Friday, June 27, 2008

Today, after 43 years!




I had Mom and Dad meet me in the Keys for a mini-vacation. When they arrived, all of us kids had arranged for a great surprise. We sent them on a 3 1/2 hour catamaran sunset cruise with a fully loaded picnic. They had a beautiful beach blanket, a nice Chardonay, some gourmet cheese, some Genoa Salami, some chibata bread, plastic plates and wine glasses, and of course, chocolate covered strawberries. I had made them cute little shirts with their wedding photo on the back and Barbie's Groom and George's Bride, June 27, 1965 on the front. They came back wind blown, smiling and a little tipsy. Apparently there was a supply of Rum on board, but then, we are in the Keys.

43 years ago today

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad.

Dad dancing with Grandpa Sam and Popou Maki.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Spider Stories

Hello, this is Hollyn. I just wanted to post on what happened in my bed two nights ago.

I was lying in my bed, perfectly calm. I was about to drift off to sleep, when pop! I was wide awake. Something had just landed on my hand, and scurried in front of me. Whatever it was, it was definitely alive. I was not dreaming. I had felt it. I turned my book light on. There it was, a rather large spider. So large, in fact, it looked like(in size) a baby tarantula. It scurried behind my picture frame.

I was so alarmed, nearly dumbstruck. I did not scream. I ran out of my room, into the backyard were my parents were. They looked at me. "What is it?" Mommy asked. "Th-There is s-something in my room I-I d-don't know what it is I think it's a tarantula,"I stuttered. "It landed on my hand and scurried off. Th-Then it hid behind my picture frame." Daddy got up and headed toward my room. Mommy did the same. I followed behind them.

When we got into my room, Daddy looked behind the frame and announced,"Whoa. I can see why Hollyn was scared. It's a Wolf Spider! Oops." He had knocked the frame over on top of the spider(purposely. He just said oops). At that moment, Pepper entered the room and licked my toes. I was very jumpy at the moment, so it nearly startled the stars out of me(before I realized what it was). "Is a Wolf Spider poisonous?" I asked. "Well, let's go look that up. Google!" Daddy said.

While we were at the computer, we got to a page that showed(in illustrations and words about spiders)all about spiders. "Hang on a second," Daddy said. "It shows a Grass Spider and a Wolf Spider. The thing I killed looked more like a Grass Spider." And a Grass Spider it was. The caption about a grass spider said that a grass spider is non-aggressive and not deadly. It also said that it is poisonous but not fatal. I was not yet fully convinced. After that, my dad reassured me and showed me the top poisonous creatures list. The Grass Spider didn't make it there. I felt safe and convinced after that. What a time I had!



Well, that's all I have to say. My dad told me later about a story with a California King Snake wrapped around someones leg. Just to reassure you, that story had a happily ever after, and the person lived. But I realized then, I'd rather have a spider land on my hand and scurry off than a snake wrapped around my leg. Also, here's a picture of what the spider somewhat looked like:

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Our Yard


You all remember the free rocks stunt I pulled....
Well, we have been working hard for the past 2 months.

Here is our yard today.
The girls (Hollyn, Alexis, and Pepper) LOVE it. Pepper really loves it - at least 2 -3 times a day (I think you all get the scoop...well, at least I do).
Tom, Dorie, Hollyn, Alexis and Pepper

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Zachary's First Day of School

At the door to my new school

Putting my lunch in my cubby


Playing with my new friends


Today was my baby's first day of school. Zachary has rarely been away from me for the last 5 1/2 years. I wanted to get him used to the idea of school so I signed him up for a Pre Kindergarten Summer Program. For the days leading up to today, he had obvious anxiety and would say he didn't want to go. But the more people hyped it up, the more excited he got. This morning as we walked out the door, he began to cry. When we reached the school he innocently asked," When can I come home?" I assured him I would be back to get him after lunch. After meeting with the teacher to address all the allergies, they pryed him from my side and shooed me out the door. At that point, we were both in tears. The school was very good about calling and letting me know how he was throughout the day. He chose to eat lunch on the couch by himself because everyone was eating stuff he was allergic to. But he made that decision himself, which made me worry less. I picked him up at 1:00 after enduring all the longing a mother can. He was very happy. He waved goodbye to his friends and smiled all the way to the car. He had had a great day! Oh Thank Heaven!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Dina and Chris Photo

Hi everyone..not sure if this will work or not but I'm willing to give it a try. Took the little ones for their yearly pictures and they turned out really cute....well I'm a little biased...nouna and Katie went with to help....they are such a handful...hehehe


http://mystudio.kiddiekandids.com/viewshare.asp?c=537040954V34NNFVT