Graduation #2

Tonito had his preK graduation this week as well! We are so excited that he and Vivi will start kindergarten in the same school next year. Look at that cutie pie smiling at me:).

Swim Team

If anyone remembers the past two years' struggles a certain little girl had with swimming, they would rightfully wonder why on earth I signed her up for swim team. Despite hearing the stories of tears, a friend of mine told me to try it because her son learned to swim in one month. We have been going every single day for half hour lessons, and so far-- no tears. I think it is the peer pressure? On the first day the coach told the kids to dive in (which neither had ever done). Tonito dove right in, and Vivi kind-of jumped in with her arms in diving position. I was in shock. You have to realize that she has never jumped in by herself. The progress skyrocketed week by week until week 2.5, when she SWAM ACROSS THE POOL. 25 meters. I am still in shock a week and a half later, and tell random people in the supermarket that both of my kids now swim. I don't know if they think I am crazy, or just overly proud, but I just can't hold it in. So now today, they took their team picture and I snuck in a photo of them getting ready. I think I am still emotional from the preschool graduation... how can my kids be big enough to be on swim team?! Their newest tricks are diving to the bottom of our pool to retrieve little diving rocket toys. Tonito reminds us of a Chinese pearl diver, with his head disappearing and his trunks and feet following. Vivi also has been getting the rockets from the shallow end. I am amazed and awed by their improvement!!!

Officially summer!

We made it through preschool! I know I should have been happy, but I was so sad!! Time is going by way to fast and my kids are growing up and becoming "big kids." Everyone needs to slow down!!! A grandma in the supermarket the other day told me "Enjoy this age! You are so lucky!!! The days might go by slowly, but the years go FAST." That has never been truer.

I invited all three classes to a local splash park for a picnic lunch. The kids squealed under the cool spray as it washed away the sugary drips of popsicles that disappear quickly in this hot and humid weather.

Playgroup, pool party, pizza!

Our turn to host playgroup! I set up a tent with big tubs of water with plastic ocean animals, a tub of fake snow (that I learned was made from the same gel inside diapers) with plastic arctic animals, and lots of buckets and towels. The babies played under the tent, the big kids splashed and sang and floated in the pool, and the moms got in and cooled off too. I think every mom should have their kids in a good playgroup- they get a chance to socialize in a group setting, haha and the kids do too!:) Now that it is in the 90s consistently, we don't go a single day without heading to the pool- sometimes as an appetizer to breakfast or a dessert to dinner. The kids' tanlines are the envy of sunbathers everywhere, and their bathing suit shaped white stripes we glimpse in the bathtub show their winter color. After we swam a long while, we made our own pizzas and had a picnic in the shade with popsicles for dessert.

Zoo

Zoo day!!!
Splashing in the water,
leaping like the lemurs,
growling at the tigers,
admiring the elephants,
comparing speed with the cheetahs,
crunching popcorn,
melting in the heat,
chasing squirrels,
slurping icees,
and grooming the goats.

(Pictoral) Ode to the Dogs

Mingo
Canis lupus familiaris.
Born in August 2003 to unknown parents of German Shepherd, Husky, and other breeds.
Adopted in October 2003 from Kay's Animal Shelter, Arlington Heights, IL.
Tonio picked her out, and fell in love with her because she was fiercely wrestling with all of her littermates.
Mingo is playful and carefree, and has been compared to a laid back, unemployed surfer dude.
Being almost blind has not inhibited her ability to jump on the couch when no one is looking, nor her ability to find human food left out... but if you toss her a tennis ball it will bounce off her nose. When nervous and in new situations, she releases her stress by chewing her paws, the drywall or door trim. When relaxed, she sleeps in a standing, Egyptian sphinx position and yawns very loudly.
When she meets you, Mingo will greet you by jumping on you and clawing your shoulders. We do not know if her brain is too small to be trained, or if she is so astute that she tricks you into thinking she is simple minded.
She loves the kids and will allow them to climb all over her, dress her up, play vet, or "walk" her around the house on her leash.
(she is Tonio's favorite)

Boudicca
Canis lupus familiaris.
Born in December of 2002 to unknown parents of Golden Retriever and Border Collie breeds.
Adopted in January 2003 from Kay's Animal Shelter, Arlington Heights, IL.
Becky picked her out because she was the most timid of her littermates, and was sitting quietly waiting to meet her new family.
Boo is loyal and will play fetch for hours even as her legs tremble (due to Lyme disease).
Her ability to sense the change in barometric pressure preceding a thunderstorm is legendary. She is terrified of storms, brown bags, brooms, and a myriad of other common household objects and has been compared to a nervous accountant on Tax Day.
When she meets you, avoid speaking in a high pitch voice or she might not be able to control her excitement (and therefore her bladder).
She also loves the kids and will allow them to climb all over her, dress her up, play vet, or "walk" her around the house on her leash.
(she is Becky's favorite)

The kids change their minds daily over who is their "favorite" dog, and like to announce their pick and then spoil "their" dog for the day.

Vivi learned to swim!

This picture of Maya trying on my shoes has nothing to do with this post!

Too bad I don't have a picture of Vivi or Tonito at Swim Team!!! We started the year off with one semi-swimmer (Tonito) and one swimmer that last year was terrified of the putting her face in the water (Vivi). The deal with Swim Team is that you practice every day for 1/2 an hour, from May through July. If you can swim the length of the pool by June 1st, then you can participate in the meets. I knew that Tonito would be able to do it- with him already kind-of doggy-paddling.. but more because of his bravery, determination and persistence. On his first swimming lesson 2 summers ago, the teacher told him to go underwater, and he did (though it was his first time in a swimming pool EVER). He stayed under water until the teacher motioned him to come up. He will try anything and is so trusting, he believes you when you say "You can do it!" He learned to dive on the first day, and after the first week, he made it across the pool:). I really didn't know about Vivi... We consistently showed up at the lessons every afternoon, and this time it was different: no crying, no fear in her eyes, no need to convince her to get ready for swim lessons. The first day they told her to try and dive in, and she tried! Today, after 2.5 weeks of lessons, Vivi learned to swim and doggie paddled across the whole pool! She kept sinking underwater and her coach would tap up her tummy to keep her above water-- but she made it across, all the while meeting my eyes with hers and making sure I was sharing this important moment with her!!!! I am so proud of both of the kids- of Tonito and his incredible determination, of Vivi's amazing courage, and of course of their newfound swimming skills! Bring on the swim meets!

Splash Day

We celebrated the end of school with a splash day with Maya's class! It was hot and humid, and perfect for all things water-

bubbles, sprinklers, buckets of ice, popsicles, and bathing suits.

I am going to miss the teachers so much this summer!!!

At least the kids enjoyed Sunday!

While the kids were relaxing in the pool...

(by relaxing I actually mean swimming, jumping, diving, tumbling, floating, playing, horsing around, screaming, etc)...
We were working really hard on the garden! We went to the most amazing garden center and bought a lot of bushes and perennials to add to our butterfly garden, a peach tree, fig tree, and several bushes to replace some we lost in the freeze this winter, a jasmine vine and a wisteria vine! SO FUN!!! Wait- picking out the plants and deciding where to plant them was fun. Digging in the hard clay to move around plants and plant our new jungle in 95 degree heat with 80% humidity? Less than ideal, but at least we could jump in the pool to cool off every now and then!! I will post before and after pictures later this week!!!

Silly

Mother's Day and lemurs

For Mother's Day we have a little tradition of going to the zoo (we've always gone to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago to enjoy the live concerts and Mother's Day celebrations!) so we decided on this HOT and sticky day to do the same. I can't believe we are in May and it is already in the 90s and oozing humidity!!! We had an encounter with a zookeeper near the lemurs that was the highlight of Vivi's year. She talked to us for a good 15 minutes about lemurs, what zookeepers do, and that if Vivi wants to be a zookeeper she would need to study hard and later volunteer with animals. Vivi soaked up every word and asked really intelligent questions: "Why is the sifaka and her baby the only ones in the cage if they like to live in groups?" "Because the other sifakas got into a fight with the mommy sifaka and accidentally bit off the baby's tail, so they are in isolation until the baby can fend for herself better." woah. Vivi impressed her with random lemur trivia: "The mommy is in charge- she decides who eats what and when and where they sleep. And she always wins all of the fights." The zookeeper asked her if she knew where lemurs live and Vivi almost rolled her eyes until I shot her a look to be nice "Madagascar, of course! They live in the deserts AND the rain forests, whever there are trees." It was really funny:). The zookeeper also told us that as a birthday present, you can buy a special behind the scenes tour of certain animals, and she thinks we would be able to ask for a lemur one (although she said it isn't listed because it isn't as common as elephants or giraffes:). Sssshhh, this may be Vivi's birthday present this December!!!


It really was a nice Mother's Day- steaks and asparagus on the grill, sweet potato fries and a salad from our garden. Enjoying Vivi's interaction at the zoo, and then watching the kids swim in our pool- seeing my kids happy is the best Mother's Day present:)!!!

Ballet pictures

Our Saturdays are busy with kung-fu and Chinese class, and this Saturday we also had separate ballet pictures (of course at different times!) and a birthday party! I love the girls' dresses and can't wait for their program coming up!!!

The birthday party was a funny coincidence because on both Friday and Saturday we had parties: both were Gabriel's, both at our preschool, and both from Venezuela. It's wonderful to have so many Spanish-speaking families as friends, and with kids the same ages!

(Early) Mother's Day

The kids had a Mother's Day program at school, complete with a song and a flower (made with their handprint). It is still unreal to me that I am the mom of 3 (soon to be 4) beautiful, incredible, intelligent, funny, caring, curious, creative, and amazing children. I never imagined how deeply I would love my kids, and to this day I am still in awe of it. On Mother's Day I am also conscious of the moms who are not able to raise their children, and who instead planned a different path for them. My heart aches for birth mothers who had to make that impossible decision, many without knowing anything more of their son or daughter. I wish circumstances did not force families to be broken up, and hope in those that are, that there may eventually be peace on both sides.

Recent Funnies..and a Kung-fu video

Here is the latest edition of "Recent funnies." I don't mean them to all be from Vivi, but she definitely is a talker and says some hilarious things:). To balance it out, I included an awesome video of Tonito at kung-fu! Can you believe that 2 years ago he wasn't running or jumping, much less doing cartwheels and backbends!!!???
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Vivi last night at dinner: "Mommy Maya washed her hands-" Me, drinking a glass of milk: "Good, now start eating" Vivi: "No Mommy, LISTEN: Maya washed her hands IN your milk!"
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What Vivi learned while I was on fb: "Mommy- I climbed on the bunk bed and put lemur on the ceiling fan and turned it on and she went flying! It's so fun!! You can do it with anything!!!!"
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Maya: "Ten and ten ten." Me: "Hmm?" Maya: "Like huff and puff and blow da house down." hahaha= chiny-chiny-chin!
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I just found a smelly, rotten Easter egg behind a frame in our house, and an exploded silly putty in the car, all over the seat.
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Me, braising lamb for dinner, trying to explain to Vivi why some people eat meat: "Well, some people like it and it has good protein for your body."
Vivi: "But it used to be a real lamb Mommy! Are people going to start eating lemurs now??"
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I'm ignoring the puddles of water on my floor from my kids traipsing from the pool to the bathroom and back- NOW I get why we have the first floor in ceramic tile!!!
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Maya: Toto goes to kung-fu, papi goes to work, Maya go to ballet, Vivi goes to ballet.
Me: Where does mommy do?
Maya: She goes in the car!
Vivi: She cleans!
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Vivi: "When I get bigger and have kids I'm going to tell you their names so you know who they are."
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Maya: "He like my baby brother!"
(I point to an African-American man in the parking lot) Him?
Maya: "No, him!" (pointing to an older white guy)
Vivi: "Yeah, no hair!"

Cuties

Our nightly reading books ritual:

We're still waiting for the updated I-171!!!!!!!! When will it come???? We are wondering if we will squeak with only the "one trip," or if we will be in the first group under the new Ethiopian law that will require 2 trips... We know nothing about court or when we might travel. Last week we did do our immunizations:

yellow fever

tetanus

typhoid (oral)

polio booster

meningicoccus

malaria (pills)

HepA/B for Tonio

...getting the flu and H1N1 next week.

Just for the record, I HATE shots. Despise. But with 3 kids staring at you that just had to get their kindergarten boosters, I had to pretend to put on a brave face. Wow, the things you'll do for your kids!!!