100 days and tortilla snowflake

Today was Leo's 100th day of school.  He brought 100 buttons. 

He also worked with his 3rd grade buddy to fill out a "If I had $100 I would buy..." worksheet.  His original buddy changed school, so this is a new buddy.  Leo wrote XBox, but he wasn't exactly clear on what that is, so I think he may have been influenced by his buddy.   

Here are the kids marching to 100.  

Meanwhile, Serafina was at preschool making a tortilla snowflake.  My friend Aida sent this picture of her cutting the tortilla.  

It was covered with sugar, so she gobbled it down and told me later how much she liked it.

Second Ski Weekend

We got home last night from our second ski weekend.  California is experiencing a drought and there hasn't been any snow, but Serafina was pumped to head out for some skiing.  

 We signed Leo up for ski lesson so he could have some fun with other kids his age and skill level, and so Tom could focus on teaching Serafina.

 The last time he was in ski school, he was just a puddle of tears.  This was a much better experience for him and he asked when he could do it again.

 There was the added benefit that Tom could focus on Serafina.

After lunch, Leo didn't want to go out skiing.  The kids didn't have a full night sleep so he was tired, but I also think the lesson took a lot out of him.  

Tom took Serafina back out to ski more and Leo and I went for a walk.  We visited the fairytale house, of course.  

 And had some fun in the snow.

He had plenty of energy on our walk, so I think he just may have wanted some one-on-one time with me.  

Serafina's one-on-one time with Tom paid off because she was skiing independently by the end of the day.  

And through the hoops.  

 I stopped at a scenic overlook to avoid having to follow a school bus down the mountain and took a couple of pictures of beautiful Donner Lake.

Skiing is hard work and it tires a little person out.

 Tires out the big people too.

Our housemates arrived Saturday night and the kids stayed up late playing with them since we haven't seen them in a while.  They were tired the next day, but managed to do some good skiing.  

Here's Serafina showing off her skills again.  

Preschool (again)

Serafina was due on August 29th, I was admitted to the hospital on September 1st, and she made her arrival in the morning on September 2nd.  I didn't know at the time how important those few days would be.  For the upcoming school year, California has moved its kindergarten cut-off date to September 1st.  That means she misses it by one day (ONE STINKING DAY!), so she won't be eligible for kindergarten this year.  It's annoying, but I think it will be for the best in the long run.  I'm really happy Leo is one of the oldest kids in his class and he benefits from it.  Serafina is still in speech therapy and though she's catching up, she still needs some more time.  Anyway, kindergarten isn't an option so we needed to figure out where to send her next year.  We considered the private program Leo went to last year or the free "transitional kindergarten" that the school district offers, but both of those options required me to drive her every morning.  The preschool is on the same campus as Leo's elementary school.  We walk there.  Everyday, rain or shine, we simply stroll out the front door and are at school about five minutes later.  Though I didn't immediately think she should just stay at her preschool, it became very clear it was the best choice.  This means another year at the co-op and serving as the school board's president, but I think the second term will be easier since I'm familiar with the job.  Plus, I don't have to drive.

Plus, I just really love the school.  I worked in the class today and here's Serafina learning her letters.

Sunday hike before football

California is experiencing unseasonably warm, dry weather.  Not good for drought conditions or skiing, but very nice for a Sunday afternoon hike.  We wanted to get outside for a while before we settled in to an afternoon of football.

Most of these pictures show just how hard it is to get a nice picture of my kids looking at the camera acting normal.  

 I told the kids if the weren't whiney on the hike we could get ice cream.  They were good so we got ice cream.  You know what else is good?  That preschool marketing in the window behind Serafina.

I attended a "Girls Night In" party last night and brought a couple desserts.  

Brownie bites with cookie butter frosting (a.k.a. speculoos or biscoff spread)

Brown butter cookies with semi-sweet and dark chocolate chunks and sea salt sprinkle.  

These cookies turned out great.  It's a little more complicated than the average chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I think it might be worth it.  

Ice Skating Field Trip

When I signed up Serafina for preschool this year, I warned Tom that he would need to be at the ice skating field trip.  As soon as I found out the field trip date, I made sure he took the morning off work.  When I went with Leo, I was pretty miserable because of my lack of skating skills.  Don't get me wrong, we had a good time, but I knew I didn't want to get on the ice again if I could help it.  Turns out, it was much better for me just cheer them on and take pictures.  And Tom, not surprisingly, was very comfortable on skates.  Plus Serafina loved having him teach her another winter sport.  

Here they are waiting for the Zamboni to finish its rounds.  

 Here they are first starting out.  She was clinging to the wall, just like I did two years ago.

 Getting use to the skates.

She was able to let go of dad.  

And started skating on her own.  

She wasn't moving to fast, but she was moving and doing it on her own.  

 Tom was having fun and helping other random kids while he was out there.

They only spent an hour on the ice, but she started getting better and better.  

She spotted her teacher, Mrs. Mouritsen, and was happy to see her.  

Here she is at the end of the day with her friend Mia.  

Reading back the blog post from Leo's trip, it seems like it wasn't that bad for me after all.  I'm still really glad Tom was there though.  I got some teasing from some of the other parents about just watching from the sidelines, but I told them "I embarrass myself enough with the things I say, I don't need to embarrass myself by falling all over the ice."

Tahoe kick-off 2014

We headed up to Tahoe on Friday for our first trip of the season.  We are staying in the same house as last year and like the past two years, there isn't a whole lot of snow up there.  

The kids were excited to go out skiing.  Here they are in some new hats for this season.  I was pretty sick of seeing them in the same old hats.  

 Before we left, it began to rain.  As we drove up the mountain to the ski spot, it turned to snow.  By the time we got to the lodge and the kids were suiting up to go, it was snowing sideways.

Here's Serafina headed to the bunny slope.

 It was miserable out there so I took a quick picture and headed inside.

The snowing didn't let up, so I went out after about an hour to retrieve the kids.  I knew they would be pretty done.  Serafina had been doing pretty good with Tom, but seeing me inspired her to ski right into me without any attempt to stop.  

We both survived the crash just fine and after both kids cried the whole way back to the lodge, they warmed up and cheered up.  They weren't interested in going back out in the rough weather, so we had a short day. 

 Serafina was being pretty silly on the drive home.

Sunday we woke up to sunshine.  

 Leo was excited about a good ski day.

Here he is working it like a pro and cheering himself on.  

Leo blazes down the bunny slope in a blink of an eye and then patiently waits for his dad and sister as they work on Serafina's skills.  

After lunch (and watching the final quarter of the 49ers game), the boys headed back out for a couple more runs.  Serafina was upset because she had enjoyed skiing so much in the morning, she wanted to go again.  I assured her she'd have more skiing later in the season and promised to take her to the "fairytale house" while the boys did some big guy skiing.  

 She was much more interested in making snow angels and made a ton of them.

Here's a video of her in angel action.