FATHER/DAUGHTER DAY

This morning mom had a ESD meeting to go to and again asked Mimi if she wanted to go with her "Maauum (mom) (sigh), I told you yesterday that I want to stay home!" "I want to have a pajama day" so the girl says. So while mom was out at the ESD meeting and doing her monthly shopping at Uwajimaya market in downtown Seattle, Mimi stayed home with dad. Of course you guessed it, our adopted son Blake came over to play for the afternoon. He and Mimi always have a blast together. Meanwhile dad was putting up the Christmas lights on the house like he promised Mimi that he would do and she lovingly tells him "dad, this is our father / daughter day isn't it?" Kinda warmend his heart when she said that.

KID OVERLOAD

Again today was spent not doing much. We did however make it to downtown Seattle after stopping at Red Robin's for a late lunch. Butch tagged along with us while we went to dad's office to pick up mom's new computer that somehow managed to become Mimi's. Hmmm I wonder how I got bamboozeled into that one? We did manage to go by Macy's dept. store and see the traditional star light and all the Christmas lights along the street.

After arriving home this evening there was a message left by Blake. Mimi no sooner called him back than he showed up. Took all of 45 seconds from the time she hung up the phone till he showed up. Gawd how I love that boy even though at times he can drive me crazy. He absolutely adores Mimi and Butch. Butch loves playing with the kids although now and then he will come running upstairs with such a look on his face that says "Kid Overload!!!" Then he proceeds to pass out in his bed in the office. Meanwhile Mimi and Blake are downstairs playing Wii sports.

PERFECT ENDING TO A PERFECT DAY

Again we spent another day lounging around in our pj's. Weather is still cold, rainy and damp outside. All day we munched on left overs and video marathoned it all day. Usually our schedule is so busy that we never get a chance to watch movies therefore we made up for it today. We saw Ariel The Beginning, Madagascar, Lion King, and Meet The Robinsons. In between times we played cards, played with Butch, played with the trains, watch Butch steal Mimi's small soft penguin and train pieces whenever he got the chance and run off with them only to hear Mimi yell "Hey Butch, give that back!!!"

THANKSGIVING DAY CELEBRATION

Yesterday started off with us just being lazy and doing nothing. Later in the afternoon Halle and her family came over to hang out for a couple of hours and we watched the Seahawks lose to the Dallas Cowboys. That was so, so, sad, sad, sad. Brandy brought over some salad and mom made her own version of hot pockets. Then it was time to head over to grandma's for a delicious turkey dinner. Today mom was planning to take Mimi to Flaming Geiser State Park and see if we could watch the salmon swim up the river, but mom is feeling a bit under the weather plus it is cold and rainy outside. Maybe we will go tomorrow weather permiting. It's just kind of nice to spend a quiet day around our house staying in our pj's all day and lounging around. It's something that we never ever get to do otherwise.

FAMILY THANKSGIVING

After school this afternoon, mom and Mimi took Butch over to the school yard to play for a while. All of Mimi's friends had stuff to do before Thanksgiving so they were busy which in a way was good. Mom and Mimi spent the time playing at the schoolyard by themselves. As usual Butch was a hit with the kids at the school. After playing on the field for a while we walked over to where the kindergartener's have their playground and we saw Ms. Hinami (Mimi's school music teacher) and talked for a while. Mimi introduced her to Butch. Ms. Hinami says that when school starts again after the holiday, Mimi could play some songs she has practiced on the piano for her friends at school. How about that?

This evening mom and Mimi are planning to head over to the South Center Mall to have a Pre-Thanksgiving dinner with dad at the Rainforest Cafe. Of course we will have to stop at Border's Bookstore. That is always a must for us.

Tomorrow Halle and her family will stop by to hang out with us for lunch as they too do not have any family here in Washington, then around 4:00 we will head out to grandma's for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner.

FOG FREEZE

Fog freeze is something that mom has learned about the other night on King 5 news. Anyone ever hear of it??? According to the news it happens when the weather gets so cold that the street pavement freezes and when the fog touches the street pavement, something known as "black ice" forms. Black ice is when the ice on the street is clear and you cannot see it, but once your car hits the black ice it can skid and sometimes skid off the road into the ditch which is something that has happened to dad many years ago. For the past couple of days there has been a fog freeze warning. In fact this morning it looked as if it had snowed but instead it was frost on the way to school. Butch came along for the walk and boy is he a hit with the school kids and he is loving it too.

AFTERNOON RECITAL

Between the time school let out and piano lessons were to begin, Mimi had about one and a half hours to kill. A couple of days ago mom had promised Janet that she would also pick up Erin from school, of course when the other kids got wind of it they all wanted to come also which is totally fine with mom. The weather has not been good lately, way to wet for the kids to play outside. Mimi has been practicing her songs real hard this week so that she could play for her friends. They were quite impressed. A good time was had by all.

TOPSY TURVEY

The time now is 7:42 in the morning and mom has been up for an hour and a half enjoying this quiet moment until now. Mimi just woke up which is late for her.

This week is still parent/teacher conference at the school plus it is a holiday week which means our schedule for this week has been turned around. Mimi normally goes to school in the afternoon but due to the schedule change, she has to go in the morning. That means mom had to re-schedule her piano and gymnastic classes for the afternoon.

Although it is still the fall season, it is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas or so the song goes. There is a chill in the air and the nights are crystal clear. One can see a whole sleuth of stars at night. It is so cold that the cats are staying in the house more often. Come this weekend, dad says that he will put up the Christmas lights. That should make Mimi real happy. She can't wait for Santa Claus to get here.

BOLT AND BLAKE

I swear that Mimi and Blake must have been related in their infinite past. He can't wait to come over to our house and she can't wait to go over to his. They play and argue just like brother and sister. Which is probably why he chose to come here this morning as opposed to going over to Zoe's house. Poor, poor Keri. It seems as if she needs to divide herself in half at times. Bailey loves to play with Braden (Zoe's little brother) and although Blake adores Zoe, he would rather play with Mimi. This morning Keri had some Christmas shopping to do for the kids and so she dropped Baily off at Braden's and Blake came here. Fortunately we all within a block of each other. We moms were supposed to get together for lunch today but silly mama, she forgot that the kids are home from school this Thursday and Friday due to parent/teacher conference (I must say Mimi did pretty darn good. We are so proud of her). As much as mom loves Mimi, she enjoys having lunch/drinks with her friends without any interruptions from Mimi. Therefore we put our lunch date off till after Thanksgiving. Keri and mom were planning to take the kids to the movies but when Keri arrived home from shopping she called mom to let her know that she and Bailey will not be going with us. Ms. Bailey was having a total meltdown. She was quite upset about leaving Braden's house. So off to the newly remolded South Center the three of us went to see Disney's "Bolt" and check out the new AMC Theater. Really, really nice theater and mom loves stadium seating with the armrests that go up. Oh and by the way cute movie too. Mimi and Blake really enjoyed themselves. They laughed themselves silly all the way home. They can't get enough of each other so they are now both over at Blake's having a good time. As soon as dad gets home we are going over to Black Diamond to check out this little Italian joint and see how good they are. Will give a report later.

TEETH CLEANNING

Today started off with gymnastic class, then a trip to the local shopping store followed by lunch at mom's favorite teriyaki place. There are a gazillion of them here. When 2:00 rolled around, mom and Mimi were in the dentist office waiting to be seen. Mom's hygenist was a very nice gal. She had a lovely conversation with Mimi. They talked all about teeth. When she asked Mimi about how many teeth she had, mom decided to count them for Mimi. Lo and behold what did she see? None other than four molars starting to come through! The hygenist said that they are Mimi's 6 year old molars. This explains why Mimi has been feeling a bit warm lately but it has not slowed her down one bit.

WINDY

While the folks down in Southern California were fighting fires, us folks in our town were battling the winds today. According to the weather report we are supposed to get 50 mph winds tonight.

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Picture is blurry but readable. This sign was found on the wall of the skating rink. It just cracked me up.

MORE BIRTHDAY PARTY PICTURES

Pictured with Blake is Zoe aka "the other woman". Bailey absolutely adores Zoe's younger brother Braden and although Blake really adores Zoe, he loves Mimi just as much. He spends just about every free minute he has at our house. At the party mom heard Keri tell Blake "You are not going over to Mimi's anymore tonight mister(he's been over here every single day), you are coming home, but if Mimi wants to come over it will be alright". So of course the boy asked and I had to tell him the answer is no but that we will see each other tomorrow for sure. Weekends are the only real time we get to spend as a family because dad works long hours. In fact he and Mimi are downstairs now watching Madagascar. Mimi saw the sequel but not the original.

HALLIWELL'S BIRTHDAY

This morning was spent with Mimi and Blake having a pancake breakfast then playing more Wii. We then all went over to Sara's house to pick up the Littly Tykes playset that they were giving us. Blake tagged along and that of course made his day. He absolutely adores Mimi's friend Sara I think mainly because she is the "older woman". Sara is all of 8 years old. When all was said and done, we headed home to pick up Keri and baby sister Bailey and headed over to the ice rink for Halliwell's birthday party. Pictured from left to right is Mimi, Erin and Halliwell.

RINGS ON FINGERS AND TOES

We no sooner came home from Grandma's house and Home Depot than ol' Blake showed up at the door. For a while they stayed outside to help dad rake the leaves only that Blake is the one who is a good helper. Mimi would rather just goof off. Next thing I knew they were talking sleep over. Mom talked it over with Keri and Keri gave him the green light. You never saw a happier boy in your life. Most of the time Mimi and Blake spend their time playing Wii or with Butch or just goofing off as you can see here.

DAD'S NEW TOY

This afternoon we went to Home Depot and dad bought new toy and mom purchased a new toy for herself. None other than a screw driver to keep in the kitchen. You find that especially when one has a kid, their toys come batteries and nowadays they come with those doggone screw in panels.

Dad's new toy is the leaf blower/vac. Today the weather has been amazingly gorgeous, so all of the neighbors have been raking up their leaves. We also have pine needles from the Fir trees and they are a real pain in the tuckus to clean up. Dad's new toy works wonders I must say.

BRUNCH WITH THE GIRLS

This morning started off with a lovely breakfast that was cooked by mom followed by Mimi calling her BFF's over to play for a while. Then mom fixed them a ramen snack before it was time to take the girls home and head over to Grandma's and Home Depot.

GOT ICE CREAM?????

Today is the beginning of parent/teacher conference at Mimi's school. While Keri was at the conference, Blake went over to Zoe's. Soon as it was done both Shelley and Keri went to do some erriands while mom took care of the kids, fed them their favorite lunch of grilled cheese sandwich and apple slices. The ice cream sandwiches were desert. Then it was time to drop the kids off at school and we moms got together for our Margarita Friday's. Mom has a standing deal with the girls. Keri provides the place, Shelley makes the drinks and mom cooks something for us to eat. This week mom made cerveche, baked pita bread and hummus. Mom is becoming quite a good cook if I do say so myself. Soon as school let out, we all headed back to Keri's for a evening playdate.

POOPED

Yesterday mom and Mimi had quite a busy day. It started of with Mimi waking up at her usual 6:30 am wake up call. Then mom had to feed the gang cause they were all starving. Nice thing about getting up early is that mom could get started on the housework. Mimi's new thing is for mom to make her a breakfast burrito which takes less than 5 minutes to make. Mom has become quite a microwave whiz. Then it was time to practice the piano for about 20 minutes then head out the door to gymnastics. Soon as that was done, it was time to head over to the new Costco in town to get some necessities and Fred Meyers's for other things. Freddies does make fresh sushi everyday and they know exactly the kind that Mimi likes however it is not gourmet like the ones you will find on Samantha's Blog site. That sushi looks totally scrumptious. But Freddies is good enough for now. To get good sushi one has to go to South Center Mall or downtown Seattle. That is a trek for us.

We got home just in time for Mimi to quickly change clothes and head over to school. While Mimi was in school, mom got on a cleanning kick at home. She was like a white tornado. Dad knows that when mom puts on her R&B music it is time to stay out of the way.

Soon as school let out the kids all wanted to play together. It stopped raining but was "freeze you nunnies off cold". While the other moms, Brandy, Keri and Shelley could not make up their minds as to what the afternoon plans were going to be, the kids were taking off for Mimi's house. Mom was running to keep up with them while she's yelling to the other mom's to call the house and let her know what's going on. We all eventually ended up at Zoe's house, whch is where Mimi has been wanting to go for such a long, long time. Zoe's family does have a gorgeous home. Kind of looks like something out of Home and Garden, unlike our home where there is Mimi's school work hanging all over mom's kitchen cabinets.

All of the kids had a blast, Mimi, Blake, Zoe, Halle, Braden, Bailey, Allyah. 4, five year olds, 1 three year old, 1 two year old and a 8 year old. As Shelley calls it "instant birth control".

For the most part ol' Blake had a good time but then there were the times when he wanted to hold Zoe's hand or play with her but she did not want to hold his hand or play with him. Zoe would rather play with Mimi and Halle, so she kind of gave him the cold shoulder. Poor little fella. It seems that although there are quite a number of kids in our neighborhood, the kids are either teenagers, elementary school age (1st grade and up and they are mostly girls) or babies. There are no boys close by that is Blake's age. It also seems that when he plays with Mimi or Zoe on a one to one basis things go well however when they all get together it's girls vs boys and poor ol' Blake is numbered out. I guess at this age is when the girls and boys start to separate before the teenage years.

By the time 8:00 rolled around last night we were all pooped. Mimi was so tired that she actually over slept this morning and woke up at 7:30.

GO FISH AND BUTCH

Butch is a real hit with Mimi and all of her friends. For the most part he is a pretty good ol' pal to everyone. The hard part is the wee wee training that involves going outside in the cold and rain. Butch really hates that and I can't say that I blame. Mom is going to try an experiment. She put Butch's cage in the garage and tonight she will go out to buy some wee wee pads and will have ol' Butch take care of business in the garage. ''

This afternoon after school Mimi and Halliwell are enjoying each other's company playing Go Fish.

MADAGASCAR 2

Although there was no school today in honor of Veteran's Day there still was gymnastics. So off we went. Soon as gymnastics was over we met with Keri and Shelley at the local McDonald's for a quick lunch then headed over to the movies to watch Madagascar 2 in particular. You may have guessed it by now. Yes Blake rode with Mimi and mom. Sometimes I think that he and Mimi are joined at the hips. When the movie was over, mom went her separate way and you may have guessed it again, Blake had a meltdown because he knew that Mimi was coming with mom and he had to go with his mom which is something he did not want to do. He came with us end of story. Movie was pretty good mom thought. There were some funny parts that the parents understood but not the kids. I think it was just a smidgen above Mimi's head.

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY

This was made by Mimi yesterday at school as they studied about Veteran's Day. It was made to honor all the men and women who have served and those who still are serving in the armed forces. It is in special honor of her Grandpa Dan who served in the Navy and witnessed the imfamous flag raising on Iwo Jima. It is also another special honor for her Cousin Valerie who is in the Air Force and served countless missions in Iraq.

SASSY

I would say that within this past week Mimi has become a smidgen sassy especially with mom. Maybe because we're together most of the time. This evening no sooner than when Blake and Zoe left to go home, Mimi smacked Ollie with a dvd cover. Not hard but none the less a smack. As a result she was sent to her "time out sofa" and proceeded with a meltdown. When she gets mad she likes to turn her nose up, say "humph!" and hit so she will hit the sofa. Mom then took her outside to sit on the front porch step and told her that she could hit the step as much as she wanted too. She did not want to and so back inside we went. We then sat down and had a discussion as we always do in these cases. Mimi then went to Ollie and appologized with hugs and kisses. As soon as dad arrived home and he read Mimi a bedtime story, he and mom sat in the office while mom told him all about the events of the day. As soon as mom got to the part of Mimi's sassiness, she could hear Mimi outside the door listening in on our conversation so mom called her in and she jumped into mom lap. Mom then proceeded to tell dad the story only to have Mimi say "Mom, can you pause it? I have to go pee." While Mimi was on the toilet mom started to talk to dad only to hear Mimi yelling from the bathroom "No! PAUSE IT!" When she was done she jumped back onto mom's lap and says "OK, now you can play it". Together we told dad of Mimi sassiness today. Apparently something is going on with the kindergarteners at school cause Janet tells mom that Erin has been quite sassy lately too. Hopefully this to shall pass at least for a while.

AFTERNOON PLAYDATE

This past weekend mom updated Mimi's phone list of friends. Of course when Mimi saw the list the first thing that came out of the kid's mouth was not "Gee, thanks mom", instead it was "You forgot Lindsey's phone number mom!" It seems that I can't win at anything nowadays.

After school today Mimi had asked Zoe over to the house and good ol' Blake heard about the girls plans and was starting to feel left out. Poor guy.

Having the kids at the house today was like entertaining The Three Stooges. Jokes were flying a mile a minute.

Zoe then saw the Jelly Bellies in the kitchen pantry and asked if she could have some. Mom says "do you see STUPID written on my head somewhere?" Zoe says in her sweet litte voice "I'm going to tell my mom about this" "You mean that I did not give you any candy?" mom replies. "Uh Huh" says Zoe. "Oh please do tell her. That's all I need to do is fill you with candy and send you home on a sugar high. I'm sure she will be real happy with me. These Jelly Bellies are for my Christmas gum drop cookies this year."

CHOW TIME

When mom gets to cook'in, everyone comes a runn'in to the kitchen. Even the fish will come up to the top of the tank.

FATHER/DAUGHTER DAY

After coming home from Blake's house this afternoon, Mimi wanted to help dad stain the kitchen table. Dad says that she was more into goofing off rather than helping him so needless to say she was kicked out of the garage and sent into the house for mom to deal with her. Mom set her to work on practicing her songs for tomorrow's lesson with Ms. Celia. Mimi complains that practicing the piano is "boring", like I haven't heard that before. However she does enjoy playing the songs she knows real well for her friends when they come over.

SEAHAWK SUNDAY

As you can see, mom in not the only Seahawk fan in the house. It was a great game today against the Dolphins but unfortunately we lost 19 to 21. Boo Hoo Hoo.

DINNER AT GRANDMA AND GRANDPA'S HOUSE

As usual Blake came over to the house yesterday afternoon. Somehow it does not seem normal if he does not show up at least once a day. Later in the afternoon mom, dad and Mimi went over to grandma's for a spaghetti dinner that was yummy for the tummy. Dad spent his time getting together the recliner chair that they had bought. Next weekend he will put grandma's chair together. Dad is quite the handyman around the house among other things. We're quite lucky to have him around.

SILENT AUCTION AND RAINFOREST CAFE

These pictures were taken last Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Saturday night was the silent auction that was put on by the Rotary Club and Sunday afternoon we took Mimi to the Rainforest Cafe in the newly remodeled South Center Mall.

SALMON CROSSING

We survived the rainstorm. Today is supposed to rain a little but not like Thursday and Friday. We are now well over the normal rainfall. It was reported that Sea - Tac airport has a total of 3 inches of rain. Some places have 5 inches of rain. Last night mom was watching the King 5 news and it was reported that many of our rivers were rising due to the rain and Fall City runs right along the Snoqualmie River and they showed a video of the flooding there and you could see the salmon swimming across the street.

SCHOOL REPORT CARD

It's that time of year again folks. This is what came in Mimi's backpack last Friday. We parents are to study it over before our conference with the teacher next week. I think Mimi is doing pretty good so far. Always room for improvement. She already has told the teacher that she "has a headache" when it comes to doing the classwork. She would rather be outside playing in the playground.

ABC's

Our Mimi loves to whoop it up with the best of them but believe it or not she does have her quiet moments and this morning was one of them. While mom was checking the e-mails this morning Mimi was awfully quiet so mom gave a shout out to her only to be answered with "I'm busy!". Now we know why.

This afternoon she went to Blake's house for lunch and Keri took the kids to school while mom did a little Christmas shopping up in Northbend Outlet Mall and Target in Issaquah. Mom then got stuch in traffiic on Hwy 18 and had Keri pick Mimi up from school. We're so fortunate to have such good friends around when we need them. It really made Mimi's day too cause she just loves Keri soooooo much. In fact she is over there now whooping it up with Blake and Zoe. Tonight mom will take her Red Robins for dinner and then to Sara's.

DOWN POUR OF RAIN

This afternoon mom was planning to make the trip up to the Northbend Outlet Mall but is rather happy that she changed her mind. There was a horrendous downpour of rain this afternoon. Bailey fell asleep so mom picked up Blake along with Mimi and came home. As Mimi and Blake were walking home they sang the age old song of "It's rainning, it's pouring, the old man is snoring...." as they were splashing in the puddles without their rainboots on. Sometime this weekend dad is going to stain the kitchen table. Until then mom will keep it covered with the butcher paper. Works great for the kids. Then this evening when mom was listening to the news, it was announced that there is a new casino in Snoqualamie that is openning tonight and Jessica Simpson will be performing. Now mom is really glad that she did not make the trip to North Bend because there is a humongous traffic jam there on the I-90. One has to go through Snoqualamie in order to get to North Bend.

Tomorrow mom will take Mimi to Target and get her snow pants. As mom was driving along the highway yesterday, she noticed small patches of snow on the mountains already. Although the lifts are no yet open, people are already snowboarding up at Mount Hood Oregon and they are already selling tickets to the ski lodges.

NOVEMBER 4th ELECTION DAY

Mimi's soccer team was supposed to get together last week Thursday, but due to the fact that Coach Jim who is from Philadelphia was not here, the get together was postponed till this past Tuesday (election day). We all knew the reason why Jim was "delayed" in Philadelphia and just had to kid him about it. Somehow he was able to get tickets to the World Series Game and the party following the Phillies win. Now that he is back we all got together at our local Dairy Queen for our soccer banquet. Of course mom and Kelly (Coach Derek's wife) was urging everyone to get on with the show. We wanted to get home to watch the elections. Mom is quite pleased that the people she voted for on the federal and local level won. It was most definitely a historical day.

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCE TIME

November is the month for parent/teacher conference at Mimi's school. This afternoon Halliwell's parents went to have a talk with the teacher while Janet and mom stayed behind to watch all of the kids. As usual Mimi was in her glory. She absolutely loves having her friends over to the house and play.

According to Brandy (Halliwell's mom), back home in Orange County, the cut off day for kindergarten is Dec 2. For us folks up here in Washington, it is earlier. Not sure of the date but I think that it is Nov. 2. Halliwell's birthday is later this month and her parents were planning to have her been in kindergarten had they still be living in Southern California. Up here she would have to wait another full year. That is something that her parents did not want to do. For Mimi , she had to wait anyway as her birthday is in January. As a result, Brandy had to petittion for Halliwell to get into Mimi's school. That is a whole another process and story that I won't get into. Halliwell was accepted into the school and she is now in Mimi's class and she has become good friends with Mimi and all of Mimi's other friends. Then Brandy tells us that the school had told them that Halliwell would be there on a trial basis until the parent/teacher conference and it would be decided if Halliwell could stay in the class. That put a whole lot of stress on Halle's parents. Just the other day Brandy was told by the principal that the decision to keep Halle in school would be left up to Halle's mom and dad whether or not she stays or get taken out. Brandy is so very much relieved to hear that. Her main concern was that Halle loves the teacher and loves the friends she has made here and to take her out of the school would be devastating for Halle. Brandy says that the main reason why the school wanted her to wait was they felt that Halle might not be sociably ready for kindergarten. Brandy also says that they were told that Halle has a little trouble with focusing and on getting her work done in class but that it is not something huge and cannot be corrected. And as I recall last year Mimi had the same problem and mom was able to work it out with Mimi. Mimi's conference is coming up in a couple of weeks. As of now, Halle and Mimi are still classmates and BFF's.

WILD WEEKEND

Ok folks, although our friends are enjoying the summer like weather in California and we are in the midst of the rainy season, that does not stop us Washitonians from having any fun. It did rain on Halloween night however it stopped in time for the kids to go out trick or treating. Mimi went out with her friends Blake and Halliwell. She was more interested in just getting the candy and saying "trick or treat" more than eating it. When we got back home, mom noticed that her pumpkin candy carrier was empty. She then asked Mimi about it and Mimi said that she dumped in the candy bowl that is intended to give out to the trick or treaters coming to the door. Good girl I say. Later in the evening we all went over to Daphne's and Sara's house for a Halloween Party. We all had loads of fun

Come Saturday morning Mimi was invited to Rhianna's birthday party. She just turned one years old and while the moms and kids were in the kitchen/family room, the dads were enjoying the football game out in the living room. As you can see Mimi is still wearing her Halloween costume from the day before. She did change her underclothes however. Mom made sure of that. All the kids had fun playing and the moms had a good time chatting with each other. As it turns out, we really do live in a small community. Another mom there by the name of Eileen is also a student of Ms Celia (Mimi's piano teacher), also two other sisters in our neighborhood have the same piano teacher. Even ol' Butch made his rounds with the girls. By the time 1:00 p.m. rolled around it was time for us to walk home and get ready for the evening. We had Daphne's house to go to and then at 4:30 p.m. Mimi had to be at Erin's for her first sleepover there.

Erin's dad Sean is president of the Rotary Club and they invited both mom and dad to a special dinner/auction to be held by the club. Both mom and dad felt quite honored to be invited by them. We love them so much. They were among one of ours and Mimi's very first friends after moving up here from California and they are just the most nicest people around.

Just before going to this special event, mom wanted to make a quick stop at grandma and grandpa's house to see how they were doing. On Halloween they were planning to come to the house and join in the festivities but unfortunately grandpa took a spill at the gas station while putting air in the car tires. One of his hips popped out (he has right and left artificial hips) and he had to be transported to the hospital that afternoon. The doctor was able to pop it back in and he came home that night. I tell you, when it rains it really pours around here. Now grandma is walking around pretty good and she is back to driving but grandpa says that he does not feel that his hip is doing good and is planning to see the doctor sometime this week. I have a feeling that they are going to tell him that he will need another surgery. He just had surgery last year around Thanksgiving on his right hip. Oh well, so much for our tale of woes.

By the time we finished with our visit it was time to go to dinner. We all had a wonderful time. Lots of wonderful stuff on the auction block.

This morning started off with dad picking Mimi up from Erin's and we all went to the Seattle Culture Center for our Buddhist meeting and then headed over to the new South Center Shopping Mall for lunch at the food court and desert at the Rainforest Cafe. It seems that they have one down in Anaheim Disneyland too. Then it was time to come home in time to watch the Seahawks lose. Boo Hoo Hoo. Mimi and dad are now enjoying some father/daughter time downstairs watching her new favorite movie Star Wars. That's all the kids have been playing lately.