Way To Go, Ichiro!!!

Ichiro made history tonight!!! It made up for the lousy season the Mariners have had!!! (Click on the title if you want the details...)

There She Goes!

Mount St. Helens - 1 Ocotober 2004

Well, after days of anticipation, she finally blew off some steam. (Click on the title above for details.)

We were unable to see what happened because when Mount St. Helens blew her top in 1980, she lost 1,400 feet of elevation making her invisible here. The wind was blowing toward Portland, so we didn’t get any of the ash. (See the map below.) However, it looks like there may be more to come...

map

Do the Puyallup!

Well, we did the Puyallup -- one of the country's largest state fairs. It was a lot of fun!

(Click on the title to see the website!)

AHHHH. The foot massage!

The spinning room.

Mike and Jeremy on the hammer-head!

Jeremy's first big roller coaster ride

Be careful....be very careful!

What a city kid!!!

We are NOT happy!!!!!!!

We (that is the royal “we”) are not happy with the public school system. In the past week:

1. The school district has decided that recess is detrimental to education and has banned all planned recess.
2. Joshua’s class brought home the results to the standardized tests the kids took last year. The teacher was kind enough to hand them out in class. Oh, and she didn’t put them in envelopes. The kids go to see each other’s scores. I’m glad Joshua wasn’t the poor kid that the whole calss knows didn’t pass any of the sections.
3. At Open House last night I brought up the test result situation with the Principal. He acted like I was from outer space. He then informed me that each child’s test results could be found online. I was gobsmacked!! (I looked for it for a couple of hours but didn't find it.)
4. Today Joshua came home from school and told me that one of his friends (hereafter known as Kid 1) was kicked out of school. I asked him why and he told me that one of his other friends (I'll be uncreative and call him Kid 2) lost his balance in a basketball game and knocked the first one down. Kid 1 hit Kid 2. When Kid 2 told the duty, Kid 1 denied it. The duty apparently turned her back to deal with something else and Kid 1 started calling Kid 2 and Joshua all sorts of names. He then “demonstrated” on Joshua what he did to Kid 2 and choked him for quite some time. Joshua was about to use his Tae Kwon Do on him when Kid 1 stopped. Now, wouldn’t you think the school would have called and let us know about this????????????

So, what did I learn this week from school?

1. Test results (leading to all work and no play) are more important than the needs of kids.
2. Children’s feelings don’t matter.
3. Parents’ opinions are of very little consequence.
4. My kids are not well supervised at lunch break. (This is not the first instance of lack of proper supervision.)
   

What did I learn from Joshua?

1. My rough and tumble guy has a big heart. He had been trying to talk to Kid 1 to help him with his problems.
2. Forgiveness. Joshua hopes to see Kid 1 at school next week when he picks up his stuff to tell him good-bye. (Would I feel that way? Doubtful.)
3. Joshua has a streak of an evangelist in him. He may not wear his faith on his sleeve (or his t-shirt) any more, but he is not ashamed to tell kids about being a Christian. I am really proud of him.

Hurray!!!

I got up this morning and found a basement sink full of gunk. Yuck! It looked sawdust. Nasty nasty. So we called Roto Roter. The Roto Roter man came out and away went my troubles down the drain! Yee Haw!

(Did I mention that at times like these I am SO glad that I live in a parsonage and the church has to foot the $500 bill?)

One of Those Days...Weeks??

On Sunday night when I had a horribly sore throat and was just feeling lousy, I ran the dishwasher. Then I noticed (at midnight) nasty water coming up both sides of my double kitchen sink. The only way I could get it down was to put the garbage disposal on intermittently for about ½ hour. Yesterday, I dumped the boys off at school (I mean, I cheerfully saw Joshua off at the door and drove Jeremy to school) and headed to the store to buy some drain cleaner. I poured it in and left to meet Charlee at the church to prepare for school this week. When I came home, the drain was clear! I followed the directions on the drain cleaner bottle and poured hot water down the sink. It was fine for about ½ hour. Then it was clogged again! AARRGG!

I then decided to head off to Home Depot for some heavy duty drain cleaner. One of the workers saw me waiting for advise while he chatted away with a friend (AARRGG!!) and then when he finished helped someone who just walked up to him. I was not happy. Being the passive-aggressive shopper that I am I went across the street to Lowe’s. Home Depot gave me two choices of drain cleaners; Lowe’s had at least a dozen. So I got some advice and went home.

The same thing happened as before, with a little better result. I decided to give it one more try before calling the Head of the Trustees who is out of town (naturally!). Same results, of course. Or was it??? I went down to the basement to throw some clothes in the dryer and my basement drain had over-flown! AARRGG!!! We now have a call in to the Head of the Trustees!

I Survived!

We started school yesterday and things went pretty well. Only one girl cried and she stopped as soon as I talked to her and she remembered me from last year! The only thing we forgot was to do the calendar with the kids, so all in all it was a success.

Today the mom of one of the new boys said it was harder to get him to go today than yesterday. He is a very quiet and shy boy, so it will be hard for him until he gets used to preschool. Poor little tyke cried after he was there a while. Charlie was able to spend some time with him today and actually got him interested in some activities.
Things went much more smoothly today. Tomorrow is Thursday – my Friday. Yea!

They say stress is good for people....

Ok. I must admit I’m just the tiniest bit stressed about teaching preschool. When I agreed to do it, I was going to be teaching with one of the ladies who has taught there for years. Then life happened. Heidi found out that her husband was being transferred to Vancouver, WA and they would be moving. (Picture me as the model for the painting The Scream.) So the hunt was on for a new teacher. The retiring teachers and I decided that if we didn’t find a teacher by the end of June, we would have to tell the presents so they could look for a new school. We found a new teacher, Charlee, on the last day of June. Whew!

In some ways teaching with some one else that is new is advantageous. We get to start fresh, -- to put our stamp on the preschool. And the retiring teachers left us all their lesson plans and materials, making it a plug and play if we wanted. They also assured us that we could make any changes we deemed necessary and it would not offend them in the least. (Whew! That could have led to some sticky situations!) Then to make things even better, I found my lesson plans from Dallas I thought I’d thrown out before we moved here! Yea! As you can see, God is providing! He is also stretching me. I have had a feeling since we moved here that I would be leaving my comfort zone!

My first big stretch has came last week during Open House. All but four children and their families attended. That means there were about 32 adults there. Guess who got to give the group talk to the parents during Open House? Yep - me. It made sense as I had met the returning children’s parents last year when I substituted and I was the one who is most familiar with how the school is run. I survived! Not only did I survive (ok – I lost my voice yelling over the kids!) but the parents were all great.

After that night, I though it would be smooth sailing. Then I started having nightmares! :^0 The one I remember was taking the kids on a field trip to an old fashioned zoo where monkeys were kept in cages. One of the little cherubs – a cute little blond boy – decided to jump in a canal that ran right next to the monkey cage. I had to jump in and haul him out. After rescuing him (we were both dry as a bone, naturally!) I shook my finger at him and scolded him, saying, “You cannot go swimming in the canal!!!!” He looked me straight in the eye and replied, “Oh, yes I can!!!” and immediately jumped back in. Like any loving teacher, I turned my back on him in disgust.

Oh, yeah. Then there were the nights I woke up and thought my first week’s plans were just horrible and I would have to start all over! (Did I mention that I also have to lead the class for the first week since I am familiar with how it is run?) Alas, school starts tomorrow, so it’s too late to make changes!

Tune in again to see if I survive or will be drowned in some imaginary canal!

There is gross...then there is GROSS!!

Before we were appointed to Fircrest, the church had a pastor who lived with her mother – no children, no pets. As a result when the church redecorated the house, they painted the walls a lovely white and put in a cream colored carpet throughout the house. When Mike and I saw the house, it was just beautiful.

Fast-forward a year. The walls are covered with black handprints and footprints. (Yes, I said footprints. Only yesterday Jeremy was showing me how he could literally climb the walls.) I have lost count of how many times I’ve had to wash down the walls.

And the carpets – oh those beautiful carpets! They used to have such a nice pile. Kids and dogs running through the house have long since beaten that down! Then there is the damage done by Caleb. He is a purebred Sheltie. Ok. We got him at a shelter, so I can’t be 100% sure he is a purebred. His delicate tummy tells me he is, though. If he eats something that disagrees with him, he vomits the loveliest shade of red-orange right next to my bed. Always after midnight. Today I cleaned the carpets. We won’t even talk about the stuff that was in the bottom of the dirty water tank! That was GROSS!

The First Day of School!

Well, for the second year I have packed the boys off to public school. It was a little bit easier this year. Yesterday we took the boys up to meet their teachers, and I think they will be very good for the boys. Joshua and his best friend are in the same class, but Jeremy and his buddy (who are attached at the hip) are in different rooms. We saw the teacher Jeremy had last year and she told Jeremy the two were purposely separated because they were both so smart and they needed one of them in each class. Now, this is not something that should be said to Jeremy. After we left he told me he was going to get bad grades this year so that next year they could be in the same class. I squashed that idea right away!

I have also found out that sending the boys to public school is more expensive than homeschooling. Go figure. There are all the supplies, school lunches, and clothes to buy. That packed a punch to the checking account. Buying shoes was in interesting experience. BPS (before public school) I took the boys to a shoe store and easily guided the boys to buy what I wanted them to. Now Joshua has to consider each shoe in order to decide if they will cause the “bullies” in the class to give him a hard time. I guess this is the benefit of socialization I have heard so much about! ;^)

This is Joshua’s last year in elementary school. Next year he goes to middle school, which goes from sixth through eighth grade. I would love to know what educational “professional” or politician decided that it would be a good idea to put sixth graders in with seventh and eighth graders. To me it seems ill-advised to introduce such young children to the actions and attitudes they will encounter in middle school. Well, if it comes down to it, there is always homeschooling again!

Jeremy's ready to go!

Jeremy off to the first day of 3rd grade 

Joshua, now in 5th grade! (The last year of elementary school here.) 

Joshua on crossing guard duty 

Wild Things!

Today we went to Northwest Trek, an awesome wild animal park about an hour from our house. It has many wild animals that are native to the Pacific Northwest. Don't you think Mike and the boys fit right in? ;^)

[Click on the title to see Northwest Trek's website!]

FIFTY WAYS TO FLIP YOUR FLOPPER

(Click on title for more songs...)

(To be sung to the old Paul Simon tune, "Slip-slidin' Away".)

Flip-floppin’ away,
Flip-floppin’ away,
You know the nearer the nomination,
The more he’s flip-floppin’ away.

There is a man,
He came from Boston town.
His total lack of any scruples makes him seem a clown,
He said, “Teresa, I live in feah,
Were I to take a stand on principle,My votah base would disappeah”.

So he’s Flip-floppin away, &c.

This Mr. Kerry,He's riding high,
He kept pretending to be Irish, but it was a lie,
He threw some medals over a fence,
First they were his, then they weren’t his;
Must be thinking that we’re really dense.

So he’s Flip-floppin away, &c.

John says he knows,
And John makes his plans,
He wants to tax the living daylights out of the mortal man,
We’ll work our jobs,
He’ll take our pay,
He claims he’s giving us the straight dope,
When in fact he’s flip-floppin’ away.

Flip-floppin’ away, &c.

As summer winds down....

Well, the boys start school next Thursday. Swimming lessons have ended for the summer. Wall climbing classes have also come to an end. That means that the boys have been climbing the walls at home to the detriment of their long-suffering mother.

To help alleviate my (hopefully) temporary insanity, I once again dragged the boys to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. (I knew that season pass would come in handy!) Except for the bees that followed us for half an hour while we tried to eat lunch, we had a good time. The boys especially enjoyed the beluga whale. In the picture above you can see them watching one of the whales swimming. When we went outside to watch the beluga from above, he kept surfacing to spray them with water!

[Click on the title if you wish to go to the zoo's web site!]

Taming the Beast

After handling Pipa for a few days, I decided that it was time to let the boys hold her. She did fine with Joshua, but when Jeremy held her, she nipped him! It doesn’t matter that you have to use a magnifying glass to see where she nipped him – she nipped him. Oh, the trauma! I made him hold Pipa again right away so he wouldn’t be terrified of her for the next few years. It seemed to do the trick, although as you can see, Jeremy dons a hooded jacket before handling her. (I made him take off the hood for the picture!)

It's A Girl!

Finally! We have another female in the house. The boys have always thought it is great that I am the only female. With the exception of a few fish, even all of our pets have been male. Today we got a guinea pig – a female guinea pig. :^) We named her Pipa Le Pew because she kind of looks like a skunk in the face. Hopefully she won’t smell like one!

Cheesecake, anyone?

Sam was in town again this week. This time, it was just an in-and-out overnight trip, but we were able to get together for supper. Mike had to do a Bible Study so he missed out.

We went to the Cheesecake Factory in Bellevue. (Click on the title above to get to a link if you wish.) It was my first time at a Cheesecake Factory, and I highly recommend it! I had the salmon (big surprise!) and it was excellent!

Naturally, we had to have dessert. Sam had what looked like an extremely delicious strawberry shortcake, and the boys had ice cream. After much consultation with our waitress, I decided on the Godiva® Chocolate Cheesecake, pictured above. It was excellent. What could be better than a combination of cheesecake and chocolate? ;^)

Our New Fence!

We had a very eventful weekend. Our 15’ laurel bushes came out of the back yard and a fence went in. While we will miss the beautiful bushes, it will be great for the dogs to have the run of the back yard without being on a leash!
The best part is that now Caleb and Scruffy and the neighbors’ six – yes I said six - dogs can’t see each other which (so far) has drastically cut down on the barking. Whew!

Caleb celebrated the new fence by chewing on Scruffy who is unsure what to think of his freedom from the leash!

My Trip to the Spa

I got a $57 haircut today. Last Christmas the ladies at church very kindly have me a gift certificate to a spa. I decided to go for a haircut while Mike is in North Carolina and the boys are at Ocean Shores with Mike’s parents. I was going to get a manicure, but I need to clean out the preschool room at church this week and decided that would be a waste of time and a good gift certificate, so a haircut it was.
The beautician did a wonderful job on my hair. However, I doubt that I will find the $57 every 6 weeks in our budget to get my hair cut there. I still have enough of my gift certificate left for a manicure. Hmmm. The boys start school in a month….
(If you are just DYING to see where I went, click on the title "My Trip to the Spa" above!)

A Night of Baseball the Mariners Would Love to Forget!

Take me out to the ballgame! After the Mariners v Cleveland game. We lost 6-18. Yikes. But we did see a record broken -- that of the number of home runs by the opposing team!

A Bear For Yuki

After we took Sam to the airport, Christy and I took Sarah, Joshua and Jeremy to Build a Bear to make a teddy bear for Yuki. You wouldn't believe how much time it takes for everyone to agree on an outfit!
(Click on the title to go to the Build-A-Bear web sit!)

Beam Us Up, Scotty!

After Don & Co. and Dad and Mavis left, we headed to Seattle with Christy, Sarah, and Sam to see the Seattle Sci-Fi Museum. It was cool. They have Captain Kirk's chair. Need I say more????

(Click on the title to go to the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame website.)

Ellis Family Reunion

The "Ellis Clan" (as we were labeled by someone in the hotel) came to Tacoma this year. Here we all are except Sam. You would think we would figure out how to use the timer on one of the digital cameras!

For fun we:
-Went to the zoo
-Had a cookout
-Went to Edmonds to eat at Sam's favorite restaurant which was closed, so had to settle for the Olive Garden for great food and horrible service. (FYI: It pays to write letters of complaint!)
-Took a ferry ride where we discovered it is very expensive to go from Edmonds to Kingston, although going from Kingston to Edmonds is very inexpensive. Go figure.
-Went to see Spiderman
-Ate supper on the waterfront
-Ate too many Krispy Kreme doughnuts!

Take Us Out to the Ball Game!

The Tacoma Raineers game! Joshua, Jeremy and I got tickets right behind home plate! It was great! Here the boys are waiting to get Bucky Jacobson's autograph just before he was taken up to the Mariners.

PLAY BALL!

I went to my second major league ball game tonight. Mike and I were invited to go with a couple from church. It was a great time – especially as the Mariners won. We even got to see a grand slam homerun.

When I lived in Dallas I went to see the Rangers play a game. I must say, things may be bigger in Texas, but Safeco Field is MUCH nicer than Texas Stadium. There isn’t a bad seat in the house at Safeco Field.