Wild "currant"

Dan will have to tell you what plant this is, I forget...let me guess, currant? You see, he's our gardener - our native plant aficionado...I can't even remember to water a potted plant! Oh I prune, cut flowers and have my own gardening shears...just not good at cleaning up after myself. (Don't get Dan started!) But to my intended story...

I was looking out our front window, in between rain showers, at the...currant (?)...the first flowers after this cold winter...so I grabbed my camera and focused in on one bud - but what is that, beyond the flower?

Not quite sure, it might be a new plant emerging on its own, a volunteer...

Ah Ha! Nope, it's Dan working away at his new project (will keep you posted.) He's been sketching and pouring through his new book, "California Native Plants for The Garden".

Always busy that guy!

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Posted by Melissa!

Kaitlin

Last September, at 11 years old, Kaitlin auditioned for the SCC Youth Symphony. It was quite the experience for her - she auditioned for the Conductor playing the first movement of Vivaldi's Concerto in A Minor. The Conductor also had her site read a piece and play a few scales (D Major & G Major, thank goodness!) She was accepted into the SCCYS on the spot. Rehearsals are once a week for 2 hours - they're demanding yet exhiliarating! (and that's above & beyond her weekly private lessons, her monthly group lessons - sometimes twice a month- and daily practices.) There are 66 musicians, mostly high schoolers, with approximately 5 musicians under 12 years of age. It's an absolute honor to be in this Youth Symphony - we're real proud of Kaitlin.
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The picture above was Kaitlin's first concert with the SCCYS in November, 2006.
Picture taken by Proud Poppa (Grandpa Quijance).

This morning the SCCYS was joined by the SCC Symphony (adults) and the local ballet theatre - together they gave 2 performances for the local elementary schools. One of Kaitlin's dreams is to attend Juilliard - just one of her dreams...I see all of her dreams coming true!

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Picture & Post by Melissa!

Grateful for...

~ a sister knowledgable in fabrics, notions & sewing!
~ treks to the fabric store with the K's & B's in the backseat giggling away!
~ rainy days w/ gray skies that have a pinch of blue trying to poke through.
~ creative minds.
~ my family of 4 working together like a well-oiled 'machine'.
~ missing friends to a point where you realize how much you like them ;)
~ our game table!
~ a daughter who is deeply determined.
~ a daughter who makes sure life is never dull!

SAP Open

Well it certainly was a week for tennis. Fortunately, the long string of warm and dry weather continued and I was able to play tennis 4 times this week. But at the same time and more importantly, we had the pro's visting Courtside for the SAP Open, the annual pilgrimage of tennis stars and tennis hopefuls to the South Bay from all over the world. This year the tournament hosted the likes of Andy Roddick(pictured below), James Blake, Marat Safin, Marty Fish and last years winner and upcoming superstar (in my opinion!) Andy Murray (19).

The pre-qualifing tournament started at Courtside last weekend for the four remaining spots on the main draw and the tennis continued at our Club as they used our indoor courts to play some of the doubles matches and for practice.

Tuesday saw my sisters Christine, Mia and I going to the San Jose Arena to see Andy Murray beat Odesema 6-4 and 7-6. Odesema only got broken one time in the first set and still lost the match. Just goes to show how little seperates winning from losing in tennis during a close match, probably just a few points here or there. The second match saw Safin defeat (it will come to me) more easily than the first match.

Two more tickets fell into my hands via the tennis gods (a.k.a. Gordon Collins, Courtsides Tennis Director) on Friday while playing some tennis outdoors in some beautiful weather. Melissa and I got to go to the arena to see Roddick defeat Spadea in 3 sets. The second set was incredible as Spadea, with back against the wall, down a set, down a break and fighting elimination, broke Roddick as he was trying to serve out the match. One of the match points saw Spadea returning a Roddick smash deep into the corner with a lunging gem of his own that landed on the line deep for a winner, the crowd went wild. Talk about a "clutch" shot- Wow! Anyway, he went on to break Roddick's serve there and beat him in the tie-breaker to even the match at one set a piece (best of 3 sets). He slammed a ball down to celebrate and it bounced a hundred feet high, then he threw his racquet down. Roddick also walking back to his chair, just feet in front of us, looked over at Spadea and mimicked the spike of the racquet and said something to him. Well, Spadea sure fired up Roddick because he came out smoking in the 3rd set and really took it to a tired Spadea, who must have burnt his booster rockets out just to win the second set. Stroke for stroke he could match Roddick but while Roddick was breezing to service holds, Spadea was struggling with his and getting broken. One highlight of the match was a 140+ m.p.h. serve by Roddick returned by Spadea for a winner. The whole point took all of 7/8ths of a second to complete!

The second match saw Andy Murray (above) play another incredibly close match this time with H. Lee from Korea. Lee had incredible fluidity and grace on the court, rarely showing even an inkling of emotion either way in spite of the relevance of the points played or to be played. Andy Murray struggled a bit and was showing much more emotion, mostly in anger at himself as he missed several chances to distance himself from Lee. Lee won the first set as Murray was slow to get going (4-6) but he then bounced back to even the match in the second taking it (6-3). Once again, the night saw somebody trying to serve the match out after Murray broke Lee at 5-all, but Lee stepped it up and broke Murray back for the first time since the first set. This was huge because it set up a third set tie-breaker. Murray was besides himself but was able to refocus on the match and not let it get to him. He came back out to win the 3rd set tie-breaker and the match.

Sitting down just feet from the players and the commentators interviewing them after the match, Murray took his wrist band and threw it over his head into the crowd, right at us. My hands were in my pockets stuffing my water bottle away, I reached up and got a piece of it at the last second but it was taken from me by the two women behind me. Better luck next time!

Anyway, that is it for us until mid-February next year when we will do it all again, with some of the same players returning and a host of new hopefulls arriving to our corner of the world to share with us their incredible, high speed, fast action talent! (Fastest served clocked at 149MPH)

Posted by Tennis Beat Writer, Dan

Pictures by Melissa!

Sharing a love with you

We love to read! Many nights, Dan & I have to tell Kaitlin to put her book down and go to sleep!

When I was 10 yrs old, my 5th grade teacher, Mr. Avery, had a reward system for reading books. You received a 'key' for every book you read (This key was cut out of blue construction paper, the title of the book you finished reading was written on it, the keys were strung on a ring and the ring was hung on the wall in the back of the classroom.) After every 10 keys you were allowed to pick a prize from the prize box. It was all too exciting for me! I read a gazillion books that year! Wish I still had that key ring...I still have all my books from when I was a child, though - all you have to do is check out my girls' bookshelves.

One of my favorite childhood memories is my Dad taking my sisters & I to the library every 2 weeks through the summer ~ every summer. We would check-out a huge stack of books every 2 weeks! It was such a treat!

I still borrow books from the library but have to admit not as much as when I was younger. (Don't make me recount the story here! Don't!) I thoroughly enjoy owning my books. When I was a college student I fell in love with used bookstores. I love walking into a used bookstore. I love the thought that somebody else has touched the book before me & turned the same pages I am turning. I love the thought that the book lived in someone else's home before I came to own it. I like the thought that the book could have been carried around in a book bag, or sat at someone's else's bedside table for an evening read, or has maybe traveled to somewhere far-away. Used books are intriguing to me.

There was a time in my life when I stopped reading for pleasure, just textbooks consumed my days. As the years passed I read more & more and acquired more & more. I always dreamed of my own library in my own home. Right now Dan is working on a wonderful 'piece' in our sunroom - pics to come soon - so my books are in boxes. From the books I read last year, these are the books that I found on top of an open box - must mean I acquired them after our books were boxed away...

1) "The Alphabet Sisters" by Monica McInerney.
2) "WonkaMania" by Greg Rasmussen - Great book! I got this for Kaitlin & Breana and had to read it first!
3) "Shopgirl" by Steve Martin - hey, I was curious!
4) "Girls in Pants - The Third Summer of the Sisterhood" by Ann Brashares.
5) "The Second Summer of the Sisterhood" by Ann Brashares. I hope we all have friends like these.

For 2007, so far I have read...



1) "Riding The Bus with My Sister - A True Life Journey" by Rachel Simon.

2) "Waiting - the true confessions of a waitress" by Debra Ginsberg

3) " Bold Spirit - Helga Estby's Forgotton Walk Across Victorian America" by Linda Lawrence Hunt.

4) "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini - my girls weren't interested & I was curious. What made it so enticing to read was Nancy was reading it too! A 'mini-book club' was formed!

...which got me back into...

Let me tell you a quick story then we can go on our way...

Summer of 2005, while we were waiting for the 6th book to be released, Kaitlin suggested (with great excitement) that we re-read all 5 books before reading the 6th book. How can I pass up that challenge!?! I mean, she was 10 at that time! By the end of the summer, she had devoured all SIX books...I was still on the 4th book. On the drive to Tahoe (4 hours) she had started and finished the 4th book! Now the 7th and final book will be released in 5 months. I'm 2 summers late but I'll get there! (I finally understand that commerical, "Travis, your years too late!" :)
This is my second time to read the 5th book, however, for the life of me I can't remember it at all. In fact I'm reading about Harry, Hermoine & Ron bumping into Professor Lockhart in St. Mungo's and my eyes are reading the words for the first time. How can it be that I can't even recall huge chunks of this book! Scary!

Posted by Melissa!

Chicklets

Two of Breana's friends started a group called Chicklets. This group involved the girls their age in their combined graded class and their Mothers. Hannah hosted the first meeting with her Mom, Sharon. Hannah emailed us Moms to coordinate a date, she mailed out the invitations, created the activities for the day and led the meeting. It was well planned, well executed and done with thought & purpose. Us Moms did the Daisy/Brownie/Girl Scout-thing where we led the meetings and attended & met the required Leadership trainings but this time there was a refreshing role-reversal. These girls want to spend some time together outside of school and involve their Moms. It was all real sweet and meaningful.The theme for the first meeting was a tea party. Sharon & Hannah spoiled us with delectable treats and sweet china settings. While my plan was to only stay for "no more than an hour" because of things needed to get done today, we enjoyed ourselves for 3 hours - how could we not?

It was a time needed for us Moms to chat outside of 'drop-off' and 'pick-up', to eat seated at a table :) and to enjoy our 10 yr old daughters - for me, it's a daughter who still enjoys wearing dresses, who still adores her American Girl doll, who still cuddles with stuff animals and who still dreams of owning a horse - gotta enjoy this time, right?

My Book Report Board Game

I am making a Book Report Board Game for school. I haven't glued anything down yet. I know it looks a little messy but when I'm done I will have everything looking prestine and clean. My book report is on the book, "Ruby Holler", written by one of my favorite authors, Sharon Creech. It's so fun making this project so if by chance a teacher is reading this, I really recommend this as a project for your students.

Posted By Kaitlin

Indoor Futsal

Breana in the pink - Kaitlin in the orange pinnie and black sweats.
Yes that's them vying for the ball in the picture below.
The girls play Indoor Futsal on friday nights. A friend started these 15 mins 5v5 pick-up games as a fun thing for the kids to do between seasons. The first one we attended was last friday. Breana had her gear on and w/ only 3 other girls, played 4 games. Kaitlin was dropped off by a friend about midway through the night and sat and watched a few games with me. With cords & Uggs on Kaitlin squirmed in the bleachers, yelled out helpful hints to her fellow gals on the court and searched vehemently around for sneakers - she was dying to get out there! She talked Dan into taking her home - she was frustrated at the red lights, told Dan to drive faster then was palpitating when Dan said he needed to run in the house for a second! Dan got her back in time to watch a game and play the final game for the night. Last night both girls were geared up and joined by more girls - they were fierce, determined and had a great time. Us parents were able to watch a night full of great games with displays of exceptional talent. Toward the end of the evening, Dan joined us after his indoor soccer game so with the 3 hungry ones we ended the night with chimichangas at Costa Brava. It really is a fun way to spend a friday night.

Catch-Up

Catch-up

all done!

Corners in our home

This is the computer corner on one end of the kitchen while the dining table is on the other end of the kitchen. Obviously not a current picture since it has been raining all day and I haven't seen shorts on the girls in a l o n g time! (Because the soccer team backpack & uniform is in the kitchen, this picture had to be taken sometime between July & August.) I just wanted to give you an idea of where I've been sitting while I'm playing catch-up!

"Juicy Leaves"

Sister-in-law, Christine ~ "Juicy Leaves", makes beautiful succulent wreaths (left). When I took this picture it was well after she had taken it home to do maintanence on it. As you can tell, it was a bit overgrown and needed some love & care yet still beautiful. Months later it was real sad looking so I took it apart, raided my Mom's jade plants, and redid it. Later, I'll take a picture of the succulent wreaths around Christine's house so you can really admire her beautiful "Juicy Leaves" creations. Until then, what do they say, " imitation is the best form of flattery."

Costumes for "Cinderella"

Still playing catch-up with my posts...

I always volunteer to organize the costumes for School Plays and Field Trips. I get totally into it and totally immerse myself into each character. This year it's "Cinderella's Glass Slipper". I start out by dragging costumes out from our storage loft and digging through the classroom's costume shed. Soon my vanagon is packed with costumes that pours into the house - Dan's favorite time of the school year! Wednesday I laid everything out and started plotting my plan of attack...

For the Step-Mother & Step-Sister's costumes I'm inspired by Rodger's & Hammerstein's 'Cinderella' - having a lot of fun! Time is not on my side but fun definitely is!

Jump start mornings

Still playing catch-up...
I was chuckling yesterday while eatting breakfast. With it so gray & drizzly, you'd think we'd be eatting oatmeal and drinking hot cups of coffee/tea/hot chocolate!
As much as I disliked how as a child/teen my parents made me eat breakfast before school, I know it's importance so I make sure my girls have breakfast before school. So this is what the Begin Family has had for breakfast this week; Dan has his mix of cereals & granola, Kaitlin had TJ's Honey Nut O's, Breana had the toaster pastries (strawberry is her favorite but we only had the blueberry left. After eatting 2/3 of it she pushed the plate aside and proclaimed, "I don't like the blueberry kind. It taste like figs." Well, she ate 2/3 of it, that's better than none, right?)
I had vanilla yogurt with sliced bananas.

Every morning we have a swig of mangosteen - gotta start our day with our vitamin juice every morning. For us, 1-2oz of mangosteen a day keeps the 'Dr' away!

Exploratorium

...reflection...

Hidden Treasures/Little Reminders

When you step outside from the dining room, you get a glimpse of the Lemon tree reflected onto the studio - more so now since the hydrangea bush isn't exploding with flowers.
These meyer lemons are wonderful - Lemon Tarts, Vodka Tonic garnish, splash in a glass of water, with fish or chicken, for little girls' brown hair...gosh, what hasn't it been used for!?!
It's a sweet treasure...






Quite opposite of the day before, we were inside all day. While Kaitlin was in bed recovering from a friend's birthday sleep-over (or non-sleep-over as Dan considers them to be), we played quiet games. From outside after taking the picture above I turned around to retreat back to the warm & cozy house and saw Dan & Breana playing Scrabble.
I love mirrors & windows - they create reflection whether it's throwing back light, showing an image or thinking deeply/thoughtfully/with consideration.

Hidden treasures are found in reflections...

Saturday lunches

Trying to catch up on my posts, this is Kaitlin & Breana's lunch on saturday, Feb 3. It was a beautiful sunny day - we had lunch outside, bikes were taken out and sunglasses, hats & suncreen were put on.
Yummy lunch - quesadillas w/ sundried tomato & habanero tortilla topped with avocados and tomatoes!

Pictures by Kaitlin & Breana

Hidden Treasures/Little Reminders

Random places around the house I hide treasures so that when we are doing something as mundane as grab a new tube of toothpaste or look for something to eat/cook, we're reminded of special times and how much we're loved...

One kitchen cupboard, do you see the hidden treasures?

On the top shelf next to the baking goods I'm reminded of my team, "Go Seahawks!" A Raider mug is probably hidden somewhere in the back!

On the third shelf, I've taped up the letters of the girls' initials that fell off their soccer team backpacks (ok, they should have been put back on their backpacks but that didn't happen!) next to the shrinky dinks (ah, times of the past!)- which leads your eyes to the matching pewter s&p shakers that I found in 2 separate thrifting outings (yeah!) and mini-PT cruisers all in front of pictures of my sisters & I.

On the bottom shelf next to the chocolates lies the pacman game control & DVD player (sometimes you gotta watch a movie when you're cooking dinner!) and the now scrap paper filled money jar. Above the DVD player is something Breana made in Religious Ed, "Thank you, God, for life" on the flip side it says, "Thank you, God, for family" ~ love that.

Another kitchen cupboard, funny, huh?

I got this idea from a friend - I opened one of her kitchen cupboards and found a picture of her as a child w/ her Father - I loved it. She told me it brought a smile to her face & a tear to her eye everytime she pulled out the dishes. Ok, this picture of Dan & I makes me cry from laughter because I remember the night that picture was taken!

Another place where a treasure is hidden, can you guess where?

When we open a cupboard in the bathroom, a jar full of whales & sea stars sit in a jar. When the girls were younger they use to take the contents into the bathtub with them. The whales & sea stars were purchased 1-2 at a time at the Seymour Long Marine Lab which is a fun place we visited a lot when they were younger. So the jar reminds me of how life was when I had them home all day and we went on fun excursions and explored with no homework involved.

These are some of our hidden treasures that remind us to slow down, to remember and to reflect.

Do you have hidden treasures?

Someone's plannin' somethin'

Do you see it?
This morning while making beds and straightening up a bit this is what I saw.
Let's get closer...


Now do you see it?
It was on the top of his pile of books which means it was the last book he read last night or this morning - he's flipping through his "The High Sierra - Peaks, Passes and, and Trails" book again. There are 3 pages that are bookmarked, too.
Someone's plannin' somethin'!

Corners in our home

When I clear the kitchen counter I can glance above the sink to see this. In one little corner of our house I'm reminded to appreciate the small things.