Ashton's acting debut

Ashton did a small play as part of an after school program. She was an outstanding narrator -- you could actually hear her from the back of the room. Of course, her mom forgot to bring a camera with a zoom so the only footage of her debut is iphone quality (doh!).
They let the young siblings sit in the front which was nice. You should note her cool hat which was sparkle silver.
Several of her friends from the block were also in the play which made practice a bit less boring (although I'm told it was pretty boring still).

Happy Saint Patricks Day

From our Irish home to yours.

Jacqueline joins Junior Gym

While Jacqueline tends to have very few demands in general (except to want everything her sister has) she did want to do a ballet class. We did a repeat of the class Ashton took at the gym but it was a bit of a bust to be frank. Mostly, there were not enough kids to give it structure so after six weeks we went looking for something new.

We found an indoor soccer class which sounded perfect. She had expressed interest and Ashton was certain she didn't have any -- what luck, something special just for Jacqueline. Independence here we come.

and then... of course.... it was canceled due to lack of enrollment. In a quick scramble to re-direct all the positive energy we had built up for soccer with her we landed on Junior gym and everyone involved is thrilled!
Jacqueline loves it and seems to have that right balance of fearlessness and willingness to try anything that is worked out well. I'm hopeful I get to go see a class before it ends but thankfully Judy sent back a photo and it does look like fun.

We need to move

Yes it's true. We are actually making good on the talk we have done for the last fourteen years about how "someday" we would add a second story. This addition project has taken on several iterations, designs and concepts and then the unthinkable happened.... we hired an architect and got serious.

So now we are moving into a rental for some 9-odd months while this all happens. We spent a challenging six-ish weeks looking for a rental, found one, had it fall apart, and then located the perfect place only about 6 blocks from our home.


I found some outstanding movers, who were not at all bothered about my instructions that some stuff should be stored at the house, some stuff should be moved and all the long term storage locations (basement, attic, garage) had to be emptied completely.


Although, there has been the usual strains of the logistics and hassles of moving after such a long time in a house there was only one actual emotional moment for me. That was when I found the baby room completely empty. Somehow I came face to face with the reality that when we move back there would no longer be anything that looked baby-ish allowed. Of course, that only lasted a short moment but it was good that I hadn't yet packed the kleenex.

Flower Power

Ashton participated in a poem reading at the local library. This was part of poetry month and all the elementry schools were participating, competing for one of two stuffed tigers that would be awarded to the school with the most participation.

To participate you had to submit a poem to the library. You optionally had a chance to read your poem at the final event at the end of the month. Judy and Ashton decided she should participate and mom was blown away by the result.


When we got to the library for the reading and she saw the room her first reaction was to say she didn't want to participate after all. We gave it a few minutes while other kids lined up and then she changed her mind and did an outstanding job (according to her totally unbiased mom).
While she was a little nervous she was clear and articulate in her delivery (a challenge for most of the kids) and she was very proud of herself as a result.

Flowers spread their pollen
To all the trees and plants
Making them all do the spring flower dance
although it gives you sneezes
and other symptoms too
it will never break flower power
because that's where natures true

To top it off her school won first prize on participation and as a result the lion is now part of the school library.

Ashton turns 7

Once again we hit the Birthday event with a bang and multiple cakes. Of course the large cupcake from Judy was the favorite but the Hannah Montana cake wasn't too shabby either. Very sophisticated for a 7 year old.


There were also two parties. One at home where sisterly love was the theme (or possibly I just got a very cute photo shot before things went badly)
and a big kids party at the bowling ally where we organized a book exchange in lieu of gifts. That went pretty well all things considered, with only a few getting confused about the process (one of which was initially Ashton which was a bit of a close call).

In the end we had over 25 kids bowling with no injuries or catastrophes. I think that was a huge accomplishment. Sadly I didn't get very many good photos of the bowling itself but this photo of Jack was excellent.
Of course, she still got a lot of loot from family and you can see gifts were still quite popular. And now she is seven and there is no looking back.

Holiday Letter 2009

As we begin to wind down 2009 and I realize I'm already late in crafting a holiday letter, I do want to spend a minute and give a quick update on all of our worlds which are busy and happy.





Bob

This was a big year for Bob, he was talked out of his successful career as an independent contractor to join full time at Zoom systems. A company that does *not* sell vending machines, they are in "automated retail" thank you very much ;-).

Being the savvy person he is, Bob got in just in time for us to attend the holiday party next week. While he will miss his flexibility and casual monday mornings, he is looking forward to being part of a team again and having a nice office in the city doesn't hurt either.

Meg

I continue to work for ORCL and keep myself busy blogging professionally. My big professional accomplishment this year was getting accepted to attend the TEDActive conference next February. I'm already looking forward to experiencing that event.


Ashton

As a full time first grader Ashton is getting used to homework and spelling lists. She is an outstanding student who helps bring order to chaos wherever she goes. Teachers shake their heads as they tell us how Ashton can get her entire table in line with her plan for whatever she thinks they should be doing.

Jacqueline

Jaq is very clear in the fact that this is her last year at Preschool. She really enjoys being the "older" one there and is more forthcoming with stories from school than her sister ever was.

She continues to amaze her parents with her ability to remember things (especially those you might hope she didn't notice). She has a keen ability to piece together multiple sources of information into her own conclusions. I can only imagine what this will look like when she gets older. At age four, it's pretty impressive to watch.



We continue to be grateful for all the people in our lives, and for the blessings we have been given. Thank you all for being a part of our lives. We hope that your holiday is as richly blessed as our own.

Bob, Meg, Ashton and Jacqueline Bear