Blog Slacker

We've been in Utah for the past week and I have been a big bloggin' slacker. I plan on posting when we get home.
It's been both a relaxing and a not at all relaxing week for me. Family time can be that way. In fact, going on vacation with three small children is almost exactly like being at home with three small children. The only difference is, Grandma's house is much bigger with MANY more valuable things that can possibly break. (Thankfully the only casualty so far has been a mouse, but we're still here so I'm not out of the woods yet!)
Secondly you feel obligated to cram three weeks worth of activities into one week so that "vacation time" is not wasted. (Laura, I think the quotations marks are appropriate in this instance.) This really messes with my nap schedule. Oh, and of course, the children's naps as well.
On the plus side - Grandma's house has a "sleep chamber" (I know, again with the quotation marks). This house has a basement bedroom that is dark and quiet and has been assisting Mason to learn to sleep through the night, aka cry it out, without waking up entire apartment buildings in the process. He has learned very well and I am hoping it will stay with him when we return home.
Another plus has been seeing my dear friend Valerie's new home and visiting with her while our children ran wild in their humongous backyard.
So overall I will be happy to return to my own home knowing that I have put a few more wonderful memories into my children's bag. Good mommy, good mommy. Now, when can I spend a few days alone at a spa inTahiti?

Happy Pi Day

Yesterday, on 3.14, we celebrated the famous ratio pi.  Math enthusiasts the world round stop to contemplate the significance of this little ratio.  Mostly I think we spray as many digits of pi as we have possibly memorized and then eat pie.  

Our family had pizza pie and then lemon merengue pie for dessert.  This and Thanksgiving are probably the only two days of the year that I ever eat pie.  (Oh, maybe strawberry pie in the spring for Easter or Mother's Day).  Anyway, I hope everyone had a fabulous pi day!

Spring Marches In

My farmer's market spoils. Here is what I will do with these yummies, click here.
Looking at gooseberries.
Hurray for spring!

African American History Month

The Pasadena School District holds an annual African American History Bee.  Contestants come from each elementary school and compete in teams of two according to their grade level.  Addison and her classmate, Carola, represented the third grade for our school.  They had an eighteen page packet of facts to study.  Not only did they have to be familiar with national heros in politics, music, the arts, and sports, but they also had to know definitions, inventors and local history makers.  These girls studied very hard.  They were the first third-grade team from their school to ever make it past the third round.

Here are the three questions the judges posed to them:

Round 1:   I used a network of hiding places called the underground railroad to help over 300 slaves escape to the North and Canada. (click here for the answer.)

Round 2:  I was elected by my fellow Board members as Mayor of Pasadena in 1982, the first African American woman mayor of the city.  (by answering this questions, the girls eliminated 3 other teams who had been unable to answer.)

Round 3:  In 1965 she became the first African American woman admitted to the bar in the state of Mississippi and is the founder, president, and spokesperson for the Children's Defense Fund. (And this was the question that finally knocked them out.)

These two girls are very proud of themselves and are raring to win next year!

Who Knows Where the Time Goes. . .

This past weekend was my 35th birthday.  We celebrated with a trip to the mountains to watch the Potter girls.  I really enjoyed the windy, stormy weather.  It almost felt as though we weren't in SoCal anymore.  I also got in a little bird watching (about 15 minutes!), but was able to identify a Northern Flicker, which I had never seen before.  I think it was nature's gift to me.  :)

Speaking of birds, Douglas got me a great gift.  He bought a doubler for the camera.  This lengthens the lens so that I can possibly take pictures of birds without being right next to them.  I'm still learning how it works, so I will have to post pictures as I take them.

This week is also Girl Scout cookie deliveries.  Mmmmm . . . thin mints. However, because of

 my uber-competitive nature, I encouraged Addison to sell a bazillion cookies.  Now, I must find a way to deliver said cookies.  Sigh.  So if you ordered cookies and haven't gotten them yet - call me!

And for those of you living in less temperate climes still dreaming about spring, well, I must

 say SoCal does have its perks.  Today is absolutely gorgeous.  80 degrees, blues skies, slight breeze.  I spent the afternoon at the park with the boys and watched Elias kicking his soccer ball and chasing squirrels.  I think we all got a little pink.  Here are some pictures (and yes I was trying out my new lens, I never had to get off the park bench.)