week 12

live in the moment

Scottsdale

This year, Mike's work trip was in Scottsdale, AZ. We stayed at the Four Seasons at Troon North.

We did a few hikes, including Pinnacle Peak and Cave Creek Park. The weather was perfect--not too hot and not too cold.

It is always fun getting away, just the two of us. It's not something we would do on our own. It gave us a chance to catch up with each other.

The resort was beautiful--cactus everywhere. We did a lot of eating and relaxing. I haven't slept that much since our trip last year. We also got caught up on our Blue Collar Comedy--CMT was having some sort of marathon. (Nothing like staying at the Four Seasons and laughing at fart jokes.)

It was a great trip, but it is always nice to come home. It is getting easier. as the kids get older, to leave them, but we really do miss them. We could not have done it without our parents. Claudia came to the house and stayed with the kids, then my parents took them to their house for the weekend.

week 8

Christian's schoolwork

Last week we had parent teacher conference for the boys. We got great reports from their teachers. As I was looking through Christian's work folder, these two worksheets caught my attention.

This one reads: "Hey doofus, you guys are not smart. Right back at you. And he punched him. I don't like you. Is it just me, or are you cold? Oh, ya, ya....." And the trash-talk continues onto the back of the page. I read it and was a little mortified. Then I saw his teacher's "wow" sticker at the top of the page. I got to thinking that she probably had her choice of stickers with words like "great" or "super." But she chose "wow."

"Hey canine, are you really that old? You're cute. Can I have your puppies? Cause they are so cute. You are so mean."

I am a sucker for the kid's school work and art work--even the trash-talk writings. I am getting this year's work all organized. I need to be more judicious in my purging, or they will have boxes and boxes of stuff.