Little Daily Stuff for February

Rose is officially registered for Kindergarten for this next Fall!  She was a trooper and waited with me in the ridiculous line.  It has been FREEZING here (literally - there was snow on the hills right by our house and we had hail and freezing rain the night before Kindergarten registration so it was super cold (for us)).

Hence the ski coat.  But it was sunny that morning (lasted all of 4 hours I think).  Hence the sun hat that we got for our upcoming trip to HAWAII!!  But also the hat is on backwards.  And she still has her badge from ski school this year.  And she refused to look at me or smile.  I cannot believe she is going to be in Kindergarten next year!

Meanwhile, back at home, Rose still loves dressing up and being fabulous as much as ever.  She came in the other day like this, feeling super beautiful and proud of herself.  Obviously I agreed with her and asked if I could take her picture.  This time she obliged and even posed for me.

Paul got moved to a new office at his firm.  It has these amazing floor to ceiling windows on two of the walls (it's a corner office) and gorgeous views.  I'm weirdly jealous.  The girls and I made a trip into the city to see it and have lunch with him.  The girls had Boudin (Clara is obsessed with their clam chowder bread bowls) and Paul and I had the San Fran Psycho sandwich from a sandwich place that he's been raving about (with good reason - it was delicious).  

Then we endured an agonizing 2 1/2 hour drive home because of the awful traffic just getting out of the city onto the freeway.  Seriously, once we made it to the on-ramp, it was smooth sailing.  It was just getting through the gridlock of rude, pushy, inconsiderate drivers on the city streets that was the hard part.

Post-church hanging out.  Which Clara takes literally by sprawling across multiple chairs.  Also, take note of the giant carrot Rose is eating.  The girls' favorite treat ever is a full carrot with the leafy green stuff on top.  Forgot that mom is a food blogger who makes things like this giant cookie.  Nope, they want the carrot.  They slay me.

So, Secret Cupid isn't going nearly as well this year as last.  It's my friend Rachel's idea (from 3 in 30 podcast but I knew her before she was famous because we started the adoption process at the same time and have kept in touch ever since). 

Last year it was so great and the girls loved it.  They still love it but now they also kind of hate it.  Rose drew Clara's name and hasn't quite figured out how to really kept it secret.  She is trying and being sneaky, but then blows her cover by admitting to Clara that she picked such-and-such thing just for her.

Which apparently is soul-crushing for Clara to know who her secret cupid is by the way she has wailed and moaned over that fact, and the mean words that have been spoken about wishing she had a different secret cupid.  To the point that I heard Rose say the other day "I'm a bad secret cupid.  I quit."  And then we had a big sit down talk.  It was very sad, but we're working through it and Rose didn't really want to quit and the next day was so happy to pick up Clara's laundry and put it in the dirty clothes bin for her while Clara was in the shower.  Clara didn't notice but Rose felt happy again to be serving her sister. 

Also, those jewels on the bed in the secret cupid store have easily been the biggest hit this year.  Both girls went "shopping" first and were smart enough not to pick them to give to their person, in the hopes that their secret cupid would choose them instead.  I, obviously, opened the package and divided up those jewels and gave them both jewels on the same day and they were thrilled. 

We had some friends over for dinner a couple of weeks ago and Rose snapped this picture unbeknownst to me while we were doing last minute preparations before they got there (i.e., the quick mad scramble to make it look like we actually keep our house clean by sweeping and emptying the sink of dirty dishes).  

I got lash extensions the other week just to try them.  I've wanted them for years, ever since my friend Ginny started getting them.  I like them, but I don't see myself getting them again.  I just don't feel like I can justify the cost, both in terms of money and in terms of the maintenance required for them.  Anyway, the one thing I like most about them is how they pretty much make it so I can be ready for the day just by filling in my eyebrows.  I mean, it's not a full face or anything, but it's definitely better than nothing and let's me be nominally presentable in about 60 seconds.

The girls and I took a little bit different route the other week when we went for a walk and ended up meeting some new neighbors who just moved in.  Their kids had set up an orange juice stand with fresh squeezed orange juice from their backyard.  Turns out they have kids the same age as Clara and Rose so we need to get back over to their house and see about getting to know them better since they are just around the corner from us.

And that's pretty much the latest!

Day in the Life: Tuesday, February 28, 2017

My second attempt at a Day in the Life kept getting postponed until it was the last day of February.  And it's not my best effort, which is too bad.  March is shaping up to be the same way.  But even though I didn't remember to take as many photographs as I intended and none of them are as artistic and creative as I would like, I still love many of the images I got for the day, so here they are.

7:00 a.m.:  Eating breakfast.  Rose loves milk (really any beverage) and will drink and drink and drink and not eat.  The little rascal.  So she always gets a small cup to start and then has to wait until she has had at least half of her meal before she gets more, otherwise she just fills up on liquid.

7:45 a.m.:  While I got ready for the day, Rose played with her bunny and blanket on the floor in our room.  

8:30 a.m.:  Dropping Clara off at Kindergarten.  I just cannot believe how big she is getting.

9:00 a.m.:  Back at home and taking care of business.  Rose is getting so big too.

10:30 a.m.:  We were planning to replace the back patio concrete and ended up deciding to redo the side walkway, driveway, and front walkway as well.  So this was the state of our driveway all broken up into pieces and ready to be transferred to trucks and hauled away.  It was a big project but we are pretty happy with the results.  We won't be able to drive on it for a few more weeks still (we are waiting for the cement to cure completely before we stain it a darker color) but we went with a stamped design that looks nice, I think.

12:30 p.m.:  Picking Clara up from school.  I lost track of time at the house doing blog related stuff while Rose played next to me and didn't think to pick up my camera.

I love that she still holds my hand.  Every single day.  Both girls do this and it melts my heart.  Also, the blossoms around here have been just gorgeous this year and I am glad I finally had my camera out to take photographs of one particular tree at the school with thousands of pink blossoms that we have been admiring for weeks.

1:00 p.m.:  Lunch at Mr. Pickles with the girls.  It's right next to Nothing Bundt Cakes and the animal feed store where we get chicken food.  It's an eclectic little strip mall but we always stop in each of the three stores whenever we are here.

2:30 p.m.:  At home working on homework.  She gets a small packet of it each week and has to turn it in on Thursdays.  She grumbles about it every now and then but for the most part gets to work and enjoys doing it.

4:30 p.m.:  Waiting for gymnastics to start and watching a movie on the iPad with her friend Logan.

6:15 p.m:  Paul got home earlier than usual and we ate dinner later than usual (Tuesdays are always harder since gymnastics goes until 5:30 and then we have to get home and make dinner).  We are working with Rose on her manners but when she DOES decide to eat, she has a tendency to shovel things into her mouth.

And that was it.  Unlike my first DITL, I didn't break out the tripod once.  And once the girls were in bed for the night I felt totally spent and didn't pick the camera up again.  Hopefully March will be better!

Big Little Adventures for Little Girls

I'm still keeping up with my 365 project and feeling really grateful for it because as I review my pictures from the past week or so I feel so happy remembering these captured moments.  They are such little things, really - weeding and swimming lessons and playing at the park - but they are so big and important in our girls' lives.  

I picked up some bags of peony bulbs at Costco and the girls helped me weed the front flower bed so we could plant some bulbs.  We can't actually landscape our front of back yards yet since we are still working on hardscaping, but we have a few spots where I felt like I could at least plant a few flowers that should grow into good cutting flowers for bouquets later in the year.  At least, that's my hope.  And the girls seemed to enjoy helping with the weeding, or at least being outside and getting plenty dirty with me one day when we had a break in the rain.

Paul brought back a small cooler full of snow from Tahoe so that the girls could show it to the chickens.  The chickens were not impressed until I threw some mealworms on the snow so they would peck around it.

Swimming lessons are always a highlight of the week.  Rose recently started wearing goggles (we've tried them off and on in the past but she always rejected them - this time around she seems to finally appreciate them) and I think it's the cutest.  The girls lessons are in side-by-side lanes with Rose's class on the steps and Clara's class in the deeper lanes.  It's always so sweet to see them smiling and chatting with each other while their coaches are working with other classmates in the pool.

Our backyard has some terrible drainage problems and we have massive puddles that haven't disappeared even though we haven't had any rain in 3 or 4 days.  The girls love it though and just put their boots on so they can stomp through the muddy water.  Inevitably, one or both of them fall down and get soaked with filthy, muddy water and then require a bath.  I don't put a stop to it though because it just seems like such good, healthy kid behavior and I'm glad they are making those memories.  I just keep putting them in their oldest play clothes just in case I can't get the filth out in the laundry.

Rose is still in love with her Snow White dress up dress.  It got a pretty substantial tear the first day she wore it and then it took me a couple of weeks to get out the sewing machine and fix it.  When it was repaired, she was beyond thrilled and she comes to me every single day when she puts it on to thank me for fixing it for her and give me a big hug.  It's the sweetest.

Rainy days have meant lots of dress-up play indoors and looking out the window at all the water.

Rose loves going to Music Makers with her little friends each Wednesday.  We sing, dance, run, and do story and snack time.

I posted some of these on Instagram, but the other day I pushed the couch out of the living room so we had the entire floor for dancing.  The girls are obsessed with the Trolls, Moana, and La La Land soundtracks and have most of the songs memorized.

When the rain finally cleared, we took the girls to the park to take advantage of the nicer weather.  Somehow Clara and Paul started a wrestling match where she would try to tackle him around the waist and he would stick her foot between her legs to trip her up.  She would go down and laugh and laugh, then go right back to trying to tackle him.  Rose joined the fight and eventually the girls were able to bring daddy down together, then they climbed all over him, attempting to keep him pinned while he laughed and tried to get back up.

Another later afternoon, another bath after getting filthy in the muddy yards.

Not an amazing picture or anything but man alive we have had some beautiful sunrises here recently.  Each weekend the girls come climb in our bed to have family snuggles on Saturday morning while Paul is home and we always enjoy seeing the clouds turn pink and orange and gold.  It's too bad we have telephone poles and electric wires marring our views.

And that's pretty much what's been happening in our neck of the woods the past week!

Half Moon Bay, More Reflections & Hot Chocolate, and Day-to-Day 365 stuff

We have been having such a busy, fun January!  One of my favorites on record actually, and I think it's because we have decided to beat the January blues by doing lots and lots of fun things.  The other week we decided to take the girls to Half Moon Bay to watch the winter surf, which is always amazing and powerful.  It was chilly and blustery as most of our January days have been, but still beautiful.  We had lunch at Sam's Chowder House afterwards.

Rose was scaring us with how adamant she was about climbing all over these huge rocks by herself.  She kept scaring herself too, though, and would call out for help one second while pushing away the next.

Her cheesy pose & smile for dad.

The girls shared some fish & chips and Paul and I each got a big bowl of clam chowder.  Which okay, okay, is not Whole30 compliant but we decided not to be ridiculously fastidious towards the end of our Whole30.  I would say we finished out at about 95% compliance (which I know according to the Whole30 "rules" would equal a fail and require a restart).  We justified it based on having already finished a real one and knowing we didn't have food allergies or issues to deal with - more just the sugar cravings and dysfunctional food relationships and we kept those under control (i.e., we didn't order desserts, stayed away from dairy & grain with small exceptions like this chowder, etc.) during this round.  Because everybody reading this needed to know all that...

After Half Moon Bay, we drove up through the Santa Cruz mountains.  We stopped for a little hike down to see this swollen creek, admire the giant fallen trees, and hunt for banana slugs.

I keep looking at 365 prompts but then doing my own thing based on what inspires me that day.  Like when I caught Rose after church one Sunday, hiding underneath our bed covers, dressed in a leotard and Cinderella skirt, eating stolen fruit snacks that she found while pawing through my blue church bag, scattering its contents everywhere.  I grabbed Paul so he could witness her naughtiness but not before I grabbed my camera first.

She was pretty pleased with herself.

Clara still loves gymnastics.  Rose loves sitting and watching the iPad while Clara practices.

Oh the messes these girls make!  I swear they pull out every single toy when they are playing and for the life of me I can't get the idea across that they need to put one toy away before getting another out.  At least Clara usually has a pretty good attitude about helping me clean up the mess at the end of the day.  Rose, not so much.  But we're working on it.

We went to the Oakland Zoo last Friday and I forgot my big camera.  It's the first day of my 365 project that I only have an iPhone picture, which is better than I thought I would be doing by now!  The otters and baboons were our favorites this time.  They were so playful and active!  But the elephants, lions, tigers, bears, alligators, macaws, chimpanzees and squirrel monkeys were all really active and moving around too, which was fun because so often they are all just sleeping when we go.

My P52 group's photo prompt for the week was "selfless selfie" where you take a picture of something that says something about you without actually including yourself in the image.  I actually ended up with something I like better but my first thought was to stack all of our travel books in a big pile.  I love browsing travel books and magazines and haven't done it in a long time.  Those little "Top 10" guides are actually some of my favorites and have come in handy for past trips.  I have been feeling antsy for a big trip again lately and flipping through some of these pages and feeling inspired by the images gets me excited about the possibilities of where we might go next (most likely Costa Rica this November over Thanksgiving).

This is my favorite reflection shot I took in January, when I was paying attention to opportunities to take pictures with reflections in them.  I saw somebody else take a picture and flip it on its head so the reflection stood out more as the subject, so it's not like I'm super creative in this.  But I am in love with her perfect pose, the dynamic sky behind her, and the centered composition.

Some other favorites from the same day...  We have an hour to kill on the playground every Monday while Clara is in Spanish class so Rose had plenty of time to play in the puddles and have the school equipment all to herself.

After Clara got done with class, I told her we could hang out for a little bit longer, thinking she would want to play on the equipment like the swings.  But instead, she just wanted to run around the track at school.  Run Club is every other Friday and it's probably Clara's favorite thing about Kindergarten.  

When we got home, I offered to make hot chocolate for the girls.  We haven't done this in a while and they absolutely loved it.  I made it barely warm and both girls guzzled it down with smacking lips and little groans of satisfaction.  They have been asking for it again most days since then, which is funny since they have never been huge hot chocolate drinkers until now.

I posted this on instagram, but when I was taking these photos, my heart was just melting over the little dimples in Rose's knuckles.  It reminds me of how little she still is with her baby-pudge hands, even though she seems so big most days in a lot of other respects.

Rose in her Valentine's Day dress.  We went to take some pictures and this is one of the outtakes.  It's also probably the best shot I got with dramatic lighting, even though I have some that I like even more of both girls when they were having fun playing.  It's so hard when you can't get your kids to play in the exact light you want them to, lol.  She loves her new dress from Grandma Cece and has been begging me to wear it ever since it arrived in the mail.  Now that we have taken pictures, I'm letting the girls wear their new outfits (we're close enough to Feb. 14th, right?) and they couldn't be happier about it.

My 365 picture from Inauguration Day.  Like pretty much everybody else, it seems, my heart is troubled over the state of our country lately.  It's not just our new president, but also the American people and the way everybody is acting and reacting that concerns me.  I'm basically trying to avoid social media as much as possible, not out of a desire to be an ostrich with my head stuck in the sand, but more to just avoid the negativity that is overrunning my feeds.

And lastly, a picture of laundry.  Actually, this is my other attempt at a "selfless selfie" and it's of three of my favorite cardigans.  I have had these for far too long and they are all showing a bit of wear.  They don't hold their shape like they used to and are a bit worse for the wear.  But they were still bright lying there in the sunshine and they are still so comfortable and enjoyable to wear.  They made me think of myself at this stage of life and feeling worn out and maybe a bit faded from what I once was, though still bright and colorful and hopefully reliable.  Anyone who knows me knows I wear a cardigan almost every day, even many days during the summer (CA summers are cool in the mornings and evenings so I can get away with it), so I just felt like this shot was appropriate and I love that it was unplanned, unlike the one I took with the travel books.  I just happened to notice them and the idea of the selfless selfie popped in my head.

And just like that, here we are at the last day of January!  I'm amazed that tomorrow is February 1st.  I have one more post about a trip to Tahoe that we did this past weekend, but I haven't had a chance to go through those pictures yet and this post is long enough already.