The Princess and her Jewels

Catherine always has her own style........and if she could have her way, that style would always be fancy!  And why not?  Why not wear a silk gown to a basketball game?  Why not bring a little glamour to the courtside drudgery?  And Catherine's discovered a new accessory to take her fabulousness to a new level......the ring-pop.  It's delicious, it's shiny, it's gorgeous, and it's very entertaining during those long, long games.  It's a win for us all!

Footballers and Cheerleaders

Peter is really into football these days.  For Christmas Lizzy gave Peter a flag football set, and Peter's been running us all around playing football.  When we were at Grandma and Papa's house the other day, Peter even convinced Papa to get in on the action.  That Papa......he's a good sport and there's no stopping him.  He never does anything part way, so if he's going to play you in football, he's going to play you tough, and he's going to run all around zig zagging this way and that to get your flag.  He was nearly giving me a heart attack with his crazy moves, and I didn't know whether to slow him down or try to keep up!  We're so lucky to have such a fun Papa to play with.

Tumble Queen

Catherine has been keeping herself busy these days.  Not only is she enjoying ballet, she's also a jumping, tumbling, bouncing maniac at gymnastics.  Catherine loves to run through the obstacle course, swing on the rings, bounce on the trampoline, and especially play around in the ball pit.  It's enough to make a girl exhausted, but Catherine loves to be busy and explore and play and have fun.  Exactly as she should:)

Basketball Boys

A great part of being in first grade is that you get to start Little Dribblers!  It's awesome!  It's so much fun to get to be on the team, to get to play with your buddies, and to practice your basketball skills.  We love to watch Peter on the court!  He is doing an awesome job.  My favorite is when he gets a rebound and dribbles all the way down the court and starts the play for his team.  Great job, Peter!  You are a star:)

Basketball Girls

We are in the thick of basketball season, and we are loving it!  Lizzy is really blossoming into an awesome player!  Between Wildcats and Little Dribblers, Lizzy is getting lots of practice, and it shows.  She is a great dribbler, a tough defender, and an amazing shooter!  We love to watch Lizzy play and have so much fun on the court.  It's even more awesome to share this special time with her wonderful team mates.

Peter Loves Daddy

Good Night, Ladies

We had a great afternoon.....the kind of day that I absolutely love where we are all playing and having so much fun together.  It started out great because it was a half day at school.  We headed right over to the park for a picnic and playtime with friends.  The kids loved it!  They were having so much fun together, and spent hours running around, deep into their imaginary game.  By the time we headed home, we were all pretty exhausted from all our fun, but we quickly got a second wind.  Daddy surprised the kids with a new basketball hoop, which they went crazy for!  Perhaps even better than the hoop, was the giant box the hoop came in.  Lizzy, Caroline, and Peter used the box to create a playhouse, and then we used scraps from the box to create beds for Lizzy and Caroline's American Girl dolls.  We held nothing back.  We brought out the paint, and glitter, and jewels.  We raided our extra felt for blankets and pillows, and before long, we had two elegant beds on our hands.  We finished up the day with a pizza party and watching a movie- so fun!  After dinner, all the girls were playing with their dolls.  Catherine got out her doll, made a little bed for her out of a blanket, and joined right in the fun.  I absolutely love to watch Catherine in the mix of things, and I love how inclusive and loving the big girls are with her.  What a wonderful day together! 

Beautiful Ballerina

You'd probably be pretty hard pressed to find anything cuter than Catherine in her dancing clothes.  Catherine was SUPER excited to be starting her dance class.  We went to the store and picked out all new special ballet clothes and shoes and she was ready for action.  In fact, she wanted to wear her dance clothes all day, every day, for about a week.  The only problem there is that it's winter, which makes it a little chilly, but her leg warmers will help a little bit, right?!  Catherine has always loved to dance, and we all know how much she loves dancers and princesses.  I think Catherine and ballet may be a match made in heaven!

Stars and Spectators

Basketball season is in full swing, and both Lizzy and Peter are playing on teams.  They love it, and they're doing great!  They are both awesome players, and it's fun to watch them play.  The truth is....it's really fun just to be involved.  It's hard to tell where there's more action- on the court or on the sidelines.  Catherine loves to hang around the big girls.  She loves to talk with them and copy what they're doing.  Peter loves when Lizzy is playing and he gets to hang around the gym and look for some buddies to play with.  It's super fun to be a part of the mix.....to feel the energy of the gym....and to spend time with special friends.

A Long Fun Day

All my kids like to be on the go.  They love adventure, and are always up for anything.  Peter may love it the most though.  Every morning, almost the moment my eyes open, he'll ask me, "What are we doing today?"  Often followed by my favorite, "What are we having for dinner?"  Well, we had a busy day for the record books on Sunday.  We started with Lizzy's basketball.  Then we hopped right on the road for Palo Alto to go to Lizzy's friend Tatum's birthday party.  We made a pit stop in McDonalds for a quick change and fast lunch then we headed to the ice rink for the party.  What fun! We all had a great time.  Lizzy loved getting to see all her old friends, and fell into step with everyone right away.  I always admire how easily Lizzy connects with friends, and always has such an open, happy heart.  Peter and Catherine loved skating.  Peter really got the hang of it, and we all were sad when the party ended.  But we didn't stop there!  We made a fast trip to one of our favorite old museums and then visited our old, dear friends from our old neighborhood for some wonderful playtime.  Lizzy and Peter jumped right into the basketball game, and didn't want the fun to end.  At one point Peter looked at me and said, "Wow!  This really was a long, busy day full of fun.  That's the best kind though!"  He is so right!  I think we all felt filled up with love and friendship, and absolutely had the best time seeing so many awesome friends.  We ended our marathon with dinner out at CPK, and even stopped by the American Girl store.  Whew!  What fun!  

Keep Old Friends

When we first moved, it was very exciting, but also pretty scary.  We were so thrilled to be finally getting our own house.  We were super happy to be moving to close to family, and to have lots of fun times with cousins.  But, we were also leaving behind some very special friends.  And those kinds of friends are not easy to find.  It takes time to cultivate deep friendships, and we knew we would be saying good-bye to some very special people.  But since we have moved, we have learned how strong those friendships can be!  When you make a connection with someone, if you move, or have some time apart, the really amazing thing is that you can reconnect, and have just as much fun as you had before!  We've loved getting to visit our old friends, and we cherish when we get to spend time together.  We've realized that our laughs and jokes and good times are just as awesome, maybe even more so, because now we realize how precious they are.  We've learned that there are lots and lots of people out there that are ready to be awesome friends.  That no matter where you go, you'll find new friends, but the old ones will be waiting for you to come back.  Excited for those precious carved out moments that you can spend together.  Just like Lizzy and her darling friend, Tatum:)

A Fresh Start, Please!

I've been busy......that's what everyone says, right?!  But we do get busy, bogged down with the day to day business of chores, and school, and sports, and play, and, well.....everything.  The problem is, when you get "busy," you lose your focus.  You're so intent on getting through your daily to-do list, that you lose sight of what's even on the list!  And that's okay!  Sometimes life is like that- just sort of struggling to stay afloat, and doing the best you can.  But that's not exactly giving an accurate picture of what's happening with us.  Sure, we're keeping all of our balls delicately balancing in the air, but we're also have a lot of fun doing it.  We're growing, and learning, and thriving.  And I don't want to just be along for the ride.... I want to keenly and intentionally live it, and embrace it, and enjoy it, and be thankful!  I'm, therefore, giving myself a break here.  I'm just allowing myself a restart and beginning anew today.  I've missed (on this blog) birthdays, and holidays, and many, many special moments.  Missed only in recording them though, because they were fully enjoyed in the moment when we lived them.  Instead of trying to play a never ending game of catch up, I'm letting those things go and starting over today.  I'll do my best to keep up here, because I do treasure these moments and times together.  They are the invaluable fabric of our life.

So here we are then, the first day of the new year!  2015!  We started it out with a bang.  Instead of just snuggling in and laying around like a bunch of bugs on a log, we zipped out of bed, got dressed quickly, and did what we do best.  We hit a museum and enjoyed a day of adventure.  We have never been to the Laurence Hall of Science before in Berkeley, and boy was it well worth a visit!  Today was sunny, but super chilly.  We drove through the Berkeley hills and finally found the museum.  The view was breathtaking!  The kids loved getting to run all around, and explore, and create.  Everything was hands on, and they loved getting to check out all the exhibits.  What fun, and what a great way to kick off our new year!  I hope we're in for many more days of adventure and fun.