What were you doing 10 years ago?

Well, 10 years ago today, Tiger Woods was celebrating having become the youngest golfer to win the Masters'. Princess Diana was looking forward to celebrating her 36th (and final) birthday with her new "friend", Dodi Fayed. Thousands of men were packed in Fresno's Bulldog Stadium for a Promise Keepers rally. And Randy and I were saying our wedding vows in a friends' backyard.

Happy Anniversary Randy! You are the most amazing husband! And, I must say, we've become a pretty good parenting team along the way too! You just make life and marriage more fun each year! I love you.

Green Idea of the Week

Did you know that styrofoam NEVER decomposes? It can be recycled; but there are very few cities in the U.S. that include styrofoam in their recycling programs. So, when at all possible, choose recyclable packaging (ie. egg cartons, coffee cups or plates, to-go containers...). Until next week...LIVE GREEN!

Audrey's artwork

Since this week has been slow...not much exciting to blog about, I thought I would highlight some of Audrey's artwork. Drawing and writing are her two favorite things to do these days! This is a picture of her playing with Tyler Schlesselman in the mountains. I'm not sure why Tyler is so much shorter than her..or why she is practically as tall as the Giant Sequoia...but I guess perspective in artwork comes later! Below is her favorite scene from the movie Ratatouille. I won't tell you what it depicts...you'll have to go see the movie (which opens next Friday, June 29). Aunt Alli got us some tickets to a sneak preview this last Thursday; so we joined the Jones family in front of Edwards theater at 5:45 p.m. (for a 7:30 showing) to wait and hope we got in. They only let in 7 people after us! I'm glad we got there that early. The kids loved the movie! There were a couple really loud parts that Isaac didn't like (people throwing things or shooting at the rats), but it wasn't scary and no one dies! Well, besides the movie, there were some other "newsworthy" events that occured...but they are much better told in person. You'll have to call Nanita or me sometime and ask! Thanks Auntie Allie for the tickets!

A belated Father's Day

Last week, after Audrey finished her last day of school, we headed up the mountains to our favorite camping spot...Azalea Campground in Kings' Canyon National Park. We had planned a wonderful, relaxing, five-day trip with our friends, the Schlesselman family. Although the weather was wonderful, and the company great, it was not as relaxing as we hoped. Our first night up there, Violet came down with a bad case of diarrhea. And by Thursday night, just when Violet was starting to feel better, Morgan (our friends' 8 year old daughter) and I started throwing up. Just wonderful! Luckily, I only puked once and felt much better. And Morgan had the "luxury" of relaxing in their RV while she recuperated as well. By Friday morning everyone was feeling much better! We were joined by three more families from our church (the Mars, the Ogawas, and the McNeelys) along with Randy's mom and brother for the weekend. We mainly relaxed, did a little hiking around camp and to the Big Trees,and we also enjoyed a lot of good food too! We enjoyed campfires at night, along with smores, of course! More relaxing...and, of course, an afternoon on the General Store porch with some ice cream!Well, on Sunday morning, Father's Day, Randy woke up feeling sick to his stomach and really shaky. So without delay we packed up all our stuff and headed down the mountain for home. We had planned on staying up most of the day...and Arlene and Kevin had planned a BBQ steak lunch for Randy...but we decided to cut it a couple hours short. We made it home before noon and Randy relaxed on the couch the rest of the day with a 102 fever! And with Violet and I suffering a "relapse" of sorts, no one in the family felt like doing much. So yesterday (Monday), Randy enjoyed a belated Father's day of sorts. He was feeling much better but still running a fever, so he stayed home from work. We watched a movie with the kids. He opened his gifts. The kids and I made him some chocolate chip cookies. And we ate dinner at his favorite place...Don Pepe's Taqueria. I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband...that is also such a great dad to all our kids! Happy Father's Day Randy! And Happy Father's Day to my Dad too! You are the BEST! We love you all the way from California to Kansas!

Audrey's kindergarten program

Today was Audrey's kindergarten "program". Tomorrow is their actual last day of school...but today they had a special lunch for the kindergarteners and their families. The kids performed four dances they've been working on, the Hukilau, the Makarena, the Chicken dance, and the Boot Scootin' Boogie. Then there was a BBQ lunch for everyone before they were excused to go home. It was a fun little celebration for the end of the year. When I asked Audrey about her favorite things from the school year she said, (1)writing in her journal, (2)hugging her teacher, Mrs. Burgess, (3)playing with her friends at recess (Audrey with Catlin and Veronica pictured below). Audrey has learned so much in her first year as a Robinson Elementary Roadrunner! She is a great reader and loves to read books "all by herself". We have quite a few Dr. Suess books she can read from front to back and many other books she reads with Randy and me. She loves to draw! Just give her a ream of blank paper and a box of crayons or colored pencils and it will keep her occupied for DAYS! She also loves (as she said) to write. Randy jokes that her handwriting is already better than his! She loves to make picture books these days and then give them to whoever we visit next (Grandma, a friend, a teacher at church, etc.) or show them to her imaginary class that she teaches (practically every day) in the laundry/activity room. I am so glad Audrey is off to a great start academically! Violet doing the Makarena. Isaac loves the watermelon! Audrey (finally) lost one of her top front teeth last night! It was SOOO loose! And the other one isn't far behind! You can see how much her other teeth around it have already spread to make room for the big new ones! Audrey and Mrs. Burgess.

The week before "summer" starts

Nothing much new happenin' at the Mack house this week besides passing around a stomach bug. I got it...BAD...last week, for two days straight! Then Randy and Violet had a little somethin' over the weekend. And Tuesday night Audrey had her turn. While Audrey sat up past midnight with Randy, bucket in her lap, I got to change and wash the bed sheets and pajamas. Then we did the whole thing over again around 2 a.m. Randy and Audrey were both pretty exhausted on Wednesday. Audrey stayed home recuperating and missed her last kindergarten field trip because of it. She was pretty bummed...but we promised to do a fun, family "field trip" soon (maybe a trip to Baskin Robbins this Saturday). She went back to school today...feeling MUCH better! Here's a picture of the kids getting home from school...which leads me to my "Green Idea of the Week". WALK to school, or work, or lunch, or the grocery store. Think of somewhere that you go that is within walking (or maybe you prefer biking) distance...and do it! Walk! I calculated that by walking Audrey to school and back every day (about a mile round trip, twice), for the entire school year, I have saved 19 gallons of gas, which is more than $60 in my pocket, and built an hour worth of exercise into my daily routine, totaling about 380 miles walked! Good for the heart; good for my budget; good for the earth! Let's get walkin'!

Green Idea of the Week

Shop and eat local! Do you think you could eat for a whole week (7 days) with only food grown within a 100 mile radius of you? This is extremely easy to do in Fresno with so many farmers' markets around us...Vineyard(pictures on the blog), Tower District, Downtown, Clovis, Riverpark, even one in the Kaiser hospital parking lot! I found a great website that lists all their locations and times here...check it out! Too busy to go to a farmers' market? Have fresh, local produce delivered to your front door! My friend, Tina Chandler, orders through TD Willey Farms of Madera. Every month she receives a big box full of seasonal fruits and vegetables grown right here in the Central Valley! So support your local economy and help cut down on carbon emissions at the same time (remember, it always takes gas to transport food from "somewhere else" to where you are)! So give it a try...eat local this week!