Snow?

Californians have been quite anxious this past week looking toward Saturday (yesterday) when we would actually have snowfall. All of us with fancy droid phones thought it was pretty neat to see the snowflakes falling across the screen adding to our anticipation. Well yesterday came and it was COLD. But it was also beautiful. Where there weren't clouds there was crystal blue sky. At about 9 a.m. we could see a very dark cloud coming our way. My dad called and said it was hailing at his house and sure enough it started hailing while on the phone together. Sara and Zac ran out to feel the ice that we so rarely get, Claire was content watching from the window, and I battled to keep Luke in my arms. It was cool. Not snow, but still cool!

Unfortunately for Sara, it snowed in Burbank where she lives. She got off the phone with her mom and was in tears. Apparently it snowed enough that it stayed on the ground and dusted everything white. And Sara missed it. Damn. Not what you want to happen when she is already not visiting regularly and our weekend happened to be pretty dull.

Dull except for Claire's party finally happening!! Here is a quick recap of the fun illustrated in pictures.



Here I am. Solo parenting since Eric was in Washington D.C. for work. Claire is wearing the present I bought her not really as a bribe but something to sweeten the fact that a gymnastics party was NOT the original plan.



The kids got to hula hoop, jump rope, jump on the trampoline, do obstacle courses, a pinata and more.



This is how Zac and Sara looked the entire weekend. They were a little too cool for the five year old gymnastics, but they were still helpful.



Here is the amazing Barbie cake that Oma made! Wow!



Here is Claire with the Barbie after all of the cake was eaten off around her. Thanks to the help from my wonderful family, we pulled it off!

Where was Luke? I'm sure my mom will blog about that soon. :)

My Helper

This is what happens when you ask your 7 year old to "organize" the doll house.


When I began rolling on the floor with laughter he seemed genuinely confused. When I told him what I was laughing at he asked, "What? She's bathing and you can't have your pants up on the toilet!" Then he started to laugh too. He is home on day 2 with a low fever and headache. It has been really nice to have him around!

Claire Bear

Tomorrow Claire turns 5! I am starting to panic a little because I still call her baby and, I hate to admit, I treat her much younger than I remember treating Zac at 5. I worry a bit that I am being sexist and I am doing permanent damage to Claire. But I also realize that birth order truly impacts parenting and leaves a lasting effect on kids, not necessarily damage. I have no real research to back up this statement other than personal experience. When I am with my parents and brother, I immediately regress into my little sister/baby status. I think the best way to describe Claire is put best by my mother. She is very self possessed!

Things I love about Claire:

She has to wear a "poofy" dress and if it isn't "poofy." Then we have to wear the "poofy" skirt underneath the dress to make it, well, "poofy."

She puts a "y" at the end of every word. i.e. Uppy, milky, huggy... (Something I plan to remedy before Kindergarten but remains a little cute right now.)

The more sparkles, the happier she is.

When I tell her she's smart and beautiful she says, "I know."

When she is hungry she can eat more than anybody in the house but can easily stop in the middle of a dessert if she's not.

She giggles and laughs a lot!

She loves music and loves to dance. Her latest favorite is (it's hard to announce publicly) Justin Bieber. Yep. Nothing can be done.

She loves her friends!

I can take her anywhere and she wouldn't mind if I left her there. (Can be concerning as well!)

She climbs trees and keeps up with the boys even in her "poofy" dress!

Things I love not so much but must be noted:

Claire has a glare where she drops her head but looks up at you with her eyes and pouts out her enormous lips.

Every injury requires a dramatic episode and a limp even if it was her arm.

She cries at the doctor and dentist as if she is being tortured.

When she is tired she cries quite a bit and insists that we all don't like her. (Which in turn makes us laugh so she cries harder. Sorry Claire.)

We planned an outdoor birthday celebration yesterday with a princess castle bounce house/slide combination. Usually a safe choice since this is California. But it rained and it was really cold. So we postponed the party and hope to do it next weekend. When we told Claire I was prepared for tears or at least some sadness. She could have cared less! Love that girl! :)

Basketball, Birthdays, Ballet, and Best friends

Last weekend when we celebrated Oma's birthday, Sara and I ventured to Glass and Bead to make a necklace for her. It was hysterical! As Sara put it, "There were many blond moments." But the result was a beautiful necklace that Oma loved. Happy Birthday Oma!

When we celebrated with Butch we did the usual Sunday tradition of "Noodle Night" and topped it off with a cake that the kids and I made. Sara (a perfectionist like her father) was very depressed because we didn't wait long enough to put on the frosting. We documented her feelings on the tragedy.

But it tasted great!

Happy Birthday dad!

Claire got promoted at ballet this month. I have to admit I am SO FREAKING PROUD! The teacher asked her to be in the class with Kindergartners, first, and second graders! She fits right in and is actually challenged. More importantly, she loves it! She will be in her first recital in June which is quite a production. Stay tuned!

Zac started basketball. Good thing since he has been claiming it as his favorite sport for quite a while now. Now he will find out for sure. He is having a blast with his best friend Kyle.


Another of Zac's good friends, Drew, came over for a play date today. They had a great time! Claire really wanted to get in on the action.

His parents were due to arrive at 12:30. At 12:33 I see Drew laying face down in the backyard crying. I felt some relief when there was no blood and a bit more relief when he barely cried and got right up to get some ice. He just got a good bump right in the middle of his forehead after falling from the tree swing. My play date nightmare come true! Thank goodness I have known his parents since Jr. High and they promise they will allow him over again some time.

Trust

Sara visited this weekend to help celebrate Oma's 59th birthday and Butch's 72nd! We hadn't seen her since Christmas and she had lots to fill us in on. Like her sprained ankle and an ER visit. The sprained ankle was just Sara falling over herself and the ER visit was another Sara being Sara. Apparently she sat down on the couch and felt a sharp prick but didn't think much of it. As time passed she realized the pain was increasing. Eventually she said she began to scream especially after she realized she had sat on a pencil and it was deep within her leg. Don't worry. They got it out at the ER and put her on some drugs to ensure there would be no infection. It's ok. We laughed too and apparently so did her mom! :)
I have to note Saturday morning as a big event for us and Sara. We left her home alone with Luke J. for the first time. First I asked her about it casually to see how quickly and easily she would answer. Her response was immediate with a "Sure!" And I was just fine about it until I called Butch on my way out. I told him Sara was baby sitting for the first time and I mentioned a teeny bit of worry and his response is, "Yeah. I would worry too." Super comforting pastor. Thanks! But she survived and seemed to really enjoy it. When I got home I found this on the counter.




So sweet. Love her!

Cheese!

It's beautiful right now in California. Perfect for a three day weekend in honor of MLK Jr. We took advantage and spent the evening outside. Yes I had to threaten to take away various hand held devices first, but once outside they were great!
Our concern for Luke's not talking is very real yet we are pretty sure he is attempting some words. Here is some extremely snotty, dirty video footage from our back yard fun.



Happy weekend all!

Back to Reality

Monday school resumed, but I didn't start teaching again until today. I feel worked. I am crossed eyed and kind of dizzy actually. Hmmm. Amazing how 2 weeks can alter your stamina.

Anyway, I came back to Vista today after a break in that occurred over the holiday. It was worse than I first heard and they are quite sure that it was former students. So sad. There was a camera stolen from my class and a lap top from another. Lots of vandalism and a huge mess. But the worst thing that happened was that they killed the bearded dragon that lived next door to me in the other first grade. They poured cleaner into her cage and of course she didn't survive. An awful person vandalizes and steals, but I think it takes some one with serious issues to harm a helpless living thing. RIP Buzz. The Claremont police department are actually buying a new one for us. Very nice.

A few favorite moments from my day: A former student of mine that comes from an extremely dysfunctional family saw me and literally lit up with the best smile and gave me a big hug. Another dysfunctional student that is new this year and in the fourth grade has taken a liking to me told me he was going to come see me at recess every day to help me out. At a parent meeting after school a very funny, outspoken, African-America mom told me that her son listens to me and my partner well. She reminded me that he doesn't respond to any of the sweet "honey" or "baby" talk. He needs the "black momma" not to be confused with "mommy." I started laughing and she was very serious. She asked me if I put that in my notes and I said, "definitely."

I have days where I feel like teaching isn't the job for me. It can be so draining and sometimes not fulfilling. But then you have a day like this one and it's as if your fire has been lit once again and you have the energy to last a while longer. At least until tomorrow.;)