They grow up so quickly

Lolli Turning 7!, a photo by radioflyer007 on Flickr.

Can't believe Lolli is another year older. At the same time, I can't believe she's only seven. The poor girl had to share her birthday with the royal wedding of some obscure prince in England and the largest fundraising event of the year at my workplace.

All in all, she had a great birthday and due to scheduling delays, she had the opportunity to celebrate her birthday over the span of a week!

Yay Lolli!

March and April Books

Apparently I'm a bit behind in reporting books I've read each month. Here's a quick summary of the very few books I've read during the months of March and April (seems I was too busy working a part-time job and vacuuming up dog hair from every nook and cranny in my house.

Non-Fiction
1. A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World (Paul Miller): 4.0/5 stars
2. The Successful Home Business Guide (Wil Limkemann): 3.2/5 stars
3. Soul Cravings: An Exploration of the Human Spirit (Erwin McManus): 3.6/5 stars
4. The Teachable Moment: Seizing the Instants When Children Learn (Rebeccca Branstetter) 4.1/5 stars

5. The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother (James McBride): 3.9/5 stars
I think the subtitle of this book succinctly summarizes McBride's autobiography. In my attempt to read more non-fiction this 2011 year, I've enjoyed realizing that biographies, memoirs, and autobiographies are considered non-fiction. This is an amazing story of an amazing woman who battles racism and poverty while raising her 12 children as a single mom. Makes my worst day as a mom of two seem like a walk in the park.

6. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea (Barbara Demick): 4.1/5 stars
Demick is an award-winning journalist who puts her craft and skill to work in this amazing book that peeks into the lives of six ordinary North Koreans. The stories of the struggle for survival in this communist nation left me shaking my head in astonishment and disbelief. My eyes welled up with tears when I read about a young teacher who shared about how difficult her job was. The challenge wasn't in unruly children or demanding parents but rather, it was in watching her students starve to death.

7. Saving Gracie: How One Dog Escaped the Shadowy World of American Puppy Mills (Carol Bradley): 3.7/5 stars
Our dog Skye should thank Gracie for this book. Ironically, I read this book while I was really struggling with whether or not to keep Skye (oh, the dog drama in this house is like a soap opera -- it just keeps going and going). Gracie is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who was born to produce litter after litter of puppies (two litters a year for seven years). That's probably close to 100 puppies she's birthed before she was rescued. If you've ever been tempted to buy a puppy from a pet store, read this book and you will never do that. If you've been tempted to buy a purebred from a breeder, this book will convince you to do your homework and make sure you're not getting a dog from a puppy mill. The conditions of some of these puppy mills will make you gag and retch and yet, these puppy mills somehow stay in business because there is still a demand for their dogs. This a good read and a good eye-opener to what's really going on out there (and on Craigslist, too).

Fiction
1. Always the Baker, Never the Bride (Sandra Bricker): 2.8/5 stars
2. The Lightening Thief (Rick Riordan): 4.8/5 stars
3. The Sea of Monsters (Rick Riordan): 4.7/5 stars
4. The Help (Kathryn Stockett): 4.9/5 stars
5. The Titan's Curse (Rick Riordan): 4.3/5 stars
6. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Rick Riordan): 4.0/5 stars
7. The Last Olympian (Rick Riordan): 4.2/5 stars
The kids and I finished the last book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The action and the tie-in of the characters came together nicely in this last installment and while things did wrap up rather neatly, there was still room for more plot lines. We are all looking forward to starting Riordan's next series, The Kane Chronicles.

My next project in the next week or so is to come up with a reading list for the kids. During the summer months, 'Shroom and Lolli devour books and I'm more than happy to read along with them. If you have any recommendations for classics, series, or new books (fiction and non-fiction), let me know!

"Journaling" through photos

This first month of spring has seemed to have been a busier month than usual for me (as evidenced by lack of blogging). For some reason, however, when I look back to the past several week, what have I done with my time? It didn't occur to me until a week ago that I should take more photos if I don't have time to write. Perhaps the photos will help jog my memory as to what has happened - or in some desprate cases, replace my writing.

Para Los Ninos

Part of my time has been consumed by my new employer, Para Los Ninos. Hired as a temporary assistant for their upcoming fundraising event, I've greatly scaled back my time wtih the kids' school. Instead of helping out at the kids' school four days a week, I'm now working four days a week with one day at the school. My one day at school, I still manage to meet with Lolli's advanced reading group and do guided reading in 'Shroom's class (while he's in the Learning Center).

If you're not going to be part of the one billion people expected to watch the royal wedding on 4/29/11 and are local to the Los Angeles area, feel free to purchase a ticket and support a good cause through our Cinco de Mayo celebration event!

A Potential Second Westward Migration?!

A couple of weeks ago, my parents came out to visit us and "scout" out possible retirement communities. It was a busy four days but we managed to make the most of every day. Between Air Boss taking a day off to show them a retirement community in Orange County and me taking a day off to tour local retirement communities closer to us, I think my parents got a good feel for the areas. 'Shroom and Lolli of course relished their time with their grandparents. Regardless of where my parents choose to live, they have both decided that it makes sense to downsize and say good-bye to the home that has been theirs for 40 years. It will be a huge undertaking to whittle down their life's possessions to a new "down-sized" home. I'm sure I'll be blogging about this topic in future days to come.

Some Good (Dog) Days and Some Bad (Dog) Days

Since my last blog, I'm sure you're wondering if Skye is still living with us. In a nutshell . . . yes. She's been with us for two months now and I still miss my dog-free days of sleeping in without having to walk a dog, vacuuming no more than once a week, and untainted unmarked green lush grass.

Somehow Skye managed to fool us all and graduate from her intermediate dog obedience class. She had to complete an "obstacle course" consisting of orange cones with doggie treats on top. She had to stop at each cone, perform some commands without touching or eating any of the treats. The first time through, she was prompted with both voice and hand commands. The second time through, she was prompted with voice-only commands. And the final time through, she was prompted with hand-only commands. It was a silent and tense last run of the course.

So now you're wondering, is she the perfect well-behaved dog? A show dog with enviable skills and well-adapted social behaviors that make her seem more mature than her puppy dog look?

Well, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. This photo was taken just yesterday. I'm surprised the photo wasn't more blurry as my hands were shaking from rage at what the dog had just done in our backyard. While this is not the first time she's gone digging in our backyard (and tearing up the grass), this is the deepest. She found the buried sprinkler pipe and dug even deeper for who knows what. We caught her in the act and I made sure that I made the most of that opportune moment.

Since the grass is gone in that spot and she will likely dig in the same place, we have one of our patio chairs standing "guard" over the hole until we can figure out what to do. As I'm still trying to reconcile if this dog is worth it all (read: "should I turn her over to the shelter or post her on craigslist?"), someone did remind me that the damage could have been worse. She could have chewed the PVC pipe in half.

But Let's Not End on Such a Downer

The kids are finishing up their spring break. They both came down with fifth disease just before the start of their vacation but luckily they both bounced back rather quickly. I miss spending their spring break week with them. We're looking forward to the weekend ahead before school resumes again next week. [note to self: call orthodontist to schedule consult for 'Shroom]