Hawaiian Fun Run Day

MG's school had quite a day planned out for the children:
A Fun Run -- this event was to replace what once was the "Jog-A-Thon" fundraiser.  This year, rather than taking part in various fundraisers through out the year, parents agreed to donate  "one check"  for each child attending the school (we can talk about the amount later... I was not a happy camper and only contributed what I felt I "could" attribute given the fact that we just lost our home and I am unemployed!).  Anyway, this was to replace the fundraiser... so they called it a "Fun Run."  And that's what they did for an hour!

 They were very tired afterwards!  (Lyra, Hannah, MG, Alexandria, and Brooklyn)

 Hannah, Alexandria, Brooklyn, MG, Ms. Dini, Jeremiah, Jason, and Lyra:

 Most of the class... some were still out there running!

 Getting ready to gather for lunch:

 Our blanket!

 Tug of War -- her class lost to another 2nd grade class!

 Oh well... they didn't seem too disappointed!

 The teachers (and any parents they could recruit!) had a battle with the winning class:

 I'm sorry to say the teachers and parents lost!!!!

 MG went off with her friends to play tether ball:

 She's still learning... so she's not very aggressive... yet!  You should see some of those children play!  Wow, step away!  They are really good!

Andy Z, the park, and some bugs!

It has been almost a year since we've seen Andy Z... So when my friend, Heather, informed me that he was in town... I made sure to plan everything appropriately so we could go see him!  We arrived a bit late (I had some pendants to finish up and get ready for mailing!)... but in time for E's favorite song!

 So he hopped on up and went to the front to join in the fun!

 He loves that Scarecrow song!!!!  (and if you can't tell, he's not shy about getting up and gettin' down!  See that boy next to him?  He "hit" him a couple times while dancing but E hit him right back!  But the 2 thought it was a game, so no one cried or complained.  I kept an eye on that bigger boy though... He was getting a bit aggressive toward the end, but E handled him quite well!)

 After the show he wanted to show Andy his "race car Andy Z shirt."

February 2009 --  Look at E a year and a half ago!

June 2009 --Here's MD wearing that same shirt that now fits E!

After the show it was a bit hot where we were so we went for a walk... MD nearly died when he saw these!

 So they spent some time playing here... But with all the other younger children around, they could not play a "real" game.

 So we headed towards the car and drove to the park!  Where they flew an airplane...

 relaxed on the wing...

 drove a fire engine...

 And ended the exciting day collecting bugs while waiting for MG to meet us at the car.

What a fun day!!!!  (I am exhausted!  Phew... No, just kidding!  What did I do but drive them around town?  It was a relaxing day for me and I am so happy they had a great day!)

Days until...

my birthday?

He kept asking... so today we did this:

 Now he just crosses off the days at the end of the evening before bed and he no longer asks!!!  (we printed blank calendars of all the months between now and August and he wrote the numbers backwards starting with the day before his birthday as #1) As of today... 95 more days to go!!!!

He loves it!

Happy Mother's Day!

We had brunch with the Schoenfelders, Wiggers, and Dixons.  Corinna and Vince planned it all out... Corinna made the main meal (eggs, sausages, croissants), Vince provided dessert ( English sticky toffee pudding), the children provided drinks (fresh squeezed orange juice), and Jim provided fruit (mangos).  What a treat for all of us!!!
When Corinna arrived she brought these beautiful orchid corsages.  I say she goes into the floral business!  Look how beautiful they are!  The bonus - theses orchids were from her own plants!

 Such talent!

 She made 3.

One for Mom, Clare.  One for myself (Thank you Corinna!!!), and one for Anne-Marie.

Then we ate... and that was the end of picture taking!  It was difficult to look at all the wonderful food without inhaling it all in!  So, we sort of forgot to take pictures!  Here we all are... content as can be... with empty dessert bowls!  (Jim, Clare, and Hans -- Anne-Marie walked away as I was taking this picture!)

 Dave, Corinna, Ratha (my cousin), and Vince, partially cut off - sorry, Honey - wasn't intentional -- just trying to take a creative photo!

 I ran to the kitchen when I saw the children's dessert bowls were still there... here are the English sticky toffee puddings (without the whipped cream toppings)!  They were AMAZING!!!!

 The children made all the women flowers:

 Beautiful, no?

We bought Clare a hat... She's going on a trip to Europe and we wanted to give her something that would easily pack, shade her from the sun in the back and the front, and also have a chin strap when she is on her boat trip...so it wouldn't fly away.

 After brunch we went to visit Great Grandma who just had surgery.  She is doing VERY well and should be coming home in a few more days.  We made her flowers too... (MG is strutting her new coat from Land's End, isn't it nice?!  A splurge on my part when I was given a 30% off coupon.  But so worth it!)

 Well... what can I say about this little guy?!

MD would not stand still long enough for me to take photos of him and his flowers!  I hope you are all having a fabulous Mother's Day!  I'm going to take a nap now!  Haha!  Just kidding!  Even on Mother's Day, that is impossible!

MD wielding a blow torch???!

Yes, it's true... today they used a blow torch!
First they made meringue!  They separated the egg white from the egg yolk...

 

Then mixed it up with sugar (12 table spoons!)...

 Look at that!

 Then they were given a graham cracker with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  One was the control -- no meringue protection, the other was to be covered up with the meringue they just made (like an igloo, the assistant called it):

 Time for that blow torch I was talking about...  (insert nervous mommy here!).  They were to "burn" the meringue that covered the ice cream... and then they were to burn the ice cream itself.  They all did very well sharing the torch... disclaimer--  no child was harm during this activity!  They watched to see what had happened to the ice cream with the meringue coverage and what happened to the other with out coverage.

So the ice cream without protection melted very rapidly!  However, the scoop with the meringue coverage stayed the same!  Pretty cool, huh???  Made me think of some desserts I should make using ice cream, meringue and a blow torch!

After class we met up with some old friends... been so long since we all had a play date together.  And the boys were excited to use their new lunch boxes!  We are trying our best to purchase items that can be reused and will last awhile! SO far so good!

 He was tired even before he ate his lunch (pictured above).

 MD loved his sandwich... he built his own!

Our friends are silly!

But so are we!!!

We had a great afternoon!!!  We are looking forward to more summer play dates.. the weather is getting pretty hot around here!  Supposedly, today was in the 90s!

Our weekend

went by very quickly -- too quickly!

We arrived early to Alex's party and started to "look busy"... Uyen even gave us aprons to make it more official.  We didn't do much really.  Poor Ed was running around cooking and prepping food while Uyen ran around taking care of the children and guests!  (MG took this took, hence the angle!)

Alex celebrated his 8th birthday... and I finally finished his shirt:

Baby sister, Emily, celebrated her one month... and after staying up a bit later than I expected... she finally received her baby quilt!

And a bonus shirt!!!  (That is where we all met.  Vince and Ed were roommates.  Uyen and I were sort of roommates - long story short, she moved in and took my place when I graduated and left the apartment.  To this day, I just say she and I were roommates - we should have been!).  It turned out so cute.. I may be making more for the family!  :)

 I loved how it came out!

Sunday found us out and about...we tried out a new kabob place, then went for a scooter ride at Alum Rock Park  and then back home for dinner  (Vince and my cousin sat smelling the BBQs burning at the park and began discussing dinner... guess what they wanted?)
Yep... BBQ -- park inspiration!

and these trouble makers were finally able to enjoy some water play!  It was finally hot enough for the children to play with their water squirters!  FUN!

 Funny story... they were squirting each other, right? So I suggested they squirt the trees (kill 2 birds with 1 stone kind of a deal)... and so they turned toward the trees and started squirting.  Then all of a sudden the neighbors in the back (whom we don't know) began squirting water back!  We all started laughing along with the person squirting us from the other side!  It was fun until we heard a booming adult voice yelling at the person squirting us!  Oooops!  Guess he wasn't supposed to be turning the hose on us!  (A HOSE!!! LOL)  Well, not wanting the person to get in trouble, I yelled, "Sorry we started it!"  Then the dad (?) said it was okay and was laughing at us.  But he did remind the child (who was quiet this entire time!) to not play with the hose. LOL!

 Funny... Oh well. it was fun while it lasted!

A great weekend....
What do you have planned for Mother's Day weekend?!