1st Birthday Fun!

We celebrated Sam's first birthday this weekend. My mom flew in on Thursday and then on Saturday a little bit before the party we had unexpected guests...grandma & grandpa from Oregon! Sam enjoyed cake and then we all went swimming. He got lots of presents, I guess it makes up for the last year of playing with sissy's barbies. His favorite toy was the gift sis bought him with her own money, a little squishy basketball. But somehow it does not surprise me that he liked the $1 toy the best. Here's some photo's.

All of this for fifteen dollars?

Here's a steal of a deal for us Phoenicians. It's a produce co-op!
50% fruit, 50% veggies and 100% YUMMY!
Go to www.bountifulbaskets.org to sign up. You purchase the produce every 2 weeks and when you sign up you are NOT obligated to purchase more than once. Try it out, there are several locations and my family LOVES it!

The aliens of a 5 year olds imagination

A few days ago while I was making dinner:

Lizzy: "If you and daddy ever left I would cry."

me: "If we ever left it would be to go to Hawaii."

Lizzy: "I would still cry the whole time."

me: "Well, if we were in Hawaii, grandma would be here with you guys."

Lizzy: "If grandma were here, I would not cry but smile the whole time. But if aliens came to watch us instead of grandma then I would scream the whole time."

me: "Aliens? Well, are they good or bad? What do they look like?"

Lizzy: "They have 8 eyes, 8 noses, one mouth, 2 arms and 1 leg."

me: "What do they eat?"

Lizzy: "Magnets. You need to hide all yours before they come."

me: "Do they have any special skills or powers?"

Lizzy: "Yes. They have razor sharp teeth that can cut through a sword."

Me: "Do humans have a chance against them? Do we have any special skills that they do not?"

Lizzy: "We can run much faster than them, they only have one leg."

Then she proceeded to paint pictures of the aliens bones. Their arm looks kinda like a house, she assures me that this is normal for the aliens although very strange looking for us humans. Here is a picture of some of their bones. It's very abstract looking and hard to tell what each bone is, but I suppose with an alien you never can tell.

Going bAck to school...

NO, not to learn, to HELP.
Some day I think I want to teach. The question has always been what grades do I want to teach? Swiftly followed by the question would I be any good, which remains to be seen. The grades I am most interested in are either Kindergarten or High School History.
A few years ago I was a substitute teacher at Lizzy's pre-school. The kindergarten was always my favorite. So, I decided to volunteer in Lizzy's Kindergarten class this year. I also decided to volunteer with the high school speech and debate team. They typically need judges for their tournaments. And I did this all through high school and some in college and LOVED it. Yesterday I was both with Kindergartner's and with High School kids. I smiled so much the kids probably thought I was a little loony. I think I could have stayed in both classes all day and some. I enjoyed myself immensely. However, I was not teaching, only helping and observing. I am hoping this year of volunteering will help me come to a decision as to what grade I want to teach when the time comes. Right now though I have no more insight except that I really do enjoy a classroom setting where I am not the one doing the homework.

Of Kindergarten and Turning 30

Well, August 2008 is a memorable month. Lizzy started kindergarten a week and half ago and I am turning 30 on Sunday. Both of these milestones are pretty big in my book. I always thought that getting older didn't really matter. Well it first hit about a month ago when Liz and I were playing charades and I tried to be a frog and well, I can't really leap that well now. It all JIGGLES! And, I run everyday I am in at least decent shape. I sat on the couch and cried while my usually sweet husband called me an old lady. Being logical I know that getting older in inevitable so what does it matter? Well, it's facing the inevitability of things hanging where they use to not and seeing wrinkles on what use to be a youthful face. I guess that's the point. My mom is sending me 30 birthday cards for my 30 years of life. My favorite one says this, "You're 30, you're mature! You're responsible! And to teenagers everywhere, you're OLD!" I have no desire to be younger, I love the experiences I have earned and lived, so I guess with the knowledge and wisdom of getting older also comes the lines of wisdom on your face and saggy boobs from nursing 2 children. Well, I will gladly take the physical ramifications of getting older if it means being wiser and happier.
Now, I also didn't think it would be hard for me to send Lizzy to kindergarten, and I was right, it was EXTREMELY easy. She LOVES it and is excited for all day to start, it is only half day right now. Her teacher has been doing gifted testing on her and told me the other day that she reads at a 3rd grade level. She said they are moving her to 1st grade for her reading lessons. She comes home singing songs about the days of the week, about eating and other funny things. I think her teacher must sing all day long, which must be fun for the kids. Well, I am happy about her being in school. She is so very social (who does that remind you of) and school is just right for her. We think she has a "crush" on a boy named Zach, she is always saying how funny he is and then she tried her first name out with his last name the other day. I'm glad we already had the no kissing talk with her.
Then I heard the song "Slipping through my fingers" from the Mama Mia soundtrack the other day and well, it touched me.
It says,
" Schoolbag in hand
She leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye
With an absent-minded smile
I watch her go
With a surge of that well-known sadness
And I have to sit down for a while
The feeling that I'm loosing her forever
And without really entering her world
I'm glad whenever I can share her laughter
That funny little girl

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what's in her mind
Each time I think I'm close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time."

My mother-in-law always says that now is the time to enjoy your life, that it will never be more exciting, happy or fun as when your children are growing up. I'm trying to do that, but I have to admit, although I'm not thrilled about looking older, it sure is fun and exciting to watch my kids grow up.