Get Smart

Joel has a role in Get Smart...that didn't get into the movie. He went to the Premiere which was quite the event he reported. He was the Obstacle Course Instructor. That part was shot during a day that the fires were next to Warner Bros. studios. Our car even got bubbled paint on the door before crew came and took everyone's keys to move the cars. That film was probably very smoky and in the movie they only show a few closer shots of Steve in his fat suit on the course. Joel also is a Control Room Analyst, but no lines made it into the movie, although you can see him in shots. I am hoping that these bits will be in the deleted scenes on the DVD. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I was a huge Get Smart TV fan. Can't wait!

Lovin' Summer

We have been keeping too busy still, but summer is great. Next week, more relaxing and fewer appointments. I have no pictures, but you can check out the new Kids for Peace link that shows our recent trip to the beach for cleanup, fun, and eco tips. Lydia actually stood up on a small wave on a surfboard. I'm the bad mom without a camera. As a matter of fact, my kids didn't even have shoes because they hopped in the car without them and I didn't think to check. The sun has been shining so hot here, that was a bit of a painful walk to the beach from the car. Why do I think my kids won't remember that as a lesson? More of a lesson for the mom...check for the shoes.

Civil Rights Victory

Yea to the state of CA for providing equal rights to its citizens as couples of the same sex may marry beginning Tuesday, June 16. The people of CA need to support this state Supreme Court ruling and uphold it in November elections.

Kids

Following is a picture from the 1st Grade trip to Sea World. Kids are funny. Most were more interested in the photo booths and machine that flattens your penny than the amazing animals. "Yeah, yeah, I saw the killer whale." They did enjoy the bat rays and sea stars that you could touch.



When I asked Ryan to stop whining this morning, he said, "But mom, this is how kids talk when they are crying." Yup, it is. No more crying allowed.


It is the end of the school year and things are crazy at work and with numerous end of the year activities for the kids. I might break down. I keep telling myself that there is only one more week. I repeat, one more week.

Here is a photo of Lydia and her friend Nicole opening up the school's talent show with "Right Here in Your Arms" from Barbie as Island Princess. It was very sweet. They sang a capella and were right on.


We had a lovely visit with Aunt Martha and Uncle Phil this weekend. They are now traveling cross country back to VA. I would love to do the trip...without kids. I remember those trips when I was a kid. Painful. I suppose if you are not traveling with my 2 minute pit stop if you have to throw up do it now Dad, it could be better! I am considering driving to MN this summer, though. Weighing the cost of gas, hotels, kids trapped in the car and absurd airfare.

Phil and kids in disguise. That moustache was on the back of Ryan's pajamas when he woke up the next morning. I was sure it was a horrible bug.




All I have time for now. More when we are out of school. YEA! Out of school!

Kids for Peace

The kids and I have joined an organization called Kids for Peace. It is good to be part of this outreach group and helping to teach the kids that they can make a difference. They had a performance for a fundraiser for another organization at a Dinner Club in La Jolla a few weeks ago. We were kind of new to the group and still meeting people, but Lydia and Ryan took part. Lydia, the little pro, had a couple of lines and the song memorized. Ryan, on the other hand, was just excited to be there. Very excited. As they were going inside to head up on stage for the Kids for PEACE show, he pulled his little pretend guns (finger and thumb always handy) from his pockets and started loudly shooting his friends. "Pow! Pow!" I am a few people away from him and trying to grab him before he goes on stage with a Kids for Peace shootout in front of a large audience. I finally get to him and explain that he can't do that. He is saying, "Mom, it's just pretend." He agrees to stop, so I allow him on stage where he punctuates everyone else's lines with karate chops and pulls on Lydia's arms to entertain himself. She spends much time with a frozen smile trying to shake him off. I was too horrified to take pictures. All in all the show was very cute, the audience enjoyed it, and there is nothing better than hearing kids talk and sing about creating positive change in the world beginning with themselves. Maybe some will rub off on my gunslinging boy.

Pretty cool!

http://www.maniacworld.com/frozen-in-grand-central-station.html

First Grade Play

Time for the first grade play again! This year Lydia was a narrator and a sea monster with her class. She was fabulous, of course. It was a big production again with 130 kids and incredible costumes. The Big Splash was a great sea adventure about how to be a good friend.

Ryan has been enjoying dressing up lately, too. Daily, he works his way through costumes. He is a Power Ranger, Superman, Spiderman, or a pirate depending on his mood. He dresses up more than Lydia ever did. Funny.




For those of you who know about the crazy CA teacher credentialing process I have been going through the past eight years, I have finally cleared my general education and special education credentials. My portfolios are submitted and I'm just waiting to receive papers from the state. Phew! It has been tiresome, and I'm incredibly relieved to have it over.

Sharks

Lydia has been studying the ocean in school and when we were in the book store chose "Shark Attacks" for her book. She read the book and has been giving me all sorts of info like don't urinate in the water because sharks are attracted to it. All along, I've been assuring her that she didn't have to worry about sharks while swimming here at our beach. Now, our beach is closed because a great white (probably) killed a man nearby. Never get too comfortable with the ocean, I guess.

Ranunculus!

What are ranunculus you might ask? Well, these are Tecolote® Giant Ranunculus and the largest growing field for them in the US is here in Carlsbad, CA. My mom, dad, Ryan and I visited the fields a couple of weeks ago and had a fabulous time. Each seed is planted by hand and there are 50 acres of them. They are really beautiful and I look forward to them every spring. We had a great time with my parents when they visited.

See the old fashioned tractor pulled wagon ride we are on? When I was teaching in 2000, I took my class of 12 kids with more severe disabilities to the Flower Fields and we took a wagon ride. While going down a very big long hill, the tractor popped out of gear and we were "runaway" for what seemed like an eternity. The driver was able to get us back into gear and slowed down, but not before I was sure we were goners. Luckily the kids didn't really know what had happened, and were all safe. You would think I wouldn't still recommend it to the family, but I love a good thrill. This year they accidentally didn't put a ramp up, so we rammed into the loading dock. It was very loud and jolting. When we were coming back to the dock, Ryan asked if we were going to crash again. For a little excitement, take the wagon ride!

*This post is in response to Krissy!

The Future

Ryan: Mom, What's the future.

Mom: Well, it's what is going to happen tomorrow or next year.

Ryan: Can we go to the future?

Mom: No, we can't go to the future.

Ryan: Won't tomorrow be the future?

Mom (starting to think she is out of her league): The future is always what hasn't happened yet.

Ryan: You said tomorrow is the future. I'll be there tomorrow.

Mom: When tomorrow is happening, it won't be the future anymore. The future is what is to come.

Ryan: So, next year is the future?

Mom: Yes.

Ryan: I'll be in the future next year. The Bionicles live in the future.

Mom gives up.

Gypsy

Joel and I went to Phoenix Entertainment's production of Gypsy on Saturday night in lovely Escondido, CA. It was a lot of fun! I've always loved Gypsy because it was one of the first shows I was in. I played Baby Louise, and then, when I was a Junior in High School, I played Dainty June with the Mclean Community Theater. I started singing "You Gotta Have a Gimmick" at age 6, and have been perfecting it since. I think I learned to play trumpet in the 6th grade to fulfill my dream of being Mazeppa. Anyway, back to the production at hand...It was great. We had excellent seats, the show was well cast and performed, sets and costumes were good, and it made for a wonderful evening out. I have to say, the strippers are still my favorite. Also, Jeffery, who played multiple roles well, did a turn as a Newsboy believably. Who knew he could still play 18? Dancing and choreography were well done. I give it two thumbs up. Thank you to Mark and Jeffery for the evening of entertainment!

Toothless

February?!

Wow, how did January go so quickly without a post from me? Everyone is watching the Superbowl right now, so I have a minute. We said a sad goodbye to cousin Karen who moved back to VA with a great new job. Chris and puppies are soon to follow. We will miss them here on the west coast.

Family is fine. We wish the writer's strike would end. We have been having to wear socks for the last month. Now that is cold. Lydia is losing teeth and looking cute but snaggly. She got a great report card full of excellents. Ryan growls at us when he is mad, or sometimes if we just look at him. We are still hanging on to the hope that he is normal. No matter what, he is fun!

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

This is our omen for good luck for the New Year. A heron friend came to visit. He was looking for fish in our big pond, but satisfied himself with a few geckos instead before moving on.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful one here with my Mom and Dad visiting and lots of cousins here, too. It was just fun. This week, we have been hanging out at home and quiet. I began a Tom Clancey book, Executive Orders, at the end of summer. I am generally a fast reader and love reading, but this book was not really capturing me. I am also a bit persistent, and would not give up on reading it, even though I was not enjoying it. By the beginning of this vacation, I was only half way through. Finally, I decided to read something else...although Tom's snore still sits on my nightstand. I read Janet Evanovich's Lean Mean Thirteen. I love those Stephanie Plum books. They are quick, fun reads that make me laugh out loud. Then I read a T. Jefferson Parker mystery. Now I am reading The Other Boleyn Girl. That is great, too. Who knows if I will every go back to Tom. Will I be able to remove it from the nightstand without finishing? I just don't know.

We will be playing games this New Year's Eve after going out for dinner. Lydia made an African mask to scare away the evil spirits for next year. We will celebrate the New Year on east coast time (9:00pm here). That way my Dad will make it to bring in the New Year!

Following are a few Christmas pictures. Lydia was worried that the adults hadn't been very good this year because we didn't have much in our stockings. The kids were cute as could be and lots of fun. It was a wonderful and blessed day. Ryan is Superman Power Ranger in the picture, if you are wondering!

Cookies and milk for Santa!


Big brother Ron and Dad.

Nephew Ronny and Mom.

Happy New Year to All!!

'Tis the Season to be Jolly

We are very busy here preparing for Christmas. The above picture is indicative of the energy level and excitement of the kids. We went to see The Grinch at the Old Globe yesterday. We sat front row center and it was great! The kids loved it and were quiet and a good audience, thank goodness. Unlike the child behind us who screamed and cried every time the mean Grinch came out, all the while clutching his Grinch doll. When his Mom finally decided to take him out, it was at a time that the Grinch also left through the audience. She was about half way up when he came running up behind them. I think the child may be traumatized for life.

Ryan wouldn't let me take his picture before the play, but below is Lydia who auditioned for The Grinch this year. She had just turned 6 the day before the auditions and the age range was 6-14. She is so little, she could only play Cindy Lou, which is a large part. The children who played her this year were 8 & 10. But...Lydia did very well at the audition. She was so excited. Afterward, someone from the production staff called us and told us she was just too young, but that we had to promise to bring her next year. That was very kind of them.

Lydia has been a bit of funny trouble lately. She came home from school and told me that Mckenzie was going to "ditch" her. I asked her what that meant and she said Mckenzie owed her $2 and she didn't think she was going to pay. I asked why a child would owe her money. She explained that her white Cheezit snack is very popular and she was selling it. I explained that she could not sell things at school and that it was against school rules to take money from other kids at school. She came home the next day and said Mckenzie would mail it to her. Lydia was not very happy when I said we would have to mail it right back. On Lydia's letter to Santa this year she asked for a reindeer fur coat. Hmmm. I had to explain that you had to kill the animals to get the fur. She thought maybe Santa could just trim some fur and make it into a coat.

Ryan is his normal fun self. We built Gingerbread houses and Ryan had a lot of fun and it looked very sweet, but then he constructed this skinny thing that stuck out of the roof. When I asked him what that was, he said it was the shooter in case the wolf or fox came after the gingerbread man. Our non-violent household hasn't affected his excitement for guns and swords at all. He constructs them out of gingerbread.

Enchanted

We saw Enchanted today. It was so much fun. It left me feeling much better than all of the depressing but well done movies I've been seeing like Gone Baby Gone. I also enjoy THIS!

Note for you East Coasters

I was at Lydia's school on Friday and I heard a teacher saying, "No running in the halls." This may seem like a perfectly normal statement to all, but to me it always seems funny here on the west coast. You see, all of the "halls" are sidewalks. All of the classrooms here have a door that is outside. The schools are generally not buildings with halls, so if a student is going to another class or part of the school, they walk outside to wherever they might be going. They also eat lunch outside. On the rare occasions that it rains, they may have a covered outside area where they will eat, bring tables into an auditorium, or just eat in the classrooms depending on the school. It seems funny to me that they call the sidewalks "halls", but they do.

Halloween

Lydia wanted to be scary and Ryan stuck with the Superhero theme. They were cute and a lot of fun. Lydia is protective of her candy and counted it the minute she got home. Ryan has only eaten one piece, although we have given him many opportunities. His parents, on the other hand, have enjoyed it immensely.

We have reached the end of Lydia's soccer season. She was a big scorer on her team this year. Her biggest assett, though, was her crazed obsession with protecting the goal. As soon as any member of the other team got the ball, she ran as fast as she could back to the goal to stand in front of it. They don't have goalies on the little teams yet, but next year, I'm thinking she might be a natural.

Au revoir!

Birthdays

Before I can address Halloween, I must post some birthday pictures. Lydia's 6th was a double party with a friend who has a similar birthday at a Horse ranch. It was great fun.




Ryan's 4th was at everyone's favorite, Chuck E. Cheese. I never let Lydia have her party there, and I gave in with Ryan. It was easy and the kids had a blast, so I'm glad I relented.

Also posted is Lydia's 1st day of 1st Grade. It was a very exciting day. I think the boys have cooties.

I now feel a little caught up. Maybe by Christmas, I'll tell you about Halloween.

Wildfires

Hello to all. The Schmidt Family is fine here in San Diego. The fires did not come too close to our home, and all immediate friends and family in the area are fine. We went to LA for 2 days and 1 night for a couple of auditions for Joel and Lydia and to get out of the ash. It's a sad day when you go to Los Angeles for better air quality. We had fun, though, playing at parks, swimming and seeing a movie that cost us $50 for a family of four.

The fires here have been horrible, but for the damage they have done, there has been little life lost. Most are 50% contained now. The schools have been cancelled all week, and the high school around the corner from us has been an evacuation center which is closing today. Today the skies are blue, but you can see the smoke in the periphery. There is also not so much ash swirling around. We were just in a cloud of smoke and ash before. It was like you were sitting on the wrong side of the campfire. The pictures are from the back yard the morning after the ash started falling. It got worse after this. The last are the tracks from the pool cleaning up ash and some leaves because it was very windy. There is usually nothing on the bottom of the pool, so that is mostly ash. We are very lucky to just have ash, and to have clearer skies today.

Driving back from LA, we saw a couple of fires on Camp Pendelton. The flames were high and moving. It was a little frightening to all except for Ryan who has wanted to be a firefighter and said, "At last, I get to see the fires." The next morning, he came to me with his gardening gloves on and said, "I think firefighting is boring. I want to be a trash man." I would like to post a picture of our trash man right now wearing Lydia's dance costume from last year, but I'm afraid it would become an internet sensation and he may never live it down.