the rules

today was ralph's first day NOT at border star. i think he was a bit sad being the only one NOT going to school today... but not for long. i took him on a 'venture.' we went to powell gardens and caught butterflies and grasshoppers with our bare hands. ralph learned that you catch more butterflies when you approach them slowly and gently, not by batting your hands at them and clapping. he was pretty excited. he also loved all the giant wooden 'bugs.'

the weather cooperated. we went to the store for banana milk and came out with peaches, apples, oranges, makings for chili, ro-tel dip, greek yogurt, and a bunch of other necessary/unnecessary items. you decide.

after school we went to the playground, home with the tuoheys, then off to our respective sports. cecelia and lionel had soccer, and i ran. 6 in 54 min! i forgot we were going to dinner to celebrate my mother and her birthday, and i accidentally made dinner. it smelled delicious, hopefully it will again, tomorrow! greek chicken with cumin, cinnamon, garlic, and ginger; rice with a home made tomato sauce with cumin, garlic, onions, and cracked pepper.

after dinner we came home and ate my mother's birthday pistachio cake. yum! and the bedtime routine played out exactly perfectly. as we lay on the boys' bed and prayed, i asked that we pray for denise (my PT who is in jail on manslaughter charges.) lionel asked if she was STILL in jail and when she would get out. i suggested maybe we could visit her (she always loved the kids!) he got scared and said jail might be spooky. ralph agreed. so i said we could just write her notes. lionel asked if we could, please, just mail them. ralph said, "no! we'll drop them off!" and lionel immediately worried about the guards. ralph said we could ask them to let her go. i gently suggested we just make her pictures and notes and, if ralph wants, we could drop them off on thursday. ralph said, "sure! we can write them notes saying to let her go out of jail." i said it's not that easy. he explained to me that we should go by his rules and just get her out because his rules are better... just more fun! ... he's right about that!

i snuggled with cecelia as she drifted off to sleep. as i turned to go, she told me i could leave. i asked her if she really wanted me to stay, she said, "no. because i'm a tired awesome girl and i have homework to do early in the morning." ...and SHE'S right!

good night!