Chicago to CA presentation

Sean had to do a speech about how our family came to live in CA. Since Rachel already did the momma when she was a fourth-grader, Sean had to be Dad. So he told of Dad's trip from Chicago to Seattle, and Seattle to CA, flaming transmission and all. Then we gave each classmate a taste of polish sausage. Can you identify all of the pictures on his poster?

Little Brother to 4

The Fantastic Four were here after school yesterday, so I got pictures but didn't have a chance to blog them. They were supposed to be doing homework until it was time for Ho Kuk Mu Sul, but there was a LOT of giggling going on. Poor Sean lost his homework spot at the kitchen table and hid in the living room where it was quieter.

Here's a shot of the four 'big sisters' and Sean before their class started. I apologized to the instructor as I dropped the monsters off. : )

Shadow the Coolest Cat ever

Here's the only furry child not featured yet. Someone needs to tell him that 7 1/2 year old cats do not play with toys. He's killing a Santa toy in this picture. Since he is an indoor/outdoor cat, he's the only one that doesn't get his claws trimmed, and he can really do damage to Santa. He's our only cat brave enough to come into the room during Cub Scout meetings, has no fear of Merlin the dog when we're babysitting, and curls up on the human of his choice when he's cold. Basically, he owns the world, and we're here to serve him. He's our one true feline. And he has an appointment at the vet tomorrow... shhh, don't tell him or I'll never catch him!

Mmmmm yummmmy

Kenny wanted polish food today, so of course he had to cook it himself. Words don't even do it justice, so I'll save 1000 and just show you.

Party Girl

Rachel's b'nai mitzvah class is inviting every classmate to every bar/bat mitzvah. That means we have 25 extra guests, and that Rachel has 25 parties to attend. Tonight was a casual party at the Boardwalk... not really her style, but she went anyway. Off with the nice temple services dress, and on with the kid clothing for the night party. Including her party shoes. Have fun, yes I WILL wait up... oh gosh, has that started already???

Kenny and Friends

I think my poor family is getting tired of this blog already. : )

Today I caught Ken curled up in bed with the furry children. I don't know how Shadow missed the party, must have gone somewhere quiet to sleep alone. Walter is the toughest to sleep with, since he weighs 70+ pounds and has to be ON you. Cassie and Ella aren't too bad, unless they want to be under the covers with me, and then they start wrestling with each other and no one sleeps. Ken rolls around in his sleep, so the cats are ready to bolt if necessary.

Please call Ken and tell him to build me a headboard already.

Edible Campfire Building

Well, it was too wet outside to teach the cub scouts how to set a campfire. So we did it girl scout-style, with food. They raked the nuts out of brownie mix, like clearing the pinecones out of their firecircle; they made a circle of cheerios instead of stones; they used pretzel logs for logs, pretzel sticks for kindling, and shoestring potatoes for tinder. When they set it right, I gave them red twizzlers for matches, and red hots sprinkled over it for fire. They still have to do it for real, but this was a yummy start, and I certainly had their attention with food!

Sunset

Sunset pictures never seem to do them justice. I got a few good ones on the camcorder with a UV filter once, but my cheap snappy doesn't take filters. And I had just gotten out of the shower so standing on the bedroom deck made me shivering cold, hard to hold the camera still.

Tonight was so vivid, and the kids said the clouds looked like they were trying to be mountains. So you're stuck with it as today's pic.

Kid Soup

Well, nothing exciting happened today, so you have to settle for another pic from our road trip.

And I can't even begin to tell you how sick I am over the loss of Heath Ledger to a senseless death. We lost a special actor, and a little girl lost her daddy. *sigh* Such a waste.

Puppy Kisses

We took a 165 mile road trip so Walter could play with our friends' new puppy, Lucy. I don't think Lucy's ever been this tired! Such a well-behaved pup when she had no energy left.

Alecia is Sean's first girlfriend, from his crawling days. And her little sister, Emily, was born on his birthday!

I just couldn't pick only one photo for today.

Pinewood Derby

I missed posting before midnight... stupid barn financial reports took me longer than I thought to figure out. So this is yesterday's blog, dammit. I'm going to drive 3 hours to see friends in Roseville for Sunday night and Monday; this will have to hold you until Monday night.

Sean took 2nd place in this year's Pinewood Derby. Here's the only pic I got of him getting the trophy. I have lots of video of the races if you want me to clog your inbox.

He was totally happy, but I was ticked that he lost only to a car that had never been touched by a kid. Perfect paint, totally smooth, done by a dad. Should have been in the damn adult race, not the kid race.

And Ken's new Race Software worked great, along with the slow-motion replay camera at the finish line!

Frontal Lobotomized

This is the reason I have a password on the TV. You'd think they'd at least notice me standing next to the TV with a camera.

Walter the Yogurt Eater

I have the cutest dog. But you knew that. Walter likes to finish my yogurt for me, so the container is so clean you'd never know what was in it if there weren't a label on it. And he doesn't like the camera flash, so he closes his eyes.

Sorry for the cat booty in the background. Cassie wanted some yogurt, too. Piggy.

This post is just barely making today, since the Soccer Board meeting ran late AGAIN. We're getting more efficient, I know we are...

Well, the kids only have school until 12:35 on Wednesdays, so I didn't even get to try my new steam cleaner today. I barely got the house vacuumed before Rachel and the 3 Monster Girls (who I love) came to trash the house all afternoon.

On a good note, I had a productive horseback lesson today, even though it started late since I had to fix the falling canopy, put gas in the ATV, and drag the arena smooth (like a Zamboni on ice, but with sand.) After my lesson, my trainer's 2 yr old likes to get on in front of me and cool Willy out. Today, I took her around the neighborhood. The stupid horse is SO careful with her, not a misstep out of the goober. And she feeds him cheerios by sticking her whole hand in his mouth, while her mom watches. She's never been bitten by any horse, so I guess they all know how to treat babies. Or else.

This pic is an old one off my trainer's phone, since we didn't get a new pic today.

Ok, this is pathetically lame. The most exciting part of my day was putting together my new carpet steamer. So that's all you get to see today.

On a more interesting note, the three girls that slept here last Friday night and did martial arts forms with Rachel at midnight ALL went to the martial arts school today, and will probably join. Rachel is pretty much teacher's pet now!

If you have any prayers to spare, please say them for baby Jacob Ronald, who was born at 32 weeks gestation on Friday to our temple carpoolmates. Mom had placenta previa, and had cramps and bleeding, in the hospital on bedrest for 3 weeks, managed to keep him inside until her water broke and they decided to take him out. At least he was born at 4lbs 2 oz. Not bad for 8 weeks early.

The Perfect Man

I know, it's about time the husband was featured in the blog. After the kids and the small furry ones. At least he's before the horse this time!

So this is my perfect man, washing dishes because I cooked him a yummy dinner of red meat. It's a little blurry, but I only got one shot before it was over.

Love you Kenny!

Walter's 4th Birthday

Happy 4th Birthday, Walter baby, usually referred to as "the good child!"

Anyone who knows us well knows how precious this dog is to us. He may eat some toxic things now and then just to make us appreciate him being alive, but he's mostly a perfect dog. He doesn't bark unless scary contractors are walking up the driveway in hooded sweatshirts. He doesn't steal food from the kids. He raises half-pound feral kittens. He lets beagles take his toys at the dog park. He passed his Canine Good Citizen test with flying colors.

What else does it take to be the perfect dog?

Morning Glories

We had our monthly girl scout meeting last night. Twenty+ girls from 7th to 12th grades, for three hours, at a meeting they planned and mostly ran by themselves! After 3 hours, you'd think the girls were DONE, but the 4 that play soccer together just can't get enough of each other, so I brought them all home with me. I fell asleep at 1am, and they were all snuggled in sleepign abgs but still yakking away. I didn't have the heart to wake them to feed the barn with me at 7am, and I'm surprised they're awake already! They're creating all of themselves on Rachel's Sims2. Maybe they'll eat breakfast by noon. Ah, to be 12 again, knowing what I know now...

Sean and Ken are off at Little League tryouts this morning. They've been warming up so long, Sean's arm is already sore. Let's hope this goes well, and he gets a good coach.

Happy Sunny Friday!!!

I was so ready to see blue sky today for a change. After slinging pizza at the middle school, I went to volunteer in Sean's class. I take the kids outside to do Life Lab, i.e. play in the dirt. Not today, but soon, since the weeds are taking over. We have to get the weeds pulled before all of our spring bulbs sprout, or those 4th grade monsters will pull everything!

So here are a couple pictures of our moldy scarecrow, still hanging in there, and our winter crop of broccoli. A few of the tiny viola flowers survived the cold, but not many. Not too bad for January, eh?

Elite Ho Kuk Mu Sul

I finally got the kids into a martial arts school. They both went today after school, and now they're whining about homework, but it's worth it. The owner/teachers are young guys, fun and goofy, and really excited about teaching. This pic isn't from today, but it's their first class, where their white belts were presented to them. Proud Momma.

Hidden Cat

Okay, I have to admit, I have actually sat on this kitten in the dark office. Not today, but it has happened more than once. Thunder Ella likes to jump up and sit there when I stand up to get something off the printer, or stir dinner or let the dog out. You'd think one of us would learn by now.

Walter was very happy today. No rain. He got to go to the stable with me, and ride in the car to school. So Walter and Ella both wanted to be featured today.

And my day ended with the usual Wednesday chauffering to temple school. Only this time I had to go into the building and see exactly why the nasty boy in class got away with sucker-punching the little man in my carpool in the side of the head. Punching at temple... whouldna thunk it. I will be talking to the rabbi in charge of the school on Sunday. I already told the teacher what I thought of it. I'm not done yet. Congrats to Rachel for being the first to run for an adult, after she shoved the nasty kid away from her little buddy. *sigh*

Rachel's Corner of the World

I can't believe I blogged my cat before both of my kids... bad momma. So today's photo is where Rachel spends her time. Her homework is done, so she's playing Sims2, which she got for making Honor Roll last trimester. She was ONE grade point away from getting a cellphone -maybe next time, baby.

It's still raining. I went to Costco in the rain with Vicky today so I could hear about her holiday in England, I paid bills in the rain, I scooped horse manure in the rain... see the pattern?

Post-Holiday Blues

Poor Sean, back to school after 2 1/2 weeks off. Jumped right into piano lessons and homework. Double-digit multiplication for a whole page! Walter was convinced he must have food up there somewhere.

Notice the 1961 retro kitchen table. It was a gift to my parents for their wedding. Outlasted their marriage by a long shot. Someone said I should sell it on eBay for lots of money. Any offers?

Cassie's Throne

Her Majesty Queen Cassiopeia looks down on the world. I love this kitten. She's silky soft, and greets us at the door like a puppy. She's a Project Purr bottle-fed baby from the last litter they brought me. They found her and her two brothers under a dumpster in town. She's the perfect mix of tabby and siamese, so her dark patches have subtle stripes.

This picture also reminds me that I missed one of the rose bushes when I pruned the 6 others. At least it's not raining today. I'll have to prune that and then take the Christmas tree ornaments down.

January 5, 2008

A smart friend showed me her Photo A Day blog, and I thought, gees, even I could blog that way. So I'll give the 1000 words the easy way a try.

This is what the storm did to my neighbor's house.