sitting up

yay for connor. he is now officially sitting up without any assistance. this is a big step. he had managed to sit up for a couple of seconds before flopping over but today he sat up long enough for me to stand back and take a photo. what a big boy.

it's a helicopter

mason was so excited about the large box a package arrived in yesterday. he grabbed his tool box and announced that he was making an airplane. miles jumped in and helped with all the cutting and taping.

today they took the airplane that now has morphed into a helicopter outside to be painted. dahlia and mason took turns riding in the cockpit. they were having so much fun. i like how mason added the flag to the back of the helicopter. so funny. i just love it when they play like this.

kindergarten

we registered mason to start kindergarten in the fall. i am not very happy about this. we went last week to the open house and i was so disappointed when i saw his school i started to cry. just a little bit. it was not at all what i was expecting. i think i was expecting it to look like the school i went to in orange county when i was a kid. mason's school is a public school in los angeles. it looks really old and kind of crappy. the old part doesn't bother me as much as the crappy part. it doesn't really look very clean or nice at all. the classrooms were very crowded with too much stuff on every wall. it looked like a mess. i really hated it. i was holding mason's hand very tightly thinking "i do not want my son to go to school here."

after we got home i spent the whole evening researching private schools near us. they are way too expensive. we just can't afford private school right now. i got increasingly desperate and researched home schooling. i don't know about home schooling. i would love to do it i just don't know if it would be the best thing for mason. i think he is really craving the interaction with other kids his age.

miles and i had a long talk about it and i reluctantly agreed to enroll him in the public school. we are going to try it out. mason is only four years old and won't be five until october so we really could wait a year to start school. that is the option i really would like to go with but we will try this. the school he will be in got really good testing scores and miles thinks this is more important than how the school looks. i agree but i really think it is about the whole package. meanwhile i am praying that next year we will be living some where else that has a better school. i really can not wait to move.

abstract friday

today was a perfect day for painting outside. miles set up the kid's easels and let them enjoy painting in the sun. it seems that mason is inspired by jackson pollock. he was having so much fun with his splatter technique. i actually thought his paintings were turning out quite interesting. dahlia was taking a much softer approach to her painting and kept to the traditional brush strokes. i was really enjoying watching our budding artists paint until i got a little too close to mason's splatter. let's just say that i am so glad the paint they use is washable.

the huntington gardens

we went back to the huntington gardens today. we didn't get to see everything last time so we decided a second trip was in order. we spent most of our time at the children's garden this time. there were lots of tunnels for the kids to run through. they also had water fountains to play with, and a magnet with iron dust for the children to sculpt. the kids ran around there for at least an hour. it was so hot out today. we were all worn out when it was time to go.

of course we couldn't leave before seeing the amorphophallus titanum (a.k.a. the corpse flower) that is getting ready to bloom any day now. when the blooms open on this extremely rare plant it emits a smell of rotting flesh. this enormous flower is over three feet tall. it would be cool to see and smell it blooming, but i think we will just have to check back online to see what it looks like.

snow cones

last week while shopping i simply could not resist buying a snow cone machine. there was a very inexpensive one at target that was calling our names. after much deliberation over choosing the perfect flavors (blueberry lemonade and watermelon) and picking out all the cups and accessories needed the kids and i raced home to try it out. the fact that it was freezing cold that day did not deter us. we meant business. i am so happy to say that the snow cone machine is awesome. so easy to fill with ice and then just turn it on. no turning a hand crank for ten minutes only to get a thimble full of ice like the snoopy snow cone machine of my day. oh no. this baby does all the work for you. needless to say snow cones have been requested for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day since this amazing little machine arrived at our house. of course not every meal can be accompanied by a snow cone but we are having our fair share. i think this will be a favorite all summer long.

swimming inside

eating cookies for breakfast and lounging on boats in our pajamas.