Grapes and tea

Please forgive the lack of posts lately. We're settling into our new life of school, and I've been battling illness, so I haven't had extra energy for blogging.

Here, we have photographic evidence of this year's amazing grape harvest.

Last weekend, while I was resting and dealing with an ear and sinus infections, Stace and the girls cut the last of the grapes.

There were loads! A lot more than this, actually. We put out more to dry into raisins, and froze a good number, too.

Cora had the happy idea of organizing a tea party for us for dessert one evening last week. She worked on the hand-colored decoration for her makeshift tea tray in the afternoon, and then picked the mint for the tea from the garden.

Next to her knee, you can see her new kitty, which she bought with her very own money because when she saw it at CVS, she just had to have it.

She then turned Thumper over to Violet, who took the bunny everywhere for a few days (while calling him Bumper).

Fun with friends

Ave spent the night last weekend, and, like usual, my girls were very excited. Violet insisted on sleeping with the girls, so we let them lie together during storytime. She needed some rocking to calm her down when I picked her up to take her to her own bed.                                                             Then, as I was rocking her, Stace came in, and I asked if he had given Ave a pillow. He started to reply affirmatively, but Violet was already scrambling off my lap and running down the hallway. "I get Ave a pillow!" she shouted. Stace got to Cora's room before Violet and took the pillow from Ave so Violet could give it to her. Violet was so happy to help her honorary big sister, and Ave was sweet enough to shout, "Thank you, Violet" several times as Violet went back to her own room.

Another Ave the Sweetheart story - when Stace picked Cora up from school Wednesday because I was sick, they walked home past the schoolyard. Ave was having her lunchbreak, and broke away from her big-girl friends to run to the fence to shout good-bye to Cora.

Speaking of sweethearts, we spent Thursday with Brooke and Michelle. The girls got along well together, as always. Brooke has started her final year of preschool.

We had a great morning, and a picnic lunch at the park after picking up Cora from school. Thanks for the photos, Michelle!

From the garden

We're having our best tomato and grape harvest yet...

 Thanks to my friend Michelle for taking this sweet photo above. Yes, those are our grapes!

We've had enough to turn some into tasty raisins!

The advantage of weeks of crazy hot weather, it only takes an hour to dry your clothe on the line, and a few days to make raisins. (Thankfully, today only reached 92, and it's supposed to be in the upper 80s the next few days! Relief!)

One week in

 Cora's been in "real school" for a little more than a week now, so it's a good time to give an update.
In general, she's doing well with the transition. Our mornings are going surprisingly smoothly, and the school work she's bringing home looks good. She tells us what she's learning, about the discipline system, and about what she does at recess - mostly swinging.

The 75 kindergartners are learning about colors, so here's Cora on "red day" and Cora and Johnny on "blue day" this week.

 
Being up and out every day has been a big adjustment for Cora. She's been asking why she can't go to school every other day, like in preschool. Or, why can't school be shorter? "I want to go to one-minute school," she declared last week.

She melted down a couple of afternoons her first week, seemingly picking a fight with me about my "boring" plans for the afternoon.

When I pressed her on it, it came out that she missed me, and thought being gone from me every day was too much. So, I've tried to spend some quality time with her each afternoon before she goes into her room for an hour or so's quiet time. 

We're so blessed to go to one of the few schools in SClarita where kindergarten remains a half-day! I don't know how much harder it would be for us if Cora were gone from 8 till 2:45 each day, like the bigger kids. I'll have to soak up this school year routine of my mornings with Violet, then lunch for the three of us, then Violet's nap, time with Cora, and then Cora's quiet time.

This week, I've been waking Cora up around 6:45, instead of the 7 a.m. plan we had formulated prior to school starting. She actually asked to be woken up earlier, so she has more time to lie in bed, play with her kitties, and "think."

(When I find her doing nothing instead of getting ready, that is the answer I get" "I'm thinking!" Later, I've asked what she was thinking about, and she said, "Thinking about flying," in that "duh!" tone of voice. What else would a fairy-lover think about?"

We've been doing good with getting Cora in bed, lights out, by 8 on school nights, and she's generally been asleep not long after.

 Since she's gone every day, Cora has been even better about finding way to entertain herself when she's home. I found these notes the other day and she explained that they are family rules, especially for her secret hideout under the train table.

One says "Be Nis," one says "No Cuting Her" (hair), one says "No Kicing" and two say "No Hiting."

I guess someone else who goes in her hideout must have a hitting problem. I think I know who! Miss Violet has certainly been acting her age lately.

For days, Cora was asking to recreate a breakfast idea she saw in a children's magazine, where you use fruit to decorate pancakes into faces. I wasn't up for making pancakes, but Cora went to town with a bread slice cut into an oval.  Pretty cute and creative!

Also, Cora's first week of school featured her recital for her summer Keyboard II class (above, she is with her teacher), and her final summer Kidz Love Soccer class. Busy week!

Violet's Soccer Class

A couple of months ago, when signing Cora up for the summer session of Kidz Love Soccer, we noticed a parent-child class for 2- and 3-year-olds.

"Hey," we thought. "Violet is two now!"

She has been the youngest and smallest in her class, but every week someone comments on how good she is. When she's paying attention, she is actually quite adept at dribbling the ball and keeping it in her control while running with it.

This photo needs to be bigger...

Notice I said "when she's paying attention."

Invariably, less than halfway through the 30-minute class, she'll lose interest.

Like the girl with the curl, when she is good, she is very, very good, and when she is bad, she is ... sitting on the grass, refusing to move.  Or drawing on the trunk of a tree with a stick. Or needing an extra long drink of water, in Mummy's lap.

You get the idea.

Love the determination!

Really, she's a bit young for this type of class. Stace wants to see serious soccer, folks, not tree-drawing. But, it's been fun to do something like this with Violet, and I'm sure we'll sign her up again when she's older.

We started Cora with Kidz Love Soccer when she was 3 1/2, old enough for the youngest kids-only, no parent-participation class. Even then, after one session, Cora said she was done with soccer and sat out the next two sessions. When she started again at 4 1/2, look out world!

In the photo here, Violet was happy to have removed the bib from Stace's waistband.

Daddy and his girl.

One of Violet's favorite parts of class - giving the class-ending "Kidz Love Soccer!!" cheer.

Cora giving a "high five" to Coach Carlos, who we've become friendly with over the summer.

We have been very impressed with the program's coaches. They teach the basics of the game with a lot of patience, making it fun for the children.

Cora goes to school

You bring these tiny babes home from the hospital, and they can't even hold their heads up.

And then, you blink.

And they're smiling, talking, walking.

Singing, dancing, running, arguing.

Ice-skating, bike-riding, swimming in the deep end. Pumping themselves so high on the swings, you shout to stop before they swing over the bar.

You leave them at Sunday School for an hour, at preschool for two, and then a sleepover with a friend. And it's fine! They don't even look back when you drop them off.

And then, that life-changing day comes, when you walk them to school for the first time. You say good-bye at the classroom door with a wave and a lump in your throat. And you wonder, how did those five years go by so fast?

On Tuesday, our Cora Rose started kindergarten. And Stace and I experienced the joy and tears common to all parents who've come before us.

The night before, we went to the "Kindergarten Social," where we met Cora's teacher, found her cubby and desk, and went home with a thick packet of paperwork to fill out.

 Tuesday morning went very smoothly. Stace stayed home for the morning and helped get the girls going, which wasn't hard because Cora was so eager.

As she was getting dressed, she squealed that she couldn't wait to be in her classroom.

For the past few mornings, we've followed a detailed schedule Stace printed up with pictures from clipart, to help Cora know what she should be doing.

 So far, so good: Cora has done very well with getting up at 7 (an hour earlier than her natural wakeup time) and staying on task to leave the house by 7:40.

I can only hope her enthusiasm continues. I've been dreading these early school mornings since I found out school starts at 8!

We met up with the Roberts and walked on down. Cora and Johnny aren't in the same class, but Cora does know a couple of children in her class.

Ave is starting second grade, hence the big backpack.

 Stace and I handled the morning well enough, in that we didn't embarrass ourselves with open sobs.

When I felt a little teary at one point, I distracted myself by leaning over to Violet: "Did you shout good-bye to Cora?"
"NO!" came her forceful reply.

We found Cora's name on the list in the window, and learned that she should line up on the chalk-drawn number 4. As she stood in line, waiting to go into class, her nerves were clearly getting to her. It was distressing to see her look so anxious.

But we knew she'd be fine once she got in and settled.

The 3 1/2 hours passed quickly enough, and sure enough, she did just great and greeted me and Violet with hugs and happiness.

 I'm so glad to see Cora and Johnny in school together; they started playing together before they turned 2!

After school, we visited Auntie Melly, who made Cora a special tea. Here, too, is the snack box Melanie personalized, and flower headband she made. And this is Cora's new lunch bag - kindergartners at her school don't bring backpacks, so the lunchbag was Cora's important "back-to-school" purchase.


In the evening, we celebrated our family milestone with dinner out at Buca di Beppo, an Italian place that serves family-style meals.

Cora, we know you are more than ready for school. Enjoy every minute, soak it up, learn as much as you can. Be loving and kind in your words and actions. Try your hardest and don't give up. We love you and are proud of you, always.

Violet's beach trip

On Friday, we took Sue and Gord back to the airport for their return to England. It was sad to see them go, as we had such a great time together while they were here!

With Cora at Alexyss's house for a sleepover, Stace and I took Violet down to the beach after dropping off Sue and Gord at LAX.

 Manhattan Beach Pier has a neat little aquarium, so we showed Violet the fish while the fan lifted her dress. (And she called them "fish," not "nemo." Kind of sad!)

 Here, she checks out the eel...

 ...and she and Dad get hands-on-glass friendly with the fish.

 We watched the surfers try to navigate some difficult waves before joining them down on the beach.

After the scorching heat of SClarita, it was phenomenal to cool off with the ocean breeze. The water was warmer than I've felt in ages, and I wished I could have dove in like Stacey did. Alas, I wasn't wearing a swimsuit. And, we had parked at a two-hour meter, so we didn't have the time.

Rather than jump back onto our normal freeway route home, we drove through the beach cities to Santa Monica, and then crawled north along Pacific Coast Highway's waterfront to Malibu. We weren't going any faster than we would have on the 405, but the view sure was 1,000 times better! Not to mention the temperature.

Even with all that car time, silly Violet didn't sleep any more than 30 minutes, but she was happy to sing and play in the back seat. Stace and I enjoyed the two-on-one time with our toddler.

Nan and Pop are here!

Here's a look at Nan and Pop's second week with us... 

The weather was super hot, well over 100 each day, so ice cream night was a real treat. We also had $1 smoothies at Jamba Juice several mornings. 

On Thursday, Auntie Mel watched the girls so we could take Sue and Gord to the Gene Autry Museum, where our friend John was playing trombone with his band Makina Loca during the museum's Sizzling Summer Nights concert series.

We love spending time with John and Genia, and it was a lot of fun to see John doing his music thing. He's a brilliant musician, but usually he's playing in little clubs in the wee hours, long after Stace and I have gone to bed.

Like Father, like Son.

No, this wasn't staged, in any way!

It was way past hot enough to get out the water-spraying beach ball toy, and even Nan cooled off with the girls.

Violet was very happy about her ice cream!