{ The Storm vs. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes }

We love the Storm! New but small stadium, cool mascot Thunder, playground for kids. The storm had a big assembly at the school one day to roll out their Reading for Rewards program. The kids earned us free tickets to the game today by reading ten books each. They were so excited to go! We paid $4 extra to upgrade to seats in row 2 right behind the dugout. It was a bit hot and the Storm were winning 4-1 in the 8th inning, so we left a bit early. My son is really getting into baseball and understanding some of the rules of the game. He was really excited when one of the players on the other team shared his name. He had to start routing for the other team. Just when he was up to bat.

{ Luau Night }

We went to the Luau at school last night. We got there just as the Puahi's Polynesian Dancers were getting started. Very interesting. After that we headed out to do a craft. We made wooden bulldozers. Not really sure how that relates to a luau, but they loved it!

Some last minute dancing the Cha Cha Slide.

Fun, fun, fun!

{ DD Goes to Tea and a Hoedown }

Yesterday afternoon, DD attended an American Girl tea party at the library with her friends. They had a little tea and cookies and scones and did a craft. They put together an American Girl recipe book. It was nice for the girls to go do something together. The boys played Star Wars the Clone Wars at our house.

Today, her class had a hoedown all day with their science buddy class. They read four different versions of "The Three Little Pigs." One of the mom's in her class is a dance teacher, so she came and did a little routine with them to Miley Cyrus' new Hoedown Throwdown. (We immediately downloaded the song to her iPod so she can practice her new moves!) Then they had a snack of straw (sliced potato chips), sticks (pretzels) and bricks (chocolate squares.) What fun! After recess, the kids worked on activity centers for the rest of the day. It was so cute.

DD with her science buddy.

{ Phoenix Fun }

Memorial weekend took us to Arizona where it wasn't too hot, thank goodness it had cooled down - to the mid-90's. Yes it was hot. The first night we all piled in the trailblazer and headed to Rancho de Tia Rosa for some excellent chicken mole. DH's dad said years ago that it was as good as his mom's. Too bad no one in his family has her recipe. After dinner, we stopped by Tempe Town Lake for a short walk. The kids loved it. It felt a lot like California minus the cool ocean breeze!

The historic Mill Avenue Bridge in the background has withstood floods when all other bridges were washed out. It's hard to believe that they made this beautiful oasis in such a harsh place. The Salt River, this lake is formed in it's wash, was usually dry, but when monsoon rains came, it rushed in raging rapids westward. I wonder what would happen if there was such a flood again?

This picture foreshadowed our adventure for the next day, riding the light rail into downtown Phoenix where it let us off right in front of the Heard Museum.

At the museum, we enjoyed a tour by a girl of Dine origin. It was very insightful, and she was surprised that my daughter knew about Maria Martinez. Thanks to meet the masters at school. Later, the kids were busy grinding corn.

The spanish-colonial style architecture is so beautiful.

My son and trees...

Fun had by all.

Back onto the light rail for the 50 minute ride back to Main Street and Dobson. Yes, the rail does not save time, but it was such a fun adventure. Especially since an accident at Osborn St. had forced the train we were on to back up and pick up people at stops east of the accident heading east. Our car was packed to the gills. Luckily the grandparents and the kids got seats.

{ Happy Memorial Day }

Remembering Richard my father this Memorial Day weekend.

{ Bubbles }

The second grade had a bubble party this afternoon, celebrating the end of state testing last Friday. They had so much fun running around and chasing the bubbles. It was so cute to watch! It was also crazy hair day, which explains some of the hairdos.

State testing is all over now. I was talking to my daughter's teacher about the GATE (gifted and talented education) program. She said that in reading, she is way ahead of the requirement. I asked her about the testing, since I know that she has test anxiety. She'll panic and overthink the questions.

In first grade, on one of her first math tests, she got all of the simple addition problems wrong. Her teacher had told the class it was like doubles plus one. She started doubling the first addend and then adding the second one to that. At first we couldn't figure out what she had done, but she showed me and she got them all right if that was what she was supposed to have done! She still sometimes does things like that.

Her second grade teacher says that she'd be really surprised if she doesn't make it into the GATE program. She's way ahead of most of the kids. Hopefully she did ok on her state testing!

{ 2nd Grade Bugz }

My daughter's class performed their bug show for all the parents today. How cute it was! They sang songs called "Going on a Picnic," "The Army Ants," "Be a Lady," "Things Change," and "Firefly."

Here she is saying her line: "I'm a monarch butterfly, the most beautiful in my section, I became the lovliest through natural selection."

She got to metamorphise!

Singing "Be A Lady."

After the show with her friends.

The End.

{ Discouraging Outcome, Encouraging Words }

My husband didn't get the job he interviewed for. The job was offered to someone with more experience in the medical field. Even though I was trying not to get my hopes up for this job to come through, I did. The benefits this company provides are outstanding. He liked the managers he interviewed with. He felt the work climate would be much better. And it was a dayshift, Monday through Friday job.

The HR representative who broke the news to him today told him not to give up. They really liked him, he interviewed well. "Keep checking the jobs posted and definitely apply for any that appeal to you," he said. "We have your interview notes on file."

So, it's back to the grind of his wacky schedule and wackier management. Someday, he'll be out of there, that day won't come soon enough. The good news in all of this is he still has a job. The promised layoffs happened before and after May 4th, and many more people lost their incomes.

{ Happy Muthers Day }

My son made a card for me this morning. It said "I love you mom! Happy Muthers Day. Love, DS." He then made one for Dad and one for his sister. Just replace "mom" with "dad" or "sise" and you get the idea. We all had a happy mother's day, for sure!

We went to mass, came home for pancake brunch and then watched a movie and crafted some charms for our toggle bracelets. Then we went to the Santa Rosa Plateau for a nice little hike to the vernal pool and the adobe house, complete with big red barn.

There was not a lot of water in the vernal pool, but there were tons of little bitty frogs each smaller than 1/2 inch long. So cute! The kids found a rattlesnake sleeping underneath the boardwalk. Time to move on!

We spent quite a while at the adobe house watching some woodpeckers fly in and out of their home pecked out of a huge oak tree. There were squirrels and rabbits, too. The kids honed their tree-climbing abilities while we sat and watched. We spent a total of four hours on our four mile hike. We were so late getting home, that we stopped at the In-N-Out drive through for dinner. Milkshakes all around, mmm. The kids were in bed by 9:15. It was a wonderful, peaceful mother's day this year.

{ Take Me Out to the Ballgame! }

Last night was Temecula Youth Baseball League's team night at the Storm in Lake Elsinore. It was a little chaotic since we were given no instructions and the coach decided to go with his older son's team. We got in a huge line of kids and adults waiting to walk around the field. My son cried for water. They won't let you bring any liquids into the stadium. We waited. Finally, they started to go. Dad and I realized that we wouldn't make it to our seats in time to see his team go around, so we all walked with them. Nobody noticed or cared. Our friend was there too.

We went around the field in record time. The Storm command team didn't let anyone stop or fall behind. We got to our seats about six rows up behind home plate. My son and his best buddy, watched the game together.

The Storm mascot, Thunder, entertained the crowd.

My daughter hung out with her friend.

We all enjoyed family night at the diamond. The Storm lost to the Mavericks 9-7.

Game over!

{ Appreciating Our Teachers }

The first week of May is national teacher appreciation week. Our PTA goes all out with this one. Personally, I think they go overboard, and I think even a lot of the teachers think so, too, but my daughter's teacher is one of the BEST, so I thought I'd just go with it and show her how much we love her.

The first step for every room mom is to decorate the door. My co-room mom, made these flowers and I put together the entire thing. I turned the photos of the kids into sketches. Kind of cool, but they don't show up in this picture.


Then, every day the class was supposed to do something to show our appreciation. Now, as a mom, I eventually get really fed up with all the requests to bring in stuff. It seems to be never ending. So, I tried to minimize what parents had to do. I had them send in money for a class gift and a special message for a "hug jar" ahead of time.

On Monday, the kids brought flowers from their gardens and I arranged them in a vase. On Tuesday, we gave her this poster with all the kids' signatures on the back, inspired by this. On Wednesday, the kids brought in classroom supplies. On Thursday, we gave her the "jar of hugs," special notes from the kids for her to read.

Today we gave her the money we collected in a special tin decorated like an iPod. She's going to buy one to use in the classroom.

I told the teacher what a blessing she is to every child in the class, and she was really touched by everything we had done. I'm so glad that we were able to do so much for her! She really is one of those special teachers who can do so much with the kids. She loves what she does and it shows.

My son. also brought something in every day for his teacher. Here he is this morning with his gift bag of soap and lotion from Bath & Body Shop. He was really excited to gift his teacher every day. I wasn't involved in the room mom aspect with his class, but he contributed every day this week.

I've learned something this week, too. While it's sometimes nerve-wracking to have to shop for and remember gifts for every day of the week and for multiple teachers, and it costs money and takes time, I really didn't expect the kids' reactions to it. The kids were so excited deciding what to give to their teachers. They were eager to make cards and "hugs" to show their teachers how much they love them. The kids in the kids' classes were so excited to be in on the giving and to sign posters and make "hugs" and even bring in donations and gifts. This simple act of crafting and buying a few things that the teachers can really use not only gave the teachers a good feeling of being appreciated, but it showed the kids how to give the gift of appreciation. It's so important to appreciate those in our lives who do things for us whether they be a teacher, coach, church volunteer, friend or even a relative. Appreciation is a gift for the giver as well as the reciever.

I've been trying to keep a sort of gratitude journal on the sidebar of this blog. I've seen it done on other blogs. After I read this book, I realized that focusing on gratitude is such a simple and easy thing to do. And the benefit of doing so is enormous!

{ Ten Years, Going on Twenty }

It was a beautiful day. It was cold in the days leading up to May 1st, 1999. But on that day, it was perfect! We were married at the Cooper Chapel in Bella Vista, Arkansas. It was such a beautiful setting. The minister read a passage from Corinthians chapter 13. A harpist played our music. It was very small, I like to say intimate. Almost all of the people we care about the most were there. The service started at 11:00 a.m. After the service, there were bubbles and then we headed to the Inn at Bella Vista for lunch, in a beautiful horse drawn carriage. It was such a perfect day.

What will the next ten years bring? Middle school, high school. Driver's licenses for the kids. High school graduation for our daughter. We'll have lots of fun family adventures along the way. I can't wait.

{ Thankful in April }

30. hope for the future.
29. a brilliant idea for teacher appreciation week.
28. the school book fair. We love books!
27. peace and quiet.
26. butterflies.
25. my little family, they make me smile.
24. TGIF and DH's last night of work this week!
23. all the hard work of the kids and the teachers for open house tonight. They were all so proud!
22. the Earth!
21. skinny cow ice cream sandwiches.
20. spending time with friends.
19. a fun fairy party. DD was so into it!
18. my new tomato plant which will undoubtedly provide many fruits in the coming months!
17. the trailblazer is being fixed. I'm so grateful for that car that I miss it!
16. my creative kids and the great projects they come up with all on their own!
15. the possibility of a new job.
14. feeding the ducks at the park.
13. gyros made from leftover lamb and delicious treats from Jen.
12. Easter Sunday!
11. family traditions which are so much fun to continue with my own kids!
10. the utimate sacrifice by Jesus for we sinners.
9. life!
8. the opportunity to participate in DS's education.
7. DD's dedicated and creative teacher and her thunder cake project today!
6. easing back into the first day of school after spring break, we all had a good day!
5. museums, we love museums!
4. Easter egg hunts.
3. a loving husband who took the kids outside to play with neighborhood friends while I soaked in the tub to ease the achiness from prednisone.
2. a wonderful, new library, where the kids are so excited to go.
1. the energy to finish all the laundry, get completely unpacked and clean the car today, despite another wicked sinus infection.