Connor loves me. A lot. He must tell me about 20 times a day how much he loves me. He tells me many different ways too. “I love you the most, mommy” “I love you more than any other person in this family” “I love you more than Daddy.”
But my favorite is, “I love you more than the whole Universe. What is a Universe anyway?”
My planner girl. Boy do I love her. A few weeks ago I lost my Driver’s License at Disneyland. We spent a bit of time retracing our steps and visiting lost and found. Ultimately we threw in the towel and just headed home. We had many discussion about the importance of having my driver’s license and how it was required to drive.
Bright and early Monday morning Lainy Ann tells me her plan. If I get pulled over while driving her to school I should leave the cell phone in the car. That way if I am arrested she can call Daddy to come pick up her and her brothers. But if that doesn’t work she will be sure to walk them home for me. *giggle*
She is such a sweet innocent child, always planning and taking care of the family. I assured her that I wouldn’t be arrested for simply not having my license, but if I was pulled over it was possible I would get a ticket for not having it. I also assured her that she would not have to walk her brother’s home. But I certainly am proud of her from planning and problem solving, even before the need arises. She certainly is her mommy’s little girl.
15 oz canned pumpkin
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar (brown or white)
1 c oil (I use olive oil)
–
3 cups flour (you can use whole wheat flour)
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
*nuts, raisins, cranberries are optional
*I also usually add about 1/2 cup of flax seed
Mix wet ingredients together, mix in dry ingredients.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes
Makes 2 dozen
I often double this recipe and just use the large can of pumpkin.
You can freeze the muffins for a treat in the summer without using the oven.
Add a tad of cream cheese frosting for a ‘cupcake’.
I was born and raised in California, but even so I don’t think I know all about California. I can tell you quite a bit about Disneyland though. And I think the same is true for our children. So next summer (2010) we will be taking an extended trip around California. We will be visiting everything north of Santa Barbara. We are saving anything within 3 hours of our home for extended weekend trips or even day trips.
I will be using this blog to gather ideas, destinations, points of interests, hotels, routes, etc over the next several months. I am hoping you will add to it so we can plan a great trip for our kids.
1. Bodie, CA – a ghost town with 200 building standing and no tourist traps
2. San Francisco; Alcatraz, Angel Island, Golden Gate Bridge, Yerba Gardens, Trolley Cars
Hilton Hotel in Oakland – very family friendly including a game room
Family Day is officially a holiday in our house now, celebrated on September 22nd of every year. The kids get the day off from school and my husband takes a personal day from work. I think we finally have the celebratory tradition finalized. In the morning we drop off goodies and a gift at the hospital. I do that by myself in case I need a good cry. I thank all the nurses for being so kind to me when I delivered all 6 of my children and I leave a gift for 2 other unfortunate mothers who will walk in the same shoes that I do. We go to the florist where we get baby-blue balloons, four of them so each child can give a balloon, and 4 flowers. I let each child choose their flower. I really like to involve them in the process. We go to the Cemetery where I cry and hug my husband and the kids run through the large expanse of grass and enjoy their breakfast, this year we had blueberry muffins. I may need to rethink the balloons though. Although the kids love them and I think they look great in the pictures, each year so far they have blown in the wind and popped on the grass. The game that follows is ‘collect the broken balloon pieces and throw them away’.
This year the kids chose sunflowers.
Anyone who knows me knows that I have been pretty unhappy with our elected officials as of late and I have been pretty vocal about it. I have mostly emailed my representatives. I have had some very good feedback from David Drier. But really horrible feedback from Diane Feinstein. A few months ago I sent a long detailed email explaining why I was against the Stimulus Packages and the current health care bill because of the state of our economy. I got an obvious automated reply that said, “Thank you for taking the time to email me. You are right. We do need these Stimulus Bills and this Health Care plan.” I will be voting Diane Feinstein out of office the first chance I get, because if she can’t reply to an email properly, then how on earth can she do her job as my representative.
Jack O’Connell, however, is excellent at his job. A friend recently emailed me an article called “Susan Goodkin and David G. Gold: In focus on proficiency, bright kids lose” by Susan Goodkin and David G. Gold in the Sacramento Bee. It spoke of 2 easy ways to challenge bright and exceptional students; by grouping children based on ability and allowing them to go into another classroom during instruction time. I felt the article was well written and decided to share it with those in the educational system. On my list was Jack O’Connell the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. I found his email address on the state education website and sent an email detailing the highlights of the article and the link to the article. I explained to him that these simple, non-budget altering policies would help exceptional students to be challenged and continue to grow.
I got a well thought out reply from Mr. O’Connell (or one of his assistants/interns). But it was a stark comparison to the email I received back from Ms. Feinstein. I have posted the email below for comparison and also to exhibit a new policy change which will affect our exceptional students negatively.
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Dear Ms. Dickson:
Thank you for contacting the California Department of Education (CDE) regarding the Gifted and Talented Education program (GATE).
I appreciate you sharing your concerns and suggestions with me, including the Sacramento Bee opinion article. I am also gravely concerned about the impact of California’s budget deficit on public education. Reduced funding for education has resulted in school districts having to make difficult decisions such as closing schools, issuing layoff notices to teachers and other school personnel, and making cuts to programs. I am worried that these devastating cuts will interrupt our process in improving student achievement.
Please be aware that the jurisdiction of the CDE is limited to enforcing federal and state education law and regulations; and for continuing to reform and improve public elementary school programs, secondary school programs, adult education, some preschool programs, and child care programs. Policies regarding day-to-day operations, including implementation of GATE programs, are the responsibility of the local school district administration. In allocating their resources among the schools of the district, school district governing boards and district administrators must follow the law, but they also have the additional tough job of setting the educational priorities for their schools and weighing the importance and urgency of all of their educational needs.
The State Board of Education (SBE) is the governing and policy-making body of the CDE. The SBE sets K-12 education policy in the areas of standards, instructional materials, assessment, and accountability, as well as adopts regulations to implement legislation. However, because California is a local control state, each district determines the types of services they will provide for gifted students. For this reason, I suggest you contact your local school district to discuss your concerns regarding policies that effect gifted students. In addition, due to the Flexibility provisions of Senate Bill X3 4 enacted in February 2009, school districts may determine whether they will implement any or all of the GATE program and funding requirements.
To read detailed summaries of February 2009 and July 2009 actions on the 2008-09 state education budget, including frequently asked questions on implementation, please visit the CDE Action on the 2008 and 2009 Budget Acts Web page located at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fr/eb/yr09budgetacts.asp.
For information and resources related to the implementation of GATE programs in California, please visit the CDE Gifted & Talented Education Web site located at http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/gt/.
If you have any questions regarding this subject, please contact George Olive, Consultant, Elementary Education Office, at 916-323-8901 or by e-mail at golive@cde.ca.gov.
Again, thank you for contacting the CDE.
Sincerely,
JACK O’CONNELL
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
JO:mb
2009-06909
Buy Gerber Yogurt Melts. They are fabulous. They are a little expensive, but when you are bribing your screeching toddler during church, dinner at a restaurant, or a long car ride there is nothing better. In fact, after our last road trip the baby became trained in the proper eating of these yogurt yummies, as I like to call them. He gets one kiss-shaped morsel for each tiny fist and one for his mouth. When all three have been consumed he begins screaming, until he has been refilled. He also screams if he even sees the package.
These things are so yummy that my older children will actually sneak them from him.
And the countdown begins to September 22, 2010. I am already thinking ahead and planning, what we will do for Family Day, what will the “gift” be? But honestly today is the best day I will have all year, in terms of grief. Its like the counter just starts over. And as the number gets smaller; 364, 363, 362; my grief and emotions grow stronger. September 1st marks the hardest 22 days, a roller coaster of emotions as the kids start school, marking their inevitable growing up. September 11th comes and reminds me, and all of us, about the tragedy and fear we all had that day. Following those sad days are my sons birthday. A day where I work hard to be excited for him, yet in the back of my mind I remember his first birthday, when I was pregnant with twins. A family friend told me she couldn’t believe I was pregnant with twins I was so small. I know she meant it as a compliment and I highly doubt she will even remember such a small passing comment. But those words have echoed in my head a million times, telling myself that maybe I am making it all up. Maybe the twins never did exist. No one outside of our hospital room ever saw them. Maybe other people think I am making it up too.
The last week is the hardest. I review our Family Day plans, try to find any excuse to do more spending and buying; new outfits for Family Day, more things for the ‘gift’, maybe just an evening out for dinner so I don’t have to cook. September 21st is the worse day. I remember going to our mid-morning appointment, finding out about their death and then getting squeezed in for a lunch appointment with our regular OB. I remember dreading calling my mom and mother-in-law. I remember it all.
But on September 23rd its better. Its day 365 and I have moved past the grief for the year. Today is the best day of the year.
I think my family is diseased, or maybe its the opposite of diseased, if there is such a thing. We spent the day (Family Day) touring the USS Midway in San Diego. As we got there is was fairly empty, just the way we like it. But shortly after that a bus full of Chinese tourists arrived. I attempted to keep my kids a tad quieter and possibly move ahead of the group so as to not bother them. But first I had to pose the kids on a really BIG chain.
That’s when I noticed 3 ladies trying to take a picture in the same direction I was. So I moved my kids out of the way. Then she followed. It became apparent she was trying to photograph my kids, MY KIDS! I started to panic in this world of Stranger-Danger. But I decided to play it cool thinking these ladies would eventually leave us alone. NOPE. They started to pose with Alexander. They would encourage him to walk, giggle at his toddling and then take another picture. Eventually I wrangled my children away from these crazy people, but they followed us into the next room. As I asked my kids to pose and smile into the camera one of the other camera-wielding lady sidled up next to me to take pictures of my kids.
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Connor loves his sister with a passion. This past summer they were playing in the pool and she got mad and pushed him under the water. He comes up spluttering because he couldn’t breathe and she goes into a timeout. One minute into the timeout he pleads with me, “Can Lainy Ann come play with me again?” And so the story goes, hundreds of incidents just like this. She hurts him or treats him with an injustice and he pleads her case. Once she threw a rock at him and he needed 11 stitches in his lip. When we asked him what happened he told us the rock hurt him, not Lainy Ann, but the rock.
She sets him up to ask for a treat so she doesn’t get in trouble and he just follows blindly along. I remember one incident when he chose to follow Lainy Ann’s instructions instead of mine, even though they contradicted what I had asked him to do. Its getting harder as she gets older and does more girly stuff and leaves him at home. Just last week he was pretty upset when I told him he couldn’t go with her to Girl Scouts.
I understand how he feels though. I feel that way about my husband. He truly is my best friend. I would like to think that we have demonstrated that love and adoration for them. Here are some of my favorite pictures of the two friends.
Lainy Ann showing off her new baby brother, Connor