Sunday, September 29, 2013

Mom/daughter Date

After Race for the Cure was finished, the girls and I rushed home because Keara and I had a date for this afternoon. We went downtown and saw the musical Sister Act. Even though we have seen it before it's always good for a laugh. After, Keara and I enjoyed  dinner at the spaghetti factory.

Race for the Cure

Today the girls and I did race for the cure which raises money for breast cancer research. We got up early and headed downtown. It was a beautiful day so I had no reservations about going. It is a 3 mile walk which isn't too bad. Kailei however said "it was a good thing that there was free stuff at the end." Love these girls and that this is been kind of a tradition that we created.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Nic's Birthday


Today we celebrated Nic's birthday. Can you believe he turned 15? He's growing up so fast but is such a nice young man. He will be getting his drivers permit soon so watch out for him on the roads. Nic is a fan of pizza, so we went to Big Bills New York Pizza and enjoyed good food and good company. We then came back to my house for cake and gifts.  We missed not having Grammy and Poppy with us but they are in New York eating a Walter's hotdog instead.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

A Walk in the Park

Keara and I decided to get out of the house today. It was too nice to be inside so we took the dogs and headed down to Cherry Creek Reservoir. We walked, we talked, Keara played in the water with Nala..it was a relaxing afternoon. Decided we need to do more of this.

Camping

Kailei's friend Catie asked her to go camping this weekend. Her family has a new camper so Kailei got to join in the fun. Needless to say she was thrilled. They camped in the Colorado Springs and had a great time.  On Saturday they went to some event where the kids got to fish, do archery, learn about plants and animals of the park and more.  Thanks Catie for inviting her.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Keara's Funny

Keara was interrupting and correcting everything that was coming out of Kailei's mouth at dinner tonight. I told her she needed to stop and she quickly came back with..."What?! I'm practicing my parenting skills." Made me LOL.

Our Beautiful Girl


Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Mom's Night Out

Spent the night with my favorite moms. We haven't been out in a long time so there was much catching up to do. Love seeing these women.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Syd's First Meet

Sydney's first gymnastic meet was this weekend.
We were already up in Greeley so it was easy to be able to make it to the event. Loved watching my niece do her thing. She did a great job and got second overall. So proud of her.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Adopt-tween

Our adoption agency is starting to get together girls that are in their tweens. Naturally I had to sign her up. And surprisingly so did four other people from my moms group. Kailei enjoyed being with the older teens as well as being able to hang out with some of her friends.

The moms took advantage of the time and went out to dinner. Good conversation and good company.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Date with Hubby

Escaped with my husband today and we went down to the theater and saw Priscilla Queen of the Desert. It made us laugh out loud which was much needed. We also enjoyed our usual dinner at Carmine's afterwards. Gotta love that place.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Birthday Party Number 3

Today we had yet another celebration for Kailei's birthday. It is long overdue for her to have a friend birthday party for typically it's been just family. But today changed all that as Kailei celebrated with some friends at Jump Street. It was really pretty painless since they do most of the work but because her birthday is around my busiest time of year it's always been a challenge to get something organized. They jumped on trampolines, they had pizza, they had cake and we even had a silly string fight out in the parking lot. It was lots of fun. And most importantly it made my daughter happy.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Gotta Love This...


Monday, September 2, 2013

Teachers (loved this)

When my first born headed off to first grade, 21 years ago, she held my hand as we walked down the hallway of Will Rogers Elementary School in the Houston Independent School District. We walked into Ms. Miner’s room and Meredith’s steps grew more hesitant. This wasn’t the University of Houston Child Care Center, the place she had gone for years while I was a doctoral student at UH. This place looked different – bigger, more official. There were big-kid desks pushed together in clusters. And though there were centers, they were not the dress-up center or the cooking center or nap center or water play center of the Child Care Center.

The room was filled with children she did not yet know, with books she had not yet read, with a math center that had lost-teeth and birthday charts, and with a big poster by the door labeled, “Our Classroom Rules” that was still blank. “I don’t want to stay,” she said.  I didn’t want her to, either. I wanted her still with me, only me. I didn’t want to give up those first six years of childhood just yet, those years when her world mostly revolved around her parents and new baby brother and a silly dog with big ears and afternoons spent in our local library reading book after book after book or playing in our neighborhood park, sometimes just sitting on the grass, watching the ants march by. With every ounce of courage, I said, “Oh, you will love first grade. It was my favorite year in school. I loved my first grade teacher, Mrs. Allen, and I bet you are going to love Ms. Miner, too.” Meredith looked doubtful and so very small. And then Ms. Miner, long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, saw us, came over, and bent down to Meredith’s level.  A first year teacher – the one I had told the principal that if he was willing to listen to requests I wanted – Ms. Miner was full of energy and excitement. She loved books, wanted to be a great teacher, and had obviously spent weeks making her room look inviting to these 22 six-year-olds.

“Oh, you’re Meredith! I recognized you from your picture! Come here and let me introduce you to some others. And let me show you all around the room. And, hey, you brought Corduroy as your favorite book and that’s one of my favorite books, too!”
And then, somehow, without me even realizing, Meredith’s small hand moved from mine to Ms. Miner’s and she was gone. She was swallowed up by the sheer joy this other woman brought into her classroom, into learning, and into my child’s life. “I guess I’ll be going now,” I said to Meredith who was busy putting school supplies away in her desk. “So, I’ll be just around the corner at our house,” I said blinking hard to keep away the tears.” I think she nodded. Perhaps she even paused to wave. My feet couldn’t move and Ms. Miner gently helped me and a few other moms out of the classroom. “She’s really shy,” I said to Ms. Miner just as Meredith sped by holding a new friend’s hand showing her “all these hooks where we can hang our backpacks.”

Meredith was breathless with excitement at the end of that day – every day – and by the end of the first week, our family had a new member: Ms. Miner. Each afternoon and for long into the evening, I had to listen to “Ms. Miner said . . .” and “Ms. Miner thinks . . .” and “Ms. Miner showed us . . .” and “Ms. Miner suggested . . .” and when I slipped and said, “Oh damn” at dinner burned in the oven, I was reminded that “Mom, Ms. Miner would never say . . .  .”  Right, I smiled through gritted teeth.  ”Ms. Miner says that manners are important,” Meredith said as she explained why we must always put our napkins in our laps, something that I swear I had mentioned a million times.
For the entire year I watched my child fall in love with school, with learning, with figuring out, and most importantly, with her first grade teacher, Ms. Miner. Meredith, who had once hated ponytails, now only wanted to wear ponytails. And blue skirts, “just like Ms. Miner’s.” “And Mom, my name starts with an M and Ms. Miner starts with an M. Isn’t that great!! We match!” Yes, Meredith, just great. Really great. Oh damn.
Though I had been a teacher for years before having Meredith, before sending her off to first grade, I had never truly understood the power of a teacher in a child’s life. We give our most precious and priceless to you – dear teachers – each year, knowing you will teach them, but also hoping you will care for them, help them discover how very much they matter, watching over them, and being there when they have been hurt by the ones who won’t let them sit at the “popular” table – and then you do just that and they fall in love with you. It shows up in different ways, as they grow older. But it’s still there, this deep affection and respect. And, certainly, it’s harder to forge those bonds when there are 150 students instead of 22, when the day is fragmented into 45 minute segments, when education seems to be more about the test than the child. But I promise, underneath that bravado of the seventh grader or swagger of the tenth grader you will find that small first grader who wonders, “Will my teacher like me?” And when that child – that teen – knows that you believe he or she matters, then that student will do most anything for you.

To this day, Meredith remembers you, Ms. Miner, and to this day, I so hated how much she loved you that year. And, simultaneously, I am so grateful that she did.
And so, teachers, across this country during the next two weeks, most of you will be opening your classroom doors in a first-day welcoming for your students.  As a teacher I am proud to stand beside you in all that you do. But as a parent, well, as a parent I stand in awe of all that you do.  And to Ms. Miner, thank you.