Gryffindor: 11.4 points!
Michael took his AR Quiz on Harry Potter and answered 19 out of 20 correctly, thus earning him 11.4 points. Way to go Michael! We had to work hard on contrasting the book details from the movie since the quiz was only on the book.

Of Blossoms and Harry Potter

Finally life is getting back into shape. We "enjoyed" several low-key days at home and Michael and I even knocked out a few chapters of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. That was one of the only things that could keep his mind off his bad headache. Wednesday, Daniel went to preschool and Michael and I got to watch more of the movie, Harry Potter, up to the same point we were at in the book. It's a lot of fun to read a bunch in the book and then watch it play out on the movie. That book is worth a whopping 12 AR points at school and I told Michael as soon as he passed the quiz, we would watch the whole movie at one time. It's fun to see how Michael understands the implied meaning of things instead of being told flat out, "Malfoy is a mean boy" or "Ron has a good heart."

There are some trees next door to Daniel's preschool that are just starting to blossom. I told the boys about how I grew up with trees blossoming all around me every February and that, at the time, it didn't seem like anything special. And now I can't wait for them to blossom because it's a little bright spot in the middle of a dreary winter. I said that we "had trees blossoming just right outside our door" and I still have to pull out my memory of all the pink blossoms and honey-sweet scent. Daniel asked if the blossoms filled up the doorway so much we couldn't get out. I explained that "right outside our door" was a sort of figure of speech. He asked what a figure of speech was. Oh, how those fresh little minds are ready to be filled.

When the kids are sick...
The boys are sick with whatever it is that has school attendance dropping and church-goers not going. Daniel spiked a fever in a mere 15 minutes on Friday night and they are both coughing like crazy. Thankfully they have been sleeping all night which allows Mom to sleep all night and not wear down the immune system. Friday night: purchase more children's Tylenol. Sunday night: purchase more cough syrup. Today: need to purchase some children's Motrin since the Tylenol is not working on the headaches. Michael has that headache where it feels like your eyes are going to pop out, but no fever. Ugh. Everywhere you go, people have the same cough: grocery store, restaurant, class... What if a big X was magically stamped on your forehead if you were still contagious? Would you stay home from work or school? Would you give dirty looks to the person next to you with a big X? Would you (hee hee) cover it up with makeup? As a mom, I would want to tell a contagious person to go home and quit spreading their germs to my kids. On the flip side, how many times have I been contagious but felt well enough to go to work or church? Wouldn't it be great if there was a cold vaccine just like the flu vaccine?

Irresistible Revolution
Quote out of a book written by a really weird guy (but who inspires many):
"The gospel is good news for sick people and is disturbing for those who think they've got it all together. Some of us have been told our whole lives that we are wretched, but the gospel reminds us that we are beautiful. Others of us have been told our whole lives that we are beautiful, but the gospel reminds us that we are also wretched. The church is a place where we can stand up and say we are wretched, and everyone will nod and agree and remind us that we are also beautiful."

"I'm just going to sneak one when you're not looking!"
I asked Daniel how preschool was, and he said, "I don't want to tell you anything." This is a common reply these days and it's not because he did something naughty and doesn't want to talk about it. So I asked what songs they sang in chapel today (let me rephrase, I asked what songs the other kids sang in chapel today) and he replied, "I don't know." So I told him that when he was going to ask me for a snack, I was going to reply "I don't want to tell you," and when he asked me for something to drink, I was going to say, "I don't know." Well that got him pretty upset and he told me that if I was going to do that, then he was just going to sneak one when I wasn't looking. (Which, by the way, he used to do a couple of years ago. It got to be so bad that we had to lock our pantry door because we couldn't keep him out of it.) After his proclamation, I was laughing so hard that it made him even more upset, and I couldn't stop laughing about him getting upset at me laughing at him... it was a vicious cycle. So eventually he did tell me about preschool and he did get his snack and drink.

Roller Skating
Today Michael went roller skating for the first time with the 3rd and 4th graders at his school for a reward. Mommy was pretty nervous that he was going to get the skates by himself, put them on by himself, and skate by himself. Mommy prayed all morning that he would have fun and that every little detail would work out and that he would not get a concussion. When he got home from school, the first words out were, "Cal Skate was so much fun! I have GOT to go there for my next birthday!" (See post below... this could be a very good idea.) When asked if he actually went skating and didn't have to hang on to the wall, he replied that he was able to skate around once he figured it out (with the help of a "skate guy"). Yay, thank you God!

Yuck E. Chuck E.

Once again, Michael asked for Chuck E. Cheese for his birthday. Ugh. And this time we went on a Saturday. Double Ugh. It was so crowded that we had to wait in line just to get inside. But Michael was so excited because he invited two friends and they couldn't wait to play the video games. We finally got inside and our only choice was to sit at a table for 6, but with 8 people. We loaded the boys up on tokens and they were off. When our two pizzas finally came, the server proceeded to dump one of the pizzas on our coats while she set the other one down on the table. Another 25 minutes later, after first convincing the other servers that we were still awaiting another pizza, we had our second pizza. You would think the server that dumped the pizza could at least utter the words, "I'm sorry," but apparently those words are not part of her vocabulary. Or even offer some cotton candy or comp us a salad bar for greasing up otherwise clean outerwear. Sorry, Chuck E., you failed. But the boys redeemed their tickets for some mighty fine prizes. The favorite was loading up each hand with rings that bling'd of "$."

The 6 month carrot

Planted in July, early harvest today. Many are still left in the ground to mature fully. Does anyone know how safe 6-month old carrots are to eat? It's too late for me since I tried a couple already. Some taste sweet and light, others taste heavy and woody. I'm wondering what kind of nuclear waste in our heavily-amended clay soil caused the deformities. Maybe after another 6 months the rest of them will be full size. Mickey saw me and Daniel pull some out and when we turned our backs, he pulled one right out of the ground with his mouth.

Blue Man Group
Last night we went to the Blue Man Group concert at the Save Mart Center. We saw them the last time they were in Fresno and we had to go back for more. We were in the front row! Yes, the front row! Right by the stairs that they walk down on into the audience. We could have touched them! We should have touched them! It was such a fun show! We even got ponchos to wear, and I'm not sure if they were for the show or for the beer-guzzling lady next to us (how many cups of beer can you purchase and stash under your chair?). But what a dull audience Fresno is. They sat down the entire time! Tell me how you can SIT during such high energy! My favorite song is still "I Feel Love" with the lights, music, colors, ENERGY! The evening flew by and before we knew it, we were at Rock Concert Movement #78: The Fake Ending. But the audience DID get up for the Rock Concert Movement #3: The Up and Down Jumping Motion during the encore. Tim got some great footage and pics, and Michael is really excited that we took pictures for him. (Pictures up soon.) The boys love to watch the Blue Man DVD.

Mock Green Bean Casserole
"I'll eat it as long as you take all the green beans out." ~Daniel

The offending food? Green Bean Casserole!

Daniel lost a tooth!

M-I-C-K-E-Y
Meet Mickey! He is our new sheltie. We adopted him from the Northern CA Sheltie Rescue a week before Christmas. He is a blue merle and is so cute! He is a year and a half old and is a perfect match for our family. We knew we wanted to get another sheltie and happened to run across the Rescue's website. We filled out a very detailed application and, much to our delight, they made a placement with us. Mickey is really energetic and has such a funny personality. We drove up to the Bay Area to pick him up and he doesn't get car sick! He is house-trained, knows how to "sit," and we just found out that he can "shake." But, he is a bit defensive around other dogs, so we are working on the socialization.

When we got back from picking him up, he just seemed to know he was at his new home. He came over to me and "asked" to have his tummy scratched.

Santa does double duty

The quote of the century: "Look, it's Santa taking out the trash." From the advent calendar, said by Daniel.

Cinnamon Spice XV

July 22, 1997 - November 29, 2007

Cinnamon was born to Primo Lionheart and Primo Night Flight in Auberry, CA as a sable Shetland Sheepdog. She was adopted in the Neufeld family as Tracy's birthday gift. Her early years were spent in high energy while learning new tricks and good behavior. As an adult, Cinnamon loved spending time with the family. Her favorite place to visit was Hume Lake. She would get so car sick on the drive up, but once there, was ready to play. She couldn't wait for the PB&J sandwiches to be made because she knew she would get the cut-off crusts. Her favorite trick was to do a "Cinnamon Roll" where she would roll over for a treat. Every morning she would run outside and try to chase off the birds and squirrels. Next, she would grab one of our shoes and give it a good shake, and then drop it in the middle of the lawn. She never learned to bring the shoe back though. If she got into the trash while we were gone, we would already know she did something wrong as we walked in because of her guilty look. Her second Christmas, she stayed home while we went out; when we returned, there was wrapping paper and bows covering the entire floor. She was a good dog and will be missed greatly. She is predeceased by a pet goldfish. She is survived by her loving family.

Tell Me What You Know

Sara Groves just released her latest album, Tell Me What You Know, last week. I've given it a few spins and it's really great! But, a word of introduction... it is only that great if you've seen her Nomad DVD because this CD is in response to her trip to Africa. Brown Bannister did way better than the last one. There is a lot of variety between the songs that include sounds like pop, jazz and even something you might expect off a Carrie Underwood album. There's even a touch of monster ballad, big-hair-band sound (minus the big-hair-band). And then there is the signature Sara Groves/piano/strings. But definitely the word for this album is VARIETY. There is one song, "I Saw What I Saw," where the pinnacle of the song is so restrained, I am almost guessing that this hesitation is on purpose to make a point. Then there is "Love is Still a Worthy Cause" that's got a fun pop sound you might envision being off an 80's sitcom theme song. And the release "When the Saints" is so heavily produced that it actually works (and it would be really great to see it live with a full choir). So run out and grab a copy for yourself or order one off her website, http://www.saragroves.com/.

What started out as a picture of just Michael turned into all his friends jumping in. He's trying to strike a pose that says, "oh yeah, I'm cool."

Daniel's 5!

Obi Wan and Superman to the Rescue.

Fresno Philharmonic
We got to go see the Fresno Philharmonic last weekend with the fabulous Joshua Bell. We weren't planning on it, but someone had to cancel and gave us their tickets IN THE FIFTH ROW CENTER. What really made it great was that we had already made arrangements for babysitting earlier that week. What made it even greater was that we grabbed some fish tacos beforehand and there was free parking at Saroyan. And what made it even greater was that during the first half of the concert, the seat in front of Tim was empty. And what made it even greater was the great music by violinist Joshua Bell and the impromptu encore not usually performed. If you read the review in the Fresno Bee on Saturday, it was pretty accurate. In the middle of discovering how the planets must have aligned so we could get this great evening, I asked Tim if he was waiting for a sign from God for something... and if so, then this was his sign. But he said that no, in fact he was not waiting for a sign, but needed an evening of decompressing. Oh, and to make it even greater, we somehow were able to exit the parking structure minus the crowds and drive from downtown to NE Fresno in less than fifteen minutes (no speeding either).

At the soccer game...


Go #26, that's my boy! Regardless of the teammates who played backwards, we won 4-0!