The sun'll come out tomorrow...

The first week of July brought performances, celebrations, great weather for swimming, clubs, and a lot of fun with family.

Gillian had her Annie performance on July 1st and 2nd.  Her troupe had been practicing for two straight weeks from 1 to 4 p.m, and they also rehearsed for 4 hours on their performance days.  Gillian auditioned for a couple of roles, and she got the role of one of the three main characters, that of the secretary, Grace.  It was a perfect role for her, and she truly shined up there.  This was amazing since this was her first musical in which she had ever participated.  We were, of course, very proud of her, but mostly we felt happy that she had a great time, and learned that hard work can be enjoyable.

Not to be outshined by Gillian, Jefferson came up with his own brilliant ideas for entertainment.  Swimming and playing with legos has turned into a normal past time in our household this summer.  Jefferson's ideas of various clubs were added to that.  Each month he comes up with a new idea about clubs, such as the inventors club, the lego building club, the book club, etc.  For the month of July he decided he was going to have a piano club.  When I asked him what would that involve, he said that his friends and siblings were going to play pieces on the piano, and then teach one favorite piece to each other.

Jefferson and his friend Jack played for over an hour, and in the end they each knew a little bit of the other's pieces.  Jefferson took this a step further, and asked if he could borrow Jack's more advanced book, so he could play on his own.  It took Jefferson two weeks to finish all the pieces in that book all by himself!  What drive and determination!  I was very impressed by his commitment and force to reaching new heights. 

I also had them prepared their own treats.  Jefferson wanted brownies, and so he and Jack embarked into making them.  Musical, chefs, and driven - those boys can do anything.

Speaking of Jefferson, he has been seriously reading the Harry Potter series lately, and he keeps saying to us how much he loves reading, and how glad he is to have his own room so he can read for hours uninterrupted.  This has positively made him score highly in the eyes of Gillian.  Add to that the Harry Potter component, being dear to both of them, and you've got a unequivocal strong bond between them two.  I find them having conversations with each other in each other's rooms, read sitting together, and even when they do other stuff such as drawing and playing sports, they are working together.  My heart could burst from joy!

Mom left on July 9th, and we had a few trips together before her departure.  We took her one last time to San Francisco to do last minute shopping for her friends, eat out at Fisherman's Wharf, and then breath the air of the Atlantic Ocean.  As always, my kids loved the beach, and it doesn't matter if it's windy, cold or hot, they are in the water splashing and swimming.  Ah, the joy of being young and happy!

Some fun stuff we did with my mother before she left

A big warning, my friends - the next few posts will cover a huge span of time and a great many events. Our life has been very busy and I've regretfully not been able to find the time to record anything. I have taken plenty of pictures so that will hopefully be a help in refreshing my memory.

My mother left on June 13, just one day before the children were out of school. Not very good planning on my side when buying her ticket. However, I still wanted my kids to spend some time with her, so for her last two weeks I pulled the kids out of school two or three times a week. I didn't feel that bad; the STAR test was over and the teachers were probably letting them watch movies and play games. I thought spending time with each other and their grandmother would be way more productive. Between Gillian's piano and choir, Jefferson's cub scout activities, James's play dates, and Charlton's library visits, I was able to manage field trips to the beach, lagoon, water park, various museums, eating out, and just hanging out in our own backyard. Here are a few of the things we spent time doing with each other:

Twenty minutes away from my home, in the city of Antioch, there is to be found this hidden jewel for families. It's found amongst the golden hills of Contra Loma Park, and it's an extension of the other great things found in this park. The lagoon, as it is called, is a pool that resembles the beach with artificial sand under the water and shallow level of water perfect for young and older kids to play in. There is also a deep side to the pool for the kids who pass the swimming test, which all three of my older kids did. We went during the week, and since school wasn't out yet, we had the park almost to ourselves. The most memorable thing that happened here was the fact that Charlton got in the water and started to enjoy it. As soon as we got there, my mother took him in her arms, and ignoring his screams, immersed in the water swimming with him. When he stopped screaming, my mother started teaching him how to swim and he LOVED that. From that point on, he didn't leave the water. When we were getting ready to leave, he observed his shriveled hands and feet, and said to me: "Wow, mom. My hands and feet have shrunk!" My adorable boy. We'll be coming back to this awesome spot.

A friend of mine had a free family pass to the Bay Area Discovery Museum that she didn't need, so after sleeping in (that's one benefit in keeping the kids home), we packed some lunch, and drove to the museum. We checked all of the exhibitions inside and then let the kids play in the outdoor play area for the rest of the time. From the indoor exhibitions, Charlton loved the Clifford exhibit, Gillian loved the wind display, and my older boys loved everything. Outside Charlton loved playing the xylophone, Gillian enjoyed hula-hooping, and my older boys had fun running around and climbing trees. I talked to mom, had fun taking pictures, loved resting, and most of all found joy in the simplest things of life: seeing my children happily playing with each other. I'm grateful for my family and the joy of motherhood.

Because of time and space, I won't share all of the activities we undertook those last two weeks, but I think I have time for one more: the water park. My mother is an avid swimmer; she told me that she used to take all of the young kids in our neighborhood to the beach and teach them all how to swim. Needless to say having lived all of her life by the beach, she loves the water. My kids were so happy that their grandmother went with them in all of the rides and swam with them that they didn't care if I went with them or not, ...well almost. I was very glad that they were making good memories with their grandmother and each other. Jefferson was a fantastic brother and son allowing me to take pictures around the park while he played with Charlton. James was very excited to be tall enough to participate in all of the slides with his brother and sister. I rarely saw him all day; I guess he was making up for lost time. Gillian of course was the greatest. She found time to take her little Charlton around, go through the slides with her brothers, swim with her grandmother, and talk to me. We all had a great time. Just for the record, going to the park on this day (June 11) was the best idea; that day was the hottest of the year so far with the temperature reaching 102.

The night before my mother left, we took her out for dinner, and then when we got home my children shared their favorite things about their grandmother. Sure enough swimming with them was on the top of the list. We were sad to see her leave, but glad that we had made some fun memories with each other.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven- Ecclesiastes 3:1:

The weather has been very beautiful here with sunshine and a refreshing breeze throughout the day. After finishing swimming and homework, the children have enjoyed playing outside in the sun. Besides riding bikes and rollerblading, they have loved spraying each other with water guns, teaching Charlton baseball, and competing with my mom in soccer and basketball. Just seeing my mother playing competitively with my kids makes me laugh so hard. You see in my house all my kids know that when I play it doesn't matter whether you are younger or not, I play to win. It seems the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
This week for Family Home Evening we started our garden. We've been wanting to plant for quite some time but the weather couldn't make up its mind, one day rainy and cold, and one day sunny. We were all excited to plant our garden, but I think James took the award that day for showing his enthusiasm by working hard and loving his work. We planted several tomatoes, peppers, squash, corn, cucumbers, and many more. We still have a great many more vegetables, fruits, and herbs we want to plant; we just need to find the time when all of us are available at the same time. We had a garden a couple of years ago, and we truly loved having fresh vegetables in our own backyard. It was a good source of fresh produce, as well as a way to serve others by sharing our blessings of bounteous food. This year we are planting a wider variety and more plants. With faith, those little seeds will grow to give good fruit.
On Friday, I accompanied my boys to see a children's play of the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Lesher Center for the Arts. The play was about an hour and the actors interacted with the children throughout the play, something that the young audience appreciated. James got to speak to Snow White's prince and Jefferson got to help the dwarfs find the wicked witch. In the end, as they were exiting, the children got to shake hands with the characters and ask them questions. My shy James asked if he could take a picture with Snow White. He thought her to be very pretty. His wish was granted. I had a good time being with my older boys, especially when my boys told me that if I were to ask the mirror who was the fairest in the land, the mirror would have no problem saying that it was me. I gave my boys sweet hugs and told them to keep up the good work. Flattery works with me.
On Saturday, Gillian's Activity Days leaders organized a little party for the girls and their moms in honor of Mother's Day. The theme was spa relaxation, and after we ate a delicious brunch, the girls and their moms embarked in making homemade hand scrub and lip gloss. Since it was not that hard to make them, this was a fun activity and I enjoyed being with my Gillian and trying to see who made the tastiest and best looking lip gloss. Each of my kids love time alone with me and I truly enjoy being with them, but being with Gillian is the easiest, since she is the less demanding of them all. She had a fantastic time making lip gloss with me, and by the look of it you would think we had been to the moon. I think the boys take after me. I'm thankful that Gillian inherited that particular gene from her father. Low maintenance people are a joy to have around.
This whole month I've been obsessed with Il Divo, a male quartet that sings well-known songs with a classical twist. I love their voices, the way they dress, and how they look. I've probably listened to all of their songs, and believe me there are many of them since this group was formed in 2004, and has had 6 albums out, all multiplatinum. The group is comprised by Carlos - the Spanish baritone, David -the American tenor, Urs - the Swiss second tenor, and Sebastien - the French pop singer. They each have beautiful voices and are just plain handsome. When I showed some songs to my mom and Gillian, they each chose their favorite: mom can't decide between the American and the Spaniard, Gillian likes the Frenchy's' voice, and I love the Swiss' subtle class. Here is one of my favorite songs -Adagio. Their rendition of Amazing Grace comes second. Who is your favorite?