NBA on a Dime

The Principal at Little Red’s school works hard to provide the students with as many opportunities as possible. Using a contact he has with the Family First Foundation he scored over 100 tickets to the Clippers’ game last week, and hopes to get more event tickets during the year.

And guess what? The seats were awesome! We parked at Paul’s building, walked over, stayed until waaaaay past bedtime, and went home having only spent money on gas. Another successful family outing! We are so blessed to have so much at our disposal.

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[sometimes] I Love LA

I’ve made it a personal challenge, that if I’m going to pay so much to live here, I’m going to get my money’s worth, and have tried to take advantage of as many things as I could. I especially try to attend the free activities, free museum days, community events, etc. We have had a blast.

Last weekend we were able to attend the Family Fun Day at the local PBS station, all thanks to a friend who gave me the head’s up on this exclusive event as soon as she heard about it.

The highlight for the boys was being able to see some of the tv characters perform on stage, then meet and greet afterwards.

The boys met all four of them: Sid the Science Kid, Captain Infinity (the mascot for KCET Kids Club,) and Maya and Miguel. I learned that even if you don’t watch the show, seeing a character in person is still exciting. We never watch Maya and Miguel, and Captain Infinity is just a mascot, but seeing them was almost as cool as meeting Sid. Almost.

Apparently I’m a Little Bit Crunchy

Paul and I were talking about the different personalities of the different classes at the school and he mentioned that the German parents seem really down to earth. He said, “they seem really nice, even though some of them are pretty hard-core granola.”

“Actually, I think some of those granola parents are my favourite.”

“Well, you’re Canadian,” he began. “That’s like being an honorary granola.” He paused. “No offense.”

“I take it as a compliment.”

Blue’s Clues

Boy Blue speaks in sentences all the time. They’re surprisingly clear, too, as non-family members can often understand him. Remember when he was turning two and not talking? How things change. With each word he says, I learn a little more about his personality.

Last week he had the following tantrums, full-blown screaming fests with tears:

“No take nap, eat broccoli! Eat broccoli now, nap later!” (He was trying to delay his nap and join Little Red for snacktime. He wasn’t actually hungry. I do feed my children. Honestly. I swear.)

“No wash hands in sink. Wash hands in milk. WASH HANDS IN MILK!!!”

“No! No! Give me back my booger! Give it back RIGHT NOW!” (That’s what Paul gets for cleaning the little guy’s nose before bedtime.)

Update

I didn’t intend to go so long without blogging, nor did I mean for so many of my posts to be so negative. While I want to feel free to vent when needed, I really want the focus of my blog to be highlighting the joy and beauty in my world.

There is so much joy and beauty.

Paul loves his job, and more importantly, his superiors love him. Rather than seeing him as a drone or as a dispensible commodity, they want to hear his ideas, are implementing his ideas, and have big plans for his growth within the company (and that has nothing to do with marrying the boss’ daughter!) More than once he has called home to say, “can I just tell you that I love my job?” or “can I just tell you that I love working for (insert name of new boss, or insert name of CEO here.)”

Little Red loves school. He plays with different children nearly every day, and as we walk to school in the mornings I hear children calling his name from different directions. Some of them are children in his class, some are in the Spanish, German, or English kindergartens, and some are older. Many of them are girls. And there are several whose names he doesn’t know, but they still greet him with enthusiasm, and they know his name. I am learning Italian one homework assignment at a time (thanks to google translator!) I’m so impressed with the speed and ease with which he is picking up the language. I went through an immersion programme myself, but when you’re five you just do whatever you do. It isn’t until you are an adult that you see it happen and think, “this is amazing!”

Boy Blue is a confirmed thumb-sucker, but a happier child than he was during the summer months. Many of the anxieties he had have settled down, and with his older brother in school he gets more of me in the mornings. He still gets quality playtime with his best friend every day, and looks forward to picking him up.

I have been keeping very busy with my responsibilities as the secretary in the women’s organization, Relief Society. I have never felt so sure that I was the right person for a particular calling than I do right now. It’s so nice to feel so good about what I’m doing. In addition to that I’ve been coordinating several fundraising projects for our PTA. The level of committment and involvement of the parents at this school is envigorating. It’s fun to see so much good happening!

As for our housing, we’re still looking, although it isn’t occupying too much of our time. We’ll know the right situation when we find it, and will find a way to make things work out in the meantime.

Life is good. Really, deeply, profoundly good.