Thomas got the teacher I thought I wouldn't want for him. In the long run she may the best of the three choices (although I had trouble with her last year when Glee had her, but that was a 2/3 combo of which Glee was the 3). This year it is a dedicated 2nd grade class... maybe it will work out better. Glee got the exact teacher I had hoped for. I was thrilled with that one! Yes, school has started again, we have made it through day 2, and luckily day 3 is a Friday. Soccer season first game is on Saturday, both kids teams have really great parents and it should be a fun year even with all the messing up the league has done. Glee's team was almost disbanded for lack of a coach, but that swung around the next week. Problem is both kids teams play 7 on 7 and both teams only have 9 total, so if it is like last year and any one or two kids don't show up there could be a lot of forfeiture.
The boss man is nearing the end of a weeklong vacation, that was really nice. It's nice to have him here for the first week of school. Also this week Glee turned 9 (?!?) and I have no idea where those days/weeks/years went. We took them on a train ride through our city to the El Capitan for the new Tinkerbell movie. It was sweet and she was really surprised. I was afraid at first that it would be too young for her but on her 9th birthday she met a character who was 9 also, and who made a scientific journal of the fairies with Tinkerbell's help. So it may be the last year to do it, I am glad we did. Thomas will turn 7 at the end of the month and has already planned that he wants to go ice skating and we are hoping some cousins can come along too.
The other news is we have lovely new neighbors. It is a family with a boy in between Glee and Thomas, a girl just younger than Thomas and a girl who is 3. PERFECT! We have enjoyed them over the summer... and they homeschool so we won't get to see them at school, but afterwards and weekends maybe.
My parents should be visiting soon for a wedding at the end of the month. I am hoping for a lovely visit, and I think it will be. Time for some gardening advice from the old man farmer known as my dad.
That's it for now... things in full swing (school, soccer practice 4 days a week, scouts 2 days a week every other week). Let the games begin!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Summer full swing...
So, I can't say anything about England that I haven't said before. It was another amazing trip. We spent the most wonderful time with our family, learning new wedding traditions (some English, some religious) and got to meet the newest members, the boys. We went to museums and we decided it would not be a bad thing for both kids to go to University in London (where they are pumping out nobel prize winners and scientist like there's no tomorrow!). We found an Egyptology museum and a museum of dead things (some even extinct!). We went to our favorite bookstore, stopped in to say hello to the Rosetta Stone and the roman antiquities and the British Museum. Discovered the newly redone Museum of London, walked past St. Paul's, went to Hampton Court for one whole glorious day, rode loads and loads of trains and ate delicious food. And then there was the company, which goes without saying, have to be my very most favorite relatives. It was just wonderful and I am ready to go again (the bank account isn't, but I am!).
And then we ended school with Glee being admitted to the GATE program, for which there is no funding so I have offered to be the parent rep (since the other one is leaving because she wants her kids to go to a different school) and we will see what I can dream up. GATE is for the gifted kids, and of course it was one of the very first programs cut when there were budget cuts. That's okay, we will make due... both kids got amazing report cards (again all A's for Glee and Thomas was able to improve in his listening skills and attention skills!). I got to attend a field trip to the Santa Ana Zoo (home of the sad monkeys and one of my friends called it) and was surprised to learn that the kids in his class whom I thought would be best behaved actually weren't. We made it through Multicultural week/Fair, school carnival, yearbook sales (I think there are only a handful left) and we have been launched into summer as of June 24th. Now, tomorrow is 4th of July which always signaled midsummer to me, but since school was out so late this year I may have to revise my midsummer! School starts again on Sept. 8th (I think) which feels like years away but will be on us in no time.
I also have a few jobs going... one big one I am working on, one smaller one I just finished and a couple of print/design jobs, so maybe we can catch up a little on the bills. Things have been tight for us (as for everyone) and it would be nice to be able to loosen the stranglehold a little. I have been knitting (found some lovely stuff in England when we were there) and am working on a sweater for Glee which should be done just in time for school. The yarn is called "moonlight" and it's lovely, it will look really nice on her.
OH, we have new additions to our family... Rex and Luna, a couple of kittens we have had for just over a week now. They are about three months old and adorable (as all kittens are). Thomas named Rex, who is mostly black but has a white belly and white legs. Glee named Luna who is a calico in honor of Krycek. That was one of my personal requirements, we honor our first cat.
So there we are, all caught up, right? For now anyway.
And then we ended school with Glee being admitted to the GATE program, for which there is no funding so I have offered to be the parent rep (since the other one is leaving because she wants her kids to go to a different school) and we will see what I can dream up. GATE is for the gifted kids, and of course it was one of the very first programs cut when there were budget cuts. That's okay, we will make due... both kids got amazing report cards (again all A's for Glee and Thomas was able to improve in his listening skills and attention skills!). I got to attend a field trip to the Santa Ana Zoo (home of the sad monkeys and one of my friends called it) and was surprised to learn that the kids in his class whom I thought would be best behaved actually weren't. We made it through Multicultural week/Fair, school carnival, yearbook sales (I think there are only a handful left) and we have been launched into summer as of June 24th. Now, tomorrow is 4th of July which always signaled midsummer to me, but since school was out so late this year I may have to revise my midsummer! School starts again on Sept. 8th (I think) which feels like years away but will be on us in no time.
I also have a few jobs going... one big one I am working on, one smaller one I just finished and a couple of print/design jobs, so maybe we can catch up a little on the bills. Things have been tight for us (as for everyone) and it would be nice to be able to loosen the stranglehold a little. I have been knitting (found some lovely stuff in England when we were there) and am working on a sweater for Glee which should be done just in time for school. The yarn is called "moonlight" and it's lovely, it will look really nice on her.
OH, we have new additions to our family... Rex and Luna, a couple of kittens we have had for just over a week now. They are about three months old and adorable (as all kittens are). Thomas named Rex, who is mostly black but has a white belly and white legs. Glee named Luna who is a calico in honor of Krycek. That was one of my personal requirements, we honor our first cat.
So there we are, all caught up, right? For now anyway.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Spring springing all over...
Happy Spring world! I only have a couple things I want to put here before I forget. #1, Thomas' school conference... he is maxed out in his reading, his teacher has tested him as high as he can go in first grade. He wants to read The Lightning Thief... he just finished Diary of a Wimpy Kid. That boy can READ! He can even read a book we have called The Universe which is full of scientific descriptions of stars and other things in the universe. It's awesome. He is a very intuitive reader. He also is at the top of the class in math (and considering his teacher thought he needed math help at the beginning of the year, I found that to be a nice amusement for myself). His area he needs to work on? Following class rules and keeping his desk neat. Yes, I think those will be following him the rest of his life. One other note about Thomas... we were sitting at the table eating dinner the other night and I asked him what will happen when someday Glee doesn't want to play with him, when she wants just to have her own friends? He looked me square in the eye and said "I will love her no matter what." I asked what if she wants to marry another boy and go live without us and he said that would never happen, and then she said no way, never happen. Man I love those kids.
Glee got named to honor roll again this trimester. She had all A's and one B on her report card. I have to say I am super proud of her too. She rolls with the punches and does her work without fail. I don't even have to sit with her for homework anymore, she just does it! Her weakest subject... handwriting. I say so what on that one. She will never be judged on her handwriting after third grade, so I told her as long as she does her best, I don't care what grade the teacher gives her on that. By the way, she is often marked off for her "j"'s which will be amusing to you all.
We are off to a wedding at the end of May... IN ENGLAND!!! We bought our tickets and we will be gone for 10 days. All of us are just a little excited...
Glee got named to honor roll again this trimester. She had all A's and one B on her report card. I have to say I am super proud of her too. She rolls with the punches and does her work without fail. I don't even have to sit with her for homework anymore, she just does it! Her weakest subject... handwriting. I say so what on that one. She will never be judged on her handwriting after third grade, so I told her as long as she does her best, I don't care what grade the teacher gives her on that. By the way, she is often marked off for her "j"'s which will be amusing to you all.
We are off to a wedding at the end of May... IN ENGLAND!!! We bought our tickets and we will be gone for 10 days. All of us are just a little excited...
Friday, March 12, 2010
Krycek 1996-2010
Our much beloved cat died yesterday. She had kidney failure and a terrible heart murmur. She was at least 15 years old, because she wasn't a kitten when we got her, but she wasn't much older than that. We got her our when we got our first apartment as a married couple, on PCH. She was a rescue cat, and I remember the day we got her. We went in to the pet store and there was a ring of chairs set up. They just sort of let the cats go in the ring of chairs. We sat down in chairs and she walked over to us and jumped up on me. Like she chose us. The lady who was there with the cats said she never went to anyone, so she must have known we would be her family.
One of my first times I was ever really afraid for someone I loved, it was kitty. She had jumped up on the roof of our apartment and I was afraid she would get hurt coming down. I actually asked Wayne to climb up and get her. And he did. Little did I know that cat could climb anything. We used to play with her in the front yard on PCH, with a stick, and she would chase it. One time, after a particularly active play session she sat there panting like a dog. It cracked us up.
She moved with us to Wayne's mom's house for the year we lived there saving up for our own house. She was an indoor cat there, and in Gardena when we bought our first house. She laid on my lap while I was pregnant with Glee and then Thomas, claiming them as her own children. She slept in their cribs (no matter what I did).
She moved with us to Torrance, and right now, our house feels like someone is missing. Not like she is just out for the day, but like she is gone. A warmth has left here. The kids keep hearing her collar, and her footsteps on the stairs. I see her shadow out of the corner of my eye. She is not gone, but her body is. I am really sad about this. Losing a pet is harder than I expected. We cling to the ghost, saying she would never leave us, she will always be here.
When we first moved here the kids would often have to go upstairs by themselves to get ready for bed.One of the ways they felt safe was knowing that kitty was up there to scare away any monsters. That's what cats do you know, they scare away monsters. Monsters HATE cats. They are horribly afraid of them. It hasn't come up yet, maybe because Krycek's spirit is still here, but what will happen now. Can the monsters get in? I don't know the answer to that one yet.
I will miss her warm fur, her little meow which wasn't even a meow, more of a mmew with her mouth closed. It was her way of telling me she was okay. I would ask her "you okay?" and she would say "mmew." We all miss the kitty kisses and the meowing at the door to let her out. I wonder if I should tell the punker girl who always stopped to pet her that she was moved on. I wonder if she will miss our cat.
One of my first times I was ever really afraid for someone I loved, it was kitty. She had jumped up on the roof of our apartment and I was afraid she would get hurt coming down. I actually asked Wayne to climb up and get her. And he did. Little did I know that cat could climb anything. We used to play with her in the front yard on PCH, with a stick, and she would chase it. One time, after a particularly active play session she sat there panting like a dog. It cracked us up.
She moved with us to Wayne's mom's house for the year we lived there saving up for our own house. She was an indoor cat there, and in Gardena when we bought our first house. She laid on my lap while I was pregnant with Glee and then Thomas, claiming them as her own children. She slept in their cribs (no matter what I did).
She moved with us to Torrance, and right now, our house feels like someone is missing. Not like she is just out for the day, but like she is gone. A warmth has left here. The kids keep hearing her collar, and her footsteps on the stairs. I see her shadow out of the corner of my eye. She is not gone, but her body is. I am really sad about this. Losing a pet is harder than I expected. We cling to the ghost, saying she would never leave us, she will always be here.
When we first moved here the kids would often have to go upstairs by themselves to get ready for bed.One of the ways they felt safe was knowing that kitty was up there to scare away any monsters. That's what cats do you know, they scare away monsters. Monsters HATE cats. They are horribly afraid of them. It hasn't come up yet, maybe because Krycek's spirit is still here, but what will happen now. Can the monsters get in? I don't know the answer to that one yet.
I will miss her warm fur, her little meow which wasn't even a meow, more of a mmew with her mouth closed. It was her way of telling me she was okay. I would ask her "you okay?" and she would say "mmew." We all miss the kitty kisses and the meowing at the door to let her out. I wonder if I should tell the punker girl who always stopped to pet her that she was moved on. I wonder if she will miss our cat.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
It's been a while...
We made it through the end of 2009 with little drama, lots of happy and well, just general good cheer.
Christmas was fun this year. Kids got a telescope from dad... he got it from work as a 15 year award or something like that. He decided he didn't need a watch or another clock, and the telescope is awesome. We have seen a blue moon and a full wolf moon, along with various stars and maybe even a couple of planets. This is the year Glee gets to study the Solar System and space... and I took the telescope to school last week to show the kids what a telescope is. Apparently, according to the teacher, all of the kids except Glee had never seen a working telescope. Hmm.
This was the Christmas of arts and crafts. Glee got a sewing machine, and she has made a ton of pillows already. She has one other project to finish, a skirt she made by herself that just needs to be hemmed. Thomas got a car design kit, with a working light box that he uses to design his own hot wheels. Lots of markers, coloring books and crafts were left by Santa too. We had a small group for Christmas this year, and I cooked the usual prime rib. It was mouthwatering to say the least... hardly any leftovers even thought I cooked 15lbs!
Then we made it through January... we had some awesome rain storms, a weeks worth of rain, and spent MLK Day splashing through puddles at the high school. It was tons of fun, Glee and Thomas had a blast, and I took lots of photos.
So, the updates... Glee earned Honor Roll... that's for your whole report card having nothing lower than a B. She had all A's except for a B in Spelling. Good report card! Thomas' was awesome too, only thing checked on his was that he needs to work on not wandering around the classroom so much. He has a tendency to forget what he got out of his seat for. That's okay, I do that a lot too! Thomas has passed his math facts to 12, and now his math tests are all vertical questions, that's the big leap in first grade! So much for needing help in math. He's practically a math savant! Really though, there are only two kids ahead of him in his class in math. His spelling is really good too, and his printing is looking fantastic. He is doing great. Glee is now on her divides 7, which means she has gone through the multiplication tables and is almost through the division. I had to teach her long division for some problems they got that were problems for estimating. It made me mad. The teacher told them they should guess at the answer. You don't guess at math. So I taught her long division so she could get the correct answer. Her teacher was annoyed, but I didn't care. Glee is also learning handwriting (cursive) and her teacher will mark the paper wrong if you write a letter in cursive that you haven't technically learned yet. So there are letters in Glee's name she is not "allowed" to handwrite. I say too bad. Her handwriting is really lovely, she does a good job on it!
So there we go... all caught up. Oh, the last thing, I hurt my back in January so bad that I had to make my first visit to a chiropractor. Wow, what have I been missing! The doc made a huge difference... I have still been having trouble... I need to stretch more, but at least I can walk. There was a day or two where I couldn't hardly stand up. It was horrible. I need to start yoga so I don't get old so fast!
Happy 2010 everyone...
we are in the midst of planning our trip to the UK for my cousin's daughter's wedding. We are so excited and happy to have been invited, and I am really excited about seeing my dearest cousin again soon. We set up the computers to talk via Skype, so we are keeping up on the latest news there.
Christmas was fun this year. Kids got a telescope from dad... he got it from work as a 15 year award or something like that. He decided he didn't need a watch or another clock, and the telescope is awesome. We have seen a blue moon and a full wolf moon, along with various stars and maybe even a couple of planets. This is the year Glee gets to study the Solar System and space... and I took the telescope to school last week to show the kids what a telescope is. Apparently, according to the teacher, all of the kids except Glee had never seen a working telescope. Hmm.
This was the Christmas of arts and crafts. Glee got a sewing machine, and she has made a ton of pillows already. She has one other project to finish, a skirt she made by herself that just needs to be hemmed. Thomas got a car design kit, with a working light box that he uses to design his own hot wheels. Lots of markers, coloring books and crafts were left by Santa too. We had a small group for Christmas this year, and I cooked the usual prime rib. It was mouthwatering to say the least... hardly any leftovers even thought I cooked 15lbs!
Then we made it through January... we had some awesome rain storms, a weeks worth of rain, and spent MLK Day splashing through puddles at the high school. It was tons of fun, Glee and Thomas had a blast, and I took lots of photos.
So, the updates... Glee earned Honor Roll... that's for your whole report card having nothing lower than a B. She had all A's except for a B in Spelling. Good report card! Thomas' was awesome too, only thing checked on his was that he needs to work on not wandering around the classroom so much. He has a tendency to forget what he got out of his seat for. That's okay, I do that a lot too! Thomas has passed his math facts to 12, and now his math tests are all vertical questions, that's the big leap in first grade! So much for needing help in math. He's practically a math savant! Really though, there are only two kids ahead of him in his class in math. His spelling is really good too, and his printing is looking fantastic. He is doing great. Glee is now on her divides 7, which means she has gone through the multiplication tables and is almost through the division. I had to teach her long division for some problems they got that were problems for estimating. It made me mad. The teacher told them they should guess at the answer. You don't guess at math. So I taught her long division so she could get the correct answer. Her teacher was annoyed, but I didn't care. Glee is also learning handwriting (cursive) and her teacher will mark the paper wrong if you write a letter in cursive that you haven't technically learned yet. So there are letters in Glee's name she is not "allowed" to handwrite. I say too bad. Her handwriting is really lovely, she does a good job on it!
So there we go... all caught up. Oh, the last thing, I hurt my back in January so bad that I had to make my first visit to a chiropractor. Wow, what have I been missing! The doc made a huge difference... I have still been having trouble... I need to stretch more, but at least I can walk. There was a day or two where I couldn't hardly stand up. It was horrible. I need to start yoga so I don't get old so fast!
Happy 2010 everyone...
we are in the midst of planning our trip to the UK for my cousin's daughter's wedding. We are so excited and happy to have been invited, and I am really excited about seeing my dearest cousin again soon. We set up the computers to talk via Skype, so we are keeping up on the latest news there.
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