I read chapter books.
Nothing says summer like Chuck Taylor Converse All Stars. Could not resist these shoes. Bought them for $6 at a consignment store, retail'ing for over $40 new. Does she not look like she loves them? I do, and that is what matters.
Maybe potty power is ready once again. Strange thing happened today. We were in the backyard and Quinners was in her bathing suit sans diaper. She came up to me and said, "Quinners pee mommy." So I went inside and got the toilet shell and sat her down. She peed. 
Hay has been practicing everyday to learn how to go all the way across on the Monkey Bars at her elementary school. This is something of a fetish, one that she cannot let go of. Now that she has mastered it, and boy am I proud, she will move on to the next accomplishment.
Grabbing the rings for a monkey swing across.
Concentration is a must. I was in her bad books when I took this opportunity to tickle those armpits. They were taunting me.
Hanging by one arm. Try doing this at 36 years old. I did, and thought I was going to rip my arm out of it socket, leaving only exposed flesh and a hand left holding the monkey bar. Wow, I also thought I was going to have to make a chiropractor appointment to realign my spine.
Climbing back up to do it all over again.
The above photo is what Hayley made me at school, it made me cry. Then just when I thought I had a grip on reality, she presented me with the poem that she made. It goes like this:
Roger is a cook/day manager as his paying job. In his spare time he loves to rebuild computers. At any given time our office is a computer graveyard, with bits of motherboards, ram, screws, wire and a whole host of unknown foreign mechanical stuff. You have to realize that he is very high tech, nothing but the newest, latest and fastest pieces of equipment are good enough to grace our front door. Now me, on the other hand, is low/no tech. I hate having more than one remote, only listen to one radio station (hate tuning in), was happy with the performance of my VCR, and cannot program my watch to time my laps when I run. Low tech. 
Likely photo, no one looks good but ME! Hahahahaha
Gilles and Lise.
Lise, Gilles and Manon. (they had NEVER seen the ocean before!)
Gilles and Manon.
My baby sister, Steph, and me. Steph is currently waiting on her results to come back on her biopsy to determine Celiac or not. My thoughts are with her. Photo taken on April 15th.What is Celiac Disease?
Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have Celiac Disease cannot tolerate a protein called gluten that is found in wheat, rye, and barley. Research has shown that timely diagnosis of Celiac Disease is essential to treating or preventing its complications
10 Facts about Celiac Disease
1. Celiac disease is common: affecting an average of 1/133 Americans and up to 1/22 for those associated with risk factors.
2. The average duration of symptoms for celiac patients before they are correctly diagnosed is 9 years.
3. Celiac disease is twice as common as Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis and cystic fibrosis combined.
4. Approximately 50% of adult patients present with atypical symptoms.
5. Celiac disease is often misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome or lactose intolerance and up to 1/3rd of celiac disease patients have been previously diagnosed with IBS.
6. Celiac disease meets the criteria for the World Health Organization for justifying general screening.
7. Physicians may use more widely known but less accurate serological testing that can result in missed diagnosis.
8. Up to 21% of intestinal biopsies, necessary for confirmation of celiac disease, are rejected by insurance companies, claiming that the cost of the testing isn’t justified by the symptoms.
9. Celiac disease has a 95 percent genetic predisposition.
10. Celiac disease is associated with or can lead to a number of other disorders including infertility, premature births, reduced bone density (both osteopenia and osteoporosis), neurological disorders, malignancies such as adenocarcinoma, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and others, and a host of autoimmune disorders such as insulin dependent diabetes, thyroid disease, Sjogren’s syndrome, Addison’s disease, Psoriasis, autoimmune liver disease, and cardiomyopathy.
Beacon Hill Park boasts its very own petting zoo. There are baby goats, pot bellied pigs, miniature horses, donkeys, sheep, chickens, roosters, bunnies, guinea pigs, finches, and a wild assortment of other four and two legged friends. On Friday it was a Pro-D day here and so I thought we would go and check it out. We had a ton of fun, walked a bit around the Park, fed the ducks, saw a turtle, climbed a tree and basically enjoyed ourselves. 
Hayley grooming a goat.
A peacock strutting his stuff to all the peahens. It was hilarious to see him prancing around trying to get all the girls' attention, all the while not one was even looking at him. Typical in humans as well, if you don't believe me, go to any given nightclub here.
A turtle that has been a fixture of the park for many a year. I believe that he once started his life as someone's pet and was released into the water. He lives a happy life amongst the ducks and lily pads.
The view from the bottom of the stairs. Taken at 8pm at night.
My beautiful shrub. Hey, you didn't expect me to know the names of the pretty things things that I chose from the nursery? The man that helped me out (of $100) was a very knowledgeable man, who knew the names of all the items that were purchased....in both English and Latin. He had me at hello.
This I do know, it is a Japonica (although probably spelled wrong). It was my fave. Still is.
Roger and I hard at work.
Quinn getting some loot for the basket,
The Easter Bunny even left some on the trail from the water!
.....And on the beach! Watch out for crabs HP!
What me? With a chocolate egg in my mouth? Na, you must be mistaken mom!
Here she is! All decked out in her gear, and out in the LAX box, practicing her new endeavor.
Playing scrum with the boys.
Just a mug shot of my big girl!
Her Yoga outfit from nana Darling. She looks adorable in it!
Posing for the camera on my second birthday! So beautiful - and big.
Blowing out the candles. Last birthday she would not have ANYTHING to do with cake. Cried the entire party. Maybe it was not the cake but the fact that we made her wear a dumb party hat. Oh, what we do on our kiddie's first birthdays....
Digging into the pudding cake.........last minute decision and they loved it........they being the daycare kiddies, Roger, Hayley and Quinners.
Hello everyone, I am two years old today! I was born at 10:45am, weighing in at 5lbs12ozs, and 19 inches in length. I had JET black hair and dark skin. Here I am, two years later, weighing in at 24 lbs, 28 inches long, blonde locks and fair skin. Here is to Quinn!!
While we dug up our entire front yard to get ready to landscape on Sunday, Quinn sat silently and ate dirt. It was in her teeth, caked on her jeans, all under her fingernails, and shaped like a goatee on her face. It was hilarious. She kept tipping the bucket up to her mouth and saying, "yum, dellicioso (aka the Spanish word for delicious, from Dora*).Well, at least she entertained herself. 
Filling up for a second course of yummy dirt!
Come on mommy, why won't you give me a kiss? huh, what is wrong? What is not to love about that face!
This is how many kids I looked after on Wednesday! Four from left is Hayley, and right on the end in the red sweatshirt is Quinners. All the rest were only "visiting" and I got to say goodbye to at the end of the day. We actually had a blast, with a disco party upstairs, lunch and then who can go wrong with a showing of the movie, "Madagascar"? All in all they are great kids. Oh ya, Quinners, Mouse and Bruiser all napped at the same time....YAHOO!
