Dedicated Parent

Well, today I was informed I had become President of Papageno's school Parent Association. Lucky me. I thought it would be a good way to involve myself in the school and make the changes I want. Nothing like controlling your own destiny ... right? We will see. I have been getting a lot of "it's a hard, long and thankless job" comments. I am sure it is.

Having never done anything like this before I am a bit nervous. There are a lot of things I want to add to the school and I felt like the best way to do it was a president. I don't know what kind of parent participation there will be or how much I will be able to move my agenda forward, but, I guess here's to trying.

Re the kids. Life goes on. They both enjoy school. I have Bug's "back to school" night tomorrow. Boring! But, off I will go. I am room parent for his class, yea for me being involved. I am also the team parent for Papageno's soccer team (It doesn't really involve me doing anything). I signed Bug up for Karate, he is very excited. Papageno dropped Capoeira. He didn't like it and at the end of the day I felt he was over subscribed. If I do sign him up for another activity it is going to be a music class.

Bug pee'd in the bathtub today. He was in the bathroom while Papageno was "on the pot" and said he had to go and couldn't wait, so he pee'd in the tub. When I asked why he didn't go to the other bathroom he responded he was afraid of the black widows that live there. Thanks Papageno.

A day at the Aquarium

Today we went to The Aquarium of the Pacific. It was fun. We went a few weeks ago when Poppy was here. At that time I was under the impression we had purchased a membership. Poppy had bought us the four tickets and then I decided to upgrade the membership. Apparently the card was never processed so when we got there we were not members. After some haggling with the membership desk they let us pay the price of the upgrade and I have to bring proof of our previous entrance. It was a bit of a hassle but all in all they were pretty nice about it. We did our usual run around, the kids looking at the exhibits dragging Dan along so they could show him their favorite.

Before we left I told Papageno that we were not going to eat as soon as we get there. He has a habit of announcing he is hungry the moment we walk in. Wouldn't you know it, this time it was Dan. As we walked in he said he was hungry. Unfortunately he was the only one. So he had to wait. We ran around, starting with Papageno's pick of the spider crabs. My favorite is the Leafy Sea Dragon, but we didn't get there. Dan finally convinced us to get some food (and we convinced the kids).


On the way I mistakenly thought the scuba divers were going into one of the giant tanks. This is Bug's favorite thing about the aquarium, so of course, we had to stay. Unfortunately their projected arrival was 12:45, I asked Dan what time it was and thought he said 12:40, he in fact said 12:00. So we waited and waited. The good news was, in the process of waiting we discovered that they were giving out prizes, Papageno wanted one so we went to investigate how to enter the contest. It was a drawing contest. Now Papageno loves to draw, so the possibility of a prize was a bonus. He drew 4 pictures before we could drag him out and into the cafeteria.

While he was drawing Bug got to watch the scuba divers.

Since Papageno wasn't really that hungry we was finished early. So, were able to duck down and see the drawing for the prizes. He didn't win. Rather than get disappointed he headed straight to the drawing table and started drawing more pictures. When it came time to do the draw for the prize they rigged it for him. They said they felt persistence should count for something. He was so thrilled!!! Just to throw the whole experience into total awesomeness, they gave Bug a prize too.

Home to soccer for Papageno and nap for Bug. He did reasonably well on the soccer field. always good to hear.

All in all a pretty good day.

school's in

So it is now October. We have been in school for 3 weeks. All in all it's been pretty good. Papageno really enjoyed his first week of school. Of course as soon as you think life is settling down a wrench is thrown in. We were offered a spot in West Hollywood Elementary. I was tempted because I really hate the new campus at Gabriella (Papageno's school). Also, there has always been this small part of me that has wondered if Gabriella was a mistake and I was denying Papageno some sort of important social bonding. It's hard with the kids at Gabriella. I don't really have a way of meeting the other parents and it seems they don't do playdates and birthday parties the way we do. Other than that the school is great. Papageno is doing well and is happy.

Anyway, so after weeks of deliberating, changing my mind almost hourly we have decided to stay at Gabriella. I can always move him next year. He seems happy with that decision. I am also making more of an effort to be more involved. I am going to try and be president of the parent association.

Also, I have introduced Liza into the concept of tire planters. Hopefully that will help with "warming" up the campus in a not very expensive way. I also like the recycling angle.

Since the boys have started school the stress levels have been running a bit high. I think it is due to all of a sudden having a schedule, having to get up and out of the house and doing homework, etc. Papageno has been going a bit bonkers. I hope that things will settle down soon. Because of the lack of playdates and afterschool activities at the school I have scheduled him for a lot of our own activities. Swimming, soccer, and capoeira.
Hopefully he is not now oversubscribed.

Bug has also had a big month. Our first day at preschool did not go well. He did not want to be with Teacher Zhanna and was hysterical. She made it worse by yelling at him. I then picked him up, stalked out and complained to th e director, Ellen. I was very upset, threatened to leave, etc. In the end I realized that I wasn't really about to go looking for another school, assuming I could even get into one. We had to much history at the JCC and were too comfortable. Zhanna called and apologized and said I misunderstood her intentions. She mellowed out, I returned and it's all been good since then. I took it as a "teaching moment" moment for me. I know that throughout your childs educational history you are not going to like everything the teacher does. So it's best, and possible, to deal with it and hopefully change the bad into the good. It sounds simple but I havent always done that, so good for me!

camping in Zion Aug 2009 day 1

So we did it. We went camping in Zion National Park for 5 days. It was crazy hot.

We left here on Sunday afternoon and got to St. George UT about 7 hours later. Courtesy of The Lonely Planet we stayed at a funky little motel for $40/night. It was sufficient, clean etc. They actually had a little kitchen at the back of the room so we were able to eat there while Bug slept and open up some of our own food for breakfast the next day. They were the typical sole proprietors, cute, friendly, a bit goofy. They had been there for a few years, bought the hotel as a semi-retirement thing. They were thinking of selling and leaving. I don't know if they were loving St. George.

We stayed in St. George because it was less than an hour from Zion. On the way we stopped in a town called Hurricane. We wanted to pick up some things at the pharmacy, one was a prescription we had my doctor phone in for an asthma spray. Due to insurance issues that took waaaaay longer than expected. We finally were able to leave and arrived at our campsite at about 1:30. Everyone was excited to get out of the car.

Our first hurtle was the campsite. It was super hot and not a lot of shade. The people at the park entrance told us we could look at a different campsite that was first come first serve. We drove around it, but couldn't decide. the kids were screaming to get out and hungry so we went back to our site, unloaded the food and I left them with Dan to reevaluate whether or not we should move. I was tired and couldn't decide. The site we had was beautiful and near the visitor center. Which was good because that is where you picked up the shuttle to the trail heads. The other site was farther away. In the end I couldn't make a decision so we just stayed out campsite. In retrospect the pros' to moving would have been a shadier campsite and we would have been nearer to the river. The cons would have been it would be a bit of a hike to the visitor center which was a launching place for everything. So it didn't matter where we were, there were pro's and cons to both.

It took us some time to set up the camp site. The tent was a bit of a bear since we hadn't set it up before. I had my doubts about it because it didnt have very good reviews. It was nice and large with a lot windows but pretty unstable. We did attach some extra ropes to keep it standing and thank god we did. It was so windy at night we are sure the tent would have collapse if we hadn't tied it to the ground.

I don't remember why but Dan had something to do so left us to go into Springdale, so the boys and I decided to take a shuttle bus and see a bit of the park we went up to the lodge and ran around there for a while. It was fun. there was a big grassy area the boys could play on and a wild turkey running around which they thought was hysterical. We eventually went back to the campsite to meet Dan. After an exciting dinner of hot dogs Kellen and I decided to go on a small hike. The shuttle took us to the top of the Pa' rus trail, a 1.3 mile hike back to the camp site. It started out great. We detoured down a steep trail to wade in the river and cool off. We then continued on the trail. It was an easy paved trail, mostly flat. I unfortunatley time it well. It got darker a lot faster than I thought. That in itself wasn't scary, it's just that I wanted to get back. I knew Dan would be worried and realized and hadnt given him any indication of where we were going, just that we were going for a hike and would be back in an hour. Along the way Papageno had to look at every beetle and ant that came near the path. I felt bad hurrying him along, I mean half the fun is checking out the bugs. But we did need to move along. We eventually got back to the campsite and to a pissed off Dan. He didn't know where we were, what trail or where to even begin looking for us had something gone wrong. I understood. It wasn't the best laid plan.

The next day Papageno did the Jr. Ranger Program. He loved it. He went everyday. It was nice because we would wake up, get a quick breakfast, drop him a the ranger program and then relax with Bug for a few hours. We then would pick him up, eat and relax by a river or something. It was so hot, the only thing we could do was sit in a river in the shade. Needless to say the kids had no problem with that plan. The water was icy cold, so getting in was half the fun/challenge.

It did take a while to fall into a pattern. By Tuesday night I was so upset and the trip was so hard I was almost ready to pack it in and try to get a hotel. I figured I would give it one more day. Low and behold the next day we figured it out! Once we stopped trying to stay on the schedule we had at home and adjusted the way we did things it was fun. We did late afternoon hikes and had dinner when the sun was going down. That way we werent trying to cook in the heat of the day, or get the kids to sleep in full light. Also, it was much more fun to light the campfire and roast marshmallows after the sun went down.

We left on Friday to head for the Grand Canyon. It took us 3 hours to pack up the campsight. Fun in 105 degrees. We then went into town for supplies and a little apple picking and lunch. By the time we hit the road it was after 3. We got to our proposed destination, Jacob Lake, and started to look for a place to stay. The book we had, "the lonely planet", which has never let me down, said there were a few hotels there. They were wrong! There is one hotel and one gas station and that makes up the town of Jacob Lake. The next closest town was 80 miles back from where we came. Luckily there was one other option, a small lodge I had called earlier but rejected because it was more money than we were hoping to spend. Fortunatly the had a cabin available and we sucked it up and spent the money. The cabin was small and dingy but clean. It had a set up bunk beds and two full size beds. There was also a small restaurant. Now, I am sure under any other cirmcumstances this hotel would have been awful, but after camping for 5 days your perspective changes. The shower had hot running water, the beds were comfortable and the food ... not prepared by us, hence awesome! The kids loved it and it was in a beautiful location.

The rest of the Grand Canyon trip was anti-climactic. The scenery was beautiful but the kids were hiked out. So we did a half hour hike and headed for home. Stopped in Vegas to break up the trip and were home on Sunday.

In the end it was so much fun, I planned next years trip for Yosemit. There we are staying in a permanent tent :)

Papageno is on the rampage again. He is hostile and mean to everyone. I don't know if it's a stage or he is going through something.

I particularly makes me mad when he goes at Bug. Bug gets so excited to see him and share things with him and he is always shot down. Bug will run up to Papageno to greet him after camp and Papageno will just brush him off or if Bug tells him something he is excited about Papageno tells him its stupid. I know it normal sibling stuff, but it breaks my heart.

Other than that all is well. Camp ended today and we are heading to SF on Tuesday. We are going to stay with Alison and Troy and spend time with Sarah and Joe. Dan can't come. He has to cover TCA. He promises to work on my book while I am gone. We need to get it done by Aug. It's a bit of a slog.

Dads Birthday Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

oh, the thrill of branded clothing

So yesterday I bought Papageno some new shoes. He wanted some super cheap "transformer" shoes, or something like that. I refused, we got into the whole "I'm the one who has to wear them" thing. I told him "I'm the one who has to look at them" plus they are badly made and expensive, so we settled on some regular shoes and some "iron man" socks. OK, cut to today. I take Bug shopping with me to Target. We are looking for a booster seat for Papageno and Bug wants some new underwear. Since he didn't get anything yesterday I caved and bought him some very "Star Wars" underwear. He is ridiculously excited and wants to wear two at a time, and ... Papageno is wearing them as well.

oh boy.

Potty Trained ... at last

Yea! Bug is finally potty training. I swear, I thought it would never happen. But this weekend, bam. He said he wanted to wear underwear and we have been happily, Ne I say, messily peeing in the potty. He tried the big potty but changed to a little one we bought at target a few months ago. He insists on peeing standing, just like big brother. I know I shouldn't compare, but his process is to pee every 10 minutes. I swear, by the time Papageno decided not to wear diapers he had a bladder like a whale. He never had to run to the potty. Bug, every store, every stop, every half hour its a trip to the potty.

We ran into trouble at the babiesRus because he couldn't reach over the seat. Since he wouldnt do it sitting down we had to resort to a diaper. Oh well, at least he is trying.

Today was fun, we went to LACMA (LA County Museum of Art). It was a "Family Sunday" and his school had arranged to be there. There weren't many of his school mates, but there were a couple. We started off with a music and music area. This was a couple of guys banging on somed drums while a "leader" got the kids to all sorts of movements to the music. It was fun, crazy and right up Papageno's alley. While Papageno was dancing Bug was in another tent doing some sort of toddler craft. It took him a while to warm up, but he enjoyed it in the end. When it

We then went on to a sort of art exhibit. There you were supposed to write a joke and then paste it to a "sculpture" that was then painted. Papageno thought his joke where hysterical. I, nor anyone else for that matter, didn't get them. The joke reads "There once was a squirrel who was a human being" He just told me that is funny because "it is not real." The other joke was "I threw the clock out of the window". That is funny because "you can't really take the clock off the wall", again met with raucous laughter. "there once was a boy who had no brain" That is funny because "nobody has no brain, otherwise they wouldn't remember something" So there you have it, humor to a six year old. Here is the official link to the art work: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26008925@N07/sets/72157617693454384/show/

After this we moved on for a tour of some highlights in the museum. This was led by Papageno's art teacher, a employee of LACMA who comes to the school once a week. She is great and does some really fun stuff with the kids. Unfortunatley Papageno was to amped up from his dancing and creating of great prose to be able to handle calmly looking at pictures in the museum so it seemed a good time to leave. Besides, we had a t-ball game to get to.

Story of the day:
So this morning we took the boys to our favorite local diner for chocolate chip pancakes. Papageno had two servings. After that we took Dan home to work and went off to buy Papageno a new car sear, shoes and then go to me his friends at LACMA and then go on to t-ball. Basically a whole day revolving around him. While driving to the store I was listeing to a song I like (Hotel California by the Eagles ... don't say anything!) and he wanted me to put on the Batman CD he likes to listen to (the soundtrack to The Dark Night) I said no. Some arguing ensued about my not being kind, blah blah blah. He then states " mom it would really be kind of you to think of someone else once in a while". I mean ... what do you say to that? (other than beast!)

being practical

So last night we went to check in on the boys. I have decided to let them go to sleep together. Papageno is supposed to read to Bug and then they play together a bit. It's not a quiet way to go down, but I hope the more they do it, the less like a sleep-over it will be.

Anyway, we went in to check on them as usual, before we go to bed, and found that Papageno had dressed for school. I guess he felt it was a more efficient use of his time to do it at night.

Come morning, I was trying to get him out of bed just before 7:00, he announced he was ready to watch TV. Since he was already dressed and all. Of course I had to explain the flaw in his plan, which was it was already 7:00 and getting dressed before bed didn't really work in the long run.

We will see if it happens again :)

Memorial Day Weekend

It was a nice weekend. We spent Saturday at Flavyn and Gero's house. It wasn't meant to be that way, it just sort of happened. We went for a walk and a quick swim, I was going to head home for bug's nap around 1:00. But, Falvyn being Flavyn spent most of the morning at the market. By the time she got home it was after 11:00 and they were determined to do the walk. Which we did and it was very nice. We went to Pierce College, which is an agricultural school near them. We saw cows, goats, ducks, sheep and tractors. Super fun for the kids. By the time we got back to her house it was after 1:00. I couldnt tell the kids we had to leave without having gone swimming so I sacrificed Reeces nap and we stayed untill 6:00. She put on a nice spread for lunch and had some other people over. It was a fun day for all. Of course I invited them to our BBQ on Monday, they didn't show. Again, typical Flavyn.

Monday's BBQ was nice. We had papageno's friend Dillon and his mom Terry over as well as Bren, Jeri and the kids.; oh and Joe, who decided to come down last minute. Jeri and I discussed sharing a kindle account. Her and her sister do it and love it. That way we could all read eachothers books. Of course Dan didn't like the idea. I have to probe that issue more. I find choosing all my own reading material exhausting. I just downloaded "The Dreaming Void" which seems great. But then Jeri downloaded a sample for me up "The Outlander" which I must say is starting off a bit more intriguing then "The Dreaming Void" I guess I can't help it, I like scifi, but my heart really lies in fantasy.

Today I have been really tired. So I put the boys in their room and told them to read together and go to bed. I can't believe it but it is 8:15 and after a lot of laughter, there is quiet. I am too afraid to look and see what is really going on, so I am going to hope for the best.

Papageno is still into this girl Jaylen at school, who apparently is now spurning him. He said tomorrow, with guns blazing, he is going, in his most authoratative voice, tell her to "get back in the game". I wish him luck with that. Personally I think she got tired of playing star wars. It certainly sounds that way.

BTW the noise has started again. I am going to have to go in and do something.

El Matador

On Saturday Papageno and I went to the beach, El Matador in Malibu, with Susan and Sharkey.

The plan was for Dan and Bug to join us after Bug's nap. Unfortunately it took us well over an hour to get there and when we got there it was cold and overcast. June gloom. Fortunately the boys didn't care and had a great time. They
spent time looking for hermit crabs. Also found, but not by us, was a star fish and a crab. When we went in search of such exciting creatures we found a rocky outcrop with sea urchins. So that was fun. It was a fun beach because it is a little more secluded than our Santa Monica/Venice beaches. You have to walk down a path and some stairs to get to the beach. There are lots of rocks as well as big waves. So that part was neat. Of course we did the usual jumping in and out of waves. Papageno loved it. Next time we will be sure to include Bug and Dan. It wasn't as much fun without them.

Story: As often happen's Bug was mad at me (he has a very fiery temper). I don't remember why, but I told him I wanted a kiss. He said "No, mad boys don't give kisses, they give hugs, but not kisses" you got to love him.

Papageno in love

I know, it's been a while. It's hard getting back into something.

I am posting because ... Papageno has a girlfriend! Can you believe it! In case you forgot he is 6. He came home the other day and told me that he and his friend Jaylen play husband and wife all day. The like to do everything together and when they are seperated by their teacher, Miss Weng, they are sad. I almost died. Isn't that the cutest thing?

On another note I am exploring the possibility of going to another school. He is doing well I guess I just want something where I feel we are more connected with the other people and that has more active parents. I have a meeting with our local elementary school this morning to try and get release papers. I was told by the office staff that they are not releasing anyone from the school so we will see what happens. I have applied to West Hollywood Elementary which everyone likes and the Beverly Hills School District which would take care of us through high school. We will see.

Bug is still Bug. Unfortunately the constant singing of star wars themes is beginning to grate on my last nerve. Please, make it stop!!! He does it unconsciously while he plays, walks around, whatever; and at top volume. Agh!

Dan is still part of the ranks of the unemployed but he is enjoying it. He has plenty of freelance work and thinking this might be the way to go for a while. Lots of people are telling him how great it is to work for yourself, master of your domain and all that. He is expecting a job offer, I hope they take a long time so Dan can really decide if he like working from home. We certainly like it. He is now home for dinner and sometimes he takes the kids to the park in the afternoon.
Yesterday, he Bug and I went up Runyon. It was nice.

ok ok, no complaining

Yes, I know it's been a long, long, long time. I don't know what happened. I guess I just fell out of the habit. Here's to getting back into it.

A lot has happened since my last post.

First, Spring Break. That was fun. We spent a few day's with Grandma and Carol. We then came home and went to Disneyland and Adventureland. We stayed overnight at the embassy suites. Our first hotel with the guys, unassisted. (At Joe's wedding we brought help). It was nice because we had a one-bedroom suite. We were so tired after Disneyland we actually ordered room service. Woo hoo.

The only thing Disneyland meant to Papageno was ... Jedi Training. It's a show that he has been super excited to do for a while. They pick about 25 kids from the audience and train them to become Jedi's. In order to ensure our selection we dressed in costume and made signs. We got up at six in the morning to paint them so they would stand out. Kellen's said "The Force is With Me" we had another one that said "Master I am Ready". Bug wasn't interested in participating. he is still a bit young. The best part was when he did get picked he continued to hold his sign over his head as he was walking onto the stage. It was very funny. They eventually managed to wrestle the sign away from him.

What amusement park trip is complete without Cotton Candy:




















If you are dying to see more here is the whole shebang, unedited.
http://www.shutterfly.com/lightbox/view.sfly?fid=4a8f012f3416f2276cbbd47cbb382743

I digress. Bug singing ABC song.

ain't misbehaven

Today has not been our best. Papagenois overtired and obnoxious as all hell.
I think my favorite line was:

"Yes, Daddy bought me new baseball pants, a new mit, took me for pizza, then a movie where I got a rootbeer and popcorn, but ... he didn't buy me licorice and he promised so he didn't live up to his deal."

a wee bit spoiled perhaps.

But he made it all up at bed time. He claimed a notebook as his journal and this is what we found:

and ... he is a mathematician.Now for Bug. Unfortunately for him he has not been a flattering reflection on us. Here is his school photo. I think the photographer thought he was a girl and pulled his hair forward.

Of course the pink and purple shirt didn't help. But he loves it.

As you know it's since been cut.

Thursday

Today is Thursday, as indicated by the title. We have had a pretty fun week.

On Tuesday, Dan's basketball day, we went to the BHCC for a Pirates and Princesses party. The boys were super excited to go. I dressed them up in matching Grey shirts with skull on, a bandanna on their heads and an eye patch. Unfortunately I didn't get any good photo's. Kellen had a super good time. He was laughing and screaming the whole time. We started out with dinner. A buffet of the usual, pizza, hot dogs, chicken fingers etc. They served lemonade and the tables were covered with gold coins and eye patches. There was also a dessert table filled with ice cream, hot fudge, m & m's, marshmallows and sprinkles. And as if that wasn't enough they had someone there making cotton candy. After dinner there was a show/treasure hunt. It was totally cheesy but Kellen loved it. There were pirates running around, dueling each other rescuing princess's ... you get the picture. Kellen was front and center screaming his participation.

The BHCC is a problem for us. We don't know whether to join or not. On the one hand it would give us something to do, a pool to go to, kids to play with, activities on stupid holidays like memorial day and labor day. On the other hand maybe the kids would be better off at camp for a month and then we could find stuff to do for the rest of the summer. I just don't know.

Dan is still muttering about the dog. I confessed to him, under the threat of great torture if he ever brought it up again, that the dog is a handful. Other people even agree. Now he is using it against the puppy. Thereby reinforcing the idea that DD is not to be trusted with personal and private information!

We have Bug's first class photo. It doesn't show us or him at our best. I will try and scan it in later.

Yesterday I hiked up Runyon with my friend and neighbor Nadia. She has a German Shepard, Maya. It's fun. Althought today (Friday) we established that we are not hiking far or fast enough. We have a good solid workout, uphill for about ... 10 minutes. ooops. We obviously need to increase that.

Bug wants to play

Not to be outdone by big brother.

First Hit

Papageno's first hit at t-ball.

Our cuppeth run over

With excitement.

Ok, I am late in posting the illustrious entry into t-ball. It was very exciting for Papageno. He looooved it! So here are the pics.

























More can be seen at: http://www.shutterfly.com/lightbox/view.sfly?fid=8be051bf089cfd005b2f2841c4d4a52e

I have been trying to post a video of our first hit. But I can't. I blame our connection.

I will try again another time.

In the meantime here is a photo of bug and his new haircut.



Btw, the other day I could have sworn I broke my foot. I knocked a portable heater over and ... ouch! Anyway, you will all be relieved to know I am fine. My foot is not broken, it just needed a couple of days of rest :)

oh, and re the fish. It was doing so well we added another one. I named the first one Clyde. Kellen name the second Captain Rex.

Jordan goes to the farm

This weekend we took the monster to the farm (AKA my friend Glen's house in upstate NY) plenty of fun animals for Jordan to play with while Sue was left at home to have a morning off to rest. Jordan was paticularly intrigeud wuth Glen's Python. Luckily this was a good experience as Sue was not there to tell Jordan how terrible Snakes are. Granted I was not thrilled with the snake myself but luckily I was able to contol my emotion (albeit from a distance). We were also able to play with rabbits, ducks, goats, chickens, and horses. I was paticularly amused to see Jordan have a great belly laugh at touching the goats. Unfortunately the poor goats were severely reprimanded by Jordan for jumping onn the table were they are not supposed to be. I hope you all enjoyed my first post and we look forward to our next trip to the farm.

I love my children and I want to be with them always.

The chocolate milk incident.

So today I am looking … not to shlumpy. I am wearing a skirt and a t-shirt with a sweater. I must say, not bad. So I decide to make myself some juice. I am starting a juice diet and was hungry and thirsty so I figure it’s a good time for an enriching carrot, apple and beet juice, with a little ginger to spice it up. Then the whining comes in. “I want chocolate milk, I want a sippy cup” So I stop what I am doing and proceed to get the milk out of the refrigerator. Of course this means that I have to rearrange the fridge because my husband has decided that is more important to have the beer in the front of the fridge thereby pushing the milk to the far reaches of the back. As I proceed to rearrange these items I start pulling out my ingredients for the juice as well. Only to be greeted by “mama what are you doing? I want chocolate milk. That’s not chocolate milk” you get the idea. Of course when I tell him I making juice he wants carrot juice as well. Then the phone rings. I dare to talk to my friend while preparing the erstwhile drinks. Bug insists on putting his chocolate milk in the microwave to heat up. I let him, mostly because I am not really paying attention. I start on my carrots only to notice the microwave is on 4 minutes. I stop the microwave and reach into grab the milk which is of course to hot to touch. I then have to use a cloth to take it out. Bug is screaming that I am ruining his milk. I hang up on my friend to fix the situation. I think I am going to be very clever by dumping the milk in another glass only to be greeted with more screams about needing that very sippy cup. Daaaan, didn’t I get rid of all sippy cups six months ago for this very reason! I cool down the milk by adding cold milk and stirring it. I then put the cooled down milk back in the sippy take a sip in order to ensure the proper temperature. The results of my generouse kindness is a spray of chocolate all over my face and nice clean shirt, and then all over the kitchen. So much for being presentable. I hand Bug the sippy cup and tell him to wait a few minutes because it’s too hot. That only elicited screams of how he must have his chocolate milk right away. I then think to myself well it’s your problem now and hand it too him so I can clean up and start my juice, of which I get “where’s my carrot juice” grrr.

"I love my children and I want to be with them always. I love my children and I want to be with them always. I love my children and I want to be with them always. I love my children and I want to be with them always. I love my children and I want to be with them always. I love my children and I want to be with them always."

Are we convinced yet?

The boy is killing me

Today was a "pupil free" day for Papageno. So we planned to hike up Runyon. I was proud of him for wanting to do it. I was afraid that since his legs hurt after the last hike he would be reluctant. But no, he was keen to go. We got off to a bit of a late start. I had to talk to Simon on the phone for a while and go over some web stuff. We eventually left at 10:15, considerably later than I had planned. I was wondering how far we would be able to go since I had to pick up Bug at 12:30. This left us about an hour of hiking. The last hike took a lot longer. Now I know it was Bug slowing us down.

We get to Runyon and found a parking spot pretty quickly. Before I knew it we were at the first viewing point. It was pretty quick so I figured we had time to do the whole hike. The second leg of this hike is a pretty steep. It has stairs through most of it. When I did this the other day with Dan and Bug it seemed like a breeze. Now let me tell you, I normally go up the opposite way, so I am going down the stairs. I chose not to do this with the boys because the other way is a more gentle slop but it is a much longer one, and it is up the whole way. I thought short and steep would be easier than a long steady incline. So I have never gone up the steep side on my own. As mentioned when doing it the other day I had no problems. Today, however, was another story. I don't know if it was me or Papageno, but HE KILLED ME. Seriously, I thought I was going to throw up. He went up that hill so fast and I was left behind yelling Papageno, Papageno stop! I was the sad old women who couldn't get up the hill. If only all those people knew how fast we were doing it, hmpf. We got to the top and I wanted to die. he pops on the bench and comments on the beautiful views and the ocean blah blah blah. I am standing next to him bent over gasping for breath trying to talk. We were quite a site. And I was worried I wouldn't get any excercise today.

So we are ready to stroll down, I am relieved we ought to make it in plenty of time. We may even have a few minutes to pop into Trader Joes. Then it all goes to hell, Papageno trips on a rock and skins his knee. Now I love him to death, but he can be a bit of a, what I call, a dramalama. 20 minutes I spent trying to get him to stop crying and acting as if he had lost a leg. I wasn't about to carry him the whole way down, so he had to stop crying and start walking. Whille all this is going on Quincy is romping around playing with people who are throwing a ball or a frisbee. I get Papageno to slowly start walking, he dramatically limps along while crying. I eventually give it up and pick him up a cary him to the path which is like a back road, it is tarred, albeit roughly. I put him down and then tell him I am not moving untill he stops crying. He eventually gets it together. We then discover Quincy is nowhere to be found. I realize that there was a slight dip when we went to the tarmac and he probably couldn't find us. Fortunatly after a few minutes of calling him some people come down the path who had seen him. He then comes running down the path himself. He didnt leave our side the rest of the walk down, it was cute. Now why do I mention this whold trauma, it's does not show Papageno's best side. I will tell you. The second we get Bug Papageno is hiking up his pants and showing off his skinned knee as if it's some kind of war trophy or something. Now there is some internal editing!

Quote of the day: Dan.
When I emailed Dan I was going to be sick from trying to keep up, he responds "First rule of hiking. Don't try to keep up with someone 36 years younger than you are." Thanks dear, you're a real help!

Another quote: Bug
I had to add this. Under instruction I am putting on a costume for Bug. It's way to big for him so i have to roll up the arms and legs. He says "roll up the foots, they are down there". It made me laugh.

Go Fly a Kite

Kenneth Hahn Park

Ok. we are having a tough time adjusting to the time change. Who isn't? We can't get to sleep on time and of course can't get up on time either.

So, just to change the subject for a moment ... We are back in Wii hell. I realized that obsessions for 6 year old's isn't a good thing. I started out letting Papageno play the wii after he finished his homework. It was awesome. He ran in and did his homework in 5 minutes flat. No fuss, no muss. I was in heaven. Then he was off to the wii. I tried limiting the time to an hour. I know, that seems like a long time, but it fly's by and still doesn't give him enough time to accomplish whatever it is he wants to accomplish. Of course in the process Bug is left sitting there by himself wondering where his playmate went. He will watch Papageno for a while, then play by himself and then want to try and play the wii. Which he can't. The controls are too complex for him. I tried to bribe him with a "Diego" game. It doesn't compare with the excitement of "Star Wars". During all of this I was in heaven because I was mostly left alone (tiny little guilty yea!). Eventually I did realize this was probably bad parenting. Plus, one thing I had been proud of was how much fun the boys had together. The wii was killing all of that. So, I implemented a new rule. No wii except for Thursday and and the weekend. (Thursday because Papageno get's off school early so we have more time to kill.)

Today was the first day of the new rule. We went to our favorite park,Kenneth Hahn, the photo above. You see why it's my favorite , it has stunning views of downtown LA. I love sitting there looking over the vista while the kids are running around having a good time.

As you know on Sunday we went to a party, Ava's. As a party gift they gave out kites. What a great idea! Both kids had been wanting to fly them and today was the perfect day. It was windy but not to bad that the kite was blown out of our hands, although close :) Papageno was running around letting the kite go higher and higher. It was really fun to watch. The sheer glee on his face was awesome. Of course Bug wanted to do it too. The wind was a bit to strong for him so he abandoned his efforts and played star wars. Oh well, next year.

So, going back to our opening statement, we went to the park late ... because we could. We got back late and set our whole schedule back an hour., that is dinner, bath and bed Consequently, tomorrow the cycle of exhaustion will continue.

Quote of the day: Bug
Well it's not really a quote, but Bug is trying to decide whether is is a big boy or a baby. He has now decided he is a "bigboy baby".

Weekend Warriors

Today we went to a birthday party for Ava, a girl in Bug's class. It was cute. They had it at the same park we had Bug's. He gets so excited about birthday parties now. He loves being with kids his own age and having his own friends.

Yesterday, Saturday, was a good day as well. We dragged the kids up Runyon Canyon (above). I was so proud of them. I was hoping to make it to the first viewing area, we made it no problem so we decided to push on to the top. The second leg are steps and is quite steep. Dan had to carry Bug but Papageno powered up it like a jack rabbit. It was awesome. I was thrilled to see him attack something that could be so daunting. Of course by the time we got to the top he was tired and said he was done. "oh well hon, now we have to go down". We went up the steep side because it is shorter and got all the hard work out of the way so we had a nice leisurely walk down. Well sort of, I had to carry Bug on my shoulders most of the way down. It was a good workout just not the one I expected :)

That afternoon we took Curt to Farrells for his birthday. Dan had actually been telling Papageno about it for weeks. He sold Papageno on "the Pig's Trough", a giant ice cream sunday which he had to have. Dan told him that if you finish the giant sunday they come out and sing a "piggy piggy piggy" song. We were disapointed not to get a song for our pigginess. However, we did get a birthday song for Curt. Later we found out what a horrible childhood Dan had because he never got a birthday party at Farrell's, so it turns out we had almost righted a terrible wrong done to Dan. So thank god for that!

In the bowels of trouble

Not a very exciting day today. I was really tired. Bug got up three times last night. The last time I gave up and pulled him into bed with us. The outcome of all this, I didn't want to move from the house today. I picked up the kids but that was about all.

OK, funny story for the day: Bug
Bug has some sort of stomach thing going on. He is pooing all the time. Yucky, stinky, smelly, smells like acid poo. It's gross. His poor little butt is getting red. So after something like the fourth diaper change since school I decided to drop him in the bath. Now a bit of back story here. Thursdays suck! Bug doesnt really get a nap because Papageno gets out of school at 1:30. So I have to pick up bug at 12:30 then kill half an hour and pick up Papageno. Usually Bug falls asleep in the car. But you know how that is. He doesnt really get rested. So Thursdays are really a no nap day. So it is about 5:00pm and I decide to drop Bug in the bath. He flips out about not wanting to go in. He says he is "working" which means playing. He is crying to the point of being one step away from hyperventilation. As we are standing in the bathroom I dump a little vitamin E oil in the water. Of course he starts screaming he wont go in with that in there. I make a big show about taking it out thinking that he cant see it anyway. I finally move to get him in the tub. He won't let me take his shirt off so I stand him in the water untill he lets me take the shirt off. He won't sit down, it's all a drama, you get the picture. Finally I get him to sit down I put some water on him. He tells he wants to get out. I say "of course dear" and then proceed to putter about hoping he will relax. He eventually does settle down and enjoy the bath. Later I take him out and he announces what a nice time he had in the bath. Now, finally the point of the story. He said he like the bath because it was good for him and took away his diaper rash. He talked the rest of the night about how much he like the oil and how it made him feel better.

Oh, here is the promised pic of my tatoo. It should be gone by next week. Boo hoo.

Growing up is tough

So I have bought a new book on Sibling Rivalry. It's called "Mom, Jason's Breathing on Me", who can resist such a title. Basically it councils stepping out of the conflict. So far ... loving it. I can only hope that the basic premise doesn't scar the kids for life. Regardless, I like the fact that it takes out my stress of having to figure out who did what to whom. I just say "there there, want a hug" and it works. yea!

oh, I forgot my favorite story of the week. Papageno. We had another playdate with Aviva the other day. It went well as always ... for the most part. Things got a little quiet for a while, never a good thing. We look for them and notice that both kids are in his bed, the top bunk. of course we say "what are you doing?" Aviva looks at us, shrugs, and states "Papageno is getting in his pajamas" At first I think nothing of it. Then I realize in order to get into his pajama's he has to completely undress. So I look up and sure enough he has a shirt on but no pants. What's worse is when I tell him to put his clothes back on he innocently looks at me and says "I am putting my pajama's on" where upon he lies down, thrusts his hips in the air and pulls his pajama pants on. All while Aviva skeptically looks on. Thankfully Simon is a mellow dad. Oh Papageno, where do I begin?

oh and Bug. He told me to "put my clothes on" again at nap time. hmmpf. I am beginning to get a complex.

Addicted Again

So, I thought I had escaped the video game obsession. I know. I previously posted about playing a lot, but then Papageno and I lost interest in it for a while. I don't know how it happened, but the Star Wars Wii game has reared it's ugly head, with a vengeance! The boy would play all day if I let him. After an hour he is screaming and yelling when I tell him to get off. He is addicted! Now I know I may have posted an issue or two about playing the game myself, and I must confess, I have started it up again. It's fun playing with him. We actually compete and share re the stuff that we found. It's fun, and kind of bonding. I like sharing a game with him. That said, I do have to reign it in.

On Sunday Dan and I went to the celebrity roast for Larry The Cable Guy. It was fun. We had passes to the pre-party and after-party. We stayed up really late ... 11:00pm and were wrecked the next day. I got a rose tattoo on the back of my neck. Much to Dan's usualy protests :) Pictures to come later. It was fun and we get to do it again over the summer, yea!

Also on Sunday Dan took Papageno to "The Magic Castle". It's a private magician's club that dates back to the days of Houdini. I was jealous because it was my idea and I love it there and thought that Papageno would really get a kick out of it. His first kind of "big boy" show. It worked out that Dan took him.

I took bug on a playdate to Bowie's house. He was really excited to go. He doesn't have many of his own friends. It was fun, Bowie's mom is a vet and in addition to the usual menagerie of pets they had two desert turtles. Everyone was freaking because Sunday was the day the turtles decided to come out of hibernation. They were awesome and now I want turtles too!

Bodily Issues

Yes, I know it's been a while. I fell out of the habit of writing, I now have to get back into it. The good news is I am also trying to start the habit of jogging. My friend Katie swears that when you have a running partner it's really fun. I have yet to see the fun, but I am going to give it a try. Of course I have to train on my own in order to be able to keep up with her. We will see how that goes.

Nothing really to report, as if my other posts are full of exciting news :) The boys have rediscovered the blocks that you can run a marble through so we have been building with that. It's been fun, except now there are always blocks all over the floor. We are planning a trip to Disney land, I think they will really like that ... and, the fish is still alive. Who knew it would survive this long?

So, I bet you are wondering why I am calling this "bodily issues". Lately the boys seemed to be obsessed with bodies, mine, theirs, eachothers. I don't know if it's coincidence or they are feeding off of each other.

ok, Yes I am scarring my child for life. But this is so disturbing in so many way's I couldn't resist posting it. Clearly he is exploring sexuality. The problem is, I am not sure which one he thinks is sexier.

Quote from Bug:

Just so you can have to much information about me; I don't like to sleep with my clothes on. It's been years, and I can not change the habit. So yesterday Iwas going to take a nap with Bug. I did my usual of starting to undress (yes I can't even nap with anything on), Bug asks me if I am going to take my clothes off. I reply yes, to which he responds "mommy, put your clothes back on." Hmmpf, my 3 year old is more modest than I am.

Story of Papageno:
So, a day later I am in bed with Papageno (fully dressed, he is too big for me to sleep with). We are snuggling up. He is getting ready to go to sleep and he notices my breasts. We then proceed to have a conversation about breasts, what they are for, who has them etc. I know this is normal but really, leave my body alone please.

Wii Wars

Well, not much to blog about today. As a matter of fact I was quite lazy today. I didn't mop the floors. I didn't do the fab dinner I had planned. I didnt walk the dog, or even take him to the dog park. I didn't go to the market, and I didn't return some stuff I told Dan I would return today.

I did eat a delicious lunch, watch The Mentalist and pick up the kids. Yea for me :)

So what did I do today. Well, yesterday I promised Papageno I would help him get to a new level with the Wii Star Wars Lego game. Now, for you gamers, this might not be a problem, but for me, well ...

The way I am expected to help him get to the next level is to look up a website that tells you how to navigate the scene that you are in. I duly do this. Not being a gamer myself I miss some of things you need to do, hence, I need the website. Although I am getting better. So I am on the computer yelling at him "go left", "kill the droids, kill them all", "go right", "blast it","go there, hurry up, go faster", etc., you get the picture. Of course he doesn't listen to me, then I try to grab the remote and he refuses to give it to me. Eventually I wrestle the remote from him, and he spends the next few minutes wrestling it back. And so it goes. I find it all very frustrating. I don't know why I bother.

Oh wait. it's because eventually we do get to the next level and he gets extremely excited and says "thanks mom, I love you, your the best". Yes, I am a soft touch.

Being Dark

Ok, some of you might have noticed that we have been dark for the last few days. No, it's not because my vow to blog daily has already gone to the wayside ... well it did, but for good reason.

Carol, had a major asthma attack and I went to the desert where she lives to be with her. Those of you "in the know" know how it went. To the rest, she was there thursday night to sunday afternoon. It was a stressful and upsetting weekend (even with a break of wine, tv and a hot tub). She is now at home, and I am back blogging.

Let's see, my funny story for the day: Papageno

The other day we went to the park. Right away Papageno found a little girl to play with, she was very cute. I sat next to the dad and we started to chat. You know, about mindless things, just passing the time. He seemed nice enough. The kids run up to us, I had a bunch of snacks, and papageno yells "I showed her my butt". My response: "Never say that in front of a girls father.", of course I then come up with the appropriate response "Don't do that", but a little late and a little meekly I'm afriad.

ps: the fish are still alive

Problems resolved

Where to begin, today had so much going on. We started with Bug being thrilled because he is now doing the puzzle all by himself ... over and over and over again. But hey, he's happy.

Papgeno got his report card today, oh, so did I. We both did well :). The teacher said he was doing very well in math and getting complex idea's like" estimating numbers of items". She also said he was a wonderful writer and was looking forward to him being able to develop sentence structure and more sophisticated words. So that was good to hear. We got the expected "lack of focus" and also apparently we need to work on neatness. So there we have it. Doing well in school. I'm happy.

Just to clarify the part about my report card. The parents get marked on things like; absentee's and tardiness, conforming to school uniform, homework support, and behavior support. And I thought I was done with school.

I was also able to resolve the fish problem. I bought a tank. It's a small 1.5 gallon tank that fits on a shelf in their room. The boys are pretty excited about it. When I put the fish in, Bug said "Look the fish is smiling". Papageno of course wants another fish to replace the one that died. I told him that if this fish survives the week I will buy another one. And so begins the cycle of goldfish. Just so you know, it's one I had told myself I would never be involved in. Oh well, best laid plans.

Quote for the day: Dan
Ok, I was not happy when Dan presented me with the goldfish. I have pretty much complained about them since Sunday. Dan finally said to me "it's about time I get to introduce new life forms into the house." I laughed, I always joke about my continual introduction of new life forms into the house, so yes, he was due.