Well, I think the child might be smarted than the average bear.  She approached me the other night and said,"Momma, I think you are Mrs. Claus and Daddy is Santa.  I'm I right?"

I didn't answer right away and tried to think of something to say, but the seconds ticked away and I could tell from her eyes that she wasn't going to stop until she got the answers she wanted.

So, I looked her right in the eye, and asked her, "What evidence do you have?"

Here's a list of Sarah's so called evidence that I am Mrs. Claus and Garrett is Santa...

1)  Smell...she claims that the presents from Santa smell just like the presents from us.  I told her that happens because Santa has so many houses to visit that he's usually rushed and tosses the presents and they end up scattered all over the room and then it's up to Daddy and I to tidy things up.  So, of course all the presents would smell like us!

2)  Wrapping paper...Now, even if I were Mrs. Claus, which I'm not saying I am, I think I would have enough sense to wrap presents in wrapping paper that I don't use for other gifts...duh.  However, Sarah claims to have had a dream/vision and in that dream/vision she SAW the kind of wrapping paper Santa would use and that is never the kind of wrapping paper on the presents from Santa or Mrs. Claus.  That the paper on the "Santa" presents looks like the kind of paper I would buy!  AH!  The nerve of the child!

3)  Writing...She didn't have much of a case with this because, in her words, "Mommy's is curlyish, Daddy's is bubblyish, Santa writes like she does but it's just better...so, that means he prints neatly...and Mrs. Claus writes in cursive."  Again, she claims to come by this knowledge from her dream/vision.  She says she knows that the writing is evidence she just doesn't know how to prove it.

4)  Gifts...Mrs. Claus always gives her books, books that SEEM like the kind of books that I would like for Sarah to read, so therefore, I must be Mrs. Claus. Once again, I explained toSarah that Mrs. Claus is a mommy, just like me, and that mommies talk and Mrs. Claus obviously listened to me when I told her how every night before bed Daddy would read to her and how special those times were.  Plus, Mrs. Claus is a big reader and loves it when kids read and she takes every opportunity to give books to kids that appreciate reading good stories.

So, that's the evidence that Sarah presented to me in order to prove that I am Mrs. Claus and that her father is Santa.  We discussed things for quite a while, but I admitted to nothing, and then it was bath time and it all seems to be forgotten...for the moment.

Is that the laughter of little elves I hear???

The other night the neighborhood "gang" had an impromptu holiday sitout.  Just about all the dads were out putting up lights and other Christmas decorations while the kids ran around playing.  Garrett, Sarah and I missed some of the fun because we were out running errands, but we arrived home around sunset and the "festivities" were still going full blast.

One of the neighbors took it upon herself to make a big pot of chili, another neighbor set up a picnic table with all the chili condiments and bowls and utensils to enjoy the food.  By the time I arrived most of the "work" had been done, but I made the suggestion of hot chocolate with some peppermint scnapps, and that idea was a huge hit.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any peppermint scnapps and neither did anyone else, but someone did have some Bailey's and so we added that to the "adult" hot chocolate.  I did contribute to the fun by making the kiddie hot chocolate with mini marshmallows.  Garrett whipped up some freshly whipped cream for the "adult" hot chocolate and we were in business.

While we were all bundled up against the chilly winter desert air, everyone sat outside enjoying the chili and hot chocolate and the kids ran, biked, skated, and played their chilly little toes off.  One of the boys just got a new gizmo from Radio Shack that allowed him to project a DVD against any hard surface and so he set it up so that the kids could watch Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer on the garage door.  We laid out a bunch of blankets on the driveway and the kids sat bundled up watching the movie.  I swear it was a scene straight out of a modern Norman Rockwell painting or something.

Anyway, the kids looked so cute all huddled together for warmth watching the cartoon, but kids being kids they couldn't sit still for too long without mayhem and mischief.  Soon the poking and tickling and the giggling began.  And then at one point Alex K. got so feisty that he started trying to steal smooches from Sarah.  As far as Sarah is concerned Alex is out of her league, not only because he's younger than her by 18 months but also because she thinks of him like a brother.  Suffice to say, Alex does not share Sarah's opinion, so he kept trying to plant a smooch on her cheek and she kept pushing him away.

Sarah being Sarah, figured out a unique and witty way to bring his antics to an end.  When he started coming in for a smooch, she gave him one last push away and firmly told him, "ALEX!  Every kiss begins with Kay!"

I swear that stopped him in his tracks.  Then he laughed, and then he asked her what did she mean.  Hahaha!

That's right girls, as Beyonce says, "...if you like it then you should have put a ring on it..."

Sarah adores dogs.  If she could have a house full of puppies and dogs she totally would.  It's a good thing she adores her daddy more because it makes it easier for her to understand why we can't have a dog since he is allergic to them.  I've had to sacrifice having cats for him and now Sarah has to sacrifice having a dog.  Oh well the things we do for love.

In lieu of a real dog Sarah got a beautiful toy dog the other day from our good friend Captain Greg.  Garrett came home from work with a big box from Capt. Greg and on the box it said, "Please open as soon as possible as it is a little hard to breath in here."  Sarah was then terrified of opening the box and made her daddy do it. 

He pulled off the tape and peaked inside and then had her lift up the flaps.  Inside was a beautiful stuffed animal that looked like a golden retriever.  He was just slightly smaller than Sarah and very soft and plushy.  She loved it.

As she ran around the house with him, we asked her what his name was.  We started coming up with all kinds of names, most of which I can't remember, but most I do know were rather ridiculous.  Finally she decided upon a winner, and she declared that his name would be "Balto!"

Balto!?!

Ok.

I have heard worse names, and it was kind of an interesting name.

Balto it is!

Later on, while we were having dinner, Sarah brought Balto to the table and placed him at her feet, just like a real dog would sit while dinner was being eaten.  She was pretending to feed it under the table.  It was all very cute.  That was when I asked her where she came up with the idea for his name.  I asked if it was short for "Balthazar", and that was a resounding "No."  That's when Sarah said that she named him after the dog from Disney.

The three of us, me, Garrett and Val exchanged confused looks, "Disney dog?"

Val and I started going through the names of dogs from Disney movies that we could think of, and none of them were the right one.  Finally it hit me...and the only reason it hit me was because I started thinking like Sarah...scary, I know, but something a mother has to do sometimes, think like their kid...anyway, I finally got it and asked, "Do you mean Pluto the dog?"

The look that crossed Sarah's face was priceless, it was a combination of "YES MOMMY YOU'RE RIGHT!" and slight embarrassment because she realized that she had gotten the name wrong.  It was the absolute cutest thing ever.  Correcting Balto's name wasn't even an option, Sarah loved Balto and Balto was here to stay.  Besides, Balto has more character than Pluto anyway.

And that is the story of how Balto The Wonderdog got his name.

Overheard the following while Sarah was watching Hannah Montana that starred Dolly Parton in a guest role...

The storyline had Hannah preparing to attend an awards ceremony and she just asked her grandma if she should wear sparkly nailpolish, to which her grandma (played by Vicki Lawrence) tells Miley to paint her nails with the plain polish as sparkly polish comes off as trashy.

That's when Dolly's character walks into the room and loudly announces, "Just look at my sparkly nails!"

That's when Sarah piped up, "Nails!?!  Just look at her boobs!"

I have a big picture calendar that I use to keep track of the daily activities for the week.  I think most moms have something like this.  A calendar that features gorgeous brightly colored pictures of some exotic locale while the little date boxes are filled with days off of school, doctor's appointments and playdates.

I'm the only one who really writes anything on it.  Garrett will use it to check to see what's on my agenda because sometimes he asks me to run specials errands or whatnot, so he checks the calendar before he asks.  He knows not to ask for something special if he sees it's loaded full of kids names and times, that's just a clear indication that I will be busy and possibly stark raving mad by the day's end.  He's no fool, so he uses the calendar wisely.

Since most of the stuff on my calendar pertains to Sarah and her activities, she has now taken an interest in scanning the calendar on a daily basis.  I swear her learning to read has been such a blessing and a curse.

"MOM!  I have a playdate with Cole today!?!"

"MOM!  I HAVE A DOCTORS APPOINTMENT!?!  WHICH DOCTOR!?!  DO I HAVE TO GET A SHOT!?!  ARE THEY GONNA TAKE BLOOD!?!  WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!?!  I FEEL FINE!?!"

"NO SCHOOL TOMORROW, YAY!!!"

"Mom, you have nothing on the calendar tomorrow.  What are we going to do?"

So, like I said, she's taken an interest in the calendar now and she'll check it daily but she hasn't showed any interest in recording or documenting anything herself, until now.

The other day I pulled down my calendar to write a couple of things down and I noticed that someone had written in a very light scrawl the word "yes" on two different days.  I was mystified.  I know I've been forgetting a lot of things lately but I couldn't for the life of me remember ever writing those "yes's" on the calendar.  So, I think, maybe Garrett wrote them in, but what would he have meant by it?  I sat there staring at those "yes's" and the dates, trying to make sense of who wrote them and why when it all became suddenly clear.

At the top of each of those dates I had already written something, on the first box was written "Half Day" and on the second box was written "No School".  Sarah wrote those "yes's".  She must have looked at the calendar at the beginning of the week and noticed the half day of school and no school day coming up and made her feelings known.

"YES!"

This whole Mindsay Reunion thingy that's been going around has made me think about my blogs.  Despite my current lack of activity, I have generally remained active on my own blog, but on Sarah's blog there have been a lot of ebbs and flows...if such a phrase exists.

When I started Sarah's blog, I really wrote it in the fashion of keeping a private journal.  I honestly didn't expect anyone but a few family members to read it.  There was a kind of openness, a freedom even, that I wrote with back then because I did use Sarah's blog almost like a journal.  A journal of being a stay-at-home mom and my trials and tribulations with my little girl, my smart funny crazy little girl.  When, over time, I came to realize that not only did close family members read Sarah's blog, but sometimes complete strangers read it and actually enjoyed it, well to be honest, that left me stunned, and I have to admit I did change the way I wrote because of that realization.  I'm conscious of that change now but back then I really didn't realize I had changed my writing style. 

I still wrote about Sarah, and her crazy antics and my day to day life of being a stay-at-home-mom, but I moved away from some of the "inner"dialogue that I had with myself to focusing more on Sarah, just Sarah. 

Over time, I've lost most of my "audience", which is fine because I didn't start this blog to have a following, I started it for my daughter.  I started it so my family could feel a bond, a closeness to her that we're unable to have because of the physical distance we have to endure.  I started it for Sarah so she could have some record of her early years since I wasn't the picture taking kind of mom and certainly not the scrapbooking type of mom.  I started it for my daughter as something that she could have for the rest of her life to look back on and be proud that she was such an amazing kid and that I loved her with all of my heart and soul. 

So, I need to make some changes.  I need to keep in mind why I started this blog and who it was for, it's for Sarah.  It's for Sarah to know how even the most mundane and silly things she did or said brought me such unimaginable joy or sometimes heartbreaking pain.  Sarah's not a perfect kid, and I don't want her to be.  If one glances back on the entries of this past year, she seems so average, almost bland, she's not.  She's dynamic, and headstrong, unbelievably sharp and witty at times and then sometimes heartbreakingly immature and difficult.  She's a child.  She is exactly who she is suppose to be, and I need to be writing about her exactly as she is, good and bad.

The week before Noni and Pops arrived Sarah asked me who taught me how to drive.  I told her that Noni had taught me and that she was a great teacher, very patient and kind.  Sarah's reply was something like, "Yeah, Noni must be a great teacher because you're a pretty good driver mom."  I thanked her for her compliment and the subject was closed, or so I thought.

This past week Noni and Pops have been visiting us.  One day Sarah, Noni and I were going out and as we piled into my van, Sarah turned to Noni and said, "Noni, my mom told me that you were the one who taught her how to drive."  Noni smiled and said, "I sure did!"

Then it was Sarah's turn to smile and she said in reply, "Well you did a great job Noni!  Were you also the one who taught her how to yell at people and say mean things to them?"

 *sigh* Sarah says the darndest things. 

Or, maybe I should make that too much of a smartass for her own good.  These are the latest Sarahisms of the week.

Sarah had to get new glasses.  Her prescription changed and she needed stronger lenses.  Unfortunately, it appears that Sarah has fully inherited the poor vision DNA from her father and I.  So, she went for her annual exam and she was in desperate need of new glasses.  It was so bad that she kept cleaning her glasses so she could see and she couldn't understand why cleaning her glasses wasn't making a difference in her vision, haha.  Of course, we didn't know she was doing this or she had probems seeing until after her exam was done.

Anyway, she has new glasses now and she was really excited because we got her the transition lenses that tint dark in the sunlight.  She was BEYOND excited.  Unfortunately, she had to wait to "test" her transition lenses until the morning because it was already dark out when we picked up her glasses. 

Sure enough she bounced out of bed and got herself ready and then realized she could check out her new transition lenses.  My sister Lena, whose here helping me recover from surgery, opened the front door to check out the weather and Sarah ran outside.  Lena watched her as she ran around and then heard her say, "What a rip!"

Lena laughed and asked her why she said that, Sarah said the transition lenses didn't work and we were ripped off.  LOL!

The lenses do work, we did not get ripped off.  She was just expecting them to get very dark and they just aren't meant to do that, so she knows that now and she's ok with how they work.

If that wasn't entertaining enough for you we also have what she said to me this morning.  Having just had my gallbladder removed I am still recovering in body and mind, so I was slower than usual this morning.  My sister asked me a question and I gave her the completely wrong answer, to which I said, "I'm sorry.  I just can't think this morning."

Sarah was walking past and her me and decided to put her two cents in, "That's because you had surgery and they must have removed your brain too."  This made Lena laugh, and she said to Sarah, "If they took out her brain how can she be alive?"

Without missing a beat Sarah replied, "She still has her heart and that's keeping her alive."

And that's Biology 101 with Sarah!

I think we finally have Sarah's fall schedule worked out.  With the addition of Alex back into our fold I didn't want to spread myself too thin with the extracurricular activites, but I also didn't want Sarah sitting in front of the tv for hours everyday.  After some hits and misses I think we have it all worked out.

As for school itself, everything seems to be going great for Sarah so far.  She's managed to make it more than a month without getting into any major trouble.  I think this is a first since she's started her academic career.  Let's hear it for a little maturity and discipline, lol.  Sarah's reading is coming along phenomenally.  She's tested as high as 5th grade level and her comprehension is amazing.  Her spelling is also coming along very nicely.  It's obvious some new neurons were fired up and sparking like live wires. 

Unfortunately we don't seem to have the same spark going in the math department.  Sarah is still very dependent on her fingers for adding and subtracting and if you give her double digits to deal with she just about shuts down completely.  Knowing my own issues with math I, admittedly, am of little help to her.  Garrett's work hours keep him from assisting her in the way he would like, so what we've decided to do is to hire a math tutor for Sarah.  Our sometimes babysitter, B, is a high school junior and she's decided she wants to be an algebra teacher.  She's required right now to start tutoring her peers and we all feel like this was meant to be.  We're hoping for good things.

In addition to all the schooling, Sarah's also enrolled in some interesting extracurricular activities.  On Monday's she's taking a "Broadway Performancer" class.  She took the same class in the Spring and I liked it enough to enroll her again.  Last week the teacher informed me that Sarah's just naturally taken on the roll of leader in the class.  I was not surprised. 

Sarah's also joined the Chess Club at school.  This one was truly by accident.  I originally enrolled her in a writing class, but that was cancelled due to low enrollment.  We were bummed.  I asked her at the time if she wanted to try the chess class and she said no way.  However, Alex did join chess and on the first day of class as we dropped him off Sarah looked around and saw quite a few of her friends.  She wanted to stay and try it out.  She has since officially joined the class.  She seems to like it and now she and Alex can play together at home.  It's been a good thing, and we're hoping some of those chess strategies help her math work.

The final activity that Sarah has going on is that she is now taking Arabic lessons.  Sarah has a very good friend that speaks primarily Arabic at home.  Sarah's been fascinated with the language since day 1, and she's often said she would learn it one day.  Well, her friend started classes with a more informal teacher and this teacher has welcomed Sarah and a couple of other girls as her students.  The girls love it so far.

That is about it, as if there needs to be more.  I'm just exhausted writing this out.

Sarah's a little bit of a science nerd.  As much as she is a girly girl drama queen who thinks Miley Cyrus is the coolest, she would much rather read a book about giant sea squids than some fiction story where the heroine's biggest problem is what to wear to the prom.  The girl enjoys her science.  She latches onto to bits and pieces of science fact and then spends the next week or so making observations on those facts.  I think it's great, and because it's Sarah making those observations she can only make them in her own special way.

The other night she was in the tub washing the day's play away.  She and I were chatting casually when suddenly she got very serious.

"Mom, we have the three states of matter right here in this tub."

"Oh is that right?"

"Yup, we have solid." she said as she thumped on the tub.  Then she splashed some water around and stated, "Here we have liquid."  And still with the utmost seriousness in her expression and voice she announces, "And finally, we have gas."  To which she lifted her buttcheek slightly out of the water and farted.

Einstein you got nothing on my kid.

Anyone who knows Garrett and I knows that we both love to cook.  With Garrett's innate talent and my sous chef skills we make a great team in the kitchen.  We hope to pass on our love of food  and cooking to Sarah and to that end we want her to be comfortable in the kitchen.  However, we also know how much of a baby dingbat she can be, especially if she gets to talking and not focusing on task, so her practical experience in the kitchen to date has been highly supervised and minimal. 

Slowly, very slowly, we have encouraged her to try different things; cutting bread for stuffing, stirring sauces, breaking eggs into cake and cookie batters.  I think you get the picture, so lately we've allowed her to try her hand at using the toaster oven.

Her constant and beloved choice for breakfast are waffles.  Sarah loves her waffles in the morning.  She'll eat her Mama's homemade waffles, but honestly she prefers the frozen store bought waffles.  This makes getting her breakfast ready in the morning fairly easy; pop them in the toaster oven, butter them a bit and add syrup and voila, a yummy breakfast is served.

Since Sarah's now a big 7 year old we've been letting her put the frozen waffles in the toaster oven and turning it on.  She's even gone so far as to pull out her little pint sized oven mitt and carefully pull them out and onto a plate. 

This morning she did such a thing.  After having toasted the waffles to her liking, she then carefully plated them and set the plate aside to allow them to cool before buttering.  She was surprised to discover that within a matter of seconds the waffles had cooled enough to touch.

"Mama, why do they cool off so fast?"

"Well, probably because they're just really warmed up enough to "toast" the outside so the heat doesn't really get into the waffle.  That's why most of the things you would "toast" should already be cooked.  You need to be careful about what you put in the toaster to toast or to warm up."

"Oh ok, I get it.  So, soup shouldn't go in the toaster oven?"

Now, you all might not have had the same thought as I had at that moment.  Most of you might have imagined Sarah filling a bowl full of cold soup and placing it in the toaster oven to warm up.  See, what I imagined was Sarah pouring the soup into the toaster oven and then realizing that that wasn't the best thing to do.

"Um, yes Sarah, you don't put soup in the toaster oven."

Well, the one thing you can count on with Sarah is that the child is not afraid to speak her mind nor is she afraid to tell you the truth.

Last night for dinner, Garrett and I made homemade pot pies.  He had roasted chickens for dinner the night before so we had lots of yummy chicken meat left and I make a great pot pie gravy.  The only thing we did not make was the pastry because we just didn't have time.  For whatever reason, Sarah does not like pot pies.  I think it's a texture thing, so she was moaning and whining the entire time I was cooking.

"I don't like pot pies!  I don't want a pot pie!  Pot pies are yucky!  I'm not eating the pot pie!"

We compromised, I set aside some chicken and sauteed some mushrooms and that made up the content of Sarah's pot pie.  But that was the thing, it was going to be in a pot pie form, which she STILL did not like.  My response to her, "Tough."

So, we finally sat down to dinner and 60 Minutes came on and we just left the TV on.  Garrett and I dug into our pot pies.  Sarah, not so much.

"I didn't want pot pie.  I just wanted the chicken and mushrooms."

"To bad, your chicken and mushrooms are in the pie, and the pie is just bread, which you eat all the time, so that's what you're having for dinner."

"I'm picking out the mushrooms and chicken and eating only that!"

"Fine."

So we continued eating our meal, in relative quiet, listening to the stories on 60 Minutes.  Then a story about how much e-waste (old computers, cellphones and such) the US is producing came on, and how unscrupulous recycling companies are just sending US e-waste to China and once there it's just basically dumped in a small town somewhere where scavengers contaminate the soil and local water supply trying to remove the leads and other valuable, but highly toxic metals.  Once rural farm communities are now dumps.  Children live, breath and play in filth and poisons.  Sarah watched in total silence.  I could tell she was horrified by the story, and her eyes got especially big when they showed children around her age walking through their town with garbage and filth everywhere.  I seized my opportunity to lay some traditional mom-guilt on her.

"Sarah, what do you think of the place where those children have to live."

"It's awful Mom.  I'm so glad I live here."

"I agree, and don't you think those children would be happy to have your hot, healthy, chicken pot pie for dinner?"

She finally took her eyes away from the screen, and looked me right in the eye.  I could see a millisecond of diliberation going on behind those "wise beyond her years" big brown eyes.

"No."  She shook her head to emphasize her words, "They would not want this pot pie either."

I think as a way to get to know the kids better the teacher gave a "not really homework" assignment.  She asked the kids to do a circle map on either themselves, or their favorite things, or some subject that interested them.  Sarah's group was assigned circle maps about themselevs.

Among the things she wrote about herself were.

I am crazy  (so true)

I am pritty (no self esteem issues here)

Fashoin is my thing (this is oh so true)

(My personal favorite) I like stake (That's my girl!!!!)

I scanned Sarah's above, not only is it funny and informative, but I was just floored by the picture that the teacher took of her to place on her map.  It might just be me, and I don't know if it really comes through on the scanned image, but if you had the hardcopy in front of you, that picture of Sarah just makes her look so mature.  To my mom- eyes she does not come off looking like a 7 year old little girl, instead I can almost imagine a 15 year old Sarah looking at me from that picture. 

It's Sarah, but it's not Sarah.  Also, she looks like such an amalgam of our family in this picture.  She has my dad's eyes, my nose, Garrett's thin face, and even grandpa Pops smile.  My little girl looks so grown up!  She's taken pictures before where she looks older than she is, but in this picture really takes the cake.

Well it's started, a new school year, and Sarah's year in second grade has begun.  She was perky and energetic this morning and seemingly prepared to take on the day.  Friday we learned who her teacher would be and which kids she'd be in class with.  We soon realized that she was assigned to the "new" teacher, and that just about all of her close friends would be in another class.  I was sure she was going to be devastated, but she's Sarah, she just looked at the positive, ignored the negative and moved on.  She is an amazing kid.

Last night she and I had dinner with one of her new classmates.  Sarah and I are aquaintances of this little girl and her mom, but we've never really had a chance to socialize.  This little girl, A, also ended up in class without any of her close friends but unlike Sarah she was having a much harder time with the realities of the classroom assignments.  A's mom, M, called me on Saturday and asked us over for dinner.  She was hoping that the girls could get to know each other better and maybe that would help A not to be so anxious about starting school.

The girls got along fabulously and Sarah said she really enjoyed playing with A.  M and I got along very well too and it looks as if she will end up being another good mom-friend of mine.

This morning went as smoothly as it could go, although I hadn't counted on the parking lot being so full, but it is the first day and all so lots of parents there to see their kids off.  I had to drop Sarah off as the bell rang, and then parked in the far parking lot and run back to see her off.  All while carrying Addy in my arms because she can't run fast.  The kid weighs more than Sarah, and I haven't worked out in months.  Running and carrying 35 pounds is not my idea of fun activity.

Anyway, I made it there in time to see Sarah march in with her new classmates.  Lots of boys in this class, I think they must have purposely put girls that can handle rough and tumble boys in this class.  I'm interested in seeing how the dynamics of this class will play out.  I plan on volunteering this year and I want to make sure the new teacher makes an easy transition into our school.

That's about it.  Oh, in addition to watching Addison, I will now be caring for her brother, Alex, once again.  He's been in full time preschool since Addy was born and I've missed him terribly these last couple of years, but now he's back.  He's starting kindergarten, and so I will be getting him in the mornings, dropping him off at kindergarten and then picking him up in the afternoons and bringing him home.  Sarah gets her little brother back, and all that that might entail.  Long live pseudo-sibling rivalry.

Oh...forgot to add this in...the t-shirt that Sarah picked to wear for the first day says....

I May Be Small But I Am The BOSS!

LOL!!!  That's my girl!

Poor Sarah was utterly devastated last night, her father told her all about the Perseid Meteor shower and her excitement could not be contained.  Garrett promised her they would sit outside and watch them.  So, after the sun went down, and the temperatures cooled down just a tad, and after her bath, she got her pjs on and requested the sleeping bags because she and daddy were going to watch the meteors.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate.  The skies were not clear in the desert last night, of all nights it decided to rain.  The sky was filled with clouds and not nary a star was to be seen.

She had all her wishes planned out, though she became a bit concerned about the technical details of wishing on a meteor which we all know really aren't stars, and would her wishes still count.  Yeah, that's her dad's personality coming out.  Anyway, Garrett and I assured her that wishing upon a meteor still counted, and she wasn't wasting her wishes.  She was very happy about this news.  She even shared her wishes with me.  They are as follows.

1. Wish for superpowers.
2. Wish for a million dollars.
3. Wish that everyone loves me.
4. Wish to be famous.

So, even though she couldn't send her wishes out to the stars, she claims she sent them out in her dreams.  I bet they still come true

In addition to watching Addison this week, we also have Alex.  He will be starting kindergarten next week and going to the same school Sarah goes to.  He is beyond excited.  So, to say he's a little highstrung this week would be an understatement, and in true pseudo-sibling fashion Alex is getting on Sarah's last nerve.  It's a good thing, she needs these occasional reminders that the world does not revolve around her.

They were bickering just now.  Sarah was trying to watch a music video and Alex wanted her to pay attention to him. 

"SARAH!   Sarah!  Sarah watch me!  Watch me Sarah!  SARAH!"

"Wait Alex, I want to watch this."

"SARAH! SARAH! Sarah would you watch me!  Just watch me! SARAH!!!!"

"ALEX!  WOULD YOU STOP!  NOW I'M NOT GOING TO LOOK AT YOU AT ALL!"

"SARAH YOU'RE A MEANIE!  YOU ARE JUST A MEAN GIRL!"

You would think this exchange would have further provoked Sarah into another screaming match, but it did not.  See Alex forgets he's dealing with an older woman, wise beyond her years, and Sarah just doesn't play those preschool mind games anymore.  Nope, she's moved on to a whole other level.

Without saying another word, and not even a backward glance at him she marched away from him, and before she marched up the stairs she grabbed a blank sheet of paper and a marker.  He watched her in silence and then followed her upstairs.  She marched into her bedroom and closed the door before he could enter.  He stood outside her door quietly fuming. 

After a minute the door opened, and Sarah taped a sign to her bedroom door.  A sign meant for Alex.  Sarah is so wise beyond her years that she forgot that Alex can't read yet. 

"Sarah, I can't read this.  What does it say?"

Sarah opened the door again and read the sign to Alex.  This is what it said.

No boys who call me a meany in my room...below that was a picture of two stick figures.  The boy stick figure had a big X through it.

"SARAH, THAT'S JUST MEAN!  YOU HAVE TO BE NICER TO ME!"

Again, Sarah didn't say a word she just took the sign down, and wrote something else in the corner.  She turned to Alex once she was finished to tell him what she just wrote.

"Alex, you have to love the devil that is me."

And with that she marched back into her room and slammed the door in his face.

People dancing the salsa look like they're scraping gum off the bottom of their shoes.

And...

Dogs are like walking garbage cans.

Sarah and I are back on our own turf.  Our visit to the family in Chicago and Indiana was probably one of the best trips we have ever had.  Because we had not just one week to squeeze everybody in, but two whole weeks, we managed to spend some quality time with just about everybody. 

To be honest, I was worried about how well Sarah would enjoy this trip, since most of the trip would require us to stay out in the boonies of Indiana with my mom.  In all honesty, the thought of being stuck out in Indiana for any length of time makes me a little bonkers, so I couldn't imagine how Sarah would handle it, but I'm use to it.  I've spent many a summer out in Indiana without anything to do.  This time though I had a car at my disposal, and I planned on traveling into the city as needed.  I figured with an energetic, caged up 7 year old I'd be making LOTS of trips into the city to keep her happy and entertained.

My fears were for naught as a most serendipitious event occurred, Sarah found herself one of the most magical mystical summertime creatures to play with, until I actually saw it happened before my very eyes I was sure that these things were only found in myths, Sarah found herself a summertime BFF.

Several of my cousins live in close proximity to my mother, and my cousin C and his wife J, who live in the house directly across my mom's side yard had a visitor of their own, J's sister and her grandniece, Haleigh. 

Haleigh is a little 7 year old spitfire tomboy who couldn't have been a more perfect playmate for Sarah if I had created her myself.  After a very hesistant introduction with one another, the girls were fast friends, running in the yard while I unpacked the car.  As I got us settled inside our room in my mom's house the girls remained outside getting to know one another and figuring out what games the other one liked to play and rejoicing in finding things that they had in common with one another.

Before I knew it most of the afternoon had past and it was time for me to take my mom to her doctor's appointment.  I hated to have to separate the girls, but there was no one to stay with Sarah and I didn't want to ask Haleigh's grandma to watch Sarah within just a few hours after meeting her, so I called Sarah over to get ready to go. 

The girls were crushed.  My mom saw this and before even thinking she asked Haleigh if she wanted to join us, Haleigh having spent 4 days stuck out in Indiana without any other children or her toys to play with, jumped at the chance to do something, anything really.  I could tell Haleigh's grandma was hesistant but my cousin J assured her that my mom, and sister and I were good peoples.  Haleigh came with us.  She and Sarah kept each other busy while waiting that long excruciating wait at the doctor's office and afterwards we all went out for dinner at the Ponderosa Steakhouse.  We just happened to hit it on family night, and the girls were in seventh heaven.  They quickly ate their dinner and then got their fill of dessert, face painting, balloon flowers, and temporay tattooes. 

My sister and I looked over at one another with a little horror and humor because Haleigh had requested a full face painting, and she ended up looking like a sparkly rainbow splattered fairy elf.  We had no idea if her grandma would think it cute or not, but at least we got a good laugh out of it.

Grandma had a sense of humor about it all and she thanked us for taking Haleigh out for dinner.

The next day was another refreshing summer morning and the girls wasted no time and got down to playing in the yard right after breakfast.  The previous day my sister found the basket of games and toys that she had purchased for Sarah to play with last year and the girls immediately put all the stuff to good use; bubbles, and badminton, catch and toss games, baby dolls and frisbees, they played it all.

On the following day I had already planned with another sister to take Sarah and my mom to the Museum of Science and Industry in the city.  I wanted to ask if Haleigh could join us but I knew it was a long shot.  I know I'd be hesistant to agree having Sarah go off for a day in a big city with people I barely knew.  Haleigh's grandma called Haleigh's mom for permission.  After much deliberation and assurances from my cousin's C and J that my sister and I were responsible adults without criminal records, Haleigh was allowed to come with us.  The girls were ecstatic!

During the drive into the city I received a phone call from Haleigh's mom in Alabama.  She was friendly and cheerful, but I knew what the real meaning behind the call was for...if my baby gets hurt I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth to destroy you...and I totally understood and it actually made me feel better about Haliegh knowing that she had parents that were concerned for her safety and loved her enough to worry about her.

We had a fabulous time at the museum, but I can tell you by the end of the day I know I was exhausted.  We didn't get to half of the stuff there, but it was all more than either of the girls had ever experienced and more so for Haleigh since she comes from a very small town in central Alabama, and there is nothing like the caliber of a Chicago museum around there.  Haleigh's mom even said she was a little jealous of Haleigh's opportunity to experience one of the best museums in the country.

After that day the girls were practically inseparable.  Haleigh brought out the tomboy in Sarah and Sarah brought out the creativity and imaginative girly girl in Haleigh.  The girls played beautifully together and if ever a disagreement arose they maturely and quickly worked it out.  From morning to night they wanted to be together and that was how they spent most of their days..

Oh, there were times that Haleigh would have to go off to do something with her greataunt or grandma, and there were times where Sarah had to come with me into the city and Haleigh just couldn't come with us, but those times the girls parted easily, kind of happy for a break from one another so they could get excited by the thought of seeing one another after a bit.

You see friendships like this blossom on the big scene or on tv shows, but rarely do you see it happen in reality, especially not one that was scripted so joyfully and happily as this one.  It's one summer that I think both girls will remember for the rest of their lives.

Haleigh and Sarah this one was for you!

Here are pictures of the infamous cakes!!!

My palm tree cake...that's all hand carved, thank you very much!

My coconuts cake, but actually looks more like a weird bikini top.

The driftwood cake...which looks like...I'm not gonna say what it looks like.

The birthday girl!!!

This is only a fraction of the pictures taken, but I posted a little bit of everything...

Kids and parents hanging out poolside and swimming...

The kids lined up and playing games...

PINATA!!!