81 Days of Summer Break

Okay so I must say that when I actually calculated the exact number of days of summer I felt a little overwhelmed with what seemed like a never ending void of time...with fighting and screaming as background noise. So then I stepped back and decided to look at it as 11 weeks of summer and all of a sudden it did not seem so daunting.

Today marks day 69. Not so bad as we mark our mid way point of week two. SO far so good. Of course, I can say this easily because I spend the first week of summer in bed with 104 fever hallucinating for days with absolutely no memory of the first six days of summer. Around day seven, I started coming around feeling like I has been hit by a truck and a whole lot lighter than when I started the summer. I think the kids decided they like sick mom the best. Sick mom does not care if the TV is on toon tv all day. Sick mom does not care if kids play DS, while playing the wwii. Sick mom does not care if you have cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sick mom does not care much about anything because sick mom is comatose and oblivious to everything.

So I sat down with the kids and made a summer wish list of things we would like to do this summer. So far we have made strawberry jam, home made ice cream, and joined the rec center for the water slides.

We have two big trips planned for the summer. End of July we are heading to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas to see the Titanic exhibit. Along the way we will be stopping to see the airplane cemetery in Mojave desert and hoover dam. In August we will be traveling down the coast to the Central Coast for a week at the beach. We won the trip at the HS auction last Feb and will be taking advantage of the prize. But no trip would be complete without tying it to something of historical or educational significance (since we will have a captive audience in the car) we will be starting in San Francisco and hitting the California Missions, that are dotted down the coast. I figure with the yahoos going into fourth grade this will come in handy for them and allow them to see missions close up and personal...and maybe decide which one they would like to report on.

I have booked us a pretty jammed packed summer down to the day. That includes a daily list of activites for the kids an my work sandwiched in. Tomorrow 7:50am sign up for swimming lessons at the rec center.

Starfish...

Once upon a time there was a wise man
who used to go to the ocean
to do his writing.
He had a habit of walking
on the beach
before he began his work.

One day he was walking along
the shore.
As he looked down the beach,
he saw a human
figure moving like a dancer.
He smiled to himself to think
of someone who would
dance to the day.
So he began to walk faster
to catch up.

As he got closer, he saw
that it was a young man
and the young man wasn't dancing,
but instead he was reaching
down to the shore,
picking up something
and very gently throwing it
into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out,
"Good morning! What are you doing?"
The young man paused,
looked up and replied,
"Throwing starfish in the ocean."
"I guess I should have asked,
why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"
"The sun is up and the tide is going out.
And if I don't throw them in they'll die."
"But, young man, don't you realize that
there are miles and miles of beach
and starfish all along it.
You can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely.
Then bent down, picked up another starfish
and threw it into the sea,
past the breaking waves and said-
"It made a difference for that one."

Years ago, like about 25 of them, I bought a pair of starfish earrings. They were large, gold and very gaudy a la palm beach. I loved them back in the 80's and 25 years later I still do. Guess I've always been a little sentimental about Starfish.

Monday Lunch Special...

So last night while dining a la fresco out by the pool, a strange stick under my chair caught my attention. I bent down to pick it up only to discover that it was NOT a stick but a lizard tail. Yes, a freshly detached lizard tail at that. I called the kids over to look at the lizard tail and asked who wanted to take it to school? I had only one taker--MeiMei. So off she went with lizard tail in baggy. this morning while making lunches for the kids to take to school I discover where MeiMei put the lizard tail---Inside Noleys lunch box. Gotta Admit that was a good one. Moral of the Story...don't mess with the little one.

Words of Wisdom from a nine year old....

Yesterday the world lost a very inspirational person John Wooden. While not a sports person, I have always loved Mr Wooden's insight on people and the their place in the world. Listed below are a handful of his more well known quotes.

"You can't live a perfect day until you do something for someone who will never be able to repay you."

"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

"Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character. "

"Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."

"It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it. "

"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."

"A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment."

"The team that makes the most mistakes usually wins, because doers make mistakes "

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be"

"Don't let what you can't do stop you from what you can do."

"Never mistake activity for achievement. "

"Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts. "

"What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player. "

"There are many things that are essential to arriving at true peace of mind, and one of the most important is faith, which cannot be acquired without prayer. "

"The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones. "

"The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team. "

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.

So yesterday I complimented Tobbers for helping HooHaa and he said "teamwork always leads to success" and "friendship is the key to succeed". Maybe deep inside there is a little John Wooden in all of us.

Happy Birthday # 7 "Hong Solo"

The countdown started on March 30 (MeiMei's birthday) and after much, much, much anticipation May 30th FINALLY CAME. HooHaa turned a whopping seven. In honor of his first ever birthday party we let him choose what to serve and pick out a cake. He stated that when he lived in China, he never had a birthday, birthday party or a birthday cake. He said he ate cake but not for birthdays and that no one celebrated birthdays in China. I had heard such but it appears that at Changzhou SWI they have special cakes...just not parties for specific birthdays or recognize birthdays. Guess it would be too hard to celebrate everyones birthday and how does one make it fair for all?...guess by not having any.

So with my anticpation HooHaa requested the big StarWars cake, hotdogs, cheetos and rootbeer floats. So you ask yourself...how long does it take a seven year old boy who was adopted from China seven months ago to aclimate to living in the US and requesting junk food for a special day?....uh you guessed it....about seven months...