50th Reunion or Bust

I offered to take my mom to Hollywood to her 50th High School Reunion.  What an adventure we had!  A good time, as always with the old people.

A quick stop in McFarland to get a Diet Coke from McDonald's.  That was a crazy busy little parking lot.  Not much else going on in that town but the action at McD's.

Another hour or so down the road, and we stopped for lunch at Marie Calender's.  Tasty lunch.  It's good to travel with mom...she gets a senior discount everywhere we go.  Now is she could only get that discount for gas.

We made it to the Sheraton Hotel in Universal City in one piece.  Traffic was busy but flowing nicely.  Both of us were quite impressed with the valet parking, bell hops, and fancy digs.

They even offered us complimentary glasses of wine!   Can't beat that!

Popolo's

Our favorite pizza. Popolo's is the best, as noticed by there only being one slice left.  Good stuff.

Water is Gross

I keep saying, "Water is gross."  Most of the time I mean it.  However, I have been steadily drinking water for a whole three days now, and I have survived.  (Remember a few posts ago where I posted a picture of my last beloved Pepsi bottle?)

My goal this week is to drink a full bottle of water before going to school.  I did it this morning.  Now I am working on drinking water throughout the day.  It helps to have a cute cup from Disneyland.

Dinner

We had an unexpected night free from soccer practice or meetings.  We ate dinner as a family at a decent hour.  We watched The Middle on TV.  Children went to bed.  It was nice.

Go USA

Guess what the 8th grade students are about to start studying?

It's my favorite thing to teach!  Between the Constitution and the Election/Voting Process, we are going to be very busy this fall.

No More

This is my last bottle of Pepsi Max.  I am going to attempt (for the 93rd time) to give this up.  I drink soda all day long.  Probably not the healthiest of options, even if it is diet.

This doesn't mean I won't drink soda when I go to Chipotle, but I won't be buying it to drink at the house and school anymore.

Sniff.

Best Little Running Partner Ever

Evan went with me to run "the loop."  This is a loop we do where we exit our neighborhood out a back road and run the outskirts of our block to get back home.  It is about 1.75 miles.  Evan had no problem.  Me...huffing and puffing.

It was a really nice evening.  Sort of overcast, cool-ish temps, and slight breeze.

That's me.  I was trying to get a shot of the mountains.  They were gorgeous.  Instead I got half my face and clouds.  At least the clouds are pretty.

Soccer or Beverage?

Hudson shares his double chair with a sibling on the team named Axel.  This little guy is super cute.  The first time Axel dared to sit in the empty seat, Hudson had a living fit.  Now they two little ones can coexist in the chair, both enjoying their beverage of choice.

We only had two soccer games today.  It's the first weekend in a long time that isn't overly filled.  I'll take it.

The Big Fresno Fair

 I drove Hudson to the fair.  Evan went with a friend.  Hanging out in front of a display.

 That is my hand, and I am actually touching that snake!

 Hudson "pans" for precious gems.

We ran into Evan.  By this point he had eaten only a cinnamon roll and a Pepsi.  He was more interested in his purchase of a rubber band gun and a new bracelet.  Not what I would have bought, but oh well.

 I wait all year for a chicken gyro.  My goodness, I love these things!

Hudson was grumpy and tired and fell asleep on the way home.

Until next year's field trip.

Homework

I hate homework.  Let me clarify.  As a mother, I hate homework.  It is irritating.  It causes fights.  It causes tears.  It causes headaches.  It causes stress.  I'm not really sure of the positive aspect of it.

Now, as a teacher, I realize homework to be a necessary tool at times.  When I taught 3rd grade, the subject of spelling was done almost entirely at home as homework.  We simply didn't have enough time to do it in class.  As a junior high teacher, I try to use homework as a "finish what you didn't complete in class" type of thing.

Hudson is rather resistant to the concept of going to school everyday.  He certainly is not on board with doing homework.  I guess he figured Harry would be a great help to him as he colored a picture of St. Francis of Assisi.  I don't think Harry wanted to be involved in coloring.  Just a guess on my part.  But then again, Hudson didn't want to be involved in coloring, either.

Homework was made slightly more bearable last night with a cup of milk, Easy Mac N Cheese, a box of Tic Tacs and a dog.  And the entire packet got done.

(Thank goodness I looked at the packet last night instead of today.  Normally homework is turned in on Friday, but due to a field trip, the packet needed to be turned in this morning.  Not turning in kindergarten homework is one more thing I did NOT need to add to my list of things I can't manage to accomplish.)

*As a side note, even though Hudson isn't all about school, he did well on his progress report.  I was pleased.  The kid would just rather be playing.  I can't say that I blame him.

Happy Birthday To My Favorite 8-Year-Old!

Evan woke up, crawled into my bed, and went back to sleep.  He likes to do that.

My Fall babies. Their birthdays are 20 days apart.  At our school you get free dress on your birthday.  Evan chose to wear his Wednesday soccer practice outfit.  He lives and breathes soccer.

Birthday breakfast donuts.  I think this needs to be our tradition.  We had donuts for Hudson's birthday as well.

I always tell Evan, "You made me a mom."  It's hard to believe that Eric and I are the parents of an 8-year-old.  I'm not sure where the years went, because I still remember pretty vividly the weekend he was born.

Evan makes us proud each and every day.  He is a pretty amazing kid.

Happy Birthday Guero Tometo! (soccer nickname)

Smells Good

This is the Scentsy wickless candle that sits on my desk at school.  I love it.  I spent $50 without blinking an eye on the warmer and six delicious scents.  (That is a big deal because I have a hard time spending money on myself.)

This candle thingy-ma-bobber makes me ridiculously happy.  I sometimes let the kids choose the scent for the day.  The one in there now is Sweet Pea and Vanilla.

One of the students banged into it today and spilled wax all over the place.  That's why it looks a little messy.

Even though it is 102 degrees outside here on OCT flipping 2nd, I am going to use the Honey Pear Cider tomorrow to remind me that in other parts of our country it is indeed fall.

My boss took all of us out to lunch today as a thank you for all of our hard work so far this school year.  I had lasagna.  Delicious.  I really do like where I work.