No Textbooks Required

I really liked this little peak into my life I did so I thought I would do it again. And maybe do it often. I took off a couple questions, added a couple, changed a couple.

I am thankful... that my surgery is over and done with. That I can eat what I want not worry about the horrid backaches that might accompany fried foods. I feel no different (aside from discomfort and pain post surgery of course!) because the only thing that every bothered me was my back. But I am thankful I got it out when I did because he said it didn't look good and things probably would have gotten much worse very soon.

Eating last week... my week started off with a nice diet of clear liquids, followed by surgery and some more clear liquids and a day of full liquids. Since my coming home I have gone from pudding and chicken noodle soup to enjoying chicken tacos and rice, a couple hamburgers, grilled corn, grilled bacon wrapped asparagus, poundcake and strawberries, ruffles and toasted onion dip, chocolate peanut butter ice cream from Baskin Robbins, a greasy breakfast at Corky's. I am not craving much more than a good rib dinner at this point, which thanks to our neighbors we will be enjoying at Wood Ranch next weekend. But I am very much looking forward to getting back to cooking some yummy food this coming week!

I am wearing... the past week I have pretty much lived in either my Twilight capri jammie pants or my Yellow Submarine capri jammie pants along with a tank top. I will probably spend most of the coming week in the same attire save for the couple trips out of the house when I will swap the bottoms for a simple stretch skirt.

I am creating... nothing at the moment but I do have plans to scrapbook this week - shocking I know!?!

I am going... to go curl up on the couch and watch Harry Potter #3, or the first hour of it anyway, before I pass out asleep. I have watched the first 15-minutes of three movies this week. I think I can manage an hour tonight.

I am reading... I finished up my re-read of Breaking Dawn. Read Finger Linkin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich, and just started 8th Confession by James Patterson. I am in the mood for some good mysteries this week - my favorite genre - so I have a few on my nightstand ready to go! Parker and I just finished Tumtum and Nutmeg and will be starting something new tomorrow.

I am hoping... that we can pass through the phase of the bad attitude with Parker. Five has not been fun this past month. I think we are both ready for a little normalcy around here.

Around the house... it is in need of cleaning, but aside from picking up tomorrow that is all that will get accomplished this week. That and laundry. Maybe next week I will feel good enough to get some cleaning done.

A few plans for the rest of the week... rest, reading, eating good food, library trips, playing with friends, sitting at the side of the pool watching Parker swim, more rest, and more reading.

The reading numbers halfway through the year:

• Total Reads: 54
• New Reads: 16
• Re-Reads: 7
• Read Alouds: 28
• Audiobooks: 3
• Left to reach goal: 46

On track to reach 100 by the end of the year :)

I have seen this on a few blogs I frequent and decided to play.

Outside my window... It is dark. Boring, but true.

I am thinking... that I really have no clue what to write here :)

I am thankful for... that my days of required lowfat eating are rapidly coming to a close with my upcoming gallbladder surgery next week.

From the kitchen... the only thing made in my kitchen today was banana chocolate chip muffins. We had Ruby's for dinner, and since I have to eat lowfat I enjoyed me some cherry coke.

I am wearing... my Twilight capri jammie pants and a long sleeve Life is Good t-shirt. Oh, and socks of course, because my feet are always cold.

I am creating... some Eric Carle insprired art with Parker this week.

I am going... to go curl up on the couch to read as soon as I finish typing.

I am reading... Eclipse, again, for the 4th time. Yeah, I am a dork :)

I am hoping... that I recovery easily from my surgery and can sink my teeth into something not quite so healthy very soon.

I am hearing... The quiet house. The kiddo is sound asleep after a nice long afternoon at the pool and dinner out, all with our wonderful friends.

Around the house... my window casings are almost done after staring at the wood next to my car going on almost three years.

One of my favorite things... fattening fried food. OK, not so much really, but right now I have it on the brain because I can't eat and it is making me want it that much more.

A few plans for the rest of the week... time at the pool, a picnic with friends, a trip to the library, lots of reading, more time hangin' with friends, and I would love to get to the beach!

The summer session of swim started today. Parker moved up to the Sea Lion level and will begin learning the backstroke. He has been ready and eager to move up to the next level for a couple months now. The time is now here. And he is very, very excited. Especially since he gets to keep James as an instructor both days a week.

The swim school Parker is in moves up through the levels very slowly. Mastery & confidence is very important to the owner, and being that he was an Olympic swimmer, I'll trust him to get the job done. Every parent that has a child that completed his program before joining the swim team has had nothing but postive things to say. I have no clue if he will ever want to do the swim team, but it is nice to know that we have chosen a great swim school, and we hardly have to drive to get there!

He did pretty well for his first lesson today. He kept sinking every time he let his chin rest in the water, but by the end he realized that he had to keep it up towards the sky to stay afloat. James says that he expects him to catch on pretty quickly!

Parker is just simply thrilled to be learning something new that he wanted to head to the pool tonight to practice. And play and goof off some too :)

We swam for almost 2-hours. Before we headed home I got out and snagged a few photos. I had all of two minutes before my battery died on me - grrr! But I think I got some keepers anyway!

 

 

 

 

We aren't ones to make a huge deal out of Father's Day (or Mother's Day or Valentine's Day, etc.) but Parker did wake Ken up with a picture and small gift. Our normal breakfast of doughnuts was not had, thanks to my gallbladder, so we had some quick eggs and toast before heading off for the day at the Wild Animal Park. It was nice and warm out, and while the parking lot was crowded, it didn't seem that bad in the park.

We wondered through an aviary and identified birds, ate our way through all the snacks we brought while waiting in line to ride the tram, rode the tram, stopped to see the sleeping lions, got an icee, cooled off in the misters, watched the gorillas a bit, stopped by the meerkats, watched a turtle do some head bobbing, and hit the road. A quick, fun few hours.

Some highlights in photos:

 

 

 

Last week I read on a blog that you could get into Legoland for the last hour for free. I did a quick search and found lots of other people talking about the same thing. Being that we were right there we decided to check it out. After a quick bite to eat we drove down, parked, and walked right in without any problems.

We headed to the pick-a-brick store to buy some legos. The Lego Store at Downtown Disney doesn't even compare to this one. Parker built three minifigures, and then they searched the bins and filled up a bag of misc. unique pieces to add to our ever growing collection of legos.

We don't really like Legoland much. The park is small, the rides boring. But we do enjoy looking at all the lego creations, mini land is awesome. And we do love the shopping. I will probably never pay for a full day at the park again. But an hour for free here and there will be fun.

 

This Week in Reading

Parker was off on a little vacation the first four days of the week with Dad. While there he read 7 books from the Dragon Slayers Academy series.

Since returning he has starting number 8 in the series, but really got on a Magic School Bus kick and read about 10 of those. He also read some Nate the Great books.

Together we finally finished up Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I tried really, really hard to finish the book before he left for his trip, but I lost most of my voice and just couldn't make it through. The second I closed the book he whispered in my year 'read it again!'

Last night we started reading The Adventures of Tumtum & Nutmeg. A cute book I saw on the shelf at Barnes & Noble one day. It is the story of two mice set, of course as Parker says, in England. And there are actually three chapter books in one. Parker has always loved books about animals and so far this one does not disappoint.

We have also, unexpectedly, landed in the desert for our habitat study (I was under the impression that we were going to the African Savannah next and was not prepared for his detour!). So I grabbed Wombat Stew and Roxaboxen off my shelf and we read those. Not necessarily about animals and their habitats, but in the desert nonetheless! I need to get on Amazon and find some others to read next week. Along with some fun activities to go with.

Harry Potter and Spiders, June 2009

In Parker's words: This is Harry Potter and the spiders that he was following before discovering the super huge spiders. It looks really spooky because he was in the forbidden forest. The brown spot on the right is the headlight from the car. The yellow is light shining.

 

***There is a lightning scar on his forehead, but it is really hard to see in the scan.

Today Parker and I went to the Natural History Museum in LA. We have gone once before last summer to see the Butterfly Pavillion. This year we took another stop in the Pavillion and it was worth it!

There were tons of butterflies to see and watch. We saw lots of caterpillars and even some tiny eggs.

Here are some of our favorites photos from our visit:

There are actually five caterpillars in this picture. One is hiding behind some flowers and he can barely be seen. And one is hidden in the blurred background. The big guy in the middle Parker actually found on the ground and told the lady that was showing him all around and she moved him back the milkweed plant so he wouldn't get hurt.

 

 

This tree had tons and tons of caterpillars walking around munching leaves.

 

And of course some butterflies.

 

 

 

Other things we saw today:

• African animals
• North American animals
• T-Rex presentation - there was a guy dressed at t-rex and as he was walking down the isle he came at us. Parker jumped so fast!
• Marsh lands, birds, rain forest

Before heading home we spent a good hour in the discovery center. Parker loved being able to hold all the different antlers trying to figure out which was which. At one point we actually went back upstairs to look at one of the animals in the Africa hall to make a comparison. He also loved the furs, especially the racoon which reminded him of Little House on the Praire and Mr. Edward's coon skin cap.

Also while in the discover center we looked at all the spiders, insects, snakes, fish, turtles, and lizards. Got to feel snake skin. And spent about 15-minutes in the paleontology dig site uncovering dinosaur bones. Before returning to the antlers and furs for one last look.

A great, fun day that ended with finishing up Harry Potter #2 (the second I closed the book he asked me to read it again!), Parker drawing a picture of Harry Potter, and finally with us having dinner while watching Planet Earth: Deserts.

While I stayed home and watched nine movies and read 2.5 books, my guys spent four days at the river. It was pure bliss, very quiet, and extremely relaxing here at home. I missed them, but I definitely did not miss going to the river.

Leading up to the river Parker kept telling me that this year he wanted to fall off the tube. I think he got what he wished for:

 

I asked him if it was scary or fun and he said, which a huge smile on his face, 'BOTH!!!'

And no, I didn't have a heart attack when I saw the picture. I thought it was awesome!

I also heard he was the king of wanting to go faster, always having his two thumbs pointing up:

 

A couple other favorites:

 

 

And now I am off to eat breakfast and read a little Harry Potter with Parker before we head out to play with friends for the afternoon.

This week in reading

As usual lots of reading going on around here! Around Parker's room I have discovered The Legend of Lightning Larry, On Top of Spaghetti, There's an Alligator Under My Bed, How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World just to name a few. Parker also read The Littles, Charlotte's Web, and The Littles Go to School. And as I type he is making his way through 101 Animal Secrets.

Together we enjoyed City I Love. This is a poetry book about a dog who travels to different cities. We had fun finding the dog hiding on the pages and also figuring out what city he was in. We also picked up the book Library Mouse at the book sale this week and have been reading that over and over. 

Together we finished up Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. We also read The Barefoot Book of Knights, which was very good, and Chocolate Fever, another blast from my past!

While painting this week Parker also listened to The Twits on the computer. Audiobooks are a new adventure for us. We have only ever listened in the car before.