It only took 4 months...

...to ruin the new pots and pans that my parents gave me for Christmas. Well, just one pot actually. My mom has had such high hopes for me: one day I would cook and serve a meal for my family (nightly), sew clothes for my children (Momma, Amy, Sherry, Mrs. Atkins - all of you have been my sewing teachers and you know how I am), keep the house clean, laundry done, bills paid, etc. Alas...the cook and serve pudding has really been a wake up call for me. I'm really just not that domestic, but I still like to pretend I am.

One month from today...

...we will be in London, England. I can't believe our trip is this soon. Are we ready? I guess so. Maybe. Ok, maybe not. Will we be ready by May 27th? Yep. I think I should get our suitcases out and start putting things in them as I think of them. I want to update our blog daily while we are away, since that is the MAIN reason I started this blog.
Here is our schedule:
May 27-June 1: London, England
June 1- June 30: Vienna, Austria
June 9-14: free travel - probably headed to Germany
June 18-22: free travel - probably headed to Swiss Alps
July 1-6: Italy: Rome, Venice and Florence
July 6-16: free travel - think we will do Paris, France

On a side note...I'm watching Oprah today...and I'm a little freaked out about MRCA and a staff infection...oh my...got.to.wash.hands.all.the.time. And what about this swine flu? Scary...

Matt goes to Seattle

Matt has been fortunate enough to attend 3 history conferences this school year. In October he had a conference in Albuquerque and we all got to go. We had a great mini-vacation. In January, Matt had a conference in New York City and this time, Matt and I went without children. That was super fun! Now for his last conference...Seattle. Well since he had been to 2 conferences already, OC asked if maybe he could find a hotel that didn't cost quite as much as the one the conference was held at. And they suggested a nice, moderate hotel near the conference. Well, if you know Matt, you know he is NOT a spender, even with other's money, so he thought he would find the CHEAPEST hotel still within walking distance to the conference.
This is where Matt stayed. Ever heard of the Kings Inn? Nope, me neither.

Here is the scary back of the hotel. Ick. I would have NEVER stayed there. He found a SCREWDRIVER under the covers in one of the beds. What? That is just too odd and strange and gross. A SCREWDRIVER??? Who leaves a screwdriver on a bed and then places the covers over it!!! I think in his 3 nights there, it only cost OC $90, so way to save the money sweetie. SO glad you didn't do that in NYC.

Can we still talk about Spring Break?

Katie loves to go to Pops as well. Although her Spring Break pick was to go to McDonald's and play on the playground she enjoyed going to Pops with Collin for his choice.
Collin and his favorite strange drink at Pops - Leninade.

My 3 favorite people at our favorite place to eat. Yum! Although I totally wish they would bring back the Arcadia burger - that was the best.

End of Winter Party with Vivian, Ethan, Megan, Caleb, Scott, Katie and Rhys. Collin was off golfing with the dad during the party. The kids had fun playing together outside and in and eating a super yummy snowman cake. And if you have never had Catherine's cooking you are missing out. I really wish this HAD been the end of winter...wearing a sweater in April seems very wrong.

Spring Break

Well, since I was sick for the first 3 days of Spring Break, today, Thursday, we will start our festivities. On Saturday I asked everyone what they want to do. Here are the answers...Matt - play golf with Collin, Collin - go to Pops, we missed $2 burger Tuesday, but we are still going!, Katie - go to McDonald's to play on the playground, and Me - well I started and finished 4 books while I was sick, so now I will finish painting the playroom, hang curtains in kids bedroom, paint toybox, move desk to playroom, move bookshelf to kids bedroom, and hem curtains for living room. I don't think I'm getting all that done in 2 days. Plus, we will have 2 friends over for dinner (on two separate days), attend a "End of Winter" Party and still fit in the above fun stuff. Yea for Spring Break and wellness.

Collin's Open House

Collin attends the largest elementary school in Edmond. There are 850 kids that attend Charles Haskell Elementary. The thought of sending him here really did scare me. I considered 1) moving, 2) sending him to OCA, 3) homeschooling, 4) holding him back a year or 5) let him attend. But he LOVES his class and his school and his teacher and so do I. I'm so glad I didn't let my fears hold him back. Here he is in the yellow station for Buddy Reading.
The Red Station for Handwriting. There was a game here at the handwriting station during Open House.

Collin and his friend Lily. They have known each other since they were infants, been in SSS together since Mrs. Joni and Mrs. Tamika days and now they are in Kindergarten together.

Mrs. Bigelow and Collin. Mrs. Bigelow was Haskell's Teacher of the Year last year and I think she is wonderful. She is so patient and calm with 24 5 year olds. And she has taught them so much stuff.

Mrs. Bigelow advised that sometime in May we should come eat breakfast in the cafeteria so Collin could practice going through the line. (Kindergarten in Edmond is still 1/2 day so they eat lunch at home.) When Collin heard this announcement it meant that we should eat breakfast there the next day. So Friday morning, Katie, Collin and I feasted on pancakes and syrup and juice. My opinion was that the breakfast was not great. Collin loved the pancakes and Katie thought the apple juice (her favorite) was icky. You know what...it really was icky. I think we will just keep eating breakfast at home and pack his lunch next year.

Two movies banned from our household

Back in October we traveled to New Mexico for a history conference. We let the kids watch a few movies in the car and one was my old fave...The Parent Trap (the Hayley Mills version). Innocent, sweet, great family movie-ok, it is about divorce, broken homes and lies, but I thought it was a super movie when I was young. Well, my sweet boy learned how to "submarine" people from that movie. When we returned home, he waited until Katie was asleep at naptime and outlined her body in toothpaste on her bed and then proceeded to cut the backs off all of Katie's Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz dolls (the McDonald's versions, but still!) Yep, that's all in the movie.

Most recently, we took the Muppet Movie with us to go to Texas. Again, I think, a great, innocent, and sweet movie. Well, there is a line in the movie in which Kermit the Frog says "Read my lips: alligator." Well, Collin thought that line was hilarious and yeah, it's funny. UNTIL I hear him answer his Uncle Colt's question: "Read my lips: ______". I don't know what he said after "read my lips" but I was horrified!

We've had discussions about the submarining of people on Parent Trap and now the phrase "Read My Lips" from the Muppet Movie. But these discussions just seem to bring about laughter from both kids and I apparently am not getting the message across. So, I've decided, just today...no more Parent Trap and no more Muppet Movie.