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.

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.

By a Finger

At our last track meet, Christian got it all figured out . . . if he just sticks his hand out when crossing the finish line, then he'll win.

Technically, his hand is in front of this best friend Harrison, but sorry Christian, that's not how you win the race. 

This picture is taken from the finish line camera.  Pretty cool!

The funny thing is how many people commented about the kid who stuck his arm out.  Even today John was  hearing about it, but didn't know it was his son!

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.

Catching Up

Track has begun.

It is super fun.

It takes over our lives.

I'm helping out with both Ashlyn and Christian's teams this year; it is Ashlyn's first year to run. Technically, she is too young, but with us all four participating, and me helping out (and John being the President), she's now a Gremlin Girl.

We practice four days a week (with the younger two only doing two days) and have meets on Saturdays.

There are 275 kids in the Club (which is the max amount) ages kindergarten to eighth grade, we even have a waiting list. That has only happened since John became the president. Once the kids are in 9th grade, they go to the High School team if they want.

Putting on an event like this with over 500 children, plus all the adults, takes a lot of peoplepower. We have wonderful families that volunteer and truly live in an amazing community with great kids and great parents.

My friend's dad said when observing this meet for the first time: "This is Newbury Park's best kept secret! Seeing all of this participation, and these little kids giving 100% is really special."

Christian (white t-shirt) running neck-and-neck with his BFF Harrison.

It was a cold and drizzly day, which made it sort of miserable for many people. We heard lots of cries of "Let's cancel the meet!" And others from out of state say, "What? We always ran in sleet, snow, 110 degrees, whatever!" Californians are such weather wimps.

The kids spend a lot of time on the field waiting for staging, then for their event. The kids are so great, they automatically entertain themselves and Ashlyn is learning the fun of hand-clapping games.

It was her birthday so her coach gave her a sticker and made the team cookies.

Then the sun came out and it was gorgeous. People had to hurry and put on sunscreen.

When we got home, it rained again. Rainy days are perfect for playing the new Wii Just Dance game that Ashlyn got for her birthday.

A rare treat: Kim Thomas and her family came into town for Spring Break. They were spending it with her mom in O.C., but came up to have dinner and family night with her besties. We had a great time reconnecting, playing Do You Love Your Neighbor and seeing the kids all interact. Kim, Marie and I have been BFFs for twenty+ years. It's always wonderful to get together. And Marie ran to get her salmon sweater so she could match for the picture.

A beautiful spring day perfect for walking to school with friends. This is up the little hill at "our field" that has a view of their school. The friends thought that was pretty neat.

Ashlyn was in the Peter Rabbit play at school and had the part of Mother Rabbit. Perfect for her. We were laughing because she kept yawning during it. She must have been warm up on the stage in the costume, and it was the 2nd performance that morning. Mothering must be so exhausting!!

So cute!!!

For Christmas, Brooke received voice lessons, and has been taking them every other week this year. She had her first recital this last week and sang "My Favorite Things", accent and all.

It was very strange not having Easter along with Spring Break. I felt like we had to rush and dye eggs at the last minute.

On Good Friday, we had the day off so took a hike to "our bench" and enjoyed the view.

I love Spring!