If I had a pony...

For a rare preschool homework assignment, Aurora had to read the story, My Pony by Susan Jeffers. Then she got to right her own story that started with, "If I had a pony..."After the story was written she drew some illustrations to go with it and presented it the next morning at her preschool.
Here's her story:

If I had a pony, I would wake up with the morning with it, give it some breakfast, get dressed and we would go to the park. We would go down the big slide. Then we come back home and go on my swing-set. Then we would go back inside and have some lunch. Then we would play games on the computer. Then we would look at the calendar to look for special day stickers. Then we would look at pictures of Mommy, Mama, and me as a baby.

We would play for 2 hours in my dollhouse and then we would have dinner and get ready for bed. Then we would sleep soundly and dream about more adventures. Her name is Sparkle.

Here's her illustration:

And last but not least, here is her presentation with her teacher:


Note, if the video won't play, click on the pop-out icon in the upper right corner.

Of course, we couldn't be more proud!

Happy, I can hardly believe it, 5th Birthday

We celebrated Aurora's 5th birthday at a park near our house today. We were blessed with gorgeous and not too cool weather. On November 30th she turned 5 years old. Hard to believe our little baby has turned into a "big kid."

Aurora chose Elena of Avalor as her birthday theme (a princess we can tolerate finally). To celebrate Mommy and Mama made an "Elena" cake, we got a giant "Elena" piñata at the San Jose Flea Market, and lots of pizza.

On her actual birthday her tía got her a fabulous tres leches cake with her favorite pink flowers (Feliz Cumpleaños Aurora).

And because two celebrations isn't enough, the day before her birthday, she celebrated with her preschool class. Mommy made delicious rice crispy treat cake pops and her class made her an awesome birthday crown.

She continues to amaze and amuse as she grows and changes. The next year is full of excitement including starting kindergarten next fall (gulp!)

Getting ready for the Elena piñata

Her cake with figures from Elena of Avalor
(and unfortunate backlighting)

Our first missing tooth

Aurora lost one of her bottom teeth this afternoon. I was away at a conference and she called to tell me it was loose, boy was I surprised when I got home and there was a new gap in her smile. She has a missing tooth, but that one was pulled by the dentist when it broke.  She could hardly wait to get to sleep so the tooth fairy could come.

Four years of Halloween

Aurora is SO excited for Halloween. Last week we went to a pumpkin patch with her preschool class. Last night we had a great time carving her pumpkin with our friends Mary Ellen and Erik. She has a parade at her preschool today and then trick or treat with her cousin. She was asking about her previous costumes so I thought I'd share some pictures from Halloween's past. We'll post today's costume later when she's all decked out.

2012 - Aurora's first Halloween. She was an adorable fuzzy monkey.

2013 - Super girl

2014 - Minnie Mouse

2015 - Honey Lemon from Big Hero 6

Dancin'

Summer is nearly over and this kid is growing like a weed. Today I was treated to a "dance performance" while we were hanging out waiting on a doctor's appointment.

Easter 2016

Since Aurora loves opening "surprise" eggs, last year we gave her a ton of them.  This year we decided to make things a bit harder and designed a scavenger hunt. She can't read yet, but we were happy to help with that part.

The egg shaped clues.

We hid 6 eggs of various sizes in the early hours of Sunday morning both inside and outside the house. #1 was just outside her door and sent her grabbing shoes and a coat to throw over jammies.

Yes, our grass is quite tall, thanks El Niño.

Then another outside before she had to run inside.

Then inside for a few more clues and back outside again, this is fun right?

Then for the last clue, and the big surprise! I got this Dora house from a fellow staff person at Stanford for $35. Not only does it have lots of parts, it talks. She was unavailable for a while after this.

We finished off the day with a fantastic Indian lunch and play date with a friend from preschool. Lots of fun and full tummies.

Happy 4th Birthday!

Time is a funny thing. I remember being pregnant and thinking it was taking FOREVER, now I wish it could just slow down a bit. Short of defying the laws of physics, we'll have to suffice with making the days full and fun.

We started the Birthday weekend off on Friday with a trip to Joseph D Grant Park to stretch our legs and enjoy a gorgeous fall day. On Sunday we had a party at Emma Prusch Farm park, the kids got to see the animals, eat cotton candy, and take a hay ride. Aurora turned 4 on Monday. Her preschool teacher gave her a birthday crown and we wrapped up the day with a piñata and cake Monday night.

Happy Birthday to our sassy little girl.

Checking out the park with Lucille

That sun feels good on this cool morning

Walking with Mommy and Lucille

Birthday girl decked out in her Wonder Woman costume

MMMM cotton candy

Sugar run!

New Darth Vader jammies

Smacking the piñata

Finishing off the day with a face full of frosting