10/19/07

This is a little game of Blog Catch-Up. This is last Friday when Aubrey was a Flower Girl and Michael was a Pillow Boy. Just ask Aubs she will tell you that is what they were called.

Sorry

I have tons of pictures and stories to post. I promise I will try to catch up soon. This week is shaping up to be another busy one. Tomorrow we are going to get Aubrey's first haircut. I will post pictures as soon as I can. There will also be some very cute Halloween pictures headed everyone's way.

Pumpkin Spice Latte and Random Musing

I am a big fan of Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte and have been so for a few years now. When I am in Florida they remind me of fall at home. Today I realized that drinking one while feeling that chill in the air that comes with a Northeastern Ohio Fall is an entirely new wonderful experience.

Also I noticed that "Hot or Iced?" is a question they seem to only ask in Florida. I ordered my coffee today and it was given to me without a second question. Usually my coffee order, even the holiday drinks, is followed up with the temperature question.

Fall

I had forgotten how much I love fall. Even with all the other CRAP going on today, I am thankful that I was able to just enjoy the beauty of the changing leaves. Shawn and I agree that the red leaves are our favorite. Spring and Fall are the most difficult times for me to visit home. I really miss seeing the changes that these two times of year bring with them. As we were driving down the street I grew up on Shawn mentioned that he could see us living up here, however we agreed that after too many days of snow that novelty could quickly wear off. When we visit in the winter it is very easy to remember why we choose to live in sunny beautiful Florida.

I hope to get some good pictures tomorrow. The weather was not very cooperative and the sky was gray most of the day.

Spirit Week

The first is from Mis-Match Day, I think she really got into this one! We also had Pro/College Team Spirit Day, that was tough because Aubs is not properly outfitted for her mother's Ohio Roots. I also could not go and buy her any Tribe items because it is a proven fact in the Morgan Family, that if you buy T-shirts for the series you are watching, your beloved team will lose.* I just couldn't take that chance. Her favorite team is the Red Sox, I know I have failed as a parent, and there was no way I could dress her that way. I thought of going and buying a Boston Shirt so that they would lose but I was afraid that would backfire. She ended up wearing Gators items, which is why there is no picture. I am still a bit upset by the whole basketball/football thing but it was all I could find on such short notice. (Translation: I remembered she needed something Sunday night and had to go on my lunch hour Monday) Today was Favorite Character day. She was going to be Belle but decided at 6:45 the costume was too itchy. Thanks to Uncle Brian we were able to switch to Hannah Montana in moments and the day was saved.

* Mount Union seems to be the only team immune to this phenomenon. I believe that has something to do with their immunity to losing anything.
By the way this is my 300th Post!

Crazy Weekend

Wow, this weekend has been crazy. Aubs and I even had time for a well deserved nap this afternoon. Here is the rundown of what we did:
Saturday
- Ballet
- Fire Station Open House
- Haircut (Me)
- Target Trip #1 for Birthday Gift
- Michaela's Birthday Party. Happy 5th Birthday!!!!!
- Target Trip #2 for Vacation Supplies
- Stop at Library to drop off books.
- Finished my shrug for Bob's Wedding
- Learned to play Guitar Hero, a seriously addicting video game.

Sunday
- Laundry
- Finished Aubrey's shrug for the wedding
- Worked on Joss' Blanket
- Took a nap
- Baked 5 loaves of Pumpkin bread
- Laid out Aub's Spirit Week clothes
- Started Packing for the trip

First Attempt At Photoshop Magic

Maury asked that I give this a try. I hope you like it. Aubs is going to die when she sees this tomorrow. I know this is a very obvious Photoshop but I think it isn't too bad for my first try. I tried to do what it said to blur the edges and I just couldn't get it to work. I will keep trying and show you all my progress.

Family Resemblance?

Nope, I just don't see it.
This was our first time meeting Zachary the youngest member of the family. Lisa and Mike he is really a beautiful boy.

Introducing Zachary B.

Mikey and Aubrey B

I took a bunch of these two kids. This is the only one that really turned out and I just noticed you can totally tell their mouths are full of food.

My little Rock Star

I am a bit behind with my posts so I thought I would put up some pics of the family to share.

I Was Definitely Not Ready For This

Aubrey went to her first slumber party last week. She of course had no problem, I fared slightly worse crying as I drove away from the house. I have to thank Miss Courtney, you really made Aubs feel like a big girl inviting her to stay the night with all of your friends. Also thanks to Mark and Dawn for being such great family members that I had no worries knowing that my only child was in your care.

During the time we were visiting with Mark and Dawn, Mark showed us some of the things that Poppy had saved. We found some letters from a Virgina to her Dearest Husband Edward. They had a postmark of 1924. I contacted Cille, Helen's sister-in-law, because her family and Poppy have a common last name and geography. Virginia and Edward are her Great Aunt and Uncle. We just need to figure out where Poppy fits in and why he would have their letters. We now have an official "Family History Mystery" on our hands. I will let everyone know how this turns out.

I am not ready for this...

This will be our first Princess Free Halloween. Aubrey has been a Disney princess for the last three Halloweens. This year she has chosen to be a Marine. As much as my heart is sad that we may be officially out of the princess phase, my heart is happy that she feels the need to show her love for her Jakey in such a visible way. She has such an amazing capacity for love and choses to show it in so many ways. We are living in a camo world right now. Next on her list is the galoshes at Target she has two shirts, pants, and now a hat.

For Carly

We got to visit with Carly last night. That is always a treat because we don't get to see her very often and she is an important part of our Florida Family. While we were chatting she expressed her disdain for viewing the blog without an update. So Carly here is one just for you!

Library Lessons Learned

1. Make sure the book is in English. Our local library has a large Spanish section. While I think this is a great idea, I think the people sorting the books need to pay better attention to where they shelf these books. I wanted Aubrey to get the book Olivia. I grabbed it off the shelf and put it in the library bag. Last night I was watching television when Shawn came out and asked if I had ever read the book. I answered "Yes", he replied "This book" and handed it to me. I opened the front cover and sure enough it was in Spanish.

2. Read through the books before putting them in the bag or do not make fun of Joshua for picking the "Dead Mommy" book. This is really more of a lesson that involves many jokes between Joshua and I. There is a bad habit of every time I make fun of Joshua for something silly that he has done it comes back around. Another example of this is the $10 cherries. Well I did it again, except that I picked the "Dead Grandma" book. I picked a book by Tommy DePaola called Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs. I knew he has some very good award winning children's books that is what I thought about when I chose one of his books. It is about a Great Grandmother and a Grandmother dying. If I had known this I never ever would have picked this book. Aubrey is very sensitive to death since Poppy passed away. It took a little over an hour to get her relaxed and to sleep.

We will be going back to the Library this weekend. I will be much more conscious of what we put in the bag.

Parris Island #2

After the Moto-Run is a portion of the day that is much like torture for the families. You have had a quick glimpse of your new Marine but we are going to make you wait six more hours until you can spend time with them. Right before they send you off for quite a few hours they march the Marines in front of you as they line up for graduation practice. It was at this point we caught our first glimpse of Jake. This resulted in copious tears and screams from the women in our family. We saw Jake a few minutes before he realized we were there doing our best to get his attention. I am sure if we were the only ones yelling and screaming at our Marine Jake would have noticed us quite a bit earlier, however there were about 100 other families doing the same. Soon after Jake noticed us the DI gave the order of "Left" at this point they all turned and looked at the families. I caught some great pictures of Jake laughing. I would like to say that he was smiling at the sheer excitement of seven family members standing close by but I suspect the crass comments from the DI were really the culprit.

Picture #1 Jake is smiling just a bit, he has just realized we are there.
Picture #2 Maury so very excited to see her boy.
Picture #3 These are the smiles that the DI got for his comments.

Preview of #3 Coffee, Slobber, and Danish.

In My Daughter's Eyes

I will get back to "The Barrieau Boot Camp Adventure" tomorrow. For tonight I thought I would leave you with a photo from our aspiring photographer the Divine Miss B. She took this all by herself. Some of our best pictures this past weekend came from Aubs. She really has quite the eye. I will make sure an point them out as they are posted. This weekends pictures amaze me because every now and then I catch a glimpse of the Alaburda side of the family. I did not realize until some of her pictures with Jake how very strong the resemblance can be.

9-11-01

Our lives were forever changed in a moment that day. I took this picture at Jake's graduation. This year my thoughts are different. Last week I met many Marines who do their job without a second thought. These men all volunteered knowing what may lie before them. There were heroes created on 9-11 that woke up thinking it was just another day. Those moments inspired many men and women to join our Armed Forces, creating heroes for our future. This past weekend I had the honor of meeting some of these men face to face. This year as I reflect on the events that have left us forever changed I want to say "Thank You" to those who have volunteered to protect my family and country.

Parris Island #1

The first event of Graduation Weekend is the Moto-Run or Motivational Run. This is the first opportunity to see your recruit. After waking up at what Aunt Kim lovingly refers to as 0-dark-hundred we departed MCAS Beaufort for Parris Island. When you first arrive to Parris Island you are routed around by barricades. I think that they purposefully have training happening at every course so the families catch a glimpse of what their Marine went through. When we finally arrived to the run course, you could actually feel the excitement in the air as 400 some families caught their first glimpse of their Marine. When I saw the 2nd Battalion flag coming towards us I started to cry. I managed to keep it together most of the weekend but when I saw those young men running towards us was overcome with emotion. We saw the Guidons for every platoon but Jake's and were a bit upset until we saw the Recruit Photographer and he told us that Jake's Platoon was the Honor Guard. They were the ones carrying the Battalion Flag. Jake is the Marine that you can see between the shoulders of the two Marines on the outside in the top picture. The second picture is what we saw when the Run came towards us.

For Maury

Aunt Maury has requested I post this picture. We have returned safely from Parris Island. It is going to take a few days of posts to go over everything we did in two days. Those Marines bring a whole new meaning to efficient. Our two days were packed with tons of information and many chances to get a first glimpse of our Marine. I will do my best to explain the experience, but I will not do justice to the feeling of being there. By the time we were done I was ready to find a recruiter and sign myself up!

Flashback Tuesday...

Today was one of the best nights I have had in a while. When I got home I spoke to someone I hadn't spoken with in way too long. I made one of my favorite family recipes to bring to Jake. That is where the flashback comes in, I was standing in the kitchen, eating a family weeknight classic, and wearing my leotard and tights for dance class. It has been twelve years since I had that experience. I went to my first tap class, it was not nearly as bad as I thought. There is another mom in the class who took her first class tonight, so I was not alone! The teacher is an old friend that I have known since I first moved here. I will go to sleep tonight knowing that when I wake up I will be on my way to spend a weekend with my moms side of the family. All in all it was a night of old and new friends with a promise of seeing family tomorrow. It just doesn't get any better than that for me at this point in my life. I have to say it is a great place to be.

Operation Watch Our Baby Boy Become A Marine

We leave on Wednesday for Jake's graduation. Aubrey is so excited to see him that she has already packed her suitcase and put it by the front door. In her suitcase she has a snack, pink pants, red shirt, and the plug for the portable DVD player. I am going to try to convince her that other clothes are needed for the trip. Wish me luck.

What I Learned In School Today 8/31/07

The Pledge Of Allegiance

I think they have been learning this since the beginning but on Friday she was finally able to remember enough words to tell us. In true Aubrey fashion she finishes with "AMEN". She hasn't explained why she does this but I do believe it has to do with the word God being a part of the Pledge.

What I Learned In School Today 8/30/07

Fire Drill

"We go outside onto the Baseball field, and then when Mr. Prizer (Principal) tells us it is OK we can go inside."

I am not sure if she goes to the Baseball or the Football field since she uses the names interchangeably at this point. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can take her to one of the Football games so she can see the difference. On a side note Liberty High School won their very first football game. Not only was it their first game but it was against the school that many of them used to attend.

What I Learned In School Today 8/29/07

"If someone steps on the pad for the new playground they have to start over and we have to wait two more days. It wasn't me I was holding onto the yellow tape."

Since the school is new they are still finishing up a few things. From what we understand of this story Aubrey and her friend Lily were being good and holding on to the caution tape while someone else stepped on the rubber padding the workmen were laying. The pad has to cure for a few days and right after it was poured someone stepped on it. I think it now needs ripped out and redone.

What I Learned In School Today 8/28/07

Today was the Kissing Heart. Aubs came home with an art project and a new habit of kissing us on the hand and telling us that it goes straight to our heart.

What I Learned In School Today 8/27/07

Today was another song day:

Aubrey: "Say your name and when you do we will clap it back to you."
Mommy: "Mommy"
Aubrey: CLAP CLAP

She also used this to greet the band director Shawn is working with. He of course loved it.
I am sure this is a cleverly disguised lesson about syllables and rhythms.

Man, Am I In Trouble.

I am having problems uploading pictures today so I will give you a quick story while I figure it out.


We took Aubrey to the Nieman Marcus Last Call store last night. It is their outlet. She sat in her stroller pretty bored until we got to the shoes. Then she stood up and started shopping. Since they were adult shoes I was in no real danger of succumbing to "The Blue Eyes Of Death". However if last night is any indication I should start an Aubrey Shoe Fund now. She picked up a pair of Manolo Blahniks and said "OOOH I love these, don't you Aunt Car-Car?". Of course since it was Aubs she couldn't stop with the shoes. When we walked past the purses she found a nice Marc Jacobs and put it on her arm and did her best Runway Walk.

What I Learned In School Today 8/24/07

I suspect Aubrey will be a singer. She has been singing non-stop lately. She also has only been telling us the songs they learn in school, we cannot get anything non-music related out of her. Friday they learned 5 ducks on a hill. The best part of this song for me is the end when she says "Daddy Duck Says "QUACK, QUACK"" Said in a very, very low voice. For my mom and her sisters it is very reminiscent of Daddy, Mommy, Baby Cow from when I was little.

Help Please

They are starting a new magazine in Orlando. They are looking for freelance writers and photographers. It is all about the attractions in this area. I have decided I am going to contact them about working with them. After all I am a pass holder for Disney ,a passholder and former employee of SeaWorld, and former employee of Universal Studios. I worked as a Scaracter for Halloween Horror Nights. I was thinking of sending one of my pictures with the e-mail. Can you help me decide which one?

What I Learned In School Today 8/23/07

Listening Ears. "Just Listen"

She also learned a new song. It starts "Five little monkeys swinging in a tree, Teasing Mr. Alligator, can't catch me. Along came Mr. Alligator *clap* (think the Gator Chomp) Four little monkeys swinging in a tree." She sang this to me over the phone and I nearly crashed the car. When I got home and she sang it again it was even funnier with the hand motions.

What I Learned In School Today 8/22/07

Walking Feet. This was her first art project. They glued the outlines of feet to a piece of paper. When we asked her she told us "We are supposed to walk everywhere because if you run you trip and fall.".

She also learned the Hickory Dickory Dock song.

I am not so much of a slacker...

...that I would forget to post what Aubrey learned today. She did not have school. They are starting the kids on a staggered start. All of the class will be together for the first time tomorrow. I have decided today to post some things I have learned in the past couple of days. Today I will be talking about multi-taskers. All of these items have a very specific purpose, that is not how I have been using them.

1. Clorox Wipes: They are supposed to be for the kitchen. Should you ever have a child that dirties up a brand new pair of school shoes just days before school should start they are also most excellent at cleaning the dirt off of the rubber soles.

2. Kitchen Timers: We have been using these for "Bath Timers". Aubrey would play in the tub all day long if we let her. We set one as she starts and we are done without a fight.

3. Baby Bottle Brush: This works great on the threads of travel coffee mugs.

What I Learned In School Today

Aubrey and I have decided that everyday we will write down something new she learned in school. We are also going to try to take a picture each day so we can chronicle how she changes.

Here is what she learned today:

The side of a book is called the spine. Your back is your spine.

She also learned that magnets stick together. I had to ask the teacher what she was talking about because our description was something like this "We had science today. We had to put the sticky things together and pass them to the next person. If you put it the wrong way it was not sticky." Now that I know what was it makes so much more sense.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of Pre-K. Aubs had a great day. We started off with a special breakfast of eggs and toast. She made a new friend and has not stopped talking about her day since I picked her up. We got a call from her teacher this evening telling us how great she was in class and that she thinks Aubrey is going to be a blessing to have in class. Aubrey and I have come up with a fun idea to chronicle her first year in school. We are hoping at the end of the year to turn it into a scrapbook for her.

30 Project Part 2 Update

I just thought I would let everyone know how I am doing with my 30 goals. It is one thing to set them but another to put them in action.

#4 To explore cultures through their cuisine. I tried Jamaican food the other day. It was amazing.

#8 Learn Spanish, TJ is helping me with this one. She wants to practice and I want to learn so we are working together to learn new vocabulary words. Here is my newest sentence: Necessitas electrodos para machina de TENS? Do you need TENS electrodes? Now if I could just figure out what the responses coming back to me I will be in a much better spot.

#11 Take tap dancing lessons. See photo above for my rockin' tap shoes. Who knew the darn things cost that much? It doesn't help that my feet seem to be bigger than the other dancers so I had to go to a special store. I start class on 9/4/07.

#9 To be less wasteful. Meet the Green Bag. I am starting with this little sentence: I have my own bag. I purchased 3 of these bags for $1.49 each. They are made from recycled plastic. A surprising bonus of these bags are that they hold as much as 3-5 plastic bags so I can make one trip in from the car with all the groceries. I also got a reusable lunch box and water filter so that I can cut back on the bottled water. I have to keep at least one case in the house during hurricane season but I have stopped purchasing a case a week.

#18 To have more spontaneous family moments. My house is a bit messier than I like it to be but quality time is at an all time high. I have been cleaning a bit while getting ready in the morning to save evenings for Aubrey time.

Through The Eyes of A Girl

When turned loose on the band room these are the things Aubrey found interesting.

Aubrey's Big Night

Tonight was the open house for the new high school. Aubrey's Pre-K class is in the building. Unlike the other schools that have been retro fitted in order to accommodate the Voluntary Pre-K program the new HS was built with the intention of housing the class. It is a beautiful facility and I am slightly, OK very jealous of the auditorium and music facilities. The Pre-K teacher and the Early Childhood Education class will be working together throughout the year. There is an observation window connecting the two classrooms so that the HS students have exposure to the young kids during lessons without being a distraction. Since this school was built to include the Pre-K kids they are going to be integrated into the HS as much as possible. They have been volunteered to work with the drama program, I am positive this will be Aubrey's least favorite part of the day. :) The principal is so excited to have the kids as a part of his student body that when he ordered the school spirit shirts for the 9-12 grades he also ordered them in the kids sizes. They are the Lil' Chargers! Isn't that the cutest thing? They are going to try to bring them to the Pep Rallies and other whole school activities. If I had been able to pick my favorite things and make what I think would be the best teacher for Aubs, it would be Mrs. P. I am so very excited that they ended up together. Aubs already worked her way into the teacher's heart. The first words out of her mouth were "I remember you, you sent me the letter". I of course burst into tears as Mrs. P. looked about ready to do the same. By the time we left Aubs had made a necklace out of the stringing beads and presented it to Mrs. P., who endeared herself to me by immediately putting it on with just the right amount of fanfare to make Aubs feel like the most important girl ever.

Movie Reviews

I have recently joined Netflix, I am really enjoying receiving a large variety of movies in the mail. It is really allowing me to catch up on 4 1/2 years of movies I have not been able to see in the theater. Oddly enough we were actually able to see a movie in the actual theater last night. OK so it was Underdog and Aubrey had to convince Uncle Robb that it would be a great idea to see. I do believe that it was her rousing chorus of "Underdog... Underdog... Underdoooog!" while resting her head on his shoulder that did the trick. So here are my reviews one for Underdog and one for Paper Clips.

Underdog: This movie has been hyped during every other commercial break on the Disney Channel. Aubrey wanted to see it because Kyle Massey from Corey in the House sings the theme song. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. It was really cute and I think that everyone enjoyed themselves. (Even Uncle Robb) For parents of Aubrey aged kids, the movie really held her attention. It is the first movie in a long time that did not require a potty break. That is Aubrey's sign of boredom in a movie. It doesn't hurt that I think Jason Lee is absolutely hilarious. He is Earl in My Name Is Earl and one of the actors that carries through most of the Kevin Smith movies. If you are looking for a great family movie this one should definitely be considered.

Paper Clips: Everyone should see this movie. It is a documentary about the middle school in Whitewell, TN. They had started a Holocaust Class fort the eight graders. The students were having a problem quantifying six million. The teachers challenged them to find an item small enough that they could collect and be able to visualize the number. They decided on paper clips. This movie chronicles their quest to collect the paper clips and find a place to store them while respecting the memory of those who perished in the holocaust. Aubrey watched part of this with me, while it is about the holocaust it is really about those kids. When Aubrey asked me what the movie about I told her that children have the ability to do great things. I am sure that my description doesn't do this movie justice but if you have the time I highly recommend this movie.

Maury

My Aunt Maury left me this comment today: Sorry about that, Miss. Yes, it's Aunt Maury. By the way, Aunt Mary laughed at me when I dressed Jake for his first day of school. Everything matched and it was all ironed and creased! Silly Maury!

My comment back to her is: I think something must have stuck since that boy will be a Marine in exactly four weeks. He will never leave the house again without matching ironed outfits!

Our recruit earned a call home this week. I am so very excited for Maury. Did I mention that he earned that call for being the absolute best in his platoon on the range?

I am so proud of you Maury, I know this must be terribly tough for you. Your strength is truly inspiring. I love you to bits.

Godspeed Endeavor

The Endeavor shuttle launched this evening without incident. This launch was very emotional for me. I missed seeing the initial lift off but did catch the last moments before booster separation. For those who don't know Barbara Morgan is on this shuttle. She is the teacher that was the alternate for the Challenger. My third grade teacher Mr. Hill had applied to be the teacher in space. From what I remember he made it pretty far into the process. That day was horrible. I think it was the first time I had seen adults cry. Every teacher in the school made their way to our classroom. I remember them saying to Mr. Hill "I'm so glad it wasn't you." and hugging him. As the countdown hit "Lift Off" I realized I was holding my breath and crying. I pray that they make it safely back to earth.

Aubrey's View Of The World

Today I asked Aubrey what she thought her chores should be. We explained what a chore is and I told her that we would make a chart and if they were all completed she would be rewarded. We gave the example of cleaning her room. Her response to the question was "Taking a nap, that is a REAL chore for me."

A Skewed View

I have been letting Aubs play with the little digital camera a bit more when we are out and about. She loves being a little photographer. Here is one she took while we were school shopping on Saturday. I have often wished to view the world through her eyes, I guess this is my chance.

Shopping!

Yesterday Aubs and I went first day of school shopping. That girl seriously has the biggest feet I have ever seen. She is in a 11 1/2 or 12. We discovered that all of her old shoes do not fit anymore. Once summer hits she wears sandals and flops most of the time. Most of her school acceptable or closed toe shoes were size 10. We spent hours looking for shoes yesterday. She is very picky and they must be rock star enough for her but still girly. The pink shoes are one of the two we settled on please notice the skull and crossbones that made them OK for the girl. Aubrey took that picture her self. She is quite the budding photographer.

The other picture is her picking her first backpack. She decided on a High School Musical back back with a picture of Zac Ephron. I do believe she has her second celebrity crush. The other is Corbin Bleu, also from High School Musical. I can add to the countdowns and Aubrey has 12 days until High School Musical comes out. That is going to be a HUGE weekend for her. It will start with HSM2 and end with a first day of school.

By the way Operation Don't Let Your Baby See You Cry is not going as well as I had hoped. I cried when she picked up the back pack. She also had some very profound words for me when she was talking about missing her Poppy. She told me that Kenai (Brother Bear) said "The people you love are never really gone they are always right here" and pointed to her heart. Needless to say I was absolute mush and then had to explain to her that I was not crying from sadness but because I am so amazed and proud of the wonderful girl that she is.

Countdowns/Operations

I have a couple of major countdowns happening right now. I have given each of them code names.

The first is "Operation Don't Let Your Baby See You Cry" or Aubrey starts school in 18 days and I am just not sure I am going to make this tear free.

Second is "Operation Watch Our Baby Boy Become a Marine" or Aubrey and Mommy's first solo road trip. We are going to Parris Island in one month and two days to watch Jake make the transition from Recruit to Marine. For those of you who don't know Jake spent his first couple years living at our house. I watched that boy take his first steps and I cannot wait to watch him march by on his way to his pinning and graduation.

Third is "Operation Organize My House And Make A Craft Room" Or Ikea opens in two months. Ikea is opening their first store in Florida and it will be less than five minutes from my office. I have big plans for me and Ikea. I am sure we will become the best of friends. My kitchen, family room, living room, and office are patiently awaiting the day when they are gifted the pieces from Ikea that I am quite sure will complete them and add much needed storage space. You don't realize how great it is to have a basement until you live in a state without them.

Monday Musings

While driving home I thought of these interesting things:

- I watched a tan SUV swerve in and out of traffic in an apparent hurry to get somewhere. Due to the rain they had the bike seats covered with grocery bags. While I applaud their attempt at recycling I find myself wondering why they would bother since the wind ripped the bags off. I found myself wondering even more when I noticed where they were headed in such a hurry. Their destination: Cypress Cove. For those of you who don't know that is the nudist resort/colony. I figured it must be really tough to drive while under the constraints of clothes.

- Does anyone else's neighborhood contain one resident that just makes their day? Ours has the Man With The Dogs. Truth is I have no idea what his name is. I do know that he walks his dogs every morning and evening up and down Pleasant Hill Rd. He waves, smiles, points, and air high fives anyone willing to take 10 seconds to do the same. I wonder if he knows what an amazing gift he is to the residents of Poinciana. He is pure joy. Aubrey is heart broken on Saturdays if she doesn't give or receive her wave on the way to ballet.

4 & 1/2

Aubreygirl,
I cannot believe you are already 4 & 1/2. You no longer have those baby cheeks, when I look at you I see a real little girl. You will tell me you are a big girl but I know the truth. I know you turned 4 & 1/2 last week but it seemed to slip away from me while our family fought the flu. In less than one month you go to school. You will look so tiny in that school full of big kids. You will wow them all with your wonderful little personality. I can't wait for the next few weeks they are going to be so great. We get to go school shopping for the very first time. I cannot wait!
Love,
Mommy

Funny Thing About The Smurfs...

... Apparently they are timeless. Who knew? Aubrey is watching them now. She discovered them on Boomerang a few weeks ago and now wants to watch them everyday.

5 second later update: She is now watching the "Norks". Snorks must fall into the same category as Smurfs.

Finished

I have completed book 7. It. Was. Fabulous. So very very good. Wow and loved it. I cried, laughed, and made many exclamations that caused Shawn to wonder what could possibly be happening. Have you ever tried to pace while reading a 700+ page book? It is pretty darn difficult let me tell you. I promise to keep the ending a secret, so that is all I will say.

Your normally appearing blog should resume sometime tomorrow.

Procuring HP #7

At precisely 11:29 PM on 7/20/07 I boarded the Hogwart's Express (Little Red Neon, at least it is the same color). Once Hogsmeade was reached I asked the first witch in blue robes (WalMart employee) where I could find Hogwart's. She directed me to the gates (layaway). I crossed through the forbidden forest (display of silk trees) and viewed for the first time the entrance hall to Hogwart's (Layaway decorated with maroon and gold streamers and balloons). I then took my turn with the sorting hat (bald man handing out house wristbands) and was sorted into Gryffindor (No, really that is what it said). Once the clock turned 12:01 they started handing out our textbooks. I made my way to the front to pay for my purchase and found that someone must have convinced the goblins at Gringott's to put up a few Galleons towards each book and I only payed half of what I had expected to pay. (Even I have to admit sometimes WalMart is not pure evil.) I have managed to avoid all Death Eaters on the prowl this week (Hackers, leakers, and the New York Times) and not heard word one about what will happen. To ensure I keep on this path towards good I will not return the the Muggle World (Internet, live radio, or TV) until I have finished book 7. I also promise that once I finish I will keep what happens quiet except to others who have completed the book.

Friday Figments of My Imagination

1. I am less than 4 hours away from the release of Harry Potter. I may not make it. I am leaving my house around 11:30 to try to get my hands on a copy.

2. Due to #1 I may be very difficult to reach for the next few days.

3. I have a problem with large non-English speaking teenage tour groups. They completely destroyed the Target that is closest to my house. While I understand that their culture allows this, ours does not. If you are going to travel the world I think it is important to respect the cultures of the places you choose to visit.

4. I once came in second place in a costume contest for my Harry Potter costume. I made the costume out of a black bed sheet and some fusable webbing. If I can find a picture I will post it.

5. The next three hours and fourteen minutes may be the longest of my non-pregnant life. (Try waiting one week and a day longer than your due date and you will know what I mean)

Random Thoughts

1. I just finished HP books 1-6. Here are the questions I want answered in book 7
- Why is Umbridge still employed by the Ministry?
- Is Snape good or bad?
- Who is RAB?
I have many more but these are the three most pressing. I have some speculations
as well but I will not post those because in case I am wrong I do not want to have
to admit it.

2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a great movie. I really enjoyed it even though there were some things left out that I think should not have been.

3. My daughter is becoming the sassiest funniest four year old around. Mom, once again I am very sorry for anything I ever did that resembled the last few days around here. She has been launching into these very lengthy explanations about why she cannot do what we have asked her to do. We also count to three when she is doing something she shouldn't be. Last night she counted to four at me when she was angry with me. I laughed so hard I had to leave the room.

4. I sent a photo into a contest and they have picked it be published in a book. I have also been advanced to next round of the contest.

5. Last weekend when Aubs took pictures in all of her new outfits she requested pictures of her running in each one. This one is of her running in her "Funky Pants".

30 Project Part 2 #10 to #30

10. To go on a cruise.

11. To take tap dancing lessons. I will actually attempt this one this fall.

12. To go to the Balloon Fiesta in NM. I love the pictures my Aunt Kim has taken and Jenny and I are planning to go there next October.

13. To be there for as many big family events as I can. Living so far away this can sometimes be hard. I miss a lot of backyard barbecues and birthday parties. Next up on the list is Jake's Boot Camp Graduation. Aubs and I will be making the drive up to Parris Island. I am very honored that Jake wants us to be there.

14. To raise a happy and well adjusted child.

15. To pass on the love of music that Shawn and I share to our child.

16. To see one of the New World Wonders.

17. To live without regrets.

18. To have more spontaneous family fun moments. Some of my favorite Aubs and Mommy memories thus far are the ones where we had other things we were supposed to be doing but were much happier to just be us.

19. To remember that it is still OK to play. I will admit my husband and I both have toy collections that rival Aubrey's. However I think as we move further along our journey as parents we sometimes forget that.

20. To see the Paris. Ever since our Paris unit is French 3, I have wanted to go there. To see the Berceau de Paris, the Louvre, and all the other wonderful places we learned about.

21. To see my Mom preach in her own church. I saw her preach at Stow but she was covering for Rev. Yeager. I can't wait to see her with her own congregation.

22. For Aubrey to feel the same way about us as I and many of the other kids felt about my parents when I was a teenager.

23. To be more forgiving. I have been harboring a lot of grudges lately. It is time to forgive and let go.

24. To not take things so personally. I tend to think that every negative comment is a personal attack both at work and at home. I need to toughen up a bit.

25. To not lose track of who I am. I think that sometimes it is much easier to be who everyone wants you to be.

26. To try to learn something new everyday.

27. To live a healthy lifestyle and set a good example for my daughter.

28. To see all 50 states. Shawn has seen 49, he only has Alaska to see. I have seen 16 of them. I am not counting the states we just drove through on our various travels. I have to have actually stopped to see something in them or spent the night.

29. To read the Bible cover to cover. I have read many of the verses. I would like to read it from start to finish. No hopping around or looking for just the verse I need at the moment.

30. To be happy. I have led such a happy and fulfilling life up until now that thirty goals seemed pretty difficult. When Shawn and I were about to be married he was worried that he had been to so many places and done a lot more than me. I looked at him and said that there was nothing that I wanted to do that I could not do without him there. That has not really changed in the six and a half years we have been married. The only difference is that it will be the three of us facing these next years together.