Bean, Babs & the Boy

Glass blowing

aeawells — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 05:27:23 +0000

About a week ago Emma took a 1 day glass blowing workshop. She made a glass ball in her school colors – green, blue & white. It is very cool, and she had a great time at her class. And although Abby was too young to go to that class, she just had her own glass blowing experience…

This weekend is the annual Bellevue Art fair. As part of the fair they have a kids fair, where the kids just get to do multiple crafts at the art museum. It’s really fun, and we go every year. This year in the kids area they had a station where they asked the kids to draw a picture of what they would like to see created by a glass artist. Liam drew some crazy thing that he called a rollercoaster chair with hair. Emma drew a multicolored monster with horn, stripes, legs & a tail. Abby drew a zebra. Once they drew their picture they were supposed to write down what they drew and why. Abby wrote “zebra i like zebras”.

The next afternoon we received a call that Abby’s picture had won! It had been chosen by the glass artist and he would be making her zebra on stage at the art fair that evening. So we all packed in the car and headed over to see the process. It was awesome! We got there just before they started, so we got to say hi to the artist and tell him that Abby was the contest winner, then we got a seat up front to watch. The M/C introduced Abby to the crowd, showed her drawing, and the glass blowing began. As the artist continued making the zebra, I noticed he was referring to Abby’s drawing over and over – he was making her exact drawing! Not making a zebra…making her zebra. Her zebra, with no stripes on the legs, with no tail or mane, with a green mouth and blue eye…and, the problem we discovered midway through the glass blowing process – only 2 legs! (2 legged zebras don’t stand up too well. Luckily the artist asked Abby if it was ok if he added a loop on the back so we could hang it up…and she agreed!)

The guys were so great to Abby. They invited her inside the ropes to help and advise (we chose to stay just outside the ropes where it was cooler). They asked her approval on several things. They showed her the finished product before calling the project “done” to make sure she was happy with it. They told her how they chose her picture from over 100 submissions (she had asked if they just picked it out of a hat). And when, as we were leaving, she said “Thank you for making my zebra”, they said “No, thank you! You are the artist, we are just the hired help who makes your creation.”

Abby was so happy. So proud. And I was thrilled for her. This was her thing. Her special thing. I think she (and I) will remember it forever.

Pets

aeawells — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:44:15 +0000

The kids have wanted a pet for a long time. We finally gave in about a month ago and got a beta fish. Bob. He’s great. Low maintenance. Cute. But maybe not so much fun.

So, they’ve been asking for another pet. Mostly Emma. She is 8 now – old enough for a pet. So we finally agreed to get something small. We all went to the pet store this past weekend, looked at lizards, hamsters, and came home with – Coconut! She’s very cute and very sweet and so far so good.

Emma’s 1st communion

aeawells — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:41:01 +0000

Emma made her first communion this past weekend. Big day for her in the church. She went to the classes at church and did her reading homework so she would be prepared for the event. We bought the white dress and practiced eating the host and drinking the wine (which she did not like, and asked if she had to have it. I said just this once and never again, so I think that’s her plan). We arrived at church to take some pictures, and were pleased to see & take some photos with some of the preschool gang. Thinking back, looking back at pictures, remembering back – these kids started preschool together when they were 3. 3! That’s so small. Now they are 8 and are receiving first communion. I (and many other moms) got teary eyed a few times during the ceremony, just seeing how big my little lady has become. She’s a joy to us, we love her, and are very proud of her.

Disneyland 2010

aeawells — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:35:17 +0000

We took our 4th annual trip to Disneyland last week. It was, as usual, great! We love Disneyland…the kids and the adults. The big news this year was that Liam went on rides – pretty much everything he was big enough for he went on. A big change from last year when he was scared of everything and cried if we tried to take him on anything. So that was more fun for everyone. And Emma was tall enough for a couple of “new” rides this year. One was the “Tower of Terror” and one was “California Screamin’”, the roller coaster that goes upside down. I was excited for her that she could go on these new big kid rides…but at bit hesitant about who would be the adult supervision! Daddy only went on Tower of Terror once and then didn’t want to go anymore. It is a great – but pretty scary – ride. So mom went a lot. I think we went twice in a row each day that we were there – that was about all that my stomach could take. The upside down coaster was also ridden twice each day, but dad would go on that so mom’s tummy could settle. Although Abby was tall enough for the Tower of Terror, she went once and was not interested in going again.

We spent an extra day this year, going for 5 days instead of 4. We were able to see more characters, and some new ones that we hadn’t seen before. We got lots of ice cream, lots of souveniers and had a nice time. The kids can’t wait until we go back next year!

Spring Break 2010

aeawells — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:22:04 +0000

For spring break this year we decided to take our first trip to Cannon Beach. Cannon Beach is in Oregon and is a very popular destination for Seattle-ites. We have never been there, so we booked a condo/hotel and headed down. We knew the weather wouldn’t be what you’d typically have on a spring break beach vacation – being the pacific northwest in march – but we were prepared to wear sweatshirts while we enjoyed the beautiful coast. I did pack sun hats, sunscreen, shorts & even swimsuits…just in case. The whole 3 hour drive down to Cannon Beach was rainy – often downpours making it difficult to see the road. That should have given us a clue! We arrived at our destination and were told that we could not check into our room because they were without power due to the storm – and had been since 7am. There was no hot water and no heat. And we needed heat – the temperature was only in the 40s. We walked over to the beach where we thought we could kill some time until the hotel (hopefully) regained power. But it was so windy. We couldn’t even talk to each other because the wind made it impossible to hear. It was so cold. So cold. We walked a very short distance, then headed back to the car to regroup. We went into town, where there was also no power, but a couple of stores and restaurants were open. After getting several bags of candy and sitting in a restaurant for a snack, we realized that it was headed towards evening, we had no prospects for getting dinner (restaurants were also powerless, so no cooking, and no lighting after the sun went down) – so we decided to cut our losses and bail on Cannon Beach.

Luckily, we have been to Portland for vacations 3 or 4 times before this, always staying at the same hotel, so we made a quick call, programmed the GPS, and headed off for the hour long drive inland to Portland. We ended up having a nice vacation in Portland – forestry museum, OMSI, IMAX space movie, swimming in the hotel pool. It wasn’t the spring break we had originally planned, but it was still fun.

Maybe we’ll get back to Canon Beach another time – in the middle of summer when it’s warm!

Florida

aeawells — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:32:34 +0000

I took the kids to visit grandma & grandpa in Florida for a week in February. The girls had off 3 days for mid-winter break, so we added a couple of extra days to the vacation and took the trip. It was the first time we’ve been there since we’ve moved to Seattle almost 5 years ago, so the girls were only 3 & 1, and Liam wasn’t even born yet when we went. Now, at 8, 6 & 3 I felt like we were ready….and like I could handle taking them on the long flight by myself. I was right, and the kids did great on the flight! We had so much fun during our visit. One day we visited a Florida history museum, which has a huge room where the kids can pretend they are early settlers — trading post, log cabin, ship & canoe, etc. The next day we went to the Naval Aviation museum on the Navy base where they have airplanes on exhibit from the earliest days through today. And, the best part, you can get inside the cockpits of these planes and act as a pilot. Fun! The girls & I also did a Blue Angels simulator “ride” which was great. Good times. We spent a day at the beach, and spent one afternoon at one of the many Mardi Gras parades going on in town that week/weekend. I was afraid that the kids would be upset if they didn’t catch enough loot from the floats, but I was wrong to worry. We had so many beads, stuffed animals, footballs, plastic cups, and candy that we could hardly carry it. The kids were exhausted from waving their arms and catching stuff. But it was a good time…and the loot was shipped back home to us so we can relive our Mardi Gras experience whenever we want to. We spent time hanging around grandma & grandpa’s house, playing in the yard, walking down the golf course to feed the ducks, seeing their friends, playing their piano, and just spending time with them. The kids had a great time, and I’m inspired to get back there more often.

What’s new in 2010?

aeawells — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:35:59 +0000

I’ve been bad at updating, but so far in the 6 weeks of 2010, here are the things we’ve been up to:

Liam started swim lessons. He’s nervous, he’s uncomfortable, he’s not willing to put anything above his shoulders into the water. He’s even cried a couple of times (2 crying episodes in 3 lessons — not a great ratio). But, I really think that when he gets over whatever fear he has, he will be a good swimmer and can progress quickly. So we’re sticking with that.

Emma is in winter soccer. Indoor. Last year she did indoor winter practices with the team, but this year the coach signed them up in the league so they’re playing games. He is having them “play up”, so they’re playing against older kids. He did it so they’d learn more and get better (and, I think, because they won all of their fall games) It’s a bit tough on the girls. The fields are bigger. The goals are bigger. The games are longer, with shorter half time. There’s no real downtime, since there are no timeouts (no out-of-bounds in indoor soccer). The opposing teams are bigger and better. But I think it will be good for the girls and they will come out of it more confident and better soccer players. In addition to 1 practice and 1 game a week, he has them doing performance training once a week at the gym, which is awesome and will help their endurance, speed, agility and sports health. I wish I was doing a similar sort of training. Although I’m not sure I could make it through the 75 minutes that these girls are going through…. maybe changing that is what should be new in 2010!

Babs is still in dance and both girls start art after school tomorrow. They’re excited about that, and I’m excited for them. I believe that doing a sport or active activity is important for them, as is a creative activity, especially since they love art so much. So hopefully we’ll get into a good groove with soccer, dance & art. For now, these seem to be the girls’ favorite things, so I’m hoping to feed these passions (while still allowing time for school, reading, hanging out and just playing) by letting them learn as much as they can – and have fun – at their chosen activities.

Maybe I’ll wind up with a gold medalist swimmer, a famous artist, and a professional soccer player. Maybe not, but hopefully I’ll wind up with kids who know what their passions are, who love to pursue these passions, and who have fun doing it!

Rememberances

aeawells — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:12:15 +0000

A couple of things I haven’t written about yet, but want to remember:

Abby takes dance and has for a couple of years now. She’s only been in one performance so far – one we had to skip, and the last one this past winter she was sick so we didn’t make it. But she loves it. I was asking if she wanted to sign up again, and if we should sign up for the spring recital. She enthusiastically said YES, and mentioned that she loves the performances and is sad that she’s missed a couple. She then admitted something that “nobody knew”….that at her first dance performance, she was so happy to be on stage that one tear feel down her cheek. Just one. A tear of happiness.

I guess I’ll leave her in dance.

The boy, lately has had new forms of affection. Kissing our hands has been his favorite, followed closely by pressing his nose against ours. He’s also been asking Abby – and only Abby – “Do you still love me?” She, of course, replies that she does, to which he says “Good, because I love you.” After several of these occasions, the final one – Boy: “Abby, you still love me, right?” Babs: “I will, if you stop asking me!” I guess nobody likes a needy, insecure man.

Christmas!

aeawells — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:48:07 +0000

I love Christmas. It’s always been my favorite holiday. Love the general feeling of happiness that seems to be everywhere. We decorated the house inside & out, went to build-a-bear, decorated gingerbread houses, made Christmas crafts and hung them all over, went to “snowflake lane” (a drummer show & fake snow falling), made Christmas cookies….all the usual preparations for our Christmas celebration. After church on Christmas Eve we went to the Carpers for dinner, then home to open one gift, leave out the cookies & carrots, and get to bed. Luckily, Santa had stopped by earlier and left new pj’s for the kids, so they had some cute new warm jammies for Christmas Eve night!

Surprisingly, I had to wake everyone up on Christmas morning! We had a flight to catch late morning, so we couldn’t sleep in…we had to get to presents! The kids were sooo excited – I think this was the best year so far! The loved their gifts, were so happy, and it was just a fun fun morning.

After presents and a little time to play, we headed off to the airport — off to Denver. We spent 3 days in Denver with Aunt Melanie, Uncle Weston, and their families. And Grandpa David & Nittaya flew in the next day, so for the first time in a looong time the whole extended family was together (and really, the first time ever since the last time we were all together Liam wasn’t even born yet!). We didn’t “do” much of anything, just spent time hanging out – the adults enjoying conversation, food & great wine – the kids playing together and…. *the best* for our kids… going sledding!

Home before New Years,when the girls stayed up until midnight (well, midnight east coast time….9pm our time!) and watched the ball drop for the first time!

We had a great Christmas vacation, and were a bit sad for school to start up again. But – on to new things! Looking forward to an amazing 2010!

8

aeawells — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:18:15 +0000

Emma turned 8. What? 8? How? I swear that in the past month she has completely changed from a little kid into a girl. A big girl. She is still very sweet. Sensitive. Helpful. Kind. She loves her sister and brother….but sometimes wants to spend some time alone (especially right after she comes home from school). She loves reading, but has recently gotten really interested in legos and chess – I guess that’s her mathematical side coming out (her teacher did tell me that she is really good at math!). She also still loves art. She has recently started drawing portraits of people…but only when we’re not looking Luckily, at least for now, she still likes spending time with mom and dad. Gets so excited when I come to her school functions. Wants us to play games with her. But she has friends at school that I don’t know. She writes in her own private journal. She can sit alone for a long time reading, writing, coloring/drawing, playing computer games, doing homework. She is not dependent on me for so many things.

She’s still my little girl. My first baby. My love. And she always will be.