October Happenings

It's time for the annual tri-ward Chomp-n-Stomp

 with good ol'fashioned grub and games for every little cowpoke.

 And a modern band for the dancin' and prancin'. 

Fall = Friday Night Lights!

Panther Football!

Me wearing John's letterman jacket which is about 20 sizes to big for me.

This is what you find on your phone after your kids have gotten a hold of it:

Ashlyn lost her front teeth, and is missing two on the bottom.  She's a bonafide jack-o-lantern.

All four kids had a dental appointment and all four received #1 scores!  Yeah!

Christian got to play tug-o-war with the wolf before receiving his Bear in Cub Scouts.

 Success!  After 8 months, he's already moving on to the next level. (They had a Halloween pack meeting and wore costumes)

Look at this sad empty, ugly space on the wall.  It used to hold a shiny new TV.

But after a little friend was over and got a little to happy with Wii bowling, the TV is no more. 

 But alas!  Thankfully some people still offer free shipping, and these guys were nice enough to even unload it for me.  Although they wouldn't install it.  Seriously, getting that thing back on the wall is almost worse for me than losing the TV in the first place.

 Madison and Brooke have been playing on the school's volleyball teams.  

They've had fun, have learned a lot, even though they haven't yet tasted victory.

One of our favorite kindergarten teachers had her annual Halloween party again and asked Madison and Brooke to come help.  They had a great time and it was a wonderful party. 

The kids did great in the Primary program.  Ashlyn was so excited to say her line, and even more excited to wear a suit that she said makes her look like "a business girl".  She went and found a matching purse and strutted herself into that chapel like she owned the place.  OK, bad analogy, but you know what I mean.

I received an email from Christian's teacher in the middle of the day which was just entitled "Christian" and I had a split-second of panic as I thought maybe she was contacting me to tell me something wrong he did.

But no, it was just a picture of him reading to the principal.  Phew!  So cute!

I love that she took the time to do that.

This little girl just turned eleven. 

 She loves to hang out with her sister and her friends.

 She's totally awesome and gets to leave on a jet plane in the morning to New York City. 

She's very excited to be able to go along on a business trip (it's her turn!).

I went downtown L.A. to go to the jewelry and fabric districts and had lunch at an awesome restaurant called Bottega Louie.

Not only was the lunch exquisite, but the French pastries were gorgeous.

 And the macaroons amazing.

And this little girl lost a top tooth last night.  She's a jack-o-lantern in time for Halloween. 

Her other one is loose, too so she'll be asking for front teeth for Christmas I think. 

The Sound of Silence

The kids all went back to school today, which is always bittersweet around here.  We love summer, and never want it to end, but there is always the interesting prospect of a new year, new friends, new experiences and growth to look forward to in starting school again.

They were of course nervous and excited and had a very hard time falling asleep last night.

Brooke is starting middle school and has studied the school map with Madison (multiple times) who gave her tips on how to get around.  We've been to the locker, practiced the combo lots of times, toured campus, and got all ready for a new chapter in life.

Madison is ruling the school as an 8th grader.  She received her schedule with two PE classes, and no math!  That's a bit confusing, but working with the AP and the Counselor, got it all figured out.  Turns out that because she is in all honor classes and the Discover Magnet program along with Spanish, there wasn't room for Algebra, as it's taught the same time as Spanish.  Unfortunately, she had to drop Spanish for Math, even though we were secretly hoping that PE could somehow count as math credit.  ha!

Christian is a big 3rd grader and is super excited to have is best buds Harrison and Max in his class. 

Christian and Ashlyn will now have the same recess and lunch.  He told her he'd look out for her during those times to make sure she's OK and they could be together.  He's so sweet!

Ashlyn is in 1st grade.  She told me she was nervous about going to school all day as she has never done that.  But she was really concerned about me being "alone" all day without her.  She told me I would have to "find a friend to hang out with".  She mentioned something like that almost daily so she really was concerned about me.  Don't worry Ash, I think I can keep myself busy.

 They are all ready to have a fabulous year!!

Christian with Mrs. Triplett!  We are so happy to finally have her for a teacher.

See that look of nervousness?  It's genuine.  She froze.  She didn't want us to leave.  But I know that she'll be awesome when we leave. Especially when her BFF Cooper arrives.

Mrs. Warner and Ashlyn.  She's in a 1/2 split.  I hope it works well.

Off to the Middle School!  I asked Brooke if she wanted us to drop her off or walk her in, and she really wanted us to go in, so sorry Madison - you get to walk in with your parents!

It was fun to see their reaction when they opened their lockers which were decorated late last night by John.

We ended up walking Brooke to her first class and the teacher came out to introduce herself.  She was super nice - they really take care of the 6th graders well.

Now I'm home and it's so quiet.  I can hear the refrigerator humming.

I can also clean up a mess and it will actually last . . . 

... until 2:35.

The End of an Era

The end of school finally came upon us!  We were ecstatic for it to be over; no more homework, tests, crazy schedules, and rushing.  However, it deeply saddens me to leave one grade and move up to another.  I will never again have a kindergartner.  That is really, really sad.  And Brooke going to middle school?  Oh help me!

At the last Award Assembly, Ashlyn received an award!  So proud. 

 The kindergarten always has an end-of-year family picnic.  Here is Ash with her bestie Cooper. 

The picnic was right after Brooke's culmination, which Madison attended, so we got a picture with her kindergarten teachers, who are also Ashlyn's.  

A huge highlight for the end of the year was Brooke receiving the Outstanding Citizen Award sponsored by the Rotary Club.  Interestingly, Madison was chosen two years ago, and last year was their best friend (and my 5th child) Monroe.  They said the pressure is on for Christian and Ashlyn to continue the tradition. 

 She was recognized by the mayor, county, school district and Rotary.

They put on a very nice luncheon held at a golf course, which was during school . . . another plus!

It's time for Fifth Grade Culmination.  Brooke looked darling in the dress she picked out (and another mom complimented us on having a dress that was "appropriate".  It's crazy what some of these kids are wearing!)

She was recognized for her award by her teacher.

At the end, as the students were filing out of the auditorium, the surprised the audience with a "flash mob" style dance.  Very cute. 

Mom and dad are super proud of you Brookie!

Only in So Cal

Only in So Cal can you go to a track meet on a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning and spy snow capping the mountains in the distance,

then visit said mountains, while it's actually snowing.

We really lucked out when we decided to take the kids to the snow. They've been wanting to go all winter.

Wait, it's spring now.

It's actually the middle of April.

Whatever.

They were delighted beyond comprehension when the drizzly rain turned to flurries of flakes.

And even more excited when it got thicker and thicker.

I heard things like, "This is the best day ever!!"

and

"I've never seen real snow in the sky in my whole life!!"

That makes it worth it.

We brought Cole along with us. He had a nice ride in the back of the truck.

This is what he did within the first 5 seconds of being in the snow:

Don't eat yellow snow.

This is what the kids did within 5 seconds of getting out of the car:

It snowed and snowed. It was clean, fresh, powdery (sounds like a deodorant ad) deep, and fun.

And cold.

It was Cole's first time in the snow and you'd think he was born in it. I don't know if I've seen him happier.

A nice couple wanted to take a picture of us. Here we are trying to call Cole to come in the picture. He had no interest in stopping.

Since Madison didn't participate in the track meet (it was a 2-day Invitational that we don't do because it goes on Sunday), she got her workout pulling the sled around.

The kids would walk to the top of the hill with the sleds and Cole would follow, then they'd sled down squealing and laughing. Cole would bound down the hill after them each and every time, making sure they were alright, then follow them back up the hill.

Over and over again.

The truck sure comes in handy.

Back home to unload our snow, build a snowman, and have a snowball fight.

THEN . . . it's off to go surfing. Switch out the sleds for the boards.

Only in So Cal.