Merry, Merry

December 2013

 

Dear friends and family,

We hope you are all well and happy. We can’t believe another year has flown by so quickly – I think we’d better get used to it so I can stop saying that every December. Our family is busy like everybody else, with work and school and activities and all the good things we can fit in. We’re having a great time with two children now old enough to ride bikes, swim, help around the house, and entertain us all day with their antics, singing, dancing, and funny personalities.

Claire is a first grader. There are 18 boys and 9 girls in her class. We can’t figure out how it happened, but the three other first grade classes have the same ratio. Luckily, she’s no doormat and doesn’t have any complaints about the situation. Claire takes tennis lessons and art classes and is always producing pages and pages of drawings, embellished love letters to mom and dad, and sculptures and contraptions of all kinds made with whatever materials we give her. We love her generous nature, her hourly hugs and kisses, and constant crafting.

Audrey is in fourth grade. It’s a whole new era with more homework; more social activity; more concerns about hair, clothes and friends; and more desire for freedom. Audrey is a Girl Scout, loves to read, takes piano lessons, and horseback riding lessons. She is good at the piano and it’s lovely to hear her practicing and mastering many familiar songs. This month Audrey turned 10 and we see teenage-dom closing in. We enjoy her sassy sense of humor, her singing in the shower, and her checking out 30 books at a time at the library. 

Mark is very busy as a freelance industrial design consultant. He sometimes has more work than he can do, and we are grateful for the bounty. This summer he went to Korea twice for one of his clients. And he just finished a 3-month contract with Hewlett-Packard that had him living in San Diego during the week. It’s feast or famine for us – he’s home all the time or none of the time. When he is home we keep him running with a list of work and play that just can’t be done without him - he’s good to all of his girls.

I still do quite a bit of freelance and volunteer at the school every week. We rent a garden plot from the city, and I am busy picking, planting, weeding, and watering all year long. We are lucky our climate is so mild we can grow vegetables year round. That’s a lot of veggies, but we eat a little bit of everything, including junk food. I play tennis and do yoga regularly and love finally having the time to be active. Both kids in school is a bit crazy, but awesome - half the day I do whatever I want and need to do and the other half I do whatever they want and need to do. I’ll take it!

Mark and I both turned 41 this year and it was definitely easier than turning 40. I might even say we are finally starting to feel like adults (middle age has a way of forcing the issue), which is weird. It’s a good life we have, that’s for sure. Not to say we don’t face our fair share of stress and struggle – but none of that is fun to read in a Christmas letter. Fortunately, our difficulties are all the kind that lack longevity, and when we look at the big picture we think of ourselves as very lucky.

Our girls are our main focus, and now that we are not drowning in the slobbery stage, we have come up for air with a vengeance. Survival mode was the name of the game for so long – now it seems, the world is opening up for us. 

All our love, Mark, Melissa, Audrey and Claire

Great Big Giant Satin

We did our annual wedding dress photo shoot in October this year, even though it's supposed to happen in July. But at least we did it! I think one of the many tough things about being a mom is keeping up with traditions. They are important, but end up being peripheral when life gets busy, at least for me - I tend to focus on basic needs and ignore everything else when my to do list gets horribly long.

My girls cooperated this year, but complained a lot about one very unromantic thing about my dress: it smells funny. It does, and I don't know why, but I am guessing it's the plastic bag the dress is stuffed into year round, leaking its funny fake smell into the fabric. But we pressed on, ignored the bad lighting, and got it done quickly.

I don't have dreams of them wearing this dress when they get married, but I love to see them in it. I wore it that special day and my girls were nowhere to be seen - so I like connecting the dots this way.

A decade of Audrey

Our sweetheart turned 10 this week. We are so lucky to have her. It's fun to see how much she's grown up and how many exciting things are ahead of her. We can't help ask ourselves how it went by so quickly, but we have a billion memories, so I know we didn't miss much.

This year I told Audrey a little more of her birth story than I usually do, thinking she is old enough to hear about the extreme circumstances surrounding her arrival. She was, as always, very curious. And we spent a little time telling her our funny memories from when she was little.

March 2004

Like the time she was standing next to the bathtub while I was taking a shower, pulling on the shower curtain and babbling. The next thing I knew she landed at my feet. She fell right in and was soaked. She looked so shocked, but didn't cry. Mark pulled her out while I laughed.

Like the time Mark took her to the Aquarium of the Pacific and parked her in her stroller next to the touch tank. He looked away from a moment and when he looked back at Audrey her head was wet. She had stuck her head in the water.

Like the time when Audrey was about 6 or 7, doing crafts like mad and having a love affair with the scissors. She was snipping away at some paper and cut off a chunk of her hair. I walked into her room and found her sitting there looking at this chunk of hair and I said "Did you cut your hair?!" and she said "Well, not on purpose!"

Audrey's always entertaining. She always has a comment to make. She always has the wiggles. She sings, she dances, she jumps. She tells us jokes and lately she's delivering some great one liners. "No offense pigs, but I really love bacon." We love it.

Audrey really loves to read. She loves her snacks: rice crackers, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, and cheese sticks. She has started to clean her room without being asked. She does her homework and practices piano - we don't have to ask her, but we do have to listen to her complain. Audrey loves animals and wants a pet very much. She did get horseback riding lessons for her birthday, so maybe that will fill the need.

Audrey's wings are out and we just need to stand back and let her fly. It's tough because all we want to do is keep her close and safe. No one tells you that giving your children their freedom is not exactly instinctual. It helps that she has achieved this grand number - no more kidding ourselves about her whether she's ready or not.

November 2013

Fab fall

We started school on the Friday after Labor Day - a strange choice on the part of the school district, but nobody's asking me. Audrey got a cute and very grown up hair cut. She started 4th grade with Mrs. Esquibel and Claire started 1st with Ms. Wood.

Super summer

School got out and we fell headlong into the lukewarm days of our cloudy coastal summer. We spent our time at the beach, the park, the library, rattling around the house, camping, and playing. Nobody bathed, and nobody blogged, but by golly, we did our workbooks and job charts. Every summer, I vow my children will not wile away their time building forts with the couch cushions and wasting all my printer paper drawing 5,000 fairies, so this year I let it be understood that no fun would be had until the chores the workbooks were done. It made a dent in our plans every day, but I stuck to it and may never attempt it again.

Still, we had good times. We took two camping trips - one to San Clemente and one to Crystal Cove. We went to the Southcoast Botanical Gardens. We played in our own sprinklers. We swam in my parents' pool one last time before they sold their house. Claire learned to swim with her face in the water. Audrey read 112 books - some of them while hanging from the tree in our front yard. Both girls perfected their crazy camera poses. We went to a baseball game and the girls took gymnastics. 

Dodger Stadium

Home

Hemet

Fourth of July

South Bay Botanical Gardens

 

San Clemente. While we were there President Obama flew over us in Marine One on his way to Pendelton.

Gymnastics

Crystal Cove

I love summer. I miss summer. It was a cold one this year - never really warm and sunny enough to feel like anything but Spring. But I like having the kids around; I love not having to pack lunches and check homework; and I love all the fun memories we make when we have the time to sit around and see what happens.

The scoop on spring

We've been busy and this blog has been neglected. Between fun and work and school and trips and activities, there's been too much going on to sit and document all of it. But I'll try.

Movie night  

We do movie night on slow Fridays. This time the dollies joined us.

VIP seating

 

Santa Barbara - Spring Break

We went up the coast for Spring Break and visited all of our favorite places - and stopped at Randy's - a Los Angeles landmark - on our way out of town. We all love Santa Barbara - the restaurants, shops, parks, beaches and mountains are so fun and novel. We live in a beach town and enjoy it very much, but we like getting another flavor sometimes.

At Kid's World Park in downtown Santa Barbara

She only looks like she's wrestling this dolphin statue - but she won.

At the labyrinth. What you don't see is the sign that says this is a place of "contemplation." But no one was there besides us so we ran around until we were tired.

 

Gaviota State Beach - Spring Break

The wind was blowing horizontally, but the light and the scenery were beautiful. We love this spot.

He wasn't posing, but I thought he looked so handsome.

Claire is threatening to throw sand at me - but it looks like a really loving moment anyway.

View from the pier.

  Disneyland

Disneyland - we went a lot this spring because our passes expired at the end of May.

Claire lost her first tooth on Main Street. She said it felt really wiggly and when she showed me it was just hanging on by a thread. I thought she was just feeling it, but the next thing I knew it was in her hand. I was so excited I screamed, and Audrey was embarrassed, but Claire was thrilled. An unforgettable moment.

 

Around the house

Her new tooth started growing in immediately.

Gorgeous girls in matching church dresses.

Then they get tired of posing and start fooling around. Lots of funny faces.

 

Trying to teach my girls to sew - an exercise in patience.

I took this because it's a great fort (and a huge mess) and there's nobody's playing in it.

Still our little monkey

Not the apocalypse, just a lunar eclipse that happened at dusk and made the light all creepy. The neighbors were all coming out of their houses wondering what was happening, but none of us were taken up by the rapture or alien ships and after 20 minutes or so the light went back to normal.

Chelsea's graduation

Chelsea Freedom graduated from high school. My brother Eddie's daughter, who has a great mom and dad who always share these big days with us, is all grown up now.

Fun in Phoenix

We spent some time in Phoenix with my college roommate and good friend Kristen. Our kids enjoyed each other and we had a great time catching up. 

I told them to lick their popsicles so I could take a picture - Claire went a little too far. With Audrey, Parker and Matthew.

Audrey and Avery.

Claire and Parker

We stayed in Kristen's casita, or palace, as my kids called it. they were especially impressed and entertained by the walk-in shower.

Disneyland again, and again

We are spoiled, but not horribly. It's very close and we got season passes, so it's easy to go a lot. We never stay a whole day or stay very late or buy food there and never get souvenirs and once we drove all the way there only to find our passes were blocked out for the day and this is just me trying not to seem like a brat and only making it worse.
 

I took Claire to Disneyland by herself one day. She got to pick all the rides and I bought her an ice cream cone - a completely novel experience because I never buy them $10 treats anywhere, especially Disneyland.

The teacups. She's laughing because I scream like I'm terrified and pretend to throw up.

This is a candy-themed train track - Claire was entranced. Toys AND candy - what could be more exciting?

Audrey had her special day, too.

Flash forward 6 years and this will be a real car. Thank goodness it's just Autopia for now.

And together on another day. This time at California Adventure.

Oh, Mickey, you're so fine.

 Armed Forces Day

Watching the parade on Armed Forces Day in Torrance.

The end-of-the-school-year rush

Claire and her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Newell.

Audrey and Mrs. Will. Both my girls had super teachers this year.

Audrey's favorite project - the blanket she wove. She enjoyed it so much her teacher let her borrow the loom and Audrey made three more after this one.

 

Kindergarten field trip to the Los Angeles Zoo - and Claire's first time on a school bus. Fortunately, I did not have to ride the bus with her. There's not enough Tylenol in the world to make that bearable.

That's Claire and her friend Jason in the dome - like little ground hogs.

Lucy, Ellie, Jason, Claire and Garrett at the flamingo field. Claire's mimicking the birds, and I think Garrett is practicing his 'N Sync pose.

Yes, that is a leopard 4 feet away from my child.

Audrey did the long jump for the school track team.

Claire and I spent many, many hours watching the meet.

Audrey's class party - she was surprised to see me there.

Audrey's class.

Claire's class party the day after Audrey's. I was room parent and worked pretty hard pulling off all the end of the year parties and gifts and so on.

Ice blocking.

Claire's class

I'm not sure how to wrap up this whole spread. These are the highlights of the last few months - the prettiest, funniest and most exciting. They add up to about 20 percent of our real lives. The rest of the time we are working, sleeping, eating, cleaning, planting, weeding, doing homework, watching TV, wiping our rear ends (three of us), talking, not talking, doing laundry, doing crafts, getting scolded for not cleaning up crafts, mowing the lawn, getting scolded at for not mowing the lawn, paying bills, turning in our library books late, complaining about the price of gas, and washing dishes - endless mounds of self-replicating dishes. It's a good life.