A special lunch

Stacey and I both grew up with grandfathers who proudly fought with the Allies during World War II, and most of our friends' grandfathers fought alongside them.

Our beloved grandfathers have both been gone 15 years - hard to fathom, but true. And slowly, the passage of time has claimed most of their fellow soldiers, sailors and pilots.

Knowing this, we were delighted to accept a lunch invitation from Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty on Sunday, when the guest of honor was Hal Wilder, a pilot of B-24 Liberators during the final months of the war.

Hal, as he insisted we call him, met Bill recently at the Santa Paula Airport, and agreed to speak to Bill's junior high school next month on Veterans' Day. He's written books about his experiences, which were fascinating to hear. It was nice to introduce him to Cora and Violet, too, after giving them a brief history of the war on the drive to Ventura. Who knows if they'll meet another WWII veteran in this lifetime?

A special thanks to Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty for inviting us, and being such gracious hosts.

Saturday fun

 After a few weekends of hard work on the bedroom renovation, Saturday was a fun day.

At Violet's soccer class, she got her first Kidz Love Soccer shirt/dress. Here she is with Coach Marco, Coach Carlos's brother and the lead coach for the class Cora just finished.

 We then headed to the pediatrician for Cora's wound check. While there, the girls both got their flu vaccine.

Lucky for them, they could have the nasal mist instead of an actual shot. Lucky for me too, really, since Cora's tetanus shot was plenty for us all to deal with in one visit.

In the afternoon, Michelle, Rob and Brooke came up for a visit. Our families had a great day together, with playtime and general catching up.

 After dinner and dessert, the girls enjoyed coloring and drawing Hello Kitty. Cora has decided she's VERY much into Hello Kitty now, and is making lots of pictures to decorate her room with.








































It's so good to see these friends, two years after they moved an hour away from SClarita. Thanks for a fun evening and for these photos, Michelle!

Stitches

Hearing a crash, simultaneous with a scream, when your child is finishing her shower is never a good thing.

Stace ran, shouting, "Don't move!" all the way down the hall. I followed, and once I saw the mess of shattered glass and Cora's bloody foot, ran back out to get the dustpan and brush.

Cora was a trooper, and calmed down pretty quickly. The benefit of a cut made by glass, it was clean and not as painful as it might have been.

She had been toweling off and had flipped the towel up over her head. This brought crashing to the ground a pretty vase/candle holder from a high shelf, and as it shattered, a piece sliced her foot.

Thankfully it was early enough in the night that a local urgent care was still open, saving us that frightful trip to the ER. My parents met us there to take Violet back home, so she could go to bed.

Cora was a good girl, pretty calm, but very scared of having stitches. Rightfully so, of course. Foot injuries hurt, and the two numbing shots into the wound put her through the roof. Stace and I held her down, to keep her foot still, and to attempt to comfort her. Poor girl, all of us in the room knew those screams were well-earned.

The numbness came quickly, and the doctor efficiently put three stitches in place to close up the cut.

For our family's first experience with an accident-spurred trip to urgent care, all went very well. We were back home, with Cora grateful to be in bed, by 10 p.m. We're so grateful to God for great medical care just a mile from our house, and for His protection. It always could have been worse.

 On Friday, Cora enjoyed a day with me. No need to rush her out of bed for a half-day of school, especially when we weren't sure what kind of pain she'd experience.

We took Violet to preschool, and spent our morning together at the insurance office and grocery store. And the doughnut shop. Everything is better with your day's quota of sugar stuck to your fingers, right?

Stace and I are so proud of Cora, and how she is handling this situation.

On Saturday morning, Cora took her math workbook to Violet's soccer class. She usually spends that time kicking a ball with her daddy, but it will be a couple of weeks before she'll be able to kick again.

Or run, or jump, for that matter. The thought of not playing her favorite game ("Prisoner") at school is making Cora most upset about the whole ordeal.

After soccer, we went to the doctor's again for a wound check, and this time they gave Cora a tetanus shot, just in case. The stitches look good, and we have our marching orders on how to care for it. Cora also has an oral antibiotic and a topical ointment, to further prevent infection. In another week, we're return to have the stitches removed.

School Triathlon

Cora's school held its annual Foundation Triathlon Fundraiser on Thursday, and this year I was able to help out.

The children had so much fun, taking part in three activities led by professionals who donated their time for the cause.

Here, Cora is waiting for the first activity, an obstacle course. This one proved to be her favorite, with running, balance beams and hurdles (for ducking under).

The Foundation raises money for the school for technology and enrichment programs, and the triathlon is our school's main fundraiser. The students collect donations from family and friends as sponsorships. We hope to meet or exceed last year's total of about $14,000.

 The second activity was dancing...

 ...and the third was karate. Cora is in the back row in this photo.

After the activities, the children had oranges and water to refuel.

Our Big Boys

 This week, we took the cats in for a checkup and their shots.

Since we do let them out several times a week, it seemed prudent to give them the extra vaccines given to outdoor cats. We love these boys, so better safe than sorry.

 Both cats have gained about two pounds since their last checkup 16 months ago, so the vet recommended we get a puzzle feeder, so they have to work/play for their food.

Sebastian, at 2 ounces shy of 20 pounds, definitely needs to stop gaining weight. Spencer, at 14 pounds, also is heavier than he needs to be.

Big boys or not, we love them just the same. I peeked in on Violet the other night and saw this lovely scene.

Though you'd think the girls (Vi especially) drive them crazy, they love the girls, too.

We had a package arrive, and Sebastian managed to squeeze himself into the box. Silly boy.

Science Saturday

 On Saturday, after Violet's soccer class, Stace carried on working on the shelves for our bedroom.

I took the girls, with my dad as my navigator/photog, down into the other Valley. We had to go to Simi first, to pick up a curtain for our bedroom (our local Cost Plus only had one left of a particular pattern we like).

Then we went to Pierce College, a junior college in Woodland Hills, to check out a science/astronomy expo my mom had read about.

The girls enjoyed looking through high-powered microscopes at bugs and smaller organisms.

There also were telescopes on display, and presumably in use once the sun had set. We didn't stay that late.

 These microscopes also took photos.

Various experiments were ready for the children to check out in another exhibit hall, and a pair of 3-D printers was on display as well.

On our way back up to SClarita, we stopped at Costco, since my parents are members. We stocked up on a few things I know are well-priced there, including English cheddar. Thanks, JT, for that tip! Stace was a happy man when I brought that home.

Later that evening, Kelly came over with baby Noah, who is now a big, crawling, happy 10-month-old.

Her husband was out with the guys, but we were so glad she thought to call us and come up to visit.

Violet ended our evening with a birthday party for Sea Pony. She had remembered that morning that it was Sea Pony's fifth birthday, so she planned out the cake, present, and tea party for us all. You can also see Sea Pony's friends coyote and pig in the photo. 
This girl makes us smile every day!

Fall Festival 2014

 Friday was such a nice day - Stace took it off, and we enjoyed breakfast and shopping together on our own while the girls were both in school.

Then, in the evening we went to the Fall Festival at Cora's school. You can just make out my stealthy ninja in this group photo - she's nearly invisible behind her tiger-like sister.

 Cora wanted to be a ninja this year. Why? "I have no idea... because I just like ninjas," she said. Luckily for us, Colleen and Lucas had two ninja costumes for Cora to choose from.

Violet, I suspect, will change her mind and costume with the various dressup events, as she did last year. On Friday, she also wanted to be a ninja, but Lucas's other costume was too big for her.

So, she wore black and put on sister's tiger hat/mittens combo, and voila - she was a tiger. When she took off the hat, she said she was a black jaguar.

 The cake walk was Violet's favorite activity. Round and round she went, collecting cupcake after cupcake.

 Cora spent much of the evening hanging out with these sweet twins, who are in her class this year.

Thanks to my friend Sara for sharing these first four photos with me!

 Violet's second favorite activity was dancing. A DJ was on hand, and she rocked out, with little breaks to fuel up with spun sugar.

 Cora had fun playing all the carnival games, too.

Back at home, we counted up the cupcakes both girls won - enough for a small army.

Violet was eager to sell them, but Cora told her that they looked too smashed up to sell.

Week In Review

My girls are growing up - we now have TWO school photos to display! I can't get over how much older Cora looks each year.

My friend Sara took this photo of Violet, since she doesn't have official photos taken at her preschool.

Since Violet had Monday and Wednesday off for Fall Break, we were able to go out to Sierra Madre to visit Melanie, Heather and Sienna.

Their family is preparing to sell their townhome and move into a house, so Melanie and I worked on boxing up their china while the girls played.

On Tuesday, we played at the park with friends after taking Cora to school. While at the park, we saw our new neighbor, Ashley, and her triplets.

Cora and Violet are so excited to have three little friends living next door. Cora and Ashley have exchanged notes and baked goods, and Cora decided that we should give the 2 1/2-year-olds our collection of Duplo Legos. Thankfully, Violet agreed, and here is the big box full, complete with Cora's notes explaining what sets were inside the box.

On Wednesday,  I helped in Cora's class at school, while Violet played with her friend Melanie and my friend Christina. Then, we went to the library, and had lunch at Lazy Dog to visit Auntie Mel.

In the evening, we helped at Pioneer Clubs by setting up the chairs for dinner and watching the children on the playground. Then, during Club, Stace helped the Scooters make concrete stepping stones.

On Thursday, JT and I met at a park with our children, and enjoyed the fact that it was cool enough to do so. As great as summer is, it would be greater to have autumn weather in October.

Meanwhile, Stace took a day off from work to work (on house projects). There are so many on his list, and he has some time to use up. He also enjoyed walking Cora to school and picking her up.

Then, we went to the park for a 9th birthday celebration and pizza dinner for Lucas.

On Friday, Stace and I walked Cora to school, drove Violet to school, and then went out to breakfast. Then, we got supplies at Home Depot and found the perfect accent chair for our bedroom at Home Goods before picking up Violet.

Stace picked up Cora following her after-school Lego class, and she was excited to come home.

After nearly two years of her asking, we've allowed the computer game Minecraft on Stacey's new tablet/mini computer. She will be allowed to play on Fridays/weekends, if she meets certain requirements. She was VERY happy about this!

Weekend Fun with Friends

On Saturday we went out to visit Jim, JT, Callie and Jonah, for the first time since Stace and I helped them move into their new home in July.

While Callie and Jonah napped and our girls played quietly, Stace and Jim reveled in their Englishness by watching Fawlty Towers and drinking beer.

Later that evening, we went to La Paloma, a favorite Mexican restaurant in La Verne. The children entertained themselves with goofiness and tortilla chips, and a bit of coloring while we waited for our dinner.

Almost two now, Jonah has become such a big boy.

We all had a very nice night together, and left feeling stuffed, with plenty of food for dinner the next day.

On Sunday evening, Sara invited us and some of our other Mom2Mom family friends over for dessert, wine, and popcorn and a movie for the children. It was a lot of fun! Thankfully, we were very close to home, since it was a school night and the girls weren't quite in bed at their normal time.

Here's Violet on Monday morning, right before I woke her up and put her in the stroller with a cup of Cheerios for our walk to school. Thankfully, she had Monday (and Wednesday) off from preschool for Fall Break, so she didn't need to be up and dressed so early.

She was sleeping on the floor because she was wound up and couldn't fall asleep Sunday night. We've been having this problem lately, especially if Vi gets any kind of nap during the day.

Week In Review

 This week at preschool, Violet's class finished up the space unit, and Violet brought home an astronaut craft of herself and a model of the solar system.

Monday was Show and Tell day, and she brought in Cora's English money to show off. She said she told the class about the picture of Queen Elizabeth on the coins.

Wednesday was Clifford day, when all the children wore red, and read Clifford books and made Clifford crafts. Here, Violet is wearing her Clifford ears and has a black doggy nose. The children brought in red items from home, and Violet brought her red and black snake, Snakey.

On Thursday, we took our morning walk with Christina and Melanie, and later took Melanie with us to the library storytime. The children love the playtime after the stories and songs are over.

We had Lanie over for lunch, and then gave her back to Christina at school when we picked up the second-grade girls.

On Friday, Cora was very excited that following her after-school Lego robotics class, we'd be going to visit Emily, Charlie and Tommy and their new puppy.

This is how I found Cora's backpack when I opened it to put in her lunch bag - full of her Beanies to potentially get out at Emily's.

As old as Cora is getting, Stace and I love that she's still young enough to care about playing with her toys.

 Here's Cora and Emily hanging out in the back compartment of Emily's awesome bunk bed.

The top is the bed (of course), and under the bed are drawers, a desk, this storage area, AND a trundle bed on the bottom.

 Cora had fun playing with Sandy, the new puppy, too. Puppies are everywhere for us - Rigo and Colleen got a new puppy a week ago, and Grandpa is talking about getting a puppy, too.

At least our dog-loving girls have dogs to play with, since their mean parents won't get them one.

We went to Grandpa's house Friday evening so Stace and I could watch the Dodger playoff game. The girls stayed busy walking Jake around the yard and playing catch with him.

As for the game, well, it was hard to watch. The Dodgers were up 6-1 with the best pitcher in baseball on the mound in the seventh inning. And then it fell apart. Sigh...