Bring a Friend Day at Dance Class

Alyssa got to invite TWO friends to her Little Gym class!

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Pretty in Pink

We finally painted a room!  The girls are thrilled with their pink room.  They didn't get to help paint as we had hoped.  Instead, they were put to bed in mommy and daddy's bed and while they slept, mommy and daddy did the real work.  They were moved to their mattresses in the livingroom when we went to bed.  Alyssa was quoted as saying, "It is like a slumber party!"

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109 Degrees in Arcadia

We had a scorcher of a day today... we stayed indoors... so this little love note from Hannah is quite appropriate.  It comes from our bedtime routine... where one point we say, "I love you to the moon and back."  As with most things, it's been Hannah-ized!  And all the hair clips were attached to it as well.

Super Harvest Moon Light Show

Ryan sent an article to me from The Miami Herald, titled, " 'Super Harvest Moon' light show expected at sunset tonight."  It had been an overcast day and it didn't look good for viewing the skies tonight.  But by the time bath time was over, the skies had cleared up and this is what we saw:

A full moon starting the beginning of autumn for the first time in 20 years, making an extremely bright moon.

Jupiter just below the moon, the first time in 47 years that it has been this close to our moon (about every 12 years they are on the same side of the sun).

Three of the four moons of Jupiter, with the telescope that daddy had gotten when he was twelve.

The reaction Alyssa had when she first saw Jupiter and the moons was priceless... she literally gasped when she finally figured out how to look into the telescope to see it and proceeded to say and she smiled broadly in amazement, "It's amazing!"  

Aquarium of the Pacific 2010

One of the benefits to homeschooling is the discounted entry opportunities at many places.  This is our second visit to the Aquarium of the Pacific for their Home School Day.  The new things we got to see were the water shed display and how the water runs down from our mountains all the way to Long Beach, the pouches of shark eggs, the divers sanding down the very thick plexiglass in the seals display due to a new ( been there about a year, or since our last visit) seal with a long, sharp tooth that it grinds along the acrylic as is swims by... and we did rubbings on the brass tiles.

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Kiss Me!

Alyssa loves her lipstick.  She likes to apply and re-apply... as soon as she puts the cap back on, she's taking it off again.  The other day she had a make-up class at The Little Gym.  She was so excited about it, thinking it was a class about wearing  make-up!  It wasn't easy explaining that it was a class for a missed class...

Girl's Only Weekend

While the Jaffe boys were out of town golfing, the girls decided to have a girls night.  We made pizza and enjoyed chocolate fondue.  Good food, good company, good times!

Knott's Berry Farm

Our first visit to Knott's with friend, Daniella, and her mom, Sylvana.  We had a fun time...  Alyssa was very brave on many of the rides, and though she never did cry, she clung to mommy during the ride and when it was over would say, "the ride was kind of scary for me."  Danielle had a blast showing her friends the rides... she would guide Alyssa by taking Alyssa's elbow in her hand to lead her in a certain direction.  Alyssa especially liked the log ride where you had to pump the bar forward and back to get it going around the track.  Hannah was enjoying the opportunity to be able to ride on many of the rides by herself.


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I need to translate...

So Homeschooling is going well for the most part... Hannah is still pretty strong willed about wanting to do things her way even when the teacher has something different in mind. One morning she was so frustrated with the teacher that she blurted out, "You're not a real teacher! I want to got to a real school!" I'm sure I'm not the first parent to hear that! Hannah is learning that said teacher will simply drop the project if she becomes difficult and move onto something else.

Here is another example of Hannah's will overriding the task of simply following directions. We are sending a letter out along with 50 cents to get a badge for an accomplishment of Hannah's (something we saw in a book borrowed from the library). Just getting Hannah to simply send 5o cents and not "a dollar so that we could get back change" was in and of itself a challenge. Then, so that Hannah could write something in her own hand, we were taping the money to a card that said, "Arden, You'll find under tape the money for badge(her wording, not mine)." Instead, she took on a very creative approach. Hannah could not simply write the words out legibly for the reader.

LA County Fair 2010

We spent the day at the LA County Fair.  The best time we had was in the California Heritage area.  Alyssa loved sewing and Hannah was entranced buy the Medicine Man show.


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Matt and Nate's Lego Party

Hannah's friends from Preschool celebrated their 6th birthday with a Lego theme.  It was a fun party for everyone.  I took Hannah while Daddy stayed home with a napping Alyssa.  When we got home Hannah told her Daddy that she wished he was there.  They had a Lego tower building contest, Lego relay, Lego race car building and races, a Lego pinata and Lego cakes.


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Preview Day at Preschool

Meet Mrs. Armi, Alyssa's first preschool teacher.   Though Alyssa started the day a bit unsure if she really wanted to go to preschool, she quickly forgot her fears.  She took along the hefty Bedtime Story book from home and asked if mommy would help her "read the letters" so she could tell Mrs. Armi the story about the Troll (Three Billy Goats Bluff).  Today was a meet the teacher and check out the classroom kind of day.  We'll see how Monday goes...

Thousand Trails 2010

We spend Labor Day weekend with the O'Neill's and their three dogs, Tanner, Kona and Brody.  When asked what was the best of part of the weekend, this is what the girls told me:

 Hannah:

1) Meeting the new puppy, Brody

2) Riding a horse

3) Daddy made a swing

Alyssa:

1) Walking Tanner

2) swing on swing daddy made

3) Ride Amber with mommy

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Alyssa's Dance Class

More exciting to her than starting preschool in a couple weeks is going to dance class.  The other day while visiting with her COOP friends and their mommies, she was dancing around with Carrie, Mihret's mommy.  Carrie asked her, "Are you excited about going to preschool soon?"  Alyssa's reply was a boisterous, "No, I'm excited about DANCE CLASS!"  Alyssa asked several times this morning if I would be staying for her dance class (I didn't stay for the 3 camps she did over the summer) and if I would be taking a picture of her when we got there (but of course!).  She gave me lots of  kisses and hugs before going into class where she promptly took off the tap shoes we put on just moments before.  All seemed to be going well until part way through tap when she came out to me with tears filling her eyes.  That moment passed quickly and before I knew it she was back in class.  The same thing happen toward the end of the gymnastics part of class, but she got her reassurance from mommy and finished off the class saying as she left the gym, "I don't want to go!"