"P" party, Sally, and rain

Drew had a "P" party at school. It's not what it sounds like. They had to bring treats starting with "p". She brought "pookies". Just cookies-- NOT made with poo We just had to improvise the name to make it work. They actually were Pirouette cookies, so I guess that counts anyway. So she ended up wearing Pjs, pearls and Puma shoes.

Then she got to bring home Sally. Sally is the class pet--a salamander. All was going well until last night. She had put some sticks in the bucket that Sally climbed up and escaped in the night. So I had a frantic Drew by my bed this morning. "Mom, do salamanders disappear when they die?!" She wept, searched, called her teacher and was sure that the whole class would now hate her and shun her for life. We looked everywhere! So sad. Then Darren whispered to me "I think George ate her, I heard him chewing on something last night." Eeew! Eerie images filled my head of salamander toes sticking out of George's mouth. I couldn't help but glare at George for a bit, but I guess that's mostly just out of habit. Finally we went on with our day and I assured Drew that we would go to a pet store to look for a salamander. But first she had the parade....

So in Washington nothing gets cancelled due to rain. Life just goes on and people pretend that it really doesn't rain much here. Whatever! Cancel the dang parade! No such luck. Drew's gymnastics team was in the parade, cartwheeling down the street in the rain and handing out candy. My feet were numb afterward. Then I call my dear sister Laura as she says she is riding her bike to the beach and it's hot. WHATEVER!!! I tell her @#*!%^! At least that's what I'm thinking. I tried to make her jealous by telling her it is 40 degrees and I'm driving through the rain and all I see is gray and my toes are numb and Drew's teeth are chattering. She just laughed. LAUGHED! And then said I should come visit her. If only.

Then when we got home and Drew was in the steamy shower I found Sally. And she wasn't dead. She was crawling by the shoe basket by the front door. She was covered in lint, thus showing me what a poor housekeeper I really am. Like I need one more reminder. I just don't usually sweep all the way under the little round table in the front entryway where I'm sure she was hiding. Anyway, I was excited. Drew was excited. Life goes on and it continues to rain.

Essays and stuff

Why is it that I feel like I'm in school all over again? It's 9:30pm and Gavin should be in bed. Instead he has homework of all sorts that needs to be done. And why is it that he thinks that I should be the source of all knowledge? Dividing fractions? I did my time, I should be blissfully enjoying NOT being in school. "Mom, what do you think I should write about in my essay? We have to come up with reasons why or why not a curfew should be imposed in Woodinville." I try to ask him what he thinks he should write about and he gives me the blank stare. Then becomes frustrated with ME for not coming up with something. By 9:30pm I'm ready to sink into the couch and have a few glorious minutes to myself without having to think of reasons why there should not be a curfew imposed in Woodinville for kids under the age of 18 after 9pm. There should be a curfew in my house stating that no humans under the age of 13 can loiter downstairs after 8:30pm. And no dogs staring at my as I sit on the couch. Maybe I should put up a sign stating the new rules. Dumb dog can't read though. And as for essays, I think that it is pretty apparent that I'm not a very gifted writer. Sorry Gav, you're on your own!

Horse Crazy!

I take full responsibility for this one. Although these pictures were taken a year ago the girls never cease to ask when they can go riding again. They definitely have a bit of me in them as they seem to be obsessed with wanting to ride horses. I certainly don't think that it's a bad thing and I wish that we had a barn in our backyard with 5 horses for the family. But all we have is a dog and some goldfish. So I told Drew that after she can master her lisping issue, and some other things, then she can have a couple of riding lesson. Her grades certainly aren't an issue, so I'm grasping for stuff to use as incentives. Gillian also has the gleam in her eye and is trying to convince me that she should also be allowed to ride. I might really get some extra chores out of them.... I remember how I loved (and still do) the smell of the leather saddles, and the sound of the jangle of a bridle. Most people are offended by the smell of horses but I love it, it's very soothing to me. So I took the girls to a couple of stables in the area yesterday and we watched some people ride. They loved it! We went up and down the hallways of the barns, looking in every stall and petting the horses noses. Bliss! Now I just have to figure out some good incentives and put aside some money for a couple of lessons. Once we get that down I think that my friend will let them ride her horses for free. I like free. And I'm not ashamed to say that I still have that gleam in my eye every time I see a beautiful horse. I imagine myself up on its back and galloping carefree down a beach in Hawaii.

Leprechaun trap

This is Gillian's leprechaun trap. The signs read: come in, there are shoes in here. So cute. Her teacher told her that leprechauns make shoes and that if you make a trap you can catch one. So this is her trap she came up with. There is looped tape inside to trap them when they go for the sparkly gold painted nugget. I have a feeling that she will be upset if she does not trap one, but I know that they are tricky little guys and they may not stick to the tape. We'll see. It is a great effort on her part though.

Misleader

I feel that the name of my blog DailyCyn is very misleading. It would lead one to believe that Iwould actually write every day. That was very ambitious of me. And though I like to be true to my word I find that it is not as easy as I would have thought. However, anyone who would possibly be interested can always read up on every mundane and exciting thing that I've done every day of my life for the past 15 years. My journaling is still intact and I'm having a hard time making the switch to online. Hard to do both. But I am growing up, as I just proved this weekend by turning 40--FORTY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! And I don't feel any different. Funny. More on that later. As for now, it is 8:45am Monday morning and I was doing the dishes thinking about how I've neglected my blog. Why do we women always feel guilty for just about everything? Anyway, I'm not going to feel guilty for going back to bed because I'm quite ill right now. Snot, cough, fever, YUCK! Then, I will wake up, do laundry, make dinner, do lacrosse practice, homework, catch up on blogging about my wonderful 40th birthday, etc... Ah, the life of a stay home mom. Life is good.

Movie stars and Dr. Seuss

Our school always seems to have a theme day. Last week there was "dress like a movie star day". What does one do for that? So sunglasses and crazy '80's hair did the job. It seems like movie stars don't wear many clothes these days, but my little stars do.

Then there was Dr. Seuss' birthday. The girls had to wear red or a Dr. Seuss costume. Honestly! Who keeps a Dr. Seuss costume laying around the house? By the time I got the camera out to take a picture of the redness of the clothes Drew had taken off so that she wouldn't be late for school. Gilli is always all to happy to pose for a picture. I'm so glad because she is so stinking cute that I could just take daily pictures of her.

Even Junior high has certain theme things. Gavin asked if he had any brown pants for whatever was up at Leota Jr. High. Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. But it's fun. They're fun.