Happy Halloween 2013

Another really fun Halloween in Los Gatos with the kids. 

Nathan was so excited and didn't miss a house to trick-or-treat at. He caught on quick! He would hold the piece of candy he was given until he reached the next house and then give that piece in exchange for a new one. Give one, get one, that's how he thinks Halloween works. Maybe he's on to something. His little voice said "trick-or-treat" and "tanks" after the doors closed behind us, so no one heard, but we did. Ava was the best big sis in town. If Nathan was lagging a little she just informed the residents that her little brother was coming, so they'd hold the door open until he arrived and he'd get his candy too. 

I just soaked in watching the joy that trick-or-treating brings. I felt lucky. Lucky to share this experience with Brad, to both know a love so intense for the same two little people it makes you feel like your heart might just burst. 

I complied some photos and video clips of our evening trick-or-treating fun! Click on the link to view it: http://youtu.be/knPxy2zWLgA

Happy Halloween. 

love, Princess Belle and Duckie.

xo

Our Kindergartener

 Why is it so hard to send your 1st born to kinder? I asked myself that as I tearfully left the classroom on her first day. I still don't completely know. I know my eyes welled up with tears of joy and excitement and some of angst and anticipation. What is this going to be like for her? Is she going to feel comfortable? Imagining Ava in fear, or uncertainty, though it's a natural part of life that makes growth and maturity happen, makes my heart ache. But as you can see by her letter to her new teacher, Mrs. Fink, Ava was confident about the transition, more so than her mommy. And I assure you I did my very best to not show any of my angst. I held my after the drop off tears for Brad. She didn't see. 

I thank the goodness of love in this world that we got Mrs. Fink for a teacher. 

During the "Kinder visitation" back in late spring Ava pointed Mrs. Fink out to me and told me she liked her best. And then we got a letter in the mail with an assignment to her class. Yay!

Mrs. Fink is known for her nurturing spirit. She's present and loving and so attentive. Just perfect for Ava, or any kid for that matter.

We are feeling so grateful that we get to send Ava to this thriving environment for a school experience and thanking our lucky stars that moving to Sebastopol didn't work out. phew! Something bigger knew better :)

Ava comes home from school and teaches me the poem's she's learned or how to make the #3. 

She's sharing so much with me and asking when she can go back. She gets dressed before she comes to wake me, eagerly comes to brush her teeth & hair (what?!), and walks over to school excited to be there. She is really happy, which makes my heart soar! 

She came home the 1st day and said " I made some friends!"

So far, so good! We couldn't be happier.

1st day big smiles

 calming a few butterflies before we walked in

mom and dad stayed for the 1st hour and did a writing assignment with her.

the important this about me is "I am Special"

 reading with a new friend, Zoe

I was the only mom on the rug with the kids, but couldn't bare to say no to Ava when she asked me to sit with her.

exploring the classroom with daddy. listening for the waves at Ballston. ;)

And after a big 1st day Ava decided she wanted to get her ears pierced!!

Feeling confident, I guess. We'd been talking about it all summer.

brave happy girl.

After day 2 of kinder we went to the library and ran into Ava's bud from Mariposa, Kelton. 

She was SO happy to see a familiar face after all the new-ness. I was so happy to see him too. I love their little friendship. What a treat!

Kelton asked Ava to read with him in one of the nooks. melt my heart. They were smiling and laughing and in there together for a good 20 minutes. 

There may be some young love at play. 

:)

A visit to the Green's. Wolcott, Ct.

One of the highlights of our trip east this July was visiting my Gram and Gramp Green in their home--the home where my dad grew up and the home I visited for what feels like hundreds of times as a child. The home Gramp practically built with his own 2 hands.

I love that it's exactly as it was when I was young. It smells the same, the piano player and all the rolls we sang to are still there. My gram is still a killer cook. Her roasted red peppers will have your mouth watering for more. Brad can attest to that. I hadn't been to visit them in connecticut since before Ava was born and I know the times I make it back to the house are fewer since having little babes. It's one of the things that puts a lump in my throat and causes tears to well in my eyes, one of the torments of being so far away. Gram and Gramp hadn't met Nathan yet, so we piled into Dad's car, brad, dad, Nathan and I and drove down to spend the afternoon and have dinner. 

The air was humid and Nathan took a bit of time to warm up, so I walked us through the backyard and remembered how I used to play there, and how far away the depths of the yard felt from the home. I used to hop from stone to stone out there, admire the gardens and bird houses and spy on the neighbors. I did that again with Nathan in my arms (minus the neighbors- no one was outside anyway) :). We picked ripe raspberries, Gram's home grown that she makes her famous jam with. Grampy came out to stand with us. He's lost weight from his chemo, and his black hair finally gave in to grey, but his spirits were up and he loved talking to Nathan. He was just as engaging as always and when I saw him smile I felt strongly how much I love them and I've missed seeing them.

I felt so grateful to be having the experience of being there again.

 Gram and Gramp have been such wonderful grandparents and I was reminded of that while I watched them interact with Nathan. I felt Gram's love as she worried about Nathan's safety and brought out Dad's old tinker toys for him to play with.

Before we left I walked through the house by myself, opened doors to the bedrooms and peeked in. I have so many memories...of taking a bath in the blue bathtub, of glaming up as I sat at Gram's vanity and smiled at myself in the mirror, reading dad's childhood books, playing dress up in the attic, playing restaurant with Gram in the kitchen window that overlooks the dining room, and sitting on Gramp's lap in his recliner while I ran my fingers across the top of his buzz cut (I did a lot of that). 

It was wonderful to see you Gram and Gramp.

Thank you for having us.

I love you dearly and I'm so glad you got to meet Nathan.

...until next time. xo

I tried to capture a little of what it's like there in photographs.

 

Summer fun part 1 | Truro in Instagram

Instagram. 

If you don't know what it is, it's a social media app. you can take photographs with your iphone and put a filter on them to make them more....fill in the blank,

the whole Green clan is on Instagram and we share the fun moments of our lives together that way. It makes being so far from each other a tiny bit easier. So this is a little taste of our trip to Truro this summer, instagram style. There are many more non-instagram photographs that I will post later. I even shot another roll of film there, which I hope came out ok. I can't wait to see!

Some highlights: 

*this was my view out the bedroom window while I nursed. 

I loved feeling like I was amidst the tree tops. The birds were right there, practically chirping in our room. my favorite is the wallpaper, curtains, bedspread, bed frame....everything vintage!

*playing with auntie mina. digging to China. getting a closer look with binoculars, of course!

 *happiness is running carefree along the shores of the atlantic ocean at low tide.

*Ballston Beach

*cousin Sarah loves to read and shared her daddy's lap with Nathan.

*sunsets. Representing the west coast on the east coast. #twins.

*beach bonfires, roasting marshmallows, staying up past bedtime. 

*naps. 

*meeting Mina and Sasha's new rescue, Nelly Belle.

PLUS having Hailey come with us for 2 weeks!!! YES!!!

*shave ice from Sweet Escape. #sugarghigh

*looking for whales

*kayaking on the bay #firstkayakridefornate

*glow stick excitement!

*corn hill beach. 

*morning reading for our smart cookie. ;)

*trips to p-town for portuguese fried dough. #yum

*fresh seafood from Mac's EVERY night. #nothingmoredelicious

*visiting with Great Nana. She thinks she's 88. I think that's why she keeps on keepin' on. It's working for her :)

*mermaid/crab. pretty true for the whole trip. Couldn't get Ava out of the water and Nathan was sick, hence, a bit of a crab.

*listening to the tides in a seashell.

 *family photo. 

No place better than the crisp cool water on a hot, humid, summer day in MA.

*my old bedroom at nana's. Now Ava's room.

*a hike to ballston overlook

*Bathtime in the claw-foot tub

*the bay.

*Celebrating Mina.

There is so much more. We had a really nice trip to Connecticut to visit my Gram and Gramp Green, We got to see Montse, Carl and the kids from Spain, Brad celebrated 10 years clean and sober and in recovery & Mina and Sash got engaged!

So stay tuned for more posting with more photos.

xo

Last Day of Pre School. Thank you Mariposa Montessori.

wow. when I look at Ava in this picture I see a big girl. It's confusing sometimes because when she is home running around naked (literally half the time) I look at her body and reflect on how she's still so little. She's both. It's bittersweet to watch my 1st born grow up. With Ava and her intense emotional energy I've spent a lot of her life wishing for her to grow up and out of the hysteric fits she has, but after 5 years, yes, it took me that long, I now realize this is just part of who she is. It's true there is an emotional regulator that gets turned on sometime between now and eight years old, and I see that happening for her. Would she ever throw a tantrum at school? Not on your life. She is an angel outside of this home. An angel. Just yesterday we had a play date with her friend Lola and I was in awe of her great attitude, her sharing and communicating. She's no doormat, she says what she needs, but she's generous and kind and giving. Why, you might ask, do I seem a little surprised? It's because she's maybe 20% like that with us at home. I don't always see that side of her. I know, and her teacher pointed out at every parent teacher conference when we would warily ask, "does she get along with others? Does she melt down when she make the slightest of mistakes?  They would reassure us that Ava is a wonderful friend and is very mature. huh? Then her teachers would say "everyone needs a place to let it all go. Home is that place. She knows she's safe there." And that was just what I needed to hear and be reminded of. 

Ava came down with the stomach flu on the eve of her Memory Walk to commence her time at Mariposa, so we missed it. We were all disappointed, more that I can express. "But Mommy, I want to go so you and Daddy can hold the candles and blow it out." Break my heart. They had spent weeks preparing for the ceremony. Her spirits were up a day later and I took her over to the school. The teachers were packing up the classrooms, but we did our best to create our own "memory walk". It ended up being a very nice way to say goodbye. It was personal and I did everything in my physical power not to cry. Ava wasn't crying. I didn't want to her think this is sad, but it was so hard. 

Her teachers literally burst with joy when she walked in the room, told her how much they missed her the day before, gave her her certificate of completion and a chalkboard to practice her writing over the summer. They told her how much they loved having her in their class and then looked at me and said "if only all our students could be like Ava. She is so well-behaved, follows the rules and is very focused. A great student." Once again, I was struck biting the inside of my lip hoping the tears welling up in my eyes weren't getting obvious. It was really special that Ava got to hear that, first hand.

Boat loads of gratitude to these wonderful teachers!

Ms. Felina & Ms. Grishma.

Ava walked me through the school garden and showed me what she planted.

I thought this was the most clever teacher appreciation gift I have seen so far! 

  A beautiful school full of love and culture and maturity, exactly what I want instilled in my daughter.

She showed me how this year she learned how to do the monkey bars.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of that cute little tush!

My how you've grown, Miss Ava

1st day of preschool 2011

Last day of preschool 2013.

We are so proud of who you are, Ava. 

You are a shining star and everything about you is meant to be that way.

We love you.