AJ the Chef

AJ just made me a snack. It was a tortilla, romaine lettuce, salsa, mozz. cheese and wait for it. . . . strawberries. He said the strawberries were to make it healthy.

A Day of Surprises

We had a surprise play date today when my friend Mary dropped off her daughter while she had to take her older child to the doctor. We had fun!







AJ was having a friend over too. They were out by the pool when AJ came running in. There was a hawk circling our yard and he told me to grab my camera.

I Love Having Kids

5th Grade Promotion

On Friday AJ had his 5th grade promotion ceremony. They gave out promotion certificates and also some awards. AJ got an award for getting straight A's for the whole school year. We were very proud of him, especially since we are the type of parents that don't help with homework often. He truly earned the grades himself.

Here is AJ with his teacher, Mrs. Thompson. AJ has had her two years in a row. The first year he was in a combination 4th/5th grade class. I think AJ liked that because it allowed him to be exposed to different things. And because he was in a 5th grade classroom, he also got to go on some cool field trips that other fourth graders didn't. Mrs. Thompson has been a great teacher for the past two years and we will miss her. AJ is ready for middle school and looking forward to it.

Indoor Soccer

AJ's indoor soccer season started last weekend. And I have to say that as a parent watching the game in AZ, I LOVE indoor soccer. Why? There is no sun. There is no 115 degree heat. There are actual benches to sit on. There is even a snack bar. What's not to love?

I like this picture of AJ. I see a glimpse of him in about 10 years in this picture. This is how I imagine he is going to look like in college. But he will be taller and with more facial hair.



The team didn't win, but AJ scored the first goal for his team and he got a lot of good playing time in. Indoor soccer is almost a completely different game. The whole wall element leads to different dimensions of the game and all new strategies. It was interesting to watch the kids as they figured out that the ball would bounce back to them if they hit it out of bounds. And when I say "interesting", I mean funny.

Charlie's Note Of The Day

Charlie described the tapioca as tasting like bananas and looking like fish eggs.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Today's Idol Worship is Sponsored by Puma

Zeena

It's Actually Growing!!!

This was last week:



This was this morning:




The tomato plant has almost reached the netting, and the pepper bush is bushier. I promise I will not post any more pictures until the plants start actually producing something.

Blast Off!!!

The older kids at AJ's school made rockets and launched them off at the soccer field. I walked down to capture the event. I was so glad I got a picture of the actual rockets blasting off. When I was snapping the pictures, I didn't think I had gotten it. AJ and his partner, Victoria (who is one of the coolest kids ever), did a great job with their rocket. It went really far and they were thrilled.

Disclaimer: He Didn't Get it From Me

Charlie asked me to sing him a lullaby. I asked him what he wanted me to sing. He said, "The Baby Song". I said, "I don't know that one, sing it to me." And I wish I was making this up, but the little sh** started singing Justin Bieber.

An Exercise in Futility

I know I live in AZ. I know that very shortly it will be over a 100 degrees here. I know, I know. But I really, really wanted a vegetable garden. So, allow me to dream. I put them by the wall, so that they would be out of the hot sun for a good portion of the day. We are planting, beans, tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, zucchini, chives and the basil and parsley that were already there. I have another Earthbox on the way for the stuff I couldn't fit in this one. And I also got one of those strawberry containers too.

I know the tags say "full sun" for many of these vegetables. I am guessing, they were not talking about AZ full sun when those tags were written. But despite the odds against us, we are trying anyway.

Charlie and I had fun going and picking out the vegetables. And we had fun planting them. He even got his own little Elmo gardening kit to help.

So keep your fingers crossed. Not only will it be ultra hot here, but I have no idea what I am doing. What could possibly go wrong?

Charlie is Driving Now

Just thought you should know.

King of The Trees

Lucky

I had a wonderful Mother's Day morning. It was very low key, but Shawn made a wonderful breakfast of Belgian waffles, strawberries, bacon, hash browns, eggs and coffee. It was so yummy. He also picked up some flowers. They boys made me cards at school. They were so sweet and I loved them.





Later today, we will be meeting up with Shawn's family to have an early dinner and then our mother's day activities will be complete.

Music On Main

Every few weeks, our town has live music on the green. I met up with my friend Mary and her two little ones, to listen to some reggae and watched the kids play. A very nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Logic

The other night Shawn, (trying to make fun of me) told AJ he should never marry a woman that likes IHOP. AJ, without missing a beat asked him: "What if she owns the IHOP?"

Love that kid- and not just because he will go out for breakfast with me. :)

Easter

Easter was fun this year. We had some friends over for brunch on Saturday to dye eggs. Then the next morning, we hunted for eggs and then later went to our friends house for dinner and another egg hunt. Here are some pictures: