East of Cleveland

First Day of 3rd and 4th Grades

2011-08-24T18:51:00.000-07:00

Gabby and Emi. One of Em's favorite girl friends is in her class this year.

Coming and . . .

. . . going. That backpack was HEAVY!!! The Kleenex, not so much.

Buckling in.

Lining up. Mr. Williams is in the background.

Sam was excited to have an old friend in his new class. Mr. Bolar is in the background.

Ready to go.

The Shades and a new hair cut.

Loves the bling.

With the wind in her hair . . .

. . . she is off!!!

Here we are again! I can't believe we went through a whole school year, a summer and are starting another year! Whoa, life is speedy quick. Each new year makes me nostalgic for the last but excited for the next.
Sam is starting at Greenview Upper Elementary School. He is on team Athens and has Mr. Bolar this year. His team will rotate between 3 teachers and he is excited to be doing bigger things.
Emily is starting her last year at Rowland Elementary. She has Mr. Williams and is super excited. She has had the exact same teachers Sam had through all of his years at Rowland and they think that is pretty cool. She tested into the district's gifted program called STEP UP and is excited to be bused to Greenview Elementary once a week where she will be one of 16 kids in a gifted class.
Sam and Em now both have opinions about their clothes, hair and this year SHADES. Love them!!! (The kids that is, though the sunglasses are cute too.)

April Showers . . .

2010-08-22T11:51:00.001-07:00

April was a busy month for us. We took a trip back to Oxford and Miami University during our spring break. Danny participated in a Conference with old professors on campus while the kids and I painted pottery at "You're Fired." It is an awesome studio owned by my good friend Lisa Leishman. Emily painted a butterfly and Sam turned a flower pot into a Super Mario Pot.

It was also Kidsfest Weekend at Miami. They had bouncers, games, every meal, movies, crafts, prizes and all kinds of entertainment for the AWESOME price of free!!!

Our favorite were the pirates. Jack Sparrow was there and made it a point to compliment Johnny Depp in doing such a good job of portraying him in all of his movies. He was seriously SO good.

And that was just the beginning of April.

Getting Down With Derby

2010-08-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

Sam looked forward to his chance at participating in the Pinewood Derby for years. We have a movie called "Down with Derby" that gave him a kind of skewed perspective of what it would really be like but never the less it was memorable.

Danny and Sam worked super hard together to come up with his dream car and Emily played with all of the scraps. Sam learned how to use a power saw, power drill and logged a lot of time with the sanding block. They went shopping together for the perfect paint color and fillers and then made sure to add the paint in lots of layers, sanding in between to get the highest sheen. Then Sam added cool stickers to put on the number one and to name it windjet.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I was a nervous mama the morning of the race because just like every other boy in the room Sam was SUPER positive that all of his work and his newly acquired knowledge on the power of graphite would pay off. OF COURSE his little wooden hot rod was going to beat out the competition. I could see the look on other mom's faces too. It was emotional for me because with every race there was a loser and some little guys even burst into tears.

A little hand is pointing out Sam's hot red car.

But race after race Sam's car won until the very end. His car won the wolf division that consisted of all the 8 year olds and took second in the overall pack. Not too bad for the first try. He was a really gracious winner but didn't quite know what to do when he accepted his trophy and everyone was cheering. So he just waved his hand, did a little gunpoint and flick of the wrist as he winked and said, "yeah, thanks." It was hilarious and had the parents rolling.

Our cute neighbor Sid came to watch the fun with his mom Janine and sister Layla.
Our troop leader made super cute badges for each of our boys.

He is already talking about next years car :)

Lots to Read

2010-05-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

So I just did a little blog-a-thon. You might want to keep scrolling down and maybe even look at older posts if you want to see it all.

Trauma

2010-05-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

WARNING: If you don't deal well with wounds you might want to skip this.
The last Wednesday of April Emily was playing in our neighbor's yard with her little friends and I called her home to come with me to drop a meal off to a friend who just had a new baby. Emily left a blanket in the neighbor's yard when she came with me and ran across the street to get it when we returned home.
What we didn't know is that when she left the neighbor took his kids inside and put their aggressive, VERY protective dog outside.
Em bent down to get her blanket and then looked up to see a large shepherd mix coming at her face. She quickly stood up and tried to run away but just wasn't quite fast enough. Little Bear got a pretty big bite of her leg.
She came home completely frantic and we quickly took her to an urgent care. Normally they would have liked to have stitched it but since it was a bite they had to leave it open in case of infection.
We had to visit our pediatrician twice more that week so they could keep an eye on it and the health department made a visit to keep an eye on the dog that was not current with its rabies shots. The girl seems healthy and so does the dog.
The pediatrician originally wanted us to see a plastic surgeon but by Saturday it had closed by itself beautifully.
She was pretty traumatized at first but has since loved on several other friendly neighborhood dogs. Here's hoping she continues to not be too scared.

A Wish on a Candle

2010-05-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

So now that I have access to all of my pictures on my computer it has been interesting to go back and look at the year I didn't blog. Emily's birthday from last year was one of those events that didn't get shared. It is crazy to look back and see how much has changed in one year. The huge difference between the Kindergartener and the 1st grader. The year seems to have wisped by like the breath that was used to blow out her candles

We celebrated at Build-a-Bear with a handful of her school friends. It was super easy and amazingly inexpensive compared to parties of previous years where we entertained whole families.

She decided she wanted store bought cookies and Capri Suns for her class treat.

It is ALL Good but the NUMBER. . .

2010-05-08T18:24:00.000-07:00

So another birthday came and went. The kids were cute. Danny was cute.

Love all the cards and birthday wishes.

Love my Rug and crystal light.
Love my clock.

And you've got to love all the bedhead pictures.
The number that is now mine? Not so much :)

It is hard to admit I have entered a new category on surveys. Why is it that they have to make you go from being grouped with the 20 year olds to being grouped with the 50s? Not that there is anything wrong with the 50s. I'm just not ready to go there myself:)

The Mother of All Cookies

2010-05-08T18:07:00.000-07:00

I was the cookie mom again this year for our girl scout troop. Most of March was about cookies, cookies, cookies. Our troop was awesome and sold 3600 boxes. That is 300 cases or 3 Honda Odysseys and a Ford Excursion full of cookies. We earned lots of incentives, troop money and the bonus T-SHIRTS.
The pictures are just the first load. Glad that is behind me.

February Twenty-Ten

2010-04-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

February in Cleveland seems harder for me each year. There is NO sun, I have NO energy, NO motivation and I tend to eat WAY too much and we all get sick. My poor house. My poor family. My poor body. But then March comes and the sunshine returns and I am again happy, motivated and start getting things done that I just think about doing in February:)

We did have SOME fun and I DID get a few things done that are evidenced in the next few pictures.
I was in charge of helping our Girl Scout troop make THESE centerpieces for a Valentine's Day spaghetti dinner put on by the church that sponsors our troop.

Sam has become a big fan of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" book series and loves the part where Greg Heffley confiscates his mom's bathrobe to stand over the heat vents on cold mornings. Cleveland has lots of cold February mornings and so Sam continually requested a bathrobe. I looked at Macy's, 2 Targets, 2 Walmarts, JCPenny, Sears, Dillards, Children's Place, TJMaxx, Nordstrom's, Kohl's and a few more stores that I am sure I am forgetting to no avail. There were only one size fits all men's bathrobes and lots of bathrobes in pastel prints. I finally stopped by Walgreens and found these kid Snuggies to warm up their Valentine's Day.
They were ecstatic and look a little like Boobahs when they wear them.

We prepped our house for THESE. . .

and I made a couple of THESE. I feel a huge Goody Gumdrops post coming on.

Sorry about my Playlist

2010-03-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

I have had a playlist on my blog for way over a year. I put it up and have basically ignored it ever since. Just today I opened my blog and there was a VERY OFFENSIVE announcement on it. I think someone hacked it. I have tried to log in and change or remove my list and even with a new password they emailed to me I CAN NOT log in.
I am sooo sorry if you have had to hear that. If you hear a womans voice saying, "Attention Customer" close your screen.

Sorry about that. I have written support services.

March Mayhem Then

2010-03-13T04:46:00.000-08:00

So March of 2009 marked a milestone in my life. I had the first birthday where I really didn't care to let people know how old I was. This "how old I was" put me in a new catagory for surveys, a new catagory with the O.B. if I decided to have another child and then just one day after this said birthday I was closer to 40 then 30. I didn't like it. I DID like the card and headphones I got from my hubby and kids, the gorgeous tulips from my sisters, the cards and checks from family and all the wishes I got on Facebook for the first time. So I guess it wasn't all that bad :)

In the middle of March we had a day off from school and decided to take a road trip with the Smiths and Larsens to the Science Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To keep kids together during group down time we decided to shelve them but didn't worry about alphabetization.

Camille and Sam shelf life 5 and 7 years.

Jenny, Spencer and Austin, shelf life 7,7 and just short of 1.

They all took a spin in the Earthquake Cafe. They got to choose a button that would serve up an earthquake the same strength of one that had occured earlier in history (i.e. Chile 7.1)
My kids loved building a capsule to encase an egg that was then strapped to the top of a car of their choosing and sent hurdling down a ramp.

Emily was so excited unknowingly celebrating the demise of her little oval friend.

Sam was a little more generous with his layering of bubble wrap, tape, foam, tape, bubble wrap, aluminum foil, tape, tape, and tape and his little eggbert lived to thank him.

We ended a long, fun day at Steak and Shake.

And just a silly random, Sam the Storm Trooper.

February's Blurbs

2010-03-13T04:12:00.000-08:00

I loved 100s day as a teacher and I have loved it with my kids. Here is Emily's first 100s day project. She showed her passion for the breakfast of cold cereal that she shares with her Daddy every morning by counting out 100 pieces of cereal and used lots of glue for the milk. Sam's projects (missing pictures) were 100 Lego spaceships the first year and 100 handcrafted aluminum foil action figures he lovingly calls "creation pods" the second.

Feeding Chickadees with the Girl Scouts at one of Cleveland's fabu Metro Parks Nature Centers.

If you put food in your hands and hold really, really still you may find a tiny feathered friend.

And then you can sit back and chat with girlfriends for a little while.

Sam loved Karate and the new suit!!!

Reflecting WOW!!!

2010-02-20T06:17:00.001-08:00

Sam's Pirate Ship of WOW!!!

The National PTA Reflections program is awesome. Every year PTA Reflections puts out a new theme and children around the country write, sing, dance, photograph, paint, draw and create projects. The projects become part of a local district show where winners are selected in each category to go on to the state show. In our case that is Columbus. From there the winners move on to Washington D.C.

I was asked to help with the effort at our school this particular year and so of course my kids participated and loved it.

The night of the show, in the lobby of a local medical center, we got to go and see the artwork on exhibit, hang out with friends and enjoy some refreshments.
Emily's Red Bird of Wow.

Sam's a winner and it is going to COLUMBUS!
Emily was excited to see her artwork but was not so excited when she realized Sam's got a blue ribbon and hers did not. Ahhh, such is life and she got over it :)
So Em, how do you REALLY feel about it? LOL
Our friend Isaiah was there.
Justina too!!!

And Micah from Kindergarten. Soooo exciting!!!
ITS GOOD TO REFLECT.

A Boy, His Friends, and Their Light Sabers

2010-02-20T05:18:00.000-08:00

January 2, 2009

Looking back at pictures of Sam's first sleepover I remember there being A LOT more boys. I guess there were only 5 and a little sister but it seemed like more.

Sam had decided that he was ready for a party and a chance for his friends to come over and play the wii and his lego Star Wars and Indiana Jones games that Santa had delivered that Christmas.

So we armed ourselves with pizza ingredients, juice, grapes, carrots, cookies, the new Star Wars The Clone Wars DVD and a few working lightsabers that I had picked up at Walmart after Halloween for a whole $1.47. We were prepared!!!

Jeremy even had his suit!!!
Isaiah Waiters
Wesley Hatch
Gage Manning
Clone Wars became a play along movie. How can 7 year old boys sit through that when they have a lightsaber in their hands?

Wii Zombies

Success!!!

Even with a little sister :)

Celebrating a Mess - New Years

2010-02-20T04:46:00.000-08:00

My kids love a good mess and we always do a good job of it for the New Year. Nothing like load poppers that spray confetti across the room.
To say goodbye to 2008 we had friends over to eat soup - Chicken Chowder and Tomato Artichoke - play some games of the board and wii kind and drink sparkling apple bubbly when the ball dropped. The Smith and Daouk kids didn't make it much past nine but the Flinders and Huangs stuck it out for the long haul.
The camera didn't make an appearance until after midnights so you will only be seeing the night owls.

The kids are crouched over the heat vents on our floor adding streamers and confetti that would blow back up in their faces.

Sam Flinders

Allison and Elise Flinders

Matthew Huang

Sam was just mostly interested in the wii. Hence the zombie face.

The Year of Vista - When My Computer Got Snooty

2010-02-20T04:08:00.000-08:00

A YEAR IN REVIEW - This may be a long process and you are welcome to quit reading at anytime. I just thought I would get back at my conceited computer with its stuck up and temperamental processor that REFUSED to acknowledge my Christmas present from last year. Who knew it would be prejudice toward a simple cyber-shot point and shoot?
Here goes . . .

P.S. I don't blog well without pictures.

Everybody's "Budd"

2009-12-12T07:58:00.000-08:00

I took a last minute trip to Utah/Wyoming last weekend. It was an amazing experience and I am glad I went. I got the chance to celebrate the life of an AMAZING man. If you ever really met him you understand.

You probably came to understand over a thick slice of homemade bread smothered in butter and raspberry freezer jam that came from the berry patch in the backyard. You probably felt like you had known the man for years or at least that he knew you, with the familiar friendship that was instantly offered along with some joke or memorized poem from the past.It makes me smile to think about.
What was his, was yours.

My niece took this picture of Grandpa Budd on Saturday November 28th at the annual Pead Family Thanksgiving Dinner. He went to bed Tuesday, Dec. 1 and passed away peacefully in his sleep.

My cousin Kammy posted this picture of HIS flag at half mast the day he died. It made us all laugh and cry at the same time. His flagpole is as crooked as his finger:) "luv u ole budd crooked finger!" - Hayley Woodard

Grandpa lost both of his parents in his teenage years and raised his younger siblings so the state wouldn't separate them and take them away. Him and Grandma also raised 9 kids of their own, plus three foster girls during the school year.

His little Brother Ballard was killed in the last days of WWII and my Gramps flew his flag almost every day to honor him. Our family, especially Grandpa, are extremely proud and grateful for Ballard's sacrifice. (In the last couple of months 4 different strangers randomly met grandpa and other family members. They shared stories of Ballard and his last days that answered some unknown questions of his war experience and death. God is kind.)

Over time the house and its surroundings aged with Grandma and Grandpa. It is strange to compare the house now with the images I have from my childhood. Where did the hedge go or the sprawling tree with the purplish leaves that shaded the front yard? What about the tall junipers, with their little fragrant sage-colored berries, that grew tall and doubled as a ladder to the brave cousins who would sneak on the roof? My Dad and his brothers laid the brick for the front flowerbed where the pansies grew.

I will miss the greatest backyard in the world. That place where I spent so many Sundays with cousins, eating salted watermelon and ice cream served with the same knife. I loved the colored cones imprinted with a new name like Lucy, Sally or Hank.

My biggest regret is that I didn't make it back to the house to see it one more time before it is forever changed. What about the giant glass grapes and the little porcelain grandma mouse rocking her grand baby mice?

My cousin Mandy wrote:
Best Darn Grandpa

grinning, dancing a jig for you,
with a smiling new babe
and a tootsie pop or two.

Hawaiian shirted, Basset-lover,
his wobbly walk,
calling a sister a brother.

crooked finger pointing directions,
teeth popping out
from all directions.

ice cream served up with a knife
bad jokes galore,
baseball-ed nights.

watermelon with salt,
slick back the hair,
a Star Valley Braves coat no matter what you wear.

the bright blue pickup, that ran just on fumes,
a kick "to the slats,"
the front pansies' blooms.

funny faces, cheeks with candy filled,
no use crying
over milk that had spilled.

loaves and loaves of homemade bread,
wonderful cards and letters that read:
"I love you, be good as Grandma would."
He wrote those just as long as he could.

fabled old stories or old cowboy poems
a warmth that always transformed
your house to a home.

the twinkling eyes, the sly old smile,
the cold feet and blankets...
more wood from the pile.

honor, integrity,
proud to be "Pead."
a "Star Valley Man,"
(the BEST kind of breed!)

husband, partner to Erma so dear,
one-of-a-kind Dad
year after year.

Grandpa to hundreds, to greats even more.
he's got a great start,
on the "sands of the shore."

overcame trials, heartache and cold.
left us a legacy,
more precious than gold.

hard work, love, faith in God,
lighting the way
on the path we should trod.

example, love, spiritual power,
each day lived
was this man's finest hour.

two endowments a week,
the life you lived,
your legacy--the last gift you would give.

Oh! the many things I will miss!
last, but not least,
your scratchy, old kiss.

dear Grandpa, I love you!
losing you's a shock,
'cause you're the BEST DARN GRANDPA ON THE WHOLE BLOCK!

Mandy Pead Green
Dec. 2, 2009
(She was lucky that the truck was painted such a bright blue. Her and Katie were able to patch it with toll paint when they wrecked it. It was a nice try:)

Obituary
GEORGE PEAD
George Budd Pead 1914 ~ 2009 George Budd Pead, 95, died Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at his home in Orem, Utah. He was born November 4, 1914, in Fairview, Wyoming, to Frederick and Henrietta Harmon Pead. He married Erma Erickson December 17, 1936, in the Logan Utah Temple. Erma passed away May 2, 2005. He was the first student with "4" letters in sports at Star Valley High School, Afton, Wyoming. He loved reading, learning and reciting poetry. He was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and Erma served a church mission in the Los Angeles Temple, in California. He is survived by Jeanette (Wayne) Denney, Salt Lake City; Jeanice (Monty) Harrison, Severance, CO; Jeraldine (Sherrill) Shorter, Orem; Ballard (Leah Mary) Pead, Orem; Brian (Corlie Ann) Pead, Layton; Orson (Donna) Pead, Orem; Debra (Michael) Woodard, St. George; Patricia Pead, Laverkin, all of Utah and Sylvia Pead, daughter-in-law. Also survived by 54 grandchildren, 155 great-grandchildren and 47 great-great-grandchildren; brothers Raymond Pead, Orem, Utah; Robert Pead, St. George, Utah and sister Marie Call, Afton, Wyoming. He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Erma; son Fred; daughter-in-law Eileen; one brother, three sisters; one granddaughter and three great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 5, 2009, at 3:00 p.m. at the LDS Church located at 400 North 400 East, Orem, Utah. Family and friends may call Friday, December 4, 2009, from 6-8 p.m. at the Walker Sanderson Funeral Home, 646 East 800 North, Orem and from 1:45-2:45 p.m. Saturday prior to the services at the church. In Wyoming, additional services will be held at the Fairview, Osmond, Smoot Ward Chapel in Osmond on Sunday, December 6th from 6-8 p.m. and Monday, December 7th from 10-11:45 a.m. prior to the funeral service which will be held at 12 noon. Interment will be at the Fairview, Wyoming Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family at: www.walkerfamilymortuary.com

From cousin Arlen's Facebook:
I lost my grandpa on my mom's side today. He was a great example. Countless loaves of bread to go with Grandma's hundreds of baby blankets - What a fanastic duo - now reunited. We'll miss him.

"Everybody's Budd"

It didn’t take me long
To know that I belonged
To a family formed above
Centered on a God of love

Every child was so blessed
To feel such happiness
To know they were divine
And helped our grandpa shine

His love and faith portrayed
His life in simple ways
That family - matters most
You felt that when he prayed

The perfect combination
Of a man who lived his life
For the pleasure of others
His children and his wife

Just another great example
Of how this life can be
When times get a little tough
He’d be your friend indeed

Always fun to talk to
His stories made you laugh
How did he stay so positive?
When others would have cracked…

For those who never knew him
I feel sorry for your loss
The gift he gave his children
Was peace - we were never lost

Our hearts will ache for certain
We’ve lost one-of-a-kind
A man so strong but gentle
Is truly hard to find

I know that as he waits for us
He’ll find ways to be near
He’ll reach through the heavens
Just like he were here

There is a note of joy here
I hate to think where I’d be
If I weren’t granted in this life
That I was blessed a Pead

I’ll close with a prayer of thanks
And thank my God above
He let me know and love
Everybody’s Budd.

Arlen Denney
02 December 2009

luv u ole budd crooked finger!

Jury Duty In Downtown Cleveland

2009-11-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

I am worn out. Serving as a juror in the State of Ohio vs. Angela Williams was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life but I was grateful for the experience. Hope I don't have to go through it again.

Here are a list of links that show you some of what went on. I might elaborate more later but my brain is tired of reliving and telling the story.
http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-news-cleveland-rta-bus-driver-found-guilty,0,7096802.story

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/11/former_rta_bus_driver_convicte.html

http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/news_article.aspx?storyid=125610&catid=3

http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/news_article.aspx?storyid=125584&catid=3

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/11/post_124.html#comments

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-rta-bus-ax-txt,0,4249229.story

For journaling purposes I will probably cut and paste many of these stories onto my blog later before the links are gone but for now I want a break:)

This is a copy of what has been posted on Facebook again because I think I want to remember. It changed me.

Sarah Pead Parks is emotionally spent. If you want to see details of the jury I just served on this is the most accurate I have read so far. http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/11/rta_bus_driver_angela_williams.html

Sarah Pead Parks and this ...
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/11/former_rta_bus_driver_convicte.html
Yesterday at 4:37pm · Sarah Pead Parks I cried when they immediately cuffed her. I just wasn't prepared for that. I tried to hide it but there is so much tragedy on both sides
Yesterday at 4:40pm · Haley Hammons Ick, I would be emotional too.
Yesterday at 5:28pm · Tacie Kerr Wow - I've been following that story. I don't envy your participation.
Yesterday at 5:37pm · Brandon Pead WOW im sorry sarah i cant believe that thats y I couldnt do jury duty
Yesterday at 6:23pm · Cindy Abawi that is a tough one. So sorry for all involved
Yesterday at 6:28pm · Robyn Holladay That would be really hard. I've always wanted to serve on a jury, but not one like that!
Yesterday at 6:34pm · Sarah Pead Parks One of the hardest things is that as a jury you can't consider the sentencing phase or what that would intell at all in your decision. We assumed that the first count was a felony but had no idea that the second count was a misdemenor or what the sentence would be for either count. After being able to catch up with the news there was a lot we didn't know, such as that Judge Saffold was the only party, including the victims family, that would not accept the early plea agreement for the lesser charge she ended up recieving through our verdict.
I think that is why it freaked me out that as soon as the verdict was read the warden cuffed her. Up until that point she was going home every night.
It all comes back to a mother of six who made a big mistake that a lot of us make everyday. In a moment of inattentiveness, she killed a man and is sitting behind bars tonight. Her position held her to a higher standard but I am done with the cell and a lot of other things in the car even though we felt like there was reasonable doubt that she was on hers.
Yesterday at 9:23pm · Deb Langfritz Rust That is horrible!!
Yesterday at 10:10pm · Sarah Pead ParksI am still sick to my stomach and wonder how I will settle down enough to sleep. I am glad I got to be a part of the process but never want to have to do it again. The other jurors were awesome and pretty understanding when I went and cried in the deliberation room after we delivered the verdict and they were going through the sentencing and commentary phase.
Yesterday at 11:21pm · Carrie Jackman Wow! How hard.
Yesterday at 11:30pm · Janine Zayed That's the jury you were on? Oh my gosh, how tough. Let me know if you need anything or just want to talk...
5 hours ago ·

For now I am just grateful for my freedom, from jury duty and in life.

Picture Preview

2009-10-27T06:39:00.001-07:00

I am SOOOOOOO super excited!!! We got family pictures this last weekend and our amazing photographer Ashlee just posted a little preview. http://ashspassion.blogspot.com/
You should check them out.

I stressed out because I really wanted the fall colors and it has rained and rained and then poor Ashlee ended up having an emergency surgery. She was only a week out of the hospital when she took these.

It rained the whole day before the pictures and the morning of was cold, wet, windy and threatening more rain but it held off. I think all of my prayers, and the extra effort I made to be nice under stress to my family paid off:)

Can you believe I get to LIVE here? This year has been especially gorgeous, or maybe I feel that way every fall:)

P.S. I did iron Emily's skirt that morning but somewhere between home, the car seat and picture time it didn't matter. lol.

Future Director - I Love My Son's Mind!!!

2009-09-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

Sam wants to grow up to be just like George Lucas. When he was 5 he let us know he didn't think it was fair that George Lucas thought of Star Wars first. That's okay though because he has his own line of action figures, The Creation Pods, that are all made out of aluminum foil. He is planning on directing Creation Pod movies and including 2 peices of aluminum foil in each DVD of 100 episodes.
Bionicles are also cool as you will see in the following self directed movie. I hope it doesn't make you sea sick.
Yes my boy is cute and yes he is dirty. I need to throw him in the tub.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sam's Baptism

2009-06-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

Sam is getting baptised next Saturday, June 20th at 10:00 a.m. It will be at the Mayfield Ward building, 32895 Cedar Rd in Mayfield Heights. We would love to see anyone that can make it there.

Hello, anybody out there?

2009-06-06T05:41:00.000-07:00

Yes we are still alive, healthy and crazy as ever. I know I am a blog slacker and have heard it from many of you, but our computer has a personality conflict going on with our new camera and refuses to acknowledge it in any form. Grrrrrr.
I know that it is actually possible to post without a picture but how fun is that? I get my inspiration from those many pixels of joy and can't seem to make myself move beyond it. So here is a nice random shot of the bumper of my car from when the 82 year old woman decided she didn't want to turn right onto the interstate and instead proceeded to drive straight into me as I made my right turn.

Its okay though, she saved me a $250 deductible from when I caught the corner of a railroad tie with the otherside side and I got a beautiful shiny bumper out of it.
Maybe soon we will back up all of our data, kill our computer and start from scratch. Alas, that is the advice that HP finally gave us after hours of support calls. Gotta love Windows Vista!

Emily Lectures Santa

2009-01-31T08:04:00.000-08:00

One day in December Emily asked me why Santa was so fat. I explained that he was pleasantly plump and that it was because so many people around him fed him cookies on Christmas Eve.
A few days later she came back to me and told me she didn't think we should leave Santa cookies. When I asked her why, she poked out her tummy as big as she could and then used her hand to gesture that it was even bigger and whispered, "He doesn't need them. I think we should leave him apples. Sliced ones."
When we were at Lake Farm Parks, Santa made the mistake of asking what kind of cookies we were going to be leaving out for him. Emily turned to him and said matter of factly, "We're not. We are going to give you sliced apples." at which time Sam threw in "And water, because that is the healthiest for you."
Santa took it well.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Just in case he didn't get the hint that night Emily felt like she should remind him right before bed Christmas Eve and we made this video.
I think Santa and Mrs. Claus caught the hint. I signed them both up for a new gym membership yesterday.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Lake Farm Parks

2009-01-31T07:03:00.000-08:00

I don't know why this title makes me laugh but that night we were the Lake Farm Parks at Lake Farm Parks. The Country Lights Event that the farm puts on during the holidays are awesome. There are lights in the forms of all kinds of winter creatures that line the long, winding drive that are magical. Once there your ticket designates a time for a ride across the countryside behind two massive, amazing horses, where there are more lights that come on and off to illustrate nursery rhymes. The air is filled with the smell of roasting cinnamon almonds, cashews and living cows :-)

See how much fun we had waiting in freezing rain for our turn to see the lights.
There are lots of other activities indoors to warm the soul. My kids favorites were talking to Santa (this one WAS the real one - lucky us!) and the elf workshop where every child gets to pick out and build a toy with the help of an elf. First they choose it, then they build it, then they paint, glitter and wrap. Sam built a tank and Emily built a gingerbread house. I was with Emily in the workshop so I got way more pictures of her.
We missed the Nutcracker horse show because the roads were awful that night and it took us twice as long to get there. We were actually lucky to get home safely considering the ice storm that was going on and freezing the roads as we happily painted blocks of wood.

This is Emily making a candy cane.
Recipe: Two pipe cleaners- 1 white, 1 red.
One cordless power drill to clamp down on the ends of the pipe cleaners.
One Elf to help you practice starting and stopping the above mentioned power drill and to hold the other end of the pipe cleaners.
One happy trigger finger that knows how to listen to the above mentioned elf.
One cute munchkin with a happy, trigger finger.

OH the HOLIDAYS!!!!

2009-01-31T06:34:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I had such a hard time letting go of the holidays this year. But alas, it is time to wrap them up in a tidy bow, blog a little about them and move on to February. Yeah, it has taken me that long to move on (though my decorations have been packed away for weeks.)
Our church Christmas party this year was on the streets of Bethlehem. I didn't take any pictures of the event but I did get some pictures of my kids before we headed out the door.

I am sure that there was pocka dots in ancient Bethlehem:-)

Sam was silly in these pictures. I think he remembered the photoshoot that he goes through every Christmas season where I try to get the perfect picture. In particular he thinks he is reinacting the nativity we did when he was 3 and emi was 18 months.
When we got there we were all given a bag of gold to pay taxes and to purchase our dinner. It was great: Beef roast and Ham (he he), curry lentil salad, fresh pita from a middle eastern store, olives, hummus, grapes, oranges, cheese and potluck desserts. I made my first Baklava and it was awesome and unbelievably easy.

Home for the Holidays!!!

2008-12-20T21:23:00.001-08:00

We invited some fun friends over Monday night to decorate gingerbread houses. I baked and cut and filled the house with the yummy sent of warm molasses and ginger.
Here are views of Molly's side of the Huang house:

This is Matthew's side:)Age 3.

Here are a few views of my creation.

Emily went a little crazy and decorated for a couple of hours.

Here is a view of her side...

... and Sam's side.

Spinning a Yarn

2008-12-20T20:33:00.000-08:00

Danny is a curious guy. His brain never stops, he has a lot of interests and he is always learning something new. When he is researching a new interest he does it at full throttle. I like to refer to these periods as his phases.
We have seen the psychology and architecture phase when he was in grad school and we had a couple of friend studying those subjects. We have seen the gardening phase accompanied by the photography phase where we got some great scans and pictures of flowers and stunted veggies that didn't grow so well in our ultra hard, clay soil. We saw the drawing phase, the bluegrass phase, and the fishing phase. The biking phase lasted a couple of years and culminated in a 200+ mile trip across the state of Ohio. We are still going through the yo yo phase, which has probably moved beyond the phase category into that of an obsession. We are also deep into the Italian Polka phase, being that he belongs to a band that rehearses weekly and plays weddings as well as an occasional gig at the Italian Bocce Club with accordions and all. (Mediterranean version of the country club where a Bocce ball is the equivalent of the golf ball.)
The latest interest to surface is knitting and crocheting. You will be able to see from the parade of pictures that follow just how extensive this phase is. He has even made his own knitting needles.:) I love this guy!!!

Did I mention that this has only been going on for a couple of weeks.

Toothless Wonder

2008-12-20T19:36:00.000-08:00

Sam has lost another tooth. He actually lost it weeks ago but I am just getting around to sharing. It is one of his top front teeth and he wiggled that little guy forever. He wiggled it so much, without committing to the actual pull, that it turned into a snaggle-tooth.

He is also at that age where he has lost his real smile. When someone is taking a picture of him you can see the inner struggle as he searches to remember what his smile is suppose to look like. Right now it is coming out more like a grimace.

It makes me feel better when I look at the pictures on our primary board at church and realize that every single child his age has also lost their real smile and there is a nice mixture of grimaces and lost looks.
That leads me to the real story of how Sam lost his first front tooth. We got his packet of school pictures back and when we opened them up. . . HUGE startled grimace. (My face probably looked a lot the same when I found out what they are charging for school pictures these days.)
Fast forward to November 25th. I was driving down the road on my way to deliver some Pampered Chef orders and when I wrote down the date in my mileage book I gasped. I was reminded that it was the day for picture retakes! I had not paid that exorbitant amount for a packet full of pictures I wouldn't use. I quickly called the school and informed them that Sam would be getting retakes and I would be there directly to get him ready. I raced home, got a nicer shirt and some hair gel and headed for the school. I got there just as they were rounding up the 1st graders and got him changed and spiked. He loathes gel so I got to hear him mutter about it the whole time. Then I turned him around to give him a once over and have him practice a "real" smile. I was greeted with his crookity, gray, snaggle tooth that was sticking out of his gums at a 45 degree angle. These pictures actually look good compared to what it had actually become.

I just said, "Wow Sam, let me see how loose that is," and I plucked that wiggly thing out of his head, told him to rinse at the drinking fountain and marched him in for pictures. All he said was "Ahhh, that kind of stings."
We got super cute, toothless pictures and he was excited to go to the nurses' office afterwards to get a tiny treasure chest to store that little guy in until he could collect his two bucks from the tooth fairy.
I love the way he looks with his toothy grin and how it has changed the way he talks a little bit. It is also cute to see how he has to bite everything on the side.

Parade of Ugly 2008

2008-12-12T11:37:00.000-08:00

I had a couple minutes to check out some of my favorite blogs, one thing led to another and I ended up running into this post on a blog of someone that I absolutely have no idea who they are. However, I am glad I stalked because it is truly one of the funniest things I have ever read. I too am guilty of hoarding things that I can't even stand and I am sure I have given some of these same things to poor undeserving souls. So for a good laugh check this out. I especially enjoyed Andrea's (close friend that she is ;) If you read through this and discover creatures of the same nature looking around your lights, lurking in the branches of your tree or adorning your walls send them to me and we can have a parade of our own.
dnsparks@juno.com

Just Soooooo Interesting!

2008-11-05T15:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had a funny conversation with my children when we were in the van on our way to deliver cinnamon rolls and rice krispie wands to our elementary PTA bake sale. The kids were out of school because their elementary is a voting station. The plan was that I would go and vote right after dropping off our goodies.

Sam asked who the other man was whose name was not Barak Obama that might be president. I told him John McCain and he said, "Oh yah, but I think I would vote for Barak Obama because he promised his two daughters that when the election is over he would buy them a dog. Plus I like his activities!"
Emi then piped in, "I think you should vote for Barak Obama too. His name intrigues me. Its just soooooo interesting."
When I was getting out of the car to go vote Sam said, "Make sure to vote for Obama, he's getting a dog," and Emi whispered in my ear, "Vote for Obama, I did."
I found out that they learned about the candidates in their scholastic at school. Plus, I am sure they couldn't have missed everything going on around them. I got 5 phone calls from the Obama campaign just on voting day.
I feel pretty content with the election outcomes. I stood in my little booth for literally 10 minutes staring at the ballot still undecided. I am not sharing who I voted for and it is driving Emily crazy, she asks probably once an hour. I was finally able to fill in the bubble on my ballot when I came to the realization that I didn't have to justify my decision to anyone and I could keep it to myself. I feel content with the outcome and feel that John McCain showed soooo much class in his concession speech. I also bawled a couple of times watching Obama's speech and the reaction of the people around him. Who wouldn't be moved? The image that stands out the most to me is of an African American father here in Cleveland, standing tall, with his toddler on his shoulders and tears streaming down his face.

All Hallows Eve!

2008-11-01T04:57:00.000-07:00

Halloween could not have been any better this year. Temperatures were reported to be as high as 71, the sun was bright, the leaves were brilliant, the kids were adorable and fairly well behaved for the amount of sugar that was pumping through their veins.
Both Sam's and Em's classes had parties and the school does a traditional parade around the street and into their playground. I am Emily's Room Mother so I helped with their class party and to get their costumes on and what an adventure. Imagine helping 29 Kindies load their backpacks with their folders and take home mail, lunchboxes, towel bags, goody bags, see their face as they remember their costume is in the bottom of the bag and then start over. It was fun! My back hurts.

After school we hung lanterns in our yard that stayed lit for about 30 minutes because I bought the batteries at the dollar store. Silly me! I don't think they even made it past dusk.

Then it was time for us (me) to carve our pumpkins. The kids draw the faces on and I do my best to keep them original. This is the part of our day where a little mystery started. When we went out to get our pumpkins Danny's was missing. It was there when I backed out of the drive to take the kids to school. I guess someone didn't make it to the pumpkin patch and thought we should share:-) Then we ate Chinese food that the delivery man was so kind to drop by. We also got treats from my visiting teacher whose family tradition is to reverse trick or treat in the afternoon. They dropped it off just as the Chinese delivery man was there and he asked for a cookie. We shared :-) How funny is that! I guess it was a day of giving for the Parks' but we don't mind, we had plenty of pumpkins and sugar.

We ran into one of Sam's classmates and his family when we started trick or treating and spent the evening with them. It was good because Sam is usually done after the first 20 houses and this year he stuck it out for the whole 2 hours.

Sam loved being Indiana Jones and Emi prances around every time she is dressed in her Wood Sprite costume. I had a ton of fun putting their costumes together this year. Sam's was found mostly at Salvation Army and the hat and whip at the Halloween Store. I only had to sew the satchel. If you click on the pictures you can see a lot more detail.

Emi's was just fun to make, especially the wings. I have always been about the fru, fruey girly stuff. She got her hair cut for school pictures last week and it turned out perfect for her costume. A pixy for the pixy. If you look close you can see her brown, pink and white striped tights. Soooo cute!

Here she is rubbing her blankie on a huge scrape she got from our bush.

I love Halloween!!! I think it might be my favorite holiday. It brings back so many memories from childhood, all good. I love how our neighborhood comes alive and we actually get to see our neighbors. Everyone leaves their computers and televisions and come out into REAL life and it just feels like the good old days when people knew each other and kids could play outside and be kids. I think Halloween should happen every other month and we should pass out vegetables. LOL

Sam - o - Lantern

2008-10-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

On Monday, October 13th Sam lost his first tooth at exactly 7 years 4 months old. Kind of late but he's on a roll with two more wiggly guys in that mouth. He should have a great toothy or toothy-less grin for Halloween!

I love how you can see just how excited he is. This was a long time coming for him.

The craziest thing though is the adult tooth grew in behind the babytooth in just a couple of days before it fell out. That new tooth has already moved forward into its place and the next one is doing the same thing.
He put his tooth under his pillow with not a lot of faith that anything would really happen. The next morning he got a funny look on his face, said, "Oh, the tooth fairy!" then ran back to his bed. When he found the money under his pillow we heard him say, "Hmmm, I guess she is real. Maybe next time she'll bring me legos."

Mulberry Corners

2008-10-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

I love fall!!! I especially love fall in Ohio because it is simply magic. The world transforms from green to brilliant earth-tones, the weather becomes crisp and the harvest starts. We get to go pick apples, ride the tractor out to Patterson Farm's Family Fun Fest and pick out our pumpkins at Mulberry Corners. You can't forget the visit to Patterson's Farmers Market and their fresh apple fritters!

This is where we have gotten our pumpkins since Sam was 4 months old. I'll have to scan in some pictures since that was before we went digital.

This sweet not-so-little goat really loved Sam, he practically climbed through the fence trying to kiss him.

My 5 Year-Old's Mind

2008-10-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

Emily just walked up to me and asked, "Are superficial gold-diggers like other gold-diggers?" I responded by asking her what she thinks a gold-digger is. "Oh, just womans who wants money from mans."
I am sure she didn't learn this from PBS!

Playground of Possibilities

2008-10-06T16:17:00.000-07:00

The Week of September 22-29 I participated in building a new playground for my city. It is called "Playground of Possibilities," because it was planned by children and built to be accessible to all children, including those in wheelchairs. The architects came to the city schools and our community center to ask the kids what they wanted. Sam got to participate and told them that there had to be a twirly slide. The scarecrow idea came from a little boy in the special ed class at our elementary school and the whole class got so excited about it that they knew they had their theme.

This is one of the coolest playgrounds I have ever seen and it was super fun and empowering to get to help with the build. I got to frame, use power saws, rauters and drills. I helped make the boards look like brick, assemble the tops of the towers, drill the Scarecrow and his corn and Tin-woodsman and his trees in place just to name a few of the more noticable things I got to do. The best thing was getting to know more people from the community. I put faces to names of all the council members, police cheif, some firemen, community center directors and lots of the older residents of our community that came most days from 8 to 8.
Sorry some of the pictures on the slide show are sideways. Our computer, though new, is shot(I hate that Windows Vista >:( It shuts down Windows Explorer every time we try to flip anything around.

The park won't be usable for a couple more weeks or until the rubber ground cover gets laid down.
The best part is that it is less then a block from my house.WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Driveway Fish

2008-10-06T15:04:00.001-07:00

Sam dared Emily to draw a fish as big as our driveway and she decided to take the task on. After she drew the giant outline of the fish, its lips, eye and gills. Danny challenged her to color it in with lots of patterns and then joined her in the process.

There was the slight problem that a giant Honda Odyssey was parked in the way and thus on its head. She was creative enough that she just drew around it.

The head with eye and lips.

Emily is pointing to one pair of gills. The other gills are obviously on the other side of the van.
Put your mouse on each picture of the slide show to see the details.

Goody Goody Gumdrops!

2008-10-05T16:12:00.001-07:00

I have a couple new posts on my cooking blog also!!!

Vedauwoo

2008-10-05T14:32:00.001-07:00

While we were staying in Cheyenne this summer we took a side trip to Vedauwoo (Veeduh Voo). It is seriously one of the most amazing places on earth. It is a small mountain range made up of boulders that vary in size from a watermelon to a giant apartment building all stacked up on each other. It is amazing how some of the boulders balance on just one small base stone.

Giant boulders and mosquitos. I am sweet so they eat me alive :-)

This was one of the places that both Danny and I spent a lot of time at when we were going to the University of Wyoming. We went there to camp, climb, explore and have bonfires. It was super fun to take our kids there and they loved it as much as we had. Every climb was unique. Once when we were dating we went out to climb. We had to go up a chimney and several other vertical climbs and ended up finding a cave that was made by three giant rocks that were resting on each other. It had a sunroof and when we crawled through a small gap on our stomachs there was a ledge that dropped straight down that we hung our legs over. This place is so cool!

We drove up with Danny's parents to roast hotdogs and make smores.

It was fun to look for shapes in the rocks, like you would with clouds. When we first got there I found one that looked like a monkey with its eyes closed and Emi added that she thought it was wearing a princess hat. That is all it took to get Sam's imagination going and he started seeing Indian warriors everywhere. By the time we left and for weeks afterwards he would share stories with us about the Vedauwoo Warriors that lived before dinosaurs and turned to rock. At one point he wanted to be a Vedauwoo warrior for halloween. (How in the world do you make a rock warrior for a kid to wear? I had set my mind on it but was relieved when he changed his mind and decided to be Indiana Jones. Whew!!!)

This is what Vedauwoo looks like from I-80. Next time you happen to be driving on I-80 between Cheyenne and Laramie Wyoming look for the sign and get out to stretch your legs and hike a little bit. You seriously won't regret the time you spend.

Westward Ho!

2008-10-05T13:22:00.001-07:00

The next couple of posts are going to journal what we did on our family vacation this summer.

We started on our trip on July 18th by snuggling into our loaded van and setting out for a 20 hour trip to Grandma and Grandpa Parks in Cheyenne Wyoming.

We stopped in the middle of Iowa after a 10 hour drive and checked into a Holiday Inn with a pool. We went and found a Mexican Restaraunt for a yummy dinner and then spent a couple of hours swimming. The kids were so excited to be in a hotel and loved jumping from bed to bed. We crashed pretty early.
After another 10 hours in the car we reached Cheyenne and the comforts of Danny's parents house.

Sam was super excited to see some of Danny's old toys and was way impressed that his dad used to play with legos.

It was Frontier Days in Cheyenne which means lots of things to do with a Wild West Theme.

Emily is sitting on one of the giant cowboy boot art that is scattered through the city.
We went to a pancake breakfast where they fed over 9000 people in an hour and a half. We got in a line that was a couple of blocks long and never stopped walking. When we got close someone handed us a plate, another a napkin and fork, another put pancakes on our plate that where literally being flipped off of several chuckwagons from both sides and caught by teens holding giant cookie sheets. Someone then slathered butter ontop and poured syrup from a jug, another put ham on the side and then we were handed milk for the kids and water for the adults. This is all done why you just continue to walk forward. We were barely in line for 5 minutes. It was crazy and the pancake were divine.

After breakfast we went to an awesome magician show at the library. Cheyenne's library is ranked #1 in the nation and is awesome. The books scan themselves on a little conveyor belt that sorts them to be reshelved. It has tons of computers and a place where kids can play and make movies and many, many more things.

We also went to a parade with over 400 horses (that doesn't happen in Cleveland) and my kids were in awe. We saw the Native Americans dance in the Indian Village and Sam picked out a bow and arrow and Emi chose a pony ride on Cowboy.

Cubs Rocked the House!!!

2008-10-05T10:35:00.000-07:00

Sam moved up from T ball to Mighty Mights (coach pitch) this year and it was awesome! He had the greatest coach and a lot of older teammates so he learned a ton, including silly chants and punching games. Several of his teammates were finishing up 3rd grade and he just finished up Kindergarten so they taught him how to act like a big boy and a little more controlled.

At the beginning of the year, during picture day, the President of the league took every team aside to tell them all of the cool things about their team. Cool things like the years they won the World Series and all of the famous players that had played with the same name written across their jersey.

The league doesn't officially keep score during the regular season but unofficially Sam's team went undefeated. After the regular play they have a single elimination tournament and the cubs came out on top. I was in Chicago for Pampered Chef Conference and was sad to miss the championship game, but since I was in the windy city - home of the Cubs, I was able to bring him back a bear in a jersey and a pennant.

Aggghhh Summer!!!

Emily's Love/Hate Relationship With T-ball

2008-10-05T09:43:00.001-07:00

Emily has good memories of playing T-ball and being a Cleveland Indian this year. She liked her coach and kept us updated all of the time on what coach Sara wore every practice and game. She was especially impressed with Sara's sporty skirts. She loved that coach Sara chased them around the field after the games pretending to be a monster.

She loved the snacks. She loved the uniforms. She loved to hit the ball, catch the ball, chase the ball and play first base.

She hated all of the waiting that comes with playing T-ball and coped by rolling around in the grass, drawing pictures in and sifting the dirt, finding more rocks for her growing rock collection and sometimes chasing little boys on her team. A couple of them really liked her and I think she enjoyed stringing them along. Sometimes she enjoyed their attention and other times she just completely ignored them.

THE END

Summer Baseball

2008-10-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

Baseball is our favorite sports league that our family has participated in by far! We have an awesome league here in South Euclid and our kids love it.

In the middle of July Sam was chosen from our league to go out on the field with the Cleveland Captains (our amateur baseball team.)

He was super excited and looked super cute in his uniform. They announced his name over the loud speaker and he got to run out in the outfield and toss a ball around with one of the players who signed both his hat and his mitt.

Urban Education

2008-09-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am back from a summer of baseball, camping trips, conventions, vacations, catering and wedding cakes. I have so much to blog about that I don't even know where to start. To top it all off I can't pull any of our summer pictures off of my camera. I have spent lots of time and money on the phone with HP trying to tune up my year old computer. I hate Windows Vista but that is a book on its own.

Anyway, my baby started full day Kindergarten and I have been in a state of semi-depression. I can't believe I am done with baby days. I thought I would actually enjoy all the free time but it is just too quiet and way too full of projects that need to get done and can't be put off any longer now that kids and their schedules are no longer an excuse.

Anywhoo, back to the title of this post and what motivated me to get on the computer. I want to start off with the good.
(1)I think that our schools here have a lot of great resources and teachers coupled with great curriculum and high goals. Kindergartners come out reading and writing. Sam's final writing assessment last year was to draw a picture write 5 labels and then write a story with at least 5 sentences including capitalization, punctuation and spacing. Kids who have a good support system can really learn a lot.
(2)I am super excited about Sam's and Emily's teachers, Mrs. Kidwell and Mrs. Bell. A good friend had Mrs. Kidwell for 2 years and loved her. I am looking forward to working with her. Sam had Mrs Bell last year and she is seriously the best teacher I have ever been around and I have been in the classrooms of a lot of amazing teachers. I think that what sets her apart from the rest is her consistency, the way she respects the kids and does such an amazing job of communicating at their level but in a grown up way that teaches them how to communicate. Not to mention she is the most patient person I think I have ever met. If she is with the kids she does not stop to talk to other adults unless it is a quick answer or instruction and then she will say something like, "Sorry about that friends let's get back to our important work." The kids come first and she remembers to reward and give attention to positive behavior instead of addressing the negative all the time. I love her! This year there are 30 kids in her class compared to last year when there was 17 in Sam's. That makes me a little nervous.

Now to the part I am worried about. Emily is a precocious 5 year old who loves to share what she learns at school. She is a quick learner and picks up the words to poems, books and songs really quickly and remembers everything. Seriously, she can hear something once and repeat it back to you a month later. This afternoon I was reading a book and she came in and asked if I would like to hear what she learned at recess. She said, "Mom, I like it so much I can't stop thinking about it. I just watched the girls who were doing it. I didn't talk to them I just watched them so I could learn it." Then she had me hold my hands out, one palm up and one palm down so she could clap them while she sang:
"Down down baby - down down my roller coaster;
Sweeet, sweet baby - sweet, sweet my roller coaster;
Shimmy, shimmy cocoa wa - shimmy, shimmy five;
I like coffee, I like tea;
I like the color boy and he likes me.
Sit down white boy, its okay,
Me and him, we are going to run away.
Yesternight, the night before,
I met my boyfriend at the candy store.
He bought me ice cream. He bought me cake.
He sent me home with a bellyache.
Momma! Momma! I feel sick!
Call the doctors quick, quick, quick!
Dr. Dr. before I die - close my eyes and count to five.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
I'm alive, Channel 5!
See that house on top of that hill,
That's where me and my boyfriend go steal.
Scoop that ice cream and cut the cake
come on baby let's celebrate!

Whoo What!!! Both mine and Danny's reactions were the same. First, "How in the world does she remember all of that?" and second, "Do they really let little kids do that at recess?" My guess is that no one has really stopped to listen to the words. It seems like an innocent little song, like CeeCee oh Playmate from my days, if you don't stop to listen to what it really says.

I know that I live in a city but I guess I wasn't prepared for what sending them to school really means. It makes me realize quickly how important the lessons we are teaching them at home and church are. How much I love the words of the primary songs that will help them build their armor to survive spiritually in the world. In the mean time how do I tell my five year old this song she loves has bad things in it without having to explain what those bad things are, because she will ask? I am pretty sure she hasn't set back to think about what the words really say and I would be pointing them out to her. Do I just stick to the obvious like tea, coffee and stealing? I think one of the first things I am going to do is teach her CeeCee my playmate. Agghhh.

TaGgEd

2008-09-12T07:42:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 11

Tagged by Hatsuho

I usually: am thinking about Everything I really need to get done and then doing other things that are not at all related to that list.
I search: for fun human interaction.
I wonder: what life would really be like if I actually ever catch up with ALL I need to get done.
I regret: not saying sorry to a couple of people in college when I thought it was a trivial matter that ended up being huge for them.
I love: my family and being with them.
I care: about how things look and making things beautiful.
I always: talk too much!
I worry: about my kids being strong in the gospel and making good choices. I worry about my curious 7 year old boy and how to answer the questions that he asks and doesn't ask about the bird and the bees.
I am not: motivated to catch up on all the projects I have to do in my house but really want them done.
I remember: everything and it drives me crazy to sit through meetings and come to a decision and then have it come up again later, no one but me remember what we had previously agreed on and then come to a different consensus. I like to be able to count on a decision.
I believe: that there would be world peace if mothers were in charge.
I dance: with my kids all over the house.
I sing: all the time especially when I am with my sisters! Every time I get in a car I want to burst into song. I sing really loud obnoxious opera with my kids.
I don't always: feel very confident anymore.
I argue: back. I usually let things go until someone is outwardly upset with me.
I write: not enough. It is not my favorite thing to do. I would rather create in pictures and visuals.
I win: at a lot of games I play, especially when it is not a game of chance but where you have control through choices. I think because I can be ditsy/distracted people don't always expect me to be conniving/smart.
I lose: lots of hair.
I wish: I remembered to be more of service to others. I always get so busy with fluff that I forget to look beyond the people that I run into on a regular basis.
I listen: to everything. I probably evesdrop too much. My friends in high school used to call me rabbit ears and would have me tune into distant conversations to find out things for them. I know it is bad but I have learned a lot of great things and ideas from people I admire. Like how to make a really moist chocolate cake.
I don't understand: how people can purposefully hurt each other physically, emotionally, financially.
I can usually be found: talking.
I am scared of: something happening to my kids or something happening to me so I wouldn't be able to share their lives with them.
I need: to get my body and house in shape.
I am happy: almost always.

Quote of the Day!

2008-09-05T11:23:00.000-07:00

Sam finding a toy Emi had been looking for: "Finders keepers, loser SWEEPERS! Ha, ha you have to clean up."

What do you mean I can't date until I'm 16?

2008-07-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am a little freaked out about a new change in behavior that Sam has had! He use to tell me about his friends that are "girl lovers" at school. He let me know all of the time that he is definitely not one of them. . . then today happened.
Elle and Elaina are two little girls that live in the house right behind us and come over to play all of the time. Sometimes Sam is interested in playing but mostly he acts annoyed that they are here to play again. It is Emily that loves to play. They were over today playing in our backyard and I guess Sam saw them out his window. He came downstairs and asked me where his tie was. ??? I told him where they were and a few minutes later he comes down wearing a long sleeve button up "fancy shirt." ???Whoowhut??? Sam hates "fancy, handsome" shirts!!! Danny and I asked what he was up to and he just gave us a funny smile and went out to play.

Then he comes in and tells me I really need to bring out the camera and take pictures of him and Elle. ???Whooowhat??? Elaina wanted to have her picture taken with him also but he just told her no thanks. I took some pictures and he was WAY TOO FRIENDLY!

Then Elle told me I needed to see them dance. Sam didn't want to show me but I insisted. I needed to see what they were up to. They told me she taught him in the garage!!!! ???Whoowhat???

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We brought Sam in to have a talk and he said he just thought she looked so pretty today and wanted to date. ??? He was surprised to hear that wasn't going to happen until he was 16 and then only in groups. We talked to him a little about what he was feeling but honestly I was at a loss for words. I just told him to make good choices and that he was too little to be worried about girls. "But mom, she just looked so pretty today." ???? Danny and I watched them closely all afternoon. They kept holding hands or Sam would put his arm around her or gently guide her with his arm to where they were going. A couple of times they just sat by each other on the steps. We just kept telling them to go play and they would quickly seperate like they had been caught at something. I have no clue where he learned to "Court" a girl like this other then from watching the adults around him.

Help!!! I really don't know what else to tell him other then it is not appropriate for him to have girl friends at this age and that he shouldn't be acting like a 20 something. I don't want him to feel like he ever has to hide his feelings from me and that he can talk to me about anything but he is 7! I thought he was supposed to hate girls. As soon as they went home for dinner Sam changed into something more comfortable.
Just so you know when I took the pictures and video it seemed so innocent it was in the few minutes afterward looking at them that I was like ???WWWHHHAAATTT???

The 4th!

2008-07-06T18:36:00.000-07:00

We had a very fun but busy 4th of July.Our camera is having some trouble so we didn't actually take any pictures of our own. A couple of friends took some for me so hopefully I will be posting some of those soon. We started out at a pancake breakfast at our church, then we went to a parade in Chesterland. Next we hosted a few friends for a BBQ at Squires Castle, where I enjoyed a nice game of Bocce while Danny kept an eye on the kids . . .Click here to see how that went! and here!
Sam, Emily and our little friend Tanni had a blast in the mud. But this wasn't just any mud. This was mud made from the fine dirt of a baseball field that is actually more like really wet clay. Agh! Danny took Sam up to a spicket and Jason, Tanni's dad, ended up finding some nice people with a funny bus/trailer/spaceship built in the late 40's that had a hose and were willing to share it. We sprayed the girls down with freezing water and then we took them home to fill our tub with the fine silt.
We finished cleaning them up just in time to go see fireworks.
I love the Fourth of July!!!

Kelley's Island

2008-07-06T18:03:00.000-07:00

We took our second annual trip to Kelly's Island the weekend of June 20th and had a blast. We joined 7 other families from Danny's office for a weekend of swimming, fishing, music, rain and bugs. Some of the families left a day early when their tents and all of the contents of them got soaked during a 3 hour rainstorm. We were lucky and tough and stuck it out.

Kelly's Island is a quaint little tourist community out on Lake Erie. We took our van across on the ferry and then drove to the State Park campground.

We had a little friend that joined us as we were packing up. We think that it was a baby Robin or Red winged Blackbird. We couldn't tell for sure because there was an adult bird of each species hanging out acting concerned about their baby (or lunch.) The little guy is sitting on the picnic table and is kind of camouflaged.
We are definitely going back next year and highly recommend it. The campground is clean and well cared for with great views, a nice playground and an awesome beach where the water isn't too deep and there are no big waves like you get on most of the other Lake Erie beaches we have been to.

SaM iS seVeN!!!

2008-06-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I have a seven year old! It is crazy how fast Samuel T. is growing up and starting to use phrases like, Totally Awesome, the coolest and all of his friends are now named Dude.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Sam was so "Ack"cited to turn 7! He counted down forever and then the morning that it actually happened he came bursting into our room before 6 a.m. to ask if he could "cuddle in" and if we were, '"ack"cited that I am now actually 7.' Later that morning he joined me outside to do yardwork and ran down the driveway with his hands in the air and yelled, "Hip-hip-hooray! I'm seven today!"
How did I get so lucky to be his momma?

Call Me Mr. Pickles. . .

2008-06-16T19:13:00.001-07:00

Today has been very long! I haven't been feeling well so I went to a Dr. appointment instead of taking my kids to swimming lessons. They were excited to spend that time at Danny's office with him. Danny works in an office full of all kinds of toys and crazy contraptions so my kids are in heaven when they get to visit him.
Afterwards I met my friend Christi at her country club to let the kids swim for a little while. When we were done there we decided to go back to Christi's house and eat Subway sandwiches for dinner. This is where our day really took a turn. . .

I took Emi, Becca and Sierra and Alexis Gervasi home to Christi's house and Sam opted to go with Christi to pick up her daughter Sarah from fencing camp. She was ready to leave ahead of us and when she asked about Sam's booster seat I just waved her on and said he would be fine.
The girl's and I were at the house for probably 30 minutes when my cellphone rang and I noticed that Christi's name was on the caller I.D. I thought she was going to ask what kind of sandwiches my kids would eat but as soon as I heard her I knew something was wrong.
She said, "Sarah, we have been in a really bad car accident". . . and then emotional silence. My mind flashed with images of my broken Sam and it screamed, "He didn't have his car seat. What about Sam? She can't tell me. She can't tell me. Is he okay?"
The only thing I actually said is "What?" And she repeated that they had been in a car accident and then she let me know that Sam was fine and that I needed to come and get them. She told me where they were and I was instantly grateful but so, so emotional and all I wanted to do was see my Sam.
I told the girls what had happened, managing to not be too emotional, and then I left them to race to the accident scene. I was a mess! I called Danny on the way. I didn't want him to have even those few seconds I had just experienced when I thought we might have lost our Sam so I started out letting him know that he was okay but that there had been an accident. He was on his way to play laser tag with his team from work but rerouted to meet me to get Sam.
When I got to the accident there was a firetruck, ambulance and several police cars. I saw a maroon CRV slammed into the side of Christi's CRV and it was bad. A 17 year old girl had made a left turn right into the side of Christi when she was just crossing through the intersection with a green light. I didn't even know where to go because the intersection was so crowded. I turned down a side street and drove right into the accident scene. I saw Sam sitting on the grass by the sidewalk with Sarah and a firefighter and motioned that he was mine so they let me park right along side it all. Christi was being evaluated in the ambulance. She only had a burn on one of her thumbs and a sore chest from the airbag. Later she started getting really sore but is doing well.
Sam ran up to me and said, "Here I am. Aren't you glad I'm not dead?" I couldn't help but laugh at him and then hug, and cuddle and love him to pieces. He was really hyper and telling me about all the smoke that was in the car and how he got a burn on his neck from the seat belt but that it was now all healed. He then said, "You know if I wouldn't have gone with Christi, I wouldn't have gotten in a car accident. Maybe that would have been a good idea." Silly boy.
We had to hang around for awhile and finish making accident reports as they decided to take the 17 year old to the hospital to treat the burns the airbag left on her arms.
It was very comforting that the officer processing the scene was actually Greg Kerr who just recently moved out of our ward. He told me that Sam had been able to give him all of his information. Right before we left Christi and Sarah told be about that interview. When he asked Sam his name he said, "Samuel T., but I like Sam or if you want you can call me Mr. Pickles."
Silly boy :-) I think I need to go give him another hug!!!

Goody Goody Gumdrops!

2008-06-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

So, I started a new blog. Not that I post on this one enough, but I got inspired by someone else's baking blog and wanted to start one of my own. I love, love, love to make food that looks and tastes good and serve it to people who love to eat it. Hopefully it will be just as fun sharing digitally. So all interested parties check out:
Cuppycakesandmilkshakes.blogspot.com

Super Busy!

2008-06-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

If you continue reading you will probably see why I haven't posted for awhile. We have been super busy!!! I still have super cute pictures and stories about baseball and hope to share those soon! For some reason all of the pictures we took sideways but rotated in our files appear sideways in all of the slides. Hopefully you all don't get a crick in your neck! :-)

Family Fun Day...Hip,Hip,Hooray!!!

2008-06-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

Soccer this year was fun but crazy! We hardly ever had a warm or dry day until the last game. The kids were signed up for baseball also and for some reason this year they overlapped, making our schedule very full. Murphy's law would have it that Sam's baseball and soccer practices were scheduled for the exact same time on the same nights and that would be ditto for Emily. It would have worked if they would have had opposite practices on opposite nights and Danny and I would have just ran in two directions, but alas, we just had to go every other practice. So to say the least it is kind of a relief that it is over.

We really liked Emi's coaches this season. Celest Lee was super energetic, taught them a lot and ran all over the field with them, all while being quite pregnant and the assistant coach had a cool English accent! (The accent made it all seem a little more legit.) It was also so cute to see all of these little five year old girls play together.

Preschool at the Park

2008-06-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, May 30th, I got to go on a Field Trip with Emily's Preschool class to a really cool Park, Prestin's Hope. It is totally handicap accessible and was built after the wish of a little boy who wanted to play with the other children at the park. You could imagine how hard that would be on most playgrounds if you are in a wheelchair. Anyway, It is incredible. Emily was so excited to go on a school bus. She also loved the little stage area that looks like a castle and had to perform, "A Dream Come True," an original impromptu screenplay by Emily Parks. It is hard to hear but she is singing about being beautiful and marrying a prince "tonight!"
She also enjoyed just spending time with her little friends.

Memorial Day 08

2008-06-02T12:45:00.000-07:00

I LOVE Memorial Day weekend! I grew up rising with the sun and going to a reunion of families and friends and long lost neighbors that took place at the Fairview cemetery just up the hill. I loved going and looking at all of the interesting headstones that told stories of people from the past. I loved hearing taps and the 21 gun salute performed by the local vets. I loved hearing the stories of grandparents and great grandparents, my great-uncle, Big Bal, who was killed at 24 in WWII just days before it ended. I loved visiting my Daddy...(Thanks Katie, for visiting this year and sharing pictures.

I loved how my life felt connected to the past. And...
I loved that it meant SUMMER!!! We were always out of school before Memorial Day. (None of this having to go back for another week and a half of hot classrooms.)
Needless to say I was giddy all weekend, despite the fact that I missed the reunion this year and my kids had school on Tuesday.
We started out the weekend planning and planting a little garden plot. You have to plant something on Memorial Day weekend or it is just not Memorial Day.

If you are interested in the commentary make sure you put your cursor on each picture.

Saturday we had two yards of topsoil delivered and the kids literally embraced the experience. When our neighbor Janine came over we laughed at Sam who was laying across the top of the pile hugging the dirt. They did a good job of helping us haul it to various parts of the yard and of trampling it down and giggling as it tickled their bare feet. We ended the day soaping up in a full tub of clean water.

Sunday we went to a neighborhood cookout and the kids played and of course got filthy.

Monday morning started with the South Euclid parade. Both Sam and Emily got to march with their baseball teams and were sooooooooo excited to finally get to throw candy at all of the parade watchers. We bought a giant Costco bag of Tootsie rolls and Laughy Taffies and it was gone before the parade was half over. Danny stayed with the kids and I walked on my own passing out Pampered Chef recipe cards with my info on them. I made 300 and also ran out before I had finished half of the parade. It must run in the family.
We ended the day at our house with a small cookout and a few friends and then again soaked our pigs in a warm soapy tub. I love SUMMER!!!

Camouflage, Armor and Stuff

2008-06-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

Last week after church Sam decided to get out his MACHINE NERF GUN that shoots ten repeated rounds and that Emily was his natural enemy that he should battle. He told her, "Emi get that dress off, this battle is only for Camouflage, Armor and Stuff."

The cute and obliging sister that she is obediently went up to change and I guess the pterodactyl suit was the closest thing she could find to camouflage.

Sam made sure that they both had on safety goggles, stored all of his extra ammo on the back of his vest and then they had the following conversation.

Emi: "What about me? I need some bullets!"
Sam: "Okay but just one."
Emi: "Cool!"
Mom: ;-( "Sam if you are going to battle your little sister you have to do a better job at sharing."
(Did I actually say that? I have never been one to stifle their imaginations but when I actually see it in black and white it looks like one more mother of the year moment to add to me resume ((And now I am speaking with an Irish accent)) :-)
I think she ended up with 3 rounds compared to his 17.

They ended up spending a lot more time preparing for the battle then on the actual battle itself. Emily was a little too smart to stick around after the first ten rounds went off.

Now Hiring!

2008-05-22T13:45:00.001-07:00

I just had to post the incredible deal that Pampered Chef is offering for any of you that are fans and might want to join my team or just want to stock your kitchen with some of the best kitchen/entertaining products on the market FOR FREE!
In the picture above you can see the starter kit with over $500 in product/paperwork that you get for $155 and for doing 4 shows. (That includes catalog shows.)

If you sign up to become a consultant in May you can get an extra $400+ in free product of your choice!!!
Here is how it works:
*For every 4 shows you do in your first month you get $100 Pampered Chef Dollars to spend on anything you want. (8=$200 12=$300, etc.)
+For every $1250 in sales that you turn in you get another $100 PC dollars.
+Just for doing 4 shows in your first month you get another $100 PC dollars.
+June is Sale-a-thon month so just for having 2 shows you will earn one of the new Fall Products.
+If you turn in $1500 in sales for June you earn a lot of the new Fall Product. (easy with 4 shows!)
+If you turn in $3000 in sales you earn all of the new Fall Product! (it takes me about 6 shows for this level.)
NOT TO MENTION YOU GET A PAYCHECK! ($330 cash if you sell $1500.)

I love that Pampered Chef gives you the option of just trying out the business. If you do your first four shows and realize it is not for you, you're done and you get to keep all of your product and your paycheck. If you are like me and are instantly addicted you can keep earning a great paycheck for going to peoples parties. To all of you who say, "But I am not a salesperson!", it sells itself. All you do is start asking people what their favorite product is and they get excited and start selling it to everyone else at the show.
During your second and third month with the company you can continue to earn Pampered Chef dollars. $50 for every 4 shows and $50 for every $1250 in sales. Plus $50 for every consultant that joins your team. AND OF COURSE A PAYCHECK!!!

I have been selling Pampered Chef for 1 1/2 years and love it and can't believe I get paid on average $30-$50 an hour.

Like I said I couldn't help but post about this AWESOME deal because who knows who is out there that I haven't asked that needs a job and will love it as much as I do.

An Ode to Us!

2008-05-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

So tonight Emily got out her "diary" and decided to write a poem.(She pronounces it pom).

She actually wrote it in this order:
Sam is so cute;
Sam is so fun;
Sam is so adorable.

How cute is that!
Well, then she decided she needed me to write one about her.

Emi Roo, I love you;
You're smart, you're funny,
and wiggily too!
I love how you sing;
I love how you dance;
Oh look! I can see your underpants.

Then of course Sam needed one:

Sam, Sam my cute little man;
Of you I am the biggest fan.
I love your eyes;
I love your nose;
I love your wiggily, wiggily toes.
I think you're smart;
I think you're funny.
I'm so glad I can call you Sonny.

Then Emi wrote one for me:

Mommy is so cute when she laughs;
it looks like a fan. (?)
I like it when she comes in my room and tucks me up;
it makes me feel like I am sleeping in her bed next to her.
I like to hug mommy and I like to look at her;
So much fun!
We buy webkinz together.
I like my black webkin.
Mommy thought she was not very cute, (the webkin)
but now she is.

And for Daddy:

I like Daddy so much because he yo-yos,
and he can do it.
I love to hug him.
I love to kiss him.
I can do it, why can you not?

Then Sam's turn:

Emi, Emi you're cute and funny
because you're my little sister
and also funny, funny, funny!

Dear Daddy,
I like you because you practise baseball with me
and also you look great because you're my daddy.
Dear Daddy,
and also you take carry of me and also you care about me.
I can see your underwear from your moushies:
I can see your skin from your tushies.
In case its almost Father's Day I made something at school,
but it needs to dry.

Dear Mom,
I'm glad that you're my mom because you are my mom.
And also you are always silly and you are great because
you are always great!

Are we destined for authorship or what?

Rainbows and Ribbons

2008-05-17T16:26:00.000-07:00

Emily had her last dance recital with Miss Tracee. It was so cute!!! She of course loved being on stage and the whole performance aspect. They danced to "Drip drip drop little April showers," from Bambie and then, "The Rainbow Connections." They danced with umbrellas and then with little ribbons of colored plastic.

The Lost Stone of Inguania?

2008-05-17T15:36:00.001-07:00

Sam's and Emily's imaginations never cease to amaze me. This afternoon as I was reading the last couple of pages of "The Scarlet Letter," (which I just finished for the first time, not sure how I got through high school without it being required.) I could hear lots of busy kid noises in the other room but I really wasn't paying attention to what they were doing until I heard Emily in an excited and very dramatic voice that could have come straight from a Disney adventure film,"Sam, I just found the lost stone of Inguania, in my closet. I'm serious. That is the land of the Penguins and the land where my friend Pengi lives. Hurry come see."
Sam: "I see. Now hurry we must create a protection for ourselves. We need a bigger tank to hold the potion."

(Mom enters stage right to discover almost every cushion, pillow and lightsaber, made of pool noodles and duct tape, that exist in the house crafted together into a barricade on the stairs.

Her darling and courageous daughter stands on the side of the tub mixing the potion, that is sure to protect them all, in the bathroom sink with a drum mallet. She takes an occasional sample with a small clear glass.

The heroic Sam is striped and ready to immerse himself in the larger tank of potion -the tub.

I stopped Sam from filling the tub and made him get dressed and then headed for my camera. (It was cute but I didn't want to deal with the mess that was sure to come when the larger tank of potion made its way to my bathroom floor.)
I am actually surprised they had any energy left after our crazy day.
9:00 Sam's baseball practice
10:30 Emily's baseball uniform pickup and pictures
11:30 Sam's soccer game
12:30 Emily's soccer game
1:00 Sam's baseball uniform pickup and pictures
1:30 Sam went grocery shopping with Mom and Emi went to the office with Daddy!
3:30 I took a nap!

"Bear"necessities!

2008-05-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

We had the greatest night last week with a little visitor from Kindergarten. In Sam's class this year every student got the chance to be the "star of the week." They got to wear a special crown and sit in a special chair and even got to bring in a show and tell item everyday of the week and a treat one of the days. Sam loved it and made sure to take his crown back every day.
Well, when that was finished and every student had a turn, Baby Bear joined their class. At first Baby Bear just watched the kids in the class and then would choose which table or student was being the best at listening and then he would go and sit with them. After awhile though it was decided that he would like to go home with each Kindergartner but only after each student had written a letter to Mama Bear to ask permission. Sam's letter said, " Mama bear I em gunu tak cir uv bab bear. I wl brnk hm bac. Sam" (Mama bear, I am gonna take care of baby bear. I will bring him back.)
Sam waited with much anticipation and not much patience for his turn. We even had an emotional breakdown one day when he made a wrong choice and was sure if Mrs. Bell ever found out about it that he would never get to bring the furry critter home.
But alas, the day finally arrived and when I picked him up that afternoon I could tell from the joyous look on his face that something big had happened.
He was carrying a cute little diaper bag in one hand and his backpack in the other. Inside that diaper bag was Baby Bear, a note from Mama Bear, a blankie, Baby Bears favorite book, 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear' and a disposable camera that we could take 2 pictures with.
Sam had a great conversation with the little guy in the back seat on our way home. "Baby Bear, I can't wait for you to meet Tiger. He's kind of just like you except he is a tiger. His tail is just like yours, cept it is kind of skinnier and kind of longer. He has paws exactly like yours cept yours are so bigger then his. Oh and he has stripes." (Tiger is Sam's favorite baby animal at home.)
That night we took Baby Bear to see Spiderwick Chronicles at the dollar theatre. While Danny and I were busy whispering back and forth about whether we ever should have brought them to something that was so scary and whether we should even stay, Sam was busy covering Baby Bear's eyes and watching with his wide open. (We did decide to stay so they could see the conflict resolution and know that the scary all worked itself out - and then chalked that experience up as another entry for the mother and father of the year award.)
Baby Bear also took a walk to the park with us and then Sam let us know that Baby Bear would really appreciate if he could watch Sam play video games even though Sam still had 4 days of being grounded from them. Sam reminded us several times that we should respect that request because, "after all he is the guest." (Nice try buddy :-)

That night Baby Bear got his own bed in a giant Pampered Chef Box that he shared with all of the stuffed friends that live at our house. I think he got scared and crawled in bed with Sam that night because the next morning we found him cuddled up next to our little guy. Sam said, "Maybe he just got cold."
It was a little sad to pack up the diaper bag and send the two of them off the Kindergarten the next morning, but Sam seemed pretty contented.

23 Cent Pizzas?

2008-05-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

Ahh, life in Metropolis! Last Thursday we planned on having pizza for dinner as did all of Northeast Ohio. For 23 cents! If you haven't heard this story yet you are in for a treat and here is a little run down of what happened.

Papa John's made some t shirts that were given out at a Wizard's game with #23 (Lebron James' number), and CRYBABY was written where Lebron's name should have been. Well Cavs fans when nuts and called for a boycott of the popular pizza chain. Papa Johns Corporate had not approved the t shirts but to make amends decided to choose a day and offer 23 cent pizzas (Large one topping). For more, read this article..

I don't think Papa John's really knew what they were getting into. The local newspapers wrote about it for days before, and the anchors from most of the news stations had already broadcast what their personal topping would be. Everywhere I went I heard people talking about how they were planning on getting two or three with the help of family members. Schools were planning pizza parties (no clue how they thought that would work) I don't think that Papa John's could have served everyone who intended to be served if they had offered the deal for a week.

The doors opened at 10:30 a.m. and the lines started hours earlier. When I watched the new that day this is what I saw. Make sure to check out the last link to the story by Michael O'Mara. Some people think that this could only happen in Cleveland with our poverty level where it is but human nature is such that I think it would be a repeat in any location big or small.

Thousands of people lined up throughout the day and waited sometimes over 5 hours for pizzas. A couple locations went out and gave coupons for a free pizza when they knew they were going to run out but most franchises just shut the doors. Fights broke out, people were arrested and chaos ruled at times just for a bubbly, little pizza pie. 23 cents is a good deal but in my opinion not worth trading a day of my life for.

Way to go Papa John's!

Needless to say we just ate leftovers from a lunch I hosted that day and were all the better for it :-)

How many Sarah's does it take?

2008-05-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

I thought this was kind of fun. Their are 270 Sarah Parks in the U.S. but I thought it would be interesting to see how my maiden name would rank!

HowManyOfMe.com

There is
1
person with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

How fun is that to be one out of how many million? Does it still count that I am no longer just Sarah Pead and that there is now a Parks at the end? I think so.

Turning 5!

2008-05-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

This happened a couple of weeks ago but for some reason slide.com decided it no longer likes my computer and I decided I no longer like the time the website has sucked from my life. So I went back to smilebox and love, love, love how easy it is and that I can make a slide in less then 5 minutes.

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

How lucky am I to have this precocious child in my life with all of her silliness, charm and love of all things dramatic, pink and princessy! I love her giggles and smiles and flare for words. I love that she has to take things and make them her own. I love that she knows what she wants and rarely compromises (Did I just say that?)I love her creativity and imagination and the conversations she has with all of her invisible sisters and cousins. (They can be quite funny, who needs a radio or television?)I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for sending this one to me. How did I get so lucky? What fun that I get to see her grow up. I know that amazing things are in store with this one. How do you say, I know all of this? In Emily's words - "Because my heart told me."

Pink, Lace, and Frills with lots and lots of GLITTER!

2008-04-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

Emi Rose turns 5 tomorrow. I can't believe that time has flown by so fast and that my youngest child is now 5!!!I wanted to make a quick slide with a few of my favorite birthday girl memories and it ended up huge. I don't know how to pick and choose very well because all of them are my favorite.
I get so emotional as I looked back at all the fun things that we have done as a little family with this precious little girl that is ours. She has been so much fun - ALL GIRL, and pink, and princess and frills! Exactly like the little girl I always dreamed of having as I grew up. It also made me very baby hungry :-)

Who Rules this Roost?

2008-04-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

"Who Yah, Dat what I'm talkin' bout. . ." is what I heard as Sam presented his latest project to me. "Now ya know."
I think we are going to have to bring this 6 year old back to reality:-) I realized that he was starting to read and write in Kindergarten but the new vocabulary was a surprise.

While You Were Out. . . I went a little crazy.

2008-04-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

This is my latest project almost finished! A few years ago when I was in and out of the radiology lab on a regular basis getting xrays, CTscans, MRIs and my PTscan I fell in love with a series of flower xrays hanging as artwork on the wall. They are incredible and when you look up close they look like a fine pencil drawing. The lines are amazing!!! In some of them you could even see the seeds.
Then, a couple of weeks ago I was beyond excited to find them for 75% off at Joannes! I bought them with my birthday money and decided they would be perfect in our bedroom. I have always done cute things with the kids rooms but I never seemed to get around to ours. So for the first time in almost 10 years of marriage our walls are no longer white.
I decided to do a "while you were out" for Danny. I spent a couple of weeks (respending my birthday money a couple of times:-)) collecting pillows, sheets, the comforter, sewing the curtains, choosing the paint colors and then stashing it all in my closet. Thursday morning when Danny got up for work I got started. My friend Jessica Larsen helped me out with picking up Emily from school and watching her until I picked up Sam from school. I wasn't able to get all of it done before Danny got home that night but all painting except the second coat on the trim was done. It was really fun to suprise him and he seemed to really appreciate it and is enjoying it as much as I am. I still have to get new knobs for the shutters on our windows and I want to save up for lamps and a chocolate leather chair for the corner for reading and for Danny to sit on when he plays his guitars. (Got to book more Pampered Chef shows, I think that I have spent all my birhtday money too many times to use that excuse again:-)

Bubbly is currently Emily's and my favorite song! If you look closely you will see that Danny still has his nightstand full of yoyos, rubik's cubes and other various toys.

Dancilicious

2008-03-29T05:28:00.000-07:00

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

I have known that Emily loves dancing and music since I first felt her go crazy in my tummy when Danny would play his bass or I was at one of his orchestra concerts. She has been in a formal dance class now for two years and has loved it. In her own words "its dancilicious!" She is all about the posing and drama and of course the costumes! Miss Tracee has been such a fun and incredible dance teacher but sadly she too will be going the way of the Graduating Dental School Wife and migrating west along the Mormon Trail. I need to start my search for a new studio and hardly know where to begin.

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Sam's brain is always at work! He has been trying to invent from the time we introduced the word "work" to him and often drags Emily along for the ride. Like his Dad, he would rather spend more time figuring out a faster and easier way to get something done then on actually getting it done :-) We first noticed it at three when he tried to invent the toy-picker-upper. He explained to me exactly what parts it would need, and exactly what those parts would do and what they should look like, as I drew out the plans for him. (I don't know if he actually ever picked up the toys that had inspired the creative burst.) Once the plans were drawn up he got his shoes on and asked to be taken to Home Depot to get the metal and parts. During February's Black History Month at school Sam wrote about Elijah McCoy the inventor and when it was time to write about what he would be when he grows up he was quick to choose "Toy Inventor."

He is also a photographer and we often find fun, random pictures he has taken that give us a further look into his mind. We find pictures of what he has been watching on television, playing on the computer, or his toys such as his beloved Tiger. We have also found some fun ones of us from a kid's perspective and yes we have even found pictures of pretty girls!
So I think Sam just might end up becoming an inventor, a photographer or maybe even a MANAGER. (The last time we went berry picking, within a few minutes he had all of the other kids filling his bucket and when we moved to a new spot they even carried it for him. Sounds corporate to me :-)

Haunting Memories

2008-03-07T06:35:00.000-08:00

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

I am finally back to wrap up some of the fun things we have done in the last few months. Halloween and fall are my favorite!!!

2007-12-23T10:36:00.000-08:00

Well I haven't gotten around sharing Halloween or even Emily's dance recital this month but as I was going through my latest photos I just had to share what it is like to try and get the perfect Holiday Photo in our house. Merry Christmas to all!!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Soccer!

2007-11-06T06:18:00.000-08:00

Soccer this year was fun for us to watch but I am not so sure that Emily enjoyed herself. She was more interested in how she looked, posing for the camera and dancing. Getting dirty has never been her favorite thing, she wouldn't even finger paint in her art classes and as you see dirty was definetly a factor.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sam also played soccer this year but that is a whole other long story I will have to share another day. Look for my upcoming update on Halloween.

2007-11-06T05:08:00.000-08:00

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First Day of School

2007-10-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

This is Sam on his first day of Kindergarten. He looked soooo big and felt soooo nervous. All morning he was being grumpy and snappy at everyone. I gave him a hug and told him it was a special day and that I wanted him to be happy not sad and grumpy. He got tears in his eyes and said, "I know but I am just so nervous." That is the only time I cried that morning. I hadn't even noticed before he told me, but now that I look back at all the pictures you can see that he was worried and I must have been blind. He is usually a happy go lucky kid and went through the door and never looked back when he went to nursery and preschool so it kind of surprised me.

Things got better as he actually got to the school and saw that a little friend from church was in his class. Gage is sitting on his left. It was funny because I was one of a whole group of mothers bustling around trying to help the kids settle in. When Mrs. Bell finally walked the kids into the classroom we kind of hung around and peeked in the door for a couple of minutes before we could bring ourselves to actually leave. All day long, (Kindergarten if full day here,) I kept wishing that I could be a fly on the wall.

Emily also went back to preschool that morning but she only stayed for an hour. When we were walking hand in hand towards are van she asked, "Where's Sam?" There was a really big empty feeling and I think she felt it too. So, we picked up a friend whose baby started Kindergarten that day also and went on an impromptu shopping/lunch trip to Aurora Farms, the outlet mall. We got so distracted that we were almost late in picking them up.

He was all smiles when I picked him up. I asked him how it went and he said, "Great, but I don't know how to read yet." I told him before hand that he would learn to read in Kindergarten and I guess he thought it would happen as soon as he walked in the door.:-)

Parks in the City - I've Been Inspired

2007-09-18T08:08:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Cleveland! I have been so inspired from all you other blogsters out there to start my own. I always have tons of pictures and stories I think I should share and never do, so hopefully this will be my inspiration. I am feeling pretty lost though about how all of this works so forgive me while I figure things out.

This poor little guy is just the first picture I could find to download. He actually caught himself when we took the kids fishing at Lake Erie a couple of weeks ago. Danny and I fished for a long time and didn't even get a bite. The kids fished for about minute and then went to play in the sand. Danny threw Emily's line out into the lake and just left it there. When we decided it was time to go, after watching an amazing sunset over the lake, Danny started bringing in Emily's line and lo and behold, we had caught a pet. Atleast that's what the kids thought, but once we explained that wouldn't work all Sam cared about was seeing its bones :-) I think this is going to be fun.