Mom's School Project

The edits are a little rough but that isn't the point of the project (on which we only have 6 days to work) so Mom doesn't mind sharing. It's actually for use with a great tool called Voicethread It's one of the many things she'd love to spend all day with creating lessons and staff development and it is definitely worth checking out.

Anyway, Hallie was so unbelievably adorable, the little segment deserved more that just being handed in to the professor. Enjoy the next Food Network Star!

Big Bear Lake

Summers spent at the lake are some of the fondest memories of childhood. Our latest lake memory came from just one day but was glorious nonetheless. Thanks to Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Mike, and in celebration of Natalie's visit to California, we got to spend a fun afternoon in Big Bear. After meeting up at the cabin, and the necessary reorganization of family members, we headed down to the dock. Our skipper, Uncle Mike, took care of the arrangements and led us to the boat. Once the young 'uns had their life jackets secure, we got under weigh. For one wonderful hour Uncle Mike skillfully sailed us around the lake while we enjoyed watching the kids, looking at the beautiful homes and spending time together as a family. There were few others on the lake and, though overcast, the weather, complete with cool breeze, was pleasant and comfortable. This was definitely one of those 'moments' in time that will always be a special memory for our family. It's a very special thing - to experience an event that is not only bringing up parents' memories of times gone by, but creating memories in the children that will be recalled and shared on a similar day in their future. Will we be sharing our memories of this with their children - our grandchildren? Such a joyous thought.....

It was the first boat ride for Hallie and Anna (discounting the various happiest boats on earth) and Natalie played her role as the guiding cousin beautifully. She told the girls what to expect before encouraging her grandpa to find some waves. Even she wasn't expecting the dousing that that came next. The next adventure for the two older girls was to try to get dry and stay warm for the rest of the ride. Hallie was a little grumpy about the chuckling that occurred after the wave crashed over the side but recovered quickly and laughed about it - having earned her stripes - and retold it to her dad later on. The rest of us managed to avoid the waves and had only to shake out our shoes a little. Anna had fun watching but did not want to sit "where we get wet". The sounds of the water, and our voices talking and laughing - caught on the wind are still easy to hear even now.

Once docked, we unbuckled the kids (only to re-buckle them in the car) and headed back to the cabin for lunch. Everyone contributed to the fine picnic lunch we shared on the deck of the cabin. We counted quail and chipmunks and watched the birds congregate around the bird feeder. The sun finally came out but never making it too hot for us to enjoy the sights and sounds of summer in Big Bear. The girls even took a trip down to the nature center with the grands. They explored the exhibits and even came home with some grandparent inspired items from the gift shop. The girls didn't want to stop playing and would never have been ready to head home. The time to go finally came and luckily, everyone was sleepy enough to coax into saying goodbye until the next time.We couldn't have asked for better weather or a more wonderful afternoon.

Star Spangled 4th

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

School's Out..

....and we couldn't be happier! After phase 1 of closing down our classrooms, we picked up Anna and gave Hallie the choice of restaurants to celebrate her completion of Kindergarten. Knowing the choices 5 yr olds make, we were strong and didn't make a suggestion or try to lead her down our preferred path. As you can imagine she chose Burger King. Dad stepped in then and said "Well, honey, we were thinking...." at which point she interrupts with "I know, something nicer. More special -pause-Wendy's?" She took the laughter as a sign that it mightn't have been what we were thinking. And after wavering between Mimi's and Applebee's, we ended up at Applebee's. Maybe by the time she's in junior high we can go someplace that doesn't have a TV. Well, for some reason somebody's food was a dollar so we actually got off easy for about as much as Burger King and a half. We also enjoyed cooling off in someone else's air conditioning since it was still wavering between 102 and 104 degrees at 4 o clock.

Hallie's favorite things about Kindergarten: It's great and it's wonderful for every day. It was fantastic. We did tear art, we did finger paints. We learned about fish and how the lion fish is poisonous. We learned math like 3-3 is 0 and we learned that your mouth is like a circle when you say 'O' or 'ahh'. We went to the Discovery center on Friday May 9th and got to ride the bus. Riding the bus was fun because it was like riding a roller coaster without seat belts. I liked when we made the gingerbread man. They were just pretending he was real and that he hopped out of the oven. We found him in the office in the Principal's office and he was wearing a real band aid. He had it because he was running in the hallway and he fell. I made some friends and they are Taylor and Henry and Katie and Jessica. I wish I would see my old Kindergarten teachers again. I love them so much. (she also asked if I was sure I didn't need help spelling 'because' which she proceeded to spell out loud to me)

Anna's not out yet but she had a few things to say as well. Anna's favorite things about pre school: I like see the kids. Kids say hi. I play with the kids. I paint on my shirt. (It not nice so-and-so you paint my shirt) Its some paint and get ALL wet. Um play in water and biiiiig SPLASH! I sing at class. Her favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown and her favorite song is ABCD. She does a mean teapot by the way.

It's hard to believe that it's been a year since the PreSchool Graduation Extravaganza but now our big girl is ready to move on to first grade and the other 'big girl' will finish her time with the toddlers to move on to the two-year-old curriculum.

Sesame Street Live

We, as parents try to be fair and provide equal opportunities for our children. We know that they don't read into everything the way we do yet we even out the Christmas presents, let them take turns choosing videos and music and try to give equal time. As a result of this parental need, we arranged for dinner and a show for just Mom, Dad and Anna. It was an easy sell for Hallie because she was too old for the show and would get the better end of the bargain by having her own one on one time with Grandma. Perfect!

Right. After about 5 seconds from pulling away from Grandma's house, for our careful planning and consideration, we were rewarded with tears. Anna began to cry and kept saying she wanted her sister. So, instead of a ride filled with excitement for the upcoming adventure, our time was spent convincing her that the show would be over soon and then we could go get Hallie. Really.... pretty much all the way to the performing arts center.

Everything was OK by the time we arrived at the venue. There were many distractions provided by the hoards of people arriving for the sold out show. Screaming fans, larger than life celebrities, A-list concert, right? Yes, but screaming because the fans are barely out of diapers, celebrities are larger than life because they are in fuzzy costumes with gigantic heads and feet and A-list....well, because this performance was brought to you by the letter 'A'. The show? Sesame Street Live!!!!

It's an interesting place, this world of tiny fans and their crazy wallet emptying parents. Programs, t-shirts and ticket stubs for souvenirs for sure but instead of Stairway to Heaven, it's Sing...sing a song... and instead of lighters raised to illuminate the event, it's those spinning lighted things that kids get wrapped into their hair. Typically one tries to get the seats closest to the stage when purchasing tickets to a concert but in here again lies a difference. You have to know if your kids can handle being that close. Parents do NOT, repeat do NOT buy tickets as yourself for a show like this. The big furry things with giant heads come off the stage and walk around so if your child doesn't like em at Disneyland and won't pose with Santa, don't waste your money!

But, for better or for worse, we had been to a couple shows before and knew the ropes. And, admittedly, it is a good show. Plenty of movement and singing, familiar friends, appropriate themes complete with lessons and splashy effects keep the kids riveted to there seats (or floor space) for at least 1 minute and a half. This experience really illustrated a big difference between our kids too. We couldn't pay Hallie to laugh or clap along or ANYTHING. She's always really into it all but doesn't join in. She leads. (like when she started her own "tastes great/less filling" team at Disneyland alongside the pre-parade entertainment-except it was Mickey Mouse/Donald Duck) Anna though, laughs hysterically, claps and sings so much so that we feel the need to install a volume knob. She announced every character as they appeared, yelled hello and waved her little hands off. She was ready for it to be over at the intermission as evidenced by the speed with which she hopped out of her seat but we assured her that she would LOVE the next part. We also told her that her 'Big Bird' really wanted to see the rest. She kept us entertained by making monster faces but when I pulled out the camera and asked her to 'show me the monster' she held up her cookie monster shirt in front of the lens. Smart girl - she did show me the monster! She loved the rest of the show and remembered enough to tell Hallie and Grandma that she saw Sesame Street and all the friends and they had to make a show. It was loud and she had to cover her eyes because it was so loud. Ahh, money well spent!