Artsy Violet

Our Violet is becoming a crafty queen (princess?). After researching Valentine's ideas, we hit upon cupcake-liner-flowers, and got the supplies at Michaels.

Clifford, the classroom pet, came home with us and was able to help out, or at least provide moral support.

Violet's been combining her love of Peanuts with a love of drawing. She's been looking up "how to" videos for drawing the characters.

We love her picture of Fifi and Snoopy! (And the Red Baron, too.)

When my friend Liz heard about Violet's craftiness, she offered to help her with a project. Violet had discovered melted crayon art online, and Liz, a Super Crafter, had already made such a project.

Liz set us up with crayons, a canvas, vinyl hearts and a heat gun; that night, Stace and I saw a movie and my dad had the girls.

Stace and I returned home to find Grandpa in full Grandpa mode, helping Violet out by peeling crayons.

We returned to Liz's house Friday after school, and she graciously helped Violet with her project.

Violet melted the crayons so much, most of them slid off the canvas. That's not what the pictures online showed, but hey, art is what you make it.

The colored wax was so thick on the vinyl hearts, Stace used an X-Acto knife to cut them off.

Proud girl! And rightfully so.
Many thanks to Liz for everything!

Sunday Fun

Also over Christmas Break, Violet had a bit of a breakthrough.

She now can tie her shoes!

Somehow, with velcro and slip-ons, we've just never had the urgency to teach Vi to tie her shoes. But over the last couple of weeks, without school keeping us busy, she put the time in and taught herself.

Violet also kept herself busy taking care of her fish - we had one pass away, and she wanted to replace it, and add to her tank. After a couple of weeks of doing a good job remembering to feed them, we agreed.

Stace took her out on a Daddy-Daughter Date, and they picked out three new fish.

While Violet really wanted new fish over break, Cora really wanted to get back to Vasquez Rocks. She just loves that place!

On Sunday, Stace took the girls there, while I had a meeting at church.

This is Cora's happy place!

Sewing Success

Cora received gift cards to Joann from Nan and Pop, and she was very excited to choose fabric, a pattern and other things she needed to make her first project.

Stace helped her a lot, as did discussions with people who know how to sew, and online video tutorials.

Cora was pleased, and we were all proud, of her first effort - this pair of pajama bottoms, with a drawstring waist.

We purchased a long-sleeved T-shirt that matches the fabric, and, voila!

Week in Review

 It was a good thing we had a third week of Christmas Break - Cora was home in bed with a fever for several days of it.

Luckily, she had her trusty cat Spencer to keep her company.

Cora woke up Monday feeling bad, and her fever rose as the day went on. Nothing too serious, just a good reason to sleep, read, and watch shows for a couple of days.

 Tuesday was my birthday, and thankfully Cora felt well enough to go out in the evening for dinner.
Melanie met us at my favorite restaurant, Wolf Creek, home of the World's Best Olive Dip. (My Mom and Dad were on a cruise, lucky ducks!)

 We had a lovely dinner, and it didn't hurt that Tuesdays are half-price for bottles of wine.

(While Cora looks great here, she was whispering to me that she felt bad and wanted to get back to bed. Such a trooper, loving her mummy so well to attempt a birthday dinner!)




We had a low-key Wednesday, as well, with just a trip out to the orthodontist and hair salon for Cora.

On Thursday, we got together with Violet's friend Camryn at an indoor play place - these two first-grade friends are so cute together!

 Cora worked on her violin practicing, and Stace strummed the guitar with Violet.

Violet got the crafting bug, Googling lots of ideas of Valentine's projects she wants to make for her classmates. I am not naturally crafty, so it's funny to see these interests pop out in your kids.

 On Friday, Cora felt well enough to go with Sophia to a climbing gym, full of rock walls. She loved it!

Can you spot the fourth-grade friends, way up high? Thanks to Sue for the photos, and for taking Cora along.

We had such a wonderful three-week break from school! Back to normal life now...

New Year's Ramble

Our New Year's Eve was low-key, because I wasn't feeling well and wasn't up for socializing. We made the best of it with movies - we introduced the girls to Home Alone. They both loved it, especially after Violet got used to the idea of watching a movie. Odd kids - since we don't do movies regularly, Vi in particular is nervous about watching films she hasn't already seen and loved.

On New Year's Day, our main event was a family hike in Placerita Canyon. We've had rain lately, and thought it would be great to hike to the Waterfall Trail. But, we found out that because of the big fire in the summer, the trail is still gone, so we did a different hike.

Unlike a lot of such outings, this was actually more of a hike than a stroll down an easy trail, with inclines and rocks to scramble up and over. It was fun, and the view at the top was beautiful.

It was very windy at the top! Violet's hair wouldn't cooperate with the photo opportunity.

Happy New Year! May 2017 be full of blessings for us all.

Magical Christmas

Grandma has played Mrs. Claus at Magic Mountain for several years now, and this year we finally got to go and see her in her element.

It was a drizzly day, which helped to keep the Friday crowds down. The Holiday in the Park event and Christmas break have brought lots of people to Magic Mountain lately, according to Mrs. Claus.

Besides the characters walking around for photos, the park was nicely decorated with "ice" sculptures, pretend snow and lots of lights.

Mrs. Claus was on a break when we first came to her area, so we went up to ride the Ninja roller coaster.

When we came back, there she was!

Violet's reaction was priceless.

Isn't she beautiful? We all loved finally seeing her in person. It's certainly a nicer look for my mom than the Fright Fest witch!

There are festive photo props in her area, which is where Santa hung out prior to Christmas. (He has now returned to the North Pole.) Elves also help the children do crafts.

A S'more-making station is nearby, so we had a tasty snack.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for arranging for our tickets and sharing these photos! It was a fun afternoon.

We left Grandpa and Mrs. Claus and hurried across the park to watch a Christmas-themed dance/acrobatics/magic show, and then did one more quick ride before going home to Stace.

An American Girl

One of our fun family activities while Stace has been off work was to "wow" Violet (and ourselves) with the wonder that is the American Girl Store near Hollywood.

We started our L.A. day by hitting a Starbucks on Melrose that was giving out free tall drinks as part of a special promotion. Can't beat free, and the threw in cookies, too.

The American Girl Store, at the Grove shopping center, was less than two miles away.

Violet walked in on Wednesday wide-eyed, taking in the sheer number of dolls and doll-related items for sale in the huge multi-story shop. Everywhere were girls just like her, clutching their special friends.

Violet eagerly perused everything, with Christmas money in her purse from Auntie Doreen and Uncle Pete.

In the end, she decided to pay to have Joy's ears pierced - this came with four additional sets of earrings. She also bought a dress for Joy.

So stylish.

Perhaps this is the year the girls will follow Joy's lead, and get their ears pierced, too.

The AG Store was really an amazing experience. It shows how much money our society has when we will pay loads to have our dolls' hair styled and ears pierced.

On the other hand, Violet's eyes lit up so brightly as she walked around the store - you could sense her excitement. And that has to be worth something, too.

Violet's new goal is to save up and purchase a "Just Like Me" American Girl doll - they have dozens of dolls with various skin tones, hair and eye color, hair styles, etc,

The doll Violet is holding is the one most similar to herself, and this is what she wants to save toward - they cost $115, so she will be saving a long time. Violet also is eager to return to have lunch at the upstairs cafe for her birthday.