New Haircuts

Violet decided last week that she wanted bangs, like her good buddy Melanie (and maybe like her mama?) I had her wait a few days to be sure it wasn't a one-time thought, but she was very excited and resolute. Cora was also due for a haircut, since her awesome style requires more frequent trims to maintain its shape.

The girls wanted to go see Colleen, my hair stylist, and not go to the kids' place we normally go, so I made appointments for Saturday. Colleen did not disappoint! We all absolutely adore the job she did on Cora - it is perfect!

Here is Violet, before her turn in the chair.

She was all smiles as Colleen snipped that layer of hair!

So cute!

We love both our girls and their new haircuts!

Week In Review

Cora played in her first AYSO game on Saturday, with Stace helping out as the Pink Dragons' assistant coach.














Cora was horrified to be playing in pink, but what can she do? The colors were assigned. Thankfully, she wore a goalie's bib over the shirt most of the game.

The team played very well, and won, 5-0. Cora was solid in goal, and played up front for a quarter, too.

















Violet's class led the school's Morning Ceremony this week, and Violet had the special honor of leading the whole school in saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Here, she's next to Ms. Sorenson, our principal.










On Tuesday night, International House of Pancakes celebrated "National Pancake Day" with free short stacks.

Cora and the rest of her beginning orchestra students had their first concert Wednesday night. She was nervous, but played well, with the rest of the strings students from half the schools in the district.

She sat next to her friend Violet, who also plays violin.

On Thursday, Cora rode her bike for the first time to school. She was happy to have me and Violet walk along with her, Vi on her scooter to better keep up. I got my heart rate up with a morning jog.

She used her new lock once she got to school, while Violet's scooter went in the back of my friend's car.

It was a big moment! Ten years old and riding to school!

Friday Fun

 On Friday, I had the chance to walk to College of the Canyons with this group of crazy first-graders.

 They had a lot of fun together, with minimal whining about the length of walk and the growing heat.

The children joined students from other Santa Clarita schools to watch a jazz/world musician named Imani Gonzales. She taught the children about music from India, Africa, and Native Americans, and it was amazing to hear the kids singing along in various languages.

 We didn't have plans after school, and I thought it would be nice to go somewhere and hike. Patrice and her kids were also free, so they joined us. It was a beautiful day, and the kids had a great time outside together.

 Thanks to our winter rains, the canyon was super green, and the water was flowing.

 Not being prepared for water didn't stop the kids from getting in!

Friday evening, we headed back to COC (in the car, this time) with free tickets to see Imani Gonzales again. The students were offered the tickets, and we had a free evening. This time, she played jazz and swing instead of the world music. It was very enjoyable, and good for the girls to experience.

Tidbits

On Monday, Nan and Pop's three-week trip came to an end. We were sad to see them off at LAX; it was a fantastic time together!

Until summer in person, but until then we'll see you on the laptop!

Tuesday night, we went out to ice cream at a different place - the newly reopened Golden Spoon, next to Big Five and Target. It was yum!

We were in the shopping center because Cora's soccer season is starting, and she has grown since the last time she played competitively. Shocking, no?






She needed new shorts, shin pads and her own set of goalie gloves. Our brave girl is excited to play in goal.

This week was Ash Wednesday, and we went with Liz and her boys to the family service at Valencia Methodist, prior to Pioneer Club. Here are Cora and Chris with their ash crosses.



















I forgot to get a picture of Violet and Liana before Vi's cross was smudged off.

Violet's class made clay bugs for their craft. Cute!

Baptism Day

A few weeks ago, Violet began asking some good questions about Jesus and our Christian faith. As we talked, she decided she would like to be baptized.

She took a children's baptism class at church, and we found out that one of the next dates would be when Sue and Gord were with us. We were so pleased that they would be here for this momentous day!

Our church doesn't practice christening, or infant baptism. Rather, we encourage older children (and adults) to be baptized when they are old enough make the decision for themselves.

Stacey decided that he would be baptized, too, and then stay in the tub and help baptize Violet.

(Like Stace, I was christened as a baby but baptized as an adult. For babies, our church offers a dedication ceremony, which is similar to a christening.)

The baptism ceremony is a public symbol of a person's decision to believe in Jesus. We are all so pleased that Violet has made this choice, and pray that she continues to grow in her faith.

The pastor on the left, Kevin, helps with our homeless ministry, and we've worked with him before. He's a great, down-to-earth guy and we were happy he was the one doing the baptizing Sunday.

It was a cold, drizzly morning; thankfully, the water was heated!

JT, Jim, Callie and Jonah came out to watch, and to spend time with Sue and Gord. We had a lovely ham, potatoes and salad meal, and Cora organized a tea party for the children with home-grown mint tea.

After dinner, we walked over to the big park. Grandpa and Violet played catch, while the others played football.

It was a truly a special day, spent with many of our favorite people.

See the fireplace? After eight years, we finally had our chimney inspected and swept, and got the all-clear to have a fire.

If you look close, you might notice that we're missing a child in the photo. Cora had Spencer on her lap; Violet tried to pull him onto her own lap by yanking his tail. That resulted in scratching, a reprimand, and a tearful, unwilling photo subject.

More Vasquez Fun

While Cora flew sky high Friday afternoon (and Stace finished his workday), all of Violet's grandparents took her to the zoo. They had a nice afternoon together, though a lot of the animals they'd hoped to see were in hiding.

In the evening, we all met up together at my parents' house with our dear friends Linda and Steve. 

On Saturday, we introduced Nan and Pop to one of our all-time favorite spots, Vasquez Rocks.

It was a stunning afternoon - I've never seen it so green among the rocks! There was even running water: it was a trickle, mind you, but there it was, a stream in the desert.

If you blow this one up, you can see Stace taking a photo of the girls on the rock.

We had a nice hike, and rewarded ourselves with coffee and doughnuts at Dunkin Donuts on our way back home.

When we got back, I took Cora out for some mommy-daughter time at a neat cultural experience put on by Compassion International.

Compassion, a relief organization like World Vision, arranged an interactive learning event simulating life for children in Guatemala and Uganda. We walked through several rooms, listening to an iPod with the girl telling about her daily life.

Because we sponsor a girl Cora's age through Children of the Nations, a similar organization, I was eager to take Cora. She and I both learned a lot, and we're grateful we can help improve the life of one child so far from here.

Cora: Big Win, Big Flight

When we returned from the Central Coast, we found that the big rainstorm had felled one of the pine trees at Meadows Park, one of the ones the kids loved to climb. So long, shady friend! Sad to see you go.

On Wednesday was the Science Fair, and Cora spent part of her morning presenting her project to the judges, who were mainly Master's University science majors.

In the evening, we all went to the awards ceremony, where we got to check out all the projects.

None of us have ever seen Cora's face quite as joyous as it was when she was called out as the 2nd place winner for her grade.

So proud of this girl!

On Thursday morning, we took a before-school trip to Chick-Fil-A, where we all got a free breakfast sandwich.

On Friday afternoon, Cora and I took a birthday field trip to CityWalk with Sophia and Sue and friends. Thanks to Sue and Pauly, Cora and the other kids got to experience IFly, a skydiving simulator.

She went so high! It was so much fun to watch, and also to experience.

After the flying, we all went and had pizza. Cora and I shared one, and I thought it came out so pretty.