BOOKENDED BY ROYALS AND TERRORISM

During the time that I’ve been on ‘blog hiatus’, many times I’ve thought, ‘oh, I’ll definitely blog about this’. And then I don’t. I feel like I’m not keeping up enough with the blog so I just don’t write at all. Maybe there’s a happy medium. I do like to write, and I still keep my little journal at home, however, with our crazy schedule there’s just no way to commit to writing several times a week. I guess I need to be OK with just updating when I can. So that’s my goal. When something strikes me, I’ll let you know.

This past weekend was Sydney’s 7^th birthday. This is not a well known date in history, but it seems as if there’s always something going on around her birthday. On the exact day she was born- April 30, 2004 –Ken and I watched TV from my hospital room as the United States media outlets released graphic photos of American soldiers abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. The country was in an uproar and an in-depth investigation began headlining the news for many months to follow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse). While there haven’t been any major events on or around her birthday for the past few years, this year was a big exception!

Headlines from Friday, April 29, 2011:

· http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2011/royal.wedding/?iref=allsearch

· http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/29/live-updates-the-royal-wedding/?scp=3&sq=prince%20william&st=cse

· http://www.people.com/people/package/0,,20395222,00.html

I know some people think it’s silly, but I can admit and own up to the fact and I am fascinated by all things Royal. I loved Princess Diana and have watched her and Prince Charles’ wedding too many times to count. I wanted to dress like her. I jumped on the ‘I hate Camilla’ bandwagon when it became very apparent that Charles was seeing her even though still married to Diana. I was ‘Team Diana’ all the way when she and Charles divorced. I loved the fact that she was making her own way in the world and seemed to be finally discovering true happiness in the world. I mourned along with the rest of the world on the night that she was killed- I can tell you everything about that night: where I had been, what was on TV when it was interrupted with the news, etc. And I sobbed as I sat up all night to watch the funeral. I was 5 when Charles and Diana were married. Sydney was 6 when William and Kate were married. I hope this is something she is interested in as well so it can be something we share. There are so many bad things in the world that this is something fun and happy to remember. I can’t wait to watch William and Kate forge a new and modern approach to the monarchy.

Sunday evening, after a long birthday weekend, things were winding down and we were at the neighbors’ house. Sydney was playing with the girls and I was watching TV with my friend when a text came through on her phone from another one of our friends: ‘We got Osama’. What? We initially didn’t think anything of it- blowing it off as a joke or something like that. Then, texts started coming through on my phone from the CNN Breaking News feeds that I subscribe to:

· Osama bin Laden is dead.

· Congressional and administration officials tell CNN Osama bin Laden is dead.

· Osama bin Laden killed at a compound in Abbottabad Pakistan, after a firefight, President Obama said Sunday.

· US Navy Seals were involved in mission that killed Osama bin Laden, a senior defense official said

· Osama bin Laden was shot in the head during a U.S. raid, a congressional source familiar with the operation says.

· Osama bin Laden has been buried at sea, a U.S. official says.

· A DNA match confirms Osama bin Laden was killed, a senior administration official tells CNN.

We immediately turned off the movie we had been watching and were instantly glued to the TV. Images of bin Laden, 9/11, Ground Zero, the White House, and many others were splashed all over the screen. The world’s MOST WANTED terrorist has been killed. The one most of us thought would never be found, had not only been found, but had been terminated. I am a very proud American, but that extra sense of pride and love for your country that only comes along once in a while was presenting itself that night. Does my daughter know who bin Laden is? No. But she knows we killed the bad guy. She may not understand the situation now, but someday she will read about it in her history books. And it makes me pretty happy that she never really has to know who bin Laden is, as his reign of terror is over. I understand that inevitably someone else will come along- someone just as crazy, or crazier, than he. But for now, the world feels a little safer.

2011 is a birthday year we will never forget.

HIATUS

I'm not doing a great job of keeping up the blog. I'm officially on hiatus. You can keep up with us and check out new recipes for your family at the 'other' blog Monday Night Morsels.

JANUARY 4

Just one of the few pictures I took on the New Orleans trip-from-hell. Clowns are creepy. This one was no exception as it towered over me at probably 10 feet tall. I liked the vivid colors though.

JANUARY 3

The very last school day at Menlo Elementary. They 'left their mark' on the walls of that old building.

JANUARY 2

He's aiming, what of it?

JANUARY 1

DAILY PHOTO

Because I’ve been SUPER bad keeping up with the blog, I’ve decided to try a new twist on it for the new year- that will hopefully help me keep up better. I take SO many pictures that I think I’m going to try to post a picture a day. That way some days I might just post a picture and other days I might post something to go along with the picture. Right now I have a few days to catch up on, so here goes!

HOMECOMING WEEK

I have to admit it...I've always loved the 'theme' weeks for Homecoming. I liked to go all out in high school. But now, it seems the elementary school students get into it just as much. This made me very happy. Sydney had I had a great week figuring out outfits for the days. Here are our materpieces.

Day 1: Western Day

Day 2: Pajama Day

Day 3: Baseball Day

Day 4: Disney Day

Complete with Princess Bun

Day 5: SPIRIT Day

CATCHING UP

Ho-hum...I recently realized I have a LOT of catching up to do as far as blogging goes! Some of it may be kind of backward, but I'll do my best. Sydney started 1st grade last week and is loving it so far!

Of course we had to do the 'first day of school hair-do' picture:

Obligatory First Day of School picture with Jadon Wilson at the bus stop:

And, getting off the bus at school:

This is Sydney and her good friend Alexis discovering that their lockers are RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER this year:

FATHER'S DAY BOATING

Grandpa got a new boat recently and wanted to take Sydney and Jasper out for their first ride on Father's Day as well. We ate our lunch, took some naps, and headed out to Lake San-Roy so the kids could try it out.

Sydney got a little scared when the engine 'died' as soon as we took off from shore. But, Adam was able to get it going after a few minutes and she ended up having a good time. Jasper enjoyed himself very much, but it's sometimes hard to tell when he's doing his 'very serious concentrating' face.

We did a little fishing.

Then Gram and Gramps took the boat out for a little spin together too.

FATHER'S DAY FISHING 2010

In keeping with tradition, the 'Dads' got up early on Sunday to go on their annual 'Father's Day Fishing' excursion. Adam, Nat, and Jasper came out Saturday night and spent the night at Mom and Dad's so Adam could get up early and go with the boys also. This year the group was bigger than normal...it was: Adam, Grandpa Paul, Ken, John Wilson, Dave, Chuck Benedict, John Doud, Pat Doud, Cliff Powell, and Jeff Sherman. They headed out at 5am to the lake in Greenfield. They spent the morning fishing and Grandma, Me, and Nat hung out with the kids at Grams house.

The boys called a little after noon and said they were on their way home. When they got home Syd and Jasper were excited to see the fish bounty.Before lunch, the fish cleaning had to be taken care of. Sydney and Jasper were very interested to see the insides of the fish, and even held one up befrore Grandpa fillet'd it.Happy Father's Day to our favorite boys and dads!

GOOD EGG DAYS

Good Egg Days was held again this year on Father's Day weekend. We didn't do much in the park, but we did watch the parade and spent some time uptown at the carnival. Barb and I took Syd, Sam, and Noah uptown together...and even though the carnival was a bit lackluster this year, they enjoyed themselves all the same.

POPSICLES WITH GRAMPS

FIRST CONCERT!

For Sydney's birthday, we got her tickets to the Taylor Swift concert. It took a while for it to all sink in, especially after we got there. After every song she kept saying 'Is she going to sing another one, or is that all?' Then she would screeeeeeeeam like all the rest of the little girls around her.

We went with Katie Powell and her daughter Breanna. The girls had an awesome time, but were pooped after the show! We left a few minutes early so we wouldn't get stuck in traffic.

The tickets we got were in the 17th rown, on the floor in the middle section. They were awesome, and at one point in the show, Taylor walked right by us. She was about 3 feet away and I though Sydney might pass out. Unfortunately, with all the commotion, I wasn't able to get a picture of her when she was that close. But I did get some other random awesome photos just because of how close we were.

WILDCAT PRIDE

This year the Spring Concert theme was 'Wildcat Pride'. The entire show was written by Jay Peasley (the music teacher, Mrs. Taylor's, brother). He did a great job, and the kids love singing his songs. They ended the evening with the school song.

I scored a fabulous deal on e-bay for the perfect dress for Syd to wear for the concert. Chasta had some ribbon that matched the dress, so I stuck that in her hair. I must say, she looked great!

Sydney tried out for one of the 'group solo' parts in the concert, and she got it! Here she is stepping up to the mic for her part of the show...