Just a quick note to ya

Real quick. I have so much to blog about but seriously not a lot of time.

Two weekends ago, my side of the fam came over for a family party. It was sooooo fun and I got some great photos. I haven't yet had the time to crop and choose what to post. Plus I have lots to write to go with it.

The next day started the beginning of the last week of school. EVERY SINGLE DAY was busy with mucha actividad (sorry, I am getting into Spanish Teacher mode). Add onto that a scrambling of packing and getting ready for a week in Big Sur.

Last day of school, finishing packing and left the next morning (Saturday). We spent a wonderful week in Big (Bug) Sur enjoying each other and swimming in the river. Lots of pics there too to show you. We just got home last night and now I am getting ready to leave for the airport. I am going to a conference in Northern California on Dyslexia Tutoring.

My house is a wreck. I have camping stuff to clean up. My sister in law and her very hairy Golden Retriever are staying here while her floors are being redone. I am tired, hot and in deseperate need of a Diet Coke and a clean space.

So, please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers this week. Lenny is home with the kids but has to work two of the days. That means lots of shuttling and jumping around from house to house. The kids are good but sometimes find that moving around stuff a bit unsettling. I will miss them and wonder every moment how they are doing.

I should have lots to post about next week.

Ok, stay cool and do fun things this summer.

Donna

New Toy

Just got this very cool new toy.

Our friends, the Vitwars, own a great camera shop in Long Beach. A few months ago, I saw this tripod in their store and thought it was absolutely ingenious. I made a note in the back of my mind to get one for our Big Sur camping trip.

Lenny went to pick one up this evening. Totally rad and very fun to play with. If you have a camera, you gotta get the Gorillapod. Small, lightweight, and limitless in it's versatility.

Double Digits, Hummingbird and 13

Double Digits:

Our boy turned 10 last Thursday. I would have posted something sooner about his big day but it just got away from us. When you hear about his party, you will understand.

Lenny worked on Thursday but left his gift hidden. When Jacob woke up, Lenny called him from work and asked him to check the truck to see if he had left his backpack in it. When Jacob looked in the back, he found this:

A BB Gun.


Lenny has been waiting for almost two years to give Jacob a BB Gun for his 10th birthday. Remember this post?


Thursday, I told him that I would bring him lunch from In and Out to school and eat with him. Here was my order and $42.87 later. 4 cheeseburgers, 1 hamburger and 1 grilled cheese, 15 fries, 6 drinks. Woa. The burgers and drinks were distributed to Sarah, her sitter, her sitter's daughter, Jacob's teacher, Jacob, and of course, the lunch courier, ME! Of the 15 orders of fries, 4 went to the above mentioned people except for Jacob. He and his classmates shared the remainder of the 11 orders of fries. You would have thought that these kids had never seen french fries before. They went nuts.

And of course, I am Mom of the Year.


In the fry frenzy, I left my camera in the car. Bum- dilly- dum- bummer.


Friday, Jacob had 20 boys over here for a pool party. Before you read on, please re-read that previous sentence. 20 TWENTY boys over here for a pool party. 20 boys, Sarah, Lenny and I. Yep it was nuts. One mom stayed but all of the rest, they ran for the hills when they saw the chaos. I don't blame, I wanted to run too.

Kids swam, played basketball, ate pizza, shoved cake in their faces, and had tons of fun together. When it got dark, we played National Treasure 2 outside. 18 bags of popcorn and a movie outside - life is just great.

My house looked (still does too today) like a bomb went off. Shoes, shorts, goggles, underwear, a towel, this and that all strewn around Chez Gisbert. Cups in the corner of the yard, paper plates everywhere, blue cake icing anywhere that can be unexpected.


It was great!


Jacob got some great gifts from some very thoughtful people. I have to share my favorite.


Our neighbor gave him 10: $1 bills, quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. It was cute.

Hummingbird:

Yesterday, Sarah, Jacob and a few neighborhood kids found a baby hummingbird in the grass. Apparently it had fallen from the nest above. These kids packed it up in a box and started to care for it. We made a sugar solution and found an eyedropper to feed it with. The cute little thing would stretch it's little neck and open wide for a drop of the good stuff. It would chirp and fluff it's feathers. Oh it was cute.



This morning we went to feed it. Sarah was delighted that it had survived the night. She feed it and off we went to school. 20 minutes later, it was dead. Dead as a doornail. Deader than dead. Obviously dead. Gross dead. Even the little mites that were infesting the sweet little bird before had now scattered.


All the kids held a funeral for it after school. They buried it right next to the lizard from last week. Sarah was mad that no one wore black. Oh geesh.

13:

June 2, 1995



Today Lenny and I celebrate 13 years of marriage. Notice I didn't say wedded bliss? Well that's because it hasn't been wedded bliss. But it has been good, even when it didn't feel good, our marriage has truly been something wonderful. I love being married to Lenny. He does make me absolutely INSANE sometimes, but heck, I never know what is next with him.

(Would have posted a better picture but my scanner takes forever. It was easier to take a picture of this picture. I suppose I could have cropped it better, but didn't take the time.)


Hey Lover, Happy Anniversary! I can not wait to see you tomorrow!