Getting Ready for Christmas

Daddy took us to work to see Santa. The girls loved seeing Santa. It was really fun not being at the mall. The girls brought him their wish list. Santa, of course, new what a My Little Pony was so the girls are set. They've been very good this year, so Santa should be bringing them exactly what they want.

The girls and I have been getting things at home ready for Christmas. We decorated our tree, finally. It took a while. I got a new tree from Costco - 9' slim pre-lit tree. I love it! It's beautiful. One minor problem when I started putting it together. One string of lights was only half working. Took a while and several phone calls, but I got a new string of lights from the manufacturer. I replaced the string and we're set. It looks beautiful. I'm so glad I did not return it. We also put cloves in a few oranges. I love the smell. I have then in a bowl on my island. Everytime I walk into the kitchen I can smell them.

The only thing I have left for Christmas gifts is to bake my biscotti. I'll do that Thursday or Friday. All my gifts are wrapped and under the tree. It looks beautiful. I can't believe I'm done with all my Christmas shopping and wrapping so early.

As some of you know, CK has been taking piano lessons. She is doing great and loves playing. She even practices all on her own. Here is a pic of her playing and O helping her follow the music.

An Afternoon with Aunt D and Nordy

A few weeks ago, the girls and I took a ride to Scotts Valley to visit Dana and her horse, Nordy. What a beautiful animal.

Nordy (short for Nordlicht-a German name) is about 12 years old and is just the most beautiful horse. The girls were in heaven to be at the stables near all the horses for an afternoon. Aunt Dana taught them all about horses; what brush to use on what part of his body, what type of sadle she uses, etc. They loved watching Nordy eat carrots. O didn't want to feed him any, but loved watching him eat them. I think Olivia even liked getting "sneezed" on.

The girls can't wait to go back to visit again.

A playdate for O

O has been having a very hard time since CK started school. She fusses and cries every morning because she misses CK so much. Poor thing. Sometimes Mommy time works out to be okay. We will often arrive at a store too early and there is ALWAYS a coffee shop near by. I love my special time with O. I had a lot of special time with CK, now it's O's turn.

I've been setting up playdates for O. I need to do them more often. Either Daddy or I take O to Happy Hollow with a friend and her son every few weeks. The kids have a great time. This day they happen to match. They look SO cute together!

Another Garden Update

Our garden has been doing very well. We even got corn. Small (only 3 1/2" long), but corn nonetheless. We've harvested several Japanese Cucumber and tomatoes. More of both to come soon. More corn as well.

We got two beautiful, and small, sunflowers. I don't know what happened to all the seeds we planted. The birds must have eaten them. Darn birds! At least I got a great photograph. I'm going to blow it up (poster size) and hang it in our bedroom.

Carrots are still growing. We might get a watermelon after all. The plant is finally starting to grow. We'll see.

The girls and I have had a lot of fun with our garden. I hope to plant a winter garden. If this one ever finishes. I might just wait until spring.

"The Greatest Show on Earth"

Sorry it's been a while since my last update. With school starting it's been pretty busy around our house.

On 27 August the girls and I, along with friends A and daughter K and my niece M and cousin's daughter R, all went downtown and saw "The Greatest Show on Earth" - the circus.

Fun was had by all. What a great show. No longer do you see lion and tiger acts. They now have cat, dog and bird acts. So cute! It is amazing what this lady could get cats to do. O was very excited to see Dumbo. Who am I to burst her bubble. She didn't seem upset that he didn't fly. CK loved seeing the horses. I think everyone's favorite was the motorcyles in the giant ball. We couldn't believe that they didn't' crash.

Garden Update

The girls and I have been diligently watering our garden and watching it grow. I thought I would share some pics on how well it's doing.

The girls are excited about the Japanese cucumber and the corn. They're doing the best. We have LOTS of cucumber and 7 ears of corn. Very fun! We need to pick a radish and see if they're ready. We also have a few tomatoes we need to pick.

We've had a lot of fun with our garden. The girls get so excited to go out every day and see how everything has grown.

First Day of Kindergarten

Our little girl is now a big Kindergartener. We can't believe it.

CK's first day of school went well. No crying. Only tears of joy in Mommy and Daddy's eyes to see our little girl so excited about kindergarten. I didn't have time to cry. I was taking pictures and consoling O. She did pretty well. She wanted to stay with CK in her classroom, but a donut hole took care of that.

The Home and School Club had coffee and donut holes for us in the school's new multipurpose building. They had the right idea, but need help with organization. You all know me....I'll be volunteering and help them with that.

All in all, the first day of school went well. It was wonderful to have Daddy there with us on CK's first day. It was also wonderful to see CK come home so excited about her new school, teacher and friends.

End of a Wonderful Summer

Summer has come to an end. School starts on Tuesday. CK will be a Kindergardener! I can't believe it. It was just yesterday that she was born. Goodness!

We have done a lot this summer. Several Lake Tahoe vacations, day camp, Happy Hollow, Great America, swimming at Uncle S and Aunt G's, and mommy's class at Stanford. Busy, but wonderful.

The girls have learned to doggy paddle around the pool. No fear O just jumps in now. Why wait for anyone to catch her. We have many wonderful memories of being up at the lake with family and great friends.

We have been up at Lake Tahoe for a family wedding this week. Daddy joined us on his weekend. We've had a great end of summer week. It was a little chilly this week. Yesterday and today it's been warmer. It will be just perfect for the wedding tomorrow.

Next week I'll post our big girls first day of school portrait. Wish us all luck. Daddy gets to join us for that, since it's his day off. I'm hoping that will help me not cry, but I'm not counting on it. You all know me.

Potty Training

For the past week (started 31 July) we've been potty training O. Goodness! I hope she picks up on this really soon, because it's really getting to me.

For 5 days straight she did not do anything in her little potty chair once. On Saturday, finally, she peed and pooped in the potty! YEA!!! I was so excited. I really needed that little spark of hope. Yesterday (Sunday) she did a little poop and then right before going to bed peed in the potty!!! YEA!!!! Again, I was very excited. In between there has been nothing but accidents. She doesn't care if she poops in her panties. It's been very frustrating.

O looked pretty surprised to be peeing on the potty last night. I just sat her there, knowing she had to pee. We had gone out for dinner with friends and I had O in a pull up. When we got home at 9pm she was dry and awake. She sat on the potty with no argument and when she started peeing was pretty surprised. She was very excited to get a third sticker on her chart. I was too.

Then this morning was back to having accidents. I am trying to be patient. It's very hard, but I'm doing well. I hope that this week she starts telling me when she has to go instead of telling me she IS going.

Power Goes Out-Mall Evacuated

Sunday, as some of you know, was 104 here! Since C was working, and our air conditioning doesn't work, I thought I would take the girls to the mall. I could run a few errands and then we could see a movie. Good plan...right? So I thought.

O fell asleep, before we even got to the mall. I put her in the stroller and figured by the time we were ready to see the movie she would be awake. C called us and said he was in the mall working. We headed for the store he was in. It was nice to see him. We walked through the mall with him, but he had to go and finish his work.

We walked around, looking for a place to just sit until O woke up. We had finished our errands and just wanted to rest. There was absolutely no place to sit. The mall was so packed. It was worse than Christmas. Everyone was there to be inside were it was air conditioned and they were there for the day. Every bench and chair was taken. I told CK we could go and see if there was a place to sit in the family rest room. As we were headed over there I noticed some of the stores were closing because their power went out. I didn't think anything of it. That had happened a few times in the past as I was shopping and when I worked in retail. As we got closer to the food court everyone was looking at something. I thought maybe there was a fight. People were getting pretty crabby with all the heat. Then I noticed the lights flickering.....then the smoke/fire alarm went off. I immediately turned around. I told CK we need to leave. We're not going to be able to see the movie today. CK was upset, I was too.

People were running out of the mall. There was some kind of recorded greeting from the loud speakers in the mall, but you could not understand it. I'm sure it was saying to evacuate. As we walked calmly out of the mall. CK was getting nervous. She asked if we needed to hurry. I told her no, it was never a good idea to run or hurry in an emergency. We just needed to calmly get out of the mall. O was still asleep. I have no idea how she could sleep with the alarm going off and all the people rushing out, but she did.

We got outside and headed for the parking lot where we were parked. Unfortunately the only parking I could find was on the FOURTH floor....in the sun! I wasn't sure how we were going to get up there. The elevator was shut down because of the power outage and I had a sleeping child in a stroller. At least CK was awake. I called C to tell him. He said, a transformer blew and I should evacuate. (nice to have the inside info.) I headed for the stairs. By the time I got there O was starting to wake up. I asked her if she could walk up the stairs for mommy. She nodded and said yes. Great!

The girls walked as I pulled the stroller behind me. I told them to stay at the landing and wait for me. All of a sudden on the second set of stairs, the stroller got lighter. I looked and a lady was helping me. I thanked her and she said she was parked on the third flour. Great. I got help for most of the way. I thanked her and we made it easily to the fourth floor. Thank goodness some people are still nice.

Getting up to four was the easy part. Now I had to get out of the garage. All those hundreds of people trying to get out at once. What a mess! I got the girls in the car and headed for the exit. We could hear the Fire Trucks rushing to the mall as we were headed to the car. Then...we sat....and sat. CK was getting worried. I could feel myself getting stressed and panicked. I kept talking to CK, telling her it was going to take a while, but we would get out. It would be okay. The entire time praying and telling myself to stay calm. It was going to be okay. We would get out. O didn't seem worried. I told the girls, and myself, we were in the air conditioned car. It could be worse. I must have made CK feel better, because before I knew it she was asleep.

Then O started..."I want to go home. I want a cookie." Great. The only thing I had was raisins and water. She had raisins already and didn't want more. I put some kids music on. Thank goodness I carry coloring books and crayons with me. That kept her occupied for the HOUR we were sitting in the car...on the FOURTH floor of the parking garage....not moving.

We finally started to move. Then it went pretty fast. We were out of the garage in less than 10 minutes. No one must have been letting us out that entire time. PEOPLE!

As I drove out of the mall parking lot and onto the main street C called to check on me. I told him I was fine now that I was out of the garage. That's when I started to cry. We were out. We weren't going to be stuck up there for as many hours as I had envisioned. I headed for home. What a relief.

CK woke up - I told her we were finally out of the parking garage and we were going to find some place to have dinner. We ended up at good old McDonald's. Electricity, air conditioning...sounded like a perfect place to me.

Mommy attends Stanford!

I have to brag....I have the BEST husband in the world.

This past week he sent me to a Digital Photography and Photoshop class at Stanford. It was one of those intense classes (M-F 8:30am-5pm). Every day, I came home exhausted, but excited. The commute was the worse part, but SO worth it. I learned so much from the professional photographer who taught the class. I took so many pictures. Stanford is such a beautiful campus. To have the opportunity to not only photograph it, but photograph it at all times of the day and night was great.

We had one night shoot. I have never done photography at night before. I'm not sure why, just haven't. It was a blast! I can't wait to do more.

Hopefully I'll be able to take Digital Photography and Photoshop II next summer.

While I was at Stanford all week the girls were with my sister-in-law, playing with their cousins, Daddy and Nonna. They were so good. I am so proud of them. CK got upset one morning and told me "Mommy, can you stay home and play with me today." Poor thing. It was very hard on both girls...and Daddy, but they all did great. Thanks again C for sending me to this wonderful class!

Here are just five photographs of the several hundred I took during the week. I hope you enjoy them. I was in heaven taking them.

Family Day at Great America

We had a family day at Great America. We went on the perfect day....July 5th. The 4th crowds were gone. There was a nice breeze, so it wasn't too hot.

C hadn't been in years, so the girls and I had fun showing Daddy all around the park. The favorite ride was the kiddy roller coaster. The girls loved it. CK said it was scary, but wanted to go on it again. O, of course, LOVED it. Daddy taught her the proper way a dare devil rides a roller coaster - arms UP. She did it with a smile on her face. That's Daddy's girl. (don't forget, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them. The look on both girls faces on the roller coaster is the best!)

I am excited to say, we are now ready for Disneyland. O stood for a picture with Dora and Sponge Bob. We have NEVER watched Sponge Bob on TV. The girls only know who he is by seeing "stuff" at the store. O saw him and ran towards him saying "Sponge Bob, Sponge Bob." So, I now have a picture of O with Sponge Bob. Maybe next year we'll be able to go to Disneyland. I'll start saving.

Plant a Garden...Watch it grow

The girls and I have been busy the last two days planting our garden.

Yesterday we went to OSH and picked out fruit & vegetable plants, flowers, & a few shade plants. When we got home the girls went across the street to play with their friend. : ) I stayed at home and planted flowers in a container on the front porch and got the back yard ready to plant our fruit and vegetable garden. I LOVE having a friend for the girls across the street. They had so much fun they didn't want to come home.

This morning we were outside for about 3 hours planting. We had a wonderful time.

In our fruit and vegetable garden we have the following plants (so far): Watermelon, Tomato, Snow Peas, Japanese Cucumber, Pumpkins, Corn, & Basil (I already have Sage, Rosemary & Thyme).

I need to buy another bag of dirt. I have one more container I want to put carrots and radishes in. I also need to plant some sunflowers. The gardner came and we got kicked out of the yard...sort of.

I'll keep you all posted on how our garden does. I'm hoping we have enough pumpkins in the fall to have a pumpkin picking party. We'll see.

Girls First Baseball Game!

Spring is FINALLY here and we went out with some friends to see our minor league baseball team win a great game. What fun. There is just something about going to a baseball game. So American. The girls loved it. We all ate so much "baseball" food. We came home with full stomachs and very happy. It was a beautiful afternoon. We had to move spots because it was just too sunny on the third base side. We look forward to more spring fun.

HAPPY EASTER

The girls with Cindy Bunny at the Jelly Belly Factory. I'll put up pictures of them coloring Easter Eggs as well. I haven't downloaded those pics yet. Sorry.

Jelly Belly Factory Tour

Friday we went to the Jelly Belly Factory for a tour. What a fun day! We had a bit of a wait, but they give you Jelly Bellies while you wait. The girls had so much fun. O had a hard time eating her Jelly Bellies. They gave her two hands full and she didn't have an extra hand to put them in her mouth. That didn't stop her. She didn't want any help from me either. She was afraid I would take them away I guess. The girls were able to see Cindy Bunny and eat more Jelly Bellies. We learned all about how Jelly Belly Beans are made. After our tour we had lunch in their cafe - Jelly Belly shaped hot dogs.

Enjoying any little bit of sun!

This rain is really getting to all of us. Especially the girls and I. Talk about cranky! Although C has it bad. He's gotta work in it.

Today the sun decided to bless us with it's presence (at 3pm). I took the opportunity and the girls and I went for a walk to our neighborhood park. Unfortunately Daddy had to stay home to study for his last quiz (FT mids end tonight! yea!).

We had a great time. It was a much needed park visit! I must say, with all the rain the creek is full and the hills are coated with a beautiful carpet of green. I just LOVE where we live! We look forward to tomorrow. It's not suppose to rain and it's C's day off!