What I've been doing instead of blogging

Basically carting Olivia from one activity to the next. She hasn't hear of something she doesn't want to try. And seeing her enjoy it all is worth it, I think. Still, I'm glad it's all over for the year. Here is her year in performances...

First, in December was Nutcracker



Then March was the school play, Wizard of Oz. I made her munchkin outfit AND hair accessory. Not quite as talented as her friend's grandma who mader her dress, but not too shabby either.



May was her performance for her combo tap/jazz/ballet class to We Go Together from Grease with the same friend. Probaby my favorite of hers all-time. The hand jive plus other classic 50s moves through in, who can resist?



Few weeks ago was the talent show for the last week of school where her and 3 friends danced the jitterbug. I made their matching skirts.



Then, finally the last one tonight, hip-hop she takes with her best friend since ages ago in kindergarten. Here they are backstage showing off their bridges. They got to dance on stage with their scooters. Super cool stuff.



All that this year plus violin and AWANA every week and the science fair. I am so glad it's all over. We are not doing this much next year. Ok, she's already signed up for Nutcracker and definately will be in the school play, taking violin and AWANA, but I'm saying "no" this year to the talent show for sure. Probably. Maybe if another mom wants Olivia in it with her child and does most of the work...

Going Buggy

Sorry for being a stranger to my blog, but our lives are buggy in more ways than one. Other than being very busy, Olivia just finished a unit on bugs for school. The first graders then performed a short play called Going Buggy. She knows more about bugs than I have ever learned.

And they got many, many guests in their classroom including bees, ants, and silk worms. She's always been comfortable with bugs, but this was just the topping on the cake. Today she found quite the catch, this vivid catepillar in our backyard. We have no idea what kind it is, but it was caught and put in a safe place to share at school. After that, perhaps she'll release it and leave it alone. The poor thing has been hanging around my fushcia for a few days and the kids haven't exactly kept their distance.



I'll try to be better about keeping some current pics on here. You can tells it's been awhile when Olivia's hair is several inches longer than in the last picture. It doesn't help our new computer starts a bazillion new windows when I try to log into my blog. Excuses, excuses, I know...

My little Young Author

Olivia's teacher invited her to participate in a event sponsored by the school district to honor young authors called the Young Writer's Exposition. Her and her teacher took one of her stories and published it by adding a cover page, dedication page, illustrations, and binding it. Then Olivia got to go share it with others on a saturday and even meet a real published author.

Here she is holding her book at the event.



And sharing it with the group



Well, yes, of course I know you are dying to check out her book now, aren't you? Here is the front cover. It's called The Day I Went On My Favorite Ride by Olivia Jones 2009. The illustration gives a hint as to what that favorite ride turns out to be.



Inside the front cover there is even an About the Author section. It says "My name is Olivia Jones. I was born in California. I live with my brother, Noah, age 4, my mom and my dad. I want to be an author when I grow up. I like to do art. I like to play a lot of things. I like to write and read." Then it restates the title and is even dedicated to "My Grammy." Quite the honor.



And here we go with the story. Should I retype the whole thing? I guess so, below each page is the print on each...



One nice vacation, I went to Disneyland. I was scared to go on "It's a Small World." But, my mom made me. When it was over, it was my favorite ride!



After awhile, we were going to go on the next ride. It was the Jungle ride. I wasn't too sure about that. I said, "Daddy and Noah can go on it and if they like it I will go too."



After awhile they came back. I asked, "Did you like it?" They said, "Yes! There was a part of the ride where a waterfall landed on our heads!" So I said, "No, I won't go."



But daddy made me go on the ride. When it was done, I liked it!



That day at Disneyland, I learned that sometimes mommy and daddy know what I will like even if I'm not sure.



And that was the best day of my life!

I remember that day vividly. You can imagine my retelling might have had some different emotions involved. I definitely prefer Olivia's version. And it was well worth it for how proud I am of my Young Author! Quite the illustrator too, isn't she?

Winchester Mystery House

The Winchester Mystery House is a historic home a few miles away from our house. It's unique for many reasons, and I could talk about it all day, but I'll let you read the link to satisfy your own curiosities instead of boring you to death. I'll just show you the pictures from our tour one rainy day last month.

Among the interesting architectures include a staircase to nowhere



and a doorway to a solid wall



But I guess that happens when you are constantly constructing a home for 38 years straight. It still wasn't finished though...



But it included beauty as well as idiosyncrasies, such as the stained glass



We all really enjoyed the tour, but I think I enjoyed it the most even though Olivia as the one who had begged to go on it.





Well worth the price of admission if you ask me!

Signs of spring

I had daffodils blooming last month which just made my rain filled days. I'm so glad the sun is out now, I even have the good cheer to update my blog. What's even better is that these were planted two years ago, nothing like daffodils blooming that I didn't have to do anything for. Olivia and I even planted some more bulbs this year for the future returns.