I wish I had my camera!

This is for you locals. We had a nice family outing this afternoon to a new park in San Elijo. It's called Double Peak Park and its on top of the highest peak you see looking towards San Elijo. It has AN AMAZING view of San Marcos, Vista, Escondido, and the ocean. YOu feel like you are on top of the world. There is a neat tiny playground with some man made rocks to climb and ropes to climb on. There's also a neat teetertotter that looks like a bench right at the parking lot. L and M had a blast. To get to the park, take Twin Oaks up to San Elijo and turn right on Double Peak Road and take it all the way up to the clouds.

Summer Days

Last week we got out the 'craft box' that includes every craft they've ever made. (Or I should say every craft they've ever made that didn't end up in the garbage pail.) They love to look over what they've made and here, they had fun burying themselves in the craft projects.

This is my favourite pose. Lucas has been devouring books so far this summer. It was helpful that we found a great garage sale 2 weeks ago of a small church school closing. We bought 64 books for about 15 cents each. So, Lucas has lots to read this summer!

Marisa's a little slower in the reading department, and is usually done after one or two pages. But hopefully next year this time she'll be able to read without screaming "It's too hard!!!" However she does love books and has a stack of books on her bed every night that she "reads" to her stuffed animals. The stories she makes up to tell are quite fun to listen to.

An Eventful Weekend

It's been a full weekend. Thursday was Marisa's graduation from preschool. :-)
She was very excited about her graduation, but I wasn't prepared for her emotions as we walked out of the preschool that day. After 3 years of preschool she was very aware she wasn't coming back. She had a VERY sad look on her face and was almost in tears as we pulled away, cranking her head back to get a last glimpse of the school. :-( It was hard to see her so sad.

Friday morning we left the house bright and early at 6:15 to get to the surgery center where Victor was having yet another surgery. This is the 5th surgery he's had since I've known him and he had a few before that too ... he is falling apart. But we won't talk about the surgery he's refusing to have ... Oh, back to Friday - this time it was knee surgery. His knee is doing fine, but this morning (Father's Day) he threw his back out, so he's in terrible pain from his back. Did I mention he's falling apart?

And Saturday was my birthday! Yeah - my favourite day of the year - usually.

Victor felt terrible that I had to play nurse all day - and that I was really supposed to be in Minneapolis at my brothers wedding - away for 6 days without children - and since I was supposed to be away he didn't get me anything ... so I did what any respectful woman would do. I ate a whole box of candy, made brownies and ate them with chocolate icecream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. And since I don't like to sin alone, we invited some neighbors over to share in the gluttony.

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me!

Growing Up

Victor and I made the hard decision a month or so ago to pull Lucas out of the school he (and we) love and enroll him in the Cambridge Classical school. We have been very curious about classical education and really wanted to try the school out for a year. My mother's heart wanted to avoid telling him until the day we left for school so he wouldn't be sad all summer. On the way to school in Sept. I could say "Oh, by the way Lucas you're going to a different school this year...". Victor however didn't think that was a good idea. So we told him yesterday. He cried for 15 minutes saying "No, don't send me!" He finally stopped crying and went outside to cry whimpering. I followed him a few minutes later and we had a really good talk down in the sand. My little baby is growing up. He promised to try to let God help him not to be sad, and he promised to help Marisa not to be sad when we told her. A little later I took him out for icecream. By this time he had had more time to think and I asked him how he felt. He said "I feel pretty good about it - I really like history so I'm excited about learning about ancient Egypt. (We told him that's on the 2nd grade curriculum). I was so thankful that God had helped him through such sadness in such a short time. We made a list of pros and cons for the school and these are some things he came up with: He gets to learn Mandarin - out of the blue a few weeks ago he told me he wanted to learn Chinese. He's excited about doing multiplication - their curriculum is a year ahead in math. He's excited about learning Latin and wearing uniforms that have a shield with the latin words "soli deo gloria". He's excited about making new friends - he is the most extroverted child I've ever seen. (Of course he's also very sad about leaving friends behind.) He's excited about the "jingles" they chant to memorize grammatical terms.

After talking to him when he had calmed down, we realized he thought he had to go to school in the evening because that's the only times we've been there for the orientations. We assured him he could go to school during the day. He also was upset there was not a high school, but we assured him that there would be one by the time he made it there. It was really neat seeing my little boy growing up and talking through a problem, going to God for help and then smiling and playing and being my little boy again. God is good. Oh, and Lucas told Marisa they were going to the Cambridge school while she was playing with legos. Without even looking up from her building she said "OK, we can go there."

After our icecream, Lucas tried on his uniforms and we snapped this photograph.

It's Summer Time!

Lucas has been on summer vacation for a week now! He had an amazing teacher this year. She gave each of her 24 students a $5 gift card for Barnes and Noble. So we went yesterday to pick out a book. Being the education nazi that I am, I directed him to this series "Childhood of Famous Americans". We looked at all the possibilities and he chose Robert E. Lee. Since I am Canadian, I wasn't sure who he was. I asked Lucas if he was a president. He said, "No mommy, he was a general in the civil war for the confederate army." Oh to be as smart as a first grader. He read all 192 pages yesterday.

This addition to our backyard is going to be a lifesaver this summer. Victor built a huge addition to our backyard last fall. They love it. Unfortunately he messed up his knee doing it. So, next Friday (the day of my brothers wedding in Minneapolis) he has to have knee surgery. Since our paid insurance ends the end of June we had no other option but to take that date. So, needless to say, I'm missing my brothers wedding (and losing a plane ticket and even worse - my 6 day vacation away without kids). So...... next topic ....

Lucas was outside playing the other day and I guess he was missing school, because he felt the need to compose words out of sticks. It was soooooooo sweet. He called me down to see this message that said "Hi mommy, you are the best mommy in the world."

This is what happens when boys have sisters.

Mini Olympics

Lucas' school had it's mini olympics 2 weeks ago. It was fun watching him run, skip and jump! Here he is trying to race with 2 older girls.

I was in tears laughing watching him skip. He's never touched a jump rope before, but he sure was trying! Do you see how far off the ground he jumped each time?

Marisa in on the fun playing with her friend Olivia. (Marisa is actually a month older and 2 feet shorter!)

A sweet sound ...

My voice is still a bit hoarse from my 2 week cold. Reading at night has been a challenge. I finally got smart one night and asked Lucas to read to Marisa. What a sweet sound to hear him reading to his sister. (Who, he said today was his very, very best friend. Another sweet sound. If only that feeling he has could last during their frequent arguments ... )