Friends and Fish

Iris. One of Penelope's best friends is a little girl named Iris, who is also in Kindergarten with her, although not in her class. David, Iris' dad, is at stay-at-home dad (and also a working magician!) and one of the greatest guys I know! He bought Penelope and Iris the matching Dalmation hats, which of course she immediately loved! Thank you David!


Jackie. Penelope also has a matching hat with her other best friend Jackie (Nemo, her other animated character of choice lately). jackie and Penelope have a grand time together...here they are playing dress up with sparkly jewels.


The Fish part. Those darn fish we brought home from the carnival weeks ago are STILL alive! Despite not cleaning their bowls more often than once a week, despite not even feeding them every day.... they live on! Two of them live on our kitchen table, two on the dining table. I guess I just figured they would end up in toilet heaven soon, because I really think eating with live fish on the table is sort of disgusting.... but we really don't have anywhere else to put them, and the girls LOVE it. Here is Millie, taking a closer look at her beloved "beesh!"


Ainsely. Penelope and Ainsley have been friends for a long time, used to be preschool buddies, were almost kindergarten buddies but we changed schools. Now they are piano buddies! I think it is great, they encourage each other to play (and by play, sometimes it isn't playing piano, but playing together... oh well, they are only 5!) My mom told me to make practicing piano a privilege... so to tell Penelope that she "get's" to play piano after she does something good, etc. HA! Funny mom. Hey mom, you GET to go work out if you help me with my kids! good times. Even a sticker motivation chart complete with prizes doesn't motivate her to play all that often. However, the day we got home with prizes, she DID play for 30 minutes straight to earn one. way to go.


This last shot was taken by my friend Christi, Jackie's mom. We went to the pool today at the YMCA, it was so gorgeous out. Before we got in our suits I had her take a picture because look, we all match! It was school spirit day at Valhalla Elementary and like a good parent, I wore my Valhalla shirt along with Penelope. Millie wore a blue shirt too. We all had pink pants and pink shirts underneath. And our crocks. Aren't we obnoxious. I love it.

I re-read this blog after I posted it, and I realize I just sound like a blathering momma but it is 1a.m. and I'm sitting with Jules geekin out in Carmel, after having driven for two hours (she drove 6! you win, jules). la la la. i'm a little punchy. not that i'm going to punch anyone. oh, and i forgot to mention that penelope earned 20 jewels and was able to go to the disney store and choose the little dalmation toy (and millie got one too, lucky for her). she had been waiting for a few weeks since playing at iris' house... she had the same little dog and penelope was determined to earn one. hoooray for little p.

Halloween is Coming!

Penelope attended her very first Kindergarten Field Trip on Monday! Funny enough, they went to the Clayton Valley Pumpkin Farm, about 1/4 a mile from the house where I grew up and my mother lives. So I followed the bus and instead of having Penelope go home with the kids, we went to Grandma's house! Fun Stuff! Babcia was so excited that Penelope was interested in sewing with her, and they produced a beautiful stocking for Christmas. Way to go!

sister love

I just love watching my two girls interact with each other. They snuggle together in bed at night, and get so excited to see each other in the morning. "hi sissy!" says Millie, "hi Millie!" says Penelope every morning. Penelope is busy teaching her sister to identify letters and sounds, and Millie surprises me every day with the new things she knows.

Today Penelope had to make a little trip to Children's Hospital for an ongoing UTI, poor gal, but she is such a trooper and earned two jewels in the process (when she gets 20 the jewel fairy brings something special!). The Hospital is actually a beautiful place, so colorful and bright. Why can't grown-up hospitals look like that?

Great Grandpa Brown sent me and Millie birthday cards today--it was so thoughtful of him!! Penelope asked why SHE didn't get a birthday card, and I had to remind her that it wasn't her birthday! Millie LOVED her card and carried it all around with her. Thank you Great Grandad!!


Penelope loved the paintings on the wall... here she is with her favorite animal, the elephant!

It was really great to have my mother along to help when the girls got squirrly. i'm so lucky, hanging out with her makes even waiting for a very late doctor fun! thank you mommy!!

Little Millie seems to have an affection for giraffes--"raf" she calls them. She went up to the giraffe and waited for me to take a picture! She is such a ham.

Sister Love. Cuddling at nighttime.

Working Mom

Not that just BEING a mom isn't a full time job, but here are some shots of me working with Jules at various weddings.... We have so much fun together, and she does such a fantastic job. We have been doing weddings non-stop up here in the Bay Area, and I get jealous of the second shooters she uses in Southern California! It's been a fun season, and we have one more to go in a few weeks in Carmel! It has been a priviledge to learn from her...

Happy Apprentice... Check out the Henna on my arm, you can still see it from the Indian wedding the previous week.

I always try and get in Jules shot somehow...

helloooooo, look at me... notice me... love meeeeee....

This shot was taken at an outdoor wedding where the caterer had a big crush on me and let me wear his jacket so we could go steady for the evening. i took him up on it since i was freezing. i'm just kidding, but he was pretty disappointed when he noticed my wedding ring! i tried to tell him my gorgeous sister was single, but he didn't seem to take the bait!

I LOVE this shot jules caught of me!! If I can't shoot as well as Jules, as least I can look as cool....

Mugging for the camera... You can't take ALL the shots of the bride, now, come one.

Snuck into Jules' shot again.... this time at a fantastic Indian wedding where the colors were unbelievable.

Falling into Autumn

A Day in the Life....

Meeting with Nonno for lunches, trying on the Halloween Costumes.... life is just going along and moving into fall... starting to get cold, which is making me depressed.... If you are checking this blog, drop me a line.

Trying on Halloween costumes.... two little kitties, mew mew!

Millie will most likely be Winnie the Pooh if I can convince her to wear the costume. Otherwise she'll be a cat like her sister. Penelope was obsessed with Pooh at two and so wore this costume for two years in a row. . . poor little second-born, wearing the hand-me-downs. ha.



Millie and Nonno play zucca. Millie loves her grandfather!! She's calling herself Mimi these days....

The Birthday Tradition at Benihanas!

I'm finally getting to our traditional trip to Benihana's! We don't need much of an excuse to go to Benihana's, but a birthday is always a good excuse. We love getting together to watch the cook toss up the utensils and make our fried rice! Penelope loves the shrimp. I love the Filet Mignon! Millie just loves the presents. As always, click any photo for a larger image!

BentleyFest with Tex

Uncle Jeff took Penelope and Millie to BentleyFest on Sunday. We had not visited the Bentley campus before and it is GORGEOUS! Lucky Jeffrey. All the kids call him Tex, and he is the best uncle ever. In fact, Millie just learned to say "uncle" today!
thanks to millie plopping pingpong balls in the bowl, we won several fish at the carnvial. What's a carnival without winning fish? Penelope was excited to see her friend Ainsley's blog about HER fish, but hopes that HER fish live a bit longer.... we've made it through one day so far! Millie was really excited to carry the fish around. A little too excited, as nemo almost ended up completly dry! We saved him and got him into a bowl just in time.

Here is uncle with his neices.... Black Kitty Penelope and Fish Happy Millie


What's a carnival without cotton candy??


Penelope carried the fish carefully home...


Millie works on a blue ice cream