Fun with friends, some of whom are boys

Over the last month or so, our little quiet street has come alive with children playing after school. There's Cora, Ave and Johnny, two neighbor boys on the other side of Genia's house, and two boys who are at their 

grandparents' house every day, next door to us.

In the above photo, we had Alexyss and Marley over to play, and all the kids are enjoying frozen yogurt tubes for dessert.

Genia and I have been having picnic lunches at the park after we pick up our kindergartners. The weather has been perfect.

These two! They are such good friends. We had Owen over for dinner the other night on his own, when Genia took Cora and her her older two to a concert by John's high school jazz band students. Owen was a hoot. He's growing up so much, and really had us laughing.

When we were leaving the park, it was drizzling so Cora gave Johnny a leaf hat to block the rain. She was quite serious about this, and Johnny's a good sport.

On a recent Saturday, we took a picnic lunch to Placerita Canyon for a little hike/walk. Hiking won't happen without a back carrier for Violet, who tends to meander at a snail's pace.

It was very pretty, with fall colors and local wildlife (woodpeckers, scrub jays and chipmunks).






In this photo, you can see the sand village the girls made with Stace, with some help from a couple of other neighbor boys.

One of those boys happened to be the one Cora likes, from her class. Let's call him Joey - the name is changed to protect the youngster.
On Thursday, Cora delivered some news that stunned her parents: She and Joey played together all through recess, and they were holding hands. Normally the kindergartners and first-graders have separate recess times, but on Thursday Cora's whole class went out at one time, giving Cora and Joey playtime together.

Cora told me that all the kids saw them, and she and the young boy didn't mind that at all, even though one of the girls said it "looked like they were getting married."
(This is one of the levels of weirdness for me; boys never liked me in school, and if I actually liked a boy, I'd have been horrified if anyone found out.)

I asked Cora if they were allowed to hold hands at school, and her answer was: "Yeah! We can do everything. Except the monkey bars, because a boy broke his leg."
She didn't want me to tell Stacey about the hand-holding, and at dinner, she told Stace she played with Joey during recess, but then stopped. "Mom, don't tell Daddy the rest!" After Stace protested, Cora said, "I'm not telling you what else I did with Joey!'
After that statement, simple hand-holding came as something of a relief (though still shocking to poor Stace, who needed some time on his own after dinner).

I know parents are never ready for their children to grow up, but really, I never expected Cora to start liking boys at age 5. And he likes her too! We have told Cora she is way too young to kiss boys or think of the word "boyfriend." Not sure what to tell her about hand-holding. Hmmmm...

A Good Weekend

On Saturday morning, we had a great time at Stacey's work's facility tour and family Christmas party.

Stace has been at his current job nearly eight years, and for those years, what happens beyond the lobby doors has been a mystery to us all. I mean, we know Daddy works and he works hard, but we didn't even know what his office looks like. We three girls were very happy to finally visit Stace at work and check out his office and the big machinery.

Then, the party continued a couple of blocks away at the Ice Station. For a nominal fee, we all had lunch, ice skating and a gift from Santa. Such a great day!

Cora was very excited about the skating - she hadn't bee on the ice since February. She used the practice bars at first, to hold onto while she got her bearings. But then she was off on her own, doing quite well.

Part of the rink was sectioned off, and there was snow for playing with and throwing at friends (and enemies).

Violet wasn't thrilled about meeting Mr. Claus. She did like her gift, however: a plush Minnie Mouse doll. Cora received a Disney princess light-up wand.

We spent the rest of the weekend preparing our home for Christmas, with lights and the indoor decor.
On Sunday evening, we walked down to the annual Christmas Tree lighting event at the hospital with Genia and her children.

After admiring the lights and playing in the leaves, we all had chili at Genia and John's. It was a great weekend.

Star of the Week

 It was Cora's turn to be her class's "Star of the Week."

It as fun to choose photos to decorate the poster board, as we tried to tell a bit of Cora's story through pictures.

As Star of the Week, Cora got to be special in different ways, like choose which row of children could line up first.

The class also came up with adjectives, verbs and prepositional phrases about Cora, to put into a song they sang aloud together. The adjectives were touching: smart, kind, cute, exceptional, beautiful, cool, pretty, playful, productive, tiny, small, nice and sweet.

She brought in several of her favorite things to share: her stuffed Marie cat toy; a nest and eggs she colored; the Ariel figurine she painted; and the Big Red Barn book, which she read to the class.

On Tuesday, Stace went into work late so he could walk Cora to school and then read a book to the class. He read about castles, and brought in big printouts showing castles in England. I was impressed with how well he held the class's attention, and was very engaging. 

 Violet also got to come to the classroom when Daddy read. She loves being in Cora's class. The girls are wearing outfits Stace and I picked out on Black Friday, during the big sales.

 On Thursday, Grandpa came in and talked to Cora's class (just like he talked to my kindergarten class a few years ago). He read a Sheriff's Department coloring book about safety, and handed out the books, erasers and stickers. It was fun to see him dressed up in the dressy version of his department's uniform. I never see Grandpa in uniform anymore!

With 30 years on the department, he still looks good.

Giving Thanks, Drinking Cider

 

Our family Thanksgiving celebration this year included a cider-making competition, as you loyal blog-followers already know. Above, we have the label Cora made. Nice work, don't you think? 

(A Violetism story from the art-table photo - Violet motioned to the hole puncher and asked, "Have you used these before, Mummy?" With her cute raspy toddler voice, it struck me as such a mature, articulate question.)

 Here are the Thanksgiving cooks, in Bill and Patty's new house. We certainly feasted on some delicious food!

The company was great, too. Nick, Melanie's boyfriend, joined us, as did Bill and my mom's brother Bob, and cousin Elizabeth and Jerry.







After filling our bellies, we went for a walk and just missed the sunset, but caught a nice view of dusk over the Pacific. Bill and Patty's new house is walking distance to the beach in an incredible neighborhood. They are so blessed! And so are we!

 

When we returned, it was cider time. You can see the small cups, set out for a blind taste test. Sadly for Stacey, Elizabeth and Jerry's cider took home the prize mug. Stace attributes our loss to the fact that our American judges aren't accustomed to traditional hard English apple cider. He has a point. Our cider was definitely a proper English cider, alcoholic, and very dry. We enjoyed it more when a bit of apple juice (as a sweetener) was added in. Still, the experience was a lot of fun and we're looking forward to doing it again next year.

Kelly and Brad's Wedding

 

My oldest friend Kelly got married over the weekend, and I had the privilege of standing up to support her as one of her bridesmaids.

Kelly is an amazing woman, loving and faithful, beautiful inside and out - Brad is one lucky man! The wedding was simple and beautiful, and the reception was a lot of fun. 

Both our girls helped as flower girls, as well as Abby, the daughter of Kelly's friend Adrianna. The girls all did great at their job - Cora and Abby were quite a bit quicker down the aisle than Violet, however. 

Violet slowly, slowly, step-by-step, walked up the white runner, dropping petals as she went (nearly stealing the show). 

 Here's Kelly and Steve, having their father-daughter dance. Such a happy moment!

A friend of Kelly's family made lots of these signs with various "loving" phrases, and we all were encouraged to take photos next to any that were meaningful to us, for a scrapbook for Kelly and Brad.

We tried so hard to get a nice family photo with this sign that states "All because two people fell in love." This was the best one of many takes... so sad!

We had better luck with Stace and me holding, "the best is yet to come," which is the song Stace and I had our first dance to at our own wedding nine years ago.

 Here are my parents with one of the signs; they just celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary this month. Congratulations to them! (And thanks, Dad, for most of these photos!)

Cora started off the money dance with Brad, who is a great guy who we look forward to getting to know better.

Cora and Violet were going strong late into the night, dancing up a storm. They were such good girls all day; no meltdowns, hardly any crying. Stace and I couldn't have been more proud of them.

Violet got a little nap in the car between the ceremony and reception, thanks to Aunt Patty, who sat with her. That enabled her to stay wide awake until we got home close to 11 p.m.!

 Cora's school celebrated Thanksgiving last week, because the district is on fall break this week.

On Wednesday, Genia and I took this Indian brave and Pilgrim girl and boy to the park for lunch and playtime. Genia sometimes picks up Cora's classmate Ryan (on Cora's right) from school, and we all head over to the park. I think Johnny is putting on his tough Indian face.

On Thursday, Stace took the day off so he could come to Cora's class Thanksgiving feast.

Here, the children are lined up to get their food - turkey slices, cornbread, pumpkin pie, and "friendship fruit salad," with contributions from all the students.

 Violet was very excited to come to Cora's school and be in her class. Normally younger siblings aren't allowed at school, but this was a special occasion, and with both me and Stacey there, we had two sets of eyes on her.

 Here is Cora's kindergarten/1st grade class, with their handmade placemats and headbands/hats. They are so cute...

After the meal, Mrs. Hawthorne incorporated a little math lesson, by tallying the students' favorite foods from the meal.

Cora received her homemade cupcake from Mrs. Hawthorne for learning all of her kindergarten sight words a month ago. The children who have learned all the sight words are termed "clever cupcakes" and have their pictures up on the classroom wall.

Cora was one of the first four or five students in her classroom to learn all the words. In our parent-teacher conference last week, Mrs. Hawthorne told us that Cora is doing great in school, academically and socially. We are blessed with a bright student who loves learning.

Catching up

 Isn't it typical - I finally get the blog all caught up, after weeks of feeling behind because I was sick. And then our laptop dies.

Yep, our dear Toshiba bit the dust at the ripe old age of 4 1/2. Not bad for a $400 computer. Ironically, we had backed up everything and ordered a new Dell a week ago, the night before it crashed itself to death.

While we wait for our new one to arrive, I'm borrowing Melly's laptop to try to catch up here on the blog.

The week before the computer died, we got ready Tuesday morning with no running water, as the water main that runs between our house and our neighbors' houses burst.

This flooded out the back yard and several rooms of our rear neighbor's house.

While the water was off and the workers were rerouting the main, they hit the gas line, so we also were without gas much of the day (though we could sure smell it in the air). Luckily it's not cold here during the day, and no one was hurt.

The work took several days, and it was a bit exciting to have it all going on right in front of our house.

The next weekend was Remembrance Day/Veterans Day, and Cora had Monday off from school.

With the longer weekend, Cora proposed having Violet spend the night in her room, with the girls sharing the trundle. Violet was very excited about this plan, too. She brought lots of animals, blankies and her pillow.

Listening to the girls giggling and talking  together was a lot of fun for me and Stace. An hour later, Cora was asleep, as she had been up early for school.

Violet took a while longer to drop off to sleep. There was too much fun to be had in Cora's room: books to read, stickers to cover her shirt with, CDs to try out. Since she sleeps in a crib normally, being free was, um, freeing.

We let them sleep in Cora's room Friday and Sunday nights, and both nights went about the same. Here's how we found Violet on Monday morning, crashed out on Cora's bed after we finally got her to sleep about 10:30 p.m.

 Also over the weekend, Stace and the girls put in the winter garden. This was one of the first times Stace really encouraged Violet to participate, and here, she's watering the new peas. They also planted lettuce, cauliflower and carrots.

A special anniversary

It's been 10 years since the Bouquet Canyon crash that turned the car I was driving into this mangled wreck. I was en route to a news assignment in Lancaster when I collided head-on with another vehicle, in effect becoming the lead local story of the day rather than reporting on it.

My body was battered by the force of impact: broken bones in every limb, including a crushed foot; and my face smashed by the air bag that saved my life.

I faced nearly a yearlong road to recovery, but the support of family, friends and colleagues lifted my spirits as I healed. The handsome Englishman I'd been seeing long-distance for a year flew to my side, cementing our bond all the firmer. Stacey proved to be my best nurse, caring for me in a way not normally needed until decades into a relationship. We marked our first year as a couple in the hospital.

My family reported that when I came out of my coma, I asked every few minutes where Stacey was, and when he would get there. I just knew that he would come.

Look at just one wall of my hospital room, covered with cards and flowers. And look, too, at my dear Grandma. The first time I broke down was upon seeing her, as it became starkly clear how my situation had impacted so many people I loved. I was anguished that I had put her (and so many others) through that emotional wringer.

I received excellent care at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, where I spent three weeks. In the above photo, a physical therapist begins work with me. All the doctors who put me back together were amazing practitioners.

As the great mothers do, my mom dropped everything to care for me. She put her job on hold for months to shuttle me to daily physical therapy appointments, frequent doctor visits, and numerous subsequent surgeries. I'll forever be grateful to her, to my dad and sister, to Stacey, JT, and my other friends and family who offered up prayers, emails, phone calls and visits.

Above all, I am deeply thankful to God, who has saved me both spiritually and physically, in a very literal sense. Collisions like mine so often end in death, yet the Lord Jesus saw fit to protect me and restore me to wholeness. I am humbled by his grace and grateful for his healing touch.

One of my favorite Bible verses is Jeremiah 29:11, which states: "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Thank you, Lord, that your plan included at least 10 more years for me to live and love; to become a wife and mother; and to seek your will and praise your name.