Tae kwon do!

First day at tae kwon do class! How cute us he? He did fantastic; his master even asked him if he'd had private tae kwon do lessons because he was surprised at how well he did for his age. We couldn't have been prouder of him!

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I want a dog!

For the last few months I have been seriously contemplating getting a dog. I have lots of reasons in my head for why this would be a good thing and two reasons for why it would be a really bad idea. On the plus side, I would have a running partner, a reason to feel safer when it is just me and the kids at home at night, my son would LOVE it and be a good way to get out some of his energy (I mean my son's energy but I guess the dog, too..), and my daughter is a bit fearful of dogs and I think this would help her with that. She isn't scared of all dogs - mostly small ones that jump, ones with piercingly loud barks, and really hairy dogs. On the negative side, I would have one more living thing to take care of in the house and, let's face it, I can barely manage what I have now, and we would have to reduce the time we spend away from home or find a good dogsitter.

Also for the last few months, I have been kind of non-social. I'm not going to say lonely because I can't be lonely when I am never alone. But I have had less adult converation and social outlets. Not that having a dog would help that, this is not the reason I am sharing this information, but I have been talking with the kids more because we spend more hours together during the day than I do with my husband. That being said, I can sometimes forget that my daughter is only 6. She is very chatty and a good listener (she asks questions and will be very empathetic when I have a bad day). So I made a HORRIBLE mistake and told her the other day that I was thinking, just thinking, about getting a dog. First words out of her mouth were "not a small one!" then "not a hairy one!" and last "will the cat be okay with a dog?". I told her likely a medium one but we would have to do some work on finding the best kind to get. I said this was just the THINKING stage. But I think after I answered her questions she was done thinking. Now, apparently, I am the only one doing the thinking. She has decided she wants a dog. She tells me several times a day and has now even found a song to sing about how bad she wants a dog. She even convinced me that she made up the song! I believed her for 2 whole days until she confessed. I'm sure in the next day or two she will really make one up or some interpretive dance about how she can't live without a dog.

Typical conversations

Most days by 7pm I am wiped out. I attribute that to the mental work I have to go through as being a mom of two kids who never tire of asking questions and are always looking for ways to keep me on my toes. With him, its the struggle of how to not laugh when he says things that are funny but if I laugh at them I will pay for it with the boost to his ego. With her, its that I have to constantly stay on top of what I ask her to do because she is really distractable and goes off on tangents (the apple doesn't fall far apparently)
Let me give you examples:
(Pic is from her birthday at BAB workshop)
Me: Put your pajamas away
E: Okay
Me: (10 minutes later) did you put your pajamas away?
E: not yet
Me: what are you doing?
E: putting my necklace away
Me: (10 minutes later) did you put them away?
E: not yet
Me: why not?
E: I found a necklace I want to give to my friend and am writing her a note
Me: do that after you put your pajamas away
E: (10 minutes later) mom, how do you spell 'friend'?
Me: F-R-I...wait, have you put your pajamas away?
E: oops! I forgot!

I keep telling myself that, in the long run, I will be happy I had them help around the house. But I can see how parents end up doing everything and then raising kids who are lazy bums.

(pic from Baseball season)

Me: Say 'SSSSo' (he can't pronounce his 's' and I am trying to get him to practice)

J: Po

Me: (in an effort to use some psychology) say "po"
J: Toe

Then he laughs hysterically.

Still not sure how I am going to get him to practice his 'S'...

Has it been a year???

I have heard and am responding to the polite, yet passive, comments about how I have neglected this blog in the last year. I really don't have an excuse because I haven't even been working full time (at least at a paid job!) for the last 4 months. We have been busy with soccer and dance rehearsals and performances.
The kids are growing - she lost her first tooth at the beginning of the month (of course, I was out of town when it happened). She also scored her first soccer goal of the season when I was out of town too! He is very verbal, active, and has more attitude and opinions than you can even imagine. He has an excuse for everything and has a plan for everything and cannot be swayed to change his mind. All good things for when he is an adult - a little bit frustrating for his parents at age 3.
Here are 2 of my favorite recent videos and a picture of our trip to AT&T park (the visitors dugout!).

Concert for Moorpark

Daddy's boot camp

Holiday crafts

Again, this posting is a little late! The week of Christmas the kids worked on some plates for their Dad. I took some pictures because they were so into it (as well as the cat, as you will see!).

At long last, Trick and Treat!

We really did take pictures on Halloween this year - I even think they were uploaded within a few days of it - it just takes me some time to get to posting. She was a (like anyone is surprised) a princess. Aurora to be precise. Her dragon wore his hood on his costume while collecting treats but it was off the minute he came home.

He got dropped off early in the evening and helped me hand out candy. He loved it. Insisted on leaving the door open because "more kids coming, mama, door open!" It takes a lot of effort to change his mind so I gave up.

As I was thinking of a title of this entry, I decided that the nicknames Trick and Treat would have been great for these two. The names would have to be used interchangably, of course, because at any given time they can be one of both (tricks or treats). I am sure you can guess who is more tricky of the two of them (especially in these pictures!). I gues they will have to be okay with BooBoo and JBE - the nicknames that seem to be sticking so far.

The day after we went to Mickey's house and who doesn't love that! What we love even more is having a friend who offers to take us with his free passes that he gets from work. It was her first experience on some of the bigger rides - can you guess what this one was?

She said she wasn't even afraid of the "Yeti".

Meet the 5 Year Old

Today was her 5th birthday. Who knew time could go by in just a blink. She is convinced she is not only older but physically taller, too. These are the first 3 questions she asked today:
Is it a school day?
When do I turn 6?
Does this mean we get to eat that rainbow ice cream today?

The party was last weekend - quite an event with 22 kids there! Who knew that all but a very small handful would come? She loved her party, though, and talked about it almost everyday since. As parents we tried to discourage a big party this year since she had a good sized one last year but Grandpa couldn't let his only granddaughter go without...

Here are some pictures of the event.
Waiting for cake...

Believe it or not, he didn't touch the cake!

The birthday place sends a limo to pick up when you tell them you have a ton of people in your party.