30 Days of Gratitude

This November I decided to challenge myself to write something I am grateful for in my Facebook status for each day of the month.  I did fairly well, missing a few days here and there, but usually then making up for the lag by appreciating a very meaningful blessing my life.  The fun thing about this exercise is that you find yourself having to choose just one of many things you have to be grateful for, which is a great mindset to go into the holidays!Here are my posts, because these are things I am grateful for all year long.

Nov. 2, 2014Ooooh I wanna 30 days of thankfulness! Gonna compact Nov 1-3 in a biggie: I'm thankful for the warm, charming roof over my head and that Fall is finally upon us in lovely San Jose!

Nov. 4, 2014Day 4 of gratefulness: I am grateful that I get to design and teach my own curriculum; it is a privilege to spend my days attempting to meet the charge of expanding others' perspectives.

Nov. 6, 2014Day 6 of thankfulness: I am grateful for my health, the fact that I was blessed with a kickbutt immune system. It's the gift that keeps on giving this time of year for us teachers!

Nov. 8, 2014Days 7 & 8 of thankfulness- I'm grateful for my awesome parents who know how to live the dream and are so good at sharing their light with the people they love!

Nov. 10, 2014Day 9 & 10 of gratefulness - thank goodness for old friends. I have the bestest besties in the world!

Nov. 11, 2014Day 11 of thankfulness: I'm grateful for my Grandpa, Lt. Col. Wayne Elkin, a veteran from the greatest generation, and the other countless men and women who gave so much and get so little meaningful recognition (particularly our recent vets not from the "greatest generation."). 

As global policy becomes increasingly less black and white, our soldiers have it harder- because they still have to risk their lives, even while they know more than half the world might not respect what they are fighting for. True heroes indeed.

Nov. 12, 2014
Day 12 of thankfulness: As I sit and drink my morning coffee I find I am so grateful for vices in moderation. Is that weird? Hedonism? Honesty.

Nov. 13, 2014
Day 13 of Thankfulness: I am so very grateful for my two sisters Genna and Alli. My girls have the best aunties and I have the best friends in these two thoughtful, compassionate, intelligent, powerful women! XO


Nov. 16, 2014
Days 15 & 16 of Thankfulness: I am grateful every day to witness the love and friendship blooming between my two daughters. 

They will each get their own day of thankfulness in this appreciation count down. But their bond gets its own shout out: because it makes me so proud and so full.


Nov 17, 2014Day 17 of Thankfulness: grateful for my favorite time of year- late fall heading into the winter holidays is the best! This sycamore lined street of mine is pretty lovely too!

Nov. 19, 2014Day 18 & 19 of Thankfulness: Today I'm thankful for unlikely perfect pairs such as Theatre & Math, Coffee Ice-cream, Absentmindedness & Intellect, and Nerds & Cops, for instance!


Nov. 21, 2014 Day 21 of Thankfulness: I am thankful for boots and vests, scarves and hats, More than opposable thumbs, it's cute winter accessories that separate us from the chimps!


Nov. 20, 2014 This is not exaggerated: I gave my 12.5 month old two crayons at 5:02pm and she sat focused drawing for 28 straight minutes until she saw me eating.

Day 20 of Thankfulness: Alice, my angel baby. Your sweet disposition, wise calm and general loveliness make being your mama such an honor every day. I am so blessed!


Nov. 22, 2014Day 22 of Thankfulness: I am so very thankful to be in my mid-30s. The 20s were amazing, full of adventure and self-centered betterment, yada-yada. I made life long friends in both high school and college, making the teens pretty rad. My first decade beginning in 1980 may have been during the Reagin administration, but nonetheless was full of magic, mostly due to my loving parents and sweetie-pie little sister and a very active imagination. But the 30s? The best yet!
 

Nov. 24, 2014Days 23 & 24 of Thankfulness (last two days): I am grateful to live in Northern California, amidst mighty redwoods and eucalyptus groves, tech genius, progressive minds, and my family and NorCal friends. We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge last night and despite the traffic we encountered on our commute - I couldn't help but smile at the twinkly late November city lights. Natural and urban beauty abounds! Hella.
 

Nov. 25, 2014Day 25 of Thankfulness: of all the things I have loved in my life, motherhood simply takes the cake. And here is the ball of pure joy and energy that first made me "mama." I am endlessly grateful for my first born, my best wee friend, and mini-me, Violet Mae. She is a kindred spirit: sees the world in technicolor - a true Bon vivant. I am so grateful she chose me to be her mom! 

 Nov. 28, 2014

Day 28 of Thankfulness: So grateful to be boycotting Black Friday! #BoycottBlackFriday #BlackFridayBlackOut  Nov. 30, 2014 Days 29 & 30 of Thankfulness: I am so happy to have the time and state of mind to be aware of all the goodness and beauty that abounds in my little life. It's all about the attitude (of gratitude, yo)!

Heading into the Happ-Happiest Season of All!

It's been quite fun starting our Christmas preparations.  Of course, Violet is very into Santa Claus, and decorating, fancy dresses and any promises of sweets.  And Alice just loves anything that her sister loves.  So far this season we have put up and decorated our Christmas tree with all non-glass ornaments (thanks Target for the super convincing plastic pretty bulb ones!) made spiced cider, sang Christmas carols, decorated the tree outside our house with lights, ornaments and red japanese maple leaves (Violet's awesome idea!) and went Christmas in the Park to see all of the trees and lights.  

Next weekend we have a few fun things lined up.  We will be going to my department party Friday night.  Then my mom will be taking Violet, Genna and I to the San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker.  Should be so fun for Violet this year!  She did really well last year and almost made it to the end.  This year I have a feeling she will enjoy the whole experience probably make it through the whole production too.  

Then we will be heading to Indiana for two weeks of cold weather and our Hoosier family!  I think we will be chopping down our own Christmas tree (George's uncle's in laws have a farm) and decorating it.  And Jane has arranged for us to take a train ride with Santa and have breakfast with Santa at the Indianapolis Children's Museum!  Violet has not seen Santa yet this year, but has made her list which includes three items.  So cute!

Alice's Baptism & First Birthday Celebration

We are not a particularly religious family.  There was a bit of arm twisting involved in getting George on board with baptizing the girls, and a little bit more involved in getting him to ask his cousin Mike to be Alice's godfather (just because he didn't want to inconvenience him).

Alice with her Godmother (Genna) & Godfather (Mike)

Our family at Mission Santa Clara before Alice's Baptism

So ready to be welcomed into the family!

Despite our not being particularly religious - I know that all of us felt that Alice's baptism was an incredibly joyous occasion.  We had it in the Chapel of St. Francis in Mission Santa Clara, the same beautiful space that Violet was baptized in on her first birthday.  Father Michael Zampelli did the service - which was full of his eloquence and enthusiasm and rich speaking voice.

Clapping right after being baptised in holy water!

This time we had lots of members of George's family from Indiana present - his aunt and uncle Delly and Pat, his cousins Mike and Sue, and their sweet kids Jennifer, Chris and Kelly.  Also Papa David, Hetty and of course Mimi were here.  I had my parents, Genna and Kaz, Aunt Jamie and Aunt Carmen, Uncle Bill and my cousin Jeanette plus a few of my closest friends from my department.

After the baptism we went back to our house for Alice's first birthday party! 

 Because of everything going on with finding Violet a new school, and because my mom is genuinely "the hostess with the mostess," I had her take over communicating with the caterers.  Boy was that good choice!  After our experience throwing that blowout party for Violet, George and I swore we would never host another event where our six closest family members and us were running around working the whole time.  (At Violet's 1st birthday party we had tables and chairs and linens delivered but had to set them up, and had to prepare and arrange food everyone brought, David and Uncle Bill barbecued the entire time and Aunt Jamie and Aunt Lala both worked cleaning and setting up before and after the party!  It was crazy).  For Alice's party we hired a full service caterer who set up the tables and chairs, umbrellas and whole spread, made amazing passed appetizers and incredible yummy finger sandwiches. People brought alcohol and there was delicious homemade lemonade.  We all sat and talked and enjoyed!  We didn't even have to clean up.  Amazing!  A few favorite moments:

Alice's first taste of cake!  (Daddy picked out red velvet from Hannah's!)

Happy Birthday to Alice!!!

"Lemme show you how it's done, baby Alice!"

Alice's first little friend Finley wants some of the yummy cake!

My kid's quotable 2

A few great Violet quotes of late.

Me: I need to brush your hair because it looks like Daddy maybe forgot last night.
Violet:  He doesn't know.  He's just a man.

This of course links with a previous adorable (yet innocently sexist) remark. 
Violet: Why Daddy didn't do that?  He doesn't do anything right. Because he's a man.

I really should have dated the above!  I think she said them around the time she turned 3 - perhaps in August 2014.

10/9/14:
After nearly two weeks of Mimi staying with Violet in her room, Violet had to sleep alone in her room.  She woke up and said:  Mommy, I was crying in the middle of the night.  I was crying for my Mimi.  There was a storm inside me.

11/29/14:
At Charlie's 1st Birthday party, Violet saw that Charlie had received one of her favorite books Richard Scary's Cars and Trucks and Things that Go.  I told her she better tell Emily and Charlie about Gold Bug.

Emily: Who is Gold Bug?
Violet: Well, Emily.  He is an extremely cute bug.

Transitions (Dolphins and Starfish)

Unfortunately, my entry about Violet's smooth transition into her first official preschool room at Kids On Campus has been subsumed by George and my deep concerns with teaching style of the Dolphin Room teacher.

Violet was so happy to begin in the Dolphin Room, and easily made friends in the room.  But we can tell this teacher's style is far too passive for Violet to truly thrive.  The environment of the room is depressing, dark and looks unorganized.  The teacher doesn't adhere to a schedule that makes sense for Violet (or I would imagine most 3 year olds). It feels like babysitting rather than preschool, except with less teacher-student interaction or warmth than I think is absolutely necessary for my child.

So now that it has been two weeks, we have had it out with the new director of the preschool who is saying that we cannot move Violet into the Turtle room, where most of her Otter friends are.  We both feel like we cannot leave Violet in the Dolphin Room for another day, but I think we may be overreacting a little.  George and I bicker some.  And it can get heated.  But when we really have a problem is when we both totally agree about something we don't like or think isn't the best for our kid.  We have both been completely overwrought by this situation.

Now that we have been told that Violet won't be allowed into the Turtle Room, we have no idea how to proceed.  It's a horrible feeling to not think that your kid is having fun or being engaged when you are away from her.   I am thinking of trying to just teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays - have Violet do full days at KOC - and somehow keeping her at home MWF.  But I may be creating a really bad situation for myself too.  TBD...

Meanwhile, Alice Bear is doing so wonderfully at KOC.  She loves her friends (all cute boys 12-23 months old!) She lights up when I drop her off into Ms. Suada's arms.  She is happy playing with all of the toys and watching the little toddlers run around.  One afternoon I came in and she was on all fours trying to crawl with a huge smile on her face, other little boys crawling around trying to teach her how to do it!  So adorable.  Here are a few happy pictures from Alice at KOC in the Starfish room.

Everyone's a lil coconuts (Maui 2014: Elkin-Mohler-Khosrowmanesh Adventure)

We just returned from two blissful weeks in Maui, where we stayed with my parents and my sister and brother-in-law at the Maui Sunset.  My parents arranged for us to have a two bedroom condo, my sister and brother-in-law to have their own one bedroom, and had their own two bedroom where they stayed and hosted our good family friend Ron.  It was an incredible time, especially for Violet who swam every single day and loved making her first memories of the beach.

All of us at "Tommy Bahamas" for Happy Hour

As I mentioned in my previous blog about our trip to Indiana, George and I are completely over the notion of going anywhere for "vacation" while our kids our little unless we are with family.

Alice's first day at the beach!

George and I have spent time in Maui together in 2010 and in Kauai in 2007, and this was, obviously a very different kind of trip.  But even though our time was arranged according to the needs of our two babies,  we still were able to fit in some romantic time together and some social time with the grown ups.  This included going out one night with Genna and Kaz to an awesome chic foodie place called Duo, and going on two date nights: one to Sorento's and the other to Morimoto at the Andaz Hotel.  Both were very romantic and had amazing sunsets!

Kaz, Genna George and I at DUO at the Fairmont

Our last night in Maui: George and I outside of Morimoto at Hotel Andaz

Violet had an absolute blast (and so did George!) at their first luau!  Violet even got onto the stage and represented our table with her hula skills.  At some point I will embed the video...

Genna and Alice

But of course the best part of the whole vacation was when we could all spend time together, and watching the joy that my family of origin gives to my sweet girls, and visa vera.

My dad did a lot of morning baby sitting for us, so that we could take Violet to the pool, or out while Alice slept or stayed in with Tata.  They really bonded this trip.

                                                                                   And as usual, Violet can't seem to get enough of her "Copy."  I swear she is a little Wendy - totally cut out of the same clothe.  I better prepare myself for her teen age years!

Copy and Violet "beach-combing" at the beach right by our condo

ALOHA from Alice, Violet and the Twin Humus!
We took the girls to the fancy restaurant at the Grand Wailea, humuhumunukanukua'a's They were perfectly behaved and the four of us shared two three course meals, including "Surf and Turf" entres!  At the end of the meal, the server gave my girls these adorable stuffed humu fishes.  They love them!

On our last day my parents took all of us to happy hour at Five Palms. 

Indiana with the Inlaws

So a lot of people don't get along with their in-laws.  I am not one of those people.

No one reads this blog - it's really my own diary in a sense so there's no point in my being coy.  The truth is, the longer you know people, the more years you spend with them, trials and triumphs you share with them - the more you love and are connected to them.  But, of course, as folks' shiny newness begins to wear into an actual, timeworn relationship you also really get to know them and with that closeness can come those things that bug.  But this is not a blog about the little things that my inlaws find annoying about me (they haven't shared these but I'm guessing they exist).  Nor is it a blog griping about them.

This is about our first family trip to Indiana as a family of four and how totally awesome it was.

First of all - I am no longer interested in going anywhere and pretending it is a "vacation" if it does not include grandparents to help watch my kids.  Is Indiana my dream vacation spot?  Before kids this would be a quick and nasty: no.  But now I can't wait to get back to Mimi (George's mom)'s condo in Broadripple!

We left right after commencement activities and were supposed to stay for a week, but I easily convinced George that a week just wasn't long enough.  So we changed our tickets and stayed for a total of 11 days.  This way we could enjoy ourselves and "make the rounds" seeing all of George's family.  Here's a great picture of Great Grandma Peg Mohler meeting Alice for the first time:

Violet was nearly three, so she had a blast staying on the bottom mattress of a sweet trundle bed with Jane on the top part.  She got to basically stay on California time in terms of bedtime, and would spend most nights watching a movie with Jane, us, or whoever else was watching her.  Because Alice is a complete doll - she pretty much slept through the night right away in her pack in play in the upstairs room, next to Mimi's master bedroom which she selflessly gave up for George and I to sleep in for the entire trip.  I had anticipated sleep regressions with Alice and didn't get any (knocking on wood as I type this for future trips!)

Violet watching "Frozen" with Mimi & Daddy

George and I got a lot of time together to have fun because the girls were happy and safe and sound with their family.  Hetty watched them one night while Jane, Steve, Alli, Ron and George and I went out to dinner.  Several nights Jane watched them while George and I went into Broadripple.  And one night Alli watched them while the rest of us headed up to Anderson to the "Racino" and did some gambling.  I won a whopping $140 and later that week went a bit of a shopping spree with Jane in a few cute boutiques in Broadripple with my winnings.  It really was a blast.

The Ladies at the Racino!

Every morning Violet would wake up with Mimi (somehow she was having so much fun that despite her pretty late bedtime she would wake up at about 7:30 for the day).  They would get up and have breakfast while George and Alice and I slept in.  Jane had a whole cute art table set up and sometimes they would do crafts.  Around 8:30-9am we would wake up, I would nurse Alice and we would have some breakfast.  Right around then Violet would head down to Hetty's for a tea party with a vintage porcelain tea set that used to belong to Violet's great grandmother.  Hetty would make her either vanilla or chocolate milk (which was regular milk but sucked through a Hello Kitty vanilla or chocolate straw) or strawberry milk with strawberry syrup.  She made her cinnamon toast or Jello Knox Blocks too.  Then they would play board games, get into Hetty's bed with the kitties and watch "Daniel Tiger" together.

Around the time that Alice would go down for a nap, Violet would head out to the day's activities, which mostly involved going swimming at the Riviera Club.  She would swim her little heart out until it was either time for her to head to the snack shop for crinkle cut french fries or the life guard blew his whistle because there was a thunder storm warning (which happened almost every day!)

Fun at the Rivera Swim Club!

 I would either take a lovely run on the Monon trail right by Jane's condo, or go with everyone to the Rivi and work out in the gym there.  It was so nice to have the time to myself to work out and know that my kids were being lovingly cared for.  And George was able to spend enough time doing his work that he didn't feel stressed about being there.

Violet spent her days swimming hard at the Rivi

We also spent a lot of time with George's dad "Papa David" who simply adores the girls.  He is amazing with babies and toddlers.  It's clear that Violet is the light of his life and that he can't get enough of her.  David and George took her to the Indianapolis Children's museum and they had so much fun.

Violet at the Indianapolis Children's Museum

Whatever activity Violet got to do - she was 100% into it…and then would crash out in the car ride home.  That is basically the only way were able to get her to stop and take a break from the fun-a-thon that was Indy for her.  Thank God for car rides and toddler naps!

One of the evenings, after the girls woke from their naps Alli and Ron had us and all of George's aunts and uncles over to celebrate Violet's third birthday party (a bit early, and Hoosier style!)  Hetty made homemade ice-cream, Alli made homemade potato salad, Delly made chocolate cake, and the men all BBQed.  Alli had decorated her new sweet duplex with pink bobbles and necklaces and princess balloons, and Violet was in love with all of the princess themed presents she got.  Hetty and Jane pretty much got her every princess figurine imaginable - which was perfect to go with what my folks' got her this year: a deluxe, gorgeous wooden Princess Castle.

Snapped at Alli and Ron's house during Violet's Indy Birthday Party!

One day there was a tornado warning!  We had to get into a closet… It was too surreal for me to really be scared, but Jane says that might be because I've never seen a tornado.

We don't look concerned.

Then Jane said we had to get into the closet.