Powerizing...New Sport for the New Millenium!

Christmas present for the kids? Maybe for the parents????

Let's Remember Larry Bird

#33's clutch shots...There's a lot of them! What a player.

I Am SO Doing This

I saw this today on my friend's blog, and I'm here to tell you that it won't be long and I will DO this. It's beeeeautiful!

Our Talented Son

Miles has surpassed all of our expectations on this one. We don't know what to do with him. This is what he learned that he could do this evening, and proudly shared it with all who would watch:

These are Louis' 3 favorite books at our house. Rotten Ralph, The Birthday Monsters, and The Very Bad Bunny. He brings them to John, Miles, Ella and I (and Charlie if he's desperate, cuz we ALL have them memorized by now) at least once a day and begs to read them...for the zillioneth time. John and I realized that each of his favorite books is about disobeying or rebellion in some capacity. We were trying to decide if he was doing research for a future plan or something, but decided he would probably be all right. The next day, I went to the gym, and found him on the lady's lap, reading a book. They finished the book, and the lady (Jean...our favorite) said, "Louis asks me to read this book EVERY day!" I asked her what it was called and she replied, "Annie Disobeys." John and I and the kids had a good laugh.

A Morning Ruined

Sometimes (like TODAY) Charlie likes to be pushed on the rope swing.

Most of the time, he and John have a blast together, and Charlie soars!Notice the big branch right above Char's head.
This morning, while swinging, Charlie got into this horizontal position, and screamed.
This is what he saw, hanging down from that branch, looking right at him:

Somehow, this squirrel fell, landed like this and died. Maybe he died before he fell, maybe the fall killed him. There is no way of knowing. All we know is that this traumatic experience ruined Charlie's morning. John (and our friend Muggins) came to the rescue:
So, we calmed Charlie down, bagged him up (he was huge!) and off to the garbage bin he went. Weird morning. Well documented though.

Confession of Sorts

Sure hope I don't offend any Noltes with this post, but I dread that's what I'm about to do!!! So, yesterday John came to me with the look in his eye where he won't look me right in the eye, and his lips are pursed and his eyebrows raised in that "I need to tell you something but you're not going to like it" look that I know so well, and said, "Remember my clients that got kicked out of their apartment last week? Well, they've been homeless for about 4 days now, and have been on the streets in the rain. All their blankets are wet, and they are not looking so hot. Can we put them up in a hotel for one night...I already told them we would." After a little discussion, I agreed, and John started on his way to pick them up and take them to the Motel 6 in South Pomona. Right before he reached the door, he turned around and said, "It's only one night, and then they're right back on the street again. Do we have any blankets that we don't need?" Most of our blankets have some sentimental value...to me or to the kids, so I said, "Man, I don't know. Go take a look." He came out with a blanket that his mom had left here on her last visit. She brought the blanket to So. Cal, because they were going to the beach and this particular blanket had been the Nolte's standby beach blanket for probably 30 years or so. There was no room in her suitcase however to bring it back on the plane, so she asked if she could leave it here till we saw her next. I relayed that message to John, and he came to the conclusion that though the blanket had many memories for him and his family, it might be better served for an entirely different sort of purpose now. He looked at it and told me that he can't remember a beach trip where that blanket wasn't spread out at his family's "home base" next to the cooler and shovels and pails. At that point, I could see that his mind was made up, and I told him to wrap it around him and snuggle a little, one last time and that I would take a few pictures to show his family. One night in a hotel and an old beach blanket were all we could give this couple, and I feel bad about two things. 1. That we can't do more for them and the millions like them 2. That they won't have the chance to associate their new blanket with care-free times and warm sunshine. Sorry Noltes, and thanks.

Our Saturday Hike

The weather has changed, at least for the time being, here in the inland valley. We saw this rainbow (it's actually a double, but the 2nd one is hard to see) on Friday morning while driving to school, and got inspired to take a Saturday hike to Bonelli Park. We knew it might rain, so we were PREPARED!









Once we got to the park, we had a great time on the fun playground. It has a zip line!

Then, on our hike out, we saw a pretty awesome tarantula! And of course, John had to mess with it.

All in all, we hiked about 4 miles, and took Louis out of the back pack and re-packed him about 8 times. He was the crankiest by far. Charlie was a real trooper, and Miles and Ella are non-complaining pros by now which is NICE. It feels good to get out in nature and be together. We had fun.