Thanksgiving Week

To start off our November break right, we had a couple of Cora's friends over on Monday morning for a playdate.

After Violet went to school, twins Samantha and Riley came over to play. The three girls, classmates this year, have been friendly in class and hoping for a playdate.

They made loom band bracelets and painted, and after lunch, we went up on the hill for a little hike. It was a beautiful fall day.

On Wednesday, Violet's preschool presented some cute Thanksgiving songs.












Violet was one of the loudest, most animated singers.

 

On Thursday, we headed over to my parents' home for the Thanksgiving meal. We had a lovely time together, and a lot of delicious food.

For Stace, it was a chance to rest after two days of hard work, with several more days of hard labor to come. The new pathway project has meant hours of intense physical labor, with a lot of digging and chopping.

Weekend Update

This month, as the holiday season gets going, our church is raising money for three good causes - the local homeless shelter, orphans in Haiti, and a humanitarian/missions group in Sierra Leone.

As we prepare to spend money on gifts and celebrating, we were all challenged last week to bring in funds for those who need them more.

We explained the idea to Cora, and she took it on. She really wanted to raise $10 herself, by doing chores and selling things.We were so proud to see her heart so soft toward those less fortunate.

On Saturday, Cora helped Stace as we ready our yard for a big concrete pathway project.





He paid her, and when that money was combined with her chore money and money she made selling books, she just reached her goal. Great job, Cora!

(And, great job, Real Life Church! We hoped to pull together $150,000, to split into thirds to share with those three groups. We ended up raising more than $200,000!)

On Sunday evening, we went to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, where Cora learned the joys of Ski Ball.











Violet, Liana and Allison (the birthday girl, and a Pioneer Clubs friend) loved watching the video game that feels like you're on a roller coaster. Over and over they did it, screaming with laughter each time.

Allison's party favors were "build your own Olaf" kits, with marshmallows, pretzels and chocolate chips.

Cute and yummy!

Week In Review

Violet continues to enjoy doing her "homework" when Stacey works with Cora on hers. She still loves to sound out words and write things down.  

Cora's class this week invited the parents in for an hour to work on a math activity with the students. Part of the new "common core" style of teaching/learning, the activity involved using a pretend restaurant menu to create a bill totaling various dollar amounts. 

It happened to fall on a day I was already volunteering in class, so that was handy. I love being a part of these types of things, watching her learn and interact with her friends.

On Friday, Violet had school, but Cora was off. After taking Violet in, we went over to visit Benny and Jake.

Cora and I took Jake on a walk up the street to access the hill in front of my parents' house. It was a gorgeous morning, and I knew she'd love it.

Later on Friday, Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Mel took the girls to Disneyland. Here, they are decorating a Christmas cookie in the Big Thunder Ranch area.

Meanwhile, I cleaned the house and went through Violet's clothing.

After Stacey came home, we went out for dinner and then to the Repertory Theater to watch a Sherlock Holmes play. It was great fun, and of course so nice to have an evening date.

The Park and Puppy

This school week for Cora was shortened, so the teachers could have conferences with the parents, and so the students could start their Thanksgiving week off one day early.

So, Thursday was a half-day instead of Friday, and we headed to the park for lunch with friends.

Now that the weather has cooled off nicely, lunch at the park after school has become a weekly thing for us and a lot of Cora's classmates.

As for our conference with Dr. Porter, she spoke glowingly of our Cora, who is doing very well in all subject matters. Dr. Porter was surprised to hear that our strong-willed girl gives us any trouble at home, as she is an angel in class.

Since Cora loves reading so much, Dr. Porter gave us a lot of book suggestions, even a number of classics that I might not have thought Cora was ready for.










Later that afternoon, JT came up with Callie and Jonah, while Jim was at work (on the night shift).

 We went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to spend some time with our new family member, Benny, the 9-week-old Golden Retriever.

 Children and puppies - they go together like a horse and carriage. Cora loves dogs, and now she has two to love on.

Stace and I are very happy to visit Benny, too. He's cute, our girls can play with him, and he's not living in our house, chewing on our things.

At nine years old, Jake has accepted his new friend with grace and warmth.

It's a Boutique! It's a Plane! It's... Santa Claus!!!

While watching an online episode of James' May's Toy Stories, where James guided a group of youths who put together a giant model airplane, Stace was inspired. He wanted to do the same, on a smaller scale, with Cora and Lucas.

The pair were up for it, and did an amazing job putting together a Dauntless and a Mustang with very little adult assistance.

Next step will be a painting party, to be scheduled...

Meanwhile, the little girls did some creating of their own, doing a very grownup job coloring these felt Christmas scenes.

While Stace and Rigo served as project managers, Colleen and I managed a few hours out, attending the annual Stephanie's Hope boutique. I go every year to support Stephanie (a dear friend of Auntie Kelly), who is raising money for research on Friedreich's Ataxia, the rare, degenerative neuro-muscular disorder she is battling.

Then, we all met up in Old Town Newhall, where the Christmas season was kicked off with the lighting of the giant Christmas tree in front of the library.

The city is doing some beautiful decorations along Main Street, and the tree lighting event was well-attended. Santa was on hand for photos, and lots of new businesses were open, some offering wine and appetizers earlier that afternoon for a "Sip and Stroll" shopping event.

We all wrote on Christmas cards for our soldiers to thank them for their service.

Cora brought a bag of Beanie Boos, since she and Lucas love playing with their stuffed animals. Liana was very happy to help out Cora by carrying the bag, and giving Owletta and friends some attention.

A funny exchange occurred between Liana and Violet, as the girls were discussing age and size.

Obviously, Liana wins on the size front (as do nearly all children Violet knows). But Violet is 12 days older, and she will turn 5 first. This bothered Liana, who thought about it, and remarked that Violet will also die first.
From the mouths of babes!

Week In Review

On Tuesday, schools were out of session in observance of Veterans' Day.

We spent the day with Juliana, Maya and Natalia, and the girls had a fantastic time together. Somehow, it had been nearly three months since we've gotten together, so we had a lot to catch up on.

The girls spent some time picking oranges and lemons, along with other fun and games (like Violet singing a song for us, below).

 On Tuesday evening, we joined half of Santa Clarita at Kohl's, which was having lots of Veteran's Day sales. Combining two coupons, I was able to get Cora a needed pair school shoes for $5, regularly priced $35.

Violet also had fun trying on shoes, and really wanted these black, slouchy bow-ed boots. When we hesitated (because she has a huge box of shoes in the closet), she had a crying fit. Stace walked her around the store and she came around.

 On Thursday, Violet and I had no plans, so we took a nice long walk with Christina and Melanie, ending up at Starbucks. Then, I took little Lanie home with us for a playdate, and the girls played with playdoh.

 On Saturday morning, Cora helped Stace put on his MG's tires, since they'd gone flat.

Stace has just about finished with the carburetor, which he's been slowly refurbishing for months. Then he'll bleed the brakes, and hopefully we can take it out for a spin again.

Cora's such a beautiful, capable girl, clever and interested in so many things. She really is a good help to Stacey.

Scooter's fun

What a treat - spending a Monday evening with some of our school friends at Scooter's Jungle, with dinner thrown in, with NO SCHOOL the next day!

The big supporters of the school foundation's triathlon earned entry to the party, and foundation board members like myself also got to have the younger sibling come along.

Stace and I helped chaperone, which meant fun and games, and dinner.

Cami and Violet slid together on the huge slide countless times, along with Cora and Melanie and dozens of other students.

They also enjoyed the zip line, bouncers and ping pong tables.

After Scooter's, we four went to McDonald's for an ice cream before heading home, when Violet had a special treat - having a sleepover on Cora's trundle bed.

Rancho Camulos

 Rancho Camulos is one of those historic landmarks we've passed a million times on our way to Fillmore, always thinking that "someday" we'd make a visit.

On a free Saturday for us, the piece of Californian history was holding an open day, with lots of activities for the children.

The girls flattened out the mixture used to make homemade tortillas.

 They washed and wrung out clothes the old-fashioned way...

 ...made adobe bricks...

... and Cora tried her hand at lassoing a mock cow.

The beautiful rancho was owned by one of early California's large landowners, and was the setting for "Ramona," a book that was made into a silent film a hundred years ago.

It was a very nice half-day out together, and nice and close to home.

Week in Review

 Such fun - the Big Sort following Halloween candy-collecting...

Sebastian is Cora's personal heater at bedtime. He nearly always spends his nights on her bed.

Now that it's cooler, we're enjoying taking the girls out on their bikes. We went to Granary Square on Saturday morning, and Violet proudly rode there and back. 

She is doing so well on her bike now! That's what happens when you're 4 1/2.

(She is telling everyone she meets that she is now 4 1/2. Along with riding her bike, she also is enjoying spelling and writing, and she's learning to pump on the swing, too. And she's hit the half-year disobedience/testing period, too, sadly.)

Speaking of letters, in a parking lot the other day, she shouted, "X! And a T!"
What was she talking about? The way the lane markings came together, of course. Clever girl.

We also had our little friend Melanie with us the other morning, and we made a trip to Petsmart.

It's a great errand to run with children, with cats, birds, fish, reptiles and rodents on display. Here, Melanie and Violet say hello to a chinchilla.