Damn Chicken!

Okay, first of all let me tell you that Jia and Anna had a wonderful time last night at Disney on Ice-this is one of the things Jia spent her Nona and Grandpa money on (along with her Easter Dress) Jia was very excited to go with her big sister and Anna had fun too, she loves her little sister.

Explanation of Today's Title: Today Anna and I went grocery shopping. When we brought the groceries in I gave Jia some applesauce to put in the fridg. She opened it up and said " Mom, I don't know where to put it, damn chicken!" Okay, we are supposed to be good and tell her not to say bad words, but we were to busy hilariously laughing...

Thanks Nona and Grandpa!

Jia's choice of dress

Jia is very pleased and started turning circles

Katie bought this top, the one below, a dress and another top
you can bet she had money left for her account.

Anna got a $6 shirt and ordered a jacket online, none of this money will ever see the inside of her bank account

Another pretty top. Katie is like Howard Hughes, no one knows how much she has tucked away.

The girls got money from their Nona and Grandpa for Easter. When money comes their way, my children head for Target (or in Katie's case, the bank) ! Katie was looking at dresses, so Jia decided she needed one too, she searched, without help until she found the one she liked and then tried 2 different sizes on to see which fit. She also used part of her money to go to Disney on Ice on Saturday, her sister Anna will be her chaperon. Ps. Katie would like her Nona to know that the hats (toques???) she made sold out first, and now she is frantically making more. This is for Invisible Children, a very worthy project.

Soccer & Randomness

my three crazy girls, anna has her alice in wonderland hat, jia is dressed up for dr. suess day and katie is wearing one of the hats she made for "invisible children"

soccer anna (you can see coach dad in the background)

jia finishing her first novel

this is anna running like the wind

anna doing a throw in right in front of me. i said "wait a minute. i have to get a good shot" and she waited and looked over and said "okay now?" big ham....

We found a bunch of pictures on the camera that I thought were cute. Some of them might be repeats...there are also some pictures of Soccer Anna (of course).

Have You Been Counted?

Anna & Katie with our Census

Jalapeno-Anna's New Budgie

Anna and Katie with the US Census form. I'm sure ours looks a little different than most. Here is also a picture of Anna's new budgie-Jalapeno. We haven't heard him sing yet, but we are hoping. Oscar, his predecessor was quite a musician.
If you haven't already seen it, make sure you scroll down for Jia's dancing video, it's hilarious!

Jia Bustin' A Move!

Yesterday my mom was taking pictures of clothes and things like that for her Ebay business. Jia wanted to help so she was in charge of folding pieces of fabric. My mom had the music playing and what you hear is a song off Elton John's Duets album. Jia loves to dance, so I hope you enjoy this video of her dancing away!

Love, Anna

You've Got a Friend

i am not a girlfriend type of person. i am 48 years old and you can count on your fingers how many TRUE woman friends i have ever had. i have a lot of baggage lately and there are few people who understand.

this week i am losing one of the best friends i have ever had--Erin Neylon. i am so very happy for her because she is stepping into the future that she really wants. i am so very sad for me because she is one of the few women that i have considered a real friend. And when I say friend i mean so much more.

i met erin when i was assigned the room next to hers at school. she very patiently showed me "the ropes" and we started talking about our lives. we became friends.

since then we have shared tons of conversations, good and bad things in both of our lives, but definitely erin has been a better friend to me than i have to her, and i regret that.

she unquestionably has my back when others made things so difficult for me at WCY, she has come to my bedside with dinner after surgery, she got in her car and arrived 15 minutes later when my family was in canada and a doctor gave me a horrible (albeit wrong, thank God)
diagnosis. erin gave my daughters swimming lessons, helped them with their math, and always had a treat for them at every holiday.

it was a running joke that i never had the right "important paper" at the right time. even when my classroom moved all the way across the campus, there was always a student at the door, with the paper, saying "mrs. neylon thought you might need this".

i celebrated erin's wedding to her soul mate, matt. she was stunning and unflappable when it rained like a hurricane (lol) all over her outdoor wedding.

and erin celebrated our journey to jia every step of the way....never once asking "why?" like almost everyone else did.

if you are reading this and you know erin, you know exactly what i mean. if you are reading this and you don't know her i wish you did. she is truly one of those angels on earth.

Erin loves my children, erin understands when i disappear into my house and can't come out.

my daughter anna just said "but mommy, you will always be friends, and that is true for sure, but my heart still aches.

i know that erin will show up a lot to see her beloved hurricanes play, won't be able to keep her away from that. but just knowing that she is so far away will put a little crack in my heart.

erin, i wish you true happiness, success and the one thing you want the most. whether you know it or not--i am here for you always.

thanks for not being a "gator hater" and i will tell you that I wish those hurricanes a successful season, just as long as they don't get in our way somehow...

i'll see you later my sweet friend....
here is a song from James Taylor, written a long, long time before you were born...

"Hey, ain't it good to know that you've got a friend? People can be so cold. They'll hurt you and desert you. Well they'll take your soul if you let them. Oh yeah, but don't you let them. You just call out my name and you know wherever I am i'll come running to see you again.

Katie Getting Ready for the FCAT's

This is a pretty picture of Katie getting ready for school on the day before the FCAT's (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test), this is the test that our Bush (Jeb) invented to terrorize students and kill teacher creativity. Students take this test from third grade through high school. In 3rd grade you are automatically held back if you don't pass the reading portion of the test. And I think the same goes in 8th grade.

In high school, you take the Reading, Math and Writing in 9th and 10th grade. In 11th grade they take science. Students, no matter what their grade average must pass the Reading, Writing and Math portion to graduate from high school (no pressure there).

Our girls have always passed with flying colors, but it scares them to death. Schools everywhere teach to the test because the school is also graded...as I said, what a drain on learning with joy and creativity.

Academy Awards

Only one name to say: Sandra Bullock. Not only did she have the most beautiful dress (in my opinion) her acceptance speech hit home and moved me to tears...

"This is for all the Mom's and the families that take care of the babies and children no matter where they come from...there is no race or religion, no class system, no color, nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else, we are all deserving of love."

-Sandra Bullock's 2010 Academy Award
Acceptance Speech

Funny Picture of Benny Foo

Benny Foo is our pug. He is hilarious with his own face, but the girls put their Alice in Wonderland hat on him. Too Funny!

HASTA NONA!

Here are pictures of the family opening up Nona and Grandpa's latest box. (THANK YOU!!) There is always a big rush to "claim" some candy.

On a funny note, I drop the girls off at school in the morning, big girls first and then Jia. When Anna and Katie got out of the car they said "Hasta Luego" which means basically "see you later" Jia shouted back. Hasta Nona! So, see you later Nona. hee hee!

We're All Mad Here...Lewis Caroll, Alice in Wonderland

Tomorrow is the premier of Alice in Wonderland and the girls are really excited. The big girls are going to wait a few days to go so that they are not in the first crowd. Word is still out as to whether or not they will be taking their little sister...if not I guess Drew and I are in for a trip to the theater too. Anyway, Anna bought a Cheshire cat hat and I got a picture of each of the girls wearing it. Also in these pictures is a black and green hat that Drew calls a toque??? Katie made it for a club she is in called Invisible Children which raises money for poor children in Uganda and other impoverished countries around the world. They are selling them at school for $7.00.

Olympic Heros

You probably don't remember, but at the beginning of the Olympics I blogged that I would tell you who my personal hero of these Olympic games would be, I had someone in mind, and they did not disappoint. I really thought it would be easy to narrow it down to just this one person, but it was not. So I will tell you my top two heroes.

The first one was the U.S. athlete that I was proud of the whole time and that was Apolo Anton Ohno this young man set new records and handled himself with the dignity and class. I think that Olympians, although many of them are young, should be help to higher standards than others.
I did not think my other hero would be someone that was not an American, but what can you say about someone with the bravery and heart of Joannie Rochette. Every time I saw this young woman it brought tears to my eyes. As the mother of girls I know she did exactly what her Mom would have wanted and she was , in my opinion, the strongest person at the games. My heart breaks for her.
The games made me want to hop on the first plane to Vancouver. What a beautiful place. I hope to get to go there someday. It was a successful Olympic games, and I know that some people thought that it would look bad after the show that China put on. Canada went in an entirely different direction and it worked so well for them.
Okay, I do have to tell you the two things I didn't like--I thought the Canadian Women's Hockey team showed a lack of class for their drinking and smoking pictures on the ice in the arena. Also the American athlete that was sent home for his disrespect of his medal. Celebrations like those should be held behind closed doors...
And what about those flowers? My friend said "why are they giving them bunches of broccoli".
Our whole family is sad that the games are over and we think Canada should be over the top proud of what they accomplished!