participation:

Naomi loves to participate in the themed nights at Awana.  We made potato rabbits for Spud Night.  She won Most Life-like (they later said it was for "best use of household or homemade materials," but I think they were giving her a little leeway).  While I was worried about an ear (inner leaf of romaine lettuce) falling off, Naomi said, "It's okay, Mom, winning isn't everything."  Haha.  That's not what I was concerned about, but it was very good to hear.  We had a talk a couple months ago when she said her team never wins anything, but once I saw her have contentment while also working harder, her team started a long winning streak.  She recites two to six verses a week now, and I can't even remember them all.  I've said before that I'm not into having a competitive attitude toward others, but the competitions themselves can be great for teaching sportsmanship, teamwork, and self-discipline.

Heart of Romaine lettuce, googly eyes, red grapes for noses, floral wire, paper for teeth.  Carrot and lettuce for fun.

Crazy Hair Night wasn't a contest, and we just had fun with it.  We'd considered a temporary dye to go full Pippi Longstocking, but we kept it simple.  I didn't have wires, so I just strung her hair up.

Before that we had a Support Your Team night.  Naomi doesn't have a favorite team and outgrew her one sports shirt.  However, she has a black shirt and orange leggings, so I made her a Giants lanyard and ran with it.  Nothing exciting, but I think my goals are just to use what we have at home to allow her to participate and give encouragement to the leaders for sponsoring these fun nights for the kids.

I didn't participate in things like this in school, even dressing up for Halloween.  My mom would usually say, "If you want to dress up or participate, find your own way."  One year the teacher asked me to bring a mixing bowl for a school bake sale, and I didn't have one, so my mom made me bring this burnt-up inside of a defunct rice cooker.  I was so embarrassed, but what else was new?  When we had a field day, she told me to run in these short shorts I usually wore as underwear (and I did).  Forget getting help on any school projects, and by junior high I became pretty bitter that I had so much more work to do on projects than other students.  She dressed me in the absolute weirdest clothes, like a blue and yellow striped turtleneck inside a pink flowery dress, and I was constantly teased.  Maybe she was trying to teach me that it doesn't matter if you're cool or wealthy (and it doesn't), and I love her, but it just wasn't even minimally appropriate.  I can't even get into what she did and said to me in front of kids at school (yet).  You can be frugal and still participate.  Anyway, I remember how shocked I was to see my mom's old teen to 20s photos--she was totally decked out in the latest fashions, had her hair done nicely, and was gorgeous!  :P

come on over:

The neighborhood kids converged on our home this weekend.  It had been raining so much recently, which meant several nights of disturbed sleep for the kids because the rain hits their large windows pretty hard.  Lucas is also sick, so I was tired from tending to him all night.  Eight hours over two days with so many kids wiped me out.  I like having them over, though.  Manny stayed upstairs and relaxed or got some work done, and I tried to catch what I could of the NCAA tournament when the kids were inside.  My brackets are blown, like most everyone else's.  Having the kids inside is much easier than watching them in the street (which I also did for a couple hours).  Naomi put out crackers and got her friends drinks.  She loves to do that.  Lucas also likes having them over now, especially the girl, whom he asked to rub his feet when he tripped.  :/  Sometimes I'm not sure what's wisest--love the neighbors and fulfill my daughter's need to socialize, or help my son (and myself) rest and recover more quickly?  In the end, it worked out, because there were many lessons that Naomi learned, and it's good that incidents happened under my watch.      

lucas drawing:

A little picture of a train on a track by Lucas.  Can you see it?

Naomi drew this picture of Lucas

while he was doing this:

parent-teacher conference / indoor fun:

We had our monthly ISP conference today.  Naomi did an excellent job once again.  The principal reviewed her work and gave her so much praise (and some to me, too).  Naomi was quizzed on her spelling and got them all right, including "soap."  When asked what "reflection" meant, she replied that it was when something bounces off so that she could see herself, like in a mirror.  She correctly identified the time on the wall clock, and demonstrated her addition skills.  She did forget some of her geography at first, but it came back to her.  The teacher's favorite part was the book that Naomi made (see previous post).  I barely say anything anymore while Naomi is presenting her work.  

Afterward, I took the kids out for a fun time since we had to miss a rainy day lunch/playdate with some friends today and Lucas seemed recovered from a slight fever yesterday.  It was just $3 for the RC car rental, 50 cents for the ride, a couple dollars for a mall treat, a few dollars at the dollar store, plus some Subway for lunch, but it does add up.  We got home for a break, and then the kids wanted to go out again.  I figured I might as well use up these tokens from Chuck E. Cheese's from Naomi's birthday two years ago, so it was sort of a free visit apart from gas.  We still didn't use them up.  Lucas is terrified of the lights and noise there, and he begged us to go home.  I let Naomi stay for a half hour and then left.  Lucas was so glad.  Before, during, and after dinner, he couldn't stop talking about how much the lights there scared him.  Then Manny came home and he kept telling him, too.  We probably won't be back for a while unless it's just with Naomi.

Naomi driving an RC.  I think it was a little advanced for her. 

I promised her one ride.  Lucas was scared of the rides.

I took this photo for Lucas because he likes monster trucks and wouldn't ride it this time.

the very magic fruit tree:

Naomi's latest book. Lucas likes Naomi to read it to him. Click on the little arrow in the bottom center to play the slideshow (the green one in the center opens the album in a new window).

kids these days:

Lucas figured out how to call Grandma and put her on speakerphone, and he did so numerous times today.  I'm sure she didn't mind, because he had a lot to say to Grandma about his bodily functions, the weather, how he doesn't cry at her house, and how he missed Choo-choo (their dog Chuy).  Lucas doesn't enunciate well, but you can still understand him if you've been around him enough.  He's only been speaking like this in the past couple weeks or so, and it's still tough to teach him letters and numbers.  Yet he can navigate a laptop and a smartphone.

The other day Naomi wanted to play House. Half an hour later passed, and she was still prepping. I asked if we could get started. She proceeded to hand me "home insurance bills" to pay and pet agreements to fill out.  She also set up an email address for me.  She gave me this gift bag, and I was excited thinking maybe I'd received a housewarming gift, but nope, it was a bill or contract.  When I asked what to do next, she said the script which she had me write was, "Then she went back to her neighborhood satisfied."  Yep.  Great.  Ah, the once simple game of house.  Life is too complicated for kids.

fun and games:

J and her daughter C came over Friday for a playdate and lunch.  We just had some easy shrimp pesto pasta, edamame, and mangos.  It was nice to have the back area open for play, and Lucas actually played with C.  It was a really pleasant day.  

Manny watched the kids in the evening so I could go to a Women's Game Night at church.  It was so much fun playing in the Bunco group.  Even though we were focused on rolling the dice, we still bonded and talked during the breaks and afterward.  I won a vanilla-cinnamon candle (two of Naomi's favorite scents) in a drawing.  I missed the dinner, but they sent me home with lots of leftovers, including some marvelous blondies and pasta.  

On Saturday we got the kids their free cone at Coldstone's and picked out Naomi's Hello Kitty birthday cake.  We're doing the full-on venue party this year at a play zone as well as a more intimate party at home (Japanese/Hello Kitty theme).  I have the green light to bring cookies to Naomi's ISP class as well.  Planning to do a lot of baking between the three days.  I'm only concerned about the Hello Kitty cake pops Naomi asked for--I'm really not a baker and don't have steady hands, so we'll see how it goes!

Lucas playing with C outside.

Good times!

Kids sharing a mint ice cream.  Lucas usually isn't a fan, but he liked this flavor.

naomi's rainbow book:

Naomi makes and writes a lot of little books these days, binding them with glue.  Here is one of my favorites.  One thing I wasn't aware of is that she knows the order of the rainbow.  When I asked how she remembers, she said she made up a song for herself (the tune of which seems to change each time she sings it).  I then showed "Roy G. Biv" to her and Manny, which was the mnemonic device I was taught, but neither of them seemed to buy into it.  :)  

The Rainbow by Naomi Hernandez (we're still working on capitalization rules).

Once there was a rainbow next to a house.  But the rainbow was not happy at all.

So he went away but he missed his family so...

he went back!  He found out that he had only one home.

The End

A little exercise we did to end her unit on light.  I know the wavelengths aren't accurately varied.  She wrote all of the words on her own, and only needed help spelling indigo.

tsunami:

My friend called last night to tell me her flight to pick up her son from Taiwan got diverted due to the tsunami.  I pray for mercy and help to pour in quickly (and now a solution to cooling the reactor), especially with the radiation that has leaked.  We have one friend in Japan whom I'm trying to contact.  So tragic.  It's hard for me not to think, "How does this affect our neck of the woods?" but it's really a small world.  Nowadays, it's easy for people anywhere and everywhere to help.  World Vision and American Red Cross.

grass is greener:

We had our little backyard patio area redone with artificial grass last weekend.  Manny had pulled up all the trees, and my father-in-law painted the fence a couple years ago.  Otherwise, for a while it was just a neglected pile of weeds and dirt.  The contractors had already taken care of the weeding, removal, leveling, framing, and graveling by the time I took a photo. We were very pleased with the company's service, workmanship, and pricing, and it was nice to have another reason to talk to our neighbors.  There is one big, burly neighbor who came by to talk to Manny, and I had no idea his voice sounded the way it did.  Random.

Here are the kids enjoying their new "grass."  We have a play structure out there as well now.  

lifegroup:

We went to our new lifegroup (like a bible study/small group) meeting this week. We're going through the DVD and study guide for Chan's Forgotten God, which has been a compelling but straightforward read so far.  It's perfect timing for me to go through the book, as I had just recently been considering how I've resisted the Spirit in favor of being self-sufficient and self-driven (and self-centered).  The study began at a good time, too.  We just completed Naomi's gymnastics class which would have conflicted, and Lucas only started being better about playing with others in the past few weeks.  We had been wondering which group we could join.  Some were on nights we weren't available, many didn't have space for kids, and then this group which isn't in the directory list yet just extended an invitation to us.  The group is made up of three families, including ours.  All the kids played in an area off to the side from us.  Lucas was nervous and trying unsuccessfully not to cry, but with a little encouragement he learned to play with the others.  Naomi, on the other hand, was her usual extroverted self.  We had a good discussion, prayer time, ate frozen treats, and watched a little hockey.  The study runs every other week, with the off weeks being a time to just hang out.  I'm looking forward to growing with the group.

explanations vs. excuses:

One of the differences in approaching things that Manny and I have had to deal with is the idea of explanations vs. excuses.  When Manny and I first started going to bible study together, he couldn't make many nights because of work.  Rather than let them know, he just didn't show up.  I felt this to be very discourteous and slightly irritating at the time.  For me, if I wasn't going to show up, I should have the common courtesy to tell them not to wait up and that I really wanted to be there.  So I often, to Manny's chagrin, would explain for him why he wasn't there.  I think to him there was no need, let alone benefit, in going into details about it.  But when I did it, some would stop asking, so I think the ends were justifying my means.

Fast forward to life after Naomi was born.  I simply could not keep up managing the lifestyle we had before her. I don't think most human beings could.  I think some of the problem, or I know it now in hindsight, was that every day I would give Manny an apology and explanation of why, for example, the dishes weren't done.  This is what I'd been trained to do in terms of courtesy toward others.  Also, I knew that if you didn't explain certain things, you could cause others to judge or think you didn't care.  It amplified any irritation he had about it tenfold, and it led to contention between us (and remember we never really had grievances with one another before this time, so it was so difficult for me to handle).  So whereas some people, if you apologize to them, would say, "It happens" (and I'm not a huge fan of that response), Manny simply did not want me to make excuses.  But in my heart, I was never making excuses.  I never excused myself from my responsibilities.  I was only learning how to deal with not living up to expectations.  My parents never accepted excuses, so I don't make them.  This made me just want to give up on communicating with my husband.

Fast forward again to today, and at this point I think that when you communicate, it's important not just to use what you've learned in family or cultural tradition, but get to know your audience and their tendencies, too.  The women from this first bible study, for example, would usually ask why Manny wasn't there.  So they perhaps would need or benefit from hearing why, even if all that ultimately matters is that you and God know your heart.  Women are emotional and intuitive creatures by design, and sometimes we come to a point of unfounded criticism of or worry for others.  Not only that, I do still believe it's common courtesy as a guest to let a host know you can't make it and that you'll miss them.  However, I think now it wasn't my place to go into the details of Manny's work to try to "cover" for him.  Furthermore, as I get to know Manny, I know he simply doesn't want details from me either.  He considers the apologies more like complaining about my situation than care or courtesy for him.  He always listens to everything I say, which is a lot, but I should also know that the less I say about it, the more confidence he'll have in my ability to hold down this fort while he's away providing for it.

I was thinking about all these moms again.  Any two mothers with differing philosophies will find some way to justify it.  "I'm homeschooling because the educational system is so deficient."  (Valid)  "I'm not homeschooling because I want my children to learn to be in the world though not of it."  (Valid as well)  I think the difference is this.  The Holy Spirit.  God will lead you by the Spirit, plain and simple (and yet amazing and profound).  We don't need to shy away from spiritual talk in favor of trying to convince anyone with the "right" words that we've made the right choices.  Or maybe with a particular audience, they'll stumble, so you do need to in some degree.  But the point is that one explanation is not better than another.  No one needs to make excuses for doing the best for their child, and it's a sad world where we continue to judge each other so much without cause.  There are probably many moms who never wanted to homeschool or probably didn't want to and just shouldn't have done it.  Whatever you do, just do it in faith and not fear.  This is me in March 2011--I haven't arrive, loooong way to go...

photo time:

Jan 2010

Feb 2010 - our big celebration month.

moms night out:

I went out for dinner/dessert with four other moms last night.  I always enjoy the conversations and learn so much from others, but I feel like I say too much at times and it's harder for me to control in person than, say, over email.  One mom was visiting from out of town.  We're all different, in different places, going to different churches, making different educational choices for our families, yet we had a bond of unity.  No photo--I was so wrapped up in the discussions I forgot.  A big thanks to Manny for coming home a little earlier to watch the kids while I was out.  Now that they're a little easier to handle, I feel better about leaving them for a couple hours every now and then.  Lucas threw an hour-long crying tantrum over wanting to manually examine the contents of his diaper earlier in the day.  I missed the kids a lot, but sometimes it's nice to get out and get a break from that routine (but then spend the time talking about it anyway haha).    

"good" kids:

At Target yesterday, Lucas saw a Sesame Street movie, Follow That Bird, and wanted it.  I told him he could see the picture, but we would not buy it.  He agreed and I gave it to him to hold.  When I told him to put it back, he did.  He looked a little sad, but the kids don't throw tantrums with me over buying things, and I just react like that's completely normal and expected.  

The cashier saw all this and asked why I didn't want to buy it.  She actually wouldn't finish ringing me up because she was hoping I'd add it!  I've been through this before.  The kids can be such little angels, and someone who notices immediately wants to give them something.  Of course, she didn't hear Lucas screaming at the top of his lungs the entire drive there.  I told her that he already had a couple Elmo DVDs and he doesn't have watch that much TV, but she wasn't taking no for an answer.  "But this is an original.  It's only five dollars.  Adults can watch it, too. They don't make movies like this anymore..."  Oh well, I guess I could take the five dollars out of something else, so I bought it (it was really for the cashier to not be so horrified that a mean mom denied such a well-behaved child a reward).  I kept the receipt, but upon hearing the story, Manny opened the DVD and watched it with the kids anyway.  They enjoyed it, although Lucas didn't get to see much of Elmo or hear him talk.  Back then, before Mr. Clash gave him a personality, he was just the lonely monster kid stuck at home.

This is before we headed off to her classes that morning.  Naomi transitioned to a booster seat a few months ago and puts her seat belt on by herself. 

We like these carts for kids.  The wet spot on Lucas's pants is from all his crying on the way there.

random catch-up:

Is it March already?  Last week I took a meal and some hand-me-downs to new parents.  I was a little too ambitious with cooking, schooling, and tending to the kids, but I got a satisfactory amount done.  I always pray that God will bless the recipients despite my shortcomings.  I had to bring Lucas with a runny nose, which would usually be a big no-no for me.  We had some sunshine that day, so the kids and I went to a nearby park after our visit.  

Saturday morning, Manny took Naomi to look at some artificial grass for our patio before we went to get her glasses.  Her pink glasses are really cute, but I haven't taken a decent photo yet.  Lucas keeps wanting to rip them off her face.  It's a little disappointing to me that she needs them, but expected.  

At lunch, Manny saw this very elderly woman slumped in her seat, her arms hanging motionless.  When I went to check, she was beet red all over.  She was in a prime traffic area, but no one even seemed to notice.  I went and told the cashier, who got the manager.  The manager woke her up and told me that she's been there before and falls asleep like that.  It was good to know.  When you can help someone, do it, because every second counts.

After lunch we went to this event at the bookstore to "help Elmo celebrate his birthday."  I was hoping it would be Elmo live in the fur, but it didn't happen.  It's okay, though, Lucas enjoyed participating in the story, snack, and coloring time.  He's much more confident in group settings now.  Since he had the runny nose, he had to sit with us through church, but he did pretty well.  He seemed to miss the nursery when we passed by.

Naomi moved up to the next level in her gymnastics class this week.  She was very scared of the balance beam since she says she's afraid of heights (and yet she likes being up in skyways and airplanes), but with a little motivation and peer pressure, she got through it.  The weather was nice, so I took Lucas to the park nearby while Naomi was in the class.  Whenever I'm with him alone, I think back to Naomi at his age and how different it was.  Not worse or better, just different.  There was a huge, muscular man using the monkey bars and rings in the playground for strength training.  It was probably effective and economical, but it was kind of funny because of all the toddlers and babies around him.  A couple tried to take his water bottle.

Also, Manny went to a university to interview candidates for his (and my former) company recently.  I can't believe we graduated from grad school 13 years ago already.  I found a gray hair yesterday.  I've had a couple white hairs from stress before, but I don't remember them looking as silver as this one.  Like a friend said, we are now closer to 50 than to 20.  When Naomi saw the hair, she hugged me with all her might and said she didn't want me to die yet.

Naomi at this sort of avant-garde park.  The slide had no lips/sides, so it seemed pretty unsafe.  Looked cool, though.

Lucas having a snack and apple juice at the Elmo event.

Coloring in the "Happy Birthday."

Naomi being brave on the balance beam.

Lucas being a big boy.