Good times in Colorado

We went to Colorado back to back in September and October for weddings.  It was great to see so many old friends and family.  

Penelope is so deeply in love with Wendy & Mike's dog Darla that she's been asking to Skype with her for weeks.  Today we finally did.  Only we mostly Skyped with Wendy and Maddoc.  Darla was busy taking a nap while soaking in some sun rays.

Savor the moment

Sometimes we all tell each other what the best part(s) of our day was when we put the girls to bed.  Today was an easy one for me.  The best part of my day was walking Penelope to school this afternoon.  She and I were holding hands and Amelia was riding in her push car singing songs (Twinkle Twinkle, and other lullabies).  Penelope was giddy with excitement at the prospect of rain this afternoon at school (she was fully outfitted with her rain boots, rain coat and umbrella).  She looked up at me at smiled a big smile every minute or so and a couple of times told me how much she liked Amelia's singing (which is rare as they are usually sharing or competing for the stage).  I told her I liked it too.  It was a perfect mommy moment.  I wish I could capture a moment like this and put in in a jar and save it for later.  When I need to remember a beautiful memory to lift me up or in many many years from now when my memory has faded.

Penelope got her rain.  It started raining during pre-school and hasn't stopped since.  She had great puddles to splash in as we walked home from school.  It's good to be a kid.  

Photo Shoot

One day in August the girls and I met our friends for a play date in Union Square in SF.  It wasn't the most successful playdate...okay, I'll be honest and say that it was an absolutely exhausting undertaking.  We started out the morning with people watching & coffee drinking while the girls danced and played (after spilling hot chocolate all down their new dresses that I had finished the night before).  Then we popped into a 3 story Williams-Sonoma and then went onto the Cheesecake Factory for lunch.  Normally, my girls do really well at restaurants.  But not today.  Lunch seemed to be unusually slow & went into Amelia's nap time.  Penelope was tired and emotional over some silly conflict between her and her friend.  Amelia spilled some water and broke a plate.  Within minutes of getting out of that booth at Cheesecake Factory into the fresh air, Penelope and her friend worked things out.  We listed to the last song of the band playing in Union Square & then then left.  The girls both fell asleep at some point on the way home.  I had hoped that I could just park the car in the driveway and they would stay asleep for a while.  But they're too smart for that.  They woke up about 5 minutes later cranky as can be.  I knew neither of them would go back to sleep and so I decided to grab the dog and head up to Frenchman's Lake (an old dried up lake in the beautiful Stanford neighborhood) where I've been wanting to do a photo shoot.  They didn't really want to be photographed until I promised them chocolate if they cooperated.  I pretty pleased with the pictures as I had two cranky and dirty girls.

The Doctor is In

We recently took Sadie in for her annual check-up.  We were driving home from dinner the other night (prior to her appointment) and Jiffer and I were explaining what a veterinarian was and why Sadie was going to go see one.  We told her that a veterinarian was an animal doctor.  That they treat dogs, cats, and various other animals depending on their practice and training.  At some point one of us said that a vet is a dog doctor.  Penelope asked, "A dog doctor?"  "Yes, a dog doctor".  "A dog doctor?"  "YES, A DOG DOCTOR!"  This went on and on for a few minutes.  We continued to explain that they aren't always doctors for dogs, but also cats, guinea pigs, bunnies, etc.  She kept on until Jiffer just about lost it in frustration of answering the same question 50 times until she finally said something that made me figure out what was getting her.  "So is a dog doctor just for dogs?"  I asked her if she thought Sadie's doctor was going to be a dog?  That was it.  She thought a dog doctor (i.e. veterinarian) was actually a dog.  She wanted to know if a dog doctor only treated dogs or if they treated other animals.  Once Jiffer and I figured this out, it totally melted away any frustration and made us opened our eyes to the sweet innocence and magical world of our little 4 year old.  Would a guinea pig doctor big a guinea pig?  I don't see why not.  Makes a little bit of sense, right?  Ah, I LOVE seeing through the eyes of a four year old.  Which reminds me of a fantastic quote I read again today at Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose.  I'll post that shortly.  It's a lovely quote that would serve me well as a mother to read it every day.

Sewing Spree

My sewing spree was inspired by a a class I took in sewing with knits as well as my week without Jiffer (he was in Lyons, Colorado doing an instrument building class through the Rocky Grass Academy).  One of these days, my sister-in-law, Becky & I will get our sewing blog up and running.  In the meantime, I will post them here: 

Birthday Girl!

I can't believe Amelia is 2 already.  Where does the time go?  It has been really fun to see her personality more and more.  She's definitely got some spunk like her big sister, but can be kind of laid back and will go with the flow when we need her to.  She idolizes Penelope.  She even matches the same pitch of the shriek Penelope makes when they're playing.  It's been so incredible watching the girls become playmates and best buddies.  The Gorden's join us for a very simple party for her.  Becky and I made an Elmo (one of Amelia's favorite characters) cake for her.  She loved it!  She went straight for the black icing.  Happy Birthday Amelia!  We love you!

 

 

1 year down

Jiffer's completed his first year of a two year program at Stanford University's CCRMA program.  He's done some very interesting things throughout the course of the year.  A few posts ago, I promised a link to some of his recordings from this year...you can access those at www.elcajonmusic.com.  You can check out his other work at his CCRMA website.

Way to go Jiffer!  You're such a talented and hardworking musician & engineer!