Mark Bayley 1949-2009

I don't quite have the words to process this right now, so I'll borrow somoene elses

Miss Me - But Let Me Go

When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me,
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room,
Why cry for a soul set free!
Miss me a little - but not for long
And not with your head bowed low.
Remember the love that we once shared,
Miss me, but let me go.

For this journey that we all must take
And each must go alone;
It's all a part of the Master's plan
A step on the road to home.
When you are lonely and sick at heart
Go to the friends we know,
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds.
Miss me, but let me go.
- Edgar Albert Guest

To the zoo! Again

Grace was so excited about the new lion exhibit at the zoo, she had to see it again with her friends. I am again reminded that I really do need a better camera. Something that can actually take a picture in focus.

Room To Roam

Since Mom & Dad aren't doing anything with what will become the pool table room, the kids decided to turn it into fort central.

Fundraising

I'm not sure the word 'fun' should be in fundraising...we were so lucky at the boys last school not to have to have them pimp products, but alas, the new school has a fundraiser. And of course they get the kids all excited to earn prizes for how many things people order...

Want to help them out? You can order online at http://www.fundraisingsolutions.us/. If you want to know how to give them credit for the order, email me and I'll give you their homeroom teacher deets.

Hayden thinks I should order 6 boxes of chocolates so he can have chocolates and earn the worm toy. Bayley wants ten things so he can win a 5 pound Hershey bar. Motivated by chocolate much?

ROAR!

We took the kids to see the new lion exhibit at the zoo. The lions were out, and their area makes from some great pictures...if you have a nice camera. I don't reccomend the weekends...I'm ont bothered by pushy kids, because they are kids, but adults are another story.


The boys liked exploring the exhibit more than seeing the animals, I think. Everything was very hands on, from a mancala game to instruments and a climbing wall and jeep to a dome the kids could pop-up into.

It never amazes me how often they can find new things at the same old exhibits. Each time we zoo, they must see how tall they are compared to the bears and try not to get wet with the salmon swimming upstream

This visit was special because Dad was there - which meant they could go feed the lorokeets. (I don't go in there ever since one pooped on my head)

I need a new camera. The good one croaked, and the back-up camera...takes fuzze pictures with too much flash. Add it to the list....

Afterschool Snacks

Grace loves when the boys get home from school. I think she's waiting for the snack, more than for them.

Abra's 4!

We headed back to the 'hood to celebrate Abra's 4th birthday. The kids had a great playdate - complete with bubbles AND chalk, Grace was in heaven.

The boys enjoyed the playground at the neighborhood park all the more because they hadn't been there every day, and Mr. Rob decided to play basketball with all the big kids! I don't think he planned it, but the kids recruited him.

My thrill of the day was finding this picture ::

Geodesic Dome

Bayley will be studying geometry this year, so when we saw directions for building this dome out of equalateral triangles we knew we had a great learning opportunity! OK, so it looked like fun we could call educational. It's built from logs of rolled up newspaper.

We started to put a roof on it using tissue paper...we'll finish another day!

First Day of School

The boys started their new school today. We got them out the door and ready on time - we weren't sure after a summer of late mornings!

Bayley :: I got a buddy - Patrick! (He knew Patrick from kindergarten and 1st grade) I didn't recognize anyone else, but everyone had on their handsome clothes and I can't recognize anyone like that!

Hayden :: My teacher was not what I expected. She was nice when the parents were there, then she was telling us to be quiet! Two obnoxious boys were in my group. We had PE. I had a hamburger for lunch with ketchup, with cinnamon roll bread and lettuce with ranch dressing and animal crackers. I was still hungry, but they said I could only go through the salad bar again.

Sleepover

Bayley is having his first sleepover tonight. Jeff is under the impression that kids SLEEP at a sleepover. I don't remember that part...

We started the evening with s'mores, so at least we're all on a sugar high!

Believe it or not, the picture is the boys saying how much they like Bayley, not trying to sacrifice him in the fire pit!!

Campers!

With rain in the forcast for the weekend, we knew the boys had one chance left to camp this summer. The boys and I put up the tent and they were determined to sleep in it.

I'm ashamed to admit I doubted either of them would. But they both did. All night long without a peep! Hayden woke up early when the dog had his morning bark at the birds, but Bayley slept like usual!

Grace just liked the tent :)

The excitement of the day

We were having our usual boring day when things got very exciting. While picking up Bayley from a playdate, the door to our former neighbors house closed. Not usually a big deal, but it's an auto-lock. And the baby was asleep upstairs. And the dad of the family and his key were across the country.

The locksmith said he'd be about a half hour. Not a big deal...except the baby was inside. So, the fire department saved the day.