All Right Already!

I've been fighting a battle with myself about this post. It's like having an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. The angel is saying, "Don't do it!" The devil is saying, "You must!"

When I started this blog a couple of years ago, my intent wasn't to document every aspect of our lives. I wanted to highlight the spectacular, of course, but more than that, I wanted to open my eyes and my ears to the mundane sights and sounds ~ the smiles, the tears, the laughter, and cries ~ and highlight the ones that for one reason or another stood out. I wasn't interested in chronological events where I sat down on a regular basis to record library outings and zoo trips. Yes, I know that's mundane, especially since we have a membership to the zoo, but there's a method to my madness.

Or so I thought. For some reason not known to me, I feel the need to document the eleven weeks since my last post. That's the devil talking. And I listened.

All right already, here goes:

J and I finished up Faith Formation at the start of May; attended Muffins for Moms at the school; went to dim sum and Ikea for Mother's Day. We got bad news from Sacramento when we found out Mark has colon cancer. The school carnival was a fun and wet success mid-month. J's class had a Crazy Hair Day:



Memorial Day Weekend started out with a mommy/son date to watch Kung Fu Panda 2, followed by a day in Sammamish to celebrate PK's birthday, and ended with Hansen Day at the Mariner's game. M, Daddy, and I visited the Westside Co-op Preschool at the end of the month.

Also in May, J ran the kids' run at the Capital City Marathon. It was only a mile, but he ran his booty off:

And speaking of running, he was only one of nine kids in the whole school who ran the equivalent of a marathon during Track Stars.

And he kept running into June on the soccer field playing on a team coached by his future 3rd grade teacher:

They won no games, but they didn't whine or complain. They had a great time together, and that in itself made it a winning season.

By the time this picture was taken at the beach, I had signed M up for preschool at the Olympia Center. She'll start in September if I can get her potty trained. Yikes!

The school year wound down with numerous field trips: to the zoo (really???), Burfort Park, and sightseeing downtown.

Father's Day weekend was busy! Donuts for Dads, N's 4th birthday party at a very soggy golf course, lunch on Sunday to celebrate the papis AND D's 40th Birthday!

We celebrated on the actual day as well:

And I sighed relief because the scrapbook I had driven myself crazy putting together for the occasion was finally done!

If you hadn't noticed the addition to the family, that's N. We brought him home with us on Father's Day and the kids had a ton of cousin fun:

After a couple of days of hiking, playing, and celebrating his birthday, I took him home and M went along for two days with just the clothes on her back and a Pull Up in her hand.

We went to Kindergym for what I believe was the last time. We're going to miss Teacher Cindy:

The last day of school was the 24th:

And so was the opening of Cars 2. Daddy, J, and I all went to dinner and were the first ones in line for the 7pm showing.

Mary brought Joy at VBS:

We picnicked in the house on a rainy day:

The VBS crew sang at church; the grandparents came to lunch; and a couple of days later, after an "all American" meal at Din Tai Fung, the cousins got to hang out again on the 4th of July:

We had an awesome neighborhood fireworks show later that evening where the snakes were a big hit:

We went to the $1 movies the next day and J tagged along with Rob and Robbie to the aquarium in Seattle. He started track and field, and we left to Sacramento on the 6th:

We hadn't even been there 24 hours when, what do you know, we went to the zoo! Ugh...this is like a bad recurring dream :)

Daddy arrived on Saturday morning to join the madness.

The quinceanera was beautiful. I visited with my tias,

my cousins,

and a bunch of folks I hadn't seen in years. D got drunk, the kids ran around. A good time was had by all. I heart my familia ♥

Raging waters; dinner with the godmothers; snow cones on 10th Street; visiting some of my old stomping grounds;

a day of swimming with my girls and their brood; mourning a loved one; returning to the place where I got married;

trips to Target; eating at the taqueria, Jimboys, Paesanos, In & Out; staying out until 3:30 in the morning at the baile; fun at Funderland

when not having fun with their cousins

and loving Abuelita,

that's what CA was all about.

We returned on the 17th to gray skies and rain.

Today was our first chill day of summer vacation. We pretty much did nothing but laundry ~ oh, and upload the pictures you see on this here post. It took about two hours. I forgot some; some were the wrong ones. Whatever.

In other news: The US team lost the World Cup Championship to Japan yesterday. Casey Anthony was acquitted of murdering her baby girl. The last space shuttle launch was last week. Jennifer Lopez and Mark Anthony split; William and Kate visited CA.

And the devil is victorious....what an absolutely boring post. I surely hope this doesn't become a trend of mine!

About Fairy Tales

Like billions around the world, I woke up yesterday morning excited to watch the modern-day fairy tale that had unfolded a couple of hours before ~The handsome prince, his long-time girlfriend, and the opportunity to watch as an ordinary girl was transformed into a princess before my eyes.

Before heading out for the day, I asked M if she wanted to watch the princess on TV. I had her at princess. Or maybe TV. Either way, she was almost as excited as I was. However, the clock struck midnight on the very excitement as soon as she realized that the "Picess" wasn't of the Disney variety.

My little princess had a field trip to attend at TOP Foods, so shopping bags in hand, I drove her and and her Lady in Waiting on a search for their favorite things.

No shoe department? No problem! Who needs a glass slipper when there's a wall full of glass-like bins filled with candy?

In typical-princess fashion (or maybe just like her mommy), she tried in vain to act like she knew what she was doing in the kitchen. All while her audience looked on from the the big screen above.

After that stressful experience, she walked out into the garden. She planted a seed that with a little tender loving care will become a pumpkin come Fall.

And then it was time to head back to the palace. Because all princesses need their beauty sleep.


In 1981, I watched the parents of today's prince as they wed in a similar fashion across the pond. Back then, I was a 15-year-old girl; a very naive 15-year-old girl who in some ways still believed in fairy tales. I've learned a lot in the thirty years since. I know that more often than not, Prince Charming ~ no matter what form "he" takes ~ isn't going to come knocking on the door to sweep you off your feet. I know that you gotta get those feet wet, your hands dirty, and your heart broken along the way. Most importantly, I know that when you fall, you gotta be able to get up ~ get up, dust off, and go off in the direction you were heading.

Any sensible adult will tell you that our time at TOP this morning was not fit for a queen. It was commoner fodder at best. But I overheard those little girls say to each other over and over, "That was fun." I know that time will eventually fade Ms sense of wonder and amazement, but today, you can't tell her nothing.

She's a Princess. She's beautiful. She can do anything!

That girl has confidence like nobody's business.


My hope is that she carries that confidence with her throughout her life; that just as she planted her seed today, we too can plant one in her as a constant reminder that although her pumpkin is more likely to turn into a jack-o-lantern than a carriage, her dreams can turn into reality, not with the wave of a wand, but with the ability to wave negativity and self doubt away.

I want her to know that fairy tales come in different shapes and sizes.

I want her to know that we all make our own.

I want her to know that I ~ 30 years after the other royal wedding ~ still believe in them.

I want her to know that they do come true.

(On a side note: By evening, her skepticism of the "picess" faded and she couldn't get enough.)

Spring in a Basket

It's late April and last Sunday was Easter. If Mother Nature had no intention of delivering Spring, the Easter Bunny sure did, even if just in a basket.

He loaded Js with a bird house and seed;

and Ms with a watering can and gardening gloves.

Upon discovering the wares, J asked if the Easter Bunny had also hidden eggs. We informed him that because of the inclement weather, he was unable to this year but assured him Daddy and I would set one up for them.

Donning their coats and rain boots,

They searched for eggs outside and managed to find them all before the rain came back again.

One thing's for sure: Gloomy days or not, for M, the sun always rises and sets with her brother.

Speaking of rising....He is Risen ~ Alleluia!

Spring Break: Hotel

It's Spring Break in WA State. The weather's been crappy and it sort of just creeped up on us. We didn't make any plans and I was fine with that until I started hearing of the destinations other people were going to visit: Mexico, Orlando, Disneyland. Ugh. I made a mental note to book a getaway for next year. In the meantime, we were stuck at home with a climate that more resembled Christmas Break than Spring. Yeah, we're so outta here next year!

Sometime last weekend J must have figured out that we were doing nada and asked D if we could go to a hotel for Spring break. We asked which one? he said the one downtown where we stayed when we moved would be fine. Anything but home, I guess.

On Thursday we did just that. Unfortunately for J we didn't travel the five miles to the Phoenix Inn, instead we went up north to Tulalip Resort & Casino. Because we're stellar parents like that and take our kids to a casino for entertainment ☺

The kids love hotels. They went swimming, had dinner, and that's pretty much about it other than hang out in the lovely room.

He watched a movie on the comfy bed:

She watched herself in the mirror of the fabulous vanity:

The next day was sunny and perfect. We went to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival:

There were fields of flowers in all different colors: Nothing like a little taste of spring on Spring break!

It was beautiful, and all of the tulips hadn't even bloomed yet.

Upon getting home that night, I told the kids they needed to say Thank You to daddy for taking the time off to take us on this little adventure. J said we needed to say thank you to him because he's the one that thought of it.

He does have a point there. Thank You, J! It was just the getaway the family needed.

Circle Time

The spelling Caste System in J's 1st/2nd grade class goes something like this:

Octagon: 3rd grade

Square: 2nd-grade

Circle: low 2nd grade

Triangle: 1st-grade

J has been a triangle since the start of the year. Rigth where he should be. He's not going to be invited to the Spelling Bee Contest anytime soon, but he's right at his level. This has never been a cause for concern to either D or me. He does wonderful on his weekly tests. More often than not he brings home 100 percents. This, however, has prompted some inquires of his own. Why, if he gets 100 percent almost weekly, is he not moving up to the next level?

He finally asked me enough that I turned around and asked Mrs. S. She told me that the only way for them to move up is if they get 100 percent or miss very few on the pretest. Cold turkey! She thought it was cute that he was so interested in moving up the ranks and promised that the next time he did well on his pretest and if the circle words weren't too challenging, she would move him up for that particular week only.

Some weeks later he was:

The words were a little more challenging and on Friday he came home with only about a 75 percent score. No worries. We were proud of him for the effort.

A couple of weeks ago at conferences, however, he was dying to have Mrs. S spill the beans. He contiuned to prompt us to ask her what was going on. And then she told us: He had been moved up to a circle. You'd have thought he won the Nobel Prize I was so proud of him. This was his goal. He worked hard, and he met it. I loved the enthusiasm I saw in him. I wish I could bottle up just a little bit of it so that he'd always have that sense euphoria at his fingertips as a reminder of what hard work can accomplish.

A dose of reality came in his backpack the other day. He won't be running circles around these words. But he worked a little harder and ended up with 11 out of 14 right. I have no doubt he'll be posting 100s really soon here. And I can't wait to see the look on his face then!