Second Grade Shopping Day

I got this e-mail from Mrs. Haji:
Dear Parents, .......We are going on a tiny field trip, to Second Grade, tomorrow. We are invited to Mrs. Benavides' classroom to shop at their Annual Shopping Day! Second Grade provides the "real money" for us to count at each little shop. Then we get to keep the items or services that we buy. I talked to my Honeybees about the possibility of some to the shops selling tattoos, face painting or polishing nails. I told them to check from home for permission to do these activities.

So, Jonathan came home all excited about his day 'shopping day' and agreed to let me get a few shots of his finds from today. He said one boy was peddling huge hats. See if you can find it!

'I got this one for Brother', Jonathan says

The gift every mom needs - ok, mom's family needs

So, I said I would post a picture of the gift Jonathan gave me, but first let me give a quick rundown of the gifts I got from everyone else. Neil gave me a gift card to Barnes and Noble - one of my favorite places to frequent while Jonathan was in CCD. Neil and Ashley both picked out a nice sports watch for me to wear for volleyball practices/games. Jonathan got me the gift below and Paige picked out a small purse-sized book filled with anecdotes called
"It's a Mom thing".

{the mom mood monitor - click to buy}

Use your thumb (or any warm part of your body that fits) to see what color you are and ultimately what mood you're in, thereby warning everyone w/in strangle distance to keep their distance. ;-)

Turns out I'm red this go around - that means...

I'm apparently optimistic today...or right now anyway. I guess that means I'm thinking dinner will actually get done and that I might get a load or two of laundry done. Yeah...that sounds about right, lol. Thanks Jonathan! You've saved the family!

Calgon - take me away...but not for too long

I have to admit when I have a good day, it's a really good day. Scratch that. It was a good weekend highlighted with a day designed just for gals like me, AKA moms. I woke up to hugs and kisses and "I love you" from all the kids today. Neil asked me if I wanted to go to 9:30 or 11:30 mass (translation - did I want to lazy around on 'my day'). We went to 9:30, like usual. The kids were really good and the church was just abuzz with lots of kiddie noises. After mass, the kids were invited to come up and grab a rose for mom, so I got a pretty red rose. I *love* roses, especially red ones. Somehow, to me, they just smell sweeter. Then we went to eat at Baby A's afterwards. It was supposed to be my choice, but the kids pretty much had it made up in their mind that's where *I* wanted to eat. Now, how could I argue with that? Baby A's it was. We had a great time, good company and I opened up a few of my gifts there. I'll have to post the picture of the one Jonathan gave me. I think *every* mom needs one of these. The only request I had of Neil today was to get at least one picture of me with the kids together. Afterward, it was time for quiet time in the house, so Paige settled down with some t.v. in our room, Jonathan played some video games, Ashley was...well, I think she was just around and Drew just hung out playing on the floor, swinging in his swing and sleeping in the arms of a total stranger, lol. A total stranger to him, that is. I had forgotten we had invited some friends over to play Euchre, so when Ashley reminded me, it was like a nice surprise all over again! They were thoughtful and brought over some chips and a new recipe for jalapeno ranch dip - it was really good. It was good to play Euchre again too, even though the cards weren't in our favor. Oops, Neil corrected me and said we won the third game. Woo hoo! And you know what? It was probably the best Mother's Day's I can remember in a good long while. I have never felt so surrounded by love and that's the best feeling. And the day got even better...get this. Neil let me escape to a nice hot bubble bath. I seriously didn't want to get out!!

Is it incredibly horrible to brag on a good day? If it's Mother's Day, I sure hope not! I had a good one and I hope all the moms reading this did too.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Mr. Squealers

He loves him some good squeals!

Sometimes you just have to counter the bad with the good...

So, that's exactly what I'm going to do today. As heartbreaking as yesterday's post was, I thought the best way to move forward was to do just that...move forward. So, in dealing with the grief yesterday, I decided to bail on the usual hump day hum drum routine and I had the kids pack up their towels, grab their suits and a happy attitude and we went down to the water park and enjoyed a grand total of five minutes before the water stopped...completely. Ugh. Oh well, good thing I broke out the camera just as we got there and captured a *few* shots, lol, of our time there. Can I just say how much I *LOVE* my camera! So, here are those 'few' shots for you to enjoy. Maybe next time our visit won't be cut short!





and the end of the water...even the drain can be fun!


catch her dance!