Enchanted

Charis and I had a "girl day" yesterday. First of all we got dressed up. Now, for me that means jeans and a nice shirt, for C that means a velvet dress and a tiara. I love my girl, but seriously, how did that happen? We went to see "Enchanted" at the movie theatre. As we were walking up C said, "I love going to the theatre!" As she handed the ticket kid her ticket she giggled and squeaked as he ripped it in two. He laughed and said, looking at her tiara, "going to see Enchanted?" I laughed nervously.



She loved the movie and only had to be told to whisper about 30 times. It is the most ridiculous, adorable, girly movie you could imagine. Perfect for Charis. I was pleasantly surprised actually and enjoyed it a lot. After the film, she decided to spend her chore money on a golden princess dress at the Disney store. And has worn it since, except while eating and playing outside, so she won't mess it up (her decision). After that, we got sushi (at Trader Joes) and ate it at a little table outside. She frequently proclaimed that it was such a fun day. And indeed it was. For me too.



Today Caleb was the award-winning dad when he came home from the hardware store (the only one in town) with a swing! Its banana yellow. And is fabulous.

Better late

than never. That's what she said anyway. So, Im posting my favorite pictures from the Christmas season. Not necessarily the best, just my favs.

Buba 2

When Caleb's grandma was alive, she asked Charis (her first great grand child) to call her Buba. Well, Charis liked that name, but wanted to know what to call Buba's husband. Before we could answer she said, "Buba two?" Well, we all laughed and the name stuck.



We got to visit Buba 2 at Sunrise Home last week. The kids had a great time. And I think Buba 2 did as well.

Winery

My brother Scott turned 40 last week. His fun wife planned the surprise party of the century for him. She brought him blindfolded to his work. And we all yelled surprise! And he was. We were all giggling as we took him around the corner to the TOP DOG LIMO BUS!!



This thing is crazy. It's a huge bus (we comfortably fit 15 people in it) with a large screen t.v. in back and a smaller one in the front. It was blasting a U2 concert the whole time. Everything is all dark and swanky. There are foot lights, a disco ball and even a spot for a poll (we didn't use that option).



We rode with the kids (mine and Scott's) to a restaurant and winery in Temecula. And had a yummy, although hectic, lunch with the kids, and then mom drove them home (yeah mom). The rest of us stayed and went to 3 more wineries for tastings. Me and Caleb were the only novice wine tasters, so it was a totally new and fun experience for us. Although wine is considered okay by some raw foodists (since it's fermented at low temperatures) I felt like I totally went off my diet.

There was this guy at one of the wine taste-eries who was awesome. Every wine that he poured came along with a story of how he has a case of that same wine in his house. A case? After three or four "tastes" we were beginning to wonder if this guy wasn't a full-on wine-o. Shouldn't there be some kind of rule about this?



The whole day was super fun, and I highly recommend the Top Dog (Caleb said it should be "Top Dawg") Limo Bus for your next party!

I don't want to go to college

Charis- Mom, how long till I'm 18?
Kate- 12 years. Why do you ask?
Charis- I was wondering how long till I'm an adult.
Kate- Are you excited to be an adult?
Charis- yeah. Cause then I can do whatever I want.
Kate- Do you feel like you can't do what you want now?
Charis- I guess I can. Mom, I don't want to go to college.
Kate- Why?! (where did this randomness come from?)
Charis- And I don't want to get married.
Kate- what? (said calmly)
Charis- Because if I get married I'll have to love that person more than I love you.

These are the moments that keep me going.

my family

I've recently had two different friends tell me that I should be so thankful for my family. And I am. But I needed those reminders. Those friends have to work really hard to love their parents, and I admire them for doing that. I mean, we all have to work at it sometimes. But my parents and siblings and nephews and nieces are amazing (all 21 of them). I always look forward to family parties, and my kids are just beside themselves with anticipation for each family visit.



At the last family party Aunt Sissy and Uncle Tom were visiting from Tennessee (my parents are the one's on the left). And Rachel was not prepared for a swim party. John knew how to take care of that.

Glen Park

We love Glen Park in Cardiff. There is an ocean view, a little playground, about 10 different kinds of huge beautiful trees (many climbable), lots of grass to run around on, the train to watch, and sand to dig in. We had a family picnic there on Saturday.



Charis spent a lot of time climbing this tree. By the time we were done she was able to scoot up it really quickly and walk up pretty high.



This tree was not as easy. Note the frustrated face. It had lots of sap on it, and the branches were too close together.



The boys weren't interested in climbing but, man, they were cute.



And Jonas was loving being in the middle of Pax and Caleb's "spider".

Swiss Family Robinson

Have you seen this movie? Oh my gosh. It is hilarious. So terribly cheesy and politically incorrect. But it was a fun thing to watch as a family. Shipwrecks, tree houses, crushes, exotic animals, and pirates. What more could you ask for? Caleb made an elaborate tent for us to sit in as we sipped our smoothies and watched the film. He's a fun dad.

Puppy School

For never having gone to school, Charis is quite the little teacher. We overheard Charis teaching her cousins and brother on Labor Day. They were all to sit still and listen to her ask questions from this Kindergarten questions booklet. They actually followed her directions, and sat still listening to her in the 105 degree weather. When I asked her what they were doing she said "puppy school". Pretty soon we saw them all prancing through the house barking and chasing each other.



The puppies needed a break, so they stopped for lunch.

Balboa Park

Im going to pretend that I've been bloggin for a while. And not explain that this is actually my first entry. And why I have my own blog when we already have a really cool family website (www.endir.org/hagen). And not explain that I am wanting a place to document my unschooling journey, as well as my new enterprise of raw food eating. So...



We went to Balboa Park with my dad. I love that "park" (The kids were upset it was called that when we never saw a playground). Unfortunately I parked ridiculously far away from where I was meeting my dad, and almost killed my kids with the walk. But we finally made it, and relished our time tremendously. The day was spent enjoying the street violin player, the beautiful flowers and trees, and the weird sculptures. We spent most of our time in the international houses, automotive museum and aerospace museum. The kids really enjoyed sitting in the real airplanes, as well as hearing Papa talk about all the old cars. It was a great day!