Home for the Weekend

October 16, 2011

For the first time in six weeks, I got to see my college-aged daughter, who came home for the weekend. I can't even tell you how excited I was to have her home! She got on a Greyhound in San Diego late Thursday night, switched to Amtrak in the wee hours of the morning, and arrived in Fresno at 6:45 a.m. Unfortunately, I had to be at work bright and early, so I had to leave the homecoming to her dad. My reunion with her would have to wait just a little longer.

Although she didn't sleep much at all on the bus or the train, she powered through and stayed awake so she could come back during the school day on Friday and visit her choir and drama teachers and lots of friends who are still at Buchanan. She showed up at school with coffee in hand, and we got to catch up (and give big huge hugs!) during my prep period before she headed off to make the rounds of the school. During my last class of the day, not only did she come back to visit with several of her friends who are currently in my A.P. Lit. class, but a few of my former students also stopped by to visit with her and say hello to me. These are some of my 'extra daughters,' so getting to see them was icing on the cake.

Bree and one of her sister-friends, Miss Kaitlyn.
As luck would have it, Bree came home on the weekend of our local elementary school carnival. Bree has never missed this carnival since kindergarten, believe it or not, and even though this is my first year without any children at that school, we all found ourselves back there Friday night.


Several of Bree's friends joined her there. This a sweet, loving, beautiful group of college freshman, laughing and having a great time together at the carnival for kids. (Shelby, Marlowe, Bree, Nicole, and Mallory.) I love these girls!
Danielle also met up with a good friend at the carnival--Andrei. These girls both managed to win goldfish to bring home, much to my chagrin. (As of press time, only two of our four have survived. If the remaining two make it through the week, maybe we'll name them.)
Nicholas found his fun (and luck!) at the Cake Walk. He won four times in fairly quick succession, focusing his eyes on various forms of chocolate as his prizes. After years of Bree being the lucky one at the Cake Walk events, I'm so excited that we came home with something besides vanilla cupcakes and shortbread cookies! After we had Nicholas' four baked goods plates safely ensconced in the car, he made another trip back to the Cake Walk. He made it his goal to win another cake for his former robotics coach, who happened also to be there at the carnival, and to win something vanilla for his big sis, who was home visiting from college. Lucky boy managed to do both. What a sweetheart!
Me with my beautiful girls.
When the carnival ended, we found our way to Target, because Target is like the Mothership to both Bree and me. Danielle provided comic relief while I pushed her around in the cart.
Bree, trying to figure out if she can lug a beanbag chair back on the train with her for her dorm.
Because of the carnival, we decided not to go to Family Dinner Night until Saturday lunch. We amended our Family Dinner Night rule, so that whenever Bree comes home, she bumps right into the rotation. Dinner, or lunch, as it turned out, was Bree's choice, then, so naturally she chose Thai Fusion. Afterward we stopped in to Heart Village for dessert. Yum!
Sunday, of course, came too soon. Doug and I took Bree to the train station, and honestly, the only reason I didn't get too emotional was because I know that Family Weekend at the college is coming up very soon. In just two short weeks, I get to visit her!
Hard to see her go, but oh, what a wonderful weekend it was.

Garfield Carnival 2010

October 24, 2010

In this year of firsts and lasts, here's just one more to add to the list: The Garfield Elementary Carnival. My youngest is in 6th grade, so that means our connections to this school, though they will always be there in spirit, will be a thing of the past. That hasn't stopped Brianna from coming back every year--it's a tradition she looks forward to each fall, even though she's a senior this year--so I'm sure we'll check back in every now and again. But realistically speaking, it's the end of an era for us, and future visits will be more about nostalgia than about an active participation in a community we will no longer be a part of.

These little entreprenuers have their own necklace business, and they were a part of this year's Vendor Alley. They design, create, and sell at local carnivals. I was very impressed with their presentation! And yes, I had to buy something from them: )

My good friend Jennifer and her daughter Megan, also participating in Vendor Alley. Jen is unbelievably creative--I'm pretty jealous. My friend Karen also had a booth selling her adorable handmade baby blankets and bibs. I just had to buy something from her for my new niece, Zoe. How is it possible that my friends are all so crafty and I'm so...not?
The Pick-A-Pumpkin Patch

There was quite a variety of inflatables--some for the big kids, and some for the little ones. (You just can't have those 6th grade bruiser boys bouncing around and knocking heads with the tiny kindergarteners.) I thought this one was especially cool--an inflatable bucking bronco! Soft, bouncy landing included.
One of the booths selling tasty treats. Who doesn't love snow cones?
Brianna's good friend Shelby joined Danielle and Brianna for the evening.

Weekend Wrap Up

November 9, 2009

Friday morning I got to see Danielle accept her quarterly awards. She received the Blue Ribbon Cub Award, an award given to students who exhibit good all-around academics and character--a 'Cub of the Quarter' kind of award. She also received the Principal's Honor Roll award for earning straight A's for the quarter. I am so proud of her hard work and dedication, and am glad that I have a job that enables me to get away to share in these moments with her.

In the evening, we all went out on our weekly Family Dinner Night outing. This week was Bree's choice, so we ate at Pick Up Stix. It's not Danielle's favorite food, but she was a good sport about it. Afterward, we dropped Bree off at the theater with some friends, and Doug and I took Nicholas and Danielle to a local carnival for awhile. It was a pretty small affair--just a few rides and carnival games adjacent to the local mall--but we'd been wanting to do something fun with the kids, and this provided the perfect opportunity. It didn't take a lot of money, and it put some pretty big smiles on the kids' faces. Afterward, we decided to curl up on the couch together and watch an old movie--"Benji"--that we purchased awhile back. Danielle really loved it, but I'd have to say it would be a tough call to say whether she enjoyed it more than Doug did. We couldn't resist making it a double feature--we jumped right into "For the Love of Benji" before calling it a night.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early for a Queen Cobras soccer game. Danielle played goalie for the whole game and made some pretty spectacular saves. The other team was really making her work--diving and rolling, trying to keep that ball out of the net. She even sustained a battle injury during the first half when she landed wrong on her arm, but like a trooper she was ready to tough it out and go back in the box for the second half. Honestly, I never really liked soccer when I was a kid, but after years of being a soccer mom, I can honestly say that I love being able to cheer for my kids and their friends from the sidelines. And as a reward for her hard work during the game, Doug came home and made us all Eggs Benedict. I love that I got to partake in her reward, too: )

That afternoon was all about preparations for the big Sadie Hawkins dance for Brianna. This was her first big dance ('big' meaning one of the trifecta: Sadie's, Winter Formal, and Prom) of high school, so I was very excited for her. The theme this year was "Out of This World," so she and her boyfriend Jeff decided they'd get t-shirts from "Wall-E" to wear to the dance. (Jeff loves that movie, so it was perfect.) He wore Wall-E, she wore Eve. The shirts were really cute! She and four friends decided that they would cook a 'breakfast-for-dinner' dinner for themselves and their dates. They all met up at one of the girl's houses and ate there before heading off to the dance. Afterward, Bree, Jeff, Ryan, and Alyssa went back to Ryan's house to finish off the evening. All in all, it was a good night.

While Bree was out at the dance with her friends and Nicholas and Danielle were at their dad's for the night, Doug and I went out for a night of socializing and karaoke with some of our good friends. We met up at Skyline with Jim, Rosa, Bill, Pat, Michele, and her friend Chris. Doug and Jim did most of the singing, but Rosa, Michele, and I got up for a surprise number, too. There was lots of laughing, talking, story-telling, and even a little pool playing. Such a great group of friends to relax and hang out with! I'm pretty sure we're all already looking forward to the next time. The one thing that would have made it even better is if Lisa and David and Carrie could have been there, too. Hopefully, it won't be long til we're all out together again.

Finally, it was Sunday. I love our Sundays, Doug's and my days together. It's our time to reconnect and just focus on each other. Sometimes we go out and run errands together, and sometimes we just curl up on the couch together and watch movies. It doesn't really matter. It's just about being us--being a couple. Those Sundays are what makes it bearable to get up and greet Mondays with a smile.

Our Weekend in Pictures

October 18, 2009

We kicked off our weekend with the annual Garfield carnival, which is something the kids and I look forward to all year. The ladies of the PTC, as always, did a fabulous job putting on the carnival--countless hours and tireless effort by the carnival committee and all the volunteers helped make this year's event one to remember. The kids all had friends they met up with to dance, play games with, and of course, to eat with. Miss Yamaichi's teriyaki chicken bowls were a big hit, as always, and all of the kids flocked to the Cake Walk. My daughters, Bree especially, have amazing luck every year at the Cake Walk. This year was no exception, as they both ended up with two tasty baked goods to bring home (like I needed to bring two cakes, a platter of cookies, and a platter of rice crispy treats into the house!). The event I most look forward to each year, the Silent Auction, had lots of great offerings, but alas, yielded no results for me. (It was still very successful--lots of OTHER people mangaged to take home treasures with their high bids.)

Inexplicably, I did not take pictures of the carnival. I mean, I practically have a camera attached to my body! I guess I just got caught up in the excitement and didn't even think about it. So instead of carnival pictures, I decided to share some pictures we took at home, just for fun.

My beautiful darlings:





My (quite) silly darlings:




The eyes have it:



All huggy and cuddly:





On Saturday, Danielle had a soccer game bright (not really!) and early. We were at the field at 7:30 for an 8 o'clock start time. This was how foggy the field was that early in the morning. I'm gonna go ahead and say that's why the other team scored so many goals: our girls couldn't see the ball coming through the fog. Yeah...I'm pretty sure that was it. Our girls did, however, score their first goal of the season, so we are making progress. The girls are still having fun and working on improving their game, so I'm not worried about whether they win or lose.

Later that evening, we met up with David, Carrie, and Freya, who were in town for a quick weekend visit. We met up at Me 'n Ed's for dinner, and later all the adults ended up out at the Wiffledome for more visiting and a bit of an extended jam session. These are, as I have often said, our extra, adopted, extended family. Spending time with them always fills us with such complete love for these people, and reminds us how blessed we are to call the Krepps, Madarangs, and Claybaughs our dear friends for life.

Shel and Logan:

Jim and me:

My little Miss Freya:

Carrie and me:

David and Jim:

Beautiful Freya:

Jam Session at the Wiffledome:

Me and My Sweetie: