Birdies and Babes

Dec. 29, 2010

Caleb got two Lego castles for Christmas this year. Today was the big day to take it back to Toys R Us and exchange it for something else. We left early this morning, ran a few errands and then were off to the Toy store as soon as I returned something to Michael's. Caleb threw a tantrum about... I don't remember as we walked through the door and during the 3 minute exchange process. Luckily, (for him I mean) it wasn't bad, but embarrassing none the less. After we walked out of the store I told him that if he threw one more we would not go to Toys R Us. He quieted down quickly and buckled his seat belt, so I drove down Ming to the Toy store. I parked the car, got Hannah out and jacket on. I asked Caleb to put his jacket on and guess what? He threw a tantrum right there in the parking lot! About putting his jacket on. I said, "Okay, get in the car." We left. How sad is that? He cried and cried but I it was good for him



After a few more errands we went to my Mom's house. The kids both took naps (Yea!!!) so I made these cute little birdies from Jocelyn's blog.
My Mom was also sewing away. She is busy making a Vintage Vogue dress for Hillari. It is going to be amazing when it's all done.

Outside at Play

Dec. 28, 2010

One of the last things Cory said to me last night was to remind me that a storm was coming late Tuesday/early Wednesday so I should take the kids outside while it was nice today. I cleaned out the garage (something I do a lot because I am always collecting "stuff" and I need to go through the stuff and whittle it down to the things I will actually use). While I cleaned out the garage the kids played on the grass right by it and had some fun of their own. They hiked around in the dirt, went camping, built a fire, ran down the hill, laughed, cried... it was good.
I usually get timid to do stuff like this by my self because I am worried I won't get anything done or I think that I have to keep my eyes on them every second. Because of this fear i wait until Cory is home and so we can watch the kids and work on the garage together or whatever the project is. Yikes! I need to relax.
Needless to say the garage is organized and swept, the kids are alive and unhurt and I feel charged up to take on another task tomorrow.

"R" week

Week of Dec. 27 - Dec. 31, 2010

Monday: Animals - Ray and Roadrunner
Tuesday: Social Studies - Ancient Rome
Friday: Craft/Activity - Running and Race
Composer: Rachmaninoff
Poem: The Rainbow (Victorian Women Writers Project)

A bird

Dec. 28, 2010

My sister is very creative. She makes animals with fabric and stuffing and I think she could sell them for $15 a piece. I tried to make one of my own today and it didn't turn out nearly as darling as hers do but it got me excited about making other animals, or maybe just different birds.

Something for both

Dec. 27, 2010

Hannah loves the dollhouse Connie gave her. She sat down in the sun with it this morning and began to play with the little family. Caleb joined her and pretended to be the daddy, "Honey... I'm home." I listened as the two of them acted out what I thought was more about what they heard from Cory and I. I watched them and waited to hear what they would reveal about what kind of parents they thought we were. The "mommy" and the "daddy" were nice. I watched them I realized I don't do enough playing with them on their level. That was revealing.

Christmas Day p.m.

Dec. 25, 2010

We went to my parent's house this evening to open presents with them. Hannah's Christmas could be summed up in one word... "Ariel."
Caleb got more of a varity of gifts. He and Cory were really excited about the foot ball from the Marchesini's and the Lego castle from the Randall's



















Caleb loved playing with the RC helicopter Nono bought.















I was a very nice Christmas. Everyone was happy to be around our kids. The adults seemed to enjoy the season so much more because of Caleb and Hannah. They were so excited about everything.

Christmas Day a.m.

Dec. 25, 2010

Cory is really excited about those biscuits! His brother Ben an wife Janae were supposed to come to Bakersfield this Christmas but because of all the rain they received in Long Beach (15 inches) the golf course he works for is literally under water so he had to stay and help clear the water before the course is destroyed.
It made for a quiet Christmas morning but still it was nice to be with his family.







Hannah and Caleb got chalkboards and chalk.


























Caleb also got a Lego castle. Cory and he put it together this morning. Before the storm hit we went for a walk out in the foothills. The wind started to blow so hard that the wind pushed us around. We made it bask to Connie's and the kids took a nap.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Dec. 24, 2010

Christmas Eve is spent at My Uncle Bill's house. But this year something different happened... Santa Claus came over for a surprise visit. Caleb screamed and jumped and laughed. He yelled "Santa!" over and over.

































Hannah on the other hand... cried and hid. Santa tried to coax her over with a present but she kept her feet planted (to maintain the distance) and reached only with her fingertips to grab the gift.
After Santa left Nono came in ; - ) I read "Twas the Night before Christmas" pop up book style to Caleb, Hannah and Nono and then we went home (it was 9!)

Music and More

Dec. 24, 2010

Cory played guitar for Hannah this morning, mostly Beatles and the songs he wrote about us when we were dating. It was so nice to hear those songs again. I heard them so often that I still remembered them years later (10 years!)




























It was a beautiful day today so we went outside to the park and played ball with Caleb while Hannah was free to explore. We all loved having Cory home on a work day.

A castle of Presents

Dec. 22, 2010

I hung up the willow wreath that Connie gave me for my birthday and Caleb took a picture of it today.
Caleb is really into castles and knights right now (how perfectly perfect: since he's getting a lego castle for Christmas) He built one for himself out of presents and also one for Hannah.

Christmas Shoppping

Dec. 21, 2010

I took the kids Christmas shopping this morning and they did really good. It was a long day. If you saw us at Bed bath and Beyond this afternoon you would have seen me park 1/4 mile away from the entrance, walk to the door get in line, realize I forgot my wallet in the car, walk back to the car and grab my wallet that was laying on the passenger side seat saying to everyone, "take me" (I rolled my eyes at myself when I saw it laying there) back to the store to buy the one thing that I called ahead of time to make sure it was there and then back to the car. Instead of getting back in the car we did Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and Once there was a snowman, a few times and then I (Darth Vader) chased Luke and Leia on the grass (Grass? remember: I said I parked 1/4 of a mile away). We got back in the car and drove. I asked them if they wanted to go to one more place to make it an even 6 stores. They said, "No thanks." In a way I was grateful because by this time I was tired and I knew they were too. We went to Grandma's. Caleb and I watched a movie and Hannah slept from 3pm until I woke her up at 7:30 to go home and then laid them both down for bed.
It was a long, but productive day :-)

Rain rhymes with Train

Dec. 20, 2010

When has it ever rained so much in Bakersfield?
It has been raining for almost a week with out stopping. All this rain and cloudy weather has made me feel like not doing much. Around mid morning I told the kids we were walking down to the garage to get a few things and also mail a few letters. At first they were reluctant but then they felt the rain on their faces and were okay to be outside. Caleb and Hannah are homebodies for sure, which is the opposite of me. I want to be outside and doing something while they are quite content to be inside with their imagination.
I have a snowmen collection that I try and add to every year. Every year I put all the snow men in my window on top of fake snow and twinkle lights. The kids really like to be up the counter top and playing with the snowmen.


My Mom came by and built a long track for Caleb. I'm sure glad I vacuumed this morning before the track went down.

"Q" week

Dec. 20 - Dec. 24, 2010

Monday: Animals - California Quail and Queen Conch (or Pink Conch)
Tuesday: Social Studies - Queen Victoria
Thursday: Craft/Activity - Go to a Quilting store (oh do I have too?)

Composer: Quartet
Poem: The Queen of Hearts (Nursery Rhyme)

Moscow Ballet

Dec. 16, 2010

We watched the Ballet tonight and it was wonderful. The Russian dancers were professional and talented. An unexpected surprise was: that a few months ago Bakersfield dancers were welcomed to audition for parts in the the Moscow Nutcracker. Over 30 kids were a cute addition to the Ballet. This was ingenious advertising: Have local kids in an International Ballet to draw in more paying customers! Also it was darling to see little 3 and 4 years old kids skipping and bouncing across the stage.

Preschool at our house

Dec. 15, 2010

Caleb called me into his room this morning and this is what I saw. 30 of his cars and trucks meticulously stacked in his window seal.














At 10 the kids showed up and after the lesson, book and practicing with the scissors was done the real fun began. They made a train track in our living room and had train races on the carpet.


While Amber and I were talking(after preschool) Hannah found my makeup and made herself "pretty."












Tonight we finished our Gingerbread house. The kids had fun decorating with and eating the candy. They were both very proud of their hard work.

"P" week

Dec. 13 - Dec. 17

We didn't have preschool last week so we kept the letter "O" stuff up for 2 weeks.

Monday: Animals - African Penguin and Panda
Tuesday: Social Studies - Pilgrims
Thursday: Craft/Activity - Puzzles

Composer: Johann Pachelbel - Cannon in D
Poem: "People" from Skipping Village 1927

To work little reindeer

Dec. 13, 2010

When Caleb decides to clean he goes all out. He cleans the places I don't think many people consider. Such as the back of the cupboard under the kitchen sink. Hey... it is right next to the trash can which is really dirty. It makes sense when you think about it.

We then went to Connie's after the cupboard had met Caleb's approval and tried on Grandma's reindeer hats. We helped her get down the rest of the Christmas decorations from the attic (but let Hannah get the really heavy boxes because our backs were sore).




















While Grandma hung the wreaths Caleb set up a little Christmas village on her table. Caleb was especially excited about the train from San Fransisco. He was a smidgen more excited when we told him it was a trolley.

Picture Time

Dec. 11, 2010

Trish Neville met us at Hart park this afternoon to take a few pictures for us this year. I think children instinctively know when it's "family picture" time.... and they don't like it.








Of course in 2 seconds Cory and I were able to smile and look at the camera at the same time so we, of course, got a frame worthy picture of ourselves...














Here's one that didn't make the cut.














While Trish and I drove around the Park looking for a spot Cory and the kids took a stroll around and managed to stay perfectly clean.














A darling candid shot of Hannah. Wow Trish. Wow!

Make some bread

Nov. 9, 2010

Sis. Peterson invited a few of us (Jen Garrett, Amber Cola, Monica Munn and me) over to her house today so she could teach us how to make her yummy wheat bread. Yea... it's yummy.




























After the bread was baked and each of took a loaf home Roegan invited us over so OF course we had to accept. Amber's backyard had a lot of leaves on the grass so I thought let's rake them up and make a leaf pile for the kids to jump into. Not only did they jump in and toss them but they piled them up the slide and took turns going down head first into a big pile of leaves at the bottom.






It was a good day!