Kitty Craziness

Awww...

Look up! In the tree! It's Super Spencer!

This little guy was racing around the front yard Wednesday after chasing Spence up the white birch.

He had a good hour of observing the neighborhood from his lofty perch before our neighbor, husband of the hairdresser who helped us Monday, came home in his work truck. Thankfully his 20-foot ladder was tall enough for Stace to reach Spencer. (He's hard to make out, but if you look at the top of the darker tree behind the birch, Spencer is on the branch at that height.)

Haircuts all around

It seemed innocent enough.

Neighbor boy Chris comes in Monday, looking for scissors for Cora. Cora often uses scissors in her craft/art/fairy/leprechaun projects, so I don't give it a second thought.

Except this time, a few minutes later, Cora comes in looking like this:

 She had gotten gum in her hair, thought I'd be mad, and chose to take care of it herself.

Wowzers.

 Thankfully, our neighbor-the-hairdresser was home, and she saved the day. 

You can see that Cora was thrilled to be getting a bob. But, with the amount she had cut, there really was no other solution.

 The irony is, I'd been talking to Cora for several days about taking her in for a haircut. Her bangs were in her eyes again, and with the length, it was a pain to brush through. I'd been thinking several inches off, but long enough for pony tails.

 

For now, the pony tails will have to wait. 

But, I truly think Cora is rocking the short bob! It's super cute. It's a huge change, since she's had long hair since she was a toddler! But so far, she's raking in compliments. She's getting used to it, and doesn't hate it.

While we were at it, and since Julie had a bit of time, she also cut my hair - shoulder-length, in support of Cora - and gave Violet her first-ever trim.

 Sorry the photo's blurry. Violet's hair looks adorable too, and so far it seems like the curl will stay, and maybe even curl more with some of the weight gone. So, it wasn't exactly in my afternoon's plan, but Monday ended up being haircut day for us girls, right in our own living room. I love our neighbors!

Friday Night Fun

On Friday night,  Cora's school hosted a "drop-off movie night," where the students could go in with their friends, have dinner and watch "Wreck It Ralph."  They were invited to wear their jammies and bring in pillows and blankets.

While some of the parents got a date night out of it, Stace and I had Violet of course. So we had a date with Violet - we took her to the mall, where we played in the Disney store...... got Menchies frozen yogurt...

 ...and played in the new outdoor play area. Violet made friends with a friendly big girl who helped her on all the play equipment.

When I got to the school to pick up Ave, Johnny and Cora, all the children were playing "freeze dance." They were all having so much fun!
A great Friday night was had by all.

Leprechaun Day

This week, Cora's kindergarten friends created leprechaun traps as their homework. 

All week, Cora has been telling us what she's learning about the little mystical creatures: they are sneaky, greedy, mischievous and love gold. She believes it all, and really hopes to catch one for herself. 

Cora came up with the plan for her trap herself. The leprechaun will climb the ladder (normally set up on the outside) and spot a piece of gold hanging from a rope inside. He'll jump onto the rope to get the gold, but the weight of his body will pull the lid of the box down, trapping him inside. Then, the bell on the rubber band will ring, alerting her to his presence.

 

I was happy when I saw that Mrs. Hawthorne had scheduled me to work in class Friday, when all the kindergartners presented their traps. They were all so cute! It was a fun thing to watch.

 (Most the children had to be reminded to speak up, look at their audience - Cora wasn't alone in using her quietest voice.)

 During recess, leprechauns struck in the classroom! Here, the students are amazed at all the havoc the little guy wreaked. The calendar was all mixed up, binders on the floor, chairs overturned, leprechaun traps upended. The coats were all over the place, including one in the recycling bin and one worn by a Clifford the Big Red Dog stuffed animal.

 Left on Mrs. Hawthorne's chair was a little glittery green hat, drink mix, and a note, telling to mix the contents with water. It warned that NO teachers should try it.

 Unfortunately, Mrs. Hawthorne didn't follow the instructions. Her nose started itching, her feet got very hot, and then - she discovered they had turned green! You can imagine the uproar.

The children were then eager to watch me drink my cup; Cora was very concerned that I would suffer a similar green fate. She actually was near tears, and her anxiety lasted through library time. Poor girl. I assured her that since I'm not a teacher, I could drink the apple-flavored drink problem-free.

After school, we met up with several kindergarten friends (including Sophia here) at Chick-Fil-A for lunch.

Snow Day

 We went up to Mount Pinos on Sunday afternoon to play in the snow. This was our first snow trip in several years, and really, Violet's first time in the white stuff. We all had a great time; the sun was warm (it was in the low 50s) so we didn't feel cold, even after we got wet.
Love SoCal, that we can build sandcastles one weekend and snowmen the next!

 Violet's snow man, made with a little help from Grandma. See the dirt behind her? That's from Stacey rolling out a giant snowball to make his own snow creature.

 We decided it was a snow Ewok.

Cora, our ever-adventurous girl, loved sledding down the long runs (that we made ourselves - we were in untouched snow, some of it 2 feet deep!). Violet was much more cautious. She liked just playing with the snowmen the best.

Party people

 Saturday was full of fun.

After Cora's last soccer class of the session, we met up with Maya, Natalia and their parents at Sky City Bounce House for a birthday party.

Considering they live 30 minutes away, seeing Daryl and Juliana twice in three weekends is outstanding!

 I found this funny and cute. After we sang "Happy Birthday" to the birthday boy (a friend of Maya's family whom we've met a couple of times), look who followed the party hostesses to watch the cake-cutting?

Of course Violet, with her friend 'Talia.

I'm just glad she didn't stick her hand into the cake before she had a piece of her own.


We met when they were 1 1/2. How can they be six???

 The birthday boy was turning three, so there were quite a few little ones around Violet's age.

All of them wanted to play in these cars...despite the fact that most of them have a similar car on their own patios. Violet had to go out of the room for a talking-to when she demanded that another child "Get out!"

 Party favors are so much fun.

After the party, we had about an hour to relax before went over to Jill's home, for a pizza/movie night with Alexyss and Marley.

Genia and her kids went as well, so it was a houseful. It was a nice relaxing evening with good friends.

Dinner with friends

 We had a great Friday evening hosting our friends Colleen, Rigo, Lucas and Liana for dinner.

With St. Patrick's Day coming up, I took advantage of the deals on corned beef and Guinness and served an Irish feast, complete with Stacey's cheese and onion soda bread.

 The trampoline proved popular once again. Cora and Lucas apparently were competing in a cage fighting matchup.

 After dinner, Cora showed Lucas her favorite online children's game, drawing the interest of the little sisters.

When Colleen changed Liana into her pink fleece jammies, Cora and Violet both also needed their similar jammies.

So cute!

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!