Bonfires all Summer Long

Although these pics are old I just found them and feel like posting and updating the blog. More recent pics and posts will come. Now that I have a camera again (got a new one as a Christmas gift). This bonfire was the last thing I took before I dropped my camera in the sand and broke it.

My Art

My first painting ever. A cropped photograph of ferrofluid from a National Geographic magazine

My sculpture is 6' tall. I love working with power tools and wood. My new favorite material.

This scultpture moves. The center represents me and is my height. The two mimic me and are Sophia and Ethan's heights.

Painted the butterfly when I was in CSUN. The blue painting was my 2nd painting ever and my first abstract painting.


My drawing of me as a baby I drew my Senior year of High School.

Update

So it has been forever since I've put anything on the blog. So much has happened in this time. I'll give you a somewhat quick summary of the highlights that have happened and are happening. Sophia is the cutest and is learning so much. She loves preschool and singing. Ethan's starting kindergarten and is really excited about school. My schooling is going well. Made it on the Dean's List. Yeah! It's hard to juggle the kids, school, getting good grades, and all the many things I'm doing but I'm doing it and doing it well. I'm currently double majoring now. Being practical since I need to be the main support for our family and still keeping my passion. We are all adjusting well and are much happier than we've ever been. We are enjoying our summer and are all looking forward to school starting.

So much to catch up on

A lot is happening for us right now. Ethan's in preschool and improving but having behavior issues. I'm slowly working these things out with the teachers help. I know Ethan has a great memory but I think we(the teachers and I) are finding out he might have a comprehension problem. Who knows, but there is a lot to look into. He loves preschool. The kids are really going through a lot of adjusting right now. They are slowly improving. Sophie spends her days while I'm at school playing with her friend Agatha. Agatha is the little girl Ethan hit it off with last Christmas. She's learning Spanish while being watched by her babysitter Rochy (Agatha's Mom) whom she loves. I'm glad I have such good friends. I'm also looking into putting Sophie into preschool. Hopefully soon. I think Sophie would do so well in it. She really loves to learn and she's quick at grasping things. I think by next quarter she'll be in a school.

I'm so proud of myself. I have finally gotten the kids on a sleep schedule and it was easier to do then I thought. I love it. They go to bed around 8-8:30 and are asleep in their own beds by 9. I have a bedtime routine that works and now I can even leave them awake and they stay in bed and fall asleep on their own. Yeah! I'm also going to bed earlier. No more 1 am or 2 am bedtime for me. We get up at 6:30 pretty much every morning so we need to get to bed earlier. Even Saturday's we wake up early as well because of Ethan's soccer. Which by the way he is doing so much better. Last week he played the whole game and was a good sport. He's been getting along with other kids and making new friends. It's good to see.

Last week the kids (I'm almost positive) got the H1N1 virus. Took a week off of school and got them on Tami Flu medicine. It really works. It's a pain to even find let alone get and so expensive but well worth it. Last week was pretty bad. This virus is nasty. They are 100% better and now I don't have to worry about them getting the Swine Flu. They've already had it. Glad I took care of it early though. They could of ended up (especially Sophie) with pneumonia. This virus is scary for the kids 2 and under. Ethan got sick pretty bad too. I caught it quick and took care of it with the doctors. I was more pushier about it this time then I usually am. Usually I just let them wait there colds out but this virus comes on suddenly and hard. It's really is scary. To all parents be careful. It's not like a typical flu. It's more like a serious cold with fever and what it does is attacks the lungs first. Do some research if you think your kids might have it. Doctors aren't really telling you that it's this either. Not sure why. But Sophie had a steroid shot and a breathing treatment which helped her sleep sound that night but she still woke up not breathing and with a nasty cough. Stride is what they labeled it. Never even heard of that. I did notice the urgent care doctor stayed in the corner of the room with his mask on. He must of known. He only touched her to listen with his stethoscope and then went back into the corner. I called her pediatrician and she never even asked for her to come in. She didn't say she had it because you only can be sure after you've been swabbed and then you get the results back 3 weeks later. By then she would of had pneumonia for sure. I let Ethan go to school on Tuesday since he only had a cough and the Urgent Care doctor said it was nothing more than stride. Which I thought is just caused by a common cold. Something just wasn't right. That day I get a call closer to the end of the day. Ethan's sick with a fever just like Sophie was. That day I got their medicine. I ended up having to go to a compound pharmacy to get it too. Because no one is selling this medicine for kids and it's the kids that are needing it the most. I think they are afraid of running out. Who knows. $60 later I have healthy kids again, in less than 5 days.
I got behind in my classes but I'm already pretty much caught up. I'm enjoying school and running around like a crazy lady. I'm loving all of my classes. I have jogging in the morning which wakes me up, Kung Fu kicks my butt, Philosophy makes my mind churn, and my 3D art class makes me crazy. Oh and my voice class is lots of fun. I'm shooting for all A's. The PE classes and voice I know will be A's. I've never gotten less than an A in PE ever. I'll see how the Philosophy and Art class goes.
So this is what's going on with us now. With many many other things too. Who knows when I'll be able to make another post with our crazy schedule. Still can't put up pictures but I'm still taking them. Eventually...

Preschool and Counting to 10

Wahoo! I just got Ethan in to preschool! He is so excited. When I told him that he was going to go to school, he went into his room and found his backpack. He then started to fill it with toys. When he went to bed that night he kept it on and fell asleep like that. He also told me today that he needs to be a good listener for his teachers. He doesn't start till my first day of school but meets his teacher on the 15th. It's so funny how he is so eager and ready to go to school. He's been waiting all day thinking he's going. I've just been letting him wear and fill is backpack.

Last night after our bedtime story Ethan told me he wanted to count. I've been trying to teach him to count to 20. So we began to count and it was Sophie who shocked me. She was saying all of the numbers before us. She counted to 10 all by herself. I guess we have been counting a lot and Sophie just picked it up. I love my kids. They just keep growing and learning. I hope I can teach and keep them to always have that love of learning.

Ethan's 1st Soccer Practice

Ethan had his first day at his soccer practice and it was so enjoyable to watch him interact with the other kids and his coaches. When I first got there he seemed a little out of place from the other kids. Since they all looked around his age but just were doing really well compared to what I think a beginner would look like. It was funny when Ethan joined them he turned to the kid next to him and made a comment about his cool shoes and how they had a puma on them which made him run fast. That's when the coach asked him if he belonged in the group. Turns out he wasn't his coach. I think it must of been the 5 year old group because the kids looked like they pretty much knew what they were doing.
We rushed Ethan over to the other side and he of course detoured towards the playground. I caught him and we ran over to the right coach. He was a crack up during the practice. He would point out things to the others that they really weren't paying any attention to, like the birds and clouds. He asked his coach Ozzy what the baseball scoreboard was and then said he wanted to put a number one up there. A flock of geese flew by honking loudly. Ethan was sitting on his ball and then started to flap his wings and honk. The others followed. He is curious, observant and gets so excited. I love my little boy.
He is a fast learner too, because today he learned to stop the ball, which he did really well. Everytime after he did it the first time he would do it. At first I didn't think he was paying attention but he picked up quick. He just needs to learn to not use his hands so much. Which he will in due time. He was so funny dribbling the ball all over the field during drills. Made it a little chaotic, but it was so much fun to watch and observe. He got his uniform today and it turns out he is #21. Yeah one of my favorite numbers since it is my birthday. I would post pictures but I'm unable to do that at this time. But his uniform is light blue.
After practice he was beat red and dripping with sweat. (Just like I do.) That morning I thought of bringing some orange wedges for all the kids and got props for that. Sophie enjoyed them as well since she loves oranges. We later headed over to the playground where he and Sophie played with the kids from his team. There is practice next Saturday and I'm excited just as much as he is. I can't wait to get Sophie into some kind of sport or dance class. Soon enough.

Bad Boys and Good "Grils"

Among some of my errands I had to go to the Social Security Office the other day. When we were there Ethan was acting up and jumping on the chairs and was wiggling a lot when I was holding him and just giving me a hard time. The security guard there asked if he could talk with him and I said "sure, why not?" So the guard started off be telling him to listen and be good to your Mom. He then asked Ethan a question that I knew what his response would be, and I was right. He asked "Do you want to go back with all the bad boys?" Ethan of course responded with "yes." The lady that was helping me and I, both had a hard time keeping a straight face. It did help a little because he acted better from then on. Until we were getting ready to leave and he pulled my arm back and told me "We need to go Mom. We need to go see the bad boys." I then replied with "No, you don't want to be with the bad boys. You want to be with the good boys and girls." He then said "No, girls!" A few days later I had to go back to that office again and Ethan remembered where we were. Because as we pulled up he got really excited and said "Hey Mom, we're going to go see the bad boys." As we went in he saw the same security guard and said to him "I want to go see the bad boys." He was good this time while we waited keeping himself entertained with a small round key ring he found on the floor. After we were done he said good-bye to the lady and kept thanking her for helping us and "See you later." He's such a character. Sophia was sleeping both times there. Thank goodness:)

Ethan has been a sweetheart lately with all of his compliments to me and telling me sweet things, more than he ever has before. Forget that random guy's compliment. It's all about Ethan's that make my day. He is always telling me how much he loves me and how pretty and beautiful I am. (Man he's going to be a ladies man if he keeps it up when he's older;) He says "Mommy you are such a sweet gril (he always says girl backwards), and I love your hair." As he pets my head. The other day he asked me if I like Daddy? And I told him "Yes, I like him and love him because he made you." His eyes got all big and he had a big grin on his face. He then said "You do! Daddy's being a good boy and listening Mommy?" Made me cry. He's such a sweet little guy. He's been saying so many sweet things to me so often he has Sophia doing it now. I love my kids and am so blessed that I'm able to be their Mom. The sure give me a hard time but they also know how to pick me up and make my day. I love my kids!