Sebastian's 9th birthday!

Our Sebastian turned 9 today. Nine!! We're heading to double digits faster than I can believe. He has really grown and matured so much in the last few months, learning to confront his anxiety, control his temper and impulses, and follow through on responsibilities. I am so proud of him.

The school has been closed for parent-teacher conferences since Wednesday; since Steve and I had to work, mom and dad have been here to take care of the children. Today, they went to the library, out to pizza lunch, for a walk in Forest Park, and out for ice cream. We had a good morning and late afternoon together with Sebastian, with his favorite foods and lots of presents. A happy day.

 

a gift certificate for one soccer ball! Redeemed promptly on Saturday, at the Far Post - a teal Barca ball.

new Barcelona soccer jersey!

At Seb's request: blueberry and banana pancakes!

 
Liesl had a lot of fun decorating and writing sweet messages on Sebastian's presents. She wrote "Love ya!" and "Hope you have a good day!" and made a maze.

a set of baseball bases to be used anywhere

 

Liesl opened up her birthday presents from Popo and Grandpa too - a Canada toque and a fancy new dress.

A 300-piece puzzle with a map of US license plates - a current interest.

After a dinner of pulled pork sandwiches, broccoli, and coleslaw (Sebastian's pick), I made the usual strawberry shortcake for dessert.

A Big Nate activity book

 a light-up aerobie frisbee and a hockey jersey from Popo and Grandpa.

 Talking to grandma and grandpa Raab in New York while opening their presents - lots of fun books and a game.

football/soccer gloves

election 2016

This was supposed to be a post about Hillary Clinton's historic election as the first female president of the United States - I took a picture of me and Liesl with my ballot so that I could show her later on. And instead I am so sad - distraught - upset - anxious - disappointed with the election results. I couldn't sleep last night.

But I had to get up today and make breakfast for the children, and get ready for work, and then go to work and comfort my students, who were upset and scared, and then I came home to play with my children, make dinner for my family, talk with my visiting parents. And all of these everyday acts of caring, of showing love and being present for others, have restored me. I still have feelings of grief and dread, but I am surrounded by a community of family and friends, good people doing good work.

My friend Chad shared this beautiful poem. It could be read as a message of despair, but I see it as one of hope - hope in the future, hope for our children.

Good Bones

By Maggie Smith

Life is short, though I keep this from my children.

Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine

in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways,

a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways

I’ll keep from my children. The world is at least

fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative

estimate, though I keep this from my children.

For every bird there is a stone thrown at a bird.

For every loved child, a child broken, bagged,

sunk in a lake. Life is short and the world

is at least half terrible, and for every kind

stranger, there is one who would break you,

though I keep this from my children. I am trying

to sell them the world. Any decent realtor,

walking you through a real shithole, chirps on

about good bones: This place could be beautiful,

right? You could make this place beautiful.

 

weekend update

October was miserably rainy, but the sunshine has returned for November. Friday afternoon was sunny and gorgeous and we enjoyed being on the playground.

On Saturday, Sebastian's Forest Heights soccer team played in an end-of-season tournament. It rained, steadily, the whole entire day. Pretty miserable weather for soccer playing and soccer watching. Fortunately, one of the other parents brought a huge tent that we all clustered under. Liesl got a new book (Paw Patrol) and was delighted to read it to herself. And Sebastian's team won both games, meaning they get to play in the semi-final this Saturday morning, with the chance to reach the championship.

We had dimsum at HK Cafe on Sunday with the Hoangs, Bedards, and Ching Ching - pretty tasty food and so fun to be there together eating all of our favorites. Dimsum is such a good communal dining feeling.

Sebastian's birthday party

We hosted Sebastian's birthday party today, with Nathan, Cason, and Wyatt coming over for an afternoon of sports and games and food. It was really fun to have the boys here - they played so well together - and Seb loved it. He was a bundle of nerves and anticipation all day, asking repeatedly what time it was and counting down the hours and minutes. By 1:30 he was sitting on our stoop awaiting the first arrival. (He's self-aware and mature enough now to have a sense of humor about his own proclivities, laughing at himself, and even trying to find useful and helpful ways of channeling his energy.)

We printed out a whole bunch of sports silhouettes and put the kids to work cutting them out and hanging them all around the living room - the stairwell was home to a Messi series. The kids blew up 25 balloons - 25! - to have them available for play.

We had chips, pretzels, and popcorn, grapes and oranges, hot dogs and veggie dogs, and chocolate cupcakes with a topping bar (whipped cream, sprinkles, strawberry sauce).

The boys started arriving at 2 and immediately jumped into balloon volleyball. We prepared by removing all the breakables, pushing the furniture against the walls, and even taping the outlines of a court on the floor.

We invited Nathan's younger sister Diya to come over and spend the afternoon with Liesl. We knew Liesl would feel left out of the boys' sporty events and Diya had been too sick to come to Liesl's party last week, so it was a good chance for the two of them to have a long playdate. And exchange presents. And eat cake. Liesl set up a tea party in her bedroom, complete with popcorn and honey tea.

The boys headed over to the school to play football, their current sport of choice for recess and after-school. They played two-on-two on the pavement because the field was full of league soccer games.

  Liesl, my fearless bird.

Next up, tossing a ball into a plastic container set on the chair - they had to stand behind the line and throw it. Wyatt was the clear champion at this one, getting it in directly and then off the rebound on multiple occasions.

They took a break to eat some snacks, which turned into a popcorn throwing contest to get it into the mouth of your partner across the table. Steve and I tried to participate as well, but we had the longest distance from head-to-head and utterly failed.

 The aftermath.

Next up, a scavenger hunt with clues. The treasure hunt was tougher this year - riddles, word games, sports trivia, the different clues forming a puzzle which turned into a map of our neighborhood with a clue taped to a mailbox.

 Presents!

 Chocolate cupcakes! With optional whipped cream, ice cream, strawberries, and rainbow and chocolate sprinkles. It was a make-your-own-adventure dessert.

It was a wonderful birthday party - exactly what Sebastian wanted - a day with some friends playing sports together. We were all pretty tired by this evening and ready to crash.