Lynn's Retirement Party

And what a party it was! We lost track at 30-some adults and over 15 kids. The event doubled as an inauguration for the back deck, too. Check it all out in the photos: guess the quantities, taco bar, tequila sunsets, quilts for the chilly, s'more kits, a couple doses of labradoodle puppy, a blessing for the under-construction classroom, fruit sculptures, quilt squares, hide-n-seek and cops-n-robbers, prizes, lots of smiles, and just a couple tears. All the photos: http://JF2.com/140628/

Meet Emmy Sandy

She's a relatively small Labradoodle puppy. I think full-grown she'll be about 35-40 pounds. Cute kid, too! This is what retired teachers do, get students...

Loveable Labradoodles

Lynn is quite the disciplinarian.
About 2 minutes into the bedtime whining
and look where Sandy ends up. 

Tracy: My pet lover, my child who is (was?)
deathly afraid of dogs, and our new puppy Sandy!
I think we chose the right dog!
#compoundliving #labradoodle

But wait, there's more. Janice also has a puppy. A full
sister to Sandy named Molly. Sandy is the one
on the pillow. Napping away in the office.

All Six are IN the Wedding ?!

Yup, all six kids were in Karlee and Aron's wedding. If that didn't make for an interesting preparation period and some very clever "management tools" Mom put in place. Like baggy after baggy of treats that the kids love but won't stain wedding clothes - even if drooled. And there was the last minute run for new pants! A baggy marked "Bloody Nose Kit." The things that never cross your mind if you haven't had kids. Sam ushed. Serafina was a Jr. Bridesmaid and sang The Lord's Prayer. Matteo bore (the ring). AJ stood with the groomsmen (the ENTIRE wedding) after helping get the twins get down the aisle. I'm not sure what role you'd call the twins', Cute Dispensers?, but there they were! It was a beautiful wedding, everything worked out. Karlee and Aron are off to a great start. Here are some pics Tracy took along the way. I grabbed the words she used to describe each on Facebook...

AJ thought that stripping was part of the wedding
ceremony! #compoundliving #boys

Not going to walk down the aisle.
His brother is plastered to my leg screaming. #fail

Amazing heart pancakes to inspire
awesome ring bearing action! #karlee&aaron

Big bag of non staining (even if you drool) snacks
on individual bags that don't make noise to open.
Bribery is not beneath me today....
The kids will walk down the aisle!
#karleeaarron #weddingfun

I could eat them.
#karleeaarron #preemiepower #love

Pre-wedding fun!!! #karleeaarron #boys

The Fam! #compoundliving
#karleeaarron #lifewith6kids

They made it down the aisle!
#karleeaarron #soproud @kscalzo5

One more super cute picture!! My babies!!
#karleeaarron #lovemykids#lifewith6kids

Hand Holding in the NICU

One of our boys NICU nurses just sent me this picture she found! Makes my heart melt. She is pretty sure it's Jonathan's hand holding her finger when he was still in his isolate! I have so much love for all our nurses that loved our boys soooooooooooo much! Tracy

Cinderella

The musical by Rodgers & Hammerstein
August 8-24, 2014
Produced by  SLO Little Theatre / ACT
Serafina's Roles: Village Kid, Ballroom Guest, Footman, Little Baker

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First reading on June 17, 2014 (thanks, Lester, for the photo):

August 5, 2014 - a few shots during a tech-week rehearsal:

She took a moment during a break to
sing her audition song at the little chair
in the little corner.

Footman

Hrrrmph.

Hrrrmph again.

The prince is having a ball.

Time to dress Cinderella for the ball.

It doesn't fit!

Curtain call (left).

At the Drive-In

It was the first Drive-In experience for AJ, David, and Jonathan! Gotta love those popcorn bowls. Oh, and in case you were wondering why you buy the biggest pickup truck you can. This. Imagine if the whole family would have been there!...

The Art of Teaching

Today was the last day of school at Alvin. THE last day of school at Alvin for Lynn. For ever. Tomorrow her "endless summer" begins (i.e. retirement!). Well, sort of. She'll continue practicing teaching at home as she helps Tracy with the homeschooling part of SLO Classical Academy next year for the four Bigs.

To celebrate, Lynn joined a group of teachers and friends at Wine and Design in Orcutt. And guess what they painted? Alvin Tigers! Lynn painted the tiger at left.

Alvin also presented Lynn with another piece of art... Two hearts, the left filled with fingerprints of all her students, and the right filled with fingerprints of all the teachers. How cool.

Box Houses

I need say no more...

U-Pick Blueberries

U-Pick Blueberries
3607 Dominion Road
Santa Maria, CA

The blueberry plants were the perfect size for AJ and Matteo! And no thorns. $15/quart. The pales you see are a quart. The big decision while we picked was what to make with them. The winner was blueberry milkshakes! All the photos are here: http://JF2.com/140607/

The School Nook

Tracy: "I love finds like this. When we took down the wall we found this awesome area under a set of stairs! Now the school room will have a hideout/reading nook! Awesomeness!"

A One School-Room House

As opposed to a 1-room school house, of course. Lynn's retiring from teaching this year. But not really. And Tracy's picking up a new avocation - teaching. You see, this Fall the kids (all but the twins) will be going to a hybrid program at SLO Classical Academy (where Jamie taught a couple years). They will attend classes two days a week and work at home two days a week with Fridays reserved for field trips and enrichment activities. Tracy and Lynn will be doing the at-home part...

There's the new backyard deck behind the new wall.

We found a little hidden space that will be turned
into a "behind the looking glass" area for the kids.

Matteo, or Matisse

Our kindergartner won first prize in a regional school art contest, and received another ribbon for best of theme. Way to go, Matteo!