extracurriculars

So, I already mentioned on here that Elinor and Caleb started soccer...
I might have gone a little nuts and added in a few other after-school activities.

Today was Emily's first day of a five-week rock climbing class and she LOVED it. She has always climbed any tree or wall or pole that looked remotely scalable (is that a word??), so this was perfect for her. And the gym is amazing. When El and I first stepped in to register Em, we both had to stop for a moment to take it all in. Caleb came with us this afternoon and immediately started working to convince me of his need for classes.

And no, she didn't get a haircut. This is just a sloppy ponytail + helmet hair.

Elinor started gymnastics a couple of weeks ago and just grins the whole time. Her instructor is an awesome Russian lady who has the stereotypical accent and calls herself "Teacher Nadia." She once encountered Jacob sitting on a set of stairs the class was climbing and promptly picked him up and planted a big ol' kiss on his forehead.

Em also started violin a couple of months ago. When she first started piano two years ago she really wanted to play violin. We made a deal that if she could stick with piano until she was 7 and learn the notes and some basic theory she could start violin. So here we are!

I can't get over how teeny-tiny her instrument is! It's a 1/8th size and pretty darn cute.

And I really should have taken a picture of Caleb at soccer today, so he could be fairly represented. Instead I'll show you these fish pants that I am a little bit obsessed with:

Just the trusty "Quick Change Trousers" by Anna Maria Horner again. They're for a friend who recently had a baby boy, so I don't even have a baby at home they would fit, but I am having a hard time letting them go! I basically carry them around the house caressing them... I know I have a problem.

Oh, and one last thing - I finished Carry On Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed by Glennon Doyle Melton last night and I was surprised by how much I loved it! Usually I over-research books until I basically know all the details about what I'm going to read before I start, but this was sort of an impulsive read and I'm so glad I picked it up. It's one of the best books I've read all year. Very inspiring but not in a preachy way, and also laugh-out-loud funny and super entertaining. Her blog is great too. I love this post and also this in particular.

cupcakes and soccer

Well, well, well. It's been a while, old blog. Things have been crazy and busy and hectic and I still don't feel settled in our new home. We still have a few boxes here and there and I have stacks of books and bags and who-knows-what on my side of the bedroom. I swore I would never have stacks of junk, yet here I am. Right now though, I am ironing and cutting fabric.

I have a plethora of projects in mind, and am so excited to get going! There is not much more thrilling to me than getting a package of bright new fabrics in the mail!


We've had a couple of birthdays (mine and Elinor's) throughout the last couple of weeks, and my mom came to visit us last week, but none of it was very thoroughly documented.

This was on Elinor's actual birthday. Hairdo courtesy of Grandma. :)

This was also on her birthday.

This, unfortunately, was not. We didn't get around to (cup)cakes and candles until a couple of days later. Poor little Bel.

She and Jake decorated them while the big kids were at school.

Elinor did one plate and I did the other. Can you tell which is which?

Okay, so maybe it's hard to tell in these pictures. Let me just say, I didn't go as crazy with the sprinkles as Miss Elinor did! Jake didn't really pull his weight in this task. All of his cupcakes ended up looking like this:

A lot of the damage here was caused by his tongue. I threw them away when he wasn't looking.

This was the sight we left as Joseph and I headed out on a date provided by my mother! Our kids have simple needs.. just a good dose of sugar before bed every night!

Just a few more words before I turn back to my fabric:
Elinor and Caleb have started a program called Kidz Love Soccer and they LOVE it. It is not competitive, just a group of kids meeting with a coach to play games and learn skills. They sometimes have friendly skirmishes and it's so fun to see!

Elinor happily donned Emily's old soccer jersey (from the Y in Austin), shin guards, and shorts. She was so excited to be a "soccer girl!" I love how cute she looks in this lineup. #37.

Working on dribbling. Aww. So much better than chasing a ball with a pack of kids and snatching a kick every now and then.

And also. A few weeks ago we joined some friends at the park to just get some energy out. The kids had a blast and we got some great pictures.

Elinor rocking the two-wheeler -- and so fashionably, in a ruffled skirt!

Sweet Emily.

I was surprised to see how natural Caleb-with-a-skateboard looks. I want to blow this picture up to hang in his room!

Settling in

So, I don't know if it was clear from that last post, but Ellie has been riding a Strider bike for the past couple of years (LOVE those things!) and just recently started badgering us for a bike with pedals. So I got on Craigslist and could not believe my eyes when I found a beautiful little hot pink Specialized bike (complete with white wicker basket) for sale for a fifth of what they go for new. And it was in great shape. "I can't believe a little girl owned this before us!" is what I must have repeated in awe to Joseph a million times because I just didn't understand how it was not trashed. All of our stuff is after about 6 months. Anyway, we somehow managed to snap that up and now Elinor is the proud - PROUD - owner of an awesome, high quality bike.

This morning was one of those lovely, idealistic times with little kids and perfect weather. I loved Jake's cool and casual slumming there on our front porch with a muffin and some lemonade. I also loved Elinor's little dog peeking out of the basket of her shiny new bike.

The cherry on top of this whole experience was how quickly she took to riding on two wheels with pedals. I was sure she wouldn't learn before she was four because we don't push these things and she hadn't shown interest until about two weeks ago, but she showed me! And she is completely independent now, starting and stopping with no assistance at all. I tell Joseph all the time (I'm sure he's sick of hearing it) that Striders make us look like much more attentive and intensive parents than we really are because our kids start riding two-wheelers SO young. Caleb was barely 3-1/2. At the rate Jake's going, he'll figure it out before he hits three. Aah, Strider bikes. I cannot sing your praises loudly enough.

In other news, we did move out of our non-child-friendly townhouse and into a great little neighborhood in Sunnyvale. This move was fabulous. We gave the movers the date, they told us they'd show up at nine, they unloaded all our stuff, we locked the house back up and were eating lunch comfortably back at corporate housing by 1pm. We slept in corporate housing until we could live more comfortably at the new rental, and gradually started spending more time there until we moved in officially.

Jake looking for some more challenging terrain on his Strider.

First day of school. Em and Caleb are back in public school this year and loving it.

There is a really great school just down the street from where we are, but it is full this year so we are driving a couple of miles to another school. There was the possibility of being called back to our home school, but Emily told me the other day that she wished she didn't have to go back, so that settled it in my mind. Both kids seem to prefer the overload school, so that is where we will stay for the time being.

We are always frequent visitors to the local library. It was awesome to see Caleb investigating this reading man and figuring out that he was a statue.

Sort of random here (okay, super random, but it's been sitting in my photo file forever now and I want to move it) - a couple of months ago my Mom flew me out to Salt Lake to run the half marathon "with" my sister. It was a crazy whirlwind trip - I left Friday afternoon, ran Saturday, got back Sunday morning in time for church. PS - Sarah is a speed demon. She finished in an hour and a half. I finished about 30 minutes later, and about 5 seconds before this picture was taken.

And... back to the kids. This was right before one of our last visits to the pool at our townhouse. The kids sure loved swimming! This is why Em is so dark in her first day of school picture!

We are loving our new home here in Sunnyvale. There is always so much to do and the weather is always so lovely! Come visit!

You never forget

Having a backyard is great.  We've spent a lot of time rollerskating back and forth on the back porch.  With the start of school, we've also been riding bikes (until we were off-loaded from the school down the street to a different school a couple miles away, but that's a different post).  A new (used) bike would have been a fun birthday present, but we jumped the gun a little for this one.  She was ready now.

A notification arrived on my phone while I was recording and spoiled the audio a bit.  Perhaps I'll talk to someone about that.  Unfortunately, there's a good chance that they'll invite me to fix it.  Still, we're impressed at how quickly this girl got going.  She rode all around the park on Saturday, starting and stopping by herself.  We couldn't be more pleased with our balance bikes (Jacob's on one in this video).  They've helped the kids learn to ride so quickly.  My own method for learning to ride a bike was to fall, over and over again.  Who knew there was another way?

No lag.

I know we've been MIA for a while (we were roughing it here without the internet for a couple of weeks and just got it back a couple of days ago!), but in setting up house here we've been spending a lot of quality time with IKEA lately. This video makes me like them even more!