sword dance

Here is my babe dancing the sword dance yesterday at the Highland Games in Costa Mesa. She received fourth place. Let me know if you have issues viewing. Thanks and have a wonderful week.

I have homework to do!

mariachis and pics from the mission

The girls and I walked to the mission with Lori and Kayli. We wanted to see and hear the Battle of the Mariachis. I took Julia a couple of years ago and it was fun. This time I was surprised to see how crowded it was. The mission was packed! Finding seats was difficult so we walked around a bit and we were lucky enough to watch the grand finale which was Julia's favorite part since, "all the bands were on stage together."

I took photos of course.

view of San Juan hills from mission






the crowds

daddy's little girls

Since James has been a "househusband" (is that politically correct to say?) for almost a year and half you can imagine the bond the girls and he have together. They are like super glue. James is lucky to spend so much time with them and how lucky the girls are to spend so much time with their dad, seriously!!!.

My class started today and at the looks of the syllabus I am going to be one busy girl for the next five weeks. I may not be posting as often. Then again, I might divert here as a way of escape from comparing and contrasting inventory cost flow assumptions.

disneyland and dramamine

I have a problem with motion sickness and it can happen anywhere for me whether I am on a boat, plane, or car. Did I mention I get sick when I shop? This is a true statement and really I think it is the browsing that kills me. This is partly the reason why I hate to shop. I don't like it. I dislike it. Blah. Don't make me go.

This, however, has not stopped me from riding roller coasters, lots and lots of roller coasters. At least, it did not stop me until recently. Ever since I gave birth to...wait...could it be my age? Whatever it is (hormones?) it has become worse. I drove to Big Bear last year and got sick at the top of the mountain even though I drove. Next thing you know I will be throwing up just walking up stairs. Nice thought, huh?

Yesterday, I took Julia (just us two) to Disneyland. She mentioned many times that she REALLY wants to go on the teacups. Um. This did not sound very good to me so I tried to talk her out of it by telling her, "they are boring and not any fun at all." She did not like that answer.

I took two Dramamine (I prefer Bonine, but Target did not have it which irritated me) before we left ,for the first time ever, before heading to an amusement park.

Sigh. I am getting old.

I took the "less" drowsy formula, but found myself really relaxed, almost napping, on the It's a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean rides. Other than my small sleepy bouts it worked, but I must say we never made it on the tea cups. Oh, darn.

Anyone else have this same issue at the Happiest Place on Earth?

On a side note: The park was empty which is always excellent and the lines were pretty nonexistent. Julia was even pulled in to a little dance finale with Mary Poppins.

Of course, once again, I have many pictures to share.

i have been asked about my camera

I am not anti DSLR , but I cannot afford one at this time and I have not put any money away for one. My sweet husband bought me my current point and shoot camera last year for my birthday. I think at the time it cost about $275 and recently I have seen it for under $200. Is is a Canon Powershot SX110IS. The cool thing about this point and shoot is it has many manual settings so if I feel the need to play with them I can. It is not the smallest of cameras, but it takes very clear and clean photos which was my main criteria. I have learned some great techniques when taking my photos and the best thing about digital cameras is I can delete, delete, delete! I routinely take 100 photos during an outing and only use a handful of them in the end.



After using this camera for almost a year straight I can happily say I am not sick of it. In fact, I love it. It will be a while before I trade up.

morning walk

Every once in a while I take a Saturday morning walk with my friend Cyndie. Usually, but not always, our routine consists of a purchasing a coffee especial-of-some-sort and then we head down the beach trail. The trail, round-trip, is about 4.6 miles and completely flat. It is hands down the most crowded trail I walk, but there is much to look at and see.

When I was a kid my sisters and I would walk this trail often from our house to the pier. When were were older we rode our bike from our house, through the state park, and then on the trail to get to work at the Fisherman's Restaurant on the pier. My two sisters and I all worked at the restaurant at some point in our lives.





The trail today is much different than it was years ago. It has been mostly developed and landscaped, but I would say not in a bad way. The only bad part now is the crowds.



Here are some pics from this morning. It was foggy.





t street


squirrels like the beach. wonder what they eat?

where is the weekend?

Sun I miss you. I hear you are supposed to warm us up this weekend. Yes, it has not been cold, but I want more.



I have a mommy and me day on Sunday with one of my girls while the other has a daddy and me day. I cannot wait. Sun please do not disappoint.

life lessons

Since we are nearing the end of my oldest child's year in kindergarten I have some thoughts about it all. Many I will keep to myself. Others I will not. A few issues have happened this year in which I really did not expect. I mean, I knew eventually friendship dynamics and drama would start, but for some reason I did not think it would happen this early.

Well, it does.

An occurrence took place the other day in which Julia's "friend" violated her space and in a nutshell bullied her. I will not go into detail, but I was a little taken a back by what happened.

Here is the amazing part, though. Julia took me aside that night (she did not want to tell James what happened) and told me everything. She started the conversation with, "I did not get in trouble so do not worry." Next she told me all the sordid details in a matter of fact manner. No tears at all, none at school. During the incident, after she broke free, and had a chance she told the recess teacher who then "benched" the other kid. The recess teacher told Julia's teacher who then made sure she was okay. When school was over, Julia, walked right up to the other girls mother, in front of the other girl, and told her exactly what she did to Julia. The mother told Julia it would never happen again. No fear whatsoever.

I praised Julia for her strength and for doing the right thing. I am amazed how mature she is sometimes and her choice to tell the other parent herself is cool. I am so happy she told a grownup what happened and that she spoke to me about the incident. We had a great heart-to-heart and let's face it, this is a teaching moment that helps set the way for how she handles future incidents. I am so grateful she did not decide to "live in fear" or "hold it in" and not talk about it so it could eat away at her. I made sure she understands that nobody has the right to do what they did to her and it is important to stand up for yourself. I also told her that this is real life and she will always encounter bullies even as an adult. It is better she learns how to deal with this now. She was happy to hear the reassurance from me and her teacher and the other mother.
On a side note, she said something so interesting to me, "mom, I prayed to God that he would make the bullies nice and it did not work." I let her know that somewhere a mean kid probably did the right thing, but a different prayer is to ask God to give you the strength to stand up to mean kids, do the right thing, and help others when they are bullied." She really listened. I also told her not to be mean to the other kid, but just tell her you do not want a friend who does not treat her kindly. Be a leader! Yes, school is for academics, but I also think it is for finding your place in this world, as a team player, and an individual.

The next day, I asked her who she played with and it was the same kid amongst others. It is kindergarten after all, forgiveness flows freely and an "I'm sorry" makes it all better and they move on past their issues pretty fast. Funny.

On a side note, I love, love, love her teacher. She is smart and strong and a wonderful teacher and guide for little miss J. The teacher and parental support in her class is terrific and we are hoping she is in her class next year, too.

Oh, if you know my daughter, do not mention this to her since she proably will get mad at me for talking about her. :) That starts early, too.

thursday's agenda

Today was nice. Beautiful weather. Good company. Great memories.

It started with a nice walk this morning. Serena and I walked Julia to school. It was nice and relaxing and Serena walked the entire way without crying for me to carry her. Yes, that was nice.

Then I ran some errands and visited Serena's school for a Mother's Day event. She made me some sweet gifts and sang some sweet tunes.






Next, we took my mom out for lunch. Very nice.

Once we got home the girls and I headed to the harbor for a quiet afternoon walk.



Hugs




Homework and now dinnertime that James is cooking. Pierogies, spinach, and potato pancakes, yum!

After that we are off to dance practice.

Such a serene, easy, stress free day. I wish they were all like this.

into the woods

Julia, Lori, and I attended the musical Into the Woods at San Juan Hills High School this past weekend. The play is an original Broadway production directed by James Lapine and the music and lyrics are by Stephen Sondheim and it is great. I have been waiting to attend the spring musical at the school since last spring when we saw Beauty and the Beast. The talent of the kids is immense and it was an enjoyable experience once again. The theater is state of the art and the money is worth spending for a great night of entertainment and to support the school and the arts program.

Julia's kindergarten friend, Isabella, has a sister in the production so Isabella was in attendance. They exchanged "hellos" before the opening act and Julia could not wait until intermission to visit with her friend. In fact, Julia whispered to me, "I can't wait until the interview so I can see Isabella." So cute.

James watched Kayli and Serena for us so we could attend. Those little ones played the game and gave James a good ride for his money. Thanks James!