A Green Cheetah?

She's speedy, she's tricky, and boy does she have some slick moves!  We're in the middle of soccer season again, and it's so much fun to watch Lizzy play.  She really is a good little player, and it's fun to see her having so much fun with her team mates.  Lizzy is focused and determined, but seems more mindful of her team mates this year.  She's spreading out, making passes, and trying to dribble to score goals.  Her real strength seems to be defense, however.  I always tell her, a goal saved is a good as a goal scored.  Way to go, Lizzy!

My New View

Lucky, lucky me.  Oftentimes now, when I'm taking Catherine out for a walk, she'll turn herself around in her stroller and stare up at me.  I'm trying to show her the sights, but it turns out I've got the best view in town right in front of me.  All I have to do is look down.

Pretty Ballerina

Lizzy has begun her dance class, and so far, she pretty much loves everything about it.  She was thrilled to get her beautiful dance outfit and her new slippers.  The first time she tried them on, Lizzy danced and twirled all around the house.  You could tell she felt pretty special.  Peter wasn't quite sure what to make of her.  He kept his distance, making funny faces and giggling to himself.  I think he'll leave the dancing to her right now.  At least the kind of dancing where you get all dolled up in a pink leotard.

First of the Last, for Peter

And now it's Peter's turn.  Peter had his first day of the four-year-old class at his pre-school a few weeks ago.  Boy, did time whiz by there!  It literally seems like yesterday when I was so nervous to leave Peter at school, when he would cry so much and cling to me, when he seemed so unsure and uncomfortable at school.  Back then, one of his beloved teachers comforted me with these strong words, "You are giving him the confidence to do things on his own.  It may not feel like it now, but you're helping him to be independent and strong on his own."  So true!  It has been such a pleasure to watch Peter grow from a scared and unsure two-year-old, to a happy, confident, curious little boy who was bursting out of his skin for school to start.  Every day now he walks into school with a smile, ready to have a great day.  We are so, so thankful he attends such a wonderful school, with such loving teachers.  We know this will be a great year for him, and we're just sad that his time at this special place has had to pass so quickly.

Soccer Baby

One day, Catherine.......... one day it will be you out there on the field, running and kicking........ but for now, I'm so glad you're content sitting on the sidelines, playing with cones, cheering the big kids on.

Santa Cruz!

Oh, how I love our family tradition of heading to Santa Cruz every Labor Day weekend.  Each year, it just gets better and better.  I have such fond memories of bringing all the kids here over the years, from the time they were tiny babies, and now that they're getting so very big.  Lizzy and Peter just loved playing at the beach.  They could have stayed there all day, running in and out of the waves, digging for sand crabs, and making sand castles.  This was Catherine's debut to Santa Cruz, and it did not disappoint.  She too loved the beach, and was totally adorable playing around in the sand with her floppy sun hat.  Lizzy and Peter loved hitting up the boardwalk too, and Lizzy was so brave this year and went on the big pirate ship ride with me and Patrick.  Of course one of the major high lights for the kids (and us too) was all that quality cousin time.  We had such a blast, and I was so sad when the weekend was over.

Game Night

Peter has some uncanny sense that has told him it's football season.  We like watching the college games, but we rarely have on any professional games, and truth be told, we're not big football people around here.  Lately, Peter's been saying over and over how much he wanted to go to a game.  Well, you didn't need to twist daddy's arm too much.  He decided to take Lizzy and Peter to the opening game at Stanford.  Living as close as we do to Stanford, it's really hard to avoid their hype (though we're certainly not their fans.  We're a UCLA household exclusively).  Everyone got to go out to dinner, and then head over to the stadium.  They all game home beaming, having had a great time.  Now they all can't wait for another game, especially our budding football fan, Peter.

Raise Your Hand!

Peter loves to play games while we're eating dinner.  I Spy used to be one of his favorites, but it has been eclipsed by the ever popular Raise Your Hand.  In case you haven't heard of this one, Peter says "Raise your hand if you like _____" and if you do, well, you guessed it, you raise your hand.  It's a surprisingly catchy game, believe it or not.  Lately, we have a new player who loves to join in, and it's who you'd least expect........Catherine!  When we're playing, we find her raising her hand along with us, and it always cracks everyone up, which further delights Catherine.  Catherine has brought a whole new level of fun to the famous Raise Your Hand game.

Local Adventures

I don't think I'll ever quite get used to Lizzy being gone all day at school.  Her school is wonderful, and obviously she should be there learning and having fun with her friends, but her absence at home is keenly felt by all of us, and though we're plugging along doing our own thing, there's always a tug at my heart, and a nagging feeling that something is missing.  The silver lining is getting to spend special time with Catherine and Peter, and watching the bond that they are creating.  We visited the little zoo in Palo Alto the other day.  I was remembering taking Lizzy there when she was about Catherine's age (in fact, I think I have pictures of her wearing this same dress), and thinking she was such a genius and marveling at her exploring everything.  What fun it was to watch Catherine cruising all around, loving looking at everything.  Peter was busy, busy, busy, and especially loved playing in the ball area and looking at all the bugs.  How special that these two have each other, and I'm so excited to watch as Catherine gets bigger, and then the fun can really begin.

Soccer Season

It's almost fall, and that can only mean one thing: soccer season is starting.  The other day we planned to pick up some new soccer shoes after picking Lizzy up from school.  That really put the soccer bug into Peter because while he was waiting for Lizzy to finish school, he put on all his old gear and begged me to play soccer with him in the driveway.  Oh, what fun we had!  His determination, his excitement, his fever........it was certainly contagious!  Now I'm super excited for soccer to begin too!

Teacher Sue

**Disclaimer: Please ignore the enormous pile of laundry in the back of this picture!  We're nothing if not authentic around here!**  Peter's sweet teacher from his three-year-old class, Teacher Sue, knows how much he loves the cars section of the newspaper.  Every day last year, she would discreetly leave a section of the paper near Peter's backpack hook.  What a perfect way to connect with him, to slyly say "I get you," and to quietly show how much she cares.  Even though Peter is now in the four-year-old class, Teacher Sue is still working her magic.  We found a big bag of newspapers on our porch the other day that she had collected all summer for Peter, and then we also found one she left while out on a walk.  The teachers at Peter's school are true gems.  They care so much for all the kids, and I'm amazed at the constant effort they make to show the children how valued they are.  We are so thankful for the kindness of Teacher Sue.

No Bad Guys

Literacy.......it's happening here.........and it's so exciting!  Peter is really beginning to put it all together.  He's getting so good at writing his letters, and more and more often, I'll find him busily working on a picture and he'll ask me to help him write a note.  The other day, he asked me how to write "no."  I saw him scribbling away, then he asked for a piece of tape, and ran quietly to his door, taped up his new sign, and shut his door.  When I knocked on his door, he opened it up right away with a big smile.  "What does your sign say, Peter?" I asked.  "It says, 'No bad guys can come in here.'"  Of course it does, and now it all makes perfect sense.

Back-to-School BBQ

Lizzy's school has a wonderful tradition.  Every year, to end the first week back at school, the entire school gathers on Friday night for a Hoedown style BBQ.  Everyone gathers on the big field with their picnic blankets and beverages and enjoys a delicious BBQ and wonderful company.  There are simple carnival games, a DJ, and lots of kids running all over the place, feeling wild and excited to be at school at night, able to have free range over the place.  Lizzy especially loved getting to hang out with her 8th grade buddy.  The big girls and little girls were having a blast playing together.  Peter loved the games, and was especially excited to get his face painted.  I always look forward to this night of connecting with friends, building school community, and enjoying a special night together.  

Little?

Who says Catherine is little?  She's always ready to be part of the crowd.  In fact, she thrives on it.  She loves looking around at all the people and watching everything.  She's not shy to go up to strangers, give them one of her winning smiles, and crawl all over them.  Not surprisingly, they're as taken with her as we are.  I guess when you take in the world with an open, ready heart, the world is ready to love you right back.  What a wonderful lesson we've learned from Catherine.

Playground Hot Stuff

Part of getting big is tackling those obstacles that used to feel too scary, too big, too daunting.  This giant fireman's pole used to be unthinkable for Peter.  He'd look at it longingly, perhaps even grab on, but then would hop back on the platform and run off.  Now, with a sudden burst of confidence and capability, he was ready to tackle it, no problem at all.  I love it so much when my kids feel brave and are ready for a challenge.  When you see it all click, and those previously impossible tasks suddenly are in their reach.

First Grader

And just like that, summer is officially over and we are back to the grind of school.  No more lazy mornings, no more spontaneous day trips, no more summer concerts or BBQ's.  And while that is a bummer, it's also fun to get back into a routine, reconnect with old friends, and look forward to all of the fun events of the school year.  Lizzy was excited and ready to start school.  I love the newness of the new year- new uniform, cute new hair cut, new backpack and school supplies........everything fresh and ready to begin a new phase, a new year, a new chapter.  How exciting and adorable to be a little first grade girl!

Playpen Fun

Oh, she's on the move, and I wouldn't exactly call her quick, but she's certainly determined, and persistent, and before we know it, we keep finding Catherine in weird places all over the house.  It's funny, and exciting to see how big she is getting, how capable, how adorable, but it can also be scary and pretty tricky to manage.  When I'm trying to make dinner, or get stuff ready for the day, you can often hear me saying, "Where's Catherine?!" or "Can someone check on Catherine, PLEASE!"  I must admit, that I've resorted to the playpen at times to, well, pen her in.  She doesn't seem to mind too much......yet.  

Back on Track

Maybe it was summer winding down, or lots of together time, but we had been in a bit of a funk for a few days.  Let's just say that there were lots of tantrums, not much listening, and some general sassiness going on at our house- yuck!  It's amazing how, when that happens, it can just send everyone into a bad spiral, and pretty soon, everyone is feeling bummed out.  I've found that sometimes all you need to pull yourself out of a funk is a change of scene, and boy was that true for us.  We hit up Happy Hollow one last time, and by the time we left, we were all feeling back to our old selves.  I'm not sure quite what happened, but somewhere along the line, we all started getting along again.  Lizzy and Peter had the best time playing in the big park.  Lizzy was such a sweet big sister, encouraging Peter and sticking right by him.  And Peter......wow!  He was so daring, trying new things he's never done before, climbing so high, and having the best time.  I was sitting by feeding Catherine her snack, in awe of their teamwork and friendship.  I felt on a high, like we were back in sync, and so thankful for it.  Later on, Catherine even got to go on her first "big-girl" ride with Lizzy.  I couldn't believe how big Catherine was, or how big Lizzy was!  Lizzy loved getting to hold onto Catherine, and share something new and special with her.  Maybe we need those tough days to help us appreciate the wonderful ones.

Lego Bonanza

We've been feeling the love for legos this summer, but now it's official: we are in a full-fledged lego frenzy!  Peter has been enjoying legos more and more.  He still needs some help figuring out where the pieces go, but he's really getting the hang of it and, most importantly, really loves it.  Lizzy is our resident lego expert.  She can do everything by herself, and will sit at the table for a super long time, diligently working away on her lego creations.  Grandma and Papa heard how much the kids love legos, so of course, they sent them some end of summer lego surprises in the mail.  The kids went crazy!  Not only were they thrilled to get a package in the mail, but when they saw what it was, they dove right in and started building away.  I had to work hard to keep Catherine away from all those tiny pieces, but the kids sure had a blast.  I hope their love of legos is here to stay.

Tea Party Treats

Lizzy dug out her tea party dishes the other day, and set them all up in her room.  We decided it was the perfect time to pause of tea, but didn't have too much in the way of treats.  Thank goodness I dug some M and M's out of the pantry, and we were set.  Lizzy always has milk at these parties, and Peter has water.  A great treat lately has been to put real milk in the creamer, and real sugar in the sugar bowl.  Lizzy uses the milk to refill her cup, and both Peter and Lizzy love to add sugar to their drinks and stir.  Catherine tried to join us........but she's too distracted by all of the wonderful goodies around Lizzy's room to pay us much attention.  One day!