Another writer in the family

Zachary's poem was submitted for writer's tea this trimester. Every trimester each teacher chooses one child's writing that they find impressive and submit it for the writer's tea. Last year Riley's bat story was chosen and this month Zachary's I am poem was chosen. What a great way for him to end his time in elementary school. He did such a great job reading his poem in front of everyone with the principal looking on. Here is his winning poem. It really does tell a lot about his personality. He is such a loving child, always concerned about animals and the world around him and he also possesses quite the imagination.

I Am
By Zachary Johnson

I am an animal loving boy who likes video games
I wonder what the world will be like in 2020
I hear the silence that comes before battle
I see a red panda sleeping in a tree
I want to stop the horror that is animal abuse permanently
I am an animal loving boy who likes video games

I pretend that I have my own dimension where cat-people,
ogres, and elves reside
I feel the power of the werewolves during the full moon and
the curse that comes with it
I touch the shining hilt of the mighty blade Excalibur as it rises
from its resting place
I worry about global warming's effects on the endangered
animals and what might happen to them
I cry when I find out about a young animal's death
I am an animal loving boy who likes video games

I understand the horrible sorrow that comes from a loved ones death
I say that you shouldn't always take things for granted
I dream of a world where humans and animals live in harmony
I try to encourage people to stop the horrors that are animal
abuse and global warming as hard as I can
I hope for a world without the vileness of war and the lives it cuts short every day
I am an animal loving boy who likes video games

Open House!

Tonight was open house and the choral performances at the kids' school. They both had some really awesome projects to show us in their classrooms. I was very touched that Zachary dedicated his journal of writing to me. Riley had some great art projects to show off. The choral performances were great. They did a great spoof on American Idol and Zachary got to play "Simon Scowl". He was a hoot with his british accent and insulting "Paula Obtuse". I can hardly believe that this was his last year in elementary school.

What a fun weekend!

We spent the weekend at Lake Mohave with Erica, Ryan and the kids. We had such a great time. The kids had a blast being pulled on the banana. Riley kept putting her thumb up for Ryan to go faster and Zachary kept putting his thumb down for Ryan to go slower. Boy, is that indicative of their personalities or what. Of course when they fell off Riley kept yelling "I could have died, I could have died". Drama Queen! Then she got back on the boat, sat in the bow and kept yelling "go faster". We decided she is a daredevil and she corrected us and said that she is "adventurous".

We were all worried about Presley since she is not yet 6 mos. old, but she was such a trooper. She seemed to just go with the flow and was her happy little self. Except when she had to get her life vest on and then she cried huge tears that could break your heart. Erica and I decided we have to invent a better baby life vest because that thing is just torture.

Luke (2 1/2) was so excited that first night. We arrived at the hotel at midnight and he was WIRED! He did not go to sleep until after 3 am. I don't know where little kids get all their energy from, but he was back up at 6 and ready to go on the boat. He had lots of fun and was way too fun to watch.

I even captured a few pictures of my children angelically getting along which does not always happen. I guess we just have to throw them out in the middle of nowhere together and then they seem to get along just fine. LOL!

What are they teaching in public schools these days?

Last night when I was drying Riley's hair she was looking at my March for Babies t-shirt that I wore for my March of Dimes walk. She was asking again why we walk for babies and how fundraising works. Then the conversation took an odd turn and went something like this...
Riley: Mrs. Jackson (her teacher) says that women should not go on roller coasters when they are pregnant.
Me: yes, that's right.
Riley: Mrs. Jackson said that is because if you are having twins then they will get mixed up and you end up with one baby that has two heads.
Me: Thinking "Huh? What?", but saying... no Riley that is not true. It is dangerous for a pregnant woman to go on a roller coaster, but it will not make them have a two headed baby.
Riley: Well, will it make the baby have three ears? Because I heard that could happen too?

Oh for gooness sakes. I'm really curious as to how this conversation really went down because I know her teacher would not tell her these things. The course of the entire conversation probably included something to do with conjoined twins and something about women cannot go on roller coasters when pregnant. I guess I will find out on Friday since I won't see Mrs. Jackson until then.

Emeril for the K9s

My gourmet chef made "doggie bites" this weekend. She got the recipe from a book called A Girl and her dog. She kept asking to make them so this weekend I finally caved and bought the ingredients. She had a lot of fun making them for her K9 friends. She made goodie bags for grandma's dogs, Amelia (our library service dog), her friend Stella's dog and of course our Maggie. The dogs seem to like them and I'm going to take their word on it because I'm not trying them. In case you would like to make your own doggie bites here is the recipe.
Two 6 oz jars beef and vegetable baby food
2 cups non fat dry milk
1 cup wheat germ
Mix all ingredients thoroughly and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Store in ziploc bags in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Cursed clothes!

Ok, I thought maybe it was my imagination, but now I am convinced that my children have "cursed" clothes. These are clothing items that I think are so cute, but every time they put them on they come home with stains all over them. Today I think that Riley rolled in strawberry juice and cheetos at lunch. Seriously are their clothes napkins? Riley has worn this pair of khaki crop pants, with a butterfly stitched on one leg, three times and every single time she has worn them they look like this. The first time she wore them I thought she rolled in the mud, the second time she decided to play in her "play" makeup and wipe her hands on her pants. So today when she came out of school with her lunch all over herself I cannot say I was surprised. So the pants are again in the washing machine in the hopes of salvaging them from yet another stain.

You Tarzan Me Jane!

Ok, before you read the following paragraph you are going to need some background. Yesterday I was working all day and Scott was home. So I had a long list of things I wanted done around the house including lawn mowing, weed pulling, putting together our new gazebo (the outdoor sanctuary he refers to) and taking down the broken, wind damaged one... the list went on and on. So around 3 pm I received the following email from my dear husband. I have to give him points for creativity and giving me a good laugh.

TARZAN HAS WORKED MANY HOURS TO APPEASE JANE'S DEMANDS. TARZANS' STRENGTH IS FADING!!!! RUMOUR OF A MIRACLE ELIXIR KNOWN AS BEER HAS REACHED TARZANS EARS. TARZAN REQUESTS JANE TO SEARCH OUT THIS MIRACLE ELIXIR TO RESTORE TARZAN'S STRENGTH. TARZAN HEARS THAT "NU CASTEL" OR" KUURS LITE" ARE GOOD ELIXIRS. TARZAN PLEADS FOR JANES HELP. JANE WILL BE PLEASED WITH TARZANS ACCOMPLISHMENTS WHEN RETURNING TO THE TREE HOUSE. TARZAN MUST GO NOW AND ACCOMPLISH PUTTING TOGETHER JANES OUTDOOR SANCTUARY.

Just for the record he did get a six pack of coors light and I spent the evening enjoying my "outdoor sanctuary".

And I thought the trumpet was loud

Zachary recently decided to change instruments. He said that his band teacher suggested the baritone since his retainer bothers him a bit when he is playing the trumpet. So for a while now he has been playing the baritone, but had not brought it home. He kept forgetting to bring home the necessary papers for me to sign in order for him to bring home the instrument.
Well, he brought it home last week and I swear he could fit inside the case for this thing. I never knew what a baritone was before, but it sure is larger than a trumpet. Thank goodness he has already developed some skills and learned some songs because otherwise with how loud this is I would have to resort to earplugs. As it is though he has gotten quite good at playing "Let's Go Band" and if you have ever been to a high school or college football game then you have heard this one.
I wish I had a few pictures of my nephew Luke watching Zachary play. He is a hoot. He gets so excited he is shaking and jumping up and down, dancing around. He makes for quite the audience.
Now I am looking forward to the band performance next month, but I am not looking forward to paying for the hernia repair he is going to need after carrying this thing to school and back twice a week.

My boy deserves a raise!

This morning Zachary came in my room and announced "one more day until your birthday Mom". I replied with, "yes and it's my 21st". Zachary said, "Mom if I did not know your real age I would believe you are 21 because you look great". Does my son know how to suck up or what? LOL! I need to give him a raise in his allowance.
He really is such a sweet kid though and I can always count on him to be so thoughtful when I need it.

Fireballs!!!!

Yes, that is the name of Riley's soccer team, The Fireballs! They had their first game today and it was very exciting. I love to see the progress she and all the kids make each year. They start out playing "bunch" ball all huddled together trying to kick the ball. Then they start to learn their positions and actually play them. Now the girls are really learning to work as a team and pass, guard, etc. I think she is going to have a great season.

I love this action shot of Riley, unfortunately I did not manage to snap the shot before the ball flew out of the frame. I just love the look of determination on her face though.

Afterwards we all went to pizza factory for a pizza party which was a great way for the girls to get to know each other better.

Sponsor Me at March for Babies!

HAPPY EASTER!

Our Easter weekend started on Good Friday. The kids had their spring parties at school and now they are on spring break. Then we went over to Erica's house to dye Easter eggs. Luckily it was a nice warm day so we could dye the eggs outside.

We hosted Easter brunch at our house and Riley was excited to wear her new American Girl outfit and Mimi had a matching outfit. All the kids had fun playing together, trading from their baskets and hunting for Easter eggs.
Of course I think Zachary and Riley's favorite part was their annual ritual of blowing up peeps in the microwave. Nothing like good old fashioned torture of a marshmallow to end your Easter celebrations.

Coloring contest

A few weeks ago my mom showed Riley a coloring contest page that came with her union retirement newsletter. My mom promised Riley that if she colored the picture then she would mail it. Just last week Riley wondered if she had won and I told her that I thought we would have heard by now if she had won. Well, we got a phone call today and Riley won an animal planet Easter basket. My mom took her out to pick it up and she said everyone came out to meet Riley, gushed over her picture and then took a photo for the next retirement newsletter. Riley just beamed the entire time.

Our own little Steven Spielberg

Tonight's dinner table discussion went something like this...
Me: How was your day Riley?
Riley: Good, I am directing a play.
Me: Really? What is the name of your play?
Riley: D.W. gets her library card. (she printed the script off of the PBS kids website)
Me: So who is in your play?
Riley proceeds to list off her friends and their roles.
Me: Did you actually have the play today?
Riley: No, we are just rehearsing. We are going to have the play on your birthday at recess.
Me: Are you in the play?
Riley: No Mom. I'm THE DIR-EC-TOR!

Ha, my bossy little girl has found her role... bossing all the players around. LOL! She also informed me that her next production will be an original script written by none other than Riley Johnson. I can just see her on the playground informing everyone of their roles and correcting them if they miss a line. Lord, help those kids. hahahahaha!

Student of the week

Every week Zachary's teacher picks a name out of the hat and that child is "student of the week" this week it is Zachary' turn and I thought I would post what his teacher had to say about him.

"Let's see if you can identify this week's Student of the Week: *He's a 6th grader. I sometimes refer to him as Mr. Wizard, Jr. because of his incredible knowledge and ability to explain things of a scientific nature. He's also something of a history buff. Of the 12 grades in my grade book for the ancient civilizations we've studied, 11 of them are A's! He's one of our class Top Dogs in grammar! He had an A on every single grammar assessment of the 2nd trimester! He's earned three spelling awards, the most recent due to his minus zero on Friday's test. He plays a brass instrument in band, and especially enjoys reading science fiction. Are those enough clues for you? If not, his initials are Z.J., and his best friend in our class is Julia."

We're very proud of our student of the week. Way to go Zachary!

Aquarium of the Pacific

After whale watching on Tuesday we decided to continue with our sea animal education and visit the Aquarium of the Pacific. Zachary and Scott's favorite part was watching the sea otters play. I found it funny that the sea otters had a little tykes playset in their habitat. Riley enjoyed petting the manta rays. My favorite was the tsunami exhibit where we learned so much about how tsunamis form and the differences between tsunamis and wind waves. It was very interesting and they had hands on displays and projects you could do at home to learn more about energy in water.

Afterwards we got to visit our favorite pizza place in Long Beach, Domenicos, where we get their ground pepperoni pizza that is oh so bad for us, but way too good to pass up.

We survived.

Riley and I went on her second grade whale watching field trip today. I went into this with much hesitation and anxiety. Our experience four years ago was not a positive one. We spent two hours in drizzly, overcast, and choppy waters with children vomiting over the side of the boat. The icing on the cake was that we not only never saw a whale, but we never saw an animal. Not even sleepy sea lions lazing on buoys.
So I have to admit it was difficult to go into this trip with a positive attitude, but I am so glad I went. This was a much different experience. It was a perfect clear blue day with no choppy waves making kids sick. The kids were all so well behaved and we had a great time. We did not see any whales, but we saw tons of dolphins which in hindsight I think were even more exciting than the whales. The dolphins actually swam towards our boat and would swim in the wake of the boat darting in and out of the water. They were playing around our boat for the longest time. I used up most of my memory card trying to catch a picture of them, but the pictures where the dolphins were right under the surface did not come out and the closest I got to a picture of a dolphin jumping out of the water was a photo of the splash the dolphin made going back under. Those suckers are FAST!

We also saw lots of sea lions sleeping on the buoys while the bell clanged right next to them. They were not even phased by a boatload of squealing second graders.

After the boat ride we all walked over to the beach for lunch and a quick class photo and then it was back to the buses for the ride home. All in all it was a great day and Riley had an awesome time.

60 Things You Possibly Didn't Know About Me

Shamelessley stolen from another blog, but fun none-the-less......

1. What is in the back seat of your car right now? the kids jackets

2. When was the last time you threw up? I can't remember, thank goodness

3. What's your favorite curse word? Can't say that I have one.

4. Name 3 people who made you smile today? Liz, Luke (via phone) and Riley

5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Walking out the door for work

6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Eating cake (shhhh, don't tell anyone).

7. What will you be doing 3 hours from now? Watching Lost with Scott

8. Have you ever been to a strip club? Only when I worked there.

Just kidding. Just making sure you are paying attention. Just for the record... no

9. What is the last thing you said aloud? Riley stole my bath

10. What is the best ice cream flavor? cookies and cream

11. What was the last thing you had to drink? white wine with dinner

12. What are you wearing right now? Jeans and long sleeve Tommy Hilfiger shirt with cake on the front of it.

13. What was the last thing you ate? The cake, stop asking me about it

14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? no

15. When was the last time you ran? Run? I try not to.

16. What's the last sporting event you watched???? The Superbowl

18. Who is the last person you emailed? my friend Debbi in Texas

19. Ever go camping?yes. A lot as a child, but we had a 40 foot RV so I suppose that won't count for some of you. I have camped twice since I got married and it's really not my thing. My idea of roughing it is a 4 star hotel

20. Do you have a tan? Apparently since I wore a skirt yesterday and my boss asked if I'd been to the tanning salon. Just for the record I don't go to those places. I don't dig the leathery old lady look.

24. Do you drink your soda from a straw? Preferably

25. What did your last IM say? I don't really IM

26. Are you someone's best friend? Yes

27. What are you doing tomorrow? getting our new tv and surround sound installed, grocery shopping and laundry. My life is non-stop glamour

28. Where is your mom right now? In Georgia while I watch her Jack Russel Terrier aka Weasel dog who spends her time excavating my backyard and escaping through the fence to excavate the neighbors yard

29. Look to your left, what do you see? out the back door.

30.What color is your watch? the only working watch I have right now is silver and my mom "loaned" it to me the day Riley was born so I could time my contractions. I guess I am 8 years late in getting that back to her

31. What do you think of when you think of Australia ? Koalas

32. Would you consider plastic surgery? Frequently. I love to contemplate the idea of going in one day and coming out the next with a new body (I know it's not really that easy), but I would never go through with it. I have a HUGE fear of surgery of any kind. So I could never volunteer for it.

33. What is your birthstone? Diamond, there is a reason I was a month late. I had to go for the big one. See I even loved diamonds in utero.

34. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? I can't remember the last time I went into one.

35.How many kids do you want? I've already got them, thanks.

36. Do you have a dog? Maggie May

37. Last person you talked to on the phone? Erica

38. Have you met anyone famous? Yes, not terribly exciting though

39. Any plans today? At this point.... watching Lost with Scott and going to bed.

40. How many states have you lived in?one. CA gal through and through

.41. Ever go to college? yep.

42. Where are you right now? Duh, on the computer

43. Biggest annoyance in your life right now? My father, good thing he does not have my blog address.

44. Last song listened to? Rockstar by Nickleback

46. Are you allergic to anything? laundry

47. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? flip flops of any sort

48. Are you jealous of anyone? I don't think so

50. Is anyone jealous of you? I could not imagine why

51. What time is it? 7:52 pm

52. Do any of your friends have children? Of course

53. Do you eat healthy? I try.

54. What do you usually do during the day? damage control

55. Do you hate anyone right now? no

56. Do you use the word 'hello' daily? Pretty much except when I say "ya, what the H do you want?"

58. How old will you be turning on your next birthday? 29 again

59. Have you ever been to Six Flags? yes. The last time Scott and I went alone and decided to go on all the big rollercoasters... then we decided we were old and went home

60. How did you get one of your scars? hmmmm, the only scar I have is a small one on my knee. I got it as a teenager when an insect bite got infected.

It's all in the shape

What is Valentines day without cupcakes? Apparently it would be a tragedy. Riley's class is having their party tomorrow and nobody signed up to bring cupcakes. Every other item on the sign up sheet was spoken for, but apparently nobody wanted to make cupcakes. So Riley begged me to do it and I caved at the sight of those big hazel eyes staring up at me. Then I noticed it said heart shaped cupcakes. Um, I don't own a heart shaped muffin tin. So I went in and asked her teacher if they had to be heart shaped. Mrs. Jackson said, "oh I have the pans if you are going to make them". Then she proceeded to dig around in her supply cabinets. We found Christmas tree shaped tins, ghost tins, but no hearts. So we are settling on pink cupcakes that are merely your average round shape. I don't think the kids will care as long as they get to eat them. The best part is that we just had to make the cupcakes. The kids decorate them during the party tomorrow. What an easy deal.

Five minutes peace.

Most nights I take a bubble bath and try to enjoy five minutes peace.

I don't think it's a lot to ask. Five minutes to myself after a long day, but just like poor Mrs. Large in Jill Murphy's book it's just not possible. When the kids were smaller I always had Riley coming in peeling off her clothes to climb in the tub with me, Zachary asking questions, Scott wanting to sit on the hamper and tell me about his day. Even the dog joined in and would decide bathwater made an excellent K9 drink.

So now that the kids are older that five minutes peace should be an easier thing to obtain, but alas it still eludes me. It seems that a locked door requires much knocking and door knob rattling. "Mom can I have a snack". "Mom can I (fill in blank)." Nevermind that their father is sitting right next to them. They still feel the need to yell through a locked door at me while rattling the door knob. Scott is the worst door knob rattler around. He knocks, then rattles, then rattles again, then starts yelling some question through the door.

Tonight I'd had enough and announced that unless the house is burning down DO NOT DISTURB MY BATH and for God's sake don't rattle that damn door knob if you value your life. Hmmm, maybe they finally got the message.