Bicycling.

We don't have a place for bicycling around the house. The driveway is slanted, and there is no nice leveled backyard. And even though our house is on the dead end street with very little traffic, the road is still pretty steep for the little ones to go bicycling. So it is quite an effort to go bicycling with the three of them.
Forget about the times when we were able to hop on bicycles with Mirek and go for hours either to the Liberty State Park with a beautiful view of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty when we lived in Newark, or go on numerous mountain trails and enjoy the tranquility of the woods.

Then came Ivana, and she was in the bike seat at around 8 months old. So we were still able to enjoy the biking, not so much through mountains, though, but the openness of the water park was still an exciting place to be on the bicycle.
Then came Leonka, and by the time she was ready to be behind Mirek in a bike seat, Ivana was learning to be on her own with my help most of the time. So we were then taking turns going bicycling. We were not together anymore, but I enjoyed the riding by myself, I recall. The sun, the wind in my ears, and the quietness and the not being needed was very rejuvenating.

Then came Mimi, and the family bicycling trips pretty much have subsided since then. Mirek would go by himself on very rare occasions and after we let the friends' friends borrow our bicycles, the seats were broken and the bikes lives ended.

And now we have a fourth little one, and he is still in the stroller or wants to be carried most of the time (that's when the sling comes in handy). Ivana learned to go on a two wheeler last summer and needs some practice to remember and get comfortable (and they say one never forgets how to ride a bicycle...). Leona needs a push every now and then as the bike is kind of old and a bit rusty and when she goes a bit up the hill or over a bump it gets stuck. And now Mimi wants "me bisicl tuuu, me bisicl, too!!!", so that Mirek has to push her on her tricycle.
So the joyous event of family bicycling has become an activity that more resembles a chore rather than a time to relax.
But even though now we need to pack the kids and their bikes into the car, drive for a while to a more or less straight road, push them on their bicycles, chant "come on, you can do it!", or "come on, paddle harder, you can do it!", or "Mimi, keep it straight" all the time, we are still enjoying the blessing of being together and spending time with each other. I always take my camera and take pictures of flowers, trees, kids and things they do, and Mirek takes his knife and carves a boat or something else for the girls. And overall the chore part is being overlooked as we have a blast together and will be looking forward to our next mini family adventure.

And the bicycling part will come later, I guess. I have a vision, of all of us on the bikes and going on a family biking trip. That 's if my back is not completely destroyed and I keep up with our grown girls and boys...

An ocean of white.

"Look, Mom has a monkey on her head!"
This trick still works to get those smiles!.. Milana's laugh just tickles!

One week it was a sea of yellow, and the following week it was an ocean of white!

It is green everywhere. The trees are boasting with brand new leaves. To see that ocean of green against the blue morning sky as far as my eyes reach is enough to lift my spirits up if I am feeling gray.
But I miss daffodils. It just dawned on me yesterday and I realized that the happy yellow blobs of color on a brown floor, covered with lifelessness of last year's leaves are gone... I miss daffodils, as they were the first sign of spring, the first sign of warmth, the first sign of hopes for the summer.
And now the dandelions are gone, the tulips are gone, the lilacs are gone. But the bulbs of rhododendron plants are getting fuller day by day and will be blooming before you know it. So there is something to be looking forward to. And that is great, because I always need to be looking forward to a new something in my life.

"The Big Race"

I am saying my goodbyes to the drama class I have been teaching for two years at the homeschooling co-op. Even though I had a lot of fun with the kids through out the year, and this class was the favorite among the kids as well, I think I am ready to kind of move on.
This is our final production. We put up a play , "The big race", a nice story about a turtle and a rabbit betting each other on who was going to win the race. I had a nice group of kids to work with and had an absolute blast making those costumes! That is always so satisfying for my creative mind! I usually have a rough idea in my head, and once I start creating the costumes I get carried away! We had two birds, a deer, a turtle, a black squirrel, a fox, a monkey and a rabbit.
None of our girls were in my class, but they helped me with the costumes at home.
Next year I'll be teaching woodburning for the 5th graders and up, and world geography for 3-4th graders. Kind of excited about that!..

Violin performance.

Here's Ivana's first violin performance on the stage, with her teacher, Mrs. D. accompanying her on the piano. Ivana has practiced so much and memorized the piece ("German Folk Song") by heart. Unfortunately, we had no more memory space on the camera and weren't able to videotape Ivana's second song where she played a violin duet with her teacher, accompanied by the piano.

Musical notes.

We've been listening to "Lives of the Musicians" in the car driving to the co-op, library, dance, my chiropractor's appointments three times a week. That's a lot of driving and why not to use the time wisely. This listening has sparked an interest in exploring new classical music and the library collection is great!
Driving to the co-op this morning I asked the girls what they would like to listen to, Mozart, Chopin or Gershwin. They both voted for Gershwin, since it is something new and they were excited.
"Rapsody in Blue" was a very dynamic piece, to say the least. Since now I've been taking piano lessons I really got to pay close attention to the piano part and appreciate the fluency and the lightness of the hands of the pianist that performed the music. When the most vibrant parts of the rapsody were playing the girls were laughing and said, "Oh, it sounds like some kids are playing (read hear=banning) on the piano kyes".
It was a delightful composition and we will be listening to more classical music from now on.

I took my weekly piano lesson today and played my three assigned song with flying colors. The teacher was so impressed that she even said that maybe, who knows, one day I'll have a performance of my own. Wow... that was great to hear. Actually, I WILL have the performance sooner than I think. At the end of June I will participate in the end of the year recital for all the students that have been taking lessons from my teacher during the year. I have two new songs to work on and they are getting tougher page after page! But I like the challenge and am trully excited to fullfill this childhood dream of mine to be able to play piano.

Ivana has been rehearsing today, getting ready for her spring concert at the co-op that is coming up this Friday. She is playing a violin solo "German Folk Song", and playing a violi/piano trio "Polly, Wolly Doodle". Just to see what she has learned in a couple of months gives us the reassuarance that we should continue with the vilion lessons for her. Besides the foreigh languages, being able to play a musical instrument is another gift a parent should give to a child if the child is showing interest for it. It can always be a great hobby, a way to make a couple of bucks, and sometimes a way to have a music carrier, who knows.

It struck me when I read recently that jews coming off the trains to the concetration camps during the World war II with any music intrument in hands, were noticed right away by German officers and were asked to perform during the parties and other celebrations. In many cases the skill of being able to play an instrument saved their lives.

A wish list.

With the Mother's Day quickly approaching I have a long list of wishes! I want a bouquet of wild flowers, I want a box of chocolates, I want a good nap, I want a massage, I want a poem dedicated to me, I want a new book, I want a violin, I want a writer's notebook, I want a sunny day, I want a trip to the ocean beach, I want a lot of hugs and kisses and my family telling me how much they love me... The list can go on and on. But I'd rather stop here, because I have skipped my "the most wanted" on my wish list.

The thing is that we all have our own places at the table , so we all kind of have our chairs. They are all from the same set, some are more stained and scratched than the others, but that is not the point. The point is that MY chair has been slightly handicapped for a while already. The screws had gotten lose and the padding comes off easily and if you are not careful your butt goes right in when you are trying to sit down, unsuspectingly. For a while I mean here for over a month! Yep... every time I am trying to grab a seat, always the last one at the table (I don't think I need to explain here why), I need to fix the cushion before plunging on it. That kind of trained me to sit slowly and graciously, just like a lady! See, you can find a positive aspect in just about anything in your life. It's all in your attitude!

And so my wish is to have my chair repaired! No golden jewelry or diamonds. A very humble wish...

Sleeping beauties.

Once again... it is one of those moments when you just want to stay and look. These are the pictures that require no words...