Sam And Holly

It is usually Erin's job to report on her kids antics, but today I can't help it.

Yesterday Erin and I went shopping for my school clothes and her birthday present. In the middle of Wal-mart, Sam was behaving like a typical 4 year old, and trying every one's patience by whining "Mom, mom, mom . . . " Finally Erin said "I don't want to hear you say mom for one minute."

Sam didn't miss a beat, and whined "Erin . . ."

Holly and I went school shopping. I hadn't intended to buy anything for her yet, but when Erin went to take Sam to the bathroom, she started showing me all the cute things and pointing out which ones were in her sizes. when Erin got back, we had three outfits in the cart.

Holly SOOO has my number.

As summer winds down . . .

If you can believe it, I have about three weeks left and I have to get back to work. The school will be open in August, but we have a really awesome principal who doesn't believe in working over vacations, so he may not let us in. I just can't think where the summer has gone. And then I think of all the reading I've done and the traveling I've done.

THAT'S where it went.

In honor of my wonderful summer, I thought I'd post a few pictures of this summer's "stuff" . . . the events that made it go so fast:

In June we went to Disneyland for Ezri's birthday. Ezri is Autumn's niece.

Sam also decided that he was "Buzz", not Sam. Who am I to argue with a child's life goals? So I got him a Buzz t-shirt in Disneyland.

Holly got a lot taller and lost a few teeth. She also learned how to ride a scooter.

Brittanie graduated so we went on a cruise to The Bahamas to celebrate. (This is what humidity does to my hair)

And Max is learned to move around and is cutting teeth . . . but he's not taking any of it very seriously:)

It's been a very busy summer. The best kind, because I was busy with family.

How I spend my summer.

Many people have the misconception that teachers are only in the biz to get three months paid vacation every year.

First of all, it's closer to 2 months when you account for meetings, workshops, faculty stuff, meetings, cleaning, conferences and meetings.

Secondly, I have plenty to keep me busy this summer. I have not been bored at all.

I organized my CDs. I play a lot of music in my class and until this year I didn't have an MP3 player or an iPod. (Which I recently learned you can plug into the microphones we use at work and play through the speakers and it's totally awesome!)

Anyway, since I now have WAY too many CDs (about 500+), I put them into alphabetical order every summer. I'm not obsessive about it. But this way, for the rest of the year, I basically know where a given CD should be. Nothing gets put back exactly right, but it doesn't get really messy until around Christmas, and I don't really do anything until summer.

Before:

After:

See. Very busy.

Anyone who knows me, knows I adore earrings. The dangly, chandelier earrings. I believe there must be a gene for this because my Grandma Baxter loved them too.

But they are a mess. So this summer, I went through my jewelry boxes (yes, that's a plural) and clipped pairs together, and tossed out old ones that don't have pairs.

Before:

After:

Too busy. Busy, busy, busy.

Or bored. With a dash of weird tossed in.

The Bahamas with Britt

I know I haven't been as diligent as I should have been about blogging but there has been a very good reason. A couple of very good reasons. One, I have been trying to figure out how to download pictures from my new camera (oddly enough, it's labeled "easy share") and literally NOTHING has been going on. I could comment on the trouble I am having this summer finding reading material, but does anyone want to hear that again? (By the way, I just read The Last Lecture on the flight to Florida, and it was very good).

However, on the 8th I flew out to Florida with my sister Kathi and her daughter Brittanie for Britt's graduation trip. Britt decided she wanted a cruise to the Bahamas, which I just went on last year. After our trip to Hawaii last summer for Katelynn's trip, I think Kathi was trying to avoid the use of maps. We did take a lot tour buses and taxi cabs.

The trip was great. Not as fun as my first one, simply because I had seizures our first night out. they charge you just like an emergency room when you go to the infirmary. And because I have epilepsy, they wouldn't let me snorkel. That was a cruise wide policy, not the doctor's orders. I was pretty upset because I had already paid to snorkel and none of the materials we received beforehand said anything about this restriction. Worse than that, when I asked the guy at the excursions desk what other options were open to me (he was about 15) he said I could always sit on the beach and wade in the ocean.

Really? Can I?
I can fly to California in an hour and do that.

I also mentioned that I have snorkeled before, in the Bahamas and Hawaii, I own my own gear, and my neurologist recommends sights he thinks I'll like.

The 15 year old rolled his eyes.

Next time I bring a doctors note and I pack my own gear, hang the expense.

Oh well. There are idiots everywhere.

Ironically, they have no problem with letting an epileptic parasail. Maybe because it costs twice as much.

The point of the trip was to give Britt an experience of a lifetime, and I think she had it. Here are some pictures. I took about 80. I was very careful not to overwhelm everyone.


I love this picture of Kathi and Brittanie. It looks like they are sharing a joke.
Brittanie on the pool deck
This is me. Trying to make to the entry to Nassau. You can see I didn't get very far. Our ship is in the background. It was HOT! I changed into a skirt later on.

Brittanie and Kathi at Fort Fincastle. That's Nassau and Paradise Island in the background.
Brittanie and Kathi didn't want to wait for it, but I made them. I love a sunset at sea.

Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian's private island.Kathi and Brittanie getting ready to snorkel. I love how dorky they look:)
Sitting on the beach with my feet in the water, just as they told me to . . . later Kathi let me borrow her gear and I snorkeled for a bit. Take that Norwegian!

Caribbean Blue . . . way too many people

WAY cool! It was so peaceful and the water looks so blue. Really worth it.

Travel Stress

I haven't had seizures since December 10th, so Yea, Me!

But . . .

Every time I travel, even to the family reunion in Oregon, I stress. and stress is a major factor in causing my seizures. (Okay, so maybe that one might be cause for more stress, not less)

This last trip to Disneyland was a fun, breezy trip. And I stressed.

My family doesn't like it, but they're used to it. Now they have MP3 players and iPods, so they can shut me out. I also notice that more and more, my family avoids me during the preparation phases.

We all cope in various ways.

However, I am supposed to go on a cruise to the Bahamas with Kathi and Brittanie and we are no where near ready to go. Kathi hasn't even picked up her passport yet, which she had to expedite.

And now I am really stressing out because yesterday, Kathi asked if I would take over planning. She's been pretty sick and doesn't know what to do for a cruise. She assumes I do because I've been on one before. I let Autumn handle all the details then, just like I do whenever I travel with Autumn. Can't do that now.

So here is my to do list for today:

Rent a car because we missed the shuttle dead line

Book a hotel in Miami

Get passport numbers (hoping Kathi has picked hers up and Brittanie finds hers) and register for our cruise

Try not to stress

Hear's hoping modern medicine does it's thing and I have a non-stressful, seizure free, vacation

I don't think the 12 pack of Diet Pepsi is going to be enough today. I am definitely going to need ice cream eventually.

Disneyland and Photograpy Drama

Autumn and I went to Disneyland with Autumn's sister Emily and Emily's husband Jason and their children Ezri and Riker (I think I spelled Riker right). It was Ezri's 4th birthday and we all had a fabulous time.

We spent three days in the park. We saw the fireworks and rode every ride Ezri would go on and managed a few adult rides. Of course, the kids' favorite place was the water park in California Adventure's A Bug's Life garden. I think this was the cleanest Riker got :)

For her birthday, Ezri went to the Princess Lunch and we got her a princess dress. What a blast!

Finally, on Monday, Riker gave up and fell asleep in my lap on a park bench. The kids hadn't slept before 10:00 for two days. That's when we figured we should leave before someone reported us for child abuse. We started home around 3:00. We got back on Tuesday morning at about 5:00 am. Since Ezri is Autumn's niece, I forwarded everything I took on to Emily and Autumn. The trip was a blast and there are many pictures and memories, but Autumn has posted most of those on her blog.

Erin has been trying to teach herself how to take a good photograph. So Saturday we went on an expedition with all three kids so Erin could practice. She also figured it was time to get one of them all together that looked nice.

This is what we learned. It is impossible to get a 6 month old, a three year old and a seven year old to look at the camera and smile at the same time.

Sam learned that boys can go to the bathroom outside.

So it was a big day all around. We all started out happy but after a lot of patience, the kids had it. The last pictures are a pretty accurate summation of how they all felt. Sam was more interested in dirt and making faces. Holly wanted to explore. And Max just wanted to be fed. Ironically, Holly and Sam are singing "We Are A Happy Family" in the picture where Max is screaming.

These are just my pictures. Erin's are much better. I spent most of the time making sure Sam didn't fall into any water or off of any walls, and holding Max.

In two weeks, I'm off to the Bahamas with Brittanie and Kathi. Then I've got to get back to my classroom and get ready for . . . wait for it . . . Fall. Where did the summer go?

Birthdays

This is the week for birthdays. Holly turned 7 on the 15th, and Brittanie turned 18 on the 16th. Today is Orion's birthday, but I can't remember how old he is. I think he will be a sophomore. Maybe I'm in denial. My oldest nephew cannot be that old. Then again, Brittanie just graduated and Holly is going into the second grade, so I guess he can. Holy Mackerel.

For her birthday Holly wanted a scooter, so Erin and I took her to pick one out, and Nana and I bought it. This is her looking pretty snazzy. Sam wouldn't just let me take a picture of Holly, but he also wouldn't stop sticking out his tongue. Isn't Max a cutie?!





Every year, I also celebrate "Little Brother's Day" on Holly's birthday. I always felt left out on Erin's birthday when we were little. When you're one of two kids in a house, it's understandable. So when Sam was born, I started the tradition by celebrating "Big Sister's Day" with Holly. The idea is, when someone has a birthday, I don't forget that this is the day their siblings became brothers or sisters. So on Holly's birthday, when everyone celebrates her, I don't forget the boys. And on the boys' birthdays, I get a little something for the others.

Max is too little to care this year. But when I reminded Sam that Holly's birthday was his Little Brother's day he was pretty excited. So Holly got a pink scooter and Sam got (another) Lightning McQueen. Then Erin hung out at my place with the boys and I took Holly to the movies. Sam is pretty excited for his birthday in August. So is Holly.

Now, when I get old and infirm, I know I'll be well taken care of.
I bought their love.

Happy Birthday Everyone!