Memorial Day Parade

The parade this morning included Nikela in the marching band. Keep watch, as she is the clarinet on the end!

Memorial Day

My boy scout is at the Golden Gate National Cemetery this morning decorating the 161 acres in honor of the men and women who served our country. My grandfather would be proud. He never served in the armed forces, but he was adamant about respecting those who did. He always paused on Memorial Day to remember.

Though he also remembered everyday as he raised the American flag that always welcomed us as we pulled into the farm. Those childhood memories make this picture of the farm my favorite. It reminds me to pause and remember, so today I gaze at my wall and remember...

The man who constantly reminded me to be thankful for the men and women who served and those that sacrificed all. Bittersweet gratitude floods my heart at the memories of my grandfather, the servicemen and servicewomen I knew and those I didn't, and the "kids" who I watched grow up in my classroom that today are serving around the world.

My heart holds each and everyone so tightly it aches, and yet I smile with thankfulness.

Another year...gone

High school is officially out!!

My little girl has completed her freshman year--grinning from ear to ear as she tosses her backpack in the car and hops in.

I am celebrating the final day of my daily commute to the high school.

I am lamenting how quickly my moments with my little girl are fleeting. I am reminded to pause and enjoy...

"Would you like to go to lunch?"

"Yes. Can we go to I-hop, pleeease?"

I smile. I could have guessed that.

Smiling. she bounces off to work in her little sister's classroom.

Japanese Tea Garden

Once upon a time, a beautiful Japanese tea garden stood quietly in Golden Gate Park.



The details...breathtaking...



Some folks even pause to drink tea here.

Other folks meet and bring their kids...praying the gardens will still be standing when we leave.



7 characters.



Scampered quickly to the tree jungle gym beyond the gates--I think the garden is still standing, but I didn't look back :)



Monkeys? No doubt!



Cute? Absolutely!

Drama

This morning, as I worked in the back of the kindergarten classroom, the little people were rehearsing their play. Chayse was assigned one of the final lines, and I was shrinking into my shoes as I listened to the kids with their lines already memorized. I hadn't even looked at the paper yet...

Then my little girl stepped up to the front projecting her lines with enthusiasm and perfect inflection...by heart. In stunned pride, I watched. She was the shining star.

Fumbling my mind tried to figure out how this could have happened. Chayse has an uncanny ability to memorize lyrics to songs, but I knew we hadn't even read the lines together, so she certainly hadn't heard them often enough to learn them with one class rehearsal. I stood there dumbfounded.

Well, Chayse took her play to her oldest sister. The sister who performed in a mini-musical last Wednesday night and knocked our socks off with her phenomenal performance. She even had a solo with a dummy and completely rocked it!

Chayse loved it!

Then on Friday, Chayse watched Kiahra perform a play at the grade school for her drama class. She was goldilocks in a mixed-up play. She played the part like a fiddle. Her ability to stay in character was also impressive.

Chayse loved it, too!

Big sisters have paved the way, and Chayse has watched them closely, but under their tutelage (unseen by me) her sisters taught her the lines with expression.

Berries, Berries, and more Berries

Berries are in season here.

Raspberries + Bluesberries + Strawberries + Blackberries = Yummy, Yummy Fruit Pizza

It is the perfect equation.

True Love

My husband closely examines the rock from a shaft core drilling that is on display at the North Star Powerhouse which has been converted into a Mining Museum in Grass Valley. The historic mining artifacts are as rich as the ore bodies they represent from days gone by.

My new writing project has completely immersed me in the history of mining. Though, to be perfectly honest, I have been involved in the mining world since I married my hubby. Yesterday, the man who spends hours sharing his story with me asked me if I was from a mining family. This made me pause because technically I am from an agrarian family; however, later I realized that I have officially spent as much time in the world of mining as I did growing up as a child on the farm.

Ron is a miner, and that makes us a mining family. Last night, my husband finally made it home after a long day at work filled with complications...particularly with a substation that had a short and well...it was bad, really bad. Anyway, he sat at the kitchen table with me for two hours helping me edit my writing. I need his perspective to ensure authenticity in my writing. I realize that only a small population would recognize most of my subtle errors, but I really strive for accuracy.

In a few weeks we will celebrate 19 years together, and I am assured of his love because he drags me around the countryside so I can do research, he waits patiently as I explore the used bookstore (well, at least he waits), and he endures hours of writing which translates into listening time for him. I am not sure tropical vacations would leave me as assured of his love.

So Pretty

"Mommy, my sister looks so pretty today." The voice from the backseat was almost dreamy.

The blonde curls hung down her back as she walked towards the school. Her baggy pale pink sweater hung off one shoulder and the grey skinny jeans were accentuated with cute sandals.

I knew without looking that Chayse hadn't missed any details. She probably even noticed the sparkling pink eye shadow and white eyeliner that I had missed. I know her adoring eyes followed her sister until we were out of sight.

My heart flutters when my girls reveal their love for each other.

After school, the love continued as the girls teased and wrestled each other. The shrieks of delight were almost ear piercing, but still I smiled. In those rambunctious moments the carefree heart of childhood plays uninhibited. A fleeting moment at best...so I tried to etch it into my heart.

Uuummmm...

I posted yesterday. I know I did. I even read it after posting. But it is gone??

Strange. I also saved it and it isn't there either.

I seem to be spinning in circles these days. Maybe the whirlpool swallowed it.



Maybe I should go back to Grass Valley and retire to this rocking chair?



Maybe this twenty page mine story that is due on Monday is over-loading my brain circuits?



Maybe I need to live in this cottage? Fully staffed, of course.



Maybe my mischievous adolescent children are making me lose my mind?



But they were oh, so sweet at Mother's Day lunch playing with their cousins.

Driving my life away...

waiting for a sunny day...

Eddie Rabbit sings my song these days especially as the clouds cling to the California skies.

2 weeks. Nikela will be out of school.

14 days and I will be on vacation from my daily route to San Mateo.

When asked what the kids are doing this summer, I respond, "I am keeping the schedule clear."

Shocking in California, but I simply refuse to drive my summer away with four kids. I will be my own camp director and the adventures will continue on my schedule.

Summer vacation...here I come! Well, not really because I have to wait until June 15 when the rest of the kids are out of school.

Bridgeport Covered Bridge

Mother's Day brought me to the longest single span wood arch covered bridge in America. It was constructed in 1862 as a toll bridge across the Yuba River between Marysville and Virginia City.



Leave it to me to calculate the toll!

8 horses mules ox team up or down $6.00
6 horses mules ox team up or down $5.50
4 horses mules ox team up or down $4.00
2 horses mules ox team up or down $2.50
1 horse mule or an ox up or down $1.75
2 horse buggy each way $1.50
1 horse buggy each way $1.00
Horseman .50
Footman .25
Loose stock .10
Hogs sheep .05




The Yuba river winds through the Sierra Nevada Foothills.



The hillsides were scattered with grey trees.



In the morning, we paused in the crisp morning air on the veranda to mark Mother's Day.

PS Kiahra spent the weekend with a special friend...perhaps just to avoid the bridge??

As I head into the weekend with a getaway planned with my family, I pause, wishing I could share the day with my mother and sisters too.

As a child I loved Mother's Day. As a mother, I love Mother's Day too. Today, my youngest daughter brought a gift topped with a huge bow out of the classroom, grinning from ear to ear. She is so excited. A more noncholant fifth grader handed me a handwritten letter, but his eyes still were twinkling in anticipation.

The moments I love most are the hugs.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Auntie Love

Aunties love baby girls. This baby girl has 5 aunties. How lucky can a girl get?



Look at those cute little toes and the inquisitive look...and the cute outfit, of course!

I also envision that she is leaning forward trying to figure out what her crazy mother is doing. Her mother is just trying to appease a crazy auntie who lives oh so far away and wants assurance that "My Auntie loves me" is recorded in baby photo history!



Look at those curls...fluffy cheeks...sweet smile...twinkling eyes...

Aawww...thanks for indulging me a proud auntie moment today.

Roses

My rose trees are blooming. My favorite is the color of the California sunset.



Quack, quack, quack. My "decoys" are trampling my corner flower bed(their marshes) and drinking from the sprinkler head at their leisure in the afternoons. Perhaps a few cute ducklings would make it all better!



Utterly irresistible roses--if only they smelled as good as they look!