Dec 23 - It's a Very Quarantine Christmas

With a little bug floating around our house, we've cancelled our plans to have the McFeely Clan over for pizza dinner.  We took advantage of the newly found family time and did some fun projects. 

Made chocolate candy cane cupcakes:

Washed outside toys with lots of soap (really, it's fun!):

Attacked the overgrown front yard: 

And watched a LOT of movies. 

Dec 22 - warming up to Christmas

Lots of cousins watching Christmas Eve on Sesame Street in a postprandial dip. 

Winter break begins.

Tuesday night at the Dollar Tree

Buying Christmas presents for the cats, of course. 

Robin, Zen Master

Last night when going to bed, Robin asked me:

"Mommy, what comes first, the daytime or the nighttime?"

Erin's Opus No. 1

Disneyland 2013

A few months ago we had a fantastic trip to Disneyland for Uncle Heath's birthday.
I cannot properly express to you how cool this trip was. Well, cool and grueling. There was just so much cool stuff to do in a day.
Click on the photo to see all the magic.

Just a bit of Life, the Universe, and Everything before bedtime

Last night, just after Brushing and Flossing, and before starting Snuggly Reading Time before Lights Out.
E: Mom, what is at the end of space?
M: Well, some people think at the end of the universe there's the edge of another universe.  And at the edge of that, another.  Like a bunch of bubbles.
E: Ohhhhh.... that's great! Because then the aliens are in the different universe.
M:  Maybe.  But some people think that at the end of our universe, there's nothing.
E: (with fearful look)  But then, noooooo.  Then that means the aliens are in OUR space.

WW: Ready for a Try-Out for an Andrew Lloyd Webber Production

Just a little bit o'Friday cuteness

The kids got hold of my phone yesterday and were taking arms-lengths of themselves. 

WW: Rosie and a Cow

Notice Anything?

I was surprised at how much the loss of one tooth pulled at my heartstrings.  The loss of her first baby tooth felt much the same as the arrival of that tooth.  When it first pushed out five years ago, her sweet, gummy smile changed from marking her as a tiny baby to a growing infant.  When that same tooth popped all the way out it kind of feels like the little kid is changing to the big. Or at least means we're nearly in middle-childhood already.

Cody Gets a Makeover

Cody is the most patient cat in the universe.

Erin Plays Soccer!

 Not only was Wed. the first day of 1st grade for Erin, it was her first day of soccer practice!  Yes, I've officially become a Soccer Mom.  Her team is the Purple Penguins.  And thanks to Amazon prime, her cleats and shin guards came just in time.

Her team is half girls who have played since they were two and half donning cleats for the first time.  They all had a ton of fun. Dribbling....

... playing Easter Egg Hunt....

.... and taking water breaks.

So if you're wondering where we are every Saturday morning until November, you can find us at the games!  GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL!

WW: 1st Day of 1st Grade!

Random pictures from August 26, 2013.

Started the morning with a little microscopy.  We picked this up on Sunday at a garage sale for $5.  It needed a light source, so bought a clip-on booklight at the dollar store.  We spent lots of time looking at whatever little particle we could find - onion skin, paintbrush hair, cheek scraping, quarters.  Total score. 

Then onto Costco for lunch.  Hotdogs (Robin eats the entire foot-long by herself) and pizza.

Then met up with some cousins for picnic and bike riding in the park.  There may have been daisy-chain making too.

And I made this in-between - a felt tooth fairy pillow.  I didn't use a pattern, nor have I embroidered before so it's a little crooked and lumpy.  But it'll do the trick.  We don't have a tooth loss yet, but the time is coming close... thought it best to be prepared.

Clear Lake

Ho boy, I am months behind on posting photos. Admitting defeat, skipping over most of the summer, here was last weekend:

You can find the full Flickr set here.

WW: McMillers Go To Disneyland!

Adventure Playground

Remember when we were kids and we could go outside, play with whatever we found, get messy, do things maybe not so safe, and we had a great time doing it? There's a place that still holds this a sacred rite of passage for kids. Berkeley's Adventure Playground. 

Each child has to do a small chore - find nails or scrap, pick up trash, locate nail points sticking out of wood.  Then they get access to tools for the rest of the day.  Tools include: C-clamps, saws. hammers (3 nails at a time), paint, rasps, magnets, and probably some other things I didn't notice. 

What do they get to do?  Whatever they want.  Rules are: no painting on signs. Must wear shoes. Have fun. That's it. They make play structures every week, based on materials they have on-hand.

They then disassemble, with the assistance of kids, a structure every week and build another one.  How friggin' fun is that?!?  

My absolute favorite thing about this place is how much of a "Yes" place this is.

"Mom, can I saw this board?"

"Yes."

"Mom, can I paint this?"

"Yes"

"Mom, can I hammer this?"

"Darling, the universe will be happier if you do." 

Did I mention it's absolutely free?

Glad to have remembered this awesome place. It goes back to weekend-only hours after this week, but must remember it for those times when we all need to just pound some nails randomly into wood. 

Two Sewing Projects

1. We're totally behind on blogging.  It's been a busy summer.  Expect a flurry of posts when school starts.

2. Brian has taken the girls on a 2-day camping trip. I'm enjoying my mini mommy vacation.

Here's what tonight brought:

First, Erin has mentioned she doesn't have a "lovie" blanket as Robin does.  So I made two nearly matching little lovie blankets.  They have the same black polka-dot fleece backing with the same red-heart on cream background front. But one has purple stain trim, one has red.  I bet I'll have to make a second one of either the purple or red so each girl has the same thing.  So goes sibling squabbles.

The second project was a small bag made from three fat quarters.  These I made *exactly* the same and plan on personalizing with fabric pens once the girls get home.  I was super pleased with the funky fabric, the contrasting orange/red thread, and how it was so simple.  It will make a good little diddy bag for our next adventure! 

Double Date

Thanks to a huge group effort from Brian's grandmother (for buying us dinner), older Brother Jim, and tons of the Cousins, Brian, his brother Dave, me and Linnea got to go on a double date! 

There were cocktails, there was fancy Italian food, there was a short walk, there was a trip to the dollar store. Meanwhile our total of 5 kids had a fantastic time with Cousins, a dog, dinner involving green beans, and a hot tub.

Woot!

WW: In Case You Were Wondering....

Robin's last day of preschool

For this year.

She had an amazing year with two nurturing, fun teachers and a good mix of peers.

And both girls look about 5 years older when they wear pony tails. 

Can someone please send a message to Time to slow it down a bit for this mama? 

Happy Father's Day 2013

What says "Happy Father's Day" more than running 26.2 miles?  Not much.  Brian ROCKED the San Francisco Marathon today, with a time just shy of 4 hours.  Fantastic! The girls and I hustled out to meet him at the finish line.

With flying feet and big grins, B finished one of the toughest 15 marathon courses with a fantastic time.

The girls were ecstatic to see the medal him at the end.

And because he is hardcore parkour, we went to the SF zoo afterward with my folks to spend some quality time with the carousel and petting zoo. 

Happy Father's Day y'all! 

Hairstyling

The normal pre-bedtime routine, bath, PJ's, Teeth, books, has an addendum.  Hair.

I've been encouraging the girls to brush their hair since, well, since they've had hair.  It's one of those things I used to force but realized it's their hair and it was a good lesson that they are in charge of their bodies.  Plus it took a lot of energy.

The past few nights though, Robin has been requesting Erin to brush her hair.  We've discovered an excellent mixture of leave-in conditioner and hair smoothing oil, combined with a little spray of water, that loosens all the knots out.




And then there's the embellishment. Last night it was 3 pony tails, 3 clips, 2 embellished bobby pins, and 5 headbands.

WW: Erin's Introduction to Nutella

Kindergarten

Vegetable Garden

We planted a small veggie garden in the back yard. We have tons of space back there, but I've only had the energy/imagination to plant a small corner of it.

Yet we are already getting a bounty!

The first harvest was a pile of fava beans and a couple handfuls of sugar snap peas:

The next day a few zucchini were ready.  Erin got to pick the first one:

Which she then eagerly sliced up.  I cooked it up in some oil and a dash of salt.

You know how they're always saying to encourage kids to try new foods by letting them be a part of it?  Well, Erin planted, watered, harvested, and chopped (with a grown-up knife).  Did she take a taste?  Absolutely not.  Good thing we have all summer.

Robin wanted to show off the one she harvested:

Still coming along: lettuces, tomatoes, peppers, garlic.  I think it's time to plant some more too!

LBK

Did we mention we got a new cat?

She's very sweet.  She was found at about 2 weeks old, and was fostered by one of Robin's classmates.  

Here she is snuggling with Brian, for scale.  She's about 9 or 10 weeks old. She's energetic, cuddly, fuzzy, curious, and a total ham.