Lenkaland

Sunday the sun shone bright and warm so we packed up the bikes.  I thought the kids were crazy when they asked to take off their socks and shoes.  Then I figured, if they get cold, they would put the shoes back on.  The sun was lovely-warm, so the shoes stayed off.  They rode bikes on the cushy recycled surface around the play strutctures before too many kids arrived.  Ian gave me his usual charming pose these days.

Peek-a-boo . . . anyone still taking pictures?

We haven’t used the bikes in awhile.  I couldn’t lift them into the car for most of the summer.  And their dad hasn’t been going on outings.  So Anika was pleased as peaches to get on her bike.  She’s grown!

She loved the wind in her hair and building up speed.  Not too fast, though, she’s cautious.  Especially with socks on her feet (I guess it was a little cold).

And we did have a helmet for her (Ian’s is too big, must go back to the store for a better fit).  She wore the helmet outside the soft playground.

Happy girl with her streamers and basket.  Brings back fond memories of my own childhood.  Except we lived down a dirt road where bikes were very impractical, but still . . . who doesn’t love a basket and streamers?  She played mail-delivery and brought me little leaves and found treasures.

I sat in the lush sunshine and noticed the trees budding for spring.  Spring? We’ve barely begun winter.  Back to sleep, tree.  Hear me?

Part of what I love about photography is when it catches little moments that would be lost otherwise.  Two kids on bikes, from the back, with Ian hunched over his handlbars, not trusting the pedals yet (he can go faster running, he says), and Anika slowing down for him to catch up.  Those training wheels will come off soon and he’ll graduate to a big-boy bike.  I am so grateful that I get to watch them grow.  Watch them shine.

Even on days when he won’t smile for me anymore

*you may not notice, but many of our outings involve activities for them where I can sit and supervise.  Most of these photos were taken when I was sitting down.  The playground photos, I was sitting on the ground, which actually gave me a fun perspective of looking up at Anika or eye-level with Ian.  In our other location, I did take a few as I walked, then I sat on the picnic table (behind Anika above) and took pictures from there.  We all win- they get to play, I get to rest (sort of ).  Enjoying life with challenges is all about accommodations.  Most of my accommodations are so intuitive for me, I hardly notice anymore.  I’ll try to share, though, in case others are looking for inspiration or ideas.  I hope you had a lovely weekend!

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This past weekend, my family convinced me that my kids would love ice skating.  I didn’t need very much convincing.  I just knew I could not, would not, put on a pair of skates, so who would help them learn?

Well, Skatetown in Roseville has a brilliant solution.  We came inside from the sunny California day to a frozen playland. We had to wait for the zamboni to polish up the ice for us.

I stayed on the sidelines and tried to take decent photos through the reflective and scratched up glass while my brother and sister-in-law taught my kiddos the basics of skating.  The rink has a brilliant solution for young (and any beginner) skaters.  These buckets are perfect!  They are allowed on about a quarter of the rink, and the capable skaters enjoy the rest of the ice bucket-free.

Ian was perfectly happy to scoot around with his pile of buckets.

Anika leaned heavy on hers for awhile, then gained confidence.  She did fall a few times, she told me, but she didn’t care.

Ian tired of the skating before the others. “Games, games,” he insisted.  And it wasn’t so cold, but it was cold enough that I was happy to escort him to the arcade.  I didn’t think anyone could wobble anywhere on these narrow strips of metal, but no one seemed to mind.  Kids were running and reaching and acting like they wore everyday shoes.

Everyday shoes don’t looks half so fancy or fun, though.

I was glad to skip the whole balancing, fast-moving, slick-ice part of the day.  But it sure looked fun!  And the kids had a blast.  Anika has already scheduled her next skating trip.  Next time I’ll get her spinning

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This week was fun. A little quiet. I didn’t get out the fancy camera so these are all iPhone 4S photos. At this time, just seeing the flow of our days, one into the other, is plenty. More than enough. And we end this week with rain! Time for the rainbow umbrella, hurrah

P.S. I just read back a few posts and I didn’t include Reno in last week’s collection. So the top two of Ian are the same day. Sheesh, hard to keep track of it all. So a Reno image, to keep it fair

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I went to lunch with my mom. Ian fell asleep on my lap in the coffee-shop just as sweet-as-you-please. Which gave him lots of energy for shopping later

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Even quiet days are not so quiet.

We started with tents. I brought my camera in from the cold garage and the lense fogged in our warm house. The dreamy quality works for me. I love the interaction between Anika and Ian. She is such a sweet sister.






Then we made layered popsicles. Took serious patience to let each color freeze.

So we did Spin Art.

And baked cookies. Sort of. I love these simple cookies. Even better when they make it into the oven

I know, we shouldn’t eat raw dough, but we have to be a little wild sometimes. And they didn’t have much.

Then it was a rousing game of Star Wars Trouble.

And showing off the drawings that sister did earlier in the day.

Then, those popsicles. They must be done by now! In truth, Ian had to refereeze his twice because they kept ‘testing’ readiness and pulling the stick out before it set. But the wait paid off with every lick.

A busy day. Our quiet day

Wishing you a lovely day

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This weekend we escaped for an overnight get-away, visiting cousins who live by this lake.  The lake was a challenge to photograph because the sun was so-very bright.  A cold wind whipped up off the water, but you couldn’t tell by the flashing blue.  Not a glimspe of snow in any direction, which is unusual for this time of year.  The ski resorts are not pleased.

But the kids were plenty pleased on the playground.  Ian was glad to be done with the long, long car ride (really only an hour).  We’re inspired to visit more often.  My cousins better watch out

Ian’s new delight is cars.  He loves his cars.  He picks them based on a very important feature.

Orange.  They must have orange.  The white truck came in the same set.  I think he gave it to his cousin

We walked out on the dock, bundled against the icy wind which felt odd next to the sun drenched sky and sparkling water.  We didn’t stay long because the wind drove us away.  And the kids wanted toys.  Adventures to be found at our cousin’s house.  The weekend was off to a bright start.

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The other day as we were tucking into bed, my girl said,

“You know, Mom, I understand kids with challenges. I understand how they are. I get confused sometimes. And I know I shouldn’t be confused. I know it’s not that hard. But I can’t help it.”

And my heart cracked. She has Auditory Processing Disorder and she works very hard decoding words. Reading is an arduous journey. My mind spun for an appropriate answer as she looked my way and smiled.

“But that’s okay,” she said. “I’m okay with that. We’re all different. We all think different. And other kids have a hard time with other stuff. And we all have our gifts, too. Everyone has gifts. We just enjoy what we are.”

My heart cracked again for a very different reason. I am so proud of her. So excited to see the world through her eyes. Where opportunity means more than limitations. Sweep away the negativity. Sweep away the shame and disappointment. Celebrate today. Celebrate now.

Here is a classic gift from Anika. She made this for my classroom. Later that night, she was reading and saw the word ‘new’. We sounded it out together. ‘Wait,’ she said. ‘Is that really how you spell it? Because then I did it wrong.”

Not wrong. Just right. Happy Now Year

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Saint Milukas visited on Monday evening.  My father immigrated from the Czech Republic in 1969 and he brought a wealth of stories and traditions.  When I was a child, Saint Mikulas started the Christmas season.  We left our socks on the windowsill and waited for Saint Mikulas to visit with his angel and Cert (devil).

Look closely at the left-hand side.  Yikes!  I don’t know why the Cert always has his tongue sticking out.  I need to research that part of the story.  My image search found most of the Certs had tongues out.  Nah, nah, na-na, nah!

I also don’t know what are my dad’s ideas and what is really Czech tradition, but my dad said that the angel would tell all the good things that you did during the year and the Cert would tell the bad things.  Whoever had more to say determined the gift in your sock.  We usually got mittens, a mandarin orange, and a candy bar.  Big treats in my childhood

The cool thing, and this was a really cool thing, was that Mikulas visited before bedtime.  We lived at the end of a dirt road with very few neighbors.  Still, my parents recruited the neighbors for a big job.  Saint Mikulas knocked on windows.  I don’t know if this tradition happens other places or if my dad was the instigator, but that feeling of sitting in the house, with our parents, and hearing knocking on the windows when it’s dark and cold outside . . . that was strong magic. It was amazing and scary and so fun.

And now . . . I’m the parent.  Past years, my parents came to the house.  We learned very quickly to make the Cert a very minor character in the story.  My own children are terrified of him.  The knocking was very gentle for awhile.  This year, it was really cold so my husband went for a night-time ‘walk’.  His knocking was pretty loud.  The kids wouldn’t check their socks until I went with them

Very excited though, to go check!

My updated tradition is that Saint Mikulas brings a Playmobil advent calendar.  This year is the Knights Jousting Tournament.  And Playmobil has a Saint Nikolas and Angel!  So Mikulas (Czech spelling) had to bring that.

Probably better that they didn’t include the Cert.  :)

And last night, Ian kept saying, “I hear knocking.  I hear knocking, Mommy.”  And he picked up a random sock off of the floor to check for chocolate kisses.  :)

Myself, I like our Cert ornament the best.  He’s been around since my childhood and he’s not scary to me.  I’d offer him hot chocolate with cinnamon.  Maybe next year, we’ll leave some out for our mysterious visitors.

Another magical time for family traditions, old and new

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My theme for the holiday this year is Embrace Change.  I am all for holiday traditions.  I have big expectations.  So when the whole idea of Christmas filled me with dread, I knew I had to change things.  Too much makes for a miserable mama.  And I’ve said before, I don’t want their stories of me to include grumpy and tired.  I want them to describe me as fun and playful.

So, new traditions.

In the past, tree decorating was an all-day affair.  Snacks and treats, a spread of goodies to nibble between hanging ornaments.  And hot spiced cider, and eggnog.  And Christmas music.  And a clean house.  Oh, yes, can’t bring Christmas into a cluttered house.  Then we all put up ornaments together.  Until we’re done.  At the end of the day, empty boxes return to the garage and we sit back, sip eggnog, and enjoy the twinkling lights.

This year?  Giovanni and I put the tree together while Anika performed her last Nutcracker show.  I cleared the living room.  Put away most of the toys (but missed a bunch, too).

Snacks?  None.  Drinks?  None.  I miss that eggnog (might need to go to the store tomorrow).

Plan?  None.  Anika opened the first box she saw as soon as she walked through the door.  Ornaments found the tree quickly.  I almost wanted to slow down (since I was still clearing toys- where do they all come from?) so I could share stories and make sure nothing was broken.  But I didn’t.  I let her dive into the tree-decorating wild and free.  Still wearing her whiskers from the Mouse dance in the Nutcracker.

Ian remembers Christmas.  ”It’s that day when we get toys,” he said.  He took decorating very seriously for about five ornaments.  Then he was done.  I loved the reflection of Christmas lights in his eyes in the photo.

Anika found ornaments from (not so) long ago.  ”Know what I like best about Christmas?” Anika said.  ”Remembering all of the other Christmases.  I remember making this!”

Hmmm, when she was one.  Good memory, Anika.  But I smiled.  ”Me, too,” I said.

I did light a candle in the holder she gave me when she was two.  She was so proud of this little treasure.  And I will light candles through December.  Calling forth the light.  Gentle and powerful and shining away darkness.

Then she found the Santa hats and of course we needed a photo with the Santa hats.  But Ian thought wrestling was a much better plan.  She is such a patient sister!

I love that his antics don’t bother her (most of the time).  He scrambled away and she smiled.  Sweet girl

We convinced him to try again.  This time, I asked them to say, “Santa,” and I got very big smiles.  The party is on!

Then Anika wanted to stage her own photo-shoot.  She got her horse that Santa brought her two years ago.  She’s not too big at all, she says.  She found another Santa hat and arranged the whole scene.  She even had to wave

I love the different heights of their feet- Ian’s dangling above the floor while she has to bend pretty far to fit on the horse.  I wasn’t planning on commemorative photos, so we have a great pajama combination

Then we were done.  With boxes half-unpacked.  The tree decorated right where they could reach, with no ornaments above or below that line.  Missing lights in the windows.  But we didn’t care.  We put back the random bits and stacked the boxes against the wall to open again tomorrow.  And perhaps we found new traditions.  Who says decorating must be done in a day?  This way the adventure continues.

And the best part?  We had fun.  Silly, laughing, good-times fun.  Remember-this-day fun.

And that matters more than any rigid traditions

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