Halloween 10-31-12

Happy Halloween! This year, Cecily decided she wanted to be a nerd for Halloween and that she wanted to match with her friend Katelyn. Katelyn's mom and I took them shopping so they could pick out matching socks, skorts, shirts, and suspenders. They were very excited to match on Halloween.

At school, they had their annual Halloween Parade in the morning. Each grade level's teachers come up with a theme for their costumes, and it's always fun to see what they come up with. This year the third grade teachers were jellyfish. The best part of the parade was watching to see how creative some of the kids' costumes were. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VMGg

After school, Cecily had a quick piano lesson before we headed over to the Seacliff Shopping Center to trick or treat with Paige. They had fun going to all the stores to get candy. Then we headed home to get Richard and head over to Laira's house for our annual chili spaghetti dinner (although they did have pizza too this year) and trick or treating together. Surprisingly, Cecily did not receive any Nerds candies, so we had to dig out a box at home for an end-of-the-night photo op. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VMKQ

All-Star Try-Outs 10-28-12

Cecily was invited to try out for the AYSO U10 All-Star team. In U10, there were 14 teams, with each team inviting 2-3 girls to try-out. From our team, we had Kassidy, Katie, and Cecily. Cecily asked why she would be invited, since Kassidy and Katie were invited, and "they are good." She has no confidence in herself, but she did a good job. She kept up with all the other girls, but she kind of lost her energy towards the end, as it was hot and they had been playing for two hours. She almost did not want to go, but Katie would not have gone without her. The two of them did a great job because the other was there. It really helped that they were invited to try-out together. They ended up having a great time together. We should hear in a couple days if Cecily made the team or not. She probably won't make the team since there were so many excellent players, but we were very proud of her for being invited and actually going to the try-outs. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VLLg

Soccer & Pumpkins 10-27-12

The Killer Bees played the HB Bruisers and got killed 0-4. It was hot, and we were the last game of the day at 3:30 so our girls were just so sluggish out on the field. They did however, get very cute bee bags with their end of the game snacks, thanks to Zariah's grandma. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VLDA

In the morning before the soccer game, Caren took Cecily to Lowe's to build a creepy keeper and then to Toys R Us to make a Lego graveyard (and get some free Lego). Papa had come down to watch Cecily's soccer game in the afternoon. Brendan, Cindy, and Allen were supposed to come too, but they missed the game. We all went out to dinner, then headed to the Pumpkin Patch for some pictures. Cecily loved seeing Brendan's cute shark costume that Cindy had made. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VLHQ

Pelican Pride 10-26-12

At today's monthly Pelican Pride awards assembly, Cecily received the Math Award. Her teacher, Mrs. Peasley, told Caren that Cecily is her top math student in her class right now. Cecily's friends, Alexsia and Sophia, and Sophia's brother, Garrett, also happened to get the Math Award today as well. Now, Cecily wants to work hard to earn the special Pelican Pride Award. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VK8g

Brownie Field Trip 10-24-12

Cecily's Brownie Troop took a field trip to AOSA today as their reward from last year's cookie sales. With the money they earned, they purchased TOMS shoes. Since TOMS donates a pair of shoes for every pair purchased, the girls were able to give to a charity as well as get a fun event out of decorating their own pair of TOMS with jewels. It was great to see how each girl decorated their shoes uniquely. Now, they are super excited and can't wait to wear their newly decorated TOMS to school. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VKpw

Cotillion 10-23-12

Cecily had her second Cotillion tonight. She wore her new blue dress, and was actually excited to go. We carpooled again with Sophia and Jodie. At this Cotillion, all three of Cecily's dance partners she knew from Harbour View: Ashton, Nolan F., and Manton. After Cotillion, we stayed at the Seacliff Country Club for dinner with Sophia, Jodie, Scarlett, and Shari. Then Caren took Cecily to Baskin Robbins for her after Cotillion treat - this time two scoops of ice cream (and next time will be 3 scoops!). http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VKlA

Soccer & Pumpkins 10-20-12

The Killer Bees played the Hot Flaming Annoying Oranges in a close match, but we won 1-0. Cecily played the best defense she has ever played and really got into the game defending the goal. The girls on the other team were big, but luckily they weren't the good players. It was great to be able to tell the girls that you don't need to be big, but just fast and skilled with the ball to win. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VKDQ

After lunch, we headed to Trader Joe's for their pumpkin carving event. Kayla and Sean met us there. Cecily knew exactly what she wanted to carve on her pumpkin, a Frankenstein with fangs. She did a fantastic job, and her pumpkin looks great. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VKPg

HV Olympics 10-19-12

Today was Harbour View's annual Olympics fundraiser. Alexsia was the top earner, and she even won the beach cruiser in the raffle! Cecily had fun visiting the booths and participating in the events with her friends. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VJ8Q

CHOC Walk & Legoland 10-14-12

Since CHOC took such good care of Cecily when she was hospitalized in March for 17 days, we decided to give back by doing the CHOC Walk. Our friends Sophia and Jodie joined us for the walk through California Adventure and Disneyland. We got up super early, left at 5:30 am, started the walk around 7:00 am, and finished about 10:00 am in Downtown Disney. We celebrated our finish with a breakfast of beignets from Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen. It was sad to see all the signs of people walking in memory of all the children, but it was great to see how many people were out there to help support CHOC. Seeing the new Carsland was a nice perk. We are hoping to do this again next year as well. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VJaA

Since we didn't get to stay at Disneyland and go on rides, we took Cecily down to Legoland for the annual Brick or Treat. Cecily had fun going on the rides and trick or treating (which seemed to give out more stuff than in previous years). Cecily was even able to go into Sealife Aquarium to trick or treat at the last station. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VJhg

Soccer Game 10-13-12

The Killer Bees played the Purple Pirates who were the #1 team in their division. One of our players was out sick, so we were down one player. Our girls kept up in the first half, but we got creamed in the second half. We lost 1-5, so we dropped from being in second place to being tied for fifth. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VJSg

Tennis 10-10-12

Cecily had her last tennis lesson of the session today. She was really enjoying playing tennis, but she got bored when she had to wait around for her turn to hit the ball. Since our schedule has been so crazy, she is going to take a break from tennis and wait until soccer season is over before doing any new activities. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VJPQ

Soccer Game 10-06-12

The Killer Bees played the Tsunamis today. Going into the game, our team was in third place and the Tsunamis were in 3rd to last place. The other team also only had 5 players, so our coach tried to be nice and play only 5 of our players in the first quarter. Their girls played so well, that we ended up putting in all our girls to play. It was such a close game, but we won 3 to 2. Now, our team is in 2nd place. Our girls are improving each week, and it's so nice to see their confidence in themselves grow. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VJHw

Brownie Meeting 10-03-12

Today was our first Brownie Girl Scout meeting of the school year. The girls were excited to start off their last year of Brownies. We added Ava to our troop (she transferred from her old troop at Grace Lutheran), and we can't wait to have a fun Girl Scout year. Then we finished off our busy day with tennis and piano before baking our own brownies for dessert. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UbNGrdw3VI4Q