these are counsellors
That feelingly persuade me what I am."
Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
I would not change it.

Tamanawas Falls winter hike

My mama friends and I hiked to Tamanawas Falls today, on the north side of Mt. Hood. It was an easy four-mile hike on the packed snow to one of the most spectacularly beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen.  Adrienne remarked at one point, "Some people will go their whole lives and never see anything this beautiful."  It's so true. This forest - these streams - these amazing women - I couldn't be more fortunate.

 Michela, Crystal, Mary, Paula, Anne, Adrienne