One Crazy Week!

We have had one crazy week! We started with a trip to the river, a full week of school for both children, a birthday, back to school night, Daddy working out of town and a quit trip down south! I am so glad that we are home and tomorrow will be a day to relax and catch up on things. I have been downloading pictures and can't wait to have some new posts up! I miss not posting more often, hopefully our schedule will start to get easier for all of us.

Happy Birthday Baby!

My sweet little boy turns 6 years old today! It seems like it was just yesterday that they laid him on my chest for the very first time. I remember looking at his chubby little face, it was love at first sight. It was one of the happiest days of my life and I cried and cried.

My husband and I could not have been more blessed than what we were on August 28, 2002 at 4:24pm. We thank God everyday for allowing us to watch over this little boy. May he allow us to have many many more happy and healthy years!

Belated Birthdays!

This past week we celebrated two important birthdays, my father who turned 80! and my godchild who turned 9! What better way to celebrate then to go and have a famous SOS.

Here is the Birthday Cee and the Birthday Papa!

Cee and Kae getting ready to dig in!

And Papa too!

Two adorable sisters!

We enjoyed getting together on their actual birthday, August 20th, even though it was during the middle of the week, and Cee's very first day of school, ever! It was short but it was oh so sweet!

Inspiration

"Do what you can,

with what you have,

where you are."

Theodore Roosevelt

1858-1919

He stands for Hope?

I cannot remember a time that I was not pro-life. When I was young, I remember my mom showing me a tape, I think it was called "The Silent Scream". It was a tape of an ultrasound that was done while an abortion was taking place. I can still see that tape in my mind; how that baby tried to get away from the suction tube that was going to kill it. This ultrasound changed the abortion doctor who performed that abortion and many others. I was to young to have had a position on abortion before that tape, put I have never changed my mind since that day.

So when I read a post the other day on Letthelittleonescome, I was surprised at what I read. She titled the post Horror, and she was right. The post had a link to an article about Barack Obama and his beliefs on the unborn. It was about his vote on an bill that would give a dying child a respectful death. His vote and his comments are unbelievable for a candidate who claims to be the candidate of hope?

I never knew that babies are sometimes born alive, even though they were born because of an abortion. This alone is very disturbing to me, let alone leaving a living human child in a laundry closet to die because they didn't die in utero. It made me think of ancient times when the Romans and Greeks would leave their unwanted children on the rocks at the edge town. When I heard of the atrocity of that practice I was so glad that I lived in a modern world where such a practice would be prosecuted, not practiced at a hospital.

We have a huge decision to make this November. While I have not been a big John McCain fan, he is pro-life. If he picks a pro-life running mate, that will be even better. If Barack Obama gets elected, what will the future hold, especially for the unborn? I pray that we will not find out.

1st Day of 1st Grade!

Today was the start of 1st grade for my little boy! He started out the day just as my daughter did a few days ago, only a little worse. I was surprised by the way he was acting because last year he loved school, even on the first day. When he didn't want to get dressed and hid from me, I wasn't sure what to make of it. I thought he was just being lazy about having to get back on a schedule, but I was wrong. We took the same 1st day picture like we did last year; in the front yard, in front of the big tree. It was a little hard to get a smile, but eventually I did. I figured when he got to school and saw some of his friends, he would be happier. I was wrong again.

He was very quiet and had to fake a smile for the camera. After taking a few pictures, I realized that he was about ready to cry! I gave him a hug and asked him what was wrong and he told me that he was scared. I tried to comfort him, but it was hard because he was trying not to let anyone know that he was crying. It is tough trying to be a big kid!

At the school, the Kindergarten and first grade classrooms are across the street from the main campus. The whole school meets in the courtyard for morning assembly and prayers. When they are done they cross the street to go to their classrooms. Since our last name starts with an "A", my son is always the first one. He made his away across with his new teacher.

I had to laugh at these pictures when I was down loading them because I noticed my son had his hands behind his back. This is the way that the kids were taught in Kindergarten to walk. I noticed that he is the only one walking that way. He is my little rule follower! He is also still forcing a smile.

When I picked him up from school, he was again the first one in line to leave. He had a big smile on his face and gave his sister and me a big hug. He said that he liked his first day and his new teacher.

He told me that he got to be the first one to pick his desk, and he picked the one at the very front! He also explained that they don't raise their hands with crossed fingers to go to the bathroom. Instead only one boy and one girl can go at a time and you have to pull the card and put it on your desk, if you have to go! Also the rules at the top of the door our for his classroom and the ones underneath are for the whole school. These are very important things to know for a rule follower!

He told me tonight that he was so worried about school because someone told him that in first grade that you had to do 100 math problems in 5 minutes. He was scared because he thought he would not be able to accomplish this! I reminded him that I had told him that a long time ago, but he still worried about it. He had worried about this almost all summer, poor thing.

He also told me that I was wrong, they didn't have a box of Legos, because he looked for them! I guess 1st grade doesn't measure up because it has no Legos! You have to know what your priorities are, even in 1st grade!

USA Swimming

It has been so much fun watching the Olympics and especially the swimming events. Michael Phelps was just amazing! I remember my older sister having a poster of Mark Spitz in his speedo and 7 gold medals hanging in our room after the Olympics. Oh how I wish I was younger and could get away with having a poster of Michael Phelps on my wall with his 8 gold medals, and his speedo!

And I also enjoyed Dara Torres! Give it up for the 41 year old mother! She won two silvers medals instead of gold, but she was a class act! When she got the field to wait for the one swimmer who had tore her suit was first class sportsmanship! (I also thought that the Australians left early on the second leg of the relay, but I guess I was wrong.)

The rest of the Olympics won't be as fun as the first was, but I will continue to watch and cheer for the Americans! Go USA!

Lila

We have a new addition to our family. Her name is Lila and she is a female American Shepard. She is about 2 years old and is a very sweet girl. She has become my daughter's best friend.

Lila's picture had been posted at the entrance of my office building for about three weeks. I looked at it almost everyday. I kept telling myself that I was not ready for another dog. Well, one day my husband came by my office and commented about her picture. He asked if I knew anything about her. He told me that Shepards are great dogs. He sounded interested in her, so I gave in and called about her.

She was living with a couple and their part-time 12yr old. She had to be kept in a small dog run on the side of the house because she would jump out of the yard. The family did not have time to spend with her on a regular basis and she would be super hyper when they did try to spend time with her. They felt bad for her and wanted to find her a family. Before we called they only had one call about her and it was for her to be a watch dog for a construction company. So I am so glad that I called.

Before saying yes, I looked into ways of keeping her from jumping and discovered a harness that makes it difficult for them to jump. I talked to the man at the pet store and he said that they worked well. It allows the dog to walk and run, it just doesn't let them spring off their back legs. They had tried the shock collar but it did not work on her. We said yes hoping that the harness would work for her.

Lila's former home was not very far from us, so the kids and I walked her home. We fitted her for the harness and then let her free in our back yard. She has walked the fence line and gone to the gate, but has not tried to jump! She has been free in our back yard since yesterday evening and she is still here! We left her for the first time tonight when we all went out for dinner. She was at the gate when we all got in the car. I worried all through dinner and couldn't wait to get home. I was so happy to hear her at the gate when we got back home! I called her former owner and she said that if she had been free in the yard for that long and had not jumped out, then the harness was working. She had never stayed in their yard without being locked up or tied up before. I hope this continues to work!

She is very sweet and loves all the attention she is receiving. The kids love to pet her and brush her. She has been very gentle and has started to play with them. She has not eaten much, but that is probably normal since it has been very hot and she is not in her normal surroundings. I hope that she will continue to bond with us so that she will be happy here. Hopefully after she learns that we are her new family we can try to take the harness off and she will stay put in our yard!

Starting Preschool!

Today was the first day of preschool for my little girl. She is no longer a baby, but a little girl going to school! If we weren't so rushed this morning, I probably would have cried. But since it was a hectic morning, I was too worried about being late that I didn't. My daughter on the other hand, was having second thoughts. The little girl who was so excited this week, was suddenly not so excited this morning. She was having one of her moments! See the beautiful first day of school picture of her! She would not smile. She tried to be a little more excited when we actually got to the school. (She didn't want to have a frowny, mad picture on her mommy's blog!)

When we got to school her big brother helped her find her name tag. He showed her where her cubby was and then took her to her teacher. He was shy around his old teachers but he had fun seeing the classroom again.

My daughter was so happy to find a familiar face in the crowd. This little friend is from her daycare and she helped her transition into the playdough table.

She even helped introduce her to some new friends that she had all ready met. The other two little girls were also friendly and they had fun playing and getting to know each other.

Daddy said goodbye and reminded her to mind her teachers! She didn't cry when we left and this made us all happy.

When I went to pick her up she was happy to see me. She was sitting quietly on her letter and flashed me a big smile!

This was the little girl that I had been living with the last couple of days!

When she got to leave, she ran into my arms and told me how much fun she had that day! She got her picture from her cubby and we rushed home to show Daddy and her brother.

I am glad that she had a great time. I knew she would because these two teachers are great! My son loved them and so did my older niece and nephew whom they taught about 10 years ago. She will learn so much and make lots of new friends. I just hope she will mind and be the sweet little girl that she has always been for our babysitter. She is growing up so quick. I must stop blinking.

Oh My!

My sister, The Grasshopper, decided it was time to get rid of the excess in her life and her garage last weekend. So, since my garage is still full of boxes from our move two years ago, we decided we needed some of her things/junk! I thought that maybe, maybe her ab machine might be a good thing to acquire. If nothing else, it could keep the treadmill company, right?

Well, when I got home today from work, the kids and Daddy had figured out how it worked and were all anxious for me to try it out. Oh Yeah! I laid down on it, put my legs in the vice and tried to pull myself up into a sit up. I was not laying in the right spot so it was like impossible to sit up. They all instructed me to scoot down and try again. It worked this time and I was able to do like 2 of them. I stopped and scooted a little more. When I pulled up the next 8 times I started making funny noises, like a grunt. This made the DH and the kids laugh. When I collapsed, my son said to me very sweetly and seriously, "Mommy did you enjoy that?" I didn't have the heart to say "H#!! No!"

Out of the Mouths of Babes

A few weeks ago I was getting my daughter out of the bathtub and she said to me, "Mommy don't forget to dry my peanuts." I had to stop and think for a minute what she was talking about. When it dawned on me what she was meaning, I said to her, "Honey girls don't have penis', girls have vagina's." She looked at me and said, "Okay Mommy, don't forget to dry my vaginuts." I had to try real hard not to laugh.

So the other day she is with me in the car and she says, "Mommy, why do girls have Chinas and boys have Peanuts?" When I stopped laughing I said, "Because that is the way God made us." All save the anatomy lessons for when she is a little older!

We really enjoyed our week long camping trip! We camped with my sister and her husband and their two children; my brother in law's brother and his family; and his other brother. The three brothers are also my husbands second cousins. We like to keep the family connected. We camped out at a Thousand Trails Preserve called Morgan Hills. It was a great place to camp because we were just minutes from town and the Gilroy Outlets! The girls did enjoy an afternoon outing to the outlets! We had great food, great fun and lots of relaxation! My kids were not ready to go home, even after nine days! We are all ready planning for next year!

Wordless Wednesday

Children who are happy to be washing dishes? I hope it will stay that way for a long time! Happy WW! For more WW pictures check out 5minutesformom.

Home

This has been home for the last nine days. While we had a great time, I am so glad to be HOME! It was so nice to get home, get the kids in the bathtub, get them dressed, go get a shower myself and come back and find that they were still clean! Both the kids were crying when we left the campground, but they were so happy to get home! And so was I!