Farewell, Friends

This is, sadly, turning into the Summer of Moving for our friends and family. Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty are going back to the Seattle area, Emily and Brad have moved back to Dallas, and now Sara and Tony and their three girls are heading east to Iowa.

Sara and family moved to Valencia three years ago, and jumped right into our lives, between Mom2Mom, the girls' school, and church.

Emily is two years older than Cora, Alli's a few months (and one grade) older than Violet, and Megan is in junior high.

They hosted "Popsicles at the Park" on Wednesday nights in the summer, and we've exchanged girls for sleepovers over the past year.

Tony accepted a job offer in Iowa a few weeks ago, and they are now in the scramble of selling houses, buying houses and organizing a cross-country move. We'll miss them a lot, and we know the feeling is mutual.

Since their move date will come while we're in England, we went out for a final family meal Saturday night.

The girls started plotting extending their evening together, and somehow Stace and I ended up leaving the restaurant childless. We went over to my dad's to help him with a wiring issue.

We then got an overnight bag packed for Violet and took it to Sara and Tony, and then went back to our house with Cora and Emily. The timing worked out for one final sleepover.

Violet made me laugh when she showed her new doll to Allison, who has an American Girl. "This is my doll - it's a My Generation doll. It's not an American Girl, but it is similar," she said, sounding so grownup.

Emily and Cora had a great night too, falling asleep quickly and then getting up early Saturday to play Minecraft and chess.

Then, Sara came over with Violet and we all said our goodbyes. They promise to come back to visit, and we have another spot to stay in quintessential small town America.

Violet's Promotion

Violet's kindergarten year came to an end Friday, with a simple promotion ceremony attended by parents and other family members.

Mrs. Hawthorne started out reminding us that our kids will always be hers, too, and that she would miss this special class.

She then called up each child and handed them a folder with a certificate from the district, a final report card, and a few year-end pieces of schoolwork.

Mrs. Hawthorne told us that she wished we had another little one waiting in the wings, because she'd miss our family. We feel the same way - but I think we are finished with little ones, sad as that sometimes feels!

Violet had a great year and learned so much this year. Mrs. H called it a "privilege and a pleasure" to teach Violet, who proved to be an inquisitive learner. While it's hard to believe she's moving on to first grade, she's certainly prepared for the challenge.

Cora and I came over from her end-of-year party so she could clap for her little sister. As Violet has been around for all of Cora's big moments, including her own kinder promotion, we felt it appropriate for Cora to be there for this special occasion.

At the end, Mrs. Hawthorne called up Christina and me for a special recognition, for serving together as her room moms. She gave us a bouquet and a Starbucks gift card as a thank you.

We also presented the class gift to her, a house plant, card and gift card.

Here's a final class picture of Violet's 2015-2016 kindergarten class.

Violet and I had a personal gift for Mrs. H, also - a butterfly kit so she can have her own caterpillar experience with her class next year. She promised to call me in when they're ready for release!

I hope these girls are together again next year.

After the promotion, the big kids came out to the park for the traditional end-of-year picnic, complete with the Kona Ice truck. Then we had lunch and played for a couple of hours.

End of Third Grade!

Cora's last day of third grade was a brilliant one. She was able to sit with good friends all week, and their well-behaved group earned over 40 minutes of "Fun Friday" time.

Mrs. Breneman even told the girls, "Wow, this is what this group definitely deserved all year."

Jen planned a fun end-of-year party for the class, with outdoor games and a water-balloon fight. Here, the two teams are racing while keeping a beach ball suspended between team members.

Another game involved a relay with carrying an ever-increasing number of pizza boxes. It was a lot of fun to watch, with lots of falling boxes.






















Mom silliness! I sure hope Cora is in class with Vivi and Trent again next year.

We had a great group of mamas in this class! I'm thankful to them for these amazing photos, especially since I missed half the party because we were watching Violet's promotion.

Last Week of School

Cora's school district has an amazing music program, with music class offered to all the grade levels.

In third grade, the children all learn to play the recorder, and on Tuesday morning we gathered to watch their concert.

It was amazing how all that screechy practicing (especially at the beginning of the year) transforms into quite decent music.

Some of the children had a special part to play, and Cora's was a line about how the students could earn "karate belts," or colored yarn knotted around the recorder, for hitting different benchmarks. Here are the students holding up their recorders who show off their belts.
 

On Tuesday night, I met JT for dinner at LGO, where Melanie works on the weekends. We set this date up as a belated birthday treat, as her in-laws are in town and can stay with the children in the evening.

We had a great time catching up, and wandered around Old Town Pasadena when we finished eating.




On Wednesday, I had my last time volunteering in Mrs. Hawthorne's class. It was sad for me! And then I helped Mrs. Breneman for a bit before the girls were dismissed for the day.

On Thursday, Violet and I had our last school-morning walk together, ending a four-year tradition. We walked with Melanie and Christina, who snapped the photo. Violet is holding a beautiful Morning Glory she picked for Mrs. Hawthorne.

We went home and went through bags of clothing generously given to Violet by friends, and got ready for school.

Most days this year, I drove through the valet line and dropped Violet off, and didn't watch her go in.

But since this was the last mid-morning dropoff, I arrived early enough to park and watch. Perhaps I shouldn't have, as I was flooded with emotions as she walked in for her almost-last-day-of-kinder. I will miss her so much next school year, as I'm so very fond of my little buddy I've had around for six years now.

In the photo, she's handing Mrs. H her flower (a rose from our yard, since the Morning Glory didn't survive long off its vine).

After school on Thursday, we went for haircuts for the girls, who both had several inches off.

We then went to the pet store for cat litter, and checked out the cute animals.

With the girls getting older, I do more of these errands on my own. That fact made it especially fun to hear them squealing with laughter as they watched the dwarf hamsters running on the wheel.

Fun Zoo Weekend

On Friday evening, we headed back up to Ventura to spend a bit of time with Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty. They're home from their trip to Seattle, but since they're moving back north next month, we wanted to see them again.

It was Friday night pizza night - seriously, they could go into business selling their amazing creations. Another friend and her daughter came over, too, and Cora and Violet loved playing with her.

On Saturday, we went to the Santa Barbara Zoo together, where Uncle Bill got up close and personal with a VERY large snake.

It was a glorious day - really, what day in Santa Barbara isn't?

Cora kept a close hand on Twix (the giant Owletta in her arms) so she didn't become lion food.

We decided to take the plunge and feed the giraffe! Aunt Patty and I shared a helping of lettuce with a very tall new friend of ours.

Gotta love baby giraffes...

...and young, playful meerkats!

We went down the street to a fabulous Mexican restaurant Aunt Patty found by using Yelp on her phone. I think we now have an after-zoo pit stop for our every trip from now on!










So yummy, and such big portions - we took home plenty of food for another meal for the four of us.

When we got back to Ventura, we relaxed for a bit, and then Stace, Cora and I walked to the beach. It was cool enough for jeans and sweatshirts, but still enjoyable.

Fabulous Friday

On Friday morning, it was Stace's turn to be serenaded by adorable kindergartners at the annual "Donuts with Dad" event.

The songs were actually the same as the ones sang for the moms, with *slightly* different wording.

The kids and dads had donuts and made a paper craft. Mrs. Hawthorne had prepared paper helicopters for the dads and kids to cut out and fold. They then went to the playground to fly them.

Stace said he loved his morning with his littlest girl.

I, meanwhile, had some of my mama friends over for a LuLaRoe clothing party. It was kind of like a Pampered Chef thing, except that you could try on the comfy and cute skirts, tops and dresses, and buy what was on hand from the consultant. It's an interesting business model, in which the items are only available from the consultants, rather than being available in stores or by mail order.

I found the brand at a similar party held by a friend last month, and am very happy with my purchases.

After school, we went to a birthday party for our friend Charlie. Patrice, Geoff, Emily, Charlie and Tommy have moved to a new house, and we loved seeing it and checking out their beautiful pool.

Day In The Life

With the school year quickly drawing to a close, I'd better sneak in a Day in the Life post, from the year I had a third-grader and kindergartner (or, a 9- and 6-year-old).

6:00 My alarm goes off and I wake up by listening to the news for 10 minutes, before getting up and sitting down with my coffee and devotional.
6:45 - I wake up Cora, who ignored her alarm when it went off 10 minutes earlier.
7 - I get showered and dressed, and Cora gets dressed and makes her bed. When I emerge at 7:20, she's having cereal she got out for herself. I get Violet up and bring her to the bathroom, and encourage her to wake up and get dressed.

7:40 a.m. - Cora brushes her teeth and both girls get their shoes on.
7:47 - We head off to school, both girls on their scooters.
7:55 a.m. - With a kiss at the gate, Cora rushes off to join her line. I put Cora's scooter and helmet in Christina's car, and she and I leave for our exercise walk with the kindergartners.

In the photo, they're watching squirrels run past on the oak branches. That is the joy of having littles with you on your walk - you take more notice of the birds, reptiles and rodents you're passing.

9 a.m. - Christina drives us all to our house, and I keep Melanie. We switch off with the girls once or twice a week, and since Wednesday is my volunteer day, it makes sense for me to have them both and then take them to school.

After Violet makes her bed and changes for school, the girls play and make themselves lemonade to drink from the big canister of powder. Meanwhile, I get ready and clean up from the morning rush.

10: 20 - I learned on Facebook that Chick-Fil-A is offering free breakfasts on Wednesdays in June. Melanie wasn't interested in her free chicken biscuit - bingo! Lunch for Cora!
10:42 a.m. - Time to head to kindergarten.

11:15 a.m. - I'm settled in to my familiar spot in Mrs. Hawthorne's class, the back table. Here I take the children's folders and stuff them with the paperwork that is going home, including the day's paper penny. The children earn a penny a day for good behavior; taking away the penny is one of the main disciplinary actions in kindergarten. When the kids collect 10, they bring them in and get to go to the treasure chest.

12:09 p.m. - It's Violet's turn to be in a reading group with Mrs. Hawthorne. This activity is one of five options during what the teachers call "Daily Five" time. Other options include "read to self" with books from their book box; "word work" activities that involve letters; "work on writing" using their journals; and Dreambox or Raz-Kids on the laptops/tablets.

I sneaked out of the class to visit Cora at her lunchtime. She was thrilled with her lunch surprise, and even gave me an appreciative hug.

I then watched her play soccer for a couple of minutes. She plays soccer every day at recess and lunch, and often tells of hard slide tackles that leave holes and grass stains on her knees. Cora goes after everything full-force.

1:15 - When the kindergartners go to recess, I take my leave. Every other week I go help in Mrs. Breneman's class, but this wasn't my week to do that. I go to CVS to get a prescription and stop into Ralphs for some fruit and milk. I get home in time to get everything put away and head back to school.

2:30 - Violet and the line of kinders comes walking to the back gate, while Cora and the third-graders have their PE time. It's nice that if we're standing at the back gate waiting, we can at least be watching our kids play.

2:40 - The big kids get out of school, and we load up in the car with a couple of extras. Sophia and Riley are coming home with us for a swimming play date Cora organized.

This idea started a few weeks ago when Cora was grousing about me directing her to do something. What could she be in charge of, she wanted to know. I suggested she plan a pool party, and she jumped on it, with invitations and snack ideas.

The afternoon was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed chatting with the moms who came and stayed. Well done, Cora, in planning a fun after-school activity!

6:30 p.m. - Our friends have gone home and Cora continued on her winning streak. She jumped into the shower, got dressed and insisted on making our dinner. We enjoyed teriyaki chicken bites, brown rice and carrots.

7 p.m. - The girls play, and Violet does a homework activity. Cora decides to skip her homework and use a homework pass, since she has several left and this is the final week of homework for the school year.

8 p.m. - The girls have their dessert while working on the "God Time cards" they get each week from church. The sheets have four devotional activities, and when they turn them in, they get a prize.

8:15 - The girls get their teeth brushed and head toward bed for some reading time.

8:40 - Stace and I take turns saying goodnight to each girl, and with all that swimming they did, they both were asleep by 9. That hasn't been the norm lately, so it was a nice change. After a bit of final tidying and reading, Stace and I go to bed too, around 10:15.