Chicago

Last week we went to Chicago for a wedding. We had so much fun. The first day the boys went to Six Flags with Daddy and I took CiCi to visit a fellow Guate mom that lives right around the corner from Six Flags. The boys had a ball at Six Flags. I have been waiting for pictures from DH (off his camera phone) but I gave up and decided to post anyway. When we visited A and her crew, we met them at their church. They were having Vacation Bible School. CiCi loved it. I couldn't believe how she just played and played without worrying that I was not standing right next to her. It started a trend that is making me feel like we have finally turned a corner and can possibly start leaving her with a babysitter. FINALLY!!!

On our last day in Chicago we went to a Cubs game. They happened to be playing the White Sox which made for a very expensive ticket. We decided that we would just hang out in Wrigleyville. We did that for a while and then we noticed that tickets were still be scalped in the third inning. By the fourth inning we were finally able to get standing room only tickets for a price that we were willing to pay. It actually worked out great because we were able to keep CiCi in her stroller and if we bent down at the right angle we had a great view of the game. The boys thought it was the greatest thing ever. The Cubs scored multiple home runs in the fourth inning, which they got to see, and the Cubs won the game pretty easily. We even got to hear our new favorite song which we have been listening to all season - "Go Cubs Go" as it was played on the way out of the stadium and everyone in the stands sang along very enthusiastically. CiCi happens to love the song and will say "Go Cubs Go" and at the end of the song will also say the word "TODAY" (the line is, "Cubs are going to win today") It is very cute!!!!







This was our view. If you sat just so on the rail you could see perfectly. With three kids in tow, we may have found a secret best cheap seat in the house :)







The next two pictures show two very tired children. Kenz just couldn't walk another step towards our car and just had to sit down. He was whining pretty dramatically until an ice cream man on bike strolled by. All the sudden Kenz was running to us full speed so as not to miss out on the ice cream.




I'll post all about the wedding tomorrow.

A pretty day to play outside

These pictures were taken back before the sun became brutally hot.

I've been tagged

I've never been tagged before either (Rhonda :)) so I'll do my best...

The rules of the game: Each player answers the questions themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 4 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answers.

Ten years ago... After trying to get pregnant for over six months (not a long time - I know now, but it seemed like an eternity at the time) I decided to go on and interview for a teaching position. I accepted the position in May, decided to stop trying for a while so that I could at least teach through my first year and ,of course, two months later I am ...pregnant. My first week of teaching I had to tell my boss that I would be having a baby in April (which ended up being March because my Arby decided to come early - but that is a whole other story)

Five things on today's to do list... VBS for the boys, Kindermusik for CiCi, get a babysitter for tonight after DH forgets that my best friend is in town for ONE night and we have plans for dinner. (My lovely DH has a business meeting that he can not get out of until 8:00 blah, blah, blah - yes, I am a little bitter at the moment) after finding that babysitter decide to extend the night into dinner and a movie with my best friend which I am sooooooooooo looking forward to!!!!!!!!!

Snacks I enjoy... Rocky Road Ice Cream, White Chocolate Mousse Shiver with Oreo cookies, Chocolate Scone from my favorite little coffee shop, Milk Duds, Pringles

Things I would do if I was a millionaire...pay off all our bills, help obtain clean water and do what I could for literacy in Guatemala, help with literacy in my own city (sadly, it is greatly needed), open an enrichment center(whole other post), TRAVEL!!!!!!!!!!!

CiCi Loves Music

CiCi loves music. She will shake any rattle she sees, strum her brother's guitar, pound on the piano and sing along with any music she hears. When we turn the radio on she immediately starts dancing. My family was not blessed with musical ability. We can't sing, can't dance, have no musical instrument playing ability, and are really rather clumsy and uncoordinated (musically). Most of that has been passed down to my boys. It is funny how much we all hope that CiCi has some talent. She is our only hope. :)

Hats...Not Bows

CiCi loves hats. She puts one on her head any chance she gets, then she passes them out to the rest of us and insists we put a hat on, too. Usually she gives me the cowboy hat, but today (well, the day I took the picture - I am really behind in the picture-posting category and thought I would take sometime to catch up) she decided that she would wear it.
She does not like bows. Everyday I try to put a bow in her hair, but within seconds she pulls it out along with a small little chunk of hair. So I will quit trying for a while. Maybe she will eventually forget about her disdain for bows. I even went on and cut that piece of hair that hangs down in front of her eyes in every picture I take. I kept holding out hoping she would come to terms with the bow and knowing that when she did that chunk of hair hanging down in front of her eyes would be the perfect piece of hair to sweep back into a bow. But, alas, the hair is gone and I am left wondering if my little girl will always prefer baseball hats, fireman hats, cowboy hats, knights helmets and the small little colander that she absconded from the kitchen and wears around on her head as if it is a perfectly normal thing to do.

Happy Father's Day

My boys played with Daddy all day. They ran, played basketball, went bowling and ate A LOT of food. A very happy Father's Day indeed. (CiCi did her part playing defense in basketball and cheering when she felt like it, but she would take no part in the group pic.)

Bubbles

CiCi has been determined to learn to blow bubbles. Today she did it, over and over and over again. She is so proud of herself.

Read this article.

This article was written by Josh Waitzkin. I met him many years ago when Arby first began playing chess. Since then I have read his books, including The Art of Learning mentioned in the link below. The book is excellent and should be read by both teachers and parents. The link below leads to a link on an article Josh wrote. I love this article!!! I truly believe our society needs to take the future education of our children much more seriously. It should not be a platform for politicians. It needs to be a transformation, from the ground up, led by educators willing and able to think outside the box. Most importantly, students need to be groomed to love learning for the sake of learning and teachers and parents need to provide the tools, inspiration and environment to promote such learning.

http://scholasticchess.blogspot.com/2008/06/must-read-josh-waitzkin-article.html