Welcome to the World Yuriko!


My cousin was born today and I am celebrating by wearing my Japanese PJ's. Mom came in and took this picture of me to document my outfit and the fact that I have become a champion sleeper.

Anyway we are all thankful that Y. arrived safe and sound and that Jay, Yumi, and Hannah have a wonderful new girl to love!

Happy Birthday Big Daddy!

Hope you had a fabulous day and that it is the beginning of a great year for us all!

You are simply the best! Where would we be without you???

XOXOXO

Seeing Spots????

No, I'm not trying to gross anyone out- but what to do?? Is it something she ate? Shampoo? Lack of moisturizer? Grass? Is she just bored and trying a new look??

Dr. says no worries...we will see!

PS- yes the blog looks a bit different, just felt like a new template- I've had enough spots for a bit!

Continuing my theme from yesterday...

Unity '08 is a grassroots movement you might have heard about, if you watch political talk shows. Their goal is to draft a bipartisan presidential ticket for '08, via a web convention. It seems that political dialog has become so divisive that there is no longer room for intelligent debate of the issues: eg- if you disagree with Pres. Bush you must be a flaming liberal, unAmerican, or pro-terrorist... What happened to legitimate discussion of the issues and the demand that all citizens play an active role in their government? Doesn't Democracy presuppose that the people represented stand up and be heard? I believe it is time we take the government back from an administration that has removed our civil liberties while we have blandly looked on. There are so many important things to be debated and problems to be addressed!

I thought Unity '08 was a creative solution to a serious problem in this country: the corrupting influence of $$, corporations and lobbyists on our political system. I give them credit for attempting to do something!

Cross Roads

It is one of those weeks- choices to make and things to be decided on...
here at the mook house we are taking steps to lessen our carbon "footprint"- changing light bulbs is the first step, chris is adding an overhang to cut down on the massive influx of heat to the back of the house which should help with our a/c usage and we are in the beginning stages of talking about growing some of our own veggies, because we were floored at how difficult it was to find produce grown in the US at the local Sam's Club...(don't even get me started on my hatred of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club- sometimes a girl has to defer to her husband for the sake of the marriage!)

in the world of education, one year begins before one ends...it is time to start making decisions about the 2007-08 school year. will i go back full-time?? tough choice- and trust me, i am glad I have the luxury of making a choice. It just seems odd to be talking about Sept in March. One way or the other, it'll be 3rd grade, or part-time and Carolyn will be well cared for...I'll miss teaming with janine- it has been really smooth and satisfying and great for our students...and fabulous for US- she's the best...

conferences are this week-some to look forward to and some to use as an opportunity to guide parents in making the correct decisions for their child. If you have ever wondered about parent-teacher conferences from the teacher's POV- I look at is as a dialog, come with questions and be open to the answers, don't make excuses for your child and don't look to lay blame- let's work together to solve the problem at hand...

things to look forward to this week : Kathleen's b-day, AJ and Nat's party, lunch with my mom, Mom's, Chris' and Dad's birthdays, getting my hair colored and hopefully in two or three weeks another new family member!

Wow!

Kate ran a 7:46 mile yesterday. The PE coach was so proud, he picked up the phone to call me and tell me...She never stops impressing us!

In other news...Carolyn slept all night! AMEN!

Seven Months!

Here she is, with her hair done, no less...she is doing great: she sits up, scoots, says "Hi" to us, BUT she does not sleep all night, yet. Oh well, I am pretty sure she won't start kinder without sleeping all night!

On another front:Joe is beginning to plan his Freshman year- He is gearing up for a challenging year: honors English, honors Physics, honors Latin, Algebra II,Jazz band, and PE + summer school. We are tremendously proud of him for being willing to take it on and for showing the initiative...some of our rants must be sinking in!

Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe

The Last, Great Dance on Earth

We decided to take on the remainder of the Josephine B. trilogy for book club. Can't wait! Josephine's story is so satisfying and intruiging. It has been fun discussing the role of destiny and fate in one's life- especially in light of having viewed the video "The Secret"... Also great discussions on how little knowledge we had of the French Revolution and Josephine, herself. Ms. Gulland's writing draws the reader into another time and place. She makes you feel as though you are privy to the actual diaries of this (in)famous woman.

Since we are taking on two books- we'll meet again in April!

Enjoy!!