Orange & Green Karate Belts

My two karate kids, Ava and Lola, had another belt test yesterday and I'm happy to say that they both passed. Hooray! Ava is now a green belt and Lola is an orange belt. These kids are accruing karate belts faster than I ever imagined.

The girls and their classmates did such a good job. Everyone passed the test and we now have three green belts and three orange belts in the class. The test was held in the park where we meet for classes. There were quite a few other people around but the kids were so good at staying focused and weren't bothered by all the people watching them or the kids and dogs playing nearby. As you can see, it was quite late in the day so the sun was starting to set as the test progressed. It made for the most beautiful light.

Back to School 2016

Yesterday was the first day back at school here in Berkeley and you know what that means...

Lots of photos of cute kids with backpacks! Ha!

I know, I know... Facebook and Instagram are filled with back to school photos right now, but I just have to share ours too.

Purple Hair

You may have noticed that Ava's hair wasn't its usual blonde color in my last post.

If you follow Little Hiccups on Instagram you would have already seen Ava's hair just over a week ago, but if not, I thought I'd share her transformation with you.

Ava's Peanuts Birthday Party

This past weekend we celebrated Ava's ninth birthday with a Peanuts themed party on our roof top.

The past two years we've had incredibly rainy weather for Ava's party and haven't been able to use our roof top. This year, however, we had a beautiful, sunny day. Perfect for a roof top party.

The Peanuts gang make such a fun party theme - and gave me the chance to get a little creative! We had a Snoopy doghouse piñata, Charlie Brown cookies, a comic strip photo booth, Lucy's psychiatrist booth for photos (and bad advice!), Snoopy doghouse party bags, and Ava decorated her birthday cake herself with a drawing of Snoopy and Woodstock. How cute is that cake? I covered it with fondant and Ava decorated it with edible markers. Seriously, those edible markers are one of the best things ever!

A Peanuts Party Invitation

Can you believe it? 

Tomorrow my oldest baby turns Nine! Nine! I still can't wrap my head around it. She's not a little girl anymore. She's a big girl. A tween even - maybe. How old is a tween? I have no idea. All I know is that she's growing up too quickly.

To celebrate Ava's ninth birthday we'll be having a Peanuts themed party with her friends on Saturday. Ava chose the theme and she is really excited about it. I actually half expected her to chose a Minecraft theme as she's really into Minecraft at the moment (aren't all almost nine year olds?) so I was pleasantly surprised when she told me she wanted a Peanuts party.

I am working on all sorts of fun Peanuts themed DIYs for the party and I can't wait to share them with you next week, but for now let's have a look at the party invitations.

First Day of School 2015

Yesterday was the first day of school for the new year - and the first day of school ever for Lola!

I can't believe I have two school kids. Ava is now in third grade and Lola is in Transitional Kindergarten.

Transitional Kindergarten (TK) is a relatively new class created for kids whose birthdays fall just after the cut off for Kindergarten. In the past kids were allowed to start Kindergarten if they turned five by the end of December. Over the past few years the cut off date has crept forward, and as of this year kids now need to turn five by the first day of school. Lola misses out by just over a month, which really sucks! I would have much preferred for her to go straight into Kindergarten but at least we had the option for her to attend TK.

The girls were pretty excited as they got ready for school in the morning. Ava was obviously eager to get back to school as she woke up around 6am, made herself breakfast, and was dressed and ready to go by 7am! School doesn't start until 9:10am so that gave her plenty of time to play Minecraft. Lola slept in a little longer, as usual, but was excited about her big day none the less.

School's Out!

School's out!

Summer vacation has officially begun!

It has been a busy week here in the Little Hiccups household with all sorts of preparations happening for the end of the school year (and other exciting things that I'll share soon). Ava finished second grade yesterday. Her class had a little breakfast party in the morning, they signed each other's year books and then spent the rest of the day watching movies. The day before they went bowling. Ah, the last week of school. Always such hard work!

Finishing second grade is no mean feat, however the bigger event this week was Lola graduating from preschool on Wednesday. My little girl will be a big school girl in the Fall. I can't believe it. My mornings are going to be so much easier with just one school drop off!

Get Well Cards

Yesterday Ava and Lola were making get well cards for a family member and it got me thinking about a card that I made back in 2008 when Ava was a toddler. At the time my Grandma was in hospital and I thought that seeing her little great-grand daughter playing doctor would cheer her up a little.

So we got out the toy doctor's kit, some bandaids and bandages, and a patient - in this case, one of Ava's teddy bears. I bandaged up the bear's arm and Doctor Ava set about checking his heart rate and temperature, feeding him medicine, giving him needles, and putting spare bandages across his face!

Here's a look at the collage card I put together.

52 Weeks: Week 11

Week 11: Our new walker

This week saw a huge milestone for our family. Our little Mathilde is now walking!

Last Thursday, at ten months and sixteen days old, Mathilde decided she was ready to set off on her own and she has been walking ever since. Crawling is still her chosen mode of movement much of the time as it's faster, but every day she walks a little more, and crawls a little less. Oh, she looks so proud of herself as she toddles along. It's the most adorable thing! Just look how happy she is below. So happy, that little tongue can't stay in her mouth!

Both Ava and Lola started walking properly just after their first birthdays so it feels a little weird seeing Mathilde toddle around while she's still so small. Plus, didn't I just give birth to her yesterday?! I swear I did. She is certainly growing up way too fast.

52 Weeks: Week 10

Week 10: At the Salon

This week Ava and Lola went to the hairdresser for a trim. Little Miss Mathilde doesn't have quite enough hair to warrant a hair cut yet (although her fringe does get in her eyes) so she just watched - and pretended to get a haircut from Ava!

Ava and Lola both really enjoy going the hairdresser. I take them to my hairdresser rather than a kid's salon and they love pretending to be grown ups. I guess they feel like they're being pampered too. They always sit so still and never complain about the water splashing while their hair is being washed or the brush hurting when it snags on a knot. I wish they could be like that at home! Maybe I brush too hard and splash too much water on their faces!

Here's a look at our visit to the salon...

A Birthday Party at Fenton's

This Sunday just past Ava celebrated her birthday with a small group of friends at Fenton's Creamery in Oakland. We hadn't been to Fenton's before but it's such a nice place that it kind of suited saving it for a special occasion. And what could be more special than a birthday party? 

As part of Ava's birthday party we went on the behind the scenes Arctic Tour. The kids, all wearing their "soda jerk" hats learned all about the history of Fenton's, watched how the whipped cream for sundaes is made, watched how the ice cream is made, felt the freezing cold conditions in the ice cream freezer, and, most importantly, tasted freshly made cookies and cream ice cream.

Here's a look at the tour...

My Karate Kids

If you've been reading Little Hiccups for a while you'll know that Ava has been taking karate lessons for just over a year now. Over the Summer Lola joined in the karate class so now I have two karate girls.

This week the girls took part in a belt test. For Lola this was her first test (for her white belt) and for Ava it was her third (white belt with two black stripes).

Just call me Gappy!

Ava lost another tooth on Monday night. 

That's 3 down and many more to go.

This is the first time that Ava has had a gap after losing a tooth and it feels so weird seeing her with a missing tooth. When her two bottom teeth fell out the adult teeth were already growing behind. They were already about the height of her other teeth when the baby teeth came out so there was no real gap. This time around there's no adult tooth yet to fill the space. In fact, it hasn't even slightly poked through the gum yet. I wonder how long she'll have a gap for?

It must feel extra weird for Ava as she couldn't stop looking at her teeth in the mirror!

Father's Day Portraits

Last Sunday was Father's Day in Australia. 

I've already shared the card that I made for the kids to give to Kim (you can see it here) but I also wanted to show you the fantastic drawings that the kids drew for their Daddy.

Ava is quite the accomplished little artist and has been drawing beautiful pictures from a very young age. Can you believe that she started drawing pictures recognisable as people before her second birthday? Crazy, right? It completely took me by surprise when I found her drawing an army of chalk people on our driveway a month before she turned two.  

Lola hasn't been quite as keen on drawing as Ava. Her drawings tend to be mostly squiggles and she gets frustrated very quickly if her picture doesn't look like what it's supposed to be. She'll draw if asked to but she won't sit down and start drawing of her own accord. Until now. In the last few weeks everything about Lola's drawings has changed. She's drawing people with bodies (not just heads with arms and legs sticking out!), she has started adding scenery and details, and - the best bit - she has started drawing without being asked to. Hooray! 

So here are the girls' Father's Day drawings. Ava drew the whole family with a beautiful sunset over the water because Daddy likes watching the sun set. Lola draw herself and Daddy at the beach. She even included the blue hat that Kim has been wearing lately (you'll see it popping up everywhere in my upcoming Seattle and Portland posts!).

Ava's Family Portrait

Lola's portrait of her and Daddy at the beach

Hooray for little artists!

First Day of Second Grade

The long Summer vacation is finally over and as of today Ava is back at school as a second grader.

How did my little girl get so big? A second grader isn't new at school anymore. A second grader is a pro at school with years of experience behind her. I swear my second grader seemed so much taller and more grown up this morning as we left for school. I'm sure it's all in my mind - or it could be the new dress she was wearing!

First Grade Picnic

School is over for another year and the long Summer vacation has started.

To celebrate the end of the school year the four first grade classes at Ava's school joined together for a picnic in the park. You know, just eighty or so kids hanging out in a park!

There was pizza, yummy snacks, fun games, basketball, sack races, face painting, and fun with friends on the playground. The kids all had such a wonderful time. It really was such a great way to celebrate the end of year.

Here's a look at some of the fun...

Farewell First Grade

Friday was Ava's last day of First Grade.

It really doesn't seem that long ago that she was starting her first day of first grade and here we are, all done already.

Berkeley Chocolate & Chalk Art Festival 2014

UPDATE: Ava's artwork received an honorable mention from the judges! Go Ava!

Yesterday the 18th Annual Chocolate and Chalk Art Festival was held in Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto neighbourhood. Every year around the start of June Shattuck Ave becomes alive with colour as festival goers decorate the sidewalks with chalk artworks.  

Like last year Ava was excited to take part and couldn't wait to get started creating her chalk art master piece on the sidewalk. This time Ava worked out in advance what she would like to draw: a mermaid and various aquatic creatures swimming in the sea. Lola was also keen to take part and decided that she would draw a rainbow and a ring. Or, as it turned out, get Daddy to draw a rainbow and a ring!

BAM Runathon 2014

This week Ava's school, Berkeley Arts Magnet (or BAM for short) has been holding a runathon to raise money.

Each class in the school has been taking part in the runathon during their regular PE class. Ava's class (including their teacher) took part in the runathon yesterday. Earlier in the day Ava class had been on a walking field trip at nearby UC Berkeley. I had worried that they'd all be a little tired from the field trip but they were all pretty excited about the runathon and everyone put in a great effort.   

Maker Faire 2014

This past weekend was a super busy one for our family. Saturday we cheered Ava on in the Berkeley Kids Triathlon and on Sunday we headed down to San Mateo for the "Greatest Show and Tell on Earth": Maker Faire!

We had been counting down the days to Maker Faire pretty much since we visited last year. Ava and Lola had an absolute blast at Maker Faire last year and we couldn't wait to take them again. And this year they had a new little maker to go with them!