5/1/2010 Haircuts

The boys have been long, long overdue for haircuts. Katrina wanted to come with us, then she said she wanted a haircut too. So hey, what the heck, why not! I did a lousy job on her bangs last time anyway.

Before. This is my new favorite picture of all three, with Katrina refusing to cooperate. That's just so....her.


A perfect opportunity for a "no evil" shot!


She did fine with the actual haircutting though.


After. I wish all 3 ended up with shorter cuts, but, whatever.


Another double-sports morning! I had to leave Julian's T-ball game before it was over to take Gabriel to a skating lesson, but before that, I had a great time hanging out at the game with Gabriel.

Before the game, the kids needed a few minutes of entertainment while the coach set up for the game. A Dad took the whole team running down the field, which was soooo cute.


I'd have happily volunteered to do this, except for two things. One, any parent interacting with the team is supposed to have a background check first, according to Little League rules, which I haven't done yet. I'm not sure if that rule applies to pre-game practice, but I haven't made myself entirely available to the team yet, partly because of that, and partly I really can't be dependable yet. Any parent who has a younger sibling to deal with on a regular basis really can't be there 100%.

Also, last Wednesday, I had a near miss with my back. I was getting up from the floor at the end of a weights class, and felt a telltale pull in the wrong place. Nothing at all like my usual back blowouts, but the similarity is unmistakable. Sitting on hard surfaces is uncomfortable, and if I sit too long, my feet start to buzz. This kept me from running on Friday, and, apparently, from butting in on the pre-game fun today.

Trick back notwithstanding, I still greatly enjoyed watching. Here's Julian batting.


Julian played first base for a while today. (There was a reason for that, I found later.)


Some video of a perfectly typical "play" in T-ball. All the plays are like this: the batter bats, the kids pile up to get the ball, the winner throws to the first baseman while the batter runs to first base, the first baseman throws home to the catcher. They're all like this, in fact. (That's Julian at first base -- the kid always pulling his pants up.)

Almost all like this -- last week, a teammate at first base actually caught the ball. That's extremely rare!

Well, unless someone outside the game handles the ball. I was a little annoyed about another kid allowed to participate in the game, fielding the ball when it went out of bounds. Looks benign, but after a few plays I could see this affected how Julian played. He knew the kid was there, and would hesitate and wait for the kid to get the ball and toss it to him.

The times Gabriel's been on the periphery with a glove, I've given him very very strict instructions not to touch the ball or get in the way of the players at all.

Julian got this week's "Spirit Award," mostly because he hasn't had it yet -- and that's why he was placed at first base. In T-ball, the first baseman is guaranteed some action.

Overall I don't like the modern trend of awards given for just participation, but this is a little different. The "spirit" award is like a rotating MVP award, that the kids have to return at the next game for the next player. But really, all of T-ball is about getting kids interested and having fun and staying encouraged when they're this age. Everyone bats, everyone gets on base, everyone runs home, no score is kept -- and every team member gets acknowledged at some point. Real MVP awards come later, with real baseball.

Real baseball is a ways off, but T-ball is an essential first step. Meantime, the kids are learning about teamwork and sportsmanship and cheering for teammates, and that's what the Spirit Award is about.

And meantime, I continue to be startled at how much I'm liking this!

5/1/2010

4/29/2010 T-ball game

T-ball after school/work today!

Somehow, we got there early, and had time to watch some older boys practicing. Gabriel and Julian were very impressed at how hard the boys swung the bat, and that the coach gave them real overhand pitches. It was pretty impressive.


I still amaze myself at how much I enjoy these T-ball games. Everyone's having fun, but it's not just fun. I mean, it IS all fun, but there's learning and structure and teamwork going on too. Julian's team had a new boy today, who didn't know where first base was and didn't know to turn when he reached a base. A few weeks ago, no one on our team knew that either, and now they're all experts.

The coaches have also figured out how to keep the kids from hanging on the backstop while they're waiting to bat: give them a "dugout." Our team's dugout was a blue blanket; the other teams' dugout was a bunch of 5-gallon plastic paint cans turned upside-down to sit on.


Katrina and Gabriel played together happily during Julian's game, thank heavens.


Meantime, I watched a kid on the opposing team catch two fly balls. This doesn't happen in T-ball! He could also bat really really well, run really really fast, and throw really, really far and accurately. His coach told me he's also very encouraging to his teammates, and always pays attention and is completely alert during the games. Somebody call the scouts!

I love rooting for both teams, or rather, for kids on both teams. When the play starts getting more competitive, will it take some of the fun out? I don't know; it was really interesting to see some actual skill, while at the same time, it was also really cute to see the new boy trotting out to left field in his quest for first base.

On weekday game nights, Dave meets us at the park and stays with the kids to the end of the game, while I zip home to get dinner started. I think I have the losing end of the deal; I'd much rather stay and watch. Fewer things about motherhood have surprised me more than how much I like watching T-ball. I'm sure my experienced baseball-mom friends can tell me down to the minute when that wears off...but until then, I'll just enjoy it.

4/29/2010

4/27/2010 Circuit artwork

Every day when I pick the boys up from the CDC, Gabriel has a new circuit drawing in his hand. At home, when he's not bouncing off the walls and tormenting Julian, he's sitting studiously on his floor, studying his Getting Started In Electronics book, and making yet more drawings from it. This is really a nice book -- entirely hand-written! Like, published in someone's handwriting. It's got nice illustrations and is very accessible to kids.

I'm not sure how much of this Gabriel is learning from the book, or from Dave, but he's also learning about AND, OR, XOR gates and their negatives, and the logic behind them.

Tonight he got all upset because one of his latest creations got torn, so I promised him I'd tape it up, giving me an opportunity to scan it.

This is what my borderline 2nd-grade behavior problem does in most of his free waking moments.


He's also been learning basic binary arithmetic, or at least writing things down that makes it look like he's learning it. No, correction, I asked him, and indeed, he really does seem to understand how to make numbers in binary. Dave's been teaching him, and he practices.


Though much of what he says or draws isn't technically correct yet, he's certainly got a lot of the vocabulary and a lot of the groundwork, and ton of interest. I think it will come together correctly someday -- most likely without my even knowing it! I can't tell when his rattling off of electronics terms is right or wrong. Fortunately Dave knows and can correct him and discuss something, though Gabriel will get into states when he dogs Dave with nonstop questions.

This is no passing phase. Every day, he has one or two new drawings of some or other circuit, for a burglar alarm, a radio-controlled car IC, a jet airplane's wing lights. They're all over the house. He's only 8, but it's getting hard to imagine how he won't be an engineer of some sort.

4/27/2010

4/26/2010 Out tonight

Can't talk now, off to a friend's house after a hectic -- I mean normal -- evening w/the family.

Dave astutely observed that with a round table with 3 kids and 2 adults, there is no way to separate all 3 children. We need a 3rd adult here at all times.

4/26/2010

4/25/2010 Pacific Coast Dream Machines

Today was the annual Pacific Coast Dream Machines vehicle show -- cars, motorcycles, aircraft, many vintage, and this year, a tank. Right up our alley!

Unfortunately, once again, I didn't go. Fortunately, this year, I had a great reason: a good friend's baby shower. She's expecting twins -- I couldn't miss that! It was really nice and fun and relaxing (the fruit and wine spritzers might have had something to do with that), I really enjoyed it.

Meanwhile, Dave braved the traffic to the Half Moon Bay Airport with all 3 kids in tow. Not easy! The boys are no trouble really, but Katrina....well, being past diapers and naps improves things, but she's still very tantrumy and unpredictable, and has a strong capacity to ruin an outing for everyone. And being stuck with a stroller is no fun either. Still, Dave managed fine with the kids, though decided against going to the section with the aircraft, as it was the furthest away.

If I'd been there, we'd have made a beeline for the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the plane instrumental in the morale-boosting Doolittle Raid on Tokyo during WWII -- heavy bombers actually flown off an aircraft carrier. This incident was featured in the movie Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, which includes a few seconds of actual footage of the B-25s flying off the aircraft carrier Hornet. I've seen the movie and it was so-so, but the footage was not to be missed.

Anyway. WWII bombers will be around for a little while longer, but welcoming a friend into the world of 3 kids -- that's really un-missable. The baby shower was hosted at the home of another friend who also has 3 kids, also via twins, so she's especially well-suited to the event. 3 kids definitely puts you in a different category of parents, if nothing else because your car choices suddenly change, and your plan of having them all in their own rooms either means no office, or having at least a 5BR house. Even in our 5-6 bedroom house (depending on how you count), the boys will likely always share a room.

The morning for me started off with another first: I went swimming and running. Neither the swim nor the run were anywhere close to my usual standards; the swim hampered by lane closures and leaky goggles; the run curtailed by having persuaded a non-running friend to join me and discovering he really meant it when he said he's not a runner. Still, an interesting experience that gives me new respect for triathletes. Especially those who have 3 kids.

No photos today....how did that happen??

4/25/2010

4/24/2010 Sports Morning

Busy sports morning.

First, Julian's T-ball game, the first in a while since there was no T-ball during the spring break, and then this week's weekday game was rained out. I think the coaches were pretty happy to see the kids again!

Julian rounds out second base.


I alternated between watching and playing catch with Gabriel, which I really enjoyed. I was almost disappointed when the T-ball game was over -- I wasn't ready to leave this idyllic little scene of happy children and sunny fields, having a nice morning playing ball with my boys! (Thank goodness Katrina was at home with Dave, she really saps the fun out of hanging around T-ball, especially since she freaks out at dogs, and there's a dog-training class going on at the same time.)

One kid gets the "spirit award" each week (sort of MVP). Julian hasn't gotten it yet, but the coaches are always dead-on about who earned it. This week's winner (far left) is really not that talented athletically, and tends to be kind of a mess frankly, but he's improved more than any other, and really did well today.


In fact, the MVP and Julian actually made a play together: Julian fielded the ball, threw it to first base, and this kid caught it! That's the first time I've seen a T-baller actually catch a ball in a game!


Right after T-ball, I took Gabriel to a skating lesson. We'd gone last week for the first (free) lesson, when a teacher would evaluate him and determine which level he was. A young woman did a quick check when he first got on the ice, and he wasn't ready, he fell, couldn't skate backward, was thrown off by the chopped-up ice and the crowds, since he was used to his hockey lessons. Still, I was surprised that she put him in "intro," with the brand-new never-skated group. Intro, really? Fortunately the intro teacher figured out within about 5 minutes that he belonged in a different class, and moved him to "pre-alpha."

Still, even in pre-alpha, it looks to me like he outskates most of his class. Today, like last week, when the class skates in circles, he skates circles around it, literally. And falls too.


I try not to helicopter-parent, but it is frustrating how difficult it is to communicate with the teachers, and rely on them to make changes. Gabriel's teacher clearly notices that he's skating differently, and that he's always messing around on his own, and is much much faster than his classmates. But, the teacher has 14 other skaters (all girls!) and doesn't seem inclined to make a change. Next week, I'm just going to take him to the higher-level class, which starts half an hour earlier, and let that teacher say he's not ready if he's not.

This is all figure-skating, which I'd thought wouldn't matter at his level -- he still needs the basics. But now I think it does matter: hockey classes have very very different exercises in how to learn to skate as compared to a figure-skating class. We'll do this series, and he'll get something out of it, but he's already too far gone on hockey skating to go too far down the road of figure skating.

Suddenly I have a new appreciation for what I'd thought were lame hockey classes! I'd thought it was a problem that he was the worst skater in hockey classes, and here I am complaining even more that he's the best skater in a figure-skating class!

Katrina doesn't have any organized activities these days, but she does enjoy walking along our new seat wall, especially wearing darling new girl-clothes that a friend so kindly passed down to us.


4/24/2010

4/22/2010 Bring Your Kids To Work Day

Last-minute decision: ditch work, go pull my son out of daycare and bring him to "Take Your Kids to Work Day!" This was the child, after all, who when completely unprepared for his sharing presentation on "Profession," announced he wanted to be a network engineer without having any idea what that was. Primarily because we'd forgotten about his Sharing Day and he wasn't prepared at all. But that's how he winged it.

Two guys I work with and like a lot had set up some "educational" activities for the kids, so I was glad to make my own contribution of an audience member. Gabriel was home sick, but I couldn't have brought him anyway because he wouldn't have been out of school in time. Many parents had timing issues with naps for the youngest ones, and school for the older ones, so Julian was among the oldest.

He had a great time though. First they passed messages around.


Then they went looking for balloons around the building that were of a particular color. I think this was to demonstrate the concept of network packet finding its destination, but without a routing table the concept was lost. Mostly the kids had fun looking for balloons. It was very interesting seeing which adults are total naturals with kids.

They also got a "van tour," which they loved. One of our field techs showed them how to make a cable and put together a jack box, and then let them keep them. Julian was very very proud of his little box and cable (the cable plugs into the box).


Incredibly, Julian sat quietly next to me and drew during a meeting in which I was supposed to present something. It was very informal, fortunately, and mostly talking rather than "presenting," thank goodness because presenting is not in my top 10 of professional skills. But Julian helped me keep my screen alive, and pushed the down-arrow on my laptop to bring up the next PowerPoint slide. He was really darling. (Unfortunately the evening did not end well when I made a very powerful threat against his catapulting couscous into the air again, and was forced to carry out that powerful threat, powerfully, when once again the end of the spoon got whacked and the food went flying.)

Julian commented many times how small my office is. I think a tour of cubicles and offices and conference rooms and meeting is a fine way to create an artist!

4/22/2010

4/21/2010 Table and chairs

It took over 3 months, but FINALLY -- our new dining table and chairs were delivered today!!


We had to get a round table to fit this strange space, but couldn't get one at Pottery Barn or other common sources, because most round tables are 48" diameter. That's tight for a family of five on a regular basis, especially when that family includes two young boys who need to be kept as far apart as possible. Other places had 54" round tables, but without a leaf to extend it. So we had to order one, which was expensive and took a long time. But I love them. The chairs especially are super comfortable, and upholstered, finally. Upholstered chairs! So civilized!

The one chair with arms in the corner is mine.

It's staying light later these days, which hasn't been a bedtime problem yet, but is presenting a big time-to-come-in-for-dinnertime problem. Never mind that letting them play outside to begin with is a big problem too, with the landscaping going on.

Tonight I let Katrina play out front, since Gabriel was out there too kicking a soccer ball around (even though he had a 100-degree temperature and can't go to school tomorrow). She did not approve of having to come back inside.


Landscaping is reaching a stage in which it feels like progress is very slow and it will go on forever, and I see many many weeks of work ahead. But things like this seat wall -- which isn't completely done -- give me hope.

I absolutely love how this path meanders around in front of the bay window (leaving a planting area to gain some privacy in front of the window), and the wall follows it. I love the color of the wall, but it doesn't match the pathway as our designer had recommended. Though I like the color, I now think the designer was right that it should have matched the pathway. Whatever. I'm such an expert at getting over stuff from our big remodel, this is nothing.

A round table, curved paths...I'm glad to go off the straight and narrow!

4/21/2010

4/20/2010 Daddy's Girl

This doesn't happen often: all 5 of us together at the island, at the same time. And it won't again: our new table and chairs are supposed to be delivered tomorrow!

Katrina does love her Dad though -- and sitting next to him.




Thank goodness, Gabriel did fine on his field trip today. What a relief.

4/20/2010

4/19/2010 The Contract

Tomorrow, Gabriel's class goes on a field trip to a nearby arts center to see The Magic Flute. Fun, huh? Yes, unless Gabriel's along. His behavior in school, and on the last field trip, were so bad that we give him permission to go right away.

Unfortunately, the criteria I'd planned to use to decide if he could go -- which was his behavior in school -- was taken away by school being closed last week. It was too hard to come up with clear criteria at home, unless I gave him a specific job or something, which he could easily do and it would have no effect on his behavior.

With a normal kid, you can take something major away, and it'd have that magical "and they never did it again..." effect. That's never happened with Gabriel; applying consequences usually backfires and escalates. Seeing The Magic Flute would be a really nice thing for him to do, his behavior has been OK -- not great, but OK -- and due to our recent discombobulation with Dave being away and school being out, we haven't been crystal-clear on how he can "earn" back this privilege, if there is such a thing.

So we decided to let him go after all, but his permission slip will be something of a contract. Tomorrow morning, he has to sign this before we will. I don't know how much good it will do, but at least his teachers will know that we're 99% woos's instead of 100%.

I, _____________________________________, promise to behave and listen to the teachers and volunteer parents on today’s field trip. This includes, but is not limited to: No rude noises, no unacceptable words, no out-of-turn talking, no running away from the group, no requiring extra attention. I will do as requested without being told more than once.

______________________________
Gabriel Doudna


I understand and agree that any reports of less than PERFECT behavior on this field trip will result in:

1) The loss of allowance for TWO weeks
2) No computer game time for TWO weeks
3) No dessert for ONE week
4) Folding and putting away my sister’s laundry for TWO weekends.

______________________________
Gabriel Doudna

I promise I will be good today on today’s field trip to Montalvo Arts Center.

______________________________
Gabriel Doudna


I give permission for my child, Gabriel Doudna, to go on the field trip to Montalvo Arts Center today April 20, 2010, as he has agreed to cooperate with teachers and parents this time.


___________________________________________________
David Doudna

Someday, maybe, the school year won't start off with us warning the teacher about his iron-clad personality, that he doesn't respond to discipline or consequences or reprimands like regular kids, and that we'll be in touch frequently about behavior, that....and it won't end with the teacher saying carefully, "wow...you were right..."

4/19/2010

4/18/2010 Garden Tour

How nice. There was an open garden tour around the Bay Area today, in which people volunteer to open up their homes and yards for the general public to view. Nurseries selling plants set up stands, or even a display of plants to buy, at some of the houses too. Some houses give talks, and numerous volunteers are at each house to guide and ask questions.

This garden tour focused on "native" gardens, meaning, emphasizing plants that are native to California (if not exactly this region), or similar climates such as parts of Australia. The idea is slow-growing low-water-needs plants, that after they're established, need only occasional watering to get through dry times. This is a big difference from vast water-intensive lawns.

The part that caught my eye in the paper was that the boys' elementary school is on the tour this year, as apparently it too has a native garden. However, we skipped that one because I can see it anytime!

I took Julian and Katrina to a garden a block away from her preschool, and what an absolutely lovely beautiful place it was. Flowery, diverse, shady...the one word I wouldn't use to describe a "native" garden is "lush," but I don't miss it.





They don't tend to be manicured or brightly-colored either -- no pansy banks here. But I really, really like this sort of planting. And, how handy, we get to do this soon!

Katrina, typically, was something of a liability, wanting me to carry her, then picking off flowers she liked, then not wanting to leave. Julian, typically, was very interested, reading all the signs describing the plants, calling me over to show me some new discovery. I wasn't about to let this little diva horn in on my date, so, I dropped her back home and carried on with just Julian. That was fun, I relish time alone with any of them, but this is right up Julian's alley.

We saw three more gardens, mostly front ones, but still just as pretty, and just as accessible. This isn't looking at English gardens with a staff maintaining it; the whole point is to be low-maintenance. One lady told Julian that a rock in the midst of the garden was put there just for kids, and invited him to go play on it.


This time of year, the orange poppies are out, and they're dazzling. I'd like to know what they look like the other 54 weeks of the year, but I'll ask that part later.


It's hard to believe that sometime this year, our yard will no longer be an eyesore, a blank slate, an embarrassment, or a jobsite. It's a mess right now, but someday, someday soon, it might actually be a garden.

4/18/2010

4/16/2010 Putzy puck boys

I often scan the newspaper while having dinner -- it used to be that this was considered bad manners at the family table, but thanks to iPhones and Blackberrys, newspapers are now off the hit list of dividing families. Tonight, Gabriel picked up the San Jose Mercury News, and instead of going to the comics, he wanted to read the sports columnist. Sports column, really? From there he learned -- and I learned -- that our "local" hockey team is in the playoffs, and that there was a game tonight. In fact, puck drops in about 7 minutes.

"CAN WE WATCH MOM?!"

I never miss an opportunity to get them off their duffs. "OK, but only AFTER bath and teeth-brushing."

Gabriel was bathed, brushed, and PJ'd before the first face-off. This is nothing short of miraculous for a kid who can take 15 minutes just to take off his shoes. It's really remarkable how fast he can move when he decides that's what he wants to do. He's unbearably putzy and spacey most nights, but not this one. Julian only missed a few minutes of the game too. I like how hockey motivates kids.

However, I'm not that nice. I didn't want a nightmare of exhausted kids tomorrow, so, after (a very exciting!) first period, off to bed for boys.

I wonder, if they watched more TV at home, would it lose its power, or gain more, in motivating them?

4/16/2010

4/15/2010 Tax Day

I'm not sure what to do with myself: an evening without the crushing pressure of filing taxes?! Amazing. But, all that does is let the crushing pressure of everything else rush back in. And I'm still not feeling well, fighting something in my stomach for almost 2 weeks now. Too bad, because I finally have time to do ... well, something. Gridlock!

No, it's clear what to do: finish putting this together to send to SoCal:


(loving art courtesy Julian)

4/15/2010

4/14/2010 Done!

WHAT A PAIN. But it's done. I really resent how difficult and complex tax-filing is; and that's with relatively straightforward situations. The trauma and aggravation can be set aside for a year, and I can be a Mom again tomorrow.

4/14/2010

4/13/2010 Hockey Boy

Last hockey class tonight. They played a "game," if you can call semi-controlled mayhem a game. No obvious team designations, no one really knew where or who to shoot to -- but at least there was an even number of kids on each "side," two goals, and one puck.

Right before the game, I splurged on some kneepads and gloves for Gabriel, later realizing the gloves are much too small. Hockey gloves on other kids look like mitts. These look like...well, gloves. But he loved them.


My tough cookie....he's so tiny out there, but so competitive and tough. Trouble is, he can't skate. The kid with the white jersey #20 skated circles around him again and again. Gabriel at least finally admitted he can't skate "fast" -- a start, but there's a lot more to hockey skating than just speed.


I had what I thought was an inspired idea when Dave offered to pick up Katrina. How about we all meet at the ice rink and go to Benihana for dinner afterward? Fun, but, it takes a long time. The boys didn't even have all their food until 7:30, by which time Katrina was really winding down. Still, they all loved the chef -- an actual Japanese one, incredibly -- and the food.

First a little running around out front.


They cleverly design the kids menus so they can be rolled into a hat.


Since we didn't plan this outing, we had two cars, and I took Katrina home early and averted any disasters. Gabriel suggested we do this every Tuesday -- with kids' meals alone at $13 a pop, and the great deal of extra time it takes at Benihana, I don't think so! But it was fun as a special treat.

Even though we're both working and not going anywhere interesting or fun, I'm completely enjoying "spring break" !

4/13/2010

4/12/2010 Home again

Dave's home, tired and drained, but glad to have been with Laura through the very worst of this health crisis. She's doing much better, recovering every day, thank goodness, but there will be some rehabilitation before things are back to normal. Even then, with this sort of thing, no one commits to what normalcy we'll get back to.

But since my life can't exist without Laura being completely solidly there for me (because, of course, it's about me), I know she'll be back bopping around with the boys like she was a few months ago. There just can't be any other way.

4/12/2010

4/11/2010 Project Runway

Busy, rainy day. I slept late, watched cooking shows in bed joined by Katrina, got the kids breakfast. Took them to the Y and Trader Joe's, home, put away groceries, made lunches, dealt with boys being absolutely completely utterly horrible.

So I really had no energy for Katrina shrieking upstairs as I was finishing up in the kitchen. I dropped what I was doing for the 100th time and dragged my feet up the stairs, dreading yet another futile reprimand that if it wasn't ignored was only laughed at.

Then I heard an angelic voice -- or is that angel's voice -- float down: "Don't worry Mommy, I'll help her. She just wants to reach a dress." Julian. And all was quiet upstairs for another 20 minutes.

Then Julian and Katrina came downstairs, holding hands. Julian proudly showed his work, as though he'd designed the outfit himself: "I helped her get dressed, and I even did all the buttons!"


How adorable. Though there were many tough moments today, they were outweighed by many sweet ones. Julian was also very helpful at Trader Joe's, and overall cooperative about cleaning up his room and putting away his laundry -- when Gabriel wasn't around. But I'd rather think about the sweet things than the obnoxious ones.

4/11/2010

4/10/2010 Single Saturday

I'm still not entirely in the single-mom groove, but I'm not complaining: the number one main thing I can do for Laura is to put her brother at her side worry-free during this life-changing event. Fortunately, she's recovering better than expected from such a major surgery, and might even move out of the ICU by Monday. That's terrific news. Meantime, I'm encouraging Dave to stay there as long as she needs.

Kids are amazing. Nothing else so demonstrates how life goes on.

Today that included a T-ball game, despite the blustery, threatening weather. During pre-game practice, it looked like Julian's game would get rained out, but after a brief wait under a breezeway after practice, the coaches decided to play one inning. Then the wind died down and the weather became just chilly, but not unpleasant.



Katrina was high-maintenance during the game -- happy, mostly, aside from one big tantrum, but it was work keeping her happy.

Gabriel stayed at home during the game, getting some much-needed downtime, though I was keenly aware of Tonya's warning that age 12 is the minimum legal age to leave children home alone.

I'd told Gabriel we'd be home by 12:30 or so, but we ran some unexpected errands after Julian's game -- including a step into a the timewarp known as Blockbuster Video. This meant that we got home later than I'd said, and Gabriel immediately said, "Why didn't you call?" Fair question. I will next time if I'm so much as 2 minutes later than I thought.

He was quickly appeased with a hero sandwich from Subway, and the promise of a baseball movie after room cleanup. It wasn't raining, but it still wasn't a pleasant afternoon -- just as well, since our landscaping is mid-project and not at all suitable for playing outside. We watched "Bad News Bears" (the original of course), with a few interruptions during impossible noisy Katrina tantrums. Not unexpected after a sleepover last night, but still annoying. I'm amazed how good-natured the boys are about stopping the movie and leaving the TV room so she has no audience for her outrage. I hate that we have to do that, but it's the fastest way to get back to it.

After the movie, I was able to do some cleanup and make dinner with unusual ease. Katrina sure was quiet. It's one of those things that I don't dare check as to the source of the peace, lest I disrupt it, but eventually I do have to check. And sure enough, she'd found something to keep her busy: a pair of scissors and a piece of paper. What was left of it.


Five minutes of cleaning up teeny pieces of paper all over the place was quite worth the half an hour's worth of peace.

Today's other big news is Gabriel losing his second upper front tooth. And the Tooth Fairy is fresh out of dollar bills.

Being out of cash was due in part to one of the remarkable things about living in Northern California. It's not uncommon to see a (usually) young man of apparently Hispanic descent standing on a street corner, selling boxes of strawberries. Today we passed one such man on our way into Blockbuster, and Julian right away piped up, "I love strawberries!" But did we really need a box containing 6 of those little green baskets you buy one at a time at the grocery store for $2.99 (in season) ? That's a lot of strawberries.

I asked the guy where they came from and when they'd been picked, and he said he got up early this morning and picked them himself, in Salinas. I admired the way he'd arranged them, with all the strawberry tips pointing in one direction, making for an irresistible presentation. When he said a single box was only $7, I bit, and bought. And used up all my handy small bills in the process.

But what a boon. These strawberries were amazing -- fat, juicy, sweet, even crisp. The boys plowed through the ones I washed and roughly cut (Gabriel's front tooth was so wiggly he couldn't bite into anything) and kept asking for more before I could sit down for lunch myself. They ate almost half the box -- a box labelled "12 dry pints" -- at lunch alone. Katrina had a huge bowlful too. Really, these strawberries, and how greedily the kids consumed them -- are worth these paragraphs. And is one of the things -- like outdoor baseball in April -- that makes living here worth it.

4/10/2010

4/7/2010 Open House

Tonight was Open House at Gabriel and Julian's school. That's the 3rd night in a row we've had something going on in the evening -- with Dave away. We went, it was instructive and fun, but still made for a hectic evening.

With Dave out of town, the boys have to pick up the slack. They're big enough (barely) to bring the garbage and recycling cans in from the curb.




One thing I learned at the open house in Julian's classroom (aside from the fact that Gabriel sometimes joins him in class in the morning....grrr): Julian is quite the creative writer in kindergarten! His teacher (a substitute since his original teacher is on maternity leave) said that she had him read this story aloud for the PM group (Julian is AM), and that they all wrote better stories after hearing his, inspired!

One day a cup came to life. It attacked machines and people. I came to the rescue and attacked the cup, which put the cup back to normal.

I guess this appeals to kindergartners...though the idea of a cup coming to life appeals to me too. Gabriel's teachers also note his "voice" in writing, and my dear nephew Aidan is all about writing stories...now Julian. Could it be that we have a family of writers?

The Open Houses include giving parents a book of the kids' writing work. It was so fun and interesting seeing what Julian wrote about (Gabriel's was more prescribed). He wrote about our ski trip, our trip to Edwards Air Force Base for the airshow, decorating for Halloween...and this: my relating to the boys about my time playing hockey with their cousin Aidan (my very creative nephew). Seeing the video and hearing my stories made quite the impression on Julian, and he wrote about it!

This perhaps isn't as creative, but I love seeing what he thinks about and how he absorbs and relates my stories:

(spelling corrected:)

On a beautiful Wednesday my Mom went to New York.
She played ice hockey with my cousin.
When she was about to hit my cousin hit it out of her way.

Kids are amazing. They force you to stay in the moment. Their antics keep you from fretting every second about life's more serious sides.

Still, I was anxious to get my three reality checks to bed tonight so I could do some necessary fretting. My beloved sister-in-law, Laura, has been in surgery for 10 hours today. Dave just emailed me that it went well and she'll be back in ICU in a few hours. But I can't imagine there's anything routine about brain surgery.

Laura is such a rock in our lives...so alive, so present, so solid, so vital. The idea of her in the hospital, drugged, ill, not completely there to give me her usual insightful, thoughtful and kind insights....unthinkable. My world is rocked. I can't live without her. This isn't about me of course, but it feels like it is, because I just can't bear the idea of her not being there 200%, as always. I need to hear she's OK so I can finally really cry.

4/7/2010

4/6/2010 T-ball clinic

Another mad scramble in the evening. Get Julian to T-ball practice (a clinic instead of a game tonight) by 5pm, drop Gabriel off at home so he can work on homework and book report. Then pick up Katrina and hope she doesn't freak at the dogs at the park. It's really becoming an annoying problem; if a dog is within 200 meters she screams and throws a tantrum. Then she talks about the dog constantly and asks about how dogs kiss people -- but she flips out near an actual dog.

Fortunately tonight she was more interested in the actual T-ball playing.


A friend says her daughter often and easily made friends with other waiting little sisters at baseball games, and that made it fun for her. Katrina -- not so much. Another little girl her age did try to engage her, but she's a hard sell. She's not shy, but she holds back and doesn't join into things quickly.


Perhaps moreso than Julian, who was having a great time.


Gabriel was supposed to be working on his book report while we were at the T-ball clinic, but maybe he was playing on the piano instead. He must have been; he hasn't been playing much lately, but somehow has squeaked in some time to practice this composition.

This is based on some pre-programmed blues tune in the piano, but Gabriel says this is of his own making.

Dave's still in L.A; Aunt Laura is having surgery tomorrow morning. I'm not usually a praying person, but this is by far the best time to make the exception.

4/6/2010