February and March have flown by. With sickness and flus affecting our house hold the past couple of months, the passing of my Father and slew of other things...Time has been escaping me. I want to stop and remember some of the things we've done this past month and a half. I like to look back on past blog posts and say..."Remember that!...that was a special memory." First stop....a recap of Valentine's Day.
For Valentine's Day JM planned something so fun for us girls. He and the boys took us down to the LA flower mart the day before Valentine's Day. He had us pick out any flowers we liked and then Gabriella and I made some beautiful flower arrangements for our home. We made some for the neighbors and my mom as well who was sick with the flu and caring for my dad.
So much to choose from! Gabriella picked out orange, yellow and white ruinuculus with Queen Anne's lace. The ruinuculas are so beautiful. They always remind me of our wedding.
Our Flower Shop
We picked out some gorgeous green blue hydrangeas for my mom. Hydrangeas are a favorite of hers and mine and they went really well with the beautiful white roses we purchased as well. For myself I bought some exotic flowers...don't even know the name...with some black little berries. Beautiful.
The boys loved helping by trimming the stems.
Tada!
She was pleased.
Here are mine
JM's V-Day card to me. For those who know me, you know how much I love the Gilmore Girls
If you don't know who Luke and Lorelai are...you gotta watch the show!:)
My sweet daughter's V-Day card to me. She is a creative one.
Next item of business....What have we been learning in school?!....Gabriella is reading up a storm. I can't keep her occupied with books. She reads them too fast and asked to go to the library....all the time. She has read more as a girl than John-Mark and I have...combined...ever....like ever, even in college. Last month she read 10 novels alone. 10. Here's one she really liked....Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms.Have you read it?
JM read Corduroy with Ansel for two weeks and did some fun activities including learning to sew on a real button with a needle and thread.
Buttons and Math
Ansel's Corduroy that he glued together
(Mama cut out all the shapes for him...he assembled them by himself...maybe with Papa's help.)
The kids and I are learning about insects in Science. We've taken some time to learn about Butterflies. I found this cool Butterfly kit on line. You send away for your caterpillars and witness the magic right in your home!
The Very Hungry Caterpillars!
Drawing Lessons....How to Draw a Butterfly
Ansel's (with Mama's help:)
They ate and ate and made their little chrysalises!
Transferred them into the net
One by one they started to emerge!
We fed them nectar we made from sugar and water, oranges, bananas and strawberries
On Saturday we let them go in Grandma's garden, in remembrance of Grandpa. The butterflies flew to his Tangelo and Kamquat trees.
In History we are learning about California and specifically, the California Missions! Saturday the 19th of March was St. Joseph's Day and the day the swallows fly back to Capistrano.
Off to San Juan Capistrano we went. Grandma and Auntie Mo joined us. San Juan Capistrano is in Mo's backyard!So close!
A model of the Mission
I love me some cacti
Tunas!!...Not the kind that swim in the sea....Tuna the cactus fruit
Superman, a shark and some tunas
The mission bell
Looking for Koi fish
We felt like Dad was with us that Day. Everything about the Day reminded us of him. Hi Dad.
1. It was St. Joseph Day at San Juan Capistrano....Dad loved any and all history and would have enjoyed participating.
2. The music playing in the back ground at the event were old standards that Dad loved. They even played the Ink Spots singing ....."When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano"My Dad loved the Inkspots. I remember him liking the song "If I didn't Care."
3.Mariachi's performed in the Mission court yard. Dad loved mariachis. It's our heritage.
4. There was a special fly over by 4 WWII planes.....Dad was a history buff and especially knew a ton about WWII. He would have loved that.
5.Before the fly over, the program director had all the veterans stand up and she acknowledged them and their service to their country. Dad was a vet and a PROUD one.
6.The program ended with a Big Band performance...they performed tunes by the Andrew Sisters, Louie Prima, Glen Miller....all of Dad's favorite.
I joked to my mom and sister...."Hey, before Dad died, did he plan this St. Joseph's Day event?!"
We spotted some swallows. Here's one on top of the cross.
Sistas
Our 4th grader eating it up!
The Sim
He was everywhere and likes to be BIG! He needs a haircut.
Mama and the Sim
Mariachis and the Grand Ol' Flag
On Sunday afternoon I took the 3 big kids on several errands with me. Simeon stayed home and napped and spent time with Papa. JM captured this boy so well.
Faces of Sim
Yes, those eyes melt me daily.
He wanted to go down the stairs and Papa said No.
What'd find Sim?
More to share next time......
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