It WAS fun, just like she thought!

Kennedy is home, sleeping in her own bed, tonight for the first time since Tuesday. Did we send her for a trial run at a boarding school? Did we sign her up for one of those "swap your kid for one from another country" programs?

Nope! Wednesday morning, she left on a big yellow school bus for a place called Astrocamp. She was excited to go. We got to school and all the kids checked in and got their cool t-shirts.


And they dropped their luggage on the sidewalk.

It was a lot of luggage.

I finally relinquished the camera. Kennedy took the picture of the moms standing on the sidewalk. Moms who were not going to leave until the bus drove out of sight.

It was a four hour bus ride. They seem to be in good spirits.

The accommodations are probably not five-star, but they were together...

I should let Kennedy compose her own post, but I loved these pictures so much I had to post them tonight.

Here she is getting ready to do a "vine walk". Or perhaps they are training to be in the circus. I'm not sure. Probably some of them need a Plan B, just in case, and the circus is always an option.

She's ready...

Climbing the big tree...

Whoa! Scary!!!!!

Whew! She made it!

Is it my imagination, or does she look relieved?

They came back Friday night...but Friday night was another story! The bus, after a four hour ride home, pulled up, she jumped off and jumped into her friend, Samantha's, parent's car and off they went to the Staples Center to the Taylor Swift concert.

She's been busy, but now she's fast asleep in her very own bed.

Ah, I like it that way much better. :)

A little quote for a Monday morning

"If you THINK you are going to have fun, then there is a BIG CHANCE that you WILL have fun."

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~ Brooke, said to Kennedy when Kennedy expressed excitement about her upcoming 6th grade overnight trip.

A Toast to Mother's Day

For Mother's Day 2009, we tried something new. We met our friends, the Zavolta family, at Malibu Family Wines. We took a picnic. We bought a bottle of wine.

It was fabulous. (And I hear those of you who KNOW us...we aren't REAL wine drinkers, but when in Rome...or Malibu as the case may be...)


Here is where you can buy the wine, or "take a flight" (which is a sampling). Next time we plan to take that flight for sure!

This is a man who knows how to treat his wife right on Mother's Day...

Brookie made this bag in Brownies. I love it.

It was a perfect day...a perfect setting...don't you agree?

Those in the family who would like to see more pictures can check out the Shutterfly site!

Once upon a time, I fell in love with this boy right here.


And I was VERY much in love. Very happy with my partner in life. Not only were we in love, we were best friends.

Life was good. We were having fun.

But as we know, because we learn this early in life...first comes love, then comes marriage.

Then comes a baby in a baby carriage.

And then, like the Grinch but without his foul mood, my heart grew three sizes that day the baby carriage showed up. My heart expanded so that it could contain the myriad of feelings that the rest of my life would throw at it...

because now I was a Mommy.

I am thankful today is Mother's Day. Not so that I can be waited on or receive presents (but that is a lovely benefit)! Not because the children will try extra hard to be on good behavior (an even BETTER benefit)! But because today will be a day that we will have nothing on the agenda but being together.

I love my family.

I love my husband.

And I love my girls.

Later today we will be picnicking at Malibu Family Wines...and I will certainly test the capacity of my heart when I watch my girls play with such a scenic background behind them.

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Happy Mother's Day to my mother, who is having a difficult week with a sick friend and for that I am so sorry. Happy Mother's Day to my mother-in-law, who is leaving on a cruise today and for that I am so happy. Happy Mother's day to my stepmother and my aunt, who are most likely having a bit of a sad day for this is the first mother's day without my grandmother, and I imagine how they feel because I am missing her too. Happy Mother's Day to my rockin' sisters-in-law, who are such wonderful moms and who live too far away. Happy Mother's Day to my village, my back-up moms, the mothers of my children's friends...there are some I love as if they were my own sisters, my life is enriched for having met them.

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All of these mothers in my life are an inspiration to me for many varied reasons. I am a better mom because of each of them.

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Indeed today is not a day that I wish to BE celebrated, it is a day that I celebrate the fact that I am a mom. The single best thing I've ever done. Twice. :)

Well at least they are cute

This may come as a shock to some of you, but somehow (snicker, snicker) my husband & I did not make athletic babies. Not even close.

Kennedy was girly from the get-go. Dolls and dress-up filled her toddler years. Art and the occasional gymnastics or hip hop class filled the gap from 7 to 10. From 11 on, she's...well...she's just like I was at that age. Except way better. She is excelling at student-ness, her teachers LOVE her, she's a Girl Scout working on her Silver award, she enjoys going to the mall. Gym class? Not her favorite.

Now Brookie...I had a little feeling that Brooke might be a LITTLE athletic. She's WAY more active and loves to run and climb and jump into puddles.

She takes tennis each week and is really doing a great job.

She's in a dance class on Mondays and has a lot of fun.

But sports? I've asked her if she wants to be on her friend's soccer team. She says no. Fine by me...sitting at a soccer field all day on a Saturday doesn't sound like all that much fun to be honest witcha.

Last week, her after-school program had a parents vs kids SOCCER GAME!

Oops. I wore heels and didn't bring a change of clothes AND I could barely walk from pilates two days prior, so August represented us on the field.

First of all, here are a few of the kids. They look harmless, yes?



I know you were thinking how cute Brooke and that little girl were, so here's another shot.



Warm up exercises! Here she goes!!! What a champ!!!

There was about 1000000007 little kids and about, oh, 4 adults...here it appears that August is approaching Brooke to give her a little advice. Or perhaps wake her up from her daydream by stepping on her foot or something.

See...this is how you do it! You kick the ball LIKE THIS!

However, that did not appeal to her at all.

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Instead she found an area of the field in which she could really showcase her talent!

Goalie! Or is it goaly? Y or IE?

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Even if I don't know how to spell it, it's an important position, yes? Do not let the ball go into the goal, right?

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Right!

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So, in order to do that MOST EFFECTIVELY, probably you should stand with a few of your bestest buds, chat a bit, and just completely GUARD THAT GOAL!

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Yep. That's how she rolled.

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And guess who won...come on now...but of course! THE KIDS! Because there was no way a parent was going to kick a ball hard enough to break through this girlie-goalie line up, that's for sure!

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So, looks like Saturdays will remain soccer field-free until further notice. Thank you to our DNA. :)

Manic Monday

Last night, while in the bath, Brooke says "I wish it was Saturday". Boy howdy, so do I! I wanted it to still be Saturday so we could have have one more lovely weekend day.

Brooke, however, wanted it to be Saturday so we could take her to Build a Bear.

That was random. Like, who just up and goes to Build a Bear? In Brooke's mind's eye, apparently we do. If it had been Saturday, that is.

But instead it was Sunday, so today is Monday...and today I can sing "wish it were Sunday, cuz that's my fun day".

Anywho...I have just a couple of things to report.

1) we are preparing for the LAST GARAGE SALE OF MY LIFE. I loathe garage sales...don't like going to them or having them. I spent the weekend in the garage getting stuff organized.

2) the dog is spoiled. And shedding.

3) last Thursday was Open House. Kennedy was very excited to learn that her science group won FIRST PLACE for their presentation on propane! And her science/math teacher told us that the children gave each other scores, with a score of "5" being above and beyond, and she was the only student in both classes to receive that score from her peers.

So proud, the heart could burst sometimes.

still on Open House here... and Brooke, oh Brookie. First grade cutie pie. She took us to the class that she goes to for Language Arts and showed us the house that she and her group built, and back in her homeroom she showed us paper after paper from her folder on top of her desk. All perfect scores, she was proud, we were proud.

What does one do when one's heart bursts, anyway? Because surely one day soon this is going to happen.

4) I am winding down working on the yearbook...it's due to be completed tomorrow night. I love working on the yearbook for our school, and it ensures that my kids are adequately represented on all the event pages. Do you remember flipping through your yearbook, so excitedly, looking and looking for your picture on all those candids pages and being so disappointed when you could only find yourself on the portraits page, or in a tiny group shot? Well, my children will not have to suffer that! No sireeeeeee!!!!!!

Hmmm. I think that's it! All the news that is news! And it's just another manic Monday, so live it up!! Only five more days until the weekend! Garage sale countdown...oh joy.

Sunday, Monday, Un-Happy Day!

Oh what disappointment. You may remember how I've mentioned that occasionally our school is able to get a "celebrity" to come to an event. Last year we had Dakota Fanning, and earlier this year it was Cody Linley.

The children knew who these people were, oh yes indeed.

But today...today was supposed to be Mr. Henry Winkler.

The Fonz.

I was SO excited! (The kids? Had no clue who he was.) Took time off work to volunteer at the Book Fair, attend the parents' pastry & coffee hour, (er, which I totally would have done anyway) and to see Fonzie. Um, I mean Mr. Winkler.

Did you know he's an author? Of children's books? He is! Stories of Hank Zipzer...a dyslexic fourth grade boy.

But his filming schedule was changed, and he had to cancel. He promises to reschedule. I will keep my fingers crossed!

Until then....ayyyyyy!!!!!!!

How many muscles are in the human body anyway?

Seriously people. On Sunday I took a very beginner's pilates class. The kind of class that one gets suckered into at a fundraising gala. It's a "party"! There will be wine and cheese after the class!

There was wine.

And then there was WHINE.

Three days later...I still feel those muscles.

I think those muscles are unhappy with me for ignoring them for so long.

I'm going back next Sunday. No more wine, and hopefully a little less whine next week. We shall see. You know I will keep you posted.

When the LIGHTS go down in the city...

Friday night, this is where we were....the legendary Whiskey a Go-Go on the just-as-legendary Sunset Strip. The band is Lights, and it is a tribute to the music of Journey.




After a baby-sitter scare (our sweet Emily was in a car wreck - she's fine, her car is totaled), and a super-mom rescue (Shan took both girls for the night so I could still go to the show), August and I met up with friends for dinner and headed to the strip.

Our friends enjoyed the show...and they are good friends, too, because August didn't go on until after midnight! That's late for people of our advanced ages. So, thanks to Steve and Stacy, Barb and Rob, and Cynthia and Lee for coming out and staying up LATE!!!

We got to the Whiskey at the SCHEDULED start time of 11 p.m., only to learn that it would REALLY be midnight, so we went across the street to Hustler of Hollywood.

That was interesting.

Stacy almost bought some red sequined, fringy boots. But she didn't. They were very Dorothy Gale goes Girls Girls Girls (dancing down on the Sunset Strip). {Can't seem to get off the lyrics theme...}

She looks good in red, as you see here...but they weren't comfortable as it turns out.



Lastly, one would think that after all these years of going to shows and taking pictures and being a person that LOVES a good picture, that I would have a camera that takes a decent picture in a dark club.

But, clearly, that is not the case.



But you get the idea...cute guitar playing husband, excellent music, good times! The show was excellent! This is only his third show with this line-up, and he's happy to be playing with them and they are happy to have him!

It's Sunday morning, and I just now, after a good night's sleep, feel recovered!! Woo hoo!!!

Things of late

So, what's been going on?

Oh nothing, the usual.

I've been working and doing laundry and working on the girls' school's yearbook.

Kennedy has been working on a science project that has something to do with propane and required the use of popsicle sticks.

August has been working and playing his guitar, preparing for a show at the Whiskey A Go-Go this Friday and another in Redondo Beach on Saturday.

Samoa has been shedding.

And shedding.

And possibly I'm allergic.

And Brooke, well looky here...it seems Brooke has had a growth spurt!

Wow, guess she's probaby outgrown all her clothes. I did all that laundry for nothin'!

Here is a nice candid shot of her entering her sister's room while her sister had some friends over last weekend.

Is that the face of innocence, I ask? Because sometimes a mother cannot see through her rose-colored glasses. I look at those round cheeks and that mouth of missing teeth and I see sweetness. But there's a little something in the brown eyes that speaks...not of sweetness...but perhaps just a little bit of little sister wickedness?

Is it my imagination?

You can tell me.

Oh, wait. Look here. It WAS my imagination!!!

Have a glorious day, it's almost Friday!!! Hurray, the weekend is coming!! More laundry! (Just kidding...)

Tongue Tied

Sometimes all you need to succeed is a gimmick.

Take, for example, the rock band KISS. They had their very own army, for crying out loud, yet when I listen to their 1970-something lyrics today, I say (right out loud to my husband who has a KISS belt buckle), "they would have never made it in today's time".

Their lyrics...are stupid.

Like for instance:

Get up
And get your grandma outta here
Pick up
Old Jim is workin' hard this year
And baby
Do the things he says to do

What? That doesn't even make sense. Perhaps the chorus will clear things up.

Baby, if you're feeling good
And baby if you're feeling nice
You know your man is workin' hard
He's worth a deuce

Yeah, well...not so clear after all. Who the heck is Old Jim, and if he's old, why can't Grandma stay?

And do not even get me started on that song "Love Gun".

But they had a gimmick. They put on loads of makeup, had cool costumes and huge platform shoes.

Well, as it turns out, we may have a young member of our family with a future in rock and roll. It's too soon to know if he has musical talent or songwriting capabilities, but that (obviously, see above) is secondary to the gimmick.

And, Cooper, you got the gimmick DOWN!!!

P.S. I will admit for the record that I DO like two KISS songs: Strutter and Beth. Those songs rock. They rock all night long and party every day.

I waited all week for this?

I was out of town the past two weekends.

I had a very busy week at work, and will have the same next week, too.

It's gorgeous here in Sunny California.

But I feel like all I've done all weekend...

IS LAUNDRY...

ARGH!

Spring has Sprung!

I do hope that you and yours had a lovely Easter weekend!

Samoa had an eventful week. She was bored early one morning before the rest of the house woke and ate AN ENTIRE CONTAINER OF FISH FOOD. Red flaky flakes.

And I do believe that I have mentioned (admitted) that the dog loves to relax on the couch. And eat her treats on the couch.

And get her lifetime dose of omega whatevers that are in fish (food). Which ended up being a soggy red mess on the couch. Thank goodness for scotchguarding.

So then I find a small container of fish food at the grocery store so that the poor little fish do not starve.

Next morning I awake to find Samoa halfway through this container as well. Seriously? Good grief.

And while Kennedy and I were in Texas this weekend, the story is that she ate two chocolate bunnies, which she would have had to sneak out of the closet out of two separate bags.

She looks innocent enough, yes?

The girls had a nice Easter afternoon. We relaxed and had a nice lunch at a place we'd never tried before. (And we silently mourned the restaurant that had been there before...we will miss you Killer Shrimp!)

The Easter bunny came and hid eggs for these two sweet faces...

Because we DO believe, oh yes we do!!!

And this one is losing teeth like nobody's business. No recession for the tooth fairy, no siree!

HAPPY SPRING!

Also, I've posted pictures from Easter here, and from last weekend in Texas here.

She was a Great Grandmother

It is with a heavy heart that I type this post for not even 45 minutes ago, in the wee hours of the morning my dad called to tell me that my grandmother passed away this morning.
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Not everyone my age still has a grandparent, much less has a grandparent that still calls them "sugar".
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Not many kids my daughters' ages have great grandparents, much less great grandparents that know everything they like and go out and shop for them and send them sour gummy worms and special Easter bunnies.

I will miss her so much.

After I hung up with my dad, I went back in bed and cried while my husband hugged me. It wasn't a surprise, I know, but still...
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I went to see her last weekend. I told her that I loved her and that she had been the best grandmother. Because she had been. Full of unconditional love and the occasional pound cake put in the mail.
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She is in a better place today than she was yesterday.


But still, I will miss her so because it's hard to imagine a world without her.

Dead Ant Dead Ant

Two weekends ago, August and I went to the school's annual fundraising Gala where drinks are served in hopes that parents will get sloshed and bid on all kinds of interesting items.

Like. This.

A big ole basket of Pink Panther stuff that my friend Susie's husband donated from his company, MGM Studios. I'm a sucker for pink.

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So, I placed a bid. The beautiful thing about me and drinks and fundraising events is that the more I drink, the less I remember what I want to win, so USUALLY I will bid on something at the beginning of the evening, then forget to bid on it again and I will not win the bid.

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Not this time.

But as it turns out, this might be the best thing I ever bid on and won! It was full of Pink Panther movies...including the old school cartoons. Brooke LOVES the life-size Pink Panther and the wee little soft Pink Panther. It's been over a week, and she still carries them around.

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She is also addicted to the old school cartoons, and this weekend while I was in Texas, she and her daddy had a Pink Panther marathon.

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She was so inspired, she started drawing... Check out the BOOM! and the POW! These old school cartoons were a little violent, yes? Plus I had to field the "Momma! The Pink Panther is SMOKING!!" comment.

Clearly this basket was a good deal...Brooke is happy and the money went to a good cause.

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She also drew a lovely picture of Samoa, who really isn't a bobble head in real life.

Arf.

Talent, pure talent

Oh how I envy people with good cameras and photography skill!!

Brooke has a friend with a photographer dad, and occasionally he comes to school and takes pictures. I had him send me some photos for the yearbook (my current project), and he included some that he took last year.

I had not seen this one of Brooke...little 5 year-old Kindergartner Brooke.

This is one of the ones I wanted for the yearbook...two boys currently in Kindergarten. He shot this randomly in the after-school program. I love it, it's my favorite shot in the yearbook so far. This man has talent.


And lastly, he took this photo last year. Look at the moment that was captured. Emily and Brooke, playing and laughing on the playground. One of those shots that gives me assurance and assuages my working mom guilt...when I'm not around, my children are loved and taken care of and having a grand time.

Thank you, Scott, for taking this photo. It's one of my very favorites ever.

Emily works in the after-school program, and we quickly adopted her into our family. She is our go-to babysitter, and watched the girls two days a week last summer. When she walks in our house, she's like a rock star...children are running to her, yelling for joy and the dog - you should see the dog - the dog goes crazy, whining and jumping and wagging her body. This is a reaction that NO ONE gets except Emily. The Zadra family loves our Emily!!!

Today...

Kennedy, age 4, with JoJo (wearing my dress from when I was little)

I have been dipping my toes in the water that is Facebook. I don't really get it. I now have approximately four, maybe five, friends and I might be at my limit. It's so much to keep up with! Everyone telling me what they are thinking about right now! My home page asking me "what are you thinking about?" and giving me some space to write.
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And then I can post it to all my five friends and they can know what I'm thinking about RIGHT NOW!
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But why would they want to know what I'm doing at all times throughout the day? I'm not sure. I'm giving Facebook a try, but I'm skeptical.
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However, Facebook asked me what I'm thinking about today, and it's not often anyone asks me that, so I stopped to contemplate...what AM I thinking about?
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Well, that's easy. My grandmother. I am so lucky to have had a relationship with my grandmother for so long. She lived to see my children, and to spoil my children. She has loved me and supported me for years and years and years.
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She is not doing well these days. I am thinking about her constantly.
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But probably I won't tell that to Facebook.

A Battle of the Scholastic Type

In this house of all girls and one daddy, besides the occasional (okay, semi-frequent) "battle of wills", we don't have many "battles" going on in our house... We also don't participate in any sports of a competitive nature. This weekend, Kennedy was in a BATTLE of the COMPETITIVE nature!

It was called the Battle of the Books. Eight area schools met on Saturday to test their reading savvy. It was our school's first year to participate.


Each school had two teams of six kids each. Each team of 6 had to read 30 books and be ready to answer questions and accumulate points.

Kennedy had some of her very best friends on her team. Here she is early in the day with India. I say early in the day, because it was early. We had to leave our house at 7:30. On a Saturday, might I add.


Here is a group shot that includes the other team from our school, plus our alternates.


There were 7 rounds of 24 questions, 12 for each team. Each team would sit together in a classroom across from another school's team. A "reader" would ask a question, "In what book did x character do x thing?" and the team would confer with one another and the team captain would answer with the book's title. If the title was correct, they could score 2 more points by giving the author.
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Kennedy was her team's captain.

Now, let me tell you something. There were three or four teams "to be feared". They were strong teams. They had done this before. The members were one or two years older than our girls.

The girls held their own throughout the day. The last three rounds were against three of the hardest teams. They beat the first team. The next team, round 6, was THE toughest team. In fact, this team WON the competition by a landslide. But they didn't take any points from our school! Our girls held their own and TIED the toughest team in this round.

The last round was, again, a strong team. We beat them, too. Of 7 rounds, we won 5, lost 1 and tied 1.

Kennedy's team, and oh are we so proud of them, won THIRD PLACE!!!!! They got a medal and everything. They proved that Hesby is a school to "fear" next year!!

Congratulations to our girls....way to GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!