Pink Prickly Pear

Let's put Thriller on repeat today, shall we?

Mini-Pear has declared Halloween her favorite holiday.  She ran into our room this morning and dove under the covers with us, "Happy Halloween!" 

Halloween.  I could take it or leave it, but I'll try not to squelch the kids' joy too terribly much.

 

Our park day's Halloween Shin Dig (organized by Mini-Pear) was a raging success.  Potluck contributions were the bomb.  I ate very well, as did the boy, but apparently it didn't stop my little kitty from hunting mice.  All we want for Christmas is hanta virus!

 

Close inspection of both pictures will reveal the kids in matching tie-dyed costumes.  Insufferably cute, and once again, we demonstrate our homemade costuming prowess!

There's a special place somewhere for Craigslist no-shows on gorgeous Sunday afternoons. 

Whatev.  We enjoyed ourselves anyway, so I suppose it's neither here nor there.

Last week, Mandy sent us home from what can only be described as a canning party* with a pile of peaches.  I was determined to make a pie, and I was going to have to be quick about it, because those delicious peaches were going fast.  I also had to be realistic.  D'anjou was not going to wait in the wings while I messed about with pastry, so I settled on a crumble (with a quick and dirty topping of flour, sugar, butter, oatmeal and almonds).  Once all my peaches were prepped, it was obvious we'd eaten too many peaches, so I added blueberries.  The end result?  A whole lot of yum.  There was not a lot left over.  We like sweet treats.  We like to eat them at 11:30 in the morning on a Sunday.

Sunday in pictures?

My babies sharing a quiet moment together.

Catching up to the rest of the family on the way to the park.  I love stepping out our door and seeing the ocean.

Smiley boy.

I love this picture of my thoughtful girl.

What do you do with the red wax that comes on your baby bella cheese?  We make gum.

D'anjou gets his first shiner.  Explora-boy meets table leg.

^{* As always, she has posted some excellent photos of the event over on her blog, so pop on over for a look-see!}

Face-painting

Tell me those aren't the cutest little kitties you ever saw - my favorite three year olds at the park yesterday!  Mini-pear decided she'd like to run her own face-painting business.  She made a little sign, we shopped for supplies, her dad volunteered as a model to practice on, and she's now set up shop at two different park days.  It's been a lot of fun.  Last week the business even ran itself for a couple of hours - some of the older girls wanted to just use the paints and glitter to make their own tattoos.  Face painting is so fun, everyone wants to join in - I think the above kitties weren't even painted by mini-pear, but her "apprentices".

 

3 friends

Paxton is an equal opportunity kisser.

Sometimes it would be nice to do just nothing...

Mini-pear has a new friend who won't be going back to school next year.  Of course, the little girl's mom has a lot of questions and concerns.  She's particularly worried that her daughter won't get to socialize as often as she's accustomed.

I have to smile at that.  A wan, exhausted sort of smile.  Exhausted because mini-pear's social calendar is insane!  She'd never get this much time to socialize if she were in school.  Please stop talking to your neighbor or I'll have to separate you two!  Girls, we're not here to socialize!  I want to be able to hear a pin drop in here!

I haven't blogged all that much over the past couple of weeks.  Partly because I'm just not here all that much.  We are very busy socializing.  In the last week, mini-pear and I have:

Spent 8 consecutive hours at our local Unschooler Park Day!
Went to see her good friend's dance recital, with some other friends, followed by ice-cream (not to mention a sugar fueled exploration of the Whole Foods in La Jolla).
Had a friend over for a few hours of one on one play.
The whole family got together with several other families for dinner and to talk about the possibilities of hosting an Unschooling Conference in San Diego next year.
Karate, karate, karate...
More time at the park with friends!
Book club with 5 of her girl friends
A pottery workshop organized by another homeschooling family*
A picnic, sleepover, and all day play date with another friend and her family
Followed by another park day

And then yesterday, we met up with a different set of girl friends for the American Girl book club.  The girls are reading through the historical novels.  Yesterdays meeting had a Victorian theme in keeping with the Samantha series.  Everyone loved the elaborate tea party - crust-less tea sandwiches, fresh fruit and loads of dainty little cakes - charades, and making their tussie mussies.  Of course, I forgot my camera, but I managed to snap the above picture of mini-pear putting her bouquet into a bud vase at home.  Then she noticed the camera and ran away, having recently developed an aversion to the camera.

So, yes, socializing - I think we've got it covered.  We're trying to stay home all morning, but it's hot, so I think we'll have to accept that invitation to hang at the beach this afternoon.

_{*Actually, here's where I hit a wall and just couldn't handle the social whirlwind anymore.  Luckily, my friends noticed and shuttled me off home with promises to make arrangements for mini-pear to get dropped off later.  I went home and slept like the dead.  And then one of the friends from pottery asked if they couldn't just take mini-pear home with them and I could just reconnect with them at park day the following afternoon.  So then I got to sleep like the dead some more.  Which is something I was apparently in dire need of.}

Friday's full of Yays! and Boos!

Another reason to road trip though lovely Oregon?  Free coffee courtesy of the Methodists!  I don't know if the coffee came with strings attached as I'd already had a small clandestine coffee much earlier that morning.  I'll also have to admit that after witnessing the horror of the rest room stalls at this stop, I studiously avoided any subsequent "Free Coffee" stops.  Just in case, you know, the free coffee was in lieu of a generous scrubbing of the facilities.  It certainly seemed so at this particular stop.

Onto Yays! (and Boos!)

Yay! Swimming this morning!  Floating in the sun feels so very good!

Boo!  We stayed at the pool long enough to hear a swim instructor bring not just one, but three successive students to tears with her constant haranguing and "Be Brave!"  and "You HAVE to do this!"  So, it's bad enough that she basically sucks, for lack of a better word, but I can't imagine what possessed three successive parental units to sit poolside and allow this woman to bring their children to tears. 

Boo!  Hey Fax Machine!  Why you try and call me at 6:38 this morning?  Hmmmm?  And why you try and call me again ten minutes later?  I was sleeping!

Yay!  Quiet time with a cup of tea and my book before anyone else woke up (although, to be perfectly honest, I'd have appreciated the sleep a little more).

Yay!  I think our dog learned some manners at her fancy pants doggie dude ranch!  Yesterday I chatted on the driveway with my friend, not realizing that the front door was open.  When I headed back inside the dog was attentively laying down on the door mat and did not get up until I told her she could!  And she was much calmer on our walk today (longtime readers know she's a beast on her leash).  And when we returned from the pool she greeted us in the hall by calmly laying down and wagging her tail (as opposed to punching us in the groin and frolicking excitedly underfoot). 

Yay!  Sleepover for Mini-Pear with one of her best friends.  Most uneventful!  They get on with their play and work out their issues on their own!  Little Friend is polite and not in the habit of wandering off opening drawers and nosing in closets (like Mini-Pear's other little friend, Mary Lennox*).

Boo!  Who will fill the void left by the impending move of Little Friend?  Please, not Mary Lennox!!!!!

Yay!  I read on the couch for an hour this afternoon and ate lots and lots and lots of cherries.  Here on the left coast, cherries are well within my grocery budget for months on end!

Yay!  We got to karate this afternoon for the first time in too long!  Mini-Pear had a great class and I got my knit on.

Boo! It's seven o'clock.  Where's Mr. Pear?  It's time to get this weekend party started!

^{* Uh, Mary Lennox is not her real name.  I wouldn't be all stealthy and avoid using our own real names on the internets and then out some poor kid due to her inherent disagreeable-ness.  Ever read The Secret Garden?  She's just like that Mary Lennox, only without garden tools and her ensuing sense of purpose.}

Peas in a pod

Mini-pear had a friend stay the night.  She's spent the night away from us a fair number of times, but I realized, after tucking in not one, but two, little girls, that it's the first time we've had a sleepover at our place! 

We met at the library, where the girls recommended favorite books to each other and picked out a couple of movies to watch together.  We had some time to kill before Mini's karate class, so stopped at a local park for lots of running down big hills, games of Zombie and a snack.  P. and I sat and watched karate and then it was home for dinner. 

I'd followed a new recipe for chili in my slow cooker.  The ingredients seemed dubious - molasses and apple cider?  It wasn't good.  Plan B for the girls - tomato soup, salad and quesadillas.  Mr. Pear and I tried to be good sports about the chili.  Blech.  I had triple helpings of salad.

The girls played until they decided it was movie time and then snuggled on the couch together.  Mini-pear picked My Friend Flicka, not realizing it wasn't the remake she'd seen and enjoyed previously.  The original, made in 1943, made for a good running commentary.  One of the horses was called Cigarette.  And the girls found it sort of odd and creepy that while the younger sister in the film showed up in outdoor scenes to spout her cutesy one liners to the big brother, she never once appeared in any indoor scenes with the rest of the family eating dinner or hanging out in the kitchen.  It was a bit Sixth Sense-y.  Maybe the brother was the only one who could see the sister.

I thought they might stay up for hours chatting away, but after a short story each, they must have fallen asleep immediately.  Not a peep!

We had a pancake breakfast, courtesy of Mr. Pear and the girls had a chance to play a while more before P. got picked up for her drumming lesson.  It is a gorgeous day here.  Mr. Pear's at the gym, but I think we'll spend the rest of the day outside somewhere;)

Nothing Elfin about these hills.

We decided to explore the trails of Elfin Forest yesterday afternoon.  This particular trail took us on a very steady climb of 600 feet over 1.5 miles.  I was surprised at my huffing and puffing, but thought I could blame it all on wearing too many clothes.  This morning I can blame it all on being on the verge of coming down with Something.  Something is a very sore throat and aching joints.  Easily remedied by doing Absolutely Nothing and drinking endless cups of (blech!) Throat Coat.

Here's Mini-pear up at the tippy top.  We could see all the way to the ocean from here.  I love  climbing these ridges and being able to look west to the sun and the sea, and east to the mountains. 

Yesterday morning, I was about to nip out to my LYS  when Kate called to see if I wanted to meet up for coffee.  Mini-pear's ears perked up the moment she got wind of what I was doing.  I started to explain that Kate was only going to have her youngest, Jonas, with her, but stopped myself, remembering Mini-pear's repeated monologues on the topic of Jonas.  We can be doing almost anything and Mini-pear will suddenly announce, "You know why I love Jonas so much?" and then spend 45 minutes filling in the details.  Jonas certainly is loveable and the feeling between the two of them is mutual (Kate's been known to use Mini-pear as a means of encouraging Jonas into his dreaded car seat).  So Kate and I got to catch up, while Mini-pear played big sister;)