Week in Review

We had a changing of the guard, a passing of the baton, etc, etc, this past week. Mom2Mom held its third in-person meeting of the spring on Tuesday, and a special guest joined us! Melanie came to check it out, as she's looking to get involved in mommy groups after the Covid restrictions shut everything down in her first year of motherhood. 

And, I noted it was a passing of the baton... Colleen and I have decided it was our last Mom2Mom meeting. 

I've been a part of the group for 14 years, since Cora was an infant, and the time has come for me to move on. Colleen and I met and became close while we were pregnant with our younger girls, so nearly 12 year ago. I'll always be grateful for the fellowship, spiritual encouragement and great friends I made in this group! 

Later on Tuesday, both Melanie and Colleen, and all those kids, came over to swim with us.

On Thursday afternoon, I went to Mel and Nick's to babysit this sweetie. We took a nice walk, and then I gave her dinner and a bath, and put her to bed. All went well, and Melanie and Nick had a great evening out. 

On Saturday evening, we rode bikes to Firehouse Subs with Colleen and the kids to get dinner, and support a fundraiser that our friends (Firehouse owners) Jenn and Jeff were doing. 

That evening, the kids all played D&D in the new room! It worked so well, and was lovely to watch. Cora built the new bookcase in the corner all by herself; it'll hold all things D&D related.

Week in Review

Melanie's friend was sick and couldn't help her with her biggest wedding to date, so I stepped in Saturday as a flower transporter.

She did a beautiful job, as always. I was lucky that the wedding was near JT and Jim's home, so I was able to visit with them before I headed home.

 When I got back, Stace and I met up with our Mom2Mom friends at the bowling alley. It was a fun night!

 On Monday, Cora made us dinner, a lovely shrimp pasta. We'd like to have the girls make dinner more often now that they are getting older.

 Tuesday was Kona Ice day at Violet's school. She was happy to get some!

 And Friday was Western Spirit Day, where the students were encouraged to dress up. Violet had chosen these jeans and cactus print shirt at a consignment sale the day before, and the boots were hand-me-downs.

We then went to a Mom2Mom leadership meeting, where Violet played with her friend Daniela. We then picked up Cora, and two of her friends came over to play on the hill. I'm so happy that they still play imaginatively.

 On Friday night, we went to Vincenzo's, where we enjoyed pizza and the comedy of our friend Charlie. It was open mic night, and this was his second time performing. We were unable to make his first performance, so we were sure to be there for this one! He did great!

 Char had a big crowd of friends, including one who is an amazing artist, and was wowing Cora and Stace with his sketchbook.

Char came over on Saturday to play, and on Sunday, the girls went to their house to play games. The friend with the sketchbook was there, too, and he brought his virtual reality headset. Cora absolutely loved it.

Guess what these two are researching? Yep, VR headsets! Ummmm, they're REALLY expensive. Cora asked me how she can make some money... Char suggested she sell her left kidney.

Christmas Fun

Christmas time is full of fun activities and traditions!

I had fun with my Mom2Mom friends on a recent Friday night at our annual cookie night and potluck. We ate, had a gift exchange game and of course traded cookies. The girls were excited about the indoor snowballs I got in the gift game, perfect for family warfare.

Tiffany had our Meadows mommy group over for appetizers and fun on another night.

And this past Friday night, my Mom2Mom friend Charlotte invited us to her annual Christmas party - it was lovely! Stace and I got caught up with Kristen and her husband Shannon, who we haven't seen in a while because they moved to Orange County.

Another tradition is Stace creating a lawn ornament decoration - this year, he and Violet made several!

They thought of Christmas mice, and Violet made them small, to stay in scale with the others. Didn't she do a fabulous job painting them?

They also made a Christmas tree, complete with lights.

So festive!

And, we decorated indoors too. Our tradition has been to let the girls do the tree, and so they did.

Merry Christmas!

Finally, we've been going to Rachael's gingerbread house party for a few years. My girls do an amazing job on their houses! These girls are meticulous.

Friday Fun

 The girls have been baking - one day after Vi made a batch of chocolate chip cookies, Cora whipped up chocolate chip scones.

 Vi had Melanie and Victoria over after school on Friday, and Char came over too. The kids had fun after lunch, heading to the park to play lava monster and nerf guns. They don't do the park much anymore, but I love it when they do!

 The little girls captured the fort!

Later, Melanie stayed into the evening, and Christina and Cami came over too.

 More baking!

An apple treat.

On Saturday night, I got out for a Moms' Night Out with some Mom2Mom friends. While we ladies were at Chili's, Stace had one of the dads over, and a lot of little girls. It was a loud house when we got home!

Week in Review

Memorial Day was Monday, and we went to the annual service honoring our fallen soldiers at Eternal Valley cemetery. 

We last attended the service when Violet was a tiny baby, so we felt it was high time we went again.

Later in the day, we went to Yass and Kell's for a barbecue for Yass's birthday. It was a lot of fun, as always.

 On Thursday evening, we bribed convinced Cora to check out our church's junior high youth group. This was the weekend our church has all students jump ahead into the next grade level, so Cora will no longer attend the 6th grade group on Sunday mornings. Instead, she'll go to adult church Sundays, and has the option to go to youth group on Thursdays. She was very nervous about going, but was happy to find a classmate from school to sit with. I attended a parent meeting with the student pastor, seen here.

 On Friday after school, Violet got crafty, and made this cape for Spencer. She sewed an S onto the black cloth, and the decorative sequins.

 On Friday afternoon, we met up with our friends Emily and Brad and their family, who flew in from Texas on the start of a California family vacation.

Emily's a big Dodger fan, so while she, Brad, and their two older boys went to the Friday night Dodger game, we kept 5-year-old Madeleine. We took her to Menchie's, played at home with our kitties, and watched a movie (Frozen!).

 Cora was a good big-sister-type, playing with Madeleine at the mall.

Later, Cora met up with my mom, and they painted pottery and then watched a very late showing of the new Aladdin movie.

 On Saturday, Violet had her last softball game, and then Stace had friends from work over to watch the Champions League final. Our afternoon/evening was filled with friends from Mom2Mom, at the year-end picnic.

This year, we met at the gorgeous home of one of our members. The kids had a great time playing in the pool.

On Sunday, we went to church, and Cora had no class to go to! She sat with us, and we decided to sit outside. It was a beautiful Sunday, which ended with a bit of time in our own pool.

Tidbits

 After Trivia Night, Cora went to Vivian's house for a birthday sleepover, while Stace went to play a late-night soccer game and Christina came over to chat and celebrate a successful event. On Saturday, we all were TIRED.

But, we had a Mom2Mom family meetup planned at Placerita Canyon, so off we went. It was a beautiful day, and there was lots of water in the stream.

 We got to hang out with some friends, including Colleen and Rigo.

We rested most of the rest of the day. On Sunday, St. Patrick's Day, we cleaned up the back yard a bit, and then had Kelly, Yass and the boys over for corned beef and cabbage.

At the PTSA meeting on Wednesday morning, Cora provided the "s," or "student," in PTSA. Because she is the Student Council president, she gave a brief report on what the council has been up to. Sitting next to Cora is Mrs. Dobry, another 6th grade teacher.

And speaking of Student Council, Cora presided over a meeting on Friday, when they were given their new council T-shirts. I stole this photo from the school's Facebook page.

Weekend Apart

For a while, we've had the idea kicking around the back of our heads to have Stace and Cora take a camping trip away together. We figured they'd have a ball, and it'd strengthen their relationship.

I looked up campsites a few days ago, and saw one lonely space open at Carpinteria State Beach, where we'd joined our friends for a night back in April. Bingo!

Stace and Cora took off around lunchtime Saturday for their adventure together.

After setting up camp and surfing a bit, they went out for Thai food for dinner.

Of course, they enjoyed s'mores!

In the morning, Cora handled the bacon...

...which they ate in bacon sandwiches.

Then, it was off to the waves. The surfing/camping duo had a great time together.  And I'm so very glad.

Meanwhile, Violet and I went to a Mom2Mom leadership meeting at Colleen's house, meaning Violet had a long evening of playing with Liana. She had a great time.

We went to church in the morning, spoke to our family in England, and then went to Placerita Canyon Nature Center for a talk about the wildlife in your own backyard.

The docents brought out some cool animals, including an opossum and a de-stinkified skunk. Either of these, or a raccoon, could have been the animal that took care of a mourning dove the cats killed and left on our lawn the other day. (The next morning, there was nothing but a mess of feathers to sweep up.)

Barn owls and great horned owls, shown here, also hunt in our area at night.