Introverts v. Extroverts

A true or false quiz from the book  Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Won’t Stop Talking. These are my answers:

1. I prefer one-on-one conversations to group activities. (True)

2. I often prefer to express myself in writing. (True)

3. I enjoy solitude. (True)

4. I seem to care less than my peers about wealth, fame and status. (can’t say this is totally true, I am pretty materialistic, but don’t care too much about status or fame-False)

5. I dislike small talk, but enjoy talking in depth about topics that matter to me (Definitely True)

6. People tell me I’m a good listener (Not sure)

7. I’m not a big risk-taker. (I was a risk-taker as a child, but not anymore)

8. I enjoy work that allows me to “dive in” with few interruptions. (if housework counts, then True)

9. I like to celebrate birthdays on a small scale, with only one or two close friends or family members. (True)

10. People describe me as soft spoken or mellow. (not sure)

11. I prefer not to show or discuss my work with others until it’s finished. (True)

12. I dislike conflict. (True)

13. I do my best work on my own. (I guess-not sure)

14. I tend to think before I speak. (Most of the time)

15. I feel drained after being out and about, even if I’ve enjoyed myself. (True)

16. I often let calls go through to voice mail. (True)

So, this means I’m an introvert! Introverts and extroverts differ in the level of outside stimulation that they need to function well. Introverts need less than extroverts. It doesn’t mean I’m necessarily a hermit or antisocial, or necessarily shy (Shyness is a fear or public humiliation)-just a preference for an environment that is not over-stimulating. The book doesn’t claim to be a final diagnosis of personality types, but it does give good insight to how we function in the world. Just thought it was interesting.

School’s out cont.

Lucia had a great year in 2nd grade. She made lots of new friends, she ran 125 miles for Trajan Trackers, she advance 2 grade levels in reading, got an award for responsibility, and learned lots of stuff.

Here is her life timeline.

With her teacher Mrs. K-a teacher who truly loves what she does and loves kids. I’ve never heard her speak to the kids in anything but a sweet soft voice.

See that smile on his face? Those are the twins in his class and it’s pretty obvious he has a crush on them.

Marco with his teacher Mrs. F-she went above and beyond for her class-so many neatly made projects and books she put together for keepsakes. Marco got into all 5 of his clubs this year-counting to 100, recognizing all letters upper and lower case, reads 30 WOW words, recognizes numbers to 30. He did well in kindergarten-got over his anxiety from the beginning of the year and did great. He is ready for 1st grade!

School’s out for summer!

So, Lucia and Marco have been out of school for exactly one week, and it seems like forever! It’s going to be a long summer. I did make up charts for them to keep busy doing jobs, practicing reading and doing homework, playing outside every day. We have also been swimming at Grandma and Grandpa’s several times and spent time with family. Here is Sylvie on her last day of preschool (she got out 2 weeks earlier):

Sylvie in her head start classroom

Performing songs with her class. My favorite was “Slippery Fish”

Getting her certificate from her teacher and Aides.

With her best buddy, who unfortunately, is going to kindergarten next year. Sylvie had a great start at school and is looking forward to going back in September.

(more to come on Lucia and Marco’s last days of school)

Lucia’s birthday

She’s 8 years old! Lucia wanted to have a swim party at Grandma’s house this year. She wanted it to have a beach theme. Here is my attempt at a beach cake-copied from a cake I saw at a friend’s party a couple of years ago (somebody stuck their finger in the frosting).

They decorated visors

They played pin the goggles on the swimmer

Cheese!

It was super winder and kinda cold that day, but the girls didn’t care! They enjoyed splashing around anyway.

The babies observed from their highchairs.

We had pizza for lunch

Opening presents. She got a couple of movies, a gift card, make-up, stuffed animals, doll set, clothes, a necklace.

Blowing out the candles-wow 8 of them now!

All the kids enjoying the cake. I think she had a fun party. It was small, but simple and not less tiring for us.

Memorial Day in San Francisco

It was such a beautiful day, we had a picnic by the Palace of Fine Arts

Then we explored all the amazing things in the Exploratorium. sights, sounds, things to touch and experiment with. we loved it!

and that’s all the pictures we got because the battery died on the camera. We would have liked to get some shots outside in the Palace. the kids kept saying, “Wow, this is so beautiful!”  We were exhausted though, so we headed home. It was a fun day and it was good we got to use our museum passes-saved us a lot of money!

Mother’s Day

I love getting handmade gifts from my children. Sylvie brought me a plant she planted at school and a beautiful card. It said:

My mommy’s name is : my mommy.

My mommy is: 2 years old and weighs 2 pounds. Her eyes are blue (?) and her hair is brown.

My mommy makes the best pasta. She likes to eat pasta.

If my mommy could have any wish in the world it would be: a baby (what?!)  I love you mom because you smile.

Marco made me a card that said “My mom is special because she loves me and she watches tv with me.”  and a magnet.

Lucia made me a pot holder and card. She wrote the following poem:   Mom  joyful happy caring and kind you are my mom and that’s what counts! I love you because you take care of me and my dinner! You take of me when I get hurt. Thank you!

Julio got me a…..new computer! My very own pink laptop that the kids can’t get their dirty little fingerprints all over, and that won’t crash every 1o minutes! yay! I am so grateful to be a mother. It’s the hardest, but best job in the world!

Tessa’s birthday

what can Tessa do? She can walk-fast! She climbs up onto Marco’s bed and onto the toy box. She can wave bye-bye, points at things when you  ask her where they are. She says mama, dada, hi (sounds like hah), and ball. She drinks milk now but is still nursing-mommy’s trying to wean her. She is eating a variety of foods. She likes things she can moosh with her tongue-refried beans, yogurt with pumpkin puree, bread and crackers. She does not like eggs and bananas. She has 4 teeth. She is mostly sleeping through the night-but she’s started having night terrors like Lucia had where she wakes up screaming and isn’t quite awake, but we have to calm her down before we can get her back to bed.

We celebrated her birthday on the actual day-a Saturday. The Hill’s were out of town, so we invited the Donaldson’s. Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle B came too. We had pizza, presents and cupcakes. It was low key, but Tessa seemed to enjoy it.

		Tessa’s birthday VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL