Summer Morning, Summer Night

I just finished Summer Morning, Summer Night by Ray Bradbury. Here is my review from Goodreads.com.

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
At first, I didn't like the way this book started at all. I didn't realize that it was a bunch of short stories, so the first story I really got into and when I started reading the next chapter, I was asking myself "What happened?" But then, I understood that it was a collection of well written short stories and I began to like it again.

This book was an easy read and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

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A Family Adventure (on a Monday)

On Monday, it was such a beautiful day that we took the jogging stroller out (thanks again, Kim! We love it!) and went to get Danny from school. He was so excited when he saw that we had the jogging stroller.

When we got home, Danny didn't want to get out of it and I explained that we were going on an adventure and he would have to walk if he wanted to go. He got out and waited patiently as we got the kites together and headed for the clearing by the fountains.



Once we got there, the kids went crazy and were running all over the place. Kamal and I got our kites out and even though there wasn't much wind, we got the Spiderman kite up a few times. This was the first time that the boys have really seen kites flown and it was amazing to them. We all had a lot of fun.

Last week, Kamal, Austin and I went on a walk by the creek while Danny was at school and found a huge tree growing on its side on the other side of the creek. We decided to take Danny on Monday on "The Adventure". To get there, you have to cross the creek so of course, Danny and Austin thought this was great fun. Austin even picked up a walking stick to help him on his way. Once we got to the tree, everyone had a blast climbing it and posing for pictures. What fun! Sometime soon, I'll have to host a playgroup there for the more adventurous. The kids think it is so wonderful and I have to admit, it feels like you're in the middle of the forest. Very secluded.









After we got done, we crossed the creek one more time and headed to the bridge to feed the fish. Then, it was, "HI HO, HI HO, it's back from work we go!" The kids had a fantastic time and we will definitely be doing that again soon.

Making Jewelry at the Park

We had a playdate at one of the parks in our neighborhood today. It was for the kids to make little necklaces out of colored macaroni, colorful beads and foam pieces. It was such a cute craft. The kids had a lot of fun making crafts, playing on the playground and chasing the poor little dog behind the fence next door.

Danny surprised me today. My friend Carla asked me "How old is Danny?" When I answered her and told her that he was 5, she then asked "So when did he learn to do the monkey bars?" I did a double take and said "What?"

Come to find out, Danny learned how to do the monkey bars this week at school. I know that it was sometime this week because on Saturday when we were at the park for Abby's birthday party, he still could not do them and I had to help him across. He saw a little boy in a red sweatsuit at that park, that was smaller than him, doing the monkey bars so quickly and I think he was impressed. It reminds me of when I was 5 and learned to do a cartwheel for the first time at the Four Corners because I saw another girl doing it there and was certain that I could do it too. I guess Danny's got my competitiveness. But Kamal has that in him too, so Danny has it from both sides. Oh dear!



In the following video, Danny is trying to do the monkey bars and Austin has a hold of his leg and won't let him go across. He wanted to go before Danny. In the second video, Austin is crying in the background because he wants to go next and doesn't want to get in line. He is pulling at me trying to get me to go to the monkey bars and lift him up.

Here are the necklaces the kids (or mostly I) made. The green one is Austin's and the red one is Danny's. They were so cute and the kids like them a lot.

Pinwheel Playgroup

Today, I hosted a playdate at my house to make pinwheels out of little smokies, cheese and tortillas. There were only five mothers that attended which worked out perfectly because it was more like good friends getting together than a playdate.

At first, Danny had a total meltdown when Debbie, Abby and Kelsie got to the house. I couldn't figure out what happened so I asked him, while he was hiding under the formal dining room table, why he was so upset. He said "I told you not to invite people until I get home from school!" I explained to him that the bus wouldn't be picking him up for another hour and a half, so he would have plenty of playtime with his friends. He got excited after that and every time the doorbell rang, he would run to the door saying "The next customer's here!"



We had a great time with friends. The pinwheel recipe actually came from Danny. Earlier in the year, I had made pinwheels with chicken salad. Danny saw me doing them and he said that he wanted a different one. He showed me what he wanted in it (little smokies and cheddar cheese) and I helped him cut them into bite size pieces, threw the tortilla into the microwave for 30 seconds, folded it, cut it into six sections and viola! Danny's little smokies pinwheel! It was a big hit with the kids today. They ate their creations with Cheetos and pink lemonade. So cute!



When it was time for Danny to catch the bus, all his little friends came outside to watch him get on it. He was thrilled! Then, all the little kids came back inside and played for another two hours. We had a wonderful time with all our friends.

Danny's Occupational Homework

Danny was given an assignment of decorating a little human figure like himself in the profession he would like to be when he grows up. I asked Danny what he wanted to be and he just kept saying "a chef!". So, a chef it was.

Here are a few pics of his homework assignment. He did a great job!

This last picture is of a cute little card he created for Mrs. Gage. He even drew stick figures and a robot on the front. So cute!

The Sand Castle by Rita Mae Brown

I finished The Sand Castle by Rita Mae Brown over the weekend and I enjoyed reading it. It was very short, just 100 pages and the type was big so it didn't take very much time at all. The following is my review from goodreads.com.

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was a cute book and I liked it. It was a super fast read, only took me 2 hours, with interruptions.

The characters are two sisters named Julia and Louise from the 1950's. The book is about one day in their life as they go to the bay with Julia's daughter Nickel and Louise's grandson Leroy. Leroy's mom had passed away just six months before and the family is reflecting on that throughout the book.

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I was looking through google for images and I found this beautiful sand castle. I just had to share. Isn't it gorgeous? I wish I could do something like that.

Birthday 3 of 3 for February

This is Zachary and it's his 5th Birthday party.

Yesterday afternoon, we went to another birthday party and let me just tell you! It was THE bash! Zachary was turning 5 years old and invited us to a Robot Birthday party at the neighborhood clubhouse. It was so fun and there were so many kids! Absolutely wonderful!



When we got there, we put down our gift at the gift table and the kids were in awe. There were robots everywhere and really cool ones! Like the one playing music that had a screen in its belly so you could see yourself dance! It was amazing!

We started off by building us some robots. The kids did really well decorating theirs, however, there were so many activities that the kids wanted to finish as quick as possible so they could do other things. There was a bouncy house outside, several inflatable games and of course, lots and lots of friends! After the robot creations, there was a game of pin the button on the robot. What fun!



By the way, there are two "N's" in "Danny" but we couldn't find another one so Danny decided to name his robot "Dany". It was Danny's idea and I think it's pretty cool. :-)

Then, it was cake time. There were two cakes with candles for Zachary and the kids, about 30-40 of them, were excited. I had Austin next to me and Danny was close to Zachary so he could see him blow out the candles. Austin didn't want to hold my hand so I made sure that he was right in front of me. I went to take a picture really quick as "Happy Birthday" was being sung to Zachary, and before I even realized what was happening, I saw Austin almost to the vanilla cake. I tried to get his attention to stop him but it was too late! He blew out the candles on the vanilla cake and then went and blew the candles on the chocolate cake right in front of Zachary as well! Poor Zachary looked so surprised and stunned at first, as we all were, and then started to cry. I felt so horrible. I took Austin's hand, led him over to where we had been standing and tried to explain to him why it's not okay to do that. I must have been ten shades of red! How embarrassing! We sang again to Zachary and this time, I took my picture WITHOUT letting go of Austin's hand. So sorry Zachary.






After everyone had their cake, it was time for the robot pinata. It was so cute as all the kids got a string and on the count of 3, they all pulled. When they did, candy and confetti fell all over everyone! As my friend Melissa said, "It's the gift that keeps on giving!" He he. The kids had a blast and there was so much candy that everyone was able to wade through it for as long as they wanted until they had their fill.



Before everyone left, they got a goodie bag with tons of things inside as well. It was such an awesome party and Melissa, I don't know how you guys did it! It was so wonderful! I tell you, between Zachary and Abby's parties, we have so much candy and goodies that you would think we just went trick or treating!



Thank you so much Melissa, Bob and Zachary for inviting us to such a wonderful, fun time. The party was AWESOME!

Birthday 2 of 3 for February

This is Abby. It was Abby's 3rd birthday today and we had a blast helping her celebrate it. There was a Care Bear cake, beautiful princess pinata and so many friends to play with. It was great.

The above picture is Abby with the little white cat that Danny and Austin got her. She liked it so much and stop opening presents for a while to hold it! I'm so glad that she liked it. Thanks Debbie and Abby for inviting us to such a fun party!

Career Day for the Pre-K at Cox Elementary and Chuck E. Cheese

Today when I picked Danny up from school, his teacher, Mrs. Gage said "We didn't have a fun day today, just ask Danny." Immediately, what popped into my mind was that Danny didn't obey the rules and got in trouble once again. That would make the second time this week. I thought, oh no, we're going to have to have the discussion when we get home, again.



However, before we even drove a few feet, Danny starts telling me how they saw the police officers today and they were so nice! He said that they gave him a coloring book and they liked him and his hat so much that they gave him a badge and asked him to work with them when he grows up. I was relieved and asked him to elaborate on the subject and boy, did he go off! Later on, he was explaining to me that the police said that if there were bad men that entered the home or if there was a fire, to call 9-1-1 and they would come help. I just hope that Danny doesn't decide he has to "try" that number.



Yesterday, he had a fireman's hat and today a police officer's hat. He also pulled out of his backpack a medical bag he had made. We have a homework project to do together and it is to make a paper doll of Danny as the profession he would like to be when he grows up. I can't wait! I think it is going to be something really fun that we can do together.

This afternoon after my run, Kamal decided that he needed to go to do some errands and asked if we wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese's on our way back. As soon as we got there, the kids went crazy, running this way and that. Austin was playing a game and Chuck E. Cheese came right up behind him and covered his eyes. Austin was shocked to see that it was Chuck E. Cheese himself right behind him. It was really fun family time.

Thursday Playgroup at Christopher's

The kids and I had such a great time at our friends' house today. It was our regular Thursday playgroup in the neighborhood. Karen had cute little animal crafts the kids made and they had a wonderful time playing outside.

Thanks Karen and Christopher for opening your home. We had a wonderful time!

My Tulips

These are the flowers that Kamal and the boys gave me for Valentines' day and I have enjoyed watching them bloom and taking pictures every day. They are absolutely gorgeous and I believe this is the first time that I have received tulips for any occassion. That in itself made these flowers extra special. Thanks my love and baby boys for the wonderful gift. I will treasure it always!