Vincenzos and Jazz

 On Wednesday night, John's Valencia High Jazz Band performed at Vincenzo's, so we accompanied Genia and the kids to cheer them on. You can see John and the musicians in the rear of the photo...

The children all had a great time dancing and playing around after our pizza dinner.

 When they weren't dancing, they were asking for money for the game and candy machines. 

At least the yellow one by Violet gave out rubber bouncy balls every time you played the game!

It was a nice night and we really enjoyed the music and the company.

I Like to Move It

This has been hanging out in the computer folder for a few weeks...
We went to the doctor's office and Madagascar 2 was on the waiting room television, featuring the song "I Like to Move It" by Will.I.Am.

Violet took the song to heart, and later in the day, she remixed the song herself. Watch it and laugh.

Weekend recap - fish, sea and water

 Friday night we enjoyed the St. Clare's annual fish fry. It was packed, as always, and yummy, as always.

 On Saturday, Cora scored two goals in soccer; sadly, Stacey missed them as he was playing a round of golf.

He plays so rarely these days, it was nice for him to get the chance. I picked him up at the golf course (he and his golf friends always ride together) and we headed off to Ventura.

 It was unusually warm for early March, and a perfect day for sand castles. Aunt Patty buried Cora, at her request, and decorated her like a mermaid.

 Then it was Violet's turn, of course!

After homemade pizza, salad and wine, we made Smores at the fire pit on the back patio.
















On Sunday, Cora and Violet helped wash the car. Yes, we obviously have a new car. How many times do I blog about us working together to clean a car?

On Sunday evening, Cora treated us to her homemade apple pie/crumble. It was a Cora creation, with leftover pizza dough from Aunt Patty for a bottom crust, and a crumble topping.

It was very good!

Super Six!

She's so very six!

Cora jumps rope. Roller skates. Hula hoops like a champ. Rides her 20-inch bike like she was born on it. Ties and double-knots her shoes. Glides across monkey bars with ease. Dances and sings with abandon.

She's got scrapes on her knees, bruises on her shins, loose bottom teeth, and the same spunky attitude she was born with. Her emotions can get the best of her, and little things still can set her off (and make her threaten to move out, and in with Ave and Johnny).

Cora's made great strides with her reading, and now is a grade level ahead in the "accelerated reader" program at school. We're very proud of our girl.

 Cora went to the dentist this week, and in these X-rays, you can see the big teeth under the baby teeth (left) and her six-year molars (right). She had no cavities and cooperated during her check-up and cleaning, setting a good example for Violet, who will have her own exam next month.

 On Thursday, Cora had her 6-year well check, and she remains blessed with good health. Her eyesight, hearing, blood pressure and physical exam all went well.

Cora is now 43 1/4-inches tall (16th percentile), and 41.4 pounds (29th percentile).

This photo typifies Dr. Brockett's exchange with Cora.
Dr. Brockett would ask a question, and Cora would give a goofy answer.
Such as, "Do you like school?"
"No, and I'm not going to go."
"Who does the cooking at your house?"
"Me. My mom just sits around watching TV."
"Well, whoever does the cooking, do you like eating your vegetables?"
"No. I throw them out the window."

Oh, Cora. You can drive us batty, but we do love you so very much.

Sunday Funday

 On Sunday, Stace and the girls harvested our cauliflower crop. This was our first time growing it, and it went very well. We let a couple of the cauliflowers grow too big, but I think they'll be fine in a curried cauliflower soup recipe I'm going to try out.






I had several loads of laundry to do, so I had my little helper on duty. Now that Violet is almost three, we're trying to give her more jobs to do. She's at the age where she likes to help and responds well, so we'd better take advantage of it.

 In the afternoon, Cora and Johnny and Ave worked on Cora's new fairy house. Yes, this is the third version, for those of you keeping score.

 The fairies can walk up a nice pathway of stones, laid into th newly dug-up grass, before reaching the wood chip deck.

Then, it was off to the races, the big girls on their roller skates, the little girl on foot.

Montrose Fair

On Saturday, after Cora's soccer class we went to an outdoor festival in Montrose and met up with Juliana, Daryl and their girls.

We'd seen the festival advertised in our local paper and it sounded fun, and it was just a few minutes from Juliana's house, so they were planning to go already.

The February birthday girls exchanged birthday presents, and here, they look at Maya's new Barbie book. It was great seeing them read together - oh, the things you can do when you're six!








Violet was very excited to see her friend "Talia," as she calls her. They are getting along so well. Here, they help each other open up peanuts after we had lunch.

This climbing wall was provided free of charge from the city of Glendale. Cora was so excited to try it! She got up about as high as you see here, and then the boy next to her jumped down. That looked even more fun than climbing, so down she went.

After this little adventure, Cora was bummed that we didn't pay the big bucks for her to do the bungee-bouncing activity. So, before we met the waiting Juliana at the lunch table, we had her name five things she was thankful for. It took a little time because she was annoyed at us, but it's something we've started doing when she complains, to encourage a little more gratitude.

Luckily for the girls, Grandma and Grandpa were with us, and they bought lots of tickets for the carnival rides.

Violet loved going on this one with Stace...










...while Cora had a fun time spinning with a local boy her age who needed a ride partner.

Both girls loved the swings, too.

Cora also liked the fun house, and went in a couple of times.

Dad tried his hand at the shooting gallery, and tore the living daylights out of the target. But, true to carnival form, the guy running the game had a good reason Dad didn't win one of the prizes. An eighth-inch bit of the red star was still showing, so no prize!

We figure we should keep the target to show the girls when they ask to play carnival games in the future.

Happy Birthday, Ave!

 Ave is now 8!

Hard to believe we've known this sweetheart for close to five years; when we moved in, she was the 3-year-old willing to share her doll's stroller with an eager 21-month-old Cora.

 Genia provided lunch, snacks and cupcakes to Ave's best girlfriends after school Friday.

The birthday girl had great weather for a party at the park, though the breeze meant Genia had to protect the cupcake's candle flame while we sang.

The girls played freeze tag...














...and the little siblings played in the sand. A good time was had by all!

Long Weekend

 We've enjoyed a nice four days off from school for the Presidents Day holidays. Even Stacey was off on Monday, which was the official government holiday.

We didn't have a lot planned, which was great. We took our first family bike ride, with Cora on her big bike. Stace's mountain bike had a flat, so I got to have Violet on the front of mine.



On Friday, Grandma and Grandpa took the girls to Disneyland for a few hours, giving me a little time to myself before Stacey came home for a fun date night.

We had dinner with Kelly and Brad, whom we hadn't seen since their November wedding, and Kelly's parents Steve and Linda. Then we went together to downtown L.A. to see Backbeat, a play-with-music (not quite a musical) about the early days of the Beatles.

We had a fantastic time, and were lucky enough to sit in the second row, thanks to an amazing ticket deal Kelly told us about.

Cora had soccer on Saturday, and then we had a quiet day at home, with a trip around the neighborhood on rollerskates/rollerblades/scooters before dinner.

On Sunday, we went to church, did some shopping and then talked to our family in England. After Violet's nap, we had our bike ride, before dinner and dessert.
















































Cora made our dessert - chocolate chips and dried cranberries, covered in powdered sugar. I added in almonds to balance out the sweetness. Our Cora loves cooking, and asks every week when she can make her own creations.

 On Monday, we hoped for more of the same - relaxing and spending time together having fun.

But, Sunday night our garage door motor burned out after acting up for a few weeks. So, Stace spent his Monday off work, working in the garage. I'm so thankful for a man who knows how to fix things!

By Monday afternoon, all was better, and he even programmed our new car's "homelink" system to open the garage door with a push of a button on the rear-view mirror.

Also Monday, before we went out to a well-deserved dinner out, Cora followed a recipe from a children's cook book for almond sweets. We enjoyed another yummy dessert when we got home.

Valentine's Day

 I really like how my friend Colleen described Valentine's Day in our Mom2Mom monthly newsletter:

"Valentine's Day has come to mean something completely different than what it meant before I had kids. Before: romance, nice clothes, quiet dinner, expensive chocolate, and actual thought-out dinner plans.

"Now: running to the store to get those valentines for your kids that you forgot about, figuring out how many cookies you need to get for your kid's class party, trying to find something at least red, maybe even with a heart, for your kid to wear on Valentine's Day, and, oh yes, maybe even trying to get a card for your husband in the picked-over Valentine's card section of the store!"

I can relate! Here is a recap of our Valentine's Day 2013.
Violet wore her Valentine's outfit, heard a Clifford Valentine's Day story, and made pink-and-red heart crafts at My Buddy and Me.
Colleen kept her for me so I could leave class early to go to Cora's school and help in her class party...

 ...where I helped another mom run the Valentine's Day bingo game. Cora here looks shocked by the game. Sitting with her are Ryan and Tyler Belle.

 The class also participated in a cute craft and an outdoor scavenger hunt for red paper hearts, before getting their special snack of fruit, cheese and crackers, cupcakes, cookies and juice. (Don't tell the principal about the cookies and cupcakes! The school is on a healthy-eating drive.)

 Later in the day, a beautiful bouquet of flowers arrived from my love. Thanks, Stace! Love you too!

And you can see our collection of homemade Valentine's cards to each other.

The standing up card is what we made for Cora to give to her classmates. It reads, "Whooo loves you?" on the front, and on the inside, we wrote, "Cora, that's whooo!"


 

Cora made a special card for her dad. It said, "Owl be your Valentine" on the front; on the inside, she wrote, "D.A.D.D.Y. I no how to spel Daddy. I love you lots and lots. Daddy, I love you."