A Wonderful Week!

One must wear "green" glasses if one is to eat "green" food!

I think my favorite part of the visit was the bedtime stories.

Ava rules on the zoo Carousel.

Princess Savanna - she really knows how to smile for the camera.

Digging for worms at the zoo.

Aren't those happy faces?

Daniel Boone and Annie Oakley!

Oh, yeah! The grandkids came to visit (so did their moms). It was a fantastic Spring Break. Every day we did something fun - like a green dinner for St. Patty's day, and go to Peacock Park for play and a picnic, complete with sidewalk chalk. We had our traditional visit to the zoo. We had a very special visit with Rondaleen where the kids could play in the orange trees and pick the oranges. I got some coloring books and crayons which the kids enjoyed and they got Nick and Becca to color with them. We went to Cabella's where Rod and I got each one of them a coon skin cap and a pop gun. They really loved the guns and the noise wasn't too bad, actually. My favorite thing was reading stories every night and cuddling those cute little bodies! It was also really great to see Katie and Julie. I really miss being close to my girls. It was fun to sit and talk and laugh every night after the kids were in bed. I swear, I never laugh harder than when Katie and Julie get on a roll. Thanks for taking the time to come and visit. It means so much! I love you all.

Oranges Galore!

One very special activity we enjoyed was visiting with Rondaleen in Sun City. She has some really big orange trees in her yard and the kids played inside the trees and picked oranges. The were fascinated as they watched her peel the oranges, with juice spraying out, and then eat the oranges they picked. The morning was absolutely beautiful, and the air was so fragrant with the orange blossoms. That is one thing about Arizona that I love - the smell of spring.

Ava, you have to peel it first! Yuck!

That's better, and I'm sure it TASTES better, too!

Get some sweet ones, Vannah, just like you!

Look at this one, guys!

Cooper and Ava peeking out of the tree. Aren't they cute? Inside the Orange tree. Lots of luscious oranges to pick! This is how it's done...

doo-doo, doo-doo

I think that my favorite thing that Cooper and Ava did while they were visiting this week, was play "doo-doo, doo-doo". This is an inventive game designed by two very bright two-year-olds. The object of the game is to build a road with books - a very long and winding road. Normally they do this activity at Katie's house and then she just gets to pick up all the books and put them back into the book drawer (while mutting under her breath, I am sure). Katie told them they could NOT play this at Grammy's house as I have some big bookshelves, and believe me they are FULL of books. When she did not see the big road of books, she figured they had actually listened to her. Five minutes later she checked on them and found one whole book shelf emptied with the second one half way emptied. These industrious little builders opened the game cupboard and stacked the books in very neat, and very high piles in front of the games and then proceeded to take out the games and empty the boxes. Luckily they only emptied a few of the games. What a mess!!! It was hilarious. I mean, how did they ever come up with the name "doo-doo, doo-doo" for this particular activity?

Followup on the Bad Day at School

Before we left for home that Tuesday, Mr. Hernandez, the principal, called Nick and me into his office and said he was going to call Nick and the other kid into his office first thing in the morning. He wants them each to give their story in front of the other. He has some more information and will interject to see what their reactions are. He asked Nick to just stick to his story and tell the truth. I know Nick can do that. He has never ever lied to me about anything! Anyway, he has his story straight. Mr. Hernandez asked him to write everything down, which he did. So he is all ready for the big meeting in the morning. Keep him in your prayers so he can be strong and be calm. He is a very sensitive kid. I sure do love him and I wish he did not have to go through this!!!

Everything we really well Wednesday morning. Mr. Hernandez let us know that he called Crime Stoppers and that a policeman would be at the meeting. Before they even had the meeting the other kid admitted what he did, so Nick did not have to go to the meeting. Mr. H just came and got his written statement. The other kid will be on long term suspension - meaning he will not be able to attend Cortez or any other school in our district. Nick was very relieved. He was so strong. I can't believe how tough he was through all of this. He never wavered and he really stood up for himself on this one. He was never forceful, just steady. What a great young man!

They asked if we wanted to press charges. We decided to just let the school handle it. As long as that kid is away from Nick, we are satisfied. I really emphasized to Nick last night that the truth would prevail. And it did!!

Trouble at School

These are some thoughts I composed on Tuesday, March 6. Monday night (March 5) at dinner, Nick casually announces that a kid in his band class held a knife to his throat. After much prodding, he told the story: Nick had on his drum. They were in the back room with no one else, and this kid comes up to him and tries to put goggles on him, telling him he "is required" to wear them. Nick gets peeved and shoves the kid aside. The kids says "hold on" and takes the knife out of his pocket, grabs Nick's shoulder and holds the blade of the knife to his throat, touching his skin with it. Some other kids start to come in, so the kid moves the knife and no one else sees it. This kid has been an irritation all year long. He is a foul-mouthed little twerp. He has bugged Nick on many occasions and I just tell Nick to ignore him and stay away from him. The kid got kicked off the drum line because he didn't attend a mandatory practice before a performance during Fall Break. He went to an all night drinking party instead (supposedly his mom knew about it). I never heard her say a thing about him getting kicked off the drumline. He shouldn't even have been in that back room with Nick at all. Nick did not tell the teacher about the incident. I don't think he told anyone. I went into the Dean's office with him and filled out the incident report the next morning. We couldn't let this one slide. I don't want this kid in class with Nick anymore. I don't want any repercussions. The bad thing is - this kid's mom is also a Cortez employee - she is the cafeteria manager. Of course, the kid has denied the incident. The administrators did a full blown investigation. They called in students that have contact with Nick and this other kid in the class. They asked me not to speak to the other mom, which I have not. But I do want to see her when this is over and let her know there is nothing personal. I know she is really hurting over this. She has a lot of issues to deal with in her life as a single mom, etc. But I'll be damned if I will let my son back into class with that kid! The kid got suspended for 5 days and it will be permanent once the investigation is over and they find out the truth. I could have gone to the police with this one, but decided to let the school handle it. I have confidence in my administration. Mr. Hernandez called me in and we talked in detail about what is happening - he let me know that he has two mothers (both employees) that say their son is NOT lying. He also said that no matter what the outcome is, this other Mom is going to say the school sided with Nick and me. I just have to trust them to get to the bottom of it, but it is frustrating. It is difficult because there were no eye witnesses unless one of the kids that walked in saw this kid pull the knife away. This kid also showed Nick a knife on another occasion. All I can say: I AM SO FRUSTRATED! This whole situation is so stinky! And I really do believe Nick. I just hope they can get to the bottom of it. This is going to be one really hard afternoon to sit at my desk. Mr. Hernandez also said he hopes there will be some consequences if it missing pieces indicate that Nick was wrong. Of course there will be, but I really don't think that will be an issue. Nick has never lied to me. He doesn't make this kind of stuff up. He said he was shaking through the whole class yesterday after that happened. It would all have been over and done with if he had stepped forward yesterday - but he has never liked to be a "tattle tail." Well, I hope he starts tattling his butt off if that's what it will take to stop stuff like this from happening. Just thought I'd let you guys in on my great day at work...

Don'tcha Just Love the Zoo??

Yesterday (Saturday) we needed some cheap entertainment, so we decided to use our Zoo Pass. Becca's friend, Taylor came along with us. It was a gorgeous day with perfect weather. We told the girls they could decide where to go and what they wanted to see. They wanted to go to the petting zoo first - so we went over to Harmony Farm and saw the goats and sheep. This little goat was locked up in the barn. We could hear her bleeting. Her lips quivered every time she bleeted. (Sorry, but it reminded me of watching Jamie do her goat sound! You know, where she holds her lips out and her tongue wiggles when she bleets...) It was such a sad sound! She was in the feeding trough. Just look at those eyes! Then Becca and Taylor paid a visit to the zoo's oldest and most long time resident. Elgin is a shetland pony that came to live at the zoo as a 4 year-old in 1960. You do the math. The poor old horse doesn't have any teeth left, and is on a specialized diet. He seems healty and happy.

Becca and Taylor wanted to ride the little wooden ponies. You go, girls!

Two cute friends share the swing.

We moved along to the monkey village where you can actually go in to where the monkeys live. They climbed the ropes and swung throught the trees. It was fun to watch them move so quickly. We had a really great afternoon at the zoo. We did get quite thirsty - the "dehydration headaches were starting - so we stopped at the Circle K for a wonderful and refreshing drink and icees. M-m-m-m-m!