Our weekend at Lake Tahoe

More Fairytale Town

 

We have been here more times this year than any other years combined. This time it was a field trip with preschool. It's always a great time.

Did You Know. . .

In honor of Earth Day

What does he REALLY do?

In the past couple of months Richard has been very busy. But here are some of the things he's been busy with.
He had dinner with the Gov. of IL in the governors mansion.
He met with the Senator of IL, (not B. Obama) Dick Durban for a few hours in the US capital.
He's been asked to sit on the Chamber 100 (top 100 chambers in the US).
He flew around on Air Force 2 (the first lady's plane) for a few days with the Air Force Reserves visiting Coco Beach, FL, Cape Canaveral, and Dayton, OH.
He met with 4 congressmen for several hours discussing new legislature.
and he had lunch with the president of the US, George Bush, along with 150 of his closest friends.
I really had no idea this job was going to be filled with such monumental experiences.
Nevertheless, he has yet to obtain tickets to the Oprah show. Yes folks, she is harder to reach than the Pres. of the US.

Little Fakers

It's always amazing to me how siblings can be so different. Here's an example. One of my children often tries to fake sick in order to stay home from school. Another of my children has been faking well for three days in order to be able to GO to school, assuring me daily that she feels fine. I finally figured it out and forced her to stay home on Friday. Can you guess which child is which?

My iris bouquet

 

This is the bouquet I made from the irises growing in my yard. There were so many this year and some were falling over, so I cut them and made this beautiful arrangement. I love it and I love the weather that makes this possible.

Two Wolves

An elder Apache was teaching his grandchildren about life.
He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me, it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, competition, superiority, and ego.

"The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."
They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Grandpa simply replied, "THE ONE YOU FEED."

I came across this story. Thought it was great. Wanted to share.

The Invitation
By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for.
And if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s desire.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
For your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,
If you have ever been opened by life’s betrayals or
Have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,
If you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you
To the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be
Careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you’re telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself,
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
And not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can see beauty
Even when it is not pretty every day.
And if you can source your life from God’s presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,
And still stand on the edge of a lake
And shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes”!

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live
Or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,
Weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done
For the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you are, or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me
And not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside
When all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,
And if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

Here's another one. Just some food for thought.

Craft Day

 

Please enjoy the beautiful art created by the children at my house (not all of whom were mine today). I'm feeling proud of myself for actually doing a craft on a Saturday afternoon. It was very fun for all of us. Ahhh. . .still enjoying the fact that my house is totally clean. I'm free to do a craft on a Saturday afternoon. Imagine that.

Happiness is. . .

a housekeeper.
Seriously!! Why have I never done this before? Please pardon my overenthusiasm. Truth be told I feel a little guilty, shallow, weak?--something along those lines. But that feeling is almost completely buried by the joy and freedom I am experiencing. This day ranks high on the list of favorite days for me. I helped, so with an army of 3 attacking my house it was completely clean in 5 hours. I'm hoping that next time it won't be such a big job, but I have already scheduled the next time. I'm just counting down the days. I haven't smiled this much in a long time. (Yes, I realize how completely pathetic that makes my life seem.) Excuse me now while I go bask in my clean house and play a game with my kids or something else that has nothing to do with cleaning. :) :) :) :) :) :) :) ;)

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Ellie was thrilled to experience her first friend birthday party. Of course, the theme was princess/barbie. Anything that fit into that general catagory was okay with her. She invited all of her princess friends and one little prince. He didn't mind a bit. A huge requirement for the party was the barbie cake. She wanted an all pink dress which she helped me design. Then we molded princess pets out of chocolate--a kitty and a puppy. We decorated crowns, listened to the frog prince story, played princess games like pass the Serafina (Princess and the Pauper reference), Don't let Barbie (balloon) fall, freeze dance to princess music, etc. Then we had a princess feast, followed by the part of the party Ellie wanted the most--watched Barbie as Mariposa with her friends. That was really the only thing she wanted to do for her birthday. I kinda had to talk her into the rest. And, truly, she wasn't really interested in most of it. It turned out great and now I can focus on other things.

Soccer

The moment Lauren has been waiting for for months has finally arrived. Her skills and drills soccer class has started. She is among the youngest players there and only a few have had little to no soccer experience, so she really has to work hard to keep up with them, but they have it set up well so that she works with the others who are at the same ability. She definately gets an A+ for enthusiasm. She skips around the field like she has finally found her "happy place". It is a beautiful sight. I hope she continues to enjoy it so much.