Trophys

Can you name the 32 major bones in your body?

How about all the 12 major muscle groups?

Can you name 18 heart facts?

How about 18 digestion facts?

If you can your are probably a 3rd grader at Pima elementary school and you have big ass (yes I said it) trophy to prove it!

Abby was never as proud as the day she came home it the trophy proclaiming her a "human anatomy expert!"

The physical education teacher at the school are amazing, part of PE class is that you learn all the above and some while you are exercising your body, your mind gets a work out too! The teachers start the year off asking for parents old trophy's, some are small some are HUGE I do mean huge! When the kids can recite the "facts" they get to take one home!
As we sit on the bench in the afternoon slowing watching the kids flood the hallways we see them, they are typically held high in the air or are so big you have no choice but to see them. Other kids gather around and check out the hardware. The other moms and I look at the huge ones and go thank god that is not my kid! I doesn't take long before one of us is opening our trunk to put one in! The kids are so proud! You don't want to discourage them but you are also not so keen on a huge trophy! I mean how do you decorate around it??

I did find out to get a thropy of 5 feet or higher you do have to have your parents sign a release! I guess there has been a few less than excited parents! LOL

The bench....

The school year is winding down and the end of the year celebrations are being planned! I remember how exciting this was a kid! SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER plays in your head....

There are things I will miss about the school year, the consistency of the schedule, knowing what the day will hold..

wake up

wake kids up, that is Tim and Abby, and pray that Max will sleep just a little longer...

take a bath, yep I said bath, I love to soak in the tub and slowly wake up!

If Max wakes up he likes to come lay on the bath mat, he has a bit of a ritual, he pulls all the towels off the bars and get down in child's pose. It is like his own trip to Mecca each morning. Then as I am getting out he hands he the towels form the floor and my robe, some days he finds my glasses for me,he is my bath valet!

There are always a few shouts out the door...can't you two get along for two seconds...no I don't know where ___ is...did you brush your teeth...sometimes Max likes to mimic me and will run out in the hall and "yell" at them too.

By the time I am out and brushing out my hair getting dressed a few more fights have ensued ...he touched me...she looked at me...we finally get to the car! Drive over to school where I promptly kick them out the door. It is May and yet still some parents have no clue what to do when they get to the drop off zone..I bemoan this almost every morning, the kids know this, the chime in...why don't they have their stuff ready...what???...seriously what could they be doing?? Are they new here??

Off to work! It is a small office, I work part time. With the exception of my boss everyone else is kidless and have no idea I am sure how I can look so frazzled it is only 8 am! Flash to 1:30 while I enjoy working and being out of the house, I look forward to this time of day...no it is not because I get to see my lovely children, that is just too story book!

It is the bench...

I get to school a little early everyday and just inside the main court yard there is a row of benches...this is where my friends are! What a treat each day to see your friends! People you truly like and look forward to catching up even if it is just for a few minutes before the chaos begins. It is also a time to barter out carpools to practice, playdates and more importantly GIRLS Night out!

Many of the moms there I have know for years! Our kids went to preschool together or we are baseball moms...We watch the end of the day goings on...the kids who linger on the way to the bathroom for that last escape from the classroom.

Then the flood gates start to open slowly, a couple of 6th grade girls come and help get the kindy kids where they need to go, a nice line to the bus.



Then here they come! One by one, some who have brokered their own playdates and others who pile all of their STUFF on their moms, backpacks stuffed to the brim art projects...the dreaded trophy (Remind me to tell you about these one day) ..and there it went, our peaceful time of day, now off in to the rat race...

yes I do get to go home, but that is where my rat race is!



We walk in and Max has a built in timer he knows we are almost there. He has taken to barking at people when they come in the door. Barking because well that is what the dog does! We get settled in here is what happens...



Tim/ Abby MOM!! We don't have ANYTHING for snack...

Me- We have granola bars, crackers, cheese, fruit, leftovers,chips, soup...you can make a sandwich...

Tim/Abby - But I wanted ___ and he/she took the rest of it

me- find something else (repeating list)

This goes on till someone says---You don't care that I am going to starve!



Then it is homework time..this used to be a major struggle but has become better over this year, I am sure we will be fighting come the fall again!



By this time Jim is home...Max doesn't bark at him he get a huge DDDAAADDEEE! and a running hug! All is well his daddy is home. We rush about trying to figure out what is for dinner and get everyone fed in time to go to whatever game or practice who is going to go with whom to here and who is taking Max with them.

Hopefully we are all home and ready for bed by 8:00 Yes I did say we all, Max lays down with us and we typically fall asleep too...

I look foward to the summer, typically less stuff going on that you can do the fun things! Tim made the All Star team and that mean baseballin July and that while exciting for him to be an all star...who wants to play or watch baseball when it is 110+ degrees out??

There is lots to look forward to... but I know I will look forward to the new school year and seeing my friends and telling the tales of what I did over my summer vacation and hearing all about theirs...back home at our bench....which is a little like Cheers "where everyone knows you name"......

Chairs...

Chairs... We are coming up the year anniversary of the day my dad passed away, it was Mother's day 2007. I was thinking of a way to write something about him, but I think I will let his chairs do the "talking"

These beautiful chairs are my Dad's creations, he and my brother (Keith) went to a school in New England to learn how to make these Windsor chairs. They got to spend time together and had something to show for it. It seemed like if this went on too many more years we would have had chair all over the house.

The one on top here is a high back Windor chair, the lazyboy of it's day! Or so my Dad told us, see he would being the chairs home 3/4 the way done some more some less, so he could put them together here. That way he didn't have to worry about HOW to get it back to Arizona on the plane. This one is the last chair he made. It wasn't quite finished, another arm had to made and well a few other things and as my Dad was in hospice, my brother spent a few days in between trips to see him finishing the chair. I could tell you the detail but when Keith would read this he would have all kinds of corrections! I know I will never do it justice. He brough the chair for Dad to see, sadly he finished it the day before he died and I don't think he ever really saw it. It sat in the room, I sat in for a few hours that day I lost my Dad. When I feel like I need a hug from my Daddy this is where I find myself...In this chair.




This chair is the first chair he made a classic Windsor, his last Christmas he gave it to me, not to keep but with a promise to make a set of my table. He made this one to fit him, although it fits my long legs nice too! It is just few inches higher than an average chair..




These two chairs live happily together in our new family room!















This next chair is a writting chair, it lives in Abby's room. She loves to have something that Grandpa made and sits and writes at it.






















There are three of them each kid will have one some day.

There is one other chair I want to tell you about, it is my moms...This is her Hithcock rocker. My dad gave it to her, it is where she rocked Keith and I as babies and the countless kids who were in her care. She loves to rock, she has rocked her grandkids here and as you can see her hands have worn it just perfect! Over the years as the paint was fading there was always talk of refinishing it, now I just look at it and see the beauty of her hands that have loved us all imprinted there. It is just perfect the way it is!