Life and Performances

At the McSpeert household we currently have limited use of the oven.  Please see below for reasoning. I forgot how quickly toddlers can destroy a house.  He is a little hurricane leaving drawers open and contents strewed though out the room.

 Lately E has enjoyed reading to Henry which is phenomenally sweet.

 He Ling, one of the teachers from YuChai, asked a few of the kids if they would like to perform a poem in a Chinese cultural even.  We all said yes without asking enough questions.  It ended up being quite a few late nights and practices some distance from home.  Keep in mind I think 5 miles is quite some distance.  We don't really leave our hood much.

 I was actually dreading the day as she was spent and there were two performance at 2pm and 6pm.  In the end it was an amazing experience.  The performance was in downtown Bellevue and the kids opened the two hour cultural event reciting a poem and doing a little dance while May, one of their teachers, played a traditional Chinese instrument.

 Elizabeth loved every moment and it didn't faze her that there were 200+ people in the audience.  It is interesting to see the things she is nervous/anxious about and the things she is not.  Performing on a stage in front of hundreds of people causes her nothing but joy.  Save us all but she is made to perform.  She was able to very quickly memorize the poem, the movements and when it was all over she asked if we were going to do this every weekend.

 It was great to have her together again with her YuChai school friends and especially with her teacher.

 Below is her teacher He Ling (who was a professional Opera Singer in China) along with her daughter May.  We are so lucky to have found met these wonderful people.

Halloween Tradition

 We did Halloween with Lila again this year.  Henry happily wore Elizabeth's old costume and was fascinated by all the kids out trick or treating.

 Elizabeth was a witch at school but changed into some dress up clothes for the evening outing.  Lila was a Ninja.

 Two blocks from us is a crazy Halloween street with hundreds of kids.  It was fun this year to recognize so many other families from school.

 It is very funny to me how much Elizabeth does not really care about the candy.  Don't get me wrong she loves a treat but mostly she just wants to play trick or treating.

 Photos below are Lila and E from Halloween pasts.  It brings me such joy that these little sweet girls are still such good friends.  I think it will serve them well in years to come to have this friendship outside of their school social circles.

Visiting the Corvalis Crew

This weekend we made our annual pilgrimage to Oregon and the Corvalis Crew.  Our youngest, Henry and Felix are still figuring each other out.  This picture makes me laugh.... looks like Henry is running from Felix.

 Felix is a very typical third child.  He is up and moving and climbing and essentially keeping up with the older kiddos.  Henry is still not walking on his own which I am mostly ok with except for the fact that his pants are wearing thin.

 The older three, Lucia, Oscar and Elizabeth, have it all figured out.  They play together beautifully and just simply had a blast.  Most of the time they were off happily doing their own thing.  They are all such sweet little souls.

 Tried to get a group shot but Felix and Henry were not willing participants.  

Next stop with the Crew... Methow in February.  Yippie lets ski!!

Last Camping Trip

 We went on our last camping trip of the year and it was one of the best.  We set up a top rope and had a day of climbing.  Been a long time since any of us have climbed on actual rock.

 The kids sat captivated watching all the climbing. They were literally mesmerized.   One guy tore up his hand on a crack climb.  Sweet little Helena declared that she was going to climb and get all bloody also. 

 Elizabeth and Jacob are now in Kindergarten and not together all day.  I hope they stay friends!

 Henry mostly nursed and napped.  Sweet boy.

A bit about Henry Keel

So many updates are about Elizabeth I thought I'd focus on our little guy.

He is a scooter.  It is a very odd sight and up until last week it was his only mode of travel.  Not sure how this started but it doesn't slow him down.  He can scoot freakin' fast and can carry things along.  This past weekend he started crawling but the scoot remains his favorite.


P1030889 from kathleen mcgregor on Vimeo.

We called him our chilled out dude but that has started to change.  He has developed opinions, knows what he wants and expresses himself loudly when he is not pleased.  It is sort of nice to see him develop his personality.  Elizabeth is not quite sure as he no longer just lets her cart him around.  There is a lot of my saying 'Elizabeth, listen to his voice, does he sound happy, maybe you shouldn't do that to him'.  I should put that on record and repeat.

 Currently his two main motivations in life are the stairs and my lap.  He wants any and all stairs.  Stairs at school, at the pool, in the house, at the playground and all stairs seen when on a stroller run.  He also wants my lap.  Mostly he wants my lap if his sister is in my lap.  He will actually scoot over, crawl in and then try to push her out while 'expressing himself loudly'. 

He is still a happy little dude.  Not so laid back anymore but happy for sure!

Random Photos and School Thoughts

 The first week of school I was hearing things like "Mom I am ok on the outside but inside my heart is sad" or "can you kiss my hand so I have you with me all day".  This were tough comments to weather. There were no tears but obviously an adjustment.

 It has been just a few weeks now and things have changed.  This week her after school comments have included "Mom I am having a happy life" or "boy you sure picked a great school for me".  She is excited to go to school each morning and loves her teacher.
She is still pretty clingy with me right now which has required some balancing as Henry has retaliated with the same clinginess.  If I hug one then the other is desperately trying to squirm their way in.  E's comment was that 'maybe I get your right side and Henry can have the left'.  I am making time each day for just her and I to share together which helps.  Probably helps us both.

I am thrilled that she is loving school, that she has found some sweet friends and that she is even learning about her own strength.  At dinner last night she processed the past couple weeks in this long story about how she was scared in the beginning and now she loves school and she is proud of herself.  In the end I think I may be the one having the most difficult adjustment.  I miss her.  She is my pal.  She is fun.

First Backpacking trip

Elizabeth and Jeff went on their first backpacking trip this past weekend.  Jeff and Bruce have managed most years to escape for a trip and this year decided to bring along the kiddos and friends.   This group has been friends for over 13 years... long before kiddos, mortgages, careers.

 When the date was selected I don't think I quite realized the timing or the impact the first week of school would have on Elizabeth.  Friday night she cried that she didn't want to go and we were a bit concerned.  Then she cried five minutes later that she wanted to go for longer then the planned one night.  Sigh!  Luckily enough there were enough crazy fun girls and dads that it was a blast.

2013.09.08 Barclay 720p from kathleen mcgregor on Vimeo.

Can't wait until we can all go together back country but in my book that ain't happening until HK is done with diapers.

Happy Birthday E

Before school she did finally reach 5 years old.  She will be a young little kindergartener.  Luckily she was given school supplies to make it all happen.

Her birthday present for us was a day of fun which included her first kayaking adventure.

It was a raging success.  Henry and I nursed and played on the shore.  Don't quite trust him in the middle of a lake even with a life jacket.

She did have her first official birthday party with activities and tons of friends.

There was great joy and ended with a pink sparkling princess hero cape.  Success!

At the end of the day she said 'momma I love all the people in the world even the people I have not yet met.  My heart is all open.'

First week of school

The first day of school has come and gone.  It has been overwhelming in a way I did not imagine.  I am just missing my sweet little friend at home.

She has been processing so much and I am so happy that she is willing to process with us.  She asked me on the first day 'Momma at little school one time nobody would play with me... what do I do then?'

Her major complaint has been lunch time.  Her Yu Chai teachers said that meal times were to be quiet so food can be enjoyed.  Far cry from the huge chaos in the school cafeteria.  She said she wasn't going to eat lunch again.  HA!  She has way too much McGregor in her to ever miss eating.

Fort Flagler Rocks

 Fort Flagler, on the Olympic Peninsula, was our destination a couple weekends ago.  It was an amazing spot right on the beach with miles and miles of biking.

 Henry unfortunately had a stomach bug and didn't eat food the entire trip.  We saw a bit more of the face below but he was really quite a trooper considering.

 He did take quite a few naps which Jeff was happy to join in on.

Oh I don't want the summer to end!!!!!!!!