Beautiful Ballerina

Hannah's ballet recital was a couple weeks ago. When the curtain opened she was front and center looking confident and beautiful. It was fun to see the result of all her hard work. She did a great job. Auntie Kelly and Cameron even came to watch. Here are a few pictures of her after the show.

Thanksgiving 2009

Since it's almost Christmas, I thought it would be a good time to post a bit about our Thanksgiving...maybe I'll get around to a Christmas post sometime before Easter.  We had a quiet Thanksgiving at home complete with school-made table decorations.

...and missles and guns or whatever

(spelling can really trip a kid up)

Here we are all ready for our feast.  We spent some time reflecting on what we were thankful for.  Jesus and each other were at the top of our list.

The week of Thanksgiving, Hannah's class had their Thanksgiving feast.  The class had worked hard to memorize Thanksgiving poems and prepare their readers theater pieces.  They were all so cute dressed up as pilgrims, indians and turkeys.

The day after Thanksgiving we packed the kids up and headed for our friend's mom's house where the boys did some skeet shooting and the kids and I climbed a rather steep hill.  If you look closely, that's a picture of Rob with a shotgun.  It turns out he's a pretty good shot (might come in handy when the girls start dating).  I think he surprised a few of the rough, tough cowboys they were shooting with.  I know he impressed his wife...what a man!  It was a great weekend.

Ellie Impression

This is Grace's impression of Ellie from the movie "Up". If you haven't seen the movie, it's great for kids and adults alike. At the beginning of the movie, there is a scene with a little girl named Ellie who is missing one front tooth. She takes her hat off and her hair goes every which way. I think Grace captured the look perfectly here.

Sarah on Fine Dining

Sarah in the line to get lunch at Costco:  "Mom, are hot dogs made of dog?"
Me:  "Only weiner dogs honey....No!!! Hot dogs are NOT made of dog Sarah."
Older gentleman in line in front of us:  "Hahahaha!  Kids are funny!"
Me:  "Yes they are!!"

Toothless Grins

Sarah lost her first tooth about a week ago.  She was so tickled.  Grace lost her 5th tooth a couple days ago.  I have a feeling she'll be singing, "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" very soon.  Her most recent loss wins the prize for the most interesting way to lose a tooth.  She lost it on the trampoline when it got caught in the net on the way down from a high bounce.  It was a pretty bloody event, but she didn't even cry...amazing since she can cry for 20 minutes if her sister looks at her wrong.  Anyway, they are both so cute in an okie sort of way. 

Saturday Morning Art - The Mayflower

Hannah got some grown up art supplies for her birthday. She has had fun experimenting with them. This is a watercolor of the Mayflower she did this morning. We found the picture in the upper right hand corner online and printed it for her to copy. I think she did a great job.

Food, Fun and Fellowship with Friends - Girl's Weekend 2009

From Drop Box

Last weekend was my annual Girl's Getaway weekend with my longtime girlfriends Kim and Kristen.  We stayed in Calistoga, went wine tasting, ate some great food and gabbed late in to the night.  Over the many years, we have always able to pick up right where we left off.  They are such a blessing to me.

Sweet Sarah is Sick...so we did Some Sewing

Sarah and I have been sick with some sort of nasty infection for the past several days.  The Dr. assured us it wasn't Swin Flu and nothing some antibiotics, grape juice and a few days in our pajamas watching movies wouldn't fix. 

In the meantime though, I think we have set a few records around here.  For instance, we have washed Sarah's sheets not once, not twice, not three times, but four times in the last week.  And as fate would have it, she sleeps on the top bunk.  Those of you with kids in bunk beds know how fun it is to change sheets on the top bunk. 

Anyway, she wet the bed two nights in a row (I think she was too tired to wake up).  The next night I got smart and put her in a Pull Up.  That was the night she gagged on her medicine at 2:00am and threw up in her bed.  A couple days later, I put her down for a nap when a coughing fit started.  It ended with her thowing up all over her bed, her dresser and the floor.  Now that's talent!   

The up-side is that Sarah is not usually the snuggly one of the bunch, but when she is sick, she loves to snuggle.  I have been getting lots of lovin' from her the past few days.  Thanks to a good friend who loaned us some movies from her collection, I think we set a movie marathon record too.  It was nice to have some new to us movies to enjoy in our pjs.

Enough was enough though.  Our brains were starting to liquefy.  So, today, I got out the sewing machine.  This is such a rare occurance in our house.  I really don't enjoy sewing, but I had these cute, super easy (for most people) to make dolls that a lady from Bible Study gave me before she moved.  I thought the girls would get a kick out of seeing the sewing machine in action and stuffing their own dolls...way cheaper and a lot more work for Mom than Build-a-Bear.  I only had the patience and time to make one small one for Hannah and one big Strawberry Shortcake for Sarah.

I think Strawberry Shortcake was a hit.  Sarah hasn't put her down all day.  Get well sweet Sarah!

Tea Time for a Beautiful 7 Year Old!

We celebrated Hannah's 7th Birthday with a Tea Party, (it was actually hot chocolate), with a few of her friends. I think everyone had a great time.

Boo!

Usually When I'm Tired...

A few nights ago, I was tucking Hannah in to bed and reminding her about a few things she needed to remember for school the next day.  I had already gone over these things with her earlier.  My tedious, perfectionistic side must have taken over as I felt the need to drone on about whatever it was some more when she politely interrupted me and said, "Mom...usually when I'm tired, I just try to go to sleep".  Good point!  I zipped it, kissed her goodnight, took her advice and went to bed.  She's pretty sharp for an almost 7 year old. 

1st Grade Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Kiddie Kollege Open House

Bithday Celebration - Disney Style

To counteract the effects of aging this year, my sister and I decided to celebrate our birthday at Disneyland like a couple of overgrown kids.  It wa a great day.

 

Here are the birthday girls in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle (or is it Cinderella's...whatever).  Disneyland is free on your birthday in 2009...perfect when you share a birthday with your sister.  Like the lady at the ticket counter pointed out...one's just a little taller and as my sister was kind enough to point out, a little older too.

I must be getting old because this year I got my first "you look pretty good for your age" card and a birthday gift wrapped in the obituaries from a couple of friends (well, former friends...hahaha).  Thanks for reminding me ladies!

A Fairy of a Different Sort

About a week ago, Sarah dropped a large brick paver on her big toe.  7 days, lots of tears and countless accidental bumps followed by blood curdling screams later, her toenail looks like it's about to fall off.  She is a little fearful about this, so to ease her fear and lighten the mood, I told her I wasn't sure, but there might be a Toenail Fairy.  A little gross I know, but it brought instant giggles and I am certain now that if it falls off, it's going straight under her pillow. 

So, if you were the Toenail Fairy, what would you leave under her pillow?

My Fair Ladies

Yesterday we spent the afternoon and evening at the Fair.  We ate the obligatory junk food that somehow always smells better than it tastes...saw a fun magic show and checked out the animals.  Here's a picture of each of my "Fair" ladies...

It only cost $4 for her to ride this blue dragon!

Sarah got to hold this cute bunny for free!

The main reason we went to the Fair was to see Hannah's art. 

Her Giraffe was selected last year to be hung at the Fair. 
Isn't he cute?

A Note to my Kids

Dear Sweet Kids of Mine, 

I love you more than anything, but today is Saturday.  That means that the Cobb Family Complaint Department is officially closed.  If you are convinced that life isn't fair and you don't like what's for breakfast, don't want to make your bed, can't find your favorite article of clothing, or don't like your seat in the car, please deal with it....QUIETLY! 

Please address all inquiries regarding how many more bites you have to eat, when that article of clothing might be clean, if you can watch cartoons, or why you have to take a nap to our Saturday relief staff.  His name is Daddy. 

Should you need a referee for a fight with your sister, be aware that 24 hour advanced, written notice is required.  Please plan accordingly.  You may be required to postpone your fight.

The Complaint Department will re-open first thing tomorrow morning to manage all crisis related to Sunday morning grooming.

Thanks for your understanding.

With all my love,

Mommy
Chief Compaint Officer
Cobb Family Complaint Department

P.S.   I am keenly aware that without the three of you, I would be miserably unemployed.  And, don't forget that while the Complaint Department is closed on Saturdays, the snuggling, game playing, book reading and ice cream eating departments remain open for business. 

Sand Art, Surfing and Stereotypes

In all of our summer travels, we never made it to the beach.  This is very unlike us.  So, today we made a quick day trek to Pismo.  The girls kept saying "we don't want to go"?  What!?!  Who's kids are these?  All we had to do was round the corner and see the water for them to warm up to the idea.  As soon as we hit the beach, they got busy creating this sand man.  Isn't he cute?

Being the good little pirates that they are, they gathered up all sorts of beach "treasures" and buried them here.

Triple "X" marks the spot.  We try our best to keep it "G" rated around here, but when you've got three pirates, three "X's" are only natural.

The waves weren't all that great for surfing, but hey, when you drive all that way and don't get to go all that often, you take what you can get.  So, Rob donned his wetsuit and made a beeline for the surf.

I snapped this picture of him just after a couple of tourists asked if they could take a picture with him.  I watched from a distance as he posed with a lady who wanted a picture with a "real" California surfer, all the while laughing to myself and thinking of all the fun ways I could tease him.  He's such a rock star.  He can't help it.

When I finished said teasing, he told me he asked the lady where they were from expecting her to name some far off, exotic land, but instead her reply was "Bakersfield".  I wonder if they were dissapointed to find out that their "real" California surfer lived in nearby Wasco? 

What a fabulous and funny reminder of one of life's greatest surprises!  People aren't always who we think they are and my stereotypes are often wrong.  We got a great laugh out of it.  I imagine they did too.

Happy Birthday Our Not-So-Little Girls!

Ever since they were...well...little, we have been calling Grace and Sarah the "little girls".  They're growing up fast.  In fact, they just turned 5.  But since I am still my parent's little girl, I am not too worried that they will outgrow the title anytime soon.  No matter how big they get, they will in fact always be our "little girls".

We celebrated their 5th Birthday all day last Saturday as grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins came to share in their excitement.  We ate hot dogs, hamburgers and cupcakes and cooled off in the pool next door.  I think they had a great day.  Here area  few pictures.

Hannah made them special Birthday Girl shirts.  She wrapped them up and snuck them in to the girl's clothes organizer for Friday.  The girls knew they would have a surprise in their organizer and that when they got to "Friday", it would be their birthday.  Whenever someone asked them when their birthday was, they would say, "at the bottom of our oganizer".  They loved their custom birthday shirts.

Gifts!!

Sarah's bending Pizza Papa's ear.  She's probably asking for money for her new wallet.  I swear I didn't teach her that.

Cameron wondering what's with all this girl stuff?

Preparation for the Big 5!

Grace and Sarah are turning 5 tomorrow and we have been busy this morning making all the necessary preparations. First we baked "G" and "S" cookies for them to share with their buddies at pre-school.

Then we baked brownies to take to a friend's house tomorrow night...and while they were baking, we pushed the dining room table and chairs aside, cranked the music up and had a wild dance party!

Look out "So You Think You Can Dance".  You aint seen nothin' yet.  More to come after we celebrate their big day.

Pre-school Funnies

Grace and Sarah's pre-school is about as low tech and old fashioned as they come. I mean that in the best way. I think pre-school should be all about singing, playing, eating snacks, making friends and doing messy crafts and that's exactly what they do at Kiddie Kollege. The best I can tell, they've been doing it that way for a lot of years and the ladies there have a good thing going.

So as Sarah was telling me about her day and how much fun she had singing, she said "Yeah Mom and Mrs. White has these really big CDs". Oh yeah baby...I remember those big black vinyl "CDs". Sooo funny!

1st Day of 1st Grade, 2 little kiddies go to Kiddie Kollege and 1 mom listens to the sound of silence

We've begun a new chapter in life here at the Cobb house. Everyone is officially in school. Hannah went to 1st Grade today and Grace and Sarah started pre-school three mornings a week.

Here they are all ready to go.

I had to get a shot of the hair. They all three wanted the same braids and bows hairstyle...time consuming but very cute.

Hannah was cautiously optimistic about her first day back at school. This is the best I could do at a picture of her at her desk. I thought it was interesting that she had a drawer full of new clothes, but instead she insisted on wearing the same shirt she wore to her first day of pre-school two years ago (I obviously buy her clothes with growing room). Maybe there was comfort in the same shirt that made it through that very first scary day of school.

Grace and Sarah were a little more than cautiously optimistic about their first day...it was more like unbridled enthusiasm. When I picked them up they had some cute little girl sandwiched in between them and they said, "Mom, this is our new friend. Can she come over to play?".

As for me, I came home to a quiet, empty house after everyone was dropped off. I have mixed feelings about my babies growing up so fast, but mostly, I am excited for them and look forward to watching them grow and learn this year.

Rainy Day

We had rain on Saturday! I told the girls in the morning that it was supposed to rain that day and they spent nearly all morning in the front yard waiting and watching, running in every so often to give us a status report on the clouds. When it finally did rain, they were thrilled and so excited to have a reason to use their umbrellas.

Congratulations Uncle Joe and Aunt Sarah!

Last weekend we celebrated the marriage of Rob's brother Joe to his longtime girlfriend Sarah. It was a beautiful ceremony complete with some really cute flower girls and an adorable ring bearer.

All lined up and ready to go.

Ms. Hannah

They still had lots of petals left in their baskets when they sat down, so they spent the ceremony dumping handfuls of them at their feet.

What can I say...they're cute!

 

After the ceremony and a delicious dinner we got our groove on. The girls were dancing machines. Papa Mike even cashed in on the dance Hannah promised him.

 

Which one of this is not like the other? Which one of these just doesn't belong?

Aunt Sarah made being a kid at a wedding really fun (even for big kids like Papa Mike). She had cupcakes especially for the kids and special lockets and goody bags for each of the flower girls. Thanks Aunt Sarah. It was a really beautiful and fun evening!