School's Out

Matthew had a strong finish to his first year in preschool. I think he actually made it through 3 solid weeks without getting sick and missing class. By the end of the year, he was attending four days a week.

Because he started the school year late, he was placed in a four year old class. I loved the way they loved him and cared for him.

 Trinity was one of his school buddies this year.

 During his independent play time on the last day, he decided to put on some bling and do a little BBQing. Cuz that's what you do to celebrate your last day of school. 

Teacher Martha, Teacher Gabe and the Head Teacher, Kendra. They were all so good to Matthew. (Matthew loved to play soccer with Gabe.) We are so happy he had such a good experience!

Summer Start

 Memorial Day Pancake Breakfast, Parade and Carnival 2015

This year She wanted to be a collector of candy, not a giver-outer. So I rode her bike, while she scouted out the perfect location to collect. She was smart; she started at the head of the parade where the giver-outers bags' of candy were full and the adults had not yet issued their warnings for the regulation of candy-giving.

Another smart candy collecting tactic: use the plastic firefighter hat, given at the pancake breakfast, to collect your spoils.

 Such an obvious move, Mom.

After the parade and breakfast, we headed to the carnival. For Matthew that meant kicking around a ball on the field adjacent to the carnival.

 Such joy.

 Fun with Papa.

 The rest of us joined, and the drama ensued. Matthew fled. Isabella collapsed.

 Of course, that was followed by jubilation.

Before

Someone handed me this old picture of Isabella last week. I think she was 4. I love that she's 7 now and I love all the things she knows and can talk about, but this photo made me smile big. Four was before schedules and homework and ponytails and lost teeth. It was before the truth about the tooth fairy and addition of double digit numbers. And it was waaaaay before attitude that rivals that of a surly teenager. Oh, but I love that little face!

Mom Turns 70.

 I can't believe this lady is 70! Isabella wanted to get dressed up to go to my parents' house, since it was for Nana's birthday party, and all, so she put on her fanciest dress, and asked me if I would put on a dress, too. I thought it was such a cute request, I obliged. Gussied up, we drove to Mill Valley.

We didn't last long in our dresses, since Mom wanted to head out to Chrissy Field for the day. It was beautiful and fun. Isabella collected seaweed and jumped right into the cold water.

This was Matthew's first experience being chased by waves. He quickly got the hang of it though and had the best time, despite a sandy diaper, and some MAJOR diaper rash. (The car ride back to Mill Valley was not as fun).

Dinner was Tony Tutto's pizza, and for dessert, Mom's requested cake: Coconut with Meringue Frosting.

This was the the end result, but underneath those fluffy layers of meringue lies a story of deceit and mischief-making.

I had made the cake earlier that morning, and set it out on the counter to cool. When I returned to the cake after taking my shower, I noticed 2 deep grooves in the tops of both cakes about the size of a finger of a 7 year old girl.

"Isabella Claire Holsten!" I boomed, not knowing she was standing (hiding) right behind the kitchen door, a few feet from me. She immediately jumped and started crying. I told her to come to me, but she wouldn't. Instead she pleaded with me from the other side of the door: "It was so good, I couldn't help myself!" That made me laugh, but I still lectured her on self control, especially when it came to other peoples' birthday cakes.

I packed the cake up in the cake tin and loaded it into the front seat of the car for our drive to MV. I had to make several more trips to load the car while Isabella read and Matthew played in the backseat. As I was attempting to put Matthew into his car seat, I noticed some white stuff stuck to the leg of his pants. I immediately looked up at the front seat and saw that the cake tin had been entirely flipped off, the surface of the cake peeled off on the side. My beautiful coconut cake now looked like the moon full of craters.

 Nothing that couldn't be hidden though, with a little (or a lot) of meringue frosting.

And Mom still loved her cake (with its 70 imaginary candles).

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Spring Break

We took a trip to the Oakland Zoo

and saw this little critter hanging out.

Matthew likes giraffes, but not real ones, up close.

He liked the goats at the petting zoo better. (Although the zookeeper had to warn us to keep Matthew quiet --he loves to yell at animals-- so he wouldn't spook the goats.)

We also celebrated Isabella's 7th Birthday.

We had a few special visitors for this backyard party.

I have a friend who has friends who just started a little business where they dress as fun characters and make little girls' birthday parties the best thing in the whole world.

Isabella, excuse me, Queen Elsa, was in heaven.

The best part about this whole shindig (says me) was that I didn't have to do a thing. I sat and talked to my friends, while Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff read stories, did face painting, played games and had a special coronation for the birthday girl. That was awesome.

A few days after this girl turned 7, she reached another milestone in her life: she lost her first tooth. This was a very big deal, because most of the kids in her class have been losing their teeth for a while. After eating an Easter lamb chop at Nana's house though, her front bottom tooth loosened considerably. She was so excited she called Nana and Papa on the phone to tell them the news. 2 days later, while brushing her teeth, that little tooth fell right out into the sink, and another call was made to Nana and Papa. So exciting to be 7!

The Reasons I Don't Sleep in Spring

 

 1. The Vineyard Van

Frosty mornings mean this thing can turn on as early as 2:30 a.m., which feels like living on an airfield. This particular model oscillates, too, so every few minutes, as the fan faces the house, it causes everything on the porch (off of our bedroom) to shake, rattle, and roll.

2.  Matthew

Sleep apnea + tonsilectomy + separation anxiety + illness = a short supply of springtime sleep.

Summer hibernation sounds just about perfect to me.

The Half Birthday That Never Was

 My third graders threw me a "surprise" "half-birthday" "party".  That's right. Each word deserves its own set of quotation marks because the whole thing was equal parts lovely and equal parts strange. I just couldn't figure it out at first.

 

The surprise part was that the kinder teacher along with a parent from my class showed up at my door one afternoon in March and asked me I had a half birthday to celebrate. That alone threw me because I have an October birthday, so technically, April is my half-birthday month. (And I couldn't figure out why the kinder teacher had anything to do with it.) Then I was presented with a homemade mocha ice cream cake, beautiful flowers, and and a card signed by my whole class. As for the party part, well, when you give 27 third graders cake at 2:15 on a Friday afternoon, you automatically have a party on your hands. 

I was a bit bewildered, never having had a March Half Birthday Surprise Party before, but I guess there is a first time for everything, and look, if someone is nice enough to throw you a random party with a cake, flowers, and a card, then you might as well enjoy it.