Picking Teams

Kate and I went to the library yesterday. It has been a long time since we have done that. When I taught Pre-School I went all the time and of course, Kate loved it! Here is a picture of some of my students during story time. This time of the day was always my favorite. I love children's books.


One of my favorite authors of children's books, that was a surprise to me is Jamie Lee Curtis. My sister told me about her book, "I'm Gonna Like Me." It is very cute and comical! I love the illustrations, they really make the words even more powerful. One of my favorite passages is, "I'm gonna like me when I don't run so fast. Then they pick teams and I'm chosen last." Now, who can't relate to that? Who hasn't worried about being picked last? It happens to good players too. Anyway, The look on the girls face in the book is priceless. Actually, the look on all the kids faces is hilarious!


Here are two more of her books that I have also read many times. This one is about adoption and what really makes a family. Even if you haven't adopted a child yourself, I think it is important that all children learn about it and how special it is!


This book is entitled, "Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day." It is a lot of fun and once again, great pictures!

My Top Ten

This is my top ten list of things I love about my kids:

#10. I love their sense of adventure! Go Luke!


#9. I love how they surrender when caught in the act!


#8. I love their happy disposition when we dress them up so cute!


#7. I love when they try new and exciting things!


#6. I love the musician in them! "Dum diddy dum diddy dum dum dum!"


#5. I love their creativity! (Years ago, Austin created a character named Luke Little, after his brother. He is a cross between Luke Skywalker and a Pokemon trainer. Austin has written many stories in which the kids act out and videotape. This is an episode from his last manuscript!)



#4. I love their determination to give it their all! "Go, Go, Go!"


#3. I love the manners they use when eating!


#2. I love their spontaneity! Yipee!


#1. I love how cute they are at every stage, from youngest to oldest! Don't grow up too fast!

Surprise!

Today is Alexis' 12th birthday! She has wanted her own room for awhile now and we decided to surprise her today with just that. We worked all week trying to turn our guest room into a teen room. It was a lot of fun and a little challenging, trying to get ideas from her without giving the surprise away. Troy also decided to surprise her by filling her new room with four of her best friends from Carnation, WA that we left behind in our move. He drove over this afternoon to pick them up and we had them waiting in her room when she returned from an activity at 5:00. This was her reaction upon opening the door!


Before


After

Anger Management

Every once in awhile, Alex will ask me to tell her about my dating days. Well, I try to tell her experiences that I've learned something from, so maybe she'll get something out of it. I told her about a boy that I went to prom with that wasn't very mannerly. He had been very polite on prior dates but when things didn't go as he had planned he turned sour. I tried to salvage the night at first but realized that I just needed to go home. This is a momento of that night with a little personal cutting and pasting. This guy is a much better date. Isn't he cute? I figured my kids would be alright with THIS dance picture. They hate to see pictures of Troy and I with other people. Anyway, because my original date was such a stinker and made me so mad, as soon as I got my pictures all to myself, I grabbed a hole-punch and cut his face out. Teenage hormones, gotta love 'em! I did not want to ever remember him or that night. Now it seems so silly but at the time it seemed like a great way to vent.

Spring Fever

Woo Hoo! I didn't have to wear my big, down coat this week! I also saw bulbs bursting from the ground at somebody's house. Then I found these photos and I could just feel the sand between my toes! Here we are visiting friends in California in October. People were swimming and surfing, crazy. It is summer there for most of the year, though.


This is one of my dearest and oldest friends. We were facing the street when we started to take pictures and she turned us around to make sure we got the beach. Isn't is beautiful?


This is Christy's husband. They go to the beach as much as possible. What a beautiful world we live in. We have so much to enjoy and indulge in. It will be nice to indulge in the sun!

Macho Macho Man

We decided to put Luke into an all-boys dance class this year because he loves to dance. The group consists of about 12 boys and they practice once a week. Today we went to Spokane to see them compete. It was so much fun to see these young kids, ages 7-10 dance. They were so enthusiastic and trained. I felt like I was in a different world. Luke is not inhibited by performing in front of people however, we did have to give him a little incentive to smile and grunt when needed. There were other groups with girls and one boy in them and they were incredible! So, we were somewhat of a novelty to have an all-boys group. They performed two numbers which they got recognition for and "Macho Man" (their clogging number) took first place! It was so exciting! All the boys walked the red carpet and collectively received a trophy. The MCee wanted to know where she could get a shirt like that for her husband. Here he is showing off his muscles. Notice the gold chain hanging around his neck, too bad the chests didn't come with hair. Way to go boys!


"Macho Baby!"

Sugar High

On the radio today, I heard a commercial for McDonalds. It was a man talking about how he hadn't found his morning. Well, I couldn't find my morning today, either. I snoozed the alarm more than normal, I was late getting Kate to school and when I checked my email, I realized that my daughter had sent a massive chain letter out to some of my friends from high school and acquaintances. It starts out by asking, "Who are you crushing on?" It asks several, similar questions before you realize that it's a chain letter. Well, I immediately sent out another email letting everyone know that it was a mistake. Troy called shortly after and was a little courious as to why I was asking such questions to professionals at their places of work. It must have been the sugar high from the day before.

I turned another year older, yesterday. Friends stopped by to greet and spoil me and I had three delicious cakes and lots of chocolate by the end of the day. I indulged right away and haven't stopped since. Of course, we all had to try a little of everything! My wonderful husband made dinner and my kids cleaned up. It was great!

Kate made me this card. I love it! She is much more artistic than I ever was. She also debated with her dad about who deserved more time with mom. Dad said that he didn't get to see me all day but, Kate came right back and said, "but you were with mom way before I was in her tummy!" It was unanimous, she was the winner!