I had high hopes for kindergarten. Not just for my daughter but for me as a parent (especially as a former teacher). Overall, kindergarten went well. Initially, there were the ups and downs of maneuvering all the social aspects of a classroom with only five girls, in which two of them were the ringleaders, "mean girls", or whatever label suits them. The teacher did not foster a warm and inviting atmosphere, and I don't think P felt safe or even didn't feel like she was being heard when she had valid concerns. The teacher wasn't big on communicating. 

I tried to volunteer in the classroom but was often told there wasn't anything to do. Since I only had Fridays off (and Fridays were short days with noon dismissal), I gave up and Friday morning became my errand day. Plus, with my gall bladder attacks, "normalcy" was kinda put on hold for about 4 months and by then school was coming to a close.

It really bugs me when people tell me that I'm uptight or that I need to relax. I know that I'm a perfectionist and that I like things a certain way. So why is that being uptight? I guess my daughter's recent behavior has put things in better perspective for me. Recently, my in-laws watched my daughter and her 3 year-old cousin at our house. Of course I was cleaning the house like a maniac before their out-of-town arrival.

'Twas the night before kindergarten

This mama was a hot mess!

As I poured through old photos

Of my little princess.

We picked out an outfit

Made sandwiches with peanut butter.

All the while, the girl was excited

But my heart was aflutter!

Well, we did it! We closed escrow on our house in Morro Bay. We decided six months ago that we wanted to move out of the area to a place where it is more community-oriented and family-friendly. Anytime we wanted to do something on the weekend or the holidays, we couldn't. There were too many tourists and it was just too busy. Forget going to the grocery store. We had been here almost 7 years and haven't really met new friends. It doesn't help that we both work in SLO and pretty much do everything in SLO. But, after talking to a lot of our friends and colleagues, Los Osos was the logical choice. Still by the Bay, liberal town, horse-friendly and best of all, much cheaper to own a home than most other options, or so we thought!!

She's certainly not a baby anymore! It has been two years since I have been able to sleep without my child. P was a great sleeper as a baby, never had any issues putting her to bed or sleeping by herself...until a series of unfortunate events occurred, or at least from what I can remember. Roughly two years ago, she had a few back-to-back colds/viruses. She was still in her crib, but we must've taken her out because she was having a hard time breathing and I was probably paranoid about her not being able to breathe or sleep. One night turned into many nights and fast forward two years later, she still wasn't sleeping by herself.

After a six month hiatus, we returned to dance combo (jazz, tap, and ballet) at the Dance Academy of SLO. Since we're slowly transitioning away from afternoon nap (we're fortunate that our 4-year old is still napping!), it's a better time on our free Fridays to resume dance. She's been doing so much spontaneous dancing on her own and since we've only been committed to swimming, we figured it was time for her to do something else that was fun during the summer months.

For lack of better words, I'm not sure how to phrase this group of friends that came back together when we were teaching 3rd and 4th grade together. So, I have referred to them as my "3rd Grade Level" friends as evident in this post back in 2011.

Anyhow, Marta, Christine, Virginia told me they were coming to visit in a couple of days. Yikes! My house is a mess and I'm not going to have any time to clean for company! We met for lunch and headed to the beach for a couple of hours.

After 15 years of California Department of Fish & Game (well it's now Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, not to be confused with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service...smart move DFG!), RT has decided to move on. All I have to say to that is, hallelujah!

The ocean is a scary and daunting thing for a child, even though we walk along the beach regularly. It hasn't been until this time where P has actually ventured into the ocean. Maybe because this year we've been enrolled in swimming lessons for a consecutive 9 months now rather than just 3 months during the summers (yes, quite a commitment considering the drive is 40 one way to Arroyo Grande!). Maybe because her new friend Charlotte was with her to give her confidence. Who knows? All I know is that it was mighty cold and overcast, not the best day to take a dip in the ocean, but once she got a taste for it, she was hooked! We were at Avila Beach, where it's usually sunny and warmer compared to Morro Bay or Pismo, but the sun never came out!

P had the best birthday surprise, and even better for me, I did not have to arrange any kind of birthday bash. My kind of party planning! My former colleague and good friend, Marta, and her daughter Jeweleanna came over to the coast with a couple of their horses, boarded them at a nearby facility, and took us out to the beach for some horseback ridin'!

Happy Birthday to our little girl who is growing up too fast! Low-key birthday celebration this year with just her buddy, Bode and family, the night before with Pizza Port and cake afterwards. There are lots of things to reflect upon this past year with P and her developmental milestones. 

The most impressionable personality trait that came through loud and clear was her strong-will. There are some things where once she made up her mind, there was no swaying her. She's so fiercely independent in that. She's her own person and doesn't back down from what she believes. At times this has been so frustrating (and for someone who's a control freak, to some degree), it has been a lesson for all of us.

I am officially hired as a substitute teacher with SLO Coastal Unified. What??? I still have my “day job” working for The Land Conservancy, but I am slowly getting my feet wet again with teaching.

It’s been 5 years since I set foot in a classroom, so why the sudden change of heart? Well, lots of reasons, really. First of all, having a child without family close by and not being a stay-at-home-mom makes it difficult to juggle a work schedule. Now that our child is approaching school-age and witnessing a colleague at work trying to juggle her schedule with her children’s school schedule and a newborn, it seems to make more sense for me to go back to teaching and be on the same schedule as P. Ideally, I’d love to be able to teach at the same school where she is attending or vice versa.

This year, we were able to draw out Halloween a little longer with opportunities for P to wear her costume multiple times. Thank goodness so all my efforts to make the tutu, the headband, and hunt for all the right purple gear from the leotard, the tights, right down to the shoes, got a lot of mileage!

The first two events were the Halloween parade at her preschool. They did this two days in a row (for parents whose kids come only on certain days, they have to make sure they include everyone). Total pain for parents and complete distraction, but whatever, they're still little and it's not like they justify what standard they're addressing!! The fun part was definitely watching all the kids strut their stuff in their cute little costumes. Then each glass gave a little performance in front of the parents.

We went to Avila Valley Barn without costumes this year. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision and just because her buddy Bode wanted to show her the cool hay bale maze. That was actually my first time in a hay maze. Let's just say that I'm glad Bode knew where he was going because I wouldn't have liked trying to find my way out of there!

The time has finally come to make my girl's dreams come true. Over a year ago, we happened upon a documentary First Position which chronicled a number of children's journey to make it to a professional ballet company. The funny thing is that she was only two at the time, but was so engrossed in the movie and asked to see it again a few times. I'm not sure if that was the start of her interest in ballet, or if it comes innately with little girls at this age.

Miss P rode her first horse today! She actually was able to ride two of them. RT's colleague from work has a couple of Arabians and has told us that we can come out any time to "ride". 

Tosh is the brown horse and Umo is the white one, both are males. When P sat up on Tosh, he was a little skittish at first, which made P nervous, so she decided to try out Umo who's a little more mellow (not that these guys weren't mellow). Miss Deb led Umo and P around the pen. I'm not sure if it's because she is so little, it's her first time, or if she was a little nervous but she was really slouched over. She didn't have a saddle so that may have made it more difficult. As the time went by, you could see P's posture was much straighter and her confidence was better, too. At the end of our time there, she was determined to ride Tosh after all, and this time, he was ready for her.

Well it's no secret that our child has a love for horses that we're not sure where the fascination stems from. We've been told to not foster it by certified "horse folk" and on the other hand, girls that are raised around horses have some top-notch personality traits that transfer to success in the "real world"--again words from same certified "horse folk"!

We have come to the end of the daycare phase of P's life. When we started at the infant daycare, she was only four months old (I can't believe that!) and Anne was her daycare provider. When she turned one, she graduated to the older daycare, and luckily the woman who was referred to us was Anne's own daughter, Donna. We were lucky to be able to get into Donna's daycare but with Anne advocating for us, how could Donna argue with her mother?

Play ball! It was all fun and games until P's buddy hit a line drive right to her eye!

Food is always a highlight for camping! Tri-tip tacos, homemade rice, and beans the first night.

Having fun on the shuttle bus ride.

What trees? The balance beam was a hit!

RT looking up through the trees...

Quick! Take the picture! P was not having her picture taken for nothing!

Taking a break in the cool granite cliffs. The mosquitoes were fierce!

The Cragheads on a crag!

 Poor Daddy had to CARRY her the whole way back.

Look at the size of these!

Yikes! A bear on the loose!

Throwing some blueberry pancakes on the griddle.

She's a cool rider!

The mommies take a much-needed break.

Our little home away from home.

The last possible moment of our trip with both kids unhappy and crying like banshees!

We've been pretty good so far this year staying on top of our camping trips and making reservations early enough in the year. This trip took us back into the valley to drop off Jannu at my folks' house, hang out with my parents for an evening and then mosy on up to Sequoia National Park at the Lodgepole campground. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I was up there. I know that from photo documentation it was circa 1998--so 15 years ago?

Anyway, I couldn't wait to take P to see the big trees. I kept building it up saying how humongous the trees were that she couldn't even wrap her arms around them. She was excited to go. But, as you all know, camping takes A LOT of effort. We left on a Thursday evening, which makes it tough to get ready throughout the week. Packing, loading, chopping, shopping--it sucks! Once you're there, though, it's so worth it and so relaxing.

Our daughter seems to have an affinity to horses. I'm not sure when, why, or how this came about, but it's been steadily growing in the past year--her interest. For a birthday, she had asked for a pink horse and she's been given quite a few horse-related gifts from friends and family.

In the past few months, if you have driven by our house, you may have wondered why we haven't kept up the front yard. Well, this past fall, I had a brilliant idea to redo the front yard. For me, the idea is brilliant, for my husband this just means more work! My motivation behind the makeover is to have our yard fenced in so P can have a place to play out in the front. Also, when we come home from work/school, our street can get busy, so I'd feel better if P can just get in the fenced area while I unload our stuff or groceries from the car. PLUS, since being on Pinterest, I have tons of ideas as to what I want to do.