Muffins With Mom

Just take a close look at the photo above... have you ever seen such a hilarious character study? Each of the children have such incredibly unique and lovable personality!

Today was Muffins with Mom Day at Josie's preschool. It was a fantastic event! All the Moms had name cards at their seats. I happily sat between 'Michael's Mom' and 'Megan's Mom'. The 3 & 4 year olds performed a number of songs about Moms and Love. Here is my Josie belting out a tune:



After the performance, the Moms had a chance to dance to two songs with the children. The students then served their Moms a delicious plate of strawberry shortcake. Josie even took my fork out of it's beautiful handmade daisy napkin ring and placed the napkin on my lap! And since no good deed goes unrewarded, the kids then stood in line again for their own serving of ice cream with chocolate syrup! Yummy!

Josie and her classmates made beautiful flower pots with cards attached - each signed in their own hand. Josie did such a great job writing her name - I'm sure I was the proudest Mom in the room! We finished off our lovely luncheon with each Mom being presented a beautiful red petunia plant and having a photo taken. I wish all my days were this fun-filled! I never tire of hugs, kisses, songs and dances....

James Honored by His Alma Mater

I'm a bit late in posting these photos of the Distinguished Alumni dinner. James, along with 8 other individuals, was honored at the Kellogg Ranch Restaurant at Cal Poly, Pomona on Friday, April 24th. I flew out on Thursday night to Los Angeles, while my sister, Claudine and my parents took care of the girls. It was a wonderful event. Dinner was prepared by the students of the Hospitality Management College.

Here are a list of the honorees:

College of Agriculture
John E. Andrews
Class of '92

College of Business Administration
Lawrence Taff
Class of '80

College of Education and Integrative Studies
Robert Pletka
Class of '06

College of Engineering
James S. B. Chew
Class of '84

College of Environmental Design
Victoria Basolo
Class of '91

College of Letters Arts and Social Sciences
John Mortberg
Class of '70

College of Science
Una L. Morris
Class of '70

Collins College of Hospitality Management
Jill K. Bosich
Class of '93

Athletics
Daniel Andrews
Class of '90

All of the honorees were so accomplished and humble. Each of their speeches reflected their love of Cal Poly, their commitment to 'giving back' and their love of the faculty who nurtured their interests and ambitions. Every one in attendance was so welcoming and accepting of the honorees.

I was truly inspired by all the nominees, but two of them (besides my husband!) really touched my heart. The first was Dr. Una Morris. She came to the US from Jamaica when she was just 17. Her mother had died when she was 10 and she arrived in the US with little to her name. She was an runner in the 1964 (Tokyo), 1968 (Ciudad de Mexico) and 1973 (Munich) Olympics. She had to practice with the men's track team at Cal Poly because there was no women's team! She went on to become a respected Radiologist. Her speech nearly brought tears to my eyes as she thanked her professors and the family that took her in when she came to the US.

Second honoree I just loved was Jill Bosich. She was the second youngest honoree. She spoke of the overwhelming choices that young students face when they have decided what 'they want want to do', but are unsure of which avenue to take to get them to the place they want to be. I believe this is a situation that many of us faced as college students, and Jill spoke so honestly and affectionately of the individuals who guided her to her current success.

It really was a lovely evening. We were thrilled to have our friends Nick and Mary join us at the event. Nick, who has been James' dear friend since 4th grade, and Mary live in Massachusetts. If you have read this blog for any amount of time, you know that our summers are not complete until we spend time with Uncle Nick and Aunt Mary at their home in Marshfield. Also present was Fred, James' friend since kindergarten. James, Nick and Fred have all maintained close contact through the years and all are quite accomplished in their own right. Also sharing our table at the dinner were James' former professor and friend, Dr. Mike Sheldon. Mike nominated James for this honor. Mike's wife Tina was a classmate of James' and they have remained friends for over 20 years.

Rounding out our table were James' Mom & Dad and the Dean of the College of Engineering, Professor Ed Hohmann.


Mike and Tina




James with Cal Poly President Mike Ortiz, Dean Hohmann, and a few of the honorees. (Photo taken just after I told James he needed to straighten his tie!)

After the dinner, Fred and Nick & Mary joined us on the patio of our room at The Inn at Kellogg Ranch. Mary and I had a good time observing the 'Three Geniuses' as they shared beers, smoked cigars and solved the world's problems. All and all, a really spectacular evening!

The next day (Saturday) I hopped a plane home to the girls. James had to stay behind to attend to work in California. It was a quick trip, but one that I'm so glad I made.



Here the 'Three Geniuses' goof around with James' image that was posted, along with the other honorees photos, in the reception area. I'm so glad that some things never change...

Birthdays & Egg Hunt

Have a Happy Easter!!

We Are SO PROUD!!

James is being honored by his Alma Mater in a few weeks. We are so proud of him! He works so hard, and we are thrilled to see him being recognized!!

Way to go, Daddy!!

Happy St.Patrick's Day!!

Here's a few photos of the Posse this morning - celebrating St. Patricks Day!!

Josie's tiara says "Irish Princess", and that she is! The other lovelies are Roma, Megan, Riley and Nicholas. I was actually a bit early for drop-off this morning, so I didn't get to see all the kids in their 'green'. I should have a few more to share once Sharon gets me her photos... Sharon was the 'Good Mom' today - she made it to the Leprechaun Hunt to take photos. Other slacker Moms (like me!) got to the school at regular pick-up time.

March Madness

No, this is not a post about college basketball ... March Madness has a whole different meaning in our household. March is the month in which both our girls celebrate their birthdays. Maddie is at the end of the month, Josie in the middle. But, once the month begins, all talk is birthday related... Josie: "Mom, how many sleeps 'till my princess party at Grandmom's house?" Maddie: "I seriously need a new wardrobe for my birthday, Mom..."

March is also the month that my darling husband is reminded of how expensive daughters can be! James cringes when he sees the price tags at J. Crew, American Eagle, and Banana Republic. I don't blame him...

We visited my parent's place this past weekend to get an early start on the celebrations.

My Mom ordered this beautiful cake from a local baker:





Josie received wonderful gifts - befitting a princess. My Mom & I shopped all day on Friday at the outlets in Rehobeth. Josie caught on quickly - she was a size 4T. So, she searched the racks and pulled out every size 4T dress that she found. She then told us, "I like this one, we should buy it." The outcome was that Josie walked out of Gymboree, The Children's Place and J. Crew with a total of 4 bags of clothes. Needless to say, she is fully outfitted for the the spring and a majority of the summer!






Maddie and James joined us at the shore late on Friday night. Maddie had her first soccer game, which began at 5:30PM. It was snowing for most of the day... not the kind of snow that lays on the ground, but more of a snow shower. Either way, she froze her butt off! It was 31 degrees at game time. Maddie's team lost the game 2-0. However, James said they looked pretty darn good for a team that had only been practicing together for two weeks. Most of the girls on the opposing team had played together for years. The only disadvantage to being at a newly opened school is that it takes the teams a bit longer to find their 'groove'. We have complete confidence that in the coming years, this team will be one to reckon with!



In other news, we've been having a tough time adjusting to the crazy weather here in Virginia. March came in like a lion with 8 inches of snow falling overnight on March 1st. James actually insisted on going to work that morning, so I was out at 4:45am - documenting the snowfall:


This is our street - notice the steep hill...


Here's the house, looking lovely with all the snow falling.


Here's the backyard, photo taken from the deck.


And, here is Carson, our snow dog! You can tell he was born in Michigan... he loves the snow!


Here is our 'poser' daughter, Maddie. Snow is just another 'photo-op' for her!



And, finally, here is me wiping Josie's nose while shoveling the driveway. Note the red minivan behind us: it went back and forth for over an hour... the hill in front of the house was too steep for the van to negotiate. In the end, she had to be towed out. I'm still trying to figure out why she just didn't slide back down the hill and go home... Oh well!

Three days after the record snowfall, we had record warm temperatures. In the following pictures you can see that Josie was in shorts as she and her Dad visited the Smithsonian Castle's carousel and the newly re-opened Museum of American History:





That's really all for now. There's a whole lot more going on in the coming weeks: We have Josie's birthday celebration with her classmates on Thursday, a 'playdate' party with her friends next week and then we'll get into Maddie's birthday celebrations. I will be happy when March is over!!!

Donuts with Dad

Today, Josie's preschool has their annual 'Donuts with Dad' breakfast. From 8:30-9:00 AM they will share breakfast with all the other kids and their Dads (or Grandparents, Mom, etc). Josie was very excited. Last night she practiced introducing her Dad to her friends... "Emma, this is my Dad. His name is James." She also practiced shaking hands and saying "It's very nice to meet you."

Josie will soon be 4 years old. It is amazing to see the changes in her over the past year. She totally cracks us up. She sits at the dinner table and starts off with "So, Dad, how was your day?" She talks with her hands, which is incredibly funny to watch. Her two favorite things to say are "I'm just kidding!" and "Are you joking me?!"

The other night, James tripped over a pair of Josie's shoes (which are EVERYWHERE!) and yelled, "Josephine, pick up your shoes!" She responded, "Dad, I'm just a little kid, you don't have to yell!" Looks like I have a handful with that one!

Maddie is in her third day of conditioning in preparation for soccer try-outs next week. She has come home each night with bruises and muscle aches. She does her homework, takes a hot bath with epsom salt and goes to bed. At least she's not on the computer all night...! She is happy though. Quite a few of her girlfriends are trying out for the team, so she's really looking forward to playing. I'm pretty confident she'll make the team. She's been playing soccer since she was 5 years old. Maddie has a March birthday, like Josie. So, she'll be turning 15. I have no idea where the time has gone. She now towers over me, constantly calls me 'shawty' and when she's aggravated with me she says "yes, Mother". Arggggg! I feel old!



Until next time...