February

It’s March already, so I guess it is time to do a February update. February was a busy month at work. I know I say that a lot, but it’s true. This school year has been the busiest year yet. We are trying to implement new standards, so there are mandatory weekly meetings and lots of other stuff. I think something that will help me stay on top of blogging is writing posts little bits at a time, as stuff happens. That way, I don’t have one massive post at the end of every month and it will be less overwhelming to try to remember everything we did or upload photos. I put off writing because I get intimidated just looking at all the photos and thinking about which ones to include, or what happened that I didn’t take photos of, and that is why I wind up posting almost all the pictures I take. Also, the icons are small and my eye sight is not as sharp as it once was, so I cannot always tell if a photo is in focus until it is enlarged. I forget details or remember them. I use this blog as a record of what is happening in our lives, not just for friends and family, but for myself as well, so I try to include everything I possibly can. I think from now on I am not going to do that though. I mean, who really cares about every little detail of a hike that we did, right?

The month began with a stroll through the Thousand Oaks Botanical Gardens. It was a lovely afternoon and not many people were there. It was a nice walk through different parts. Fi found some stairs, which was very exciting for her, and she walked most of the way, asking to be carried at the very end. There is a fun looking children’s adventure garden that is only open on Sundays so we did not get to play there, but it looks really interesting and I hope we go back again soon to check it out. The botanical gardens are very pretty and free, and even though it was a weekend, there were hardly any people, so I assume it is not very crowded as a matter of course.

Just hanging around:

   

Woodpeckers did this:

The bridge to nowhere. Thanks BSOA!

   

Moss!

   

A very red inside:

 

There is a nice park next to the botanical gardens. Fi had fun playing on this ropes course:

We did not help her at all. Her balance and coordination are quite good.

We went to Friday night children’s services, called Tot Shabbat, that Fi loved. Me? I’m not really a services kind of person, but I am trying to find a community for us. We’ve been living here for so long, and I become sad sometimes, when I think about how few friends we have locally or how few people I know outside of work. The service is really short and very kid oriented. Fi really wants to go back, but unfortunately, they are only once per month and she was sick during the next one.

We made Valentine’s cards for Fi’s class, but we called then Friendship cards. Fi’s preschool is VERY secular (with the exception of the two Jewish classes that she is not in this year). So secular, that they do not celebrate Halloween or Valentine’s Day or any holiday at all. I’m not even sure they celebrate Thanksgiving. So instead, they have a Friendship Day and kids make cards and bring fruit for a Friendship Salad. I cut up some card stock and some hearts and Fi glued them and added stickers. I asked her what is her favorite thing to do with each friend, and then wrote it on the back of the card. It took about 20 minutes for each class. Then she made some cards for family members and some cards for some of her dolls and imaginary friends.

         

Some of the things she likes to do with her classmates include playing hexagons, making robots, making flowers, reading books, making collages, playing with doctor kits, and finding treasures. Fi and John made some cards for Fi’s animals and for us and her grandparents. She made one for the mailman as well and one of the lions at the Santa Barbara Zoo.

Fi practiced writing F’s. These are all hers. She does them with John.

As a Valentine’s Day date, Fi, my dad, John, and I went out to dinner and ate sushi. Fi LOVES sushi all of a sudden. She needs the protein, so I don’t argue with her about it.

 

Fi and John enjoyed some Daddy and Fi bonding time at the Temple and made a little bird house. John says Fi did all the painting and decorating herself.

We went to the zoo one weekend. A lot of the animals were just lying around:

 

Fi fed the goats and even purchased the food herself:

   

Fi helped train a goat:

 

I’m always the one taking the photos, so I am not in most of them. When I remember, I ask John to take a picture to prove I was there:

 

We went to one of our favorite beaches on a grey day, and no one was there. It was very nice. The cold air did not stop Fi (and by extension, us) from running into the water. We had a lovely lunch after at a place called The Social Tap. It’s really sort of a sports bar/pub type place, but they are incredibly kid friendly and the food is really good, so we like to go there when we go to this particular beach. It was such a great day! The looks on her face were priceless!

     

    

Fi’s school had a jog-a-thon and Fi’s teacher and my mom report that Fi ran the entire time and had to be told to stop, she was having so much fun.

  

Fi and I spent a lot of time baking, including banana muffins. I don’t even like banana bread, truth be told. They were great right out of the oven, but after they cooled, they tasted like every other banana bread I’ve ever had. John and Fi liked them though, so that’s what I really care about. We also made scones for breakfast one day, and Fi and my mom helped make lumpia. Fi ate one, then decided she didn’t like them. But she loved making them, so now she wants to make more, even though she will not eat them. Fi is a very proficient egg cracker. She is good at adding ingredients to a bowl and mixing. Soon, she will be able to measure by herself.

John took a work trip to San Francisco and was gone most of a week. Fi and I enjoyed evenings together and one whole Saturday, when it poured rain. We put on our rain gear and went for a walk. We had a blast splashing in puddles and singing songs together. It was probably one of my favorite events of this year so far.

Fi had a day off and came to visit me at school. I title this photo “The students are getting younger and younger every year”:

We harvested beets and peas. The peas were too hard to eat right off the vine, so I shelled them and steamed them, and they tasted great and worked just like frozen or canned peas, but tasted better. The beets were sweet and Fi decided she actually does like red beets after all, not just golden beets.

 

 

We finally got some broccoli, that also tasted great:

Vegetables from the garden always taste so much better than vegetables from the store or even from the farmer’s market. We have some leeks left to harvest and some tomatoes that are still growing, but other than that, we’ve eaten all of our winter vegetables. It’s a good thing because it’s almost time for spring planting.

I wish I could make #1 a rule in my classroom:

We did a lot of lying around ourselves:

 

John was actually asleep in these photos, in that position:

 

Fi is going through a bout of “Who needs sleep?” for the last few months and we are all really really tired. Sometimes we fall asleep where ever it is we sit down.

March so far has been really difficult. We’ve all been varying degrees of sick, from a soar throat and stuffy nose (me) to a high fever and congestion (Fi) to whatever it is the John has been suffering for the last three weeks. Even my mom got in on the action with a milder case of pneumonia. Thankfully, it seems we are all on the mend, John went to the doctor and my mom got antibiotics. I hope we are all well by the next time I write a blog update. I’m sort of going out of my mind with the illnesses here. It’s never been this bad. Usually, one person gets a little sick and gets over it within a few days and that’s it (and that person is either Fi or John). This year, both Fi and I got colds in December that never really went away. I’m pretty sure our house alone is keeping Kleenex in business.

Well, that’s it. Nothing very exiting is happening around here. I’ll do a March update soon, hopefully before April.

I hope everyone is having a better spring than we are!