November 2020 with a Happy Thanksgiving and a Goodbye to Grandma Burgess

Axel decided to teach Rubix how he made his rainbow pyramid. I made him take a picture. I should dig up the old pictures from years ago when he first created this, but I am too lazy. 

The temperatures dropped drastically at the beginning of November. Despite turning on the heat, Axel was waking up exceptionally cold. Instead of putting on warmer clothes, he would put on his parka. Rubix, also cold, heeded his brother's advice and also put his swim parka on. They were so cute, I had to snap several pictures.  

Rubix is seriously the sweetest child I know. He is always hugging and telling us he loves us. 

I put Axel to work and had him manage the scrambled eggs. 

Rubix happily watched and learned from his older brother. 

Rubix has started to work on writing in class. As a result we have been trying to do a little to reinforce his writing and number skills by having him write the numbers in groups of ten. He is now able to write up to 90. 

I purchased Axel this little gamebox with classic games like PacMan for Christmas last year. He hasn't really played with it much, but Rubix discovered it and can't seem to get enough of it. 

The kids continue to have moments where they are best friends. Here they are giving a "circle of scratches." It does seem like they are starting to struggle a bit with being home and only having each other to play with. Rubix can be mistreated because he is so much younger than the other two. Axel gets frustrated with having to always, 'play down' to their level and Phoenix struggles not being in charge all of the time and not being able to play with her girl toys with other girls. 

Daddy took out Rubix's car seat to adjust it, which lead to the kids playing around in it. 

Rubix is having more fun than Axel!

Phoenix enjoyed getting rocked by Axel. 

We check out the Los Gatos Racquet Club pool together as a family. We all had the privilege of swimming in the misty rain in the dark. We were all more than happy to throw the parkas and masks on to warm ourselves up. They looked so cute all bundled up in the back I had to grab a picture. 

Phoenix mentioned that maybe we should go through her clothes because she was noticing her summer clothes were not fitting very well anymore. When she went to put on winter clothes, I had to laugh as her pants were short and her stomach and wrists were showing. I sent the picture to my mom and sister and they agree she looks hip for wearing clothes that are too small.

Axel continues to kick butt in Japanese. Here is one of his projects where he had to do  "picturegraph" His teacher loved it as the Japanese word was pe and he showed someone paying. 

We had our traditional friends pre-Thanksgiving gathering on Zoom last Saturday. I had to make pumpkin bread to enjoy during the Zoom call. We discovered Eileen and family were in Santa Cruz and Tyler and family were back from Truckee. They both jokingly said they wish they could enjoy the pumpkin bread. I told them I could easily whip up 2 more loaves of bread taking extra 'Covid" precautions during preparation. Eileen stopped by on the way back from Santa Cruz to pick it up. Here Rubix is having the time of his life playing with Lily.  

They played with the rocket blaster and hula hoops. 

Axel and Alex had a blast playing together as well. Here they are hitting golf balls. 

The kids and I had a blast listening to Christmas music and decorating the Christmas tree/ house. 

The tree was nearly finished so we snapped a photo. 

Daddy was sure add his touch when he brought a role of toilet paper to add to the tree. He said, "The tree needs to represent this year."

On Monday, November 23rd, the Burgess family celebrated my Grandmother's life. It was bitter sweet to say goodbye to miss Avon Burgess. 

I was overcome with emotion as I let myself reflect and relive so many good memories. Memories of two humans, Don and Avon Burgess who only showed me and their family love. It is not often in life, that we have the privilege of feeling unconditional love. They were such great examples of how to love. I was grateful for being able to attend virtually, as we had parent teacher conferences to attend and it would have been difficult for me to arrive on time. Kaiser also asked all of their employees to shelter in place and to not gather with anyone outside our household. It has been so hard to continue to not see family, but I know it is the right thing. It was especially hard, for this event, but in the end I am glad that I was able to participate remotely. 

Speaking of parent teacher conferences, the kids did amazing! They both got straight A's, but more importantly, Axel is every teacher's favorite. They all spoke of how he brings energy to the class and they love his love for learning. Phoenix's teacher spoke of how responsible she was. We are so proud of how well both of them are doing, despite the circumstances. 

Phoenix has two very loose teeth. They are so loose that tonight she won't even talk because she is afraid it is going to fall out. We had to pray that she wouldn't swallow it or lose it in her bed/floor tonight before bed. 

Thanksgiving morning the kids and I had the privilege of sharing what we are thankful for and then building a cardboard robot. Axel continues to be the amazing big brother that everyone wants. 

We also went for a long family bike ride. Rubix came out almost all ready to go. Although, he failed to put his pants on without help, he did bring them to the kitchen. He was so cute, I had to take a picture and Phoenix needed to be in it too!

Although Thanksgiving was a little different not spending it with family, we made the most of it. We had a lovely dinner, Zoomed with family and watched Ninjago Lego Movie. Phoenix ate two plates worth. Good thing, because Rubix wasn't feeling great and didn't eat anything!

He appeared to have a bowel problem and wasn't hungry at all. He even skipped pumpkin pie!

A selfie with Axel and Phoenix!

Once the littles were in bed, Axel helped us prepare Mark the Elf for this special year of hiding. We thought Santa would want to protect Mark from Covid so he has full mask and goggles. 

Rubix excitedly finding Mark Friday morning. 

Phoenix doing what she does often. The girl loves books and can consume books as quickly as Axel does. I just love how much they love to read. They even like the same fantasy books. 

On Friday we had an impromptu bike ride with Joel and Tyler. Axel and Joel went a different way with Joel's dad, while the younger ones came along with Keith, Tanya and I. Phoenix was excited to show Tyler the cool fire hydrant. 

A picture of the kiddos at West Valley from a bike ride a week or two ago, on a Saturday, while I was at work. 

 

Happy Halloween

I had to work all day on Halloween, but I was lucky enough to get home by 4:30pm. Axel had no idea what he was going to be when I left for work in the morning, but somehow he thought of making the Google game with the 3 ghosts and cat. He sewed for about 3 hours, according to both him and Keith. So he wore finger puppets as his costume. Phoenix wanted to be a bat and Rubix wanted to be an airplane for the 3rd year in a row! He considered a transformer, but really did not like any of them that we could find. He thought he wanted a different airplane costume, but that didn't work out either :)

When we were at the pool swimming with Joel and Tyler a the Tuesday night before Halloween, we invited them to join us. We knew that many neighborhoods were not having trick or treating and thought it would be fun if the kids had a couple of friends to go with. This was one of very few times the kids have had the privilege of doing things with other children.

It was so nice for our neighborhood to come together and make a special night for the kids. They put out emails over a month in advance to make sure that they could do something for the 10 children in the neighborhood. They set up tables with lights and individually wrapped packages of goodies. It was pretty incredible at the amount of effort and love that went into giving the kids a fun night to remember. 

Dick was one of the older neighbors who did not have the bandwidth to put out a table and lights. He cleverly decided to use a reacher, realizing the kids should not be touching the candy in his bowl. It was fun to see the thought that went into this. The neighborhood decided on trick or treating between 6:30 to 7:30pm to allow a window for the neighbors to see the kids dressed up by sitting at the top of their driveway, while the tables were set up at the bottom of the driveway.  

Earlier that day, Daddy took the kids out for a long bike ride to go to the different neighborhoods and look at Halloween decorations. Here are the top two houses, according to the Szolusha clan. This houe had a pirates theme. 

This house was based on the show, "A nightmare before Christmas."

A couple of days ago, Rubix called me into his room. I could hear him, but couldn't see him. I finally figured out he was under his bed, so I took the picture. Apparently, he was retrieving something that he "lost."

The kids school pictures were due on Nov 1st. Here is Axel's. We were a bit rushed as it is hard to connect with him because of his school schedule and my work schedule, but we made it happen on the last day possible!

Here is Phoenix's school picture. I was able to take hers a few days before the deadline. I think it turned out better than Axel's, but atleast they are both going to be in the yearbook. That is all I was striving for. 

Rubix was excited to carve his pumpkin. We were able to do this on my day off, the Thursday before Halloween. I let him draw the face he wanted and then I helped him carve it. 

He was very pleased with the finished product and wanted to carve another. I am a little bummed I said no, because Axel never managed to prioritize time to carve his and we had plenty of pumpkins!

On Friday, Rubix and Phoenix had their Halloween parties. Rubix was a little nervous about wearing his costume to class, but was reassured when his friends were also wearing theirs. 

Phoenix had a super fun filled day where everything revolved around Halloween. They had fun spelling words and fun math problems all with a Halloween theme. 

Here party was at 11 am and Rubix and I were able to join her. 

They did a couple of Halloween songs/dances and then a couple of art projects. 

They made a haunted house and a cat out of a pumpkin. 

Phoenix was really sweet and let Rubix help her. She was happy as can be as always. 

The girl loves art!

On Sunday, November 1st, we had our last swim at the Cabana club. It officially closed that night and will remain closed through the winter. The YMCA opened the very next day, but it is extremely difficult to get a lane and they will only allow 2 family members per lane, which means we can no longer swim as a family and Keith can no longer take the kids by himself. He is quite frustrated about the whole thing, so he is on a pool hunt, trying to figure out what his options are to take the kids swimming. I was actually starting to enjoy it and was hoping to continue to swim 2-3 times per week myself. I do hope Keith can find a solution or the Y can accommodate the three kiddos. We will have to wait and see. 

We are gearing up for Thanksgiving and have the house "decorated" already. We are going to try to remember how grateful we are, but in the days leading up to this day of thanks, I am trying to get as much Christmas shopping and preparations done as possible. I really want the holidays to feel like holidays, despite Covid, and because I don't see myself stepping into a store, I am busy at work trying to find everything online and making sure we will receive everything in time. I likely won't post until Thanksgiving, but we should have some fun pictures and events to share at the end of the month!
 

Fall Break #2 and Rubix on a big boy bike!

We have been blessed with our local community pool. Keith is now a board member and with his help the seasonal pool was extended through Nov 1st. Here is one of my car rides to and from the pool. I am sorry for the extra skin, but I thought Phoenix was fully covered. It has been a little bit cooler so staying in a wet swim suit has not been the most comfortable thing, hence why the two littles are covered in towels. Only Axel is gridding out the cold swim suit on our short car ride home. 

For Tech Theater, Axel had to create a fully edible letter. He chose edible playdough. You would think this was no big deal, but this is Good tasting edible playdough made of powdered sugar, marshmallows and flour. It had to be colorful, the size of your hand and visible 20 feet away. It also had to be good enough that you could potentially eat the entire thing. Axel's was so good he consumed nearly the entire letter. This is actually his practice run and not his final. His final looked much better and was very aesthetically pleasing with black outline. 

Rubix saw Axel take a picture the day before for his project so he asked me to take a picture of him as he posed like Axel next to the Halloween decoration. 

October was overall a hot month, even with the nights being a bit cooler. We had a week of 90 degrees weather. Here the kids are having a balloon, toss/fight after school on a Friday. 

It started out with how many catches or tosses can we do to an all out, lets soak each other and get each other wet. 

I can't remember why, but Phoenix decided to pose with Rubix.

And then she decided to try to lift him. I think they weight about the same, depsite their height difference. She can hardly lift him and he loves being big and strong. 

Here is Axel working on his final project for his edible letter. I can't believe I did not get a picture of it. We only spent a couple of hours working on it. Oh, well, he had a ton of fun doing it and that is all that matters.

This past weekend, Axel finally decided to crack open the coconut I bought him from Costco. I wasn't sure if it was still good, but it was. They are pretty cool fruits with the yummy coconut meat on the inside along with the "coconut water/ milk". 

Rubix has had such a difficult time with school for the past couple of weeks. He has not wanted to participate. We have had to really encourage him to try his best and pay attention. Here he is patiently waiting to ask the teacher how much time is left in class and if he can leave. The teacher told him he could and I said absolutely not. We are praying for guidance on what to do for him. We are hoping a spot opens up for the in person school, but at the same time are nervous with the expected winter surge of Covid, flu and seasonal colds. 

The kids have their school photos due this week. Here is Phoenix's. They want a head shot from the collar bone up. I love this picture. I have been struggling to sync up with Axel. If I am not able to take it tomorrow, he will not be in the yearbook!

Monday, October 26th was the second fall break day. This kids wanted to go on another hike. Kristen, Axel's friend came with. We went to Montalvo again, but did a different trail. It was really fun because the trail had a bunch of signs. Here it tells you to look up, so I took a picture of the kids looking up. I am not sure why you can't see Rubix, but he was looking up too. 

The little were focused on a game of fantasy and fairies. Here they are approaching the Fairy Kingdom in the magical forest. 

It was a beautiful crisp morning with a more clear view then the month previous. I loved that we were able to connect to the Lookout trail from the Nature trail that we took. 

Another picture with our friend, Mr. Hog,, who is a log. 

A couple of weeks ago while I was at work, Keith's coworker came over to pick up Rubix's old bike. Their son, Rick, is also 4. They rode bikes and apparently played in the backyard. Rubix and Rick had a great time and loved riding and playing together. Apparently, they started with masks, and then transitioned to no masks. I was a bit surprised, but I guess everyone kept their distance. 

Rubix not only loves to ride, he loves to climb. He especially, love Old Wood Road because of the awesome Halloween directions that the houses on Old Wood have. 

Here is Rubix riding up.

Here he is riding down with Daddy.  

Here he is at the house at the top of the hill with their pet dragon. He can shift from gear 1 to 7 and 7 to 4 with ease. He struggles to shift down from 4 to 3 and so on because he doesn't quite have the strength yet. He really struggles touching the ground, but he manages to ride the bike brilliantly. It only took us a couple of hours of stopping and starting over a couple of days before he was ready to "go for a ride" on this bike. It only took a week before he was ready to ride up the hill. 

Along with riding the Rubix has now gone almost a month without wetting himself at night. I am so grateful! He even had one night a few days ago he woke up as he started to go and finished on the toilet and then asked me to help him get new shorts. 

Phoenix was asked to put together a talent video for school. I sent it to the family, but for those who haven't seen it, here it is. She had a ton of fun making it. Hope you enjoy!

https://youtu.be/MEU35YovllI

We are getting excited for Halloween. We have pumpkin painting, carving and even trick or treating to do in our neighborhood with the help of our neighbors.