Student of the Week

It was Lauren's turn to be Student of the Week. That means that you have to make a poster about yourself and bring in something different each day. On Friday, I had to come in and read to the class.

When we were planning out the poster, we looked at one of Lauren's shirts that had a paint splatters on it and then peace signs and hearts and etc. We decided to use that shirt as our pattern. We first splattered paint all over the poster board. Then we cut out pictures and the shapes we needed. It was a fun project to do together. Lauren was so proud to bring it to school.

Finally a Sunny Weekend!

For the last three weekends it has been rainy and cold. That seems to be a record for Phoenix. This weekend it was beautiful. Saturday was sunny and 75. Perfect weather for a day at the zoo.

Lauren was in a rare posing mood. So I got to take a bunch of pictures with no fight or no bribe. She can be so funny when she is "posing" but I take what I can.

The funniest thing happened toward the end of the day. I got Lauren an ice pop and we decided to just sit and watch the baboons for a while while she ate her pop. The male baboon was chasing the female around the baboon area and finally caught her. He then proceeded to mate with her. Lauren was just watching but didn't say a word. I was trying to figure out what to say if she asked what was going on. But since she didn't ask I decided to just let that one pass by without comment. Oh, the things you see at the zoo. (I didn't get a picture of that action!)

Where Did My Little Girl Go?

I was downloading the snow pictures and this picture was on the small camera. I can't believe how grown up my little girl looks. I am so glad she is a health, beautiful, sassy, smart young lady, I just miss my baby sometimes.

Sledding for the 1st Time

We live in the desert, so Lauren has only seen snow when it has been trucked in for a special event. The thing is that only 2 hours away is a ski resort that gets plenty of snow each year. I have been promising Lauren that we would go up to the snow. I promised her we would sled, and have a snow ball fight and etc.

A few weeks ago we had a huge storm here and there was still a lot of snow so on President's Day we headed up to the snow. Lauren had a great time. She was so sad when we finally dragged our tired bodies home. I also forgot how much fun sledding is. It was fun to see play for the first time in snow.

Sometimes I forget how beautiful the snow looks on the mountains.

Look at the smile and the fun she is having.

Trying to make a snow angel.

Carrying up a big snow ball.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day

Fun at the zoo.

With cousin's Sammie and Jacob at the zoo.

Lauren and the Meerkats.

Lauren and Sammie!

Time to say good-bye.

Valentine's Day at our house starts with the Valentine presents. Lauren made me two wonderful crafts. One is her hand print in a heart. It is so very pretty. It will have special place at work.

Lauren loved the items in the Valentine's basket. She got a new Webkinz and had to load him on the site. She doesn't play webkinz much anymore but today she wanted to play on the website a few times.

We then went to the zoo. We called Brian and Diane to see if they wanted to meet us there. Since we all have annual passes it is an inexpensive way to spend the day. It was so nice out and the girls had fun just running around. I don't think they looked at more then a couple of the animals but they had a great time.

It was a wonderful Valentine's Day.

It is also the start of Chinese New Year. We missed the FCC celebration last weekend and I ask Lauren if she wanted to change into her Chinese outfit and go out for dinner. That was quickly voted down. We will try again next year.

Out of State Cheer Competition

Most of Lauren' s team. This was right after the first day's competition. They were doing really well until Lauren had a fall on one of the stunts. The girls didn't seem to care. (A couple of the girls are on a older team also. They had to go and get ready to compete again.)

Lauren on stage.

The big move.

Room service.

This weekend we had an out of state competition. We went to Palm Springs. the competition was two days. It was a huge competition. Lauren's division had 12 teams in it. Usually we only have between 2 and 5 so this was huge. They had big screens on the side of the stage to show the competition. It went from 7:30 am to about 8:00 pm. We only had to stay for the time she competed and during awards.

Lauren just loves to stay at hotels and loves when they have room service. She wanted to order it all the time. We did when we first got in and she thought it was great. (The wine is mine.) She hates that I take pictures of everything.

The competition did not go well for them. They started off really strong and then Lauren fell on one of the stunts. The girls didn't seem to mind. I asked Lauren if she felt bad and was upset that she fell and she told me "mom, it is just for fun". We (the parents and coaches) had high hopes for the second day but with 3 falls things did not get better. (Again the girls didn't seem to mind.) It was just a bad weekend for their cheering. However, they had a great time playing with each other. We were hoping to go swimming but it rained all day and was cold. So instead the girls ran around the hotel. Since most of the guest were in the competition so no one complained. The girls really got along and so did the parents. (Of course Sunday morning it was bright and sunny and warm!)

We have another out of state competition in a few months. I am sure they will do better and even if they don't I don't think they will care to much. That one is right by Disneyland so they are excited about going to the park after the competition is over.

Book Report

Lauren and her book report project.

This weekend Lauren and I worked on her first book report project. This was the paper plate book report. Lauren had to read a book and then using a paper plate create a puppet of the main character. Lauren decided to do the book, "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake". She wanted to use fur on her paper plate. She had suggested that she cut some fur from her cat when I didn't allow that she suggested that we cut up a stuffed animal she had. I suggested we go to the store and buy some fake fur. I helped hot glue the fur on the plate (and I suggested that we put stuffing on the plate). But she did everything else. I think she did a great job. She was so proud of how it turned out. She has to give her report next week and I am sure she will do a great job.