Two Quote Tuesday

I LOVE QUOTES! 

I was shopping at a big low-cost retail store last week and kept gravitating to the frame section. I love frames (but that's a topic for another day).

I noticed, not for the first time, that many of the designs sported the phrase: Live, Laugh, Love or variations of that. Whenever I see those words clumped together (and I see them all the time on frames, t-shirts, mugs, even tattoos) my mind goes to one of my favorite high school teachers, Dr. Taylor. He taught chemistry and math. Every week he'd put up a big quote and make us copy it down. On Friday, he'd ask us what that quote meant to our lives. 

This weekly routine sparked a love of quotes. I have collections of them saved on my computer, in notebooks, and taped up in my office. What I like about quotes is, if you truly focus on them, they force your reflect on your life journey. Some make me smile, some make me think, some make me roll my eyes and laugh. Usually they force me to reflect on my life's journey and see if I'm headed in the direction that's best for me.

The one quote that Dr. Taylor had us write down that I will never, ever forget is by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"to laugh often and love much;

to win the respect of intelligent persons

and the affection of children;

to earn the approbation of honest citizens

and endure the betrayal of false friends; 

to appreciate beauty;

to find the best in others;

to give of one's self'

to leave the world a better place, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;

to have played and laughed with enthusiasm

and sung with exultation

to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived 

--- this is to have succeeded."

There's a ton of good stuff to reflect on in that quote.

I tried to google (is google a verb now?) the author of the live, laugh, love saying and found many possible poems, but this one dates back the farthest. Written by Bessie Anderson Stanly in 1904 is is entitled "Success." It reads in its entirety:

He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;
Who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;
Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;
Who has left the world better than he found it,
Whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;
Whose life was an inspiration;
Whose memory a benediction.

So now I know the full poem behind the Live, Laugh, Love snippets I see all over town (and so do you).

 Question: Do you have certain quotes that resonate in your life? Please share them in the comment section.

Cold Turkey

It was difficult and I had to have Katie give me words of encouragement to do it.... I am quitting all my Facebook gamming accounts - cold turkey! I removed all the games and turned off all the announcements others send my FB page.

I will forever wonder how my pigs, tractors, cheeseburgers, and frontier cabin are holding up. The games are cute and entertaining. I wish I was the owner of Zynga. That guy is rolling in dough and creating zillions of cute-game addicted time wasters in the process. In return for my sacrifice I will get a fabulous reward - TIME to do REAL things in REAL LIFE!  (or at least time to play on the computer in more productive ways like expanding my knowledge of Photoshop).
Go Me!!!!

I suck at blogging...

What can I say? Even sucks is too gentle a term for my lack of ability to string together a few thoughts, add a picture, make up a title and sit back and wait for praise and admiration in the form of comments.

I lead a pretty exciting life....okay I really don't but just in case someone new is reading this I'd like them to believe I do, I should be able to throw together a blog post every now and then...mostly nows...I don't do so well with thens. So instead, I read all of your my hip friends' blogs (waves to Shauna and Brittany). I blame it on Facebook and it's instant gratification....once again Facebook has caused me some misery along with an unhealthy addiction to virtual farming...but I won't dwell on that...I might want to blog about that someday...or never mention it again...whatever.

So...here is my lame attempt at a blog post....relish and enjoy it...it may be another year until I post.

Kenny's end of 2nd grade play

Kenny played the part of the Narrator in his second grade play called Life Cycles. He's got great inflection in his voice, if I could get him to face the audience instead of the other characters he'd be on his way to Hollywood. Not too bad for an eight year old. There are a lot of clips here, but I wanted to share as much as I could with those of you out of town.

Promenade Left

On Tuesday, Katie and all the 5th grade students got all gussied-up for West Fest Day and did a square dancing demonstration for the parents. Lucky Katie. She got to dance in an all girl group. Her partner, a good buddy of hers, and her switched off who played the "lead." She didn't have to dance or hold hands with any icky boys. If you look in the background of the video clips you'll see how unexcited and lethargic the boy-girl groups are. Katie's group was all smiles and giggles. I got to do the last dance with her. It was a great memory to store away. I can't believe she is moving on to middle-school.
There are many clips to share, 'cause they're just so darn cute.

Ice Skating in the Sunshine

While I stayed at home to nurse my cold and horrible laryngitis, Rick took the kids to the temporary ice skating rink in Folsom. Both kids loved it and want to go back before it closes for the season. Hopefully, I can join them next time.

I was impressed that Rick thought to take photos (even if it was with his Treo cell phone). He even took some video.... sideways!! Enjoy.

After Christmas Lull

Winter break is a beautiful thing. The kids are enjoying and playing with all their toys. Rick and I got all things "Christmas" put away this weekend. I am relaxing and enjoying my time off from work. I don't have to go back to work until January 5th. Life is good.

Merry Merry Christmas!

Christmas Card 2008

Is it unAmerican to *not* eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day? The pilgrims not only ate flying fowl, but partook of wild four-legged creatures too. My friends though sure look at me strangely when I tell them I had steak for Thanksgiving.

For Thanksgiving we joined my mom, dad and brother at Black Angus for a lovely feast. The best parts - Fun conversation, wine, and I didn't have to cook anything nor clean one little plate - heaven! After our early dinner we came back to my house for apple pie (gasp: no - not a pumpkin pie), coffee, and more conversation.

My mom makes THE best apple pie ever. Katie was so cute. She had two huge pieces. Half way through the second piece she got an awful tummy ache, but kept eating anyway. She said she was trying to ignore the pain because the pie was THAT good.

Ken tried the pie and grimmaced. Super - more pie for me!

We got our Christmas tree up and the lights on outside the house. This is great because I'm sure I won't have the energy to put toward Christmassy things while I'm teaching these next three weeks (but who's counting).

A Visit From Grandma Judy

Rick's mom left this afternoon after a week long visit. I had to work during half the visit, but the time I got to spend with her was really nice.

While I was working my long term sub job, Judy, Rick and the kids did crafts and played games at the house.

Friday day, Judy and Katie made mini pumpkin pudding pies for Katie to take to her Girl Scout Feast. It was a special time for Katie and her Grandma to just be together.

Friday evening the kids went to their friends house (and Girl Scouts) and the three of us grown ups went Christmas shopping. It was a successful trip and now Judy doesn't have to ship gifts to us and the kids will be getting things they put on their wish lists.

Saturday I got out my jewelry making supplies and made more lanyards and fixed a few broken ones. Judy helped me while Katie worked on her scrapbook. Kenny played Wii games and Rick worked on his truck bumper.

Oh - did I forget to mention Rick backed into a pole? Yup. His truck is only two years old and he whacked it good! With the help of a neighbor he was able to pound out the bumper to Rick's satisfaction (yeah we don't have to buy a $300 new bumper). Now all he needs to do is get color matched paint to touch up some places where the paint cracked.

Later on Saturday Judy got to see Katie NOT play in another soccer game. Katie was freaking out about her breathing problems and didn't play (more on that later). She also got to see how Rick turned into Dumbhead Coach who forgets how to be dear ol dad. We're all human, but it's aggrivating for me being in the middle of the stress.

Sunday night Katie, Judy and I went to see a local production of Annie. Katie and Judy had never seen it before. Of course, I had to refrain from standing up and singing all the songs. It brought back great memories for me. My parents took me to see Annie in Hollywood/L.A. when I was around Katie's age. I bought the song book and memorized all the songs. It was a fun evening for all three of us.

We all enjoyed her visit, but Kenny was the most emotional about having to say goodbye. He cried when she left and moped around the rest of the day. He is excited about being able to email with her using our Wii email system (Katie is too).

Survior

I officially survived parent teacher conferences. GO ME! After only knowing these 4th graders for 3 weeks and struggling to complete their report cards - I DID IT!

I was really eye-opening to conclude that all parents truly know their kids. Even when I was telling parents their kids were failing certain subjects or that their social behavior needed drastic improvement, parents were not surprised at all. Often when I had to share less than desirable news, parents would say it was still an improvement over last years marks.

My friend (and master teacher while I was student teaching) sent me a wonderful gift. She sent me a beautiful flower arrangement with a note saying, "Have fun this week. You can do it!" I received it during school hours and the kids were having trouble understanding why I had tears in my eyes and a smile on my face. It was so touching and sweet of her. Having those flower on the table with me during the p-t conferences made it feel like she was sitting there with me, rooting me on.

After this very stressful situation I am confident that p-t conferences with my own class and students will be a breeze.

One week off for Fall Break won't be nearly enough time to recuperate, but I'll take what I can get!

Spinning Heads

Sorry my blog is so not-up-to-date. I started a long term sub job (early cause the lady had her baby 5 weeks early) and my head is spinning with the adjustment. Katie's been sick for a month solid now. 1st with pneumonia, and then bronchitis -both with airway constriction. The infection is finally gone, but the trouble breathing is not - we are seeing a specialist this month. Combine that with Rick coaching both kids' soccer teams, soccer games every Sat., Kenny and Katie adjusting to having a working-mom, figuring out who is doing the household chores now and general day to day stuff and it leaves little time to update the blog. I am hoping to be more "normal" with updates after Christmas (hey at least I am realistic).

Fair-Weather Friends (the feathered kind)

Katie and Kenny have finally settled on names for their feather friends...

~*~*~*~*~*~

Introducing Kenny's birdy buddy: CLOUDY

~*~*~*~*~*~

Meet Katie's little tweetheart: SUNNY

...Get it? They both have weather names *grin*.

The kids are enjoying their little pets and take them out every day to tame them and get them to used to being handled (without the fear of being eaten). Both birds have to be encouraged (i.e. grabbed) to get them out of their cages, but once they are out they don't mind perching on fingers. I try to talk to them every time I enter each kid's room. I am trying to teach Kenny's bird to say, "Hi Ken," and Katie's to say, "Hi Katie." We'll see how well that goes. Since neither kid is a good whistler, I have been given the job of teaching each bird to whistle a tune.

...more later.

Nervous Ned goes Independent on us

Rick and I were bugging the kids all day today to get out and play in the beautiful weather. This is the one of the two months a year the weather is gorgeous in Sacramento (the other month occurring sometime in Spring). They spent most of the day playing computer games and pretending things inside the house.

The kids finally went out and played a little basketball around 3:30.

Then at 4:30. Ken declared that he was going to go on a bike ride by himself! Rick looks at me. I look at Rick. We both know that we were off riding our bikes for hours at a time at seven years old. ... but in this day and age, should we let our baby boy out on a bike by himself?

I say, "Ok." Rick is as apprehensive as I am. I loaded up the 2-way radios with batteries so Ken could keep in touch with us. Rick called our neighbor where Ken's would be riding to (Our neighbor's daughter did the same thing and rode to our house when she was 7). He would be riding a total of 1.25 miles (there and back). Rick even made him wear a whistle around his neck to blow if the radios didn't work.

... and off he went. Now, I thought for sure Mr. Nervous-Ned-I-Hate-Anything-New (aka KEN) would get five houses down the street and turn around - but nope. He checked in with us when he had gotten around the big curve in our street and checked in a second time when he got to his destination.

You should've seen Rick and I standing in the middle of our street - just waiting for Ken. Like being in the middle of the street somehow made us closer and more able to help him... but independence must be gained by oneself.

Now, don't think we're going to make this a habit. Cause I'm not really ok with it... but I had to let Ken sprout some little wings.

Ken was all grins when he got home. Katie was still in shock that Ken did that. She won't even stay home by herself for five minutes. I am sure she'll be sprouting wings before we know it too.

Soccer Saturday (again)

It was another EARLY Saturday morning for the Carter family this weekend. All of Ken's games start either at 8am or 9am. This Sat. it was 8 (blech).

The morning was really cool and damp. Ken loved playing in the cooler weather. He said it helped him run harder and longer. His team, The Bears, won by a large margin (something like 11 t0 2). Ken scored two of the goals. Here are some pictures of him working hard and having fun.


Ken's shoots his first goal. Picture above & Video (shot by Katie) below.


Katie's game was late in the afternoon. Her field is HUGE. Her team, The Cardinals, is not the most talented bunch of girls, and a good number of them are just not very eager to play hard.

Katie did her best however and said she had fun despite the 0 to 6 score. For the first 40 minutes (1st half) she played back and helped protect the goal. She has a natural ability to know where to put herself in relation to the ball and the goal. Most girls her age don't have this skill. After a 10 minute half time break, Katie played the rest of the game in the goalie position. She let a few balls get by (heck I would too, that goal zone is HUGE), but stopped quite a few too.


Her drop-kicks are getting really good. I am glad she is enjoying herself, despite the score. Her teams has only scored one goal in three games.

Rick is beside-himself in frustration about how to coach these girls and get them to improve. He literally has been mulling it over in his head all weekend.

Fred Astaire in the Making

Kenny spent Saturday with Rick. First playing hard (and winning) in his team's soccer game (Go Bears!). Then doing daddy/son things.

Sunday found us sleeping in and then Ken and I went to his best friend, Abigail's 7th birthday party. It was a dancing themed party held at a local dance studio. Ken was the only boy there and took a good 20 minutes of cajoling and tough love to get him to participate. Once he got up and was moving he was happy as a clam. The kids were learning a dance routine from the teenie-bopper movie High School Musical 2. The song was called, What Time is It? Since Ken was the only boy in attendance the dance teachers gave him special attention. They named him Troy, after the lead male in the movie. When the girls had to do a "diva walk". Ken was asked to have an attitude walk and walk with his arms crossed. When the girls put their hands on their hips, Ken was asked to strike a pose with his muscles showing. Too cute and very fun.



In all honesty, I think Ken did an exceptional job of keeping time and remembering the steps. Dancing might be something he persues when he gets older. Someone needs to lift and twirl the girls.

My favorite part of the day was watching Kenny in the cake room flirting with the teenage dance teachers. ... a sign of things to come *grin*.

Girl Scout Camporee

Katie and I skipped soccer this Saturday to attend our local Girl Scout Camporee. Normally Camporee is held in the summer, but it had to be postponed due to the smokey air from local fires. I volunteered to be a helper-mom. It was fun, but exhausting at the same time. Our troop didn't have any adults as a certified "camper" so we didn't stay overnight - which I was thankful for.

We all met at the leader's house at 7:30am and headed up to Sly Park, Jenkinson Lake in Pollock Pines. We got there about 8:45 and set up our day camp in the same area as other troops who were setting up to stay overnight.

The girls had a busy morning activity schedule. Canoing, Swimming and Archery. Katie didn't enjoy the canoing, which suprised me considering how much she likes kayaking at the Russian River with the Ghidossi family. I think it was a bit too early and too difficult to control the big canoe vs. the one-man kayak. Katie vetoed swimming big time. The water level was SO low and the bottom of the lake so muddy, kids shoes were getting stuck in the mud. Katie just dangled her feet of the little boat dock and watched her friends swim in the mucky water. We had enough time to head back to camp for the girls to change into dry clothes.

Then we headed to archery. The lady who ran that event was a... crab apple. Each girl only got to shoot six arrows and half of those they didn't shoot by themselves because the teacher and helper would saddle up to the girls and "show" them how to shoot. Now I understand that archery is a big safety issue, but I felt sad for Katie and her friends. They seemed to like the bow and arrow and just needed some time to get the hang of it by trial and error. I was even wishing I could try it, as it looked fun.

From archery we went back to camp and ate our sack lunches, visted and sang silly songs. Then, the girls had SWAP time. Each girls brings a trinkety item on a safety pin, introduces herself to other girls from other troops, then they exchange the little items. Katie (and I) made little flip flops using foam, ribbon and a brad. They were cute and the ones she received were adorable. We still haven't had a chance to review them all.

After SWAPS it was time for badge rotations centers. The girls were working on their outdoor creativity badge and had to visit six stations (30 minutes each). Katie and her scout-mates: made lavender sachets, created a water-coloring inspired by nature, sang songs, picked out and practiced a skit (to later be performed at the campfire), wrote a nature hiku, and made a sun-prints using sun sensitive paper and things from nature.

Katie enjoyed the different centers, but got really hungry and got a stomach ached in the middle of it all. I am glad I was there to get her some Tums and snacks to soothe her pains. All the girls were hungry by the time we were done.

Bless our troop leader's heart. She had to think of so many things to pack, even for just a day visit. She remembered *almost* all of it - except the barbeque for cooking the hot dogs. Luckily a neighbor troop cooked up our dogs for us.

I've been neglecting to mention the interesting twist of this trip. Across the street from the Girl Scout campground is a public campground. It seems it had been rented for the day for a wedding. Seems simple enough - but the girls were magnetized to the event. Whenever we were at our campsite they would peak over and try to catch glimpses of the bride and groom. That was all fine and dandy. It makes sense, as the girls were raised on princess fairy tales that culminate in a grand wedding... but by the time we were getting dinner together the reception had started... and so had the party music. The girls were dancing and singing along (some not realizing the lyrics were not appropriate for 10 year olds). I certainly am not against rock music and being silly, but it really detracted from the "outdoorsy" feel the Girl Scouts were trying to promote for the day/weekend.

The leader and I tried to distract the girls and have them practice their skit they were to perform. They bought into that and practiced over and over; unless a really "good" song came on then they dance and sang to that.

Before the official campfire meeting time, the leader and I lead the girls away from the music and our camp, over a hill and to the waters edge. It was truly my favorite time of the entire trip. We found flat rocks and one girl taught the rest how to skip rocks. Hey, enjoying nature at Camporee... imagine that!


At campfire time we all the troops got together and took turns leading silly camp songs, throwing their wishsticks into the fire, and peforming their skits. Our girls did a great job (even if they had to do all this over the pounding sounds of the wedding reception just 100 feet away.)

When campfire time was done and the other troops went back to their base camps to settle in for the night, our troop took over the fire and made s'mores.

I was worried that all that sugar would amp-up the girls for the ride home, but the five girls in my van were fast asleep within 5 minutes of leaving the lake.

Katie and I made it home about 10pm. It was a long, dirty, fun day.

ps: I am SO glad we didn't stay overnight. I heard from another leader that the wedding party went on till 3am!

Recently Rick hurt his knee playing soccer (you know, the same knee he had surgery on after he had severely dislocated his toes. The same knee he injured prior to having two surgeries on his hand - all from soccer). Needless to say he went back on my "Bad Soccer-Playing Husband" list. It freaks me out when he hurts himself playing soccer. Beside the fact that I love him and hate him to be hurt/broken in any way... he's our major breadwinner. Surgeries are risky, lead to too many missed days of work and will lead to extra aches and pains as he ages (not to mention a b*&chy wife).

He went to a specialist, had an MRI on it, has paused his soccer playing, has been babying the knee with a ace-brace, and got the results yesterday.

He did not damage the meniscus, as he had suspected. It turns out he sprained the MCL and BADLY bruised the end of his femur at the knee joint. The MCL will heal soon but the bone bruise will take a few months. The doctor is concerned that he might have damaged the cartilage at the bruise locations and says it takes 6 to 12 months to fully heal. Rick was told to avoid soccer, etc., until January to give it time to properly heal.

Boy he sure is lucky he doesn't need surgery (for many reasons). Most of all, he is off my "Bad Soccer-Playing Husband" list and he is happy 'cause I'm not demanding he quit playing all together.

Growing our Flock

With money burning a hole in his pocket and Rick's blessing, our family headed down to Sacramento to get Kenny a parakeet to love. Katie had decided she wanted one too (and she had enough money to get one - so Rick caved, yet again).

The requirements for the bird (to make it the best pet it could be) was that it be a baby (less than 3 months old & hadn't had it's first molt) and hopefully a male (it's hard to determine the gender when it's a baby). Katie found the bird she wanted at The Bird Shop and a nice size cage. It was a very very hard decision for her to make. She waffled once the clerk caught the bird and Rick held it. BUT when she heard Kenny wanted the bird if she didn't --- she changed her mind and decided it was hers.

Kenny was so torn up over deciding at The Bird Shop he actually got a stomach ache. With a little convincing that we could come back on Sunday if needed, we left that store and headed to another. Kenny found his little sweetie at Petco (just down the road from the bird shop). His bird is much younger.

On the way home we stopped at PetSmart to get Ken's bird its cage. Rick and I felt like we sprinkled the kids' money all over Sacramento County in this venture.

Once home we set up their cage locations with seed and water. Both kids kept a close eye on the new members of our flock. The little birds were (and still are) so scared. They've been taken from their bird siblings and put into a new environment with very large creatures (us) that might eat them at any minute.

This will be a long lesson in being rewarded for patience and hard work for each of the kids.

Neither little feathered friend has been named yet. Katie's bird has a pale yellow face and turquoise blue body. Ken's bird is mostly white with a sky blue color on it's lower half.