Violet is 5!

Violet is FIVE. It's official. The baby is gone, the preschooler is weeks away from moving on up, and we are moving into the next stage in our family's life.

Stace and I aren't sure what to make of this, but no one asked us, and here we are.We are simply trying to appreciate each moment we have with our girls while they're still girls.

Anyway...
Violet's birthday fell on a preschool day, and I worked it out with Miss Lorrie to come in near the end of class Monday to pass out mini cupcakes. Elementary schools here don't allow birthday treats, so this was our big shot at a classroom sweet feast.

After snack time, the children listened to a story on ladybugs, and I assisted with a ladybug craft. The current unit is on lifecycles, especially of ladybugs, and the children even have a box of ladybug larvae they're watching grow and develop.










When the painting was finished, the children were given magnifying glasses to have a closer look at the ladybug books.

After school, Violet painted a piece of pottery at the mall with Grandma, and we then had dinner at Lazy Dog with our favorite waitress. The restaurant was Violet's choice, and she opted for the kids' menu pizza.

Auntie Mel brought over an ice cream, and we all sang "Happy Birthday" one last time.

Then came Violet's next birthday treat - a surprise trip to the Ice Station, which offered a short skating session for $5 each. Bingo!

Here, Violet is roaring like a leopard.

When we got back home, it was late, but the birthday girl had one more gift to open. Cora had used her own money to buy the Calico Critters bear family. She is a very generous girl, and her little sis was so pleased.

Happy Birthday, our BIG little girl! We are so blessed to call you ours.

Violet's Birthday Weekend

Violet's birthday weekend started off with fun with friends. We had Alli, Emily and Megan over Friday, from noon till bedtime, so the afternoon included lunch and dinner together, homeschool fun, trampolining, and nail painting.

They are such sweet girls, and I loved the help from Meg, who will be going into junior high next year.

Saturday was Violet's birthday party, and that night we went to Mod Pizza for dinner.

On Sunday, after soccer (another win!), we talked to our Somerset family. Violet was thrilled to receive her own Razor scooter from Nan and Pop!

After church in the evening, we enjoyed Menchie's frozen yogurt.

These two sure love each other.
And, Violet might be 5, but she's not too big to carry!

Violet also enjoyed her birthday mini bundt cake treat from Nothing Bundt Cakes. While Cora chose carrot cake, after considering the many options, Violet went for the chocolate-chocolate chip. Of course!

Violet's Birthday Party

 After considering many party options and venues over the past few months, Violet settled on an animal party for her 5th birthday.

Our friends met us Saturday at Placerita Canyon Nature Center for the animal show, and we passed out photo "scavenger hunt" sheets. Cora is holding one here, with Cami, Alli and Emily nearby.

Cora took this photo of the American Kestrel for the scavenger hunt - such a beautiful bird! Other animals shown to the children included a barn owl, gopher snake, tarantula and tortoise.

 After the show, we headed over to the picnic area, where we'd set up snacks and animal crafts. Over 30 of Violet's friends and family joined us - she is a loved little girl!

Auntie Mel volunteered to was suckered into painting faces. Violet chose a bunny.

 Violet loved her lion cake, which was actually 30 cupcakes frosted together with about 30 pounds of frosting.

 We had had a smattering of rain - shocking in our current drought! - so getting the candles lit was a little more involved.

But once they were blown out, there was the joy of licking off the frosting!












The children, with plenty of parental help, made fuzzy wild animals and birds; some colored wooden owls and butterflies.

 We also had a round of pin the tail on the donkey, with sticker tails.













After Melanie had gone on to work, my friend Christina continued with the face-painting. Cora was transformed into a butterfly.










A final activity for the children - besides playing their own made-up games in this beautiful setting - was making goody bags.

They put animal critter stickers on clear plastic treat bags, and filled them with their craft, a fruit rollup and candy.

Thanks to all our friends who came and celebrated Violet with us!

Week In Review

Cora wanted to make a snack the other day, and let Violet help her with these ants-on-a-log.

She's also been preparing my coffee maker the last couple of nights. This helpful kid will be making dinner soon; I can feel it!








I had the opportunity to help out in Violet's preschool the other day, which was very enjoyable.

Coming from a 3-year-old co-op program, when parental help was mandatory, I do miss having that fly-on-the-wall experience of seeing Violet interact with her peers.

Here, she has a turn on the glider with Caleb.


And here, during "station time," Violet finds the correct shapes to complete the picture. Violet, our social butterfly, loves preschool and her preschool friends.

A Violetism, regarding two preschool friends, Nico and Nicolas: "They love each other. One is funny and one's cool, like the dinosaur cool. That kind of cool."

I asked for a little more clarity of "dinosaur cool," but didn't get very far.

This past week I was able to help in Cora's class, and was there when she "shared" Stace's ukelele.

The students had learned about the instrument during music class, and Cora was excited to show them her dad's. He taught her a couple of chords, and she played them for her classmates.

Lastly, a happy birthday to Pop! I'm so impressed with the artwork Cora did for the card she made for Gordon.

The Happiest Shower

 On Saturday, my parents' backyard was magically transformed into the Happiest Place On Earth, especially for one very special bride-to-be.

 Melanie requested a "vintage Disneyland" theme to her bridal shower, and planned everything out to the tiniest detail.

The decor, the food choices, the yummy drinks - all followed Melanie's inspiration.

As the Matron-of-Honor, I helped my mom throw the shower, which means I helped pay for the loveliness.

Stacey helped a lot, too, hanging the paper lanterns, setting up tables and constructing the replica Disneyland sign that Mel then painted.






I also made the Mickey Mouse rice krispy treats, with help from Mel and Cora.

 

  

 We played games, ate and drank, and watched Melanie open some very generous gifts.

One of the games involved the clothing we wore. Melanie asked everyone to come in a "Disney Bound" outfit, which isn't a costume, but a way to identify as a character through color choice and accessories.

Melanie came as vintage Minnie Mouse, and her dress looks just like some images we've seen. I was Belle, with the yellow dress and red rose headband.

Since Cora and Violet are children, they just wore actual costumes. Cora wore her Ariel dress, while Violet came as Elsa (in a Cinderella dress).

Following tradition, Aunt Patty made a bouquet from the ribbons that adorned the presents (pressed through a paper plate.) Melanie will carry this bouquet at the wedding rehearsal in July.

It was a very lovely day, and a little taste of the fun we'll have July 11.

Blue Sharks Update

We have all been enjoying our family's first experience with competitive youth soccer the past few weeks.

Cora has played all or parts of several games in goal, where you can see her here.

She has a clean sheet - no opponents have scored against her.

The Blue Sharks lost their first game 5-0, but have gone on to win three in a row.

Stace is enjoying coaching, and he has received positive comments from the other parents. He is emphasizing passing the ball, and teaching the players how to play in positions.








And, especially with three wins in a row, it's been fun!

Post-game treats from the ever-present ice cream truck always help cool off the players (and their sisters).

Spring Break, Week 2

We returned from Ventura on Monday night, and Stace returned to work Tuesday. We started the rest of our second week of Spring Break with a playdate at my friend Melanie's house.

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JT and her kids came out to play, too, so we had Cora and Violet, Heather and Sienna, and Callie and Jonah, all together. Next door to Melanie lives a family that keeps chickens. 

 Sienna loves visiting them, and the others enjoyed it too.

 On our drive home, Cora made sure the bear was safely buckled in, too.

 Later that day, we went out for ice cream, and then returned to celebrate Owliver's birthday party. Violet had been planning this all day, with decorations and snacks.

 Owliver even received gifts. He had a great birthday.
On Wednesday, Cora went to Magic Mountain with Grandma, and Violet played with Benny. Stace and I enjoyed a mid-week date. We had a home-day on Thursday, with Cora and I going through her clothes and cleaning her room. Then, we had soccer practice in the afternoon.

 On Friday morning, Elena's mom Amber invited Violet over for a playdate. The preschool friends had a nice morning together.

 Meanwhile, Cora and I had a mommy-daughter date, with Starbucks and clothes shopping for my big girl. Then, we got the house cleaned up before picking up Violet...

 ...because Liana and Lucas were coming over for the afternoon.

Cora and Lucas didn't play Minecraft the whole time, but I didn't think about taking a photo earlier.
After dinner, when Lucas and Liana had gone home, I went to Sara's house for a moms' night. Tony, Emily and Alli came to our house to hang out with Stace, Cora and Violet. So, Violet had three playdates in one day (and Cora had two, plus a nice morning with Mom)! THAT'S the way to end Spring Break!

 

For most of the two weeks, the girls shared a room, or shared a bed. On the final night of sharing, they camped out in our bedroom. This was Violet's idea a few weeks ago. Don't they look sweet? Never mind the amount of complaining they did before the photo was taken... ("She's too loud," "She woke me up," "She elbowed me," etc.)