MIMI'S NEW NICK NAME

This afternoon Brandy came over to the house with the boys while Mimi and Halli were in school. Since Christmas she has been semi laid up with a bad foot. I offered to go over to her house for our lunch date thinking that it would be easier since she has the two babies but now I realize the the reason she wanted to use our house is the fact that she must be getting cabin fever by now. When the time came, I went to pick up the girls and come back to our house. McCallister was overjoyed to see the girls. He just loves tagging along after them. They in turn love to tease him in order to get him to chase the both of them around the house while shouting out Hawa (Halli) and Pee Pee (Mimi). The boy is only two at this point.

DEEP DISCUSSIONS

Mimi is just a happy-go-lucky kinda gal and I really love that part of her personality. Every now and then she will surprise me with some deep questions and it catches me off guard sometimes. This morning she saw our local paper that has a picture of Jesus looking up to the sky with the sun rays shinning down on his face and off in the distant is the 3 crosses. Mimi started asking questions during breakfast. I still did not have my morning tea and was not quite awake yet but I thought that if she is asking, now is the time to answer. She wanted to know who that was in the picture so I told her. Then there was silence. Finally she says "but how did he get in the picture?" "You mean, how did the picture get into the paper?" I asked. "Uh huh" Mimi answered. So I told her that it was actually a painting and the papers printed in the paper. "You mean he's not REAL???" the girl asked wide eyed. "Yes, Jesus is real but back in those days people did not have cameras so they drew pictures" I answered. She just looked at me like I had two heads as if to say "Are you serious? People didn't have cameras then???" More questions. "Is he talking to GOD?" "Yes" I answered. "Well then, how come we can't see GOD?" she asked. "WHERE IS GOD?" again she asked with a puzzled look on her face. "God is everywhere" I answered. Finally she pipes up with "Blake knows everything. He is so smart." End of discussion.

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY....

It seems that the older Mimi gets the busier I am. The other night when us moms got together while the girls and their dads were out a comment was made. Janet said that it seemed that last year when our kids were in kindergarten, it was like one big party for us moms. We had more time to get together. Why is that? I wonder??? You would think that since the kids are in school, we would have time to get together more often. As for myself, I joined the gym to get myself into shape or least try to. Also since the weather is cool, it's time to get my backyard together. I've got bulbs to plant tomorrow. Dad planted my rose bushes for me last Sunday. There are four bushes in all. Today Bryce came over to help me go out and pick up rocks to line my flower bed. Since going from two paychecks to one I am having to pinch pennies and buying the stones for the flower beds are costly. So now since there is a new developement going up, I went to pick up my rocks for free. In the next few weeks, the nurseries will be getting more plants and shrubs that I want to go and check out. Unbeknownst to Mimi, next month we will be making a trip down to Portland and on the way we will be stopping at The Great Wolf Lodge (indoor water park). I know she will be shocked. Last February Keri invited us to go along with them as it was Blake's birthday, but we graciously declined as we were getting ready for the Olympics. When Mimi got wind of Blake going there she was highly upset with me "I'VE BEEN DYING TO GO THERE AND YOU WON'T LET ME!!!" She would be even more upset if she knew Keri invited us and we said "No thank you".

FATHER/DAUGHTER BALL

Tonight was the big night of the year for all of the girls in Maple Valley. This is the one and only time I can get Mimi to wear a dress without a hitch. However the girl does have expensive taste. She only likes Nordstrom dresses. It did not happen though. Tonight's theme was Masquerade Ball. As usual the girls danced together while the dad huddled together. Mimi did say that she danced with dad a couple of times. She was quite pleased that they played her favorite song "The Hokey Pokey". Meanwhile us moms gathered at our house and had a party of our own. It was a last minute plan and it worked out well. All of the girls except Mimi have younger brothers and the boys were not happy that the girls have a special night with their dads and they have nothing. So they came to the house also and joined in with us moms. We stayed up till the girls got home. Then all of the dads regaled in their stories. For a minute dad thought he would not know anyone at the dance. "Who's going to be there?" he asked me. Then when I said "John (Halliwell's dad) will be there " dad was quite relieved. Turns out a couple more dads from the neighborhood was there also. I must mention that before the dance, the dads took the girls out to dinner at the Panda Express. Everyone had a good time tonight.

REPORT CARD TIME

It's that time again. However the folks around here refer to it as a "Progress Report". For the most part Mimi did pretty good. Mostly 3's with a couple of 4's. Math is where she fell short this time. It's not that she does not know how to solve the problem, it's just that she just freezes up when the tests are timed. The students get just one minute to solve 20 problems. Out of the problems she does complete, she gets them all correct. The problem lies in completion. So we are glad that she made it into the zero hour this time again. This zero hour class has to deal with math. We are practicing her math at home too. There is a website called Mathmagician that we are using and it seems to be helping. Other than that she has no problem at all. So all in all we are super proud of her to say the least. The teacher writes: Naomi is doing very well in 1st grade. Naomi's reading is progressing nicely. She is now able to read books on which she is tested for fluency (rate of reading) and asked comprehension questions and she did just fine in both areas. Naomi is dear. She enjoys life and class and we enjoy her.

AT THE PARK

Yesterday we were so blessed to have such gorgeous weather. It was way
too nice to play indoors so off to the neighborhood park we went after
school.

THERE IS NO PRINCESS LIVING HERE

Tonight Mimi and I went out to buy her shoes for the Father/Daughter
Ball this coming Saturday. All the way to the store Mimi whinned "I
HATE SHOPPING!" Then when we arrived to our destination the girl cried
out "I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!" While there we bought a new umbrella for
her ad the Hello Kitty one gave out. I bought that one way before I
knew that she would turn out to be such a rambunctious tomboy. Take
mote that the handle is in the shape of tires.