Lots of Firsts

I was blessed to get the day off for Frannie's school field day (early May) and Kevin attended Grace's field day at her school. Frannie had her ballet recital, she received a reading medal and we joined the neighborhood pool which has provided us with a daily respite. Frannie can officially swim, I mean really SWIM (across the pool, across the deep end, etc.) and Grace finally feels comfortable with her floatie in the pool and putting her head under-water. We are traveling to St. Augustine on Monday for a visit with family and friends. Can't wait to eat some of that Schooner's food. Any and all of it! Oh yeah, and Kevin had the back yard torn apart and put all back together. Here is a BEFORE picture. The "after" is still a work in progress.

These Are a Few of my Favorite Things

I get to work with clearly the most holy creations God has made. I get to spend my days having coffee with Moms who generally want you there, with kids who like to see you show up with fun activities and make baby-steps with them, enabling them to feel proud of their accomplishments. That's it. I get paid for this? Lord, when I get to heaven, can I spend half of eternity doing the same thing? Can I run and play with them and ask them all the questions I wish they could answer me here on this planet? The irony of their "value" here in our society is typical of a secular world. The first shall be last and the last will be first. I have been blessed to spend a good bit of time with a group of lawyers and then a group of kids like Ainsley. Kinda funny how the world values those rich men and women with Esq after their names (no offense to those lawyers out there, but you get my drift - especially those that are SO DANG IMPORTANT) and I have spent time with Father Ho Lung and Father Gregory in Kingston, both of whom are not as well known as Mother Teresa, of course, but they are Jamaican versions of her. Ainsley brought a ton of love into this world and the well-dressed lawyers with vacation homes at the beach ... well, let's just say I am grateful to have these experiences. Kevin is going to Boston to work Sox game today so I am incredibly jealous, ugh.

Oh Man, Go See This!!

I can't wait to go see this movie. Kevin has two friends from Alabama who helped make this incredible movie.

Thank you Baby Jesus for Spring Break! I picked up Grace from school today and she looked like she just saw Santa. We are so excited! Ten days of pure fun!

I can't stop writing letters to my Reps!

I am on the war path to transform the way our State BOE views my students and/or make them aware of how ridiculous rules affect a small percentage of the population. Do they care? We shall see.

If anyone with any decision-making powers got one look at my students or knew the first thing about them, no one would make them study chemistry, world politics and quantum physics!!! Pray for me people!

On a far happier note, look how cute my little chickens are (Grace nibbling during her St. Patrick's Day party and Frannie hard at work on her fairy. You would never guess by her finished product that SHE is the one with missing digits!):

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.....

Well, not really, but March brings .... SHAMROCK SHAKES! Yahoo! Lisa C., ha ha ha!

This photo of Grace shows her, after removing rubber bands that were on her head all night long! Later, Frannie, Grace and I were taking the car for a wash in the big MONSTER washing machine and although Grace is still petrified to do it, she wanted to go. So Frannie was comforting her .... she wins the prize for best sister (at least she gets this title for ten minutes - until she secretly pinches her).

Poor Little Kid

Poor little Frannie. She got ahold of this book and started asking questions about it. I guess Kevin read her part of it and she has simply broken apart about her birth Mom. It had to happen sometime, but I guess it took me by surprise. She was so upset about how much her birth Mom misses her that she has just sobbed and sobbed. I wanted her to know how much her Mom does love her and that she had no choice. I wanted her to know she can cry to me as much as she wants about it. And I also wanted her to know that only Jesus can take that pain away from her Mom. Frannie, Grace and I talked about how we will pray every time we think of her -- for Jesus to put peace in her birth Mom's heart and to somehow know Frannie is okay, loved, safe and happy. She showed me last night how she is going to kneel down and hold her hands in a praying position and ask Jesus to do that. It was so cute and sad. Grace didn't really know what to make of it all. She was sad that Frannie was so upset and she just wrapped her arms around Frannie and kissed her repeatedly on the arm. Oh, I could just squeeze that little peanut.

Candyland Championship

Lawrenceville is the site of the scarf-wearing Candyland Championship of the World. Nowhere else has a competition like this been seen in all the world. In a nail-biter, Grace Fay pulled ahead and overthrew the competition, winning 2 sets out of 3. She is, without a doubt, the undisputed lightweight champion of the world. All three competitors are seen above wearing their handmade, finely woven scarves. A rematch has been discussed.

Prayers go out to our boy Brett who is spending time in Scottish Rite. No updates today. Pray for Lisa to get some sleep. She's averaged about 72 minutes of sleep a day for the past 3 months. Mother of the Year? You bet.

Thank you God for weekends

We went out for a wonderful meal last night in our neighborhood to Sushi Gallery. Grace has a classmate named Ella whose family owns the restaurant (Benihana-style with hibachi too) and it was such a nice Friday treat. This week was short for work, but it seemed like it lasted 13 days. My friend once said they put "an addictive chemical in wasabi to keep you coming back" and I believe that theory to be true!

Oh Happy Day

Our weather is unseasonably warm, the girls are smart, happy and healthy, Kevin is working a fair amount (but not too much) and work is not too bad these days. I love my co-workers -- we have a great bond in our office and share a lot of laughs, my students aren't pulling my hair or kicking me in the shins lately. What more could a girl want? Oh yeah, are these adorable girls or what??

PS We have been loving my new version of chili: a pound of ground turkey, browned with 1/2 an onion, chopped fine. Add a can of black beans, can of white beans, can of red beans, can of corn (all drained) and a large can of pureed or diced tomatoes. Add 2 tbls of chili powder, a tbls. of cumin, tbls. of oregano, salt, pepper and a little bit of crushed red pepper. Yum!