Projects

I've been working on some projects for the baby's room lately:

I actually painted this tree on the wall about a year ago when the room was still Eve's. I copied the idea from a "Land of Nod" catalog.

This is a more recent paint job on a different wall. I got this idea from Family Fun magazine a couple of years ago (I ripped out the page and I've been saving it for a while!) The four knobs on the clothesline are for hanging things on.

This bird mobile is my favorite...I love how it turned out! I got the idea here.

As you can see I have a bird thing going on right now! And you can also tell that I like to copy ideas from the wonderful sources that I find! My next project is the baby's quilt and then I should be done "nesting" (no pun intended!) Here's what the fabric for the quilt looks like:

Grace's 6th Birthday

We celebrated Grace's birthday today with a fun-filled party. She got to splash in the pool with a few of her friends, play in our newly completed backyard, and blow out six candles on her tropical themed cake! It was her first real "friend party" (we have let her invite one or two in the past, but this time she got to invite six of her closest buddies.) It was also special to have part of Aaron's family there to join in...they are always such a big help! Happy birthday my sweet Grace...I can't believe how big you are getting!

I spent a lot of time on this cake, but seeing the final result...it was all worth it! click on this picture for a full appreciation!

A few fun details!

This little guy ripped the hula dancer's leg off on his first swing!

Trampoline fun (We are so excited to finally have our yard completed!)

Grace's surprise present was a tether-ball court (Aaron arranged this one after observing Grace's recent fascination with the "sport.") She was thrilled to have her very own (She can't play with the one at recess, because "it always has big boys playing it!")

First Day of Preschool

This one was hard for me. My little Eve started preschool today. Yes, it is only until noon, and yes, it is only two days a week...but I just wasn't quite ready for this step. Doesn't she just look so little?

She wasn't overly excited this morning and was rather quiet about the whole thing, but at least there were no tears and she even had a little smile on her face as I waved good-bye. It helped that I situated her right in front of the class's bookshelf before I left. Books are her comfort and I could she that they were helping her cope in this new situation...she had already started flipping through a story as I left. It also comforted me to see that another little girl had come over to the pillow Eve was on and sat right next to her. It was very sweet!

My life is changing...my oldest daughter turns six today, my baby started "school," and I'll have a brand new child in just two months. It's all very exciting, but I can't help but think that a chapter is ending and a new phase is beginning.

Celebrating Thirty Years

So I mentioned in an earlier post that I would report on my "girls weekend" ...it was so much fun! Five of my fabulous friends from high school (and/or childhood) met in beautiful San Diego to celebrate the fact that we all turned 30 this year! We came from a total of three states, and stayed with Charlotte (the hostess with the mostess) and her husband Brady in their new home.

We did so many fun things, got very little sleep, and ate really well! I am so grateful for these ladies, and that I have had such amazing friends throughout my life! It makes me so happy that we have evolved from little girls, to high-schoolers, to mothers, doctors, and furniture designers! And through it all we can still call each other friends and have a blast together!

While Charlotte went to work on Thursday, Chelsea, Julyssa, and I spent our first day at the Maritime Museum where we got to explore several really cool historic ships right there in the Bay. We also had fun eating lunch and looking at shops in Seaport Village. Judy met us later that afternoon, and Nikki came in that night.

Dinner that night at Phil's BBQ (apparently it's famous in S.D. and so popular that they have a line outside with wait times posted on signs like at Disneyland!)

Breakfast the next morning at another San Diego hot-spot (Did I mention we ate really well?!)

On our hike at Torrey Pines (a trail overlooking the ocean...beautiful!)

Judy, Charlotte, Nikki, Julyssa, Maren, Chelsea
Since both Julyssa and Judy are fabulous photographers we had a fun photo shoot by the firehouse museum downtown in our matching t-shirts!

Another table shot...this time at a splendid find in Little Italy (downtown.)

We ended the evening with some karaoke back at Char's place. It got late and we all got a little loopy!

Thank you to Charlotte and Brady for letting us all stay in your home; thank you Judy for shuttling us all around in your classy van; thank you Chelsea and Julyssa for flying in from out of state; thank you Nikki for sleeping on the floor so my pregnant body could have the couch; thank you to my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law for helping watch the girls while I was gone; and thank you to my dear husband Aaron for taking care of the kids' needs and driving all the way to Southern California with them to meet me. I love you all! Wow...I feel like I just gave my acceptance speech for an Oscar!

First Day

Today was Grace's first day of first grade. She was slightly nervous this morning on our way to school, but seemed okay once we got to her classroom. Eve and I gave our hugs good-bye and made the long walk back to the car. I kept my composure (no tears like when she went to kindergarten last year) but I felt a longing to be a fly on her classroom wall. I wanted to see her face as she opened her lunchbox for the first time in the cafeteria and hear her delight upon finding her favorite sandwich, her own juice box, a container of blueberries, and even home-made cookies. I would have loved to watch her make friends at recess and see her test out all the ways of getting up and down on the new "big-kid" playground. It would have been my pleasure to accompany her on her classes' tour of the school an help answer questions about the school library and point out which bathroom was closest to the classroom. But of course, those were not my experiences to be had. I would just have to wait six and a half long hours and hear her perspective on it all. When 2:30 came around I was not disappointed. When we met her outside her classroom door she gave a big smile and said, "I had a great day!" She didn't stop talking the entire walk to the car, the whole drive home, and continued to fill us in on details as she sat at our kitchen table and finished the last cookie she had been saving in her lunchbox. No, I wasn't a fly on the wall today, but it was almost better hearing the play-by-play through her eager eyes. It was a great first day!

A Lost Tooth and an Imperfect Fairy

Grace was thrilled to loose her top, front tooth last night. In fact, the sensation of slipping her tongue where her tooth used to be made her down-right giddy (it also makes for a very slight, and very cute lisp!)

She happily sealed her little tooth in a Ziploc and placed it under her pillow with the request to go to bed early (she was very excited for the tooth fairy's visit!)

You can imagine her disappointment this morning when she found the same bagged tooth resting under her head. UUUGGG...the tooth-fairy forgot to visit last night! After we talked to her about it we all concluded that the fairy must have been confused by Grace and Eve's bunk beds and perhaps looked under the wrong pillow. We assured her that the tooth-fairy would get it right tonight when she tried again. But just to be sure, Grace made her a sign so there would be no question:

Newport Beach

A couple of weeks ago we had a fun family vacation at the beach. The timing was great because I got to tag it onto a "girls trip" I had been planning with my life-time girlfriends to celebrate us all turning 30 this year!

I said good-bye to my sweet husband and kids and flew down to San Diego on Wednesday and spent that evening, Thursday and Friday with my friends (I'll post more about my fun-filled girls trip later!) On Saturday morning my sister-in-law Angela and her family (who live in San Diego) picked me up and we all headed up to Newport Beach to meet up with Aaron, my kids, and some other members of Aaron's family (who had all driven down the day before.) I am so grateful to my husband who was brave enough to make a six hour trip with the kids without me!

We spent the next five days enjoying the easy-going atmosphere of the beach, pools, and just amazing weather! We had a wonderful time as our own little family, but also with our extended family. Thank you so much to Aaron's Mom and Dad for inviting us to come share in the fun with them! They are so great!

A few highlights:

Eve, looking very proud of her castle.

Grace with her cousins on our first day at Newport Beach.

Grace and Julia were so excited about the hole they spent a good portion of the afternoon digging!

Grandma helped the kids build a huge sand castle at Corona del Mar.

Eve, Aunt Sarah, Grace and Julia getting ready to roast hot dogs for dinner in a fire pit at the beach.

So, I kind of took a lot of picture of the kids at the beach (and nothing else!) But, like I said, that's a lot of what we did...and it was wonderful!