Odds and Ends

Following Cora's all-star game last Saturday, we met up with her softball team for the end-of-season party, held at a beautiful community pool.

The cake was amazing! Made by Coach Cory's wife Kim, the cake consisted of cupcakes arranged and frosted to look like a softball field. The girls' names were placed on toothpick flags, in a cupcake near the position they played.

After cupcakes, the girls had a cannonball competition - here's Violet's entry.

When the pool party was over, we rested at home before going to the end-of-year Mom2Mom family picnic, with dozens of our favorite friends. Yes, it was a crazy full Saturday!

On Monday night, we returned to the ice rink so we could skate together as a family, since Cora missed out on the skating part of Violet's birthday party.

It was a lot of fun, and because it was a promotional $5 "cheap skate" event, we ran into several friends there. The girls are excited to return to the Ice Station for summer camp in July!

Helpful, Seb. Really helpful.

I saw a deal online for this 50-gallon portable rain barrel, and for $30, we knew it was worth having. It can collapse and be packed away when not in use, and has hose hookups at the bottom. 

If it rained here, we could put it under the gutter's downspout to catch the runoff. 

Since it doesn't rain, I'm using it to hold leftover bathwater, and the water from the shower buckets, for use on the trees and garden.

Speaking of gardens, just look at the girls' veggie patch! The zucchini, tomatoes, beans and cucumbers are looking fabulous, and the grape vine behind them is producing tons of tiny grapes.

Underwood Farms

On Wednesday of this week, Violet's kindergarten class took the annual field trip to Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark.

This time, as an official chaperone (and room parent, and regular Wednesday volunteer), I got to ride the school bus with the kiddos. (Here's my blog post about Cora's kinder trip...)

We then had our farm lesson from Farmer Juan, with scores of other field trippers from other schools.

On our tractor ride into the vegetable fields, we were amazed by the many shades of green.

We pulled up radishes, picked sugar snap peas, broke off kohlrabi and snapped off long kale leaves.

Then it was time for lunch.

After lunch, we had a bit of time to explore the fun parts of Underwood - the animals, the huge combine slide, the pyramid hay stacks and the underground tunnels.

We gathered again for a class photo before reboarding the bus.








Violet and Danica: "No photos, please."

Here was our haul! I used my vegetable cookbook to find some awesome ways to prepare these beauties, and the whole family ate it up.

All Star!

Cora was thrilled to be selected to play in the William S. Hart Softball Mini-Minor All-Star game on Saturday morning. She worked hard all season and had a showed talent and a great work ethic, and both were displayed in Saturday's game.

She struck out in her first at-bat, but then had two solid hits in her next two at-bats. The first was a double off the pitcher, and the second went to the wall, but it was off the coach so Cora had to stay at first base.



She knocked in a run and scored a run, and pitched an excellent inning, with no runs allowed and two strikeouts. Cora's team, which included Payton and MJ, won the game. 

Kristin and Cory were selected to coach and manage the team, which was fun. They played against all-stars picked from the other Hart Mini Minor teams - the eight teams in the league were divided in two, with girls from each team selected to play.

It was very nice that Keith and Uncle Bill joined Grandpa and our family, to cheer on Cora. Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty have decided to move back to the Seattle area so it was nice that he was able to see the game.

Disney!

With summer coming, when our annual passes will be blocked out, we made our final group trip to Disneyland of the school year Friday afternoon.

Grandma and Grandpa came with us, and soon after we arrived, we met up with all our school friends and rode the Matterhorn together.

It was Violet's first Matterhorn trip, since she has just reached the height of 42 inches (in her shoes). She wasn't overly enthusiastic about the ride, since the Yeti's roar scared her.

But Cora had a blast.

We then went back to the Star Wars Launch Bay, where Jen's special access credit card earned us a private visit with Kylo Ren. He spoke to each child, encouraging them to join the First Order.

He noticed that one member of our party had refused to come over, so he personally invited her. But Violet, with a smile and a giggle, staunchly refused.

Our friends then went on to their dinner reservations in California Adventure. With Grandma and Grandpa, we went on the Nemo submarine ride, and then got in line for Autopia.

I rode with Violet, who drove (us crazy).

Cora drove Grandma (crazy).

We then used fast passes for Star Tours and Astro Blasters, before heading over to California Adventure.










While Grandma and Cora screamed their way through California Screaming, Violet and Grandpa and I went into the Animation Studio. Violet drew this girl kicking a soccer ball, which looked animated when we put it into the spinning viewer.

It was then time to make our way home. Another fun Disney day in the books!

Butterflies

Last year, our friend Morgan gave Violet caterpillars and a butterfly enclosure for her birthday. This year, Vi was eager to watch the miracle of metamorphosis up close again.

So, at Violet's request,  Morgan gave us another cup of caterpillars (and their food) as part of her gift. They grew and grew, and became chrysalises.

Violet's kindergarten class is learning all about the topic, so I thought they'd appreciate our five chrysalises.

A few days later, they began emerging from their shells, and Mrs. Hawthorne and I fed them with sugar water. The children came up in small groups to get a closer look.

Meanwhile, Violet's classmate gave her an idea about how to put on a "butterfly show." She came home from school buzzing with her new idea, and after preparing the show, called us out to watch.

She silently crawled around on the seat cushions, and then slipped into the sleeping bag. After MANY silent minutes, she emerged, wearing butterfly wings and a headband with pipe-cleaner antennae.

On Friday morning, we let our five friends flutter to their freedom. The children formed a circle, and we opened the enclosure. Several flew up and away, to the delight of the students.




















Violet held the empty, papery chrysalises, and let her friends touch them gently.

One final butterfly seemed happy to stay within the netting, so I reached in and it stepped onto my finger, before finally flying away.

Mrs. Hawthorne got this photo and shared it with me, while Violet and I were more than happy to share this year's butterfly experience with her class.

Week In Review

And it all is winding down... We had our last Mom2Mom of the year on Tuesday, and our final Pioneer Clubs on Wednesday.

I didn't think to take a photo at Mom2Mom, but we all had a nice time. It was the last time for me to take Violet with me, so next fall when I return I'll be childless for the first time in my nine years of attendance.

This was Violet's last meeting as a Scooter - in the fall she'll have a vest like the other big kids, when she moves up into Voyagers. Cora will remain a Pathfinder for another year. Both girls were pleased to earn their Mission Awards this year for extra service projects during the year.

The last couple of weeks, for our Thursday morning walks, we stop at a neighborhood park so Violet and Melanie can play. While they do, we mamas do some strength training like push-ups against the bench, squats and crunches.

 On Thursday night, I went to a Dodger game with some girlfriends, and we got these fantastic Loge level seats for just $12 each. We got to see Kershaw pitch a 3-hit, complete game shutout, and walked out of the stadium singing, "We Love L.A.!"






I went with Lynnette, Emily and Maureen, all friends from Mom2Mom, and it was a sort of last Dodger hurrah for Emily.

She and her family are moving back to Dallas in June to be closer to their extended family. She's a huge Dodger fan, and we've enjoyed following the team together for the past year.

Getting Smart for Mother's Day

 Stace and I had an all-day date day on Saturday, at an event called the Smart Conference that I'd been looking forward to for six months.

It was a daylong seminar in downtown L.A. put on my Dave Ramsey, my favorite financial guru, with lots of speakers talking about all aspects of life - money, marriage, parenting, retirement planning, etc.

We had a great time and learned a lot - and on the way home, stopped in Pasadena to have dinner at La Grande Orange, with this lovely server! Stace wore his glasses to look "smarter" after the Smart Conference.

Sunday was Mother's Day, and we celebrated by taking a walk together in the canyon in the neighborhood behind our house.

 A scooter thief struck on our way back home. Stop, Thief!!!

 We returned home to find this "lovely" sign. I'm blessed to be their mother, especially on Mother's Day. I had a nice collection of handmade gifts and cards, too.

In the early afternoon, I went out with my parents to a winery in Agua Dulce, treating my own mama to some quality adult time together, and a wine tasting. Thanks, Dad, for driving!

Week in Review

It's coming to the end of our school year, and next week will be the final Mom2Mom and Pioneer Club.

This Wednesday, we joined a bunch of our parent friends from Pioneer Club for dinner and margaritas, since it was our last chance to do so this school year.

On Friday, the kindergarten classes showered us moms with love in advance of Mother's Day. We listened to a lovely collection of songs, and then had a treat of muffins.

We also received a special Mother's Day gift - a cookbook filled with a recipe from each student. Violet's recipe is for pasta: The ingredients include "6 sticks and a teaspoon of water."
"Put the sticks in the water. Put them on a plate. Eat them. Serves a family."

(Violet thinks the cookbook is real - when Cora wanted to make cookies, Violet suggested we get out her cookbook, because several classmates had written cookie recipes.)

Here is one of the half-dozen songs Violet's class performed. The whole thing was so sweet, and I'm sad that it's over!

The school recently had a spirit day, and the children were encouraged to wear sports-related clothing. On the same day, parents were invited to attend a Flag Assembly, with the whole school gathering to say the pledge and sing a patriotic song.

One student from each class was invited to lead their class's line and carry a flag. Both Cora and Violet were selected from their classes to carry a flag! I was one proud mama.

Birthday Gift Fun

With softball over, the girls have enjoyed playing during our newly expanded free time.

This weekend, they got out Juliana and Daryl's birthday gift for Violet, a paintable ceramic tea set.

They painted the tiny pieces, and then we baked them, washed them, and had a tea party!

Violet is stirring sugar into her tea.

Cheers!

Continuing the post-birthday fun, we took Violet shopping with her birthday money.

She chose this large doll, which came with a couple of outfits and a book. It's the Target version of pricey American Girl dolls, and her friend Melanie just got an American Girl for her own birthday.

Violet has named her new friend Emma Leigh, and Emma sleeps with Violet every night now.

She also used her Amazon money from Nan and Pop and Uncle Dean and Auntie Jenny to buy a Calico Critters camper. Cora, meanwhile, used her own funds to buy the Critters car to tow the caravan. The girls are eagerly awaiting their new toys!