marshall

The Vassariños could not have been more excited to go to Grandmother's house. R requested a berry picking trip. And, like a good grandmother, if that's what R wants, that's what R gets. In spite of their website saying all their berries were ready to be picked, upon arrival, we were told there was nothing to pick. That they had gathered all the berries that morning for a few cartons. They let us scavenge around anyway, which was probably more fun than bushes full of berries anyway!  The kids loved the hunt for ripe berries. 

They also loved their cousin Pablo and played with him every spare moment they had. 

It's always wonderful to be with family.

the rest of the trip

Day 1 was Erock. [see last post. I can't seem to insert a link on my phone]

Day 2 was LBJ ranch. The working farm on the property was a big hit. The kids loved the animals, got to collect eggs for the period actor/volunteers, picked up every snail they found along the hiking path, picked windflowers, and O mercilessly ran around with a big stick. He's all boy. 

We managed to work in some down time in the lovely house we rented. 

Day 3 was Pedernales Falls. David's cousin's family met us there and provided a delicious lunch!  The kiddos had a blast hiking on the rocks, did a little rock climbing (so impressed with those little guys--might need to hit the rock gym), and threw a million rocks into the river. Mami showed them how to look for flat stones to skip on the water and O bawled when he had to go. He would have thrown rocks for days if he could. 

We stopped by a butterfly garden, did some bird watching, and found some amazing bugs. 

And of course, a trip around town wouldn't be complete without a visit to the local ice cream parlor. 

What a marvelous trip!

first summit!

I'm so proud of these guys!  They made it all the way to the top of Enchanted Rock!  We arrived before the office opened and before the skies opened. It was glorious. Every rock and butterfly and flower and cactus and hawk was exciting. Pure joy. 

last day of school

Another year gone. Another set of people who love our kids and have helped shape them to be good people. 

We are so grateful for their turtle (O) and teddy bear teachers (S & R). 

art

The kiddos LOVE all their art projects at school. For our Mother's Day party, they created flowers out of torn construction paper. One fun thing about twins is being able to see their different creativities side by side. 

When Sylvia showed me her flower, she said that while she was working on it, she noticed she didn't have any red, so she added red. Then she told me, there's some more space for more colors next to the red. She didn't want to leave any of the paper white. 

They also made candle jars and the kids were allowed to choose any jar they wanted to decorate.

Sylvia chose the largest jar and Rafa, the smallest. Go figure. Perfect.  Both of them. 

baby love

This may be the first newborn the Vassariños have met. She's a precious one and seeing my kiddos' looks of pure adoration and love was incredible. Despite our insanity, human beings really are beautiful creatures. 

mini photographers

The kiddos often pick up my phone or camera and snap away.  Particularly Rafa LOVES to take pictures. 

So, I often quickly go through shots like these deleting away...

And then I came across this one. Possibly the best photo I have of O. 

first violin "recital"

For the twins' first violin "recital," since they have only been "playing" for about 6 weeks or so, they didn't actually play anything.  The goal was for them to get accustomed to standing in front of others, and see what a recital is all about.  What we decided they would do is, walk up, smile and bow, get their feet in position, get their violin and bow in position, and focus on looking at the bow/strings while their teacher played on the violin.  Here's how it went. 

 

 

They had NO stage fright at all.  And, did a good job at sitting through the rest of the concert, even when they got restless.

discipline

We have entered the world of daily discipline. Whew, it's exhausting. But, we're hoping to establish early who's in charge. Or at least, who we want to be in charge. 

Last night, it was my last evening solo while D was on a business trip. Kids are early, we went upstairs, O wanted a bath, so even though it wasn't bath day, I knew that would keep him occupied. I started practicing violin with S. R wanted to join O in the bath, so I said to go ahead, we'll practice when you get out. We had loads of time after all. It looked like it would be the rare night that we finished getting ready for bed way ahead of time and could play a game or read extra stories. Ha!  Anyway. S finished and wanted in the tub. I got toothbrushes, towels and PJs ready. Really, it was all wonderful. 

O then turned on the bath water, so I told him he had to get out. No playing with the water because the hot can be super hot.  I cherished the time with him and we played a little and read until I heard a splash and peals of laughter. I went to my bathroom and discovered about 1/2" of water covering the entire floor. Sigh. So much for an easy, fun night. They had emptied almost the entire tub on my floor. I sent S & R to get their pjs on and get in bed. And let them know that they won't get to bathe in my tub for the rest of the month (weighing in my head if this might be more of a punishment for me than them, which is always important to keep in mind in doling out punishment). 

Today, of course, I came home to toys being tossed down the staircase from up above. I promptly made the kids clean it up. I then lined all the kids up and say them down for a talk. This is what my dad did with us as kids. And we hated it. If we knew we were going to get a spanking, we often asked him to just go ahead with the spanking. The lecturing was the worst. And so, I decided that a lecture was what my kids needed. Now I'm exhausted. And running out of privileges to take away from them. 

mother's day recap

Mother's Day 2016

7:00 - wake up to O, let D get up, it's my day after all

7:15 - hear R get up, stay in bed, it's my day, right?...

7:30 - what the heck, I'm not sleeping anyway, get up, go downstairs, help D clean up after our Saturday night party. He had already done the lion's share of the work. I'm struggling to decide if it's a good idea to throw a party the night before Mother's Day or not...

9:30 - after a looooong cereal breakfast and general laziness around the house, we decide to skip rushing to get everyone ready to go to church. 

10:30 - after wondering where the hour went, we rush to get everyone ready for Mother's Day brunch with the Gee fam. 

11:00 - fall asleep on the sofa at Uncle A's house while the kiddos play with their cousins. 

11:45 - D wakes me to say goodbye before heading out of the country. 

12:00 - my sis-in-law's parents bring my fave Philippine food and my sis-in-law has my latest dessert obsession for lunch. I decide to start running to make up for my Mother's Day meal. 

2:00 - oh, no, gotta go, everyone need a a nap. 

2:30 - everyone's in bed, I fal asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow

2:35 - twins start yelling. I yell back, go to sleep, Mami needs a nap!

2:40 - repeat for an hour

4:45 - wake up and realize we should've walking out the door for the twins' first violin 'recital'

4:50 - scramble to wake all kids, check in with guardian angel, Tia C who is en route to lend a hand

5:00 - out the door. Enough time to not be late for the concert but not for the kids to get comfortable in the recital room. 

5:20 - Arrive. Tia C brilliantly suggests the twins go potty. And offers to take the twins. She's an angel. 

5:30 - no sign of twins or their teacher. Well, as long as he's MIA, we're good. 

5:45 - concert starts

5:55 - Sylvia performs (she didn't play)

5:58 - Rafa performs (neither did he)

6:30 - O gets restless

6:40 - S gets restless

6:45 - R gets restless. Much bribing and shushing and furrowed brows for effect ensue. 

7:00 - I get restless

7:30 - concert ends 

Saint in action

We thought our kids and we were looney toons for starting so early. Turns out everyone we asked from this group started playing at age 4...

8:00 - arrive home

8:10 - goodbyes to Tia C, many thanks, head to restaurant. Bribe kids in car to be on their best behavior. 

8:30 - we play a few rounds of I Spy while waiting for the food. Food arrives. Kids are spectacular.

8:45 - R asks, we're being obedient, right?!  Big smile. Yes, dear. 

9:00 - best thing I do as a mother on Mother's Day, I introduce them to the 6th food group, ice cream (gelato really)

I'm certain all my bribing will create an unhealthy relationship for them with food. And, I may never get them to do anything without providing a treat. I'll work that one out another day. Maybe. 

9:20 - arrive home. Embrace that we had a great night and try to not freak out about how late they're up. 

9:30 - attempt to get all kiddos to brush their teeth. Settle for O. Hear from the hallway, Mami, wanna see our room?

9:32 - nearly fall over. I wanted you to come brush your teeth, but you did something even more amazing. The room was spotless. They did eventually Go brush their teeth. 

D's gift of earrings were gorgeous. But, the best gift was my kids cleaning their room. What does that say about me?!  G

9:45 ( I think) - all kids are in bed and I crash. It's my day after all, right?!

near miss

The twins have been pretty good about practicing the violin.  I rarely get resistance and it is generally overcome with feeble attempts at games, because they're 4, so the bar is low. 

Last night, R was doing a strong job at avoiding practicing.  And I got frustrated.  And I told him that if he wouldn't practice the violin, I'd stop paying for classes and we wouldn't go anymore and I'd return the violin.

To which he responded: Santa brought me the violin.

[silence]

Then me: Well, Santa will be really sad if you don't play the gift that he brought you and he'll want another kid who wants to play have yours.

I may have ruined Christmas.

Oh, well.  Not the baby Jesus in a manger part at least...  Have I mentioned that S named one of her baby dolls 'baby Jesus'?...  That probably needs a post all to its own...