Sumatran Orangutan

Today Urban, a Sumatran Orangutan died at the Sacramento Zoo. We have been visiting him since we first started taking the kids to the zoo in 1999. Urban was born at the Sacramento Zoo in 1981. It is sad when an animal we enjoyed watching will no longer be there at the zoo. I saw this in the Sacramento Bee and thought the picture of him was neat.

Congratulations Allen!

Tonight Allen was presented with an Outstanding IT Manager Award! It is nice that he is recognized for his hard work. When they post the pictures on their website I will post the link for everyone to see.

Farmer's Market

Today Rachael's 4th grade class went to a local Farmer's Market. We saw lots of oranges, cilantro, onions, broccoli, chard, eggs, apples, kiwi, kale, mustard greens, asparagus, garlic... The kids answered questions and earned tokens to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. Fun outing.

Home from school...

Ethan stayed home from school today. We could tell he was not feeling well. We took him to the doctor and he has strep throat! Poor kid. He is hanging out with his Bakugan and watching cartoons. That is when he isn't sleeping. :) Now my throat is a little sore and I realize we shared a drink while doing errands on Saturday...

October 2002

Rachael and Ethan

October 14, 2002

R ~ 3 years 9 months

E ~ 1 year 7 months

March 1, 2003

I found some memory cards from our old camera. These were taken March 1, 2003 when the Krispy Kreme opened near our house. What a difference six years make!

Happy Valentine's Day

We received the picture from the Sweetheart Dance Allen took Rachael too last week. Happy Valentine's Day!

Did you know?... February 14, 1991 while leaving class Allen asked me if I would like to go out that night. Our first date was on Valentine's Day.

Diorama

Today Ethan's 2nd trimester project is due. He was to choose an animal or creature and design a habitat (diorama) in which it can camouflage itself. Did you know the fawn has about 300 white dots on its back the size of a quarter? When it curls up under a tree the dots look like sunlight filtering through the leaves and even an eagle has trouble seeing it. It also does not have a scent for it's first week of life. They can run up to 35 mph (that is faster than a car on the 101 during rush hour!!!). :) This afternoon I will go back to the school and video tape him doing his presentation. We found out it is hard to paint cotton balls and are proud of the work he did on his project. He read several books on the deer and fawn before writing down the facts he is going to share with his class. Way to go Ethan!!

Just another Friday

Today started with Ethan receiving an Academic Award at the school assembly. He received it for improving his penmanship and reading fluency. Way to go Ethan! He has been working hard on both. I will post pictures but Allen and Rachael have the camera at the school Sweetheart Dance. It is nice the two get to have some father/daughter time with a hundred hyper girls in a loud, hot, multipurpose room at school. :) I can picture the dads' huddled near the door for fresh air. While they were dancing I took Ethan to his Cub Scout meeting where they colored invitations to the Blue and Gold Dinner and made a center peice that looks like the White House. Now I am going to go play a wii game with him or watch the Ben10 he is watching. It is nice having mother/son time.

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my 40th birthday! Whew I am getting old :) Here is a picture of me and the cake my mom made on my 7th birthday. Mom would always make us a gold crown to wear and impress us with her cake decorating skills. Rachael and Ethan are now wondering why I do not make them three tiered cakes! I also thought the preschool picture of me was funny too. I think that picture was taken Fall 1973. Thank you to all of you who were in cahoots with Allen on my birthday gift. Allen and I are going on a cruise! I have never been on a cruise and have wanted to go on one. I couldn't be more surprised. In my opinion the physical age you are is just a number that doesn't really matter much unless you want to drive, drink (never at the same time) or collect retirement. Of course when I was seven I thought 40 was OLD! For those who could not find me, I am in the middle, sitting down with the pigtails and a striped shirt. The top picture is black and white. My moms' hobby was photography and she would develop the prints at home in our powder room that was converted to her photo lab.

Winter Pictures

Today was a beautiful sunny warm day in Elk Grove, California. I figured I had better post some snow pictures, even if they are from last year, to remind us it is still winter. It is supposed to rain in a couple days so we are soaking in the sun while we can. These pictures are from January 2008. For those who do not know, it doesn't snow in Elk Grove. We drive to the Tahoe area to sled and play in the snow.

I almost forgot! Today at Hebrew School Rachael tested on the AVOT and passed. She can read it in Hebrew. Fourth grade Hebrew class concentrates on the Friday night prayers. Great job Rachael!

Happy Valentines' Day - Oh wait...

Katie thought it was Valentines' Day. She chewed a hole in the baggie holding the old computer ink cartridges (we recycle them) and picked out the pink one to chew on. Thankfully she stayed on the tile and laminate floors which the ink came right off. Katie still has a tint of pink on her paws and my hands are a tad pink after giving her a bath. She is going to lose her house privileges soon! I caught her "pink pawed"... She also unzips the kids' backpacks for their baggies of carrots and goldfish for snack.