Mother's Day

Today when I was stooped over cleaning the baseboards throughout the downstairs, I wondered, "How is everyone else celebrating their Mother's Day?"

I'm not sure how it happened. I seem to haphazardly find myself cleaning obscure things when left to my own devices. But there I was questioning the sanity of a mom who would spend her "special day" cleaning such an inconsequential part of the house.

Regardless of that twenty-minute foray into baseboard craziness, I had a nice day. Went to church; spent time on a fun photo project; re-hung my room decor now that the walls are (almost) all painted; enjoyed dinner at a nice restaurant (which Cayna deemed "not as good as Red Robin"); and indulged in a dessert our friends brought over for a mother's day gift.

I love Mother's Day. Even more than shiny-clean baseboards.

We're In!

Holy Toledo! (Despite the fact that I have little connection to Ohio - this is a very satisfying expression.)

I received a letter today that began with the following:

Welcome to Mother of Divine Grace School! I am pleased to inform you that your family has been officially accepted for the 2009-2010 year.

So... it's official. We're homeschooling. And we're doing it with the help of Mother of Divine Grace School, website here. So my kids' curriculum will be Classical; Catholic; Filtered through me (!); organized with the help of an on-call consultant; tailored to their abilities with the help of personal assessments; and taught at home. Holy Toledo again! Recently, I shared some anxiety as the application date got closer. Today I'm excited. This really feels like the beginning of an adventure. True, an adventure with some nerve-wracking possibilities (maybe like spelunking or hanggliding... or - name your extreme sport here...) - but wonderful, exhilarating, daring, and fun too.

Height Day

Tomorrow is my height day. Most people I know celebrated theirs sometime in the last week or so. Except for the children in my life. Most of theirs are in February or March. My matron of honor celebrated hers April 11th, though.

Lots of important days right around now. Cinco de Mayo, my height day, Mother's Day coming up, Memorial Day. It's all I can do to get the festivities organized.

(Good thing my "Golden Height Day" isn't until 2029. I have time to plan something REALLY special.)

Vegas to Albuquerque to Vegas in 53 hours

What we packed: Comfy road trip clothes; funeral attire; good books to read; CDs to listen to; a camera; sympathy cards.

What we saw en route: FINALLY a view of the Hoover Dam Bypass project which is truly an amazing feat of engineering and construction; lots of "Indian Jewelry for Sale" signs; gorgeous mountains and trees and wide open spaces.


What we did: Drove fast; packed our lunch and stopped only for bathroom breaks; arrived ahead of schedule in Albuquerque and had New Mexican food; visited our grieving friend and her family; spent the night in a next-door "host home"; attended a funeral; shared hugs at a reception; drove to Flagstaff and checked into a hotel; had an unbelievably good, quiet seafood dinner with the best customer service I've had maybe ever; prayed in the morning at a beautiful, old Catholic church; grabbed a Starbucks; drove home.

What I experienced: A family who knows the hope of Jesus Christ and the fullness of the Catholic Church; hours of conversation and reading uninterrupted by anything; becoming more "at home" in my new faith.

Pretty full 53 hours.

Guest Writer and the Underwear

Well, Teri is gone to Albuquerque for a few nights so I have been flying solo with the kids. I am not nearly as funny as Teri, but I said I would be a guest writer for a blog entry. Here are the highlights...

- Sunday 5/3 (the day Teri left): the kids and I went to the Elephant Bar for lunch, compliments of the in-laws. They all ate very well because their loving father did not give them a mid-morning snack. Sure, there were many fits and fights along the way, but they ate their lunch. I am still deciding if it was worth it. I was very proud to see four empty plates. Nap, Mariokart, blah blah blah. We concluded the day with some outside time and then dinner (supper if you ask the Early's) at the Early household. I was a bit scared at mid day as I contemplated what might be for dinner after looking in the bare food storage areas in our kitchen. Then Mark said Karen had prepared two dinners for them and there was enough for us. Of course, I took advantage of Mark's offer for dinner. Then the victorious bedtime ritual and the day was through.

- Monday 5/4: I took part in the kids' normal daily ritual. Teri really has it together to get this executed every weekday. I needed her hour-by-hour schedule in order to keep in line and on task. Of course there were the tense moments like when Joe said, "Mom always gives me a note in my lunch." Well, Dad can do that too...send Joe upstairs and, voila (that word still seems pretend to me...why not walaa?), insert a note in the lunch. Of course, I attached a piece of candy to it to make up for the lack of sentimentality (and in case he couldn't read it). Then came the words no stay-at-home-dad-for-two-days-whose-wife-told-him-he-wouldn't-need-to-do-laundry wants to hear, "Dad, I have no clean underwear." Vaguely reminiscent of a previous post. So, I did a quick load of underwear and dried them (mostly) just in time. Off to school. Went to wal-mart for a few things and then went to pick up Cayna at 11:40. She began a project right after lunch. The project entailed making 4 signs that proudly stated: "ATTeNTioN! CAyNA's NAMe iS NOW CASSiDy". Not sure where this idea came from, but that isn't new with Cassidy. Then, out to the font yard to play. Then $5 pizza and choir. Rush to bed and here I am watching the NBA finals.

Tomorrow, I get to take Cassidy, Maria and Joseph to school.

STATISTICS

Children: Start-4; current-4
Digits: Start-80; current-80
Broken bones: 0
Band-aids used: 0
Meals prepared: 2 of 5
Diapers changed: 12?

Under the (smoky) Big Top

Twenty years ago, when my friends and I were looking for something to do, we often went to the Strip. It was great fun cruising up and down Las Vegas Boulevard. Sometimes, when the back-and-forth and the exhaust fumes and the slimy older men got to be too much - we had to actually park and go inside the casinos. Since we were under 21 and therefore couldn't loiter near the slot machines (except for Kristen who looked MUCH more mature than the rest of us); and since few of the present-day resorts even existed yet - we settled for the El Rancho bowling alley (where we habitually ordered hash browns and Sprite, who knows why) and occasionally Circus Circus.

Today Kevin and I and my visiting mother-in-law took the kids to Circus Circus. Ew. There is some funky time warp in that spot on the Strip. Once inside and navigating the casino floor to the midway - it looks EXACTLY the same as it did in 1989. Smells the same, too. Like a lot of smoke. Maybe some parents wouldn't brave the smoke and the migraine-inducing carpet, but here is a list of the positive outcome:

1) each kid managed to win one stuffed toy (granted, Cayna's is a sort of a fuzzy dog head that makes a disturbing chortling noise, but still...)

2) our whole family got a chance to pummel a stuffed chicken high into the air

3) Grandma bought four tubs of cotton candy for her grandchildren

4) we all witnessed an acrobat, a juggler, and a contortionist - for free!

5) after twenty years, when it comes to the "blow up the balloon with the squirt gun til it pops" game - I still got it!

6) I don't have to go back until they're old enough to ride the roller coasters in the Adventure Dome portion. That could be years away.

7) We didn't lose anybody in the bowels of that strange old place.

Derby Day

Kevin and I had a fun day out at Lake Las Vegas. He launched his modeling career, and I debuted as a fashion photographer.

Here is a snapshot of the scenery around the resort. We live in the desert, as you know, so this is "Fake Lake".



Before the event, we found the guys and caught them talking about shoes. I've never in my life overheard Kevin talking about footwear fashion. This was an occasion. He's pictured here with our good friend Mark and our church's youth director Zach. All three are wearing flip-flops that cost more than a week's groceries. They're wearing part of their outfits for the "beachwear" portion of the show, minus the shorts. Zach called the shorts they had to wear in the show "Man-Dukes" instead of "Daisy-Dukes" because they were too tight and short.



On the runway! Here's Kevin in "beachwear" and Kevin in "smart casual":





Me and my model husband:



Me, my mom, and our hats: