I'm still around....and a quick update

Here's Lily and Grace horsing around in Grace's crib after a nap. Grace has recovered nicely from her bout with Roseola! There was one other child from nursery at church that also had it, so it makes me wonder....
Last Sunday we went to Bravo Farms Cheese Factory in Traver for lunch, and then we hit up the two wineries in our valley, Sierra View and Tivy Mountain. Sierra View was pretty good, but I wouldn't go back to Tivy Mountain. It was a nice day out for us.

Lily's first day of Preschool

Here's Lily on her first day! She found her cubbie, put her stuff away, gave me a kiss and said, "Bye Mom!" She was ready! (That's what her teacher, Miss Monica, who's on the right, said.) We had a great day.

Grace, on the other hand, is not doing so great. She had a103.3 degree temp at the Drs. this afternoon with an ear infection starting in her right ear. I am anticipating a rough night. Hopefully the medicine will kick in, and she'll feel better tomorrow.

On the eve of a big change.....

I've been thinking of this day since Lily was born. Some think I might be putting too much into this or that I am being dramatic, but it's a big deal. My oldest is starting school tomorrow. As an educator, I understand what that means. My child is going to be spending most of her days now with someone other than me. It's not that I don't trust her new school or teachers. I do, with the utmost of confidence. She is going to a great place. She's going to meet new friends, learn so many new things, and have a wonderful time. I just get a little weepy when I think of her being gone all day long, and I don't have any control any more of what happens in her life, during school hours. Lily is a treasure to us. She is so fun, and she, like her dad, lives life to the fullest and with much gusto. Whatever she thinks comes out of her mouth (That is also a little scary to me!) She can be exasperating one minute and so disarming the next. Her emotions run the gamut throughout the day (typical girl). I hope her teachers can handle her! So, on the eve of her first day of Preschool (I know...it's only preschool, but ...) here's a picture of her so quiet and peaceful. Stay tuned for "first day" pictures tomorrow....

And, a little side note....Some might be thinking, "Wow, Julie is getting a little dark these days." Yes, life doesn't always run in a straight line. There are many ups and downs, and I guess now we're (I'm) just having a down time. Someone said to me a couple of months ago that if you read my blog, you'd think I just led a charmed life. You know what? I do! I have so many things to be thankful for. And, it's not that I am not thankful. Life is just what it is...life. Take the good with the bad and remind yourself that it's by God's grace that we are here each day. II Corinthians 12:9 (from The Message) "My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness." Now comes the challenge: God, not me, needs to show forth more in my life, in spite of my weakness. Most of the time, I forget it's not about me. I need to make more room in my life for the Lord.

Can I check out?

A couple of weeks ago, I read a random blog of someone I don't know (what does that say about my voyeuristic personality?), and the blogger said that, for once, she wanted to check out of motherhood for 12 hours. (Granted, she found lice on her two year old's head, and who wouldn't want to check out after that?) There were a few times I felt the desire to check out this week. Sometimes, motherhood is the hardest, most unrewarding job I've ever had to do. (And I was a teacher at private schools!) I had to take more than one big breath this week and wonder how I was going to make it through the next hour, let alone the next day. Whatever could go wrong this week, did. Does anyone else feel this way? I keep trying to figure out what is at the root of this feeling, but I've come to the conclusion that, as a good family friend says, "When the devil shits, he shits in a big pile." I love that saying. My prayers need to be bigger than the devil's pile.

Who's Who?

I am sure from the quality of the photos that you can tell who is who, but I do see some resemblance! Grace loves playing with the toilet paper in the bathrooms, so when this photo opp came available, I couldn't resist. I remembered that my mom had a picture of me at the same age doing the same thing. Obviously, I am pictured in the bottom picture and Grace is at the top. We keep the bathroom doors closed now.

Julie's thoughts on the news this past week

I haven’t used our family blog as a stage for my opinions yet, but I just had too many “hmmm….” moments this week not to. Take it or leave it.

The Summer Olympics began this past week, with an impressive opening ceremonies put on by the host city, Beijing. I have been looking forward to this event for a few months, and I found it interesting that 8-8-08 was the opening day (The games began at 8 PM too). The Chinese culture considers 8 to be a lucky number (In Mandarin, the word eight sounds similar to wealth or prosper.) Honestly, I was only able to catch a few snippets of the ceremony (I watched the U.S. Team’s and the Chinese Team’s entrance, as well as the lighting of the torch.) What I saw was quite amazing, and I couldn’t imagine actually being able to witness it! I can understand why some of the athletes carry cameras themselves.

It’s been fascinating listening to our media’s portrayal of China. It’s almost as if the jealous older brother (The U.S.) is realizing that the younger one (China) is catching up to him, and the older brother is trying to do all in his power to point out faults of the younger. I will say that some of China’s human rights policies are atrocious, and their communist viewpoints are quite backwards (What’s up with blocking certain Internet sights?) And, I am not as educated in the policies and history of China as I should be, considering I am commenting on the country. I am looking forward to learning more about this mysterious country. Before this summer, I’ve really had no interest to visit China, but maybe now I’ll put it on my “Travel To Do” List.

It’s too bad that the first days were marred by the stabbing of the family members of a volleyball coach. Hopefully, the Chinese will step up their already stiff security so something like this doesn’t happen again. Did you know they hired private citizens to watch over the city? An NBC correspondent interviewed a 70 year old woman who was hired by the Chinese government to operate as security detail at public places in Beijing I’d love to see that Grandma chasing a Gihad terrorist down the streets of Beijing!

On another note, isn’t it interesting that John Edward’s extra-marital affair is coming to light? He’s blaming it on ego and power. Well, we all know what we can really blame it on, right? He made a poor choice. I get so angry when people don’t recognize that they made a bad choice. IT’S YOUR FAULT! NO ONE ELSE FORCED YOU TO DO WHAT YOU DID! YOU MADE THE ULTIMATE DECISION! Unfortunately, this poor choice also affects his family. And, really, don’t you think Elizabeth Edwards has gone through enough? My advice to her: Leave the lying, sneaky rat ^*^%$@*. I love it that now good old Johnny boy was “disinvited” from speaking at the Democratic National Convention. If you look back at the history of bad choices amongst Presidents or Presidential candidates, there seems to be a pattern: The Democrats can't keep in their pants, and the Republicans seem to have problems with criminal activities. Which is worse? Both speak to each individual's moral compass. Speaking of the Presidential race, I am excited about this year's election. I can't wait to see what our country decides and if the decision instantly makes life in the U.S. better, because that seems to be everyone's consensus. Can I bring it back to the "C" word?" Really, did President Bush force you sign up for an interest only loan on a house that was $100k more than you could afford? Don't blame someone else for your poor choice.

To wrap up the week, who’s seen Paris Hilton’s response to John McCain’s political ad, which calls Barak Obama a celebrity? I think her speech writer should apply to work for President Bush. Who knows….maybe he/she already does?

P.S. Looking at my Feed-Jit in the side bar, I keep wondering who's from Midlothian, Illinois? I am just curious. Do we know you?

"Gymnaxis" (Gymnastics)

I enrolled Lily in a gymnastics class through our city's Parks and Recreation summer program. She took to it with no problem! The reason I put her in the program, other than to expose her to gymnastics, is to see if she could sit and follow directions! I didn't want any fiascos to surface, since we are beginning preschool in little over a week. Lily asks often throughout the week "how many sleeps" until we can go to "gymnaxis." Our last class is this week, and since she likes it so much, I will probably put her in a class at our local gymnastics institute. Here's a few pictures from one of her classes.

Her first handstand....

Doing a slap jum on the spring board....