summer vac-a

I love summer! Hot weather, not so much but the time, I love time. Today, I got to go to shops in Phoenix with my Mom, Elise, and Megan. Acouple of them were ok, but Rust and Roses had so much stuf that I wanted to take home. Paris Envy made me sneeze, but Megan was going to move in and I couldn't decide which quilt to buy, so I bought none. But I will definitely go back and get one. There were so many good ideas that I want to use in Emma's room (if she'll let me) The only lame thing about kids getting older is they get a mind of their own, dangit. There was a cute little round stool with curved metal legs that had an overstuffed polka-dotted seat on it with a tulle skirt. It would look so cute at a desk or vanity. It would also go so cute with the brown and blue tulle skirt that I want to put on a lamp shade in her room. So far, Lauren, Emma, and I have all picked out different shades of blue to paint our bedrooms. Mine is a very pale gray-blue. David is terrified of the blue, so we're easing it in. I'm also, probably going to antique that with some brown glaze. Lauren has a brighter light blue that she is going to have her cousin Misty paint a beach mural on one wall. Emma picked out bright sky blue. I'm so nervous to see her whole room in this kind of "wow" blue. But then pretty much the whole rest of the house will be beige. I can't believe that as of August 10th, we will be homeowners! They were laying tile today. Our fans and chandeliers are in, closet cupboards, all kinds of fun stuff. Wow!

#21 did I mention, do something that is not teaching school.
#22 have enough money not to worry about it (is that possible)

Oh, I did it - bike riding

Emma went up to Utah with her Grandma and Grandpa for about 3 weeks before we went up. While she was up there, her cousin Raquel taught her how to ride a bike. She was a little scared to learn on our sidewalk next to the street down here, but apparently dirt and grass in utah are softer. (Not really, because she is covered with scabs and bruises. But obviously, she doesn't care.) We kept using the excuse that she was too short, but David actually had to raise the seat for her when we got up there. We couldn't get her off the bike. She kept begging me to go on walks with her. Which, of course meant, I walk - she rides ahead of me. Luckily, Koosharem is the best place for that. We walked to the park and to the cafe. She could ride around the yard and loved to ride through her Daddy's backyard golf games. She seems to have gotten used to the occasionaly little tumbles and I love the look of pure joy on her face when she whizzes by. The first picture is with Riley on the way to the park. They had a blast together. We all hated to leave Utah. Emma, especially. She keeps talking about moving there. I wonder what she would think of living in that snow. She is anxious for a new bike, even though I think she had coated the pedal with hamburger before to get the dog to chew it off. Now, she has no fear.

These are a couple pics of Lauren in her exciting role in The Music Man this Spring. (I know you saw this Mer.) In the red dress, she is playing Zaneeta, the Mayor's daughter. She was adorable as the silly little flirt - scary. In the floral with gloves, she is a town's person. The teachers who do the play have 2 casts so that more kids get to participate. Even as a town's person, she had a solo part in the Wells Fargo Wagon song. It was so fun to see all the kids (since many of them are or were my students). However, I'm not sure that this topped Annie, where Lauren got to play Lily St. Regis. That was adorable. Btw, these are photos recovered from inside my hairspray melted camera. I was wondering where my camera was, until I cleaned out the back of the car and found it with the hairspray that had gotten pressed down. The chrome was totally melted off the front of the camera and all the buttons were stuck. So, we got to buy "another" new camera. Yay!

Ok, Mer, sometimes I may skip a day. Also, Happy Birthday to all those people crazy enough to be born in July. What were you thinking? Shoot, I have to look around and try to remember how to post pics.

Things I'd like to do:
Inspired by Darilyn

Oh, so many things, where to start.
Some things I want to do again, too.

1. Go to New Orleans and Baton Rouge
2. Spend time in Jamaica
3. Parasail
4. write my great-grandmother's story
5. visit England, France, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, Switzerland, etc.
6. Throw tomatoes at that festival in Spain
7. climb the steps at Chichen Itza (sp?)
8. See the pageant at Palmyra
9. Go to all the historic sites in Boston and Philadelphia
10. Go back to New York and Washington and take my family
11. watch whales
12. visit some family history sites North and South Carolina, Virginia
13. Shop in antique stores in Europe, where things are actually OLD
14. watch my children have happy lives
15. learn to play the piano well
16. learn other languages
17. have oodles of ribbons
18. have a house by a lake or on a beach with a wide wrap around porch and a big room with bunk beds where anyone who wants to can just come and stay with us a while.
19. to have a garden of lovely flowers that someone else takes care of for me
20. have a pet lamb

Ok, this is the first 20, subject to be revised, reordered and amended I'm just too tired to continue.

These are some of my favorite people in the world. I just love the unknown man in the cowboy hat. Ok, it's actually Lauren and Emma that I love. This is from our Spring Break trip through Southern AZ; Tucson for eegee's, Colossal Cave, Bisbee, Tombstone, etc. Some places I had never been in 37 years living in AZ. I want to take my kids lots of places. Of course, the draw of some places takes us back again and again. We just got back from Koosharem, UT. 80* in July, and not at 10pm, is quite a draw. Although this year, the big draw was that Emma had already been there with Grandma and Grandpa for three weeks. We wanted her back. The sky is so big there. I could sit outside at night forever, just staring at the stars. I love being able to actually see the Milky Way. I saw a shooting star. The kids love that they can just go... Emma learned to ride a bike. We have LOTS of pics of that. Btw, I love Merilee's slide show and am waiting for her to fill me in on how to do it here.