Not MY Pets!

My pets don't like each other this much! I thought this was funny so here it is for your viewing pleasure.

As promised

The weather outside has dropped to 53 degrees which is DARN COLD when you live in Southern Nevada. It's a frosty 56 degrees inside the house (might be time to check the amount of insulation in our tract house) so I did it for the first time this season: I turned on the furnace. On October 2, I promised a post to commemorate this auspicious occasion. Here it is, as promised!



I cheated! This palm tree is not
in Las Vegas but I couldn't find
a picture of snow on the Strip,
although that has happened.

Too Good to be True

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 31 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

How lucky are the rest of you? More than one of me? Yikes!!!
I "borrowed" this from the blog of my friend Laurie in Oregon. Thanks, Laurie.

Ran the same search for Ana...she's an original!!!

Happy 10th Birthday, Sam!

Sam is a whole decade old today. For his birthday dinner, we went out to The Elephant Bar at the District at Green Valley Ranch. The trees are all lit and it is a lovely place to take a stroll. Sadly, no one would stroll with me because it was a little chilly (by Southern Nevada standards) and the only one wearing a sweater was ME! Poor, dear child. His (loser) mother forgot to make his birthday cake. We came home and opened presents and THEN I made the cake. We ate it on Saturday after dinner. Happy Birthday, Sam. We all now have double digit ages. It will be 57 years until that is not the case in our family - when Mike turns 100!!

Boo!

After school today Sam carved his pumpkin.



Our first stop prior to Trick-or-Treating was
to go to the church carnival with our friends.
Sam did quite a number on poor Tweety. Look
closely in the background at his poor head still
hanging from a string waiting to be bashed yet
again! Poor bird didn't stand a chance!!



Kids in costumes

Danny Gans Run for Children's Charities

The beginning of the race. Sam is in blue sweat pants just behind the girl in green
Midway thru the race (out in front of his group). This was as close as I could get cutting across the middle of the course before he ran away!
After the race...Sam collapsed in the grass with his yellow popsicle stick which he later traded for a medal. Medals were awarded to the top 10 finishers in each grade, Kindergarten through Fifth Grade. Great Job, Sam!!!

After the race, the festivities included bounce houses, a giant slide (above), free food and drinks, raffle prizes (didn't win a thing!) and the Champions Run for Life.

The weather was Southern Nevada perfect (around 70 degrees) and Sam and I had a good time. Ana was scheduled to run but her bed (7:30am start) and a play date (do you call it that when they're 13?) with a friend won out in the end.

One of the charities which benefited from the proceeds was the John C. Vanderburg Rainforest Biosphere. This is the school the kids used to attend.

He touches the ball

Proof that Sam (#11) actually touches the ball while playing soccer and still takes time to smile at his mom who is taking pictures.

WHATEVER!!

Math

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

I guess all this homeschooling is paying off (even though we're only doing 5th grade math!) At least I'm doing something half way constructive as I sit here at my computer while Sam is behind me doing long division.

Akeelah and the Bee

Just watched Akeelah and the Bee with Sam and Mike. I really enjoyed this movie. I got it from Netlfix because Sam and I talked about it last year when he was in his Middle School Spelling Bee. (Keep in mind that Sam was in the third grade at the time.) I think the best lesson that I was able to share with Sam tonight during this movie is that just because two people of the opposite gender come together, form a close relationship and fulfill a need for each other does not mean they need to be romantically involved. Out of all the wonderful lessons in this movie including overcoming stereotypes, pleasing others instead of achieving something for yourself, accomplishing goals and persevering in the face of great odds, being "good friends" with someone of the opposite gender was the most important point to me.

The Newest Black Belt in the "Family"

On Friday, October 13, 2006, our friend and classmate, Niki earned her black belt in Chun Kuk Do. Ana was her partner for testing which mostly means Niki got to beat her up for fun!! Here is a picture of them after the test.

There are fewer than 3000 black belts
in Chun Kuk Do so this is quite an honor.

A HUGE congratulations to Niki for a job well done.

My turn next...in March 2007.

Eureka!!

In my last post I mentioned that I can never find my cat, Magic. Today, I found him!! He sleeps in Ana's room. For any of you who know her well that will explain why I couldn't find him. Here he is (also not dead, only happy.)







.

They're not DEAD!

This is my Chihuahua, Gizmo. He is not dead, only happy.



This is my cat, Guinness. He is not dead, only happy.


This is NOT my cat, Magic. I can never find him when he is asleep. He's usually hiding in a closet or behind furniture somewhere. I know he is not dead because he shows up to eat.

This is how they spend the majority of their day. I wish I could join them.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Again with the rain? What is the deal here? I'm starting to dread the words "Upper Level Low" since that is what meteorologists say when the rain is coming. See the big L right at the tip of Southern Nevada? Bad, Bad, Bad. As I've often told my children, "If you can't say something nice...talk about the weather."

Ask, and you shall receive...

I complained about using the A/C and look what I got!! A great big, green streak over Las Vegas. It's rained so much in the last couple of days I feel like I'm in Oregon again. Happily, the sun is shining again today and it is currently 70 degrees. This is why I live in Southern Nevada. For everyone in Oregon...I hope you're jealous. Please come for a visit (and stay at a hotel on The Strip, not at my house!)

I'm sick of A/C!!

This weekend the temperature neared 100 degrees on both Saturday and Sunday. It's October in Southern Nevada! My favorite month of the year precisely because it's supposed to be around 80 degrees everyday. I have a real problem with my air conditioner running in October. The alternative, of course, is to be miserable in the heat. Ana and Sam both had soccer games at around 2:00 in the afternoon. Nice and toasty warm! Luckily, there was a nice breeze blowing so it was bearable. The forecast is looking much better for the rest of the week so OFF goes the A/C. I try not to turn the heat on until late December or even January, but since we homeschool and are here all day, we usually have to break down and heat the place. This was Sam last November during school. I broke down (or into my wallet) and turned on the heat. I'll do a post on the first day I have to turn on the heater.

The Devil's Work?

Highly Skilled Air Traffic Controller


My religious training ended too many years ago for me to remember the exact saying but it is something to the effect of "idle hands doing the devil's work." I have decided that YouTube.com is the devil's work. I spend too much idle time watching videos there and what's worse is that so many other people have enough idle time to post videos there. That having been said, this one is my favorite.

I Can't Wait!

After a 9 month break following surgery on my foot, I get to start training in karate again tonight! I can't wait!!







.

Happy Anniversary!

Is it possible these two "youngsters" have been married for 20 years? Not quite yet! However, our 20th wedding anniversay is on Wednesday, Sept 13, 2006. To celebrate, we went out to dinner. For reasons I'm not quite clear on, Mike wanted to take the children. We went to Carrabba's Italian Grill. The atmosphere was nice, the food was good and the children were mostly well behaved. Dessert was fantastic. It was a Sogno di Cioccloata or "Chocolate Dream". Here's looking forward to the next 20 years. Happy Anniversary.

My New Favorite Quote

Hope is not a plan.


Anderson Cooper - DISPATCHES FROM THE EDGE








.