Eddie Macken clinic

This past weekend was the Eddie Macken clinic. I had never taken his clinic but had heard that it was amazing. It really was. Eddie is Irish and is one of the only people in the world to have won the Aga Khan Cup three years in a row, four consecutive Hickstead Derby wins, two individual silver medals at the Show Jumping World Championships and an individual silver medal at the European Championships. He has won many grand prixs and has been to the Olympics twice to ride and once to train. And I really have to say he was one of the nicest people to ever take a clinic from. He really made you want to get to the point he was trying to teach you. As one of the riders said, he didn't need to break you down only to build you up again. He worked with what you had, encouraged you and really made you feel good.



We all went out to Rancho Nicasio for dinner Saturday night and he was so nice to the kids. He said to Evan and Ford, "Hey, what's that under the table?" He had wadded up a couple dollar bills and thrown them under the table. So, so nice.



The gals - Barb (riding Gabby), Rondi (riding Woody), me (Rhett) and Jane (riding Irish).



The legend himself - Eddie Macken



Rhett and I having a good time!

For more photos, check out this Kodak site....

TPSC

Kiira played soccer for the first time this past October. We weren't sure how it would turn out because she is not particular the aggressive kid but she ended up having a great time. She played with all her friends from Reed which was nice since she doesn't see them as much being at her new school. She was petrified to play the first two games but after that got right in and ran her little heart out up and down that field! Go rocksharks (their teamname)!

Halloween 2010

Kiira carved her little heart out on this pumpkin (with some help from mom) and colored in the bird all by herself. She worked hard cleaning off all the pumpkin seeds too so that we could roast them. It was a nice mommy/daughter time :-)



This year we were sporting a butterfly and a karate kid. Truth be told the karate outfit was from last year but Evan had a fashion crisis last year and decided to be a cowboy. So....mom saved the karate outfit for this year.



As usual, the children sprinted off for candy and the stuffed animal house. As usual, Alan was late and missed the party and half of trick or treating. Thank goodness for Jenny and all the other mamas who helped look out for my sprinting kids. BTW - I am Velma from Scooby Doo.

Andrew's BIG birthday bash

Our trainer Andrew turns 40 this weekend so a gaggle of us gathered at the Buckeye to celebrate. VERY entertaining!

Check out our slideshow on YouTUBE.

Demo time!

We have been watching the house one street down from us go through the process of renovation. First story poles, next cutting down some big eucalyptus trees that were close to it and now demo. It took less than a day for this whole thing to get knocked down. We were all fascinated.

Nanny time

The kids both got good time with Nanny but it is still hard to see her go after having her here for over a week!

Last day of school - Reed

End of the year first grade trip. Although Kiira didn't know it, first grade was going to be her last year at Reed. During the middle of the year, we had decided to change schools. Although Reed is an excellent school, we decided it wasn't the right school for Kiira. It is an academic school that, like all the others in the area, must perform to all pre-determined standards that a public school must. And although Kiira was doing well in all subjects, the fact that there was homework in 1st grade just didn't sit well with Alan and me. And, the fact that my poor child had been throwing up and getting headaches at the beginning of the school year did not sit well with me (all because of anxiety - she was worried about not being able to do everything expected of her in first grade). So, a good friend of ours with a child in Kiira's class turned us onto a new school in Sausalito. It was a Waldorf school, very small and very interesting to us. Ultimately, this is where we decided to send her.

The kids did their end of the year picnic at Belvedere park and enjoyed face painting, tug of war, football and lunch. Thanks Reed for the friends we have made, the skills Kiira has learned and most of all, starting a new "community" for us in our own town. For that, Reed has been invaluable.

Fairies

We have a little nook in one of the walls of our house. When we first moved in, we had no kids. I was pregnant with Kiira. We put some interesting sculptures and other items in these nooks. Now, as the years have gone on, they have been appropriated for other purposes. Namely, to hold little notes written to the fairies. As legend holds, when a child has their first laugh, a fairy is born. Kiira's fairy is Scarlett. She writes little notes to Scarlett and places them in these nooks. She asks for various things. Some are large items, which Scarlett has told her are too heavy for her to fly with, and some are small. I believe in this particular note, a diamond was asked for.

Day at the barn

Each weekend we end up going to the barn. Mom gets a good ride in on Rhett and the kids play in the dirt. Literally, there is a pile of dirt they like to play in. On this day, they got a little treat to see the farrier put a shoe in Rhett. Apparently Mr. Amaretto had played a little too hard on a recent nice day and tossed the shoe. The kids were fascinated.

Rennie tried to give Rhett a kiss later but truth be told, Rhett is not fond of dogs. Which ended up being fine with Rennie because as it turned out for him, Rhett was a bit larger close up than our pup originally thought! :-)

Girls night out.

Sanity night with Katie, Kelly, Beinda and me. Picco's in Larkspur. Yum.

Sprawled

How is it that one small child can take up half of a king sized bed? This is how.....bugger.

Evan's 4th Birthday

This year Evan decided to have a soccer party. Normally I hold all the birthday parties at our house but I thought with this many kids (and so many boys!) coming perhaps a park was better. So we packed up all the food, decorations, presents, drinks and various serving items to go to Belvedere park. The day was beautiful and we spent time decorating our own soccer balls, we played pin the tail on the inflatable donkey and the kids kicked the freshly markered balls into the goals. All in all a good hit!

Evan's first year at the Mountain School

Well, here we are. Our first year of pre-school under our belt. After a rough start of 3 people pulling him off of me, to the teachers asking me to drop him off early (he was too disruptive when I had to leave him), we made it. Did he ever ASK to go to school? No. Did he ever jump up and down when it was a school day? No. The most exciting thing to him was rice day. And Asya day because that meant he got to take a walk. Has he ever jumped for joy when I mentioned school? Yes. That's a start you say. Well, it was usually precidated by, "There is no...." Oh well. There's next year and maybe even another year to learn to love it.

We have made some really nice friends though. His best friends have all been girls. Nancy Sue and Haley (twins) and Mimi. So cute....
And thank god for teacher Brenda whom I could faithfully hand him off too to cuddle him as I left. Phew......

Double sleepover

It is so nice to have a family that has the same age children as we do. It comes in handy when the kids want playdates (because god forbid ONE has a playdate and the other doesn't!) or even the occasional sleepover. Ginger and Evan got the presidential suite next to mommy and daddy's bed and June and Kiira got the guesthouse (our spare room!). Amazingly, they even got some sleep!

Alan's birthday

He's not one to make a big fuss. Every year I try to do more than he wants. A simple family dinner at Marin Joes is all it took this year.

You turkey!

So on our way to the barn we have seen many animals. We see deer of course, we see quail and we often see turkey. Today however, we had only to walk out our garage to see this big turkey. Who knew? LOVE this big field next to us! Wish there were a good kid part to play on though!

Batter up!

Took Evan to his first Giants game. Kiira has been to one before. They lasted about 2 innings, which, really was only because it took us that long to find cotton candy and that long for them to make themselves sick on it. The rest of the time, I took the kids up to where they could hit a real baseball and take it some other sights. Tried to at least let Alan enjoy the game :-)

Ruling the roost

Our animals still rule the roost.....the cat's in the bag and of course, Rennie the ottoman. Wouldn't be a home without them :-)

Summer LOVIN'

Scorching. Pool is good. 'Nuff said.

Kiira's Marin Ballet performance

This year, Kiira switched to Marin Ballet. She has thoroughly enjoyed it. Her friend Samantha joined her here and they have so much fun going together (and a little carpool never hurt the moms!) We often hear about the fact that she will be in the Nutrcracker December 2011. This is what she has been working towards the last few years.

The new ballet studio, unlike Roco, does performances in house. They have a cute little stage and although the costumes are much more simple than the last place, Kiira seemed to take as much pride and joy in her performance. Alas, the performance was for a mere 200 vs 3000 people.

Spring sing - REED schools

Kiira's first piano recital

We are all Sound of Music fans so that is what Kiira decided to play. Surprisingly she was more nervous about introducing herself on the microphone than playing the piece.

Kiira in leadline - Sonoma Horse Park horse show

Kiira rode once again in a horse show. This time she got to ride Macquarie's pony Joey (aka Tin Soldier). She looked so cute on Joey. She did a great job and took home a blue ribbon! It was a super cold windy day and she was a trooper. She was very excited and I was very proud of her!