Indigo Robe

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Mum likes reading, decorating, shopping with the girls, and Starbucks. She also feels funny writing in the 3rd person. Papa (also known as Sparky) is currently looking at me with a blank stare having asked him to add something about himself to the blog. (Now he wants to say something) The only thing he loves more in life than music and Coke is his wife and kids. (Awww...) :) Little Lotte is a genius on the computer and makes me fall over laughing every day with her quick wit. She loves computers and animals. Sweet Pea abandoned her family and moved to Phoenix for work and is now married as of 2/28/06. She is beautiful and smart and the most nurturing person I know. She gave me the greatest gift ever when she made me a grandmother. I am the proud Mum Mum to Andrew Christopher. There are no words to describe the joy of having a grandson!

Friday, December 30, 2005

Future Teacher


So I have this precious little girl in my class who LOVES writing to me in my class blog. Anyway, this is her most recent entry. In my opinion, she will not only be a teacher one day, but she is already on the way to BURNOUT as a teacher. Take a look-see...

"Mrs.D,

I don't think anybody is going to type to you Christmas break.Maybe they just don't even bother to get on the internet and type to you.Maybe they are to lazy to type to you on the weekends and breaks.I mean the only 2 people who typed to you is Sadey and Me.Maybe people aren't even reading and they are not blogging to you so you can see if they read over the break.I'm going to read over the break.Today I read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.I learned that Harry finds out that Ron's little sister is behind all of the mess.The other people think the whole thing is behind Harry.Well I ahve to go,bye.By the way have a HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE,bye.See you next year. K****"

God love her! Yesterday she wrote to tell me she "can't wait to come back to school to see my face." That's because she hasn't seen it stuffed with chocolate and puffy from all the glorious extra sleep I am getting. :) My face is downright SCARY right now. It's ok though - I keep running into students throughout break. I even ran into a former Kindergarten student and her mom and siblings at DISNEYLAND. Let's face it. If I stay in Tucson until I retire there will be NOWHERE I can go on the planet that I won't be seeing a former student!!!

And by the way - the picture I posted on this entry was written to me by a former Kindergarten student. I am happy to say that my 4th grade class writes with a little more detail. :-)

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Christmas Conversations


Me: (upon opening the DVD 1st season of ROSEANNE) Oh thank you honey, you know I like to watch reruns of that show.

Sparky: Yes, and you asked for it!

Me: Um, no, I didn't but THANK YOU!

Sparky: Yes, you did! I know things are new for you every morning but you DID ask for this as a stocking stuffer!

Me: Honey, WHY would I ask for a thirty dollar present for a STOCKING STUFFER?!

Sparky: I don't know but you did.

Little Lottie: You did, Mom. I heard you.

Me and Sparky: Shut up.

Me: Rolls Eyes.

Me: I thought we weren't going to exchange gifts this year. We were going to go shopping AFTER Christmas and buy what we want.

Sparky: We can take it back, I ALWAYS keep the receipts.

Me: Aren't Christmas traditions great?!

Sunday, December 18, 2005

More than you wanted to know...


Christmas Memories

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Duh, hot chocolate!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Why would you sit an unwrapped present under the tree, Santa or otherwise? It MUST be wrapped, it must have a pretty bow or ribbon. Sometimes we leave hints about what is inside the package by how we sign the gift tag. For example: TO: Snow Baby FROM: The Prince (that means it has something Snow White inside) or…TO: The Music Man From: Marian (that means there is something to do with music inside the package.) Aren’t we clever? Gonna hurl now?

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Well, sigh…. Again, 'nother long answer…. I have really been into snowflakes so I like white lights on the house. I have always put white lights on the tree. But we have this really old set of those traditional, large, colored bulbs that remind me of my childhood so we sometimes put them up outside too. Sparky always takes care of me like that. :)

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
We used to but we haven’t in years. We should get back into that! We DO burn bayberry candles on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. We have a hard time finding authentic ones in Az. so Sparky’s mom usually sends them from Pennsylvania. You light them and must let them burn down to nothing. It’s bad luck to blow them out. So you start early and leave them in the bathtub when you go to bed.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
The tree and all the trimmings ALWAYS go up after Thanksgiving Dinner!

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Candied Sweet Potatoes.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
AS a child – getting my Suzie Homemaker Grill and a Dawn Fashion Show another year. (We couldn’t afford Barbie, dawn was the ghetto version.) Another childhood memory would be the lights on the street light poles when it was snowing, just beautiful! And I have always loved blue foil wrapping paper because one year I had a gift wrapped in that. So every year, Sparky wraps at least ONE gift in blue foil. J I also remember always having a real tree. We went out on Christmas eve to get ours because they usually gave them away or we paid a buck for it. We didn’t have money for a fake one. NEVER had a silver one, too much money. I always got 2 walnuts and a tangerine in my stocking. I always had a stocking and to this day, we do stockings. I will NEVER stop that tradition! I could go on but Christmas will be here soon! :)

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I always knew because well when Santa doesn’t bring you anything at all or one gift and your friends get a gazillon, you figure it out. However, I believed in the Tooth Fairy until I was at least 10.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Jammies (new) get opened and then we choose a stocking stuffer to open. That’s all. One year, Sparky and I were newly married and went crazy – couldn’t wait and opened EVERYTHING and had nothing for Christmas morning. It was so sad! We learned our lesson and never did that again!

10. What kind of cookies does Santa get set out for him?
Usually chocolate chip ones. Little Lottie leaves carrots for his reindeer.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
LOVE IT, but that’s probably because I am in Arizona and don’t remember it? I MISS WEATHER, period!!! It doesn’t rain, it doesn’t snow, it doesn’t storm except the occasional monsoon.

12. Can you ice skate?
Bahahaha, no.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Yes. It was a watch pendent, mother of pearl face. It was my 12th birthday. My parents must have really saved for it. I knew what it was under the tree but had to act surprised when I opened it so as not to disappoint them but I loved it so much that it was easy to do.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
I love giving. Especially the older I get, I get a kick out of finding the right present for everyone. Being with family is the only way to enjoy the holidays. Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the year because of all the build up and anticipation.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Gosh, anything chocolate? Maybe M & M cookies.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Sparky ALWAYS reads The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve. We also ALWAYS watch Christmas Vacation sometime the week before Christmas.

17. What tops your tree?
We have never had a set thing – this year it’s a star.

18. Which do you prefer Giving or Receiving?
AS above, giving. I never think about what I will get. (Which makes it extra special because I forget that I get stuff for Christmas too!)

19. What is your favorite Christmas Carol?
O Come Immanuel

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
Yuck.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

My Prima Ballerina




Two posts in one day?! Be sure to scroll down to read about my weekend - it was magical!

Little Lottie LOVES dancing, ballet in particular. She only started last year at the age of 15. I finally found a local school that was nearby and she relishes it. I even added jazz dance for her this year and an extra ballet class. She practices EVERY DAY afterschool in her room in addition to the 3 classes a week she takes and maintains a "A" in all of her classes including an honors class. I am SO proud of her. Always have been, always will be.

This week alone, her jazz dance instructor mentioned that she was the only one who had the dance memorized and performance is in two weeks.

Yesterday, Little Lottie invited us to attend an extra rehearsal for her Nutcracker performance. Sweet Pea and I were glad to go. The owner of the studio is her teacher this year. We quietly slipped in to watch the 20 girls practice their performance. I hardly watched the others as I am a proud mamma and concentrated on my baby girl.

I am amazed to watch her confidence and smile as she glides across the floor performing various leaps and ballet movements. She doesn't miss a move.

After the song ends, the owner/instructor starts to talk to the girls. She points out various things that a few of the young ladies need to work on. Suddenly, she starts talking about one dancer who keeps her body open while dancing, lifted and smiling the whole time. She said that this dancer makes her want to get up and dance and literally brings tears to her eyes with the beauty of her movements. She said that this is the kind of ballerina the audience is drawn to. And then she points to my baby girl, Little Lottie.

Little Lottie's eyes get big, my eyes get big. Sweet Pea and I exchange glances. The instructor goes on and on about how they need to smile like her and open their bodies and carry themselves as she does. There were girls there (about 5) who were on point. They are really the prima ballerinas but it was Little Lottie who shined in that performance!

Afterwards, I went up to the instructor and told her that she had changed Little Lottie's life but she had also just made me the proudest mother on the planet. She grabbed me and hugged me, a warm hug, and said that she meant it. She was really in tears watching her dance because of the joy she projects and the way she carries her body. I was in tears. Speechless (hard to do to me!) And then... I watched Little Lottie FLOAT out of the room as I FLOATED behind her.

I am not much into bragging... but this HAD to be said. Little Lottie, you make me laugh everyday with your sense of humor and view of the world. You make me happy with the way you care for people and animals. You are a wonderful writer, a warm human being, and a TALENTED, HARDWORKING dancer and I am SO PROUD OF YOU! I LOVE YOU!!! xo

The pictures are from her role as a Wood Nymph in the Nutcracker from last year. I was not good at taking pictures yet with my new camera so sadly, these are the only ones I have. I will have better ones this year to post! Be sure to look for them! She is a FLOWER this year. :)

Weekend Surprise and How We Live Up to Our Name: Moron Family





So Friday night, I am saying goodbye to my sister and brother in law as they are moving to Miss. and I am all sad....In the middle of our visit, Sweet Pea calls and says she is flying in in about 3 hours. That's the advantage of working for the airline and I would much rather have her in the air for 45 minutes than be on the road with the drunks and crazies at midnight.

WHAT A TREAT!!! The next day there was a big craft show that we love to go to so we went to that and had a BLAST. She is so excited about decorating her first apartment. Then we took Little Lottie to ballet practice (see the next post for my bragging rights on that one!) and Little Lottie says "Hey, why don't you spend the night again!" (Sweet Pea was planning on flying back around 7 ish. We talked her into staying another night with the promise of Red Lobster for dinner and this GLORIOUS luminaria walk through Tohono Chul Park. Well, she agreed to stay and we had a lovely dinner - we always enjoy our time together as a family, laughing and inside jokes galore.

We drive across town to the park. $8.00 a head. No problem, worth it for lights! (Please start to insert sarcastic tone here) There were lights. In a few trees. White ones. There were 3 green saguaros. There were 2 tumbleweed Snowmen. With white lights. And there were 5 gift shops that sell those stupid scorpions under glass and prickly pear jelly and potholders with pictures of cactus all over them. (Read: TOURIST TRAPS) And we triiieeeddd to get our $8.00 worth... Look! That might be hot chocolate! No, it's coffee. Sigh.... There are some bells! Let's touch the bells! Check. Now what? The jokes start flying at mom's attempt to bring these "unique" experiences to the family. Ahhhh yes, another great family memory.

Cost of admission to Tohono Chul for 12 white trees and 3 green ones: $8.00 per person.
Cost to listen to Seniorita strum La Cocaracha on guitar (? she didn't know any christmas music?) FREE (included in the $8.00 per person)
Cost to view a lit chiminea: FREE (Included in the $8.00 per person)
Cost of Starbucks afterwards: $16.00
Cost of new black pens at Ventana Canyon Resort: FREE (can't write about that here - just trust me - they have new pens)
Cost of time together as a family: You know..... P-R-I-C-E-L-E-S-S !!

Thanks, Sweet Pea!!!!! ! It was the GREATEST surprise and the greatest day! I LOVE YOU!!!

Thursday, December 01, 2005

McTeacher's Night at McDonald's



Shut up.