Tutor Time

First day at Tutor Time

Katherine started Tutor Time in June, 2010.

It was a hard transition for both her and I. After about three or four months, everything was good. She was happy with her teacher and I could drop her off with out any tears (from either of us).

Today was her last day at Tutor Time. I think that I was more teary eyed than her. They taught her so much. Maybe not so much with education but she learned how to be in a classroom environment. She learned how to think for herself and to be able to give her opinion when needed. She learned how to participate in a group activity but she also learned that it was okay to play by herself if she wanted too. She loved her friends and her friends loved her back. Dropping her off every morning was kind of like Norm from Cheers ~ everyone said her name when she entered the classroom.

I am very grateful to have found such a wonderful place. Now it is time to move on. She will be going to the Pre-K program offered through the grade school in which she will be going to next year.

It is crazy to think that she will be starting kindergarten in Aug, 2012. Where has the time gone?


Last day at Tutor Time

Our Dogs

MS. BJ's Nap Time

When I finally talked Brett into getting a dog, I was told that we would need to follow the three rules...

1. Dogs are not allowed on the furniture.
2. Dogs do not eat people food.
3. Dogs do not sleep on our bed.

Those rules went out the door the minute that little Ms. BJ came home. Brett let her jump on the (back of the) couch, sleep on our bed and gave her table scraps. Three years after we got Ms. BJ, we found our Lucky dog. We rescued him and just by his reactions to certain things, you could tell that the poor dog was beat by his previous owner. It didn't take long, though, for Lucky to get used to his new home.

He takes his naps on the couch, sleeps on our bed with us (yep, that is 5 bodies some nights sharing 1 king bed), and cannot get enough of Katherine's left over Mac n' Cheese.

Looking back, I wouldn't have it any other way.

MR. Lucky Chewing On A Bone

Prepared for the Monsoon

Las Vegas

Our family was invited to a birthday party out in Las Vegas. This was a party for a child of a dear friend of ours. We were thinking about going and then another family invited us to join them in Las Vegas as they were taking their two girls to see the Lion King.

We decided to go. I had not been back to Vegas since I graduated from UNLV. I saw it in my rearview mirror and had not been back since (except for one night when I got my Lasik surgery in 2004). I really had no desire to go back but I was missing my friends out there.

It started out different than what we planned but turned out great. We got the airplane packed and ready to go, we taxied out and then everything on the instrument panel went black. Not a good sign. So we taxied back to the hanger, packed up the car and drove for four and a half hours. If we would have been able to take the plane, it would have been an hour and a half trip. Oh well, that's the way the cookie crumbles.

We missed the birthday party but were able to visit with Kim and the family and meet the twins. The twins were so cute and so little. It's crazy how much you forget when your child is older. I got my baby "fix", Brett caught up with Kim and Katherine played with Andrew.

Later that night, we took the kids to see the Bellagio Conservatory. It was beautiful. Totally different than when lived there. Actually, the entire strip was completely different. All of the hotels that I knew, were dwarfed by all of the new "sky scrapper" hotels. All I can say is "Wow"!

After going into the Bellagio, I now remember what I don't miss about the casinos... all of the smoke!

So, we said our good byes as it was a very long day with the drive and we headed back to our hotel. The next morning, we woke up and I wanted to see the Wynn hotel as it was in the process of being built when I moved. I also called a friend of mine that I had worked with to catch up.

The Wynn was a beautiful hotel ~ very Chinese. Lots and lots of reds and butterflies... Katherine's favorites.



Breana and I chatted for about an hour and then we were on our way to the Mandalay Bay. We met up with our friends from Palm Desert and the girls had a blast in the pool. We had lunch and then took them back to the room for naps. The boys went out to play and we got some rest for the night. When we woke up, we got ready for dinner and The Lion King.

I bought Katherine a cute skirt that was perfect for Vegas. It was even more perfect because I only spent $4 for it. She looked adorable and the girls were ready to see the show.

The Lion King was different than what I expected. It was nice that even though our seats were up higher, the cast came up and included us in the show. Katherine loved the entire show except for the ended, which was to be expected. She wants to go to more stage shows and I think one day she will be one of the ones up on stage dancing and singing.

The next morning, we left the hotel and went by UNLV. I wanted to get something for Katherine from there. The campus has changed a lot since I was there about 10 years ago. Many new buildings and the Student Union was awesome!
I ended up getting Katherine a pink (yep, her favorite color) UNLV bag in which she could use for school. I also got myself a new pink (I think she is wearing off on me) UNLV sweatshirt (on sale).

We then got in the car, prepared ourselves for another four and a half drive back home. We made home in time to pick up our two favorite dogs and we all crashed pretty early in the evening.

All in all, we had a fantastic time. I am happy that I lived there but do not miss it at all. I want to do something fun and exciting for my 40th birthday and I will not be spending it there.

Blog Posts

I deleted a post on my blog because of an email that was sent me. I was told that the post was "unflattering" and "one sided".

Blogs are one sided. They are an open journal of thoughts, feelings, stories and observations.

The post was taken off out of respect but I still stand by the truth. Nothing in that post was untrue. I am very passionate about children learning to be water safe. It is very important to me since there are so many children that drown and we as parents can prevent that.
In my opinion (yes, this is my opinion because this is my blog), a parent should never leave a child in the pool without any supervision. This includes children that can swim and children that cannot. There should always be someone out watching, even if they have friends over. A parent needs to be in eye contact with their child(ren). A drowning child never gives advance warning such as screaming... they kick and keep their heads above water for as long as they can and then sink.

I believe that no parent should "hand over" their responsibility of watching their child(ren) to another parent for any extended periods of time. I have been on the other side and it's not fair to that parent nor the child(ren). Watching my own child in the water is stressful enough and then you throw another one or two children more children in the mix, is that really safe?
Now, I am not saying that you cannot turn to a friend and ask to watch your child for a minute or two while you run to the bathroom or grab the phone. I am talking about those parents that go into the house for an extended amount of time and when needed, they are nowhere to be found.

I also believe... ALL parents need to put their children in swim lessons. Water and swimming are totally out of comfort zones of children and for adults that cannot swim. If they fall in and don't know how to get out, they panic and that is when drownings occur. Parents need to teach their children how to get out of pools. Pool fences are a deterrent, not a solution to keep kids out of pools. Kids will always find their ways around the pool fences.

Kids and swim lessons are not easy. As stated in the past, Katherine has been in swim lessons since she was 6 months old. There have been many lessons in which Katherine screamed the entire time of the lesson. I had to excuse myself and walk away so that she couldn't see me. It was tough but totally worth it. Katherine got used to being the water with her swim instructor which in turn helped her be successful in water safety.

Now that Katherine is older and a stronger swimmer, I know that she is fully capable to getting out of the water if she were to fall in. That scenario just happened a few months ago...
We were at a get together and all of the parents were outside with the children enjoying the nice weather. The children were playing tag, playing house and riding tricycles when Katherine fell into the pool while not paying attention while riding a bike. Yes, she had a shock look but she was able to get herself out of the pool without any problems.

So, you are more than welcome to agree or disagree with me and my passion for kids learning how to swim. If I am around a pool with a parent and they are not watching their kids, you will hear me call them out on it. I also don't tolerate parents that do not give their children any positive reinforcement. All kids look to their parents for their support and if you do not give that to your child, I will call you out on it. Children have tons of fears and it our jobs as parents to help them through their fears, such as swimming, and show them that there is nothing to be afraid of.

I am not saying that I am the "perfect" parent. I am simply saying, respect and have fun with your kids. Teach them about fears ~ good ones and bad ones and ones that could save their lives. Teach them and learn from them.

Fun Friday Night Family Night

Our family fun night... we saw the new Winnie the Pooh movie. It was a cute movie and it was nice to see hand drawn animation, not just computer animation.

After the movie, we had dinner and then Katherine wanted to Jump! There is a place in the outdoor mall that Katherine was wanted to jump at but she has always been too small. When I say "too small", I mean doesn't her height but weight. She is FINALLY over 30 pounds and could jump.

Katherine had a blast and a smile the entire three minutes. I couldn't believe that they charged $8 for only three minutes but it was money well spent. She bounced and bounced and bounced. She even bounced up to the trees. I do have to teach her how to do a flip and then I don't think that we could just walk by the Jump place without having to pay.

It was a fun Friday Night Family Night!!

Prescott, Arizona

Last Sunday, we decided to go to Prescott for lunch. It was about a hour and 40 minute drive and the weather was about 80* when we got there. I looked up where we should go on Yelp and the restaurant that we chose was pretty good. For the most part, Yelp does give some great reviews.

After lunch, we walked around the park and enjoyed the cooler weather. I am looking forward to go back up in the fall to see the leaves. It is one of my favorite places to go for fall. Maybe we will make it there this year during the winter to take Katherine to the snow...

Riding in Daddy's "Office"

Happy 4th of July

Katherine's First 4th of July


4th of July, 2011

Fun Friday Night Family Night

This past Friday night, we went bowling. I had a Groupon (yes, I love Groupon) and we took Katherine bowling. The other pilot that Brett flies with joined us. He was "visiting" since he was trying to pass travel on one of the busiest three day weekends and was number 45 to get out of Phoenix to the east coast.

Anyway... we got to the bowling ally and had two lanes ~ one for Brett and Katherine with bumpers and the other for Jeremy and I. Katherine got a STRIKE right away, Jeremy got a Spare, Brett knocked a few pins down and I got two gutter balls. Yea me!!

As the game went I, I got a few strikes, Katherine kept getting strikes, Brett hit a few pins here and there and Jeremy had a few strikes himself.

At the end of the game, I just broke a 100, Jeremy's score was 87 and Katherine was a head of Brett (remind you Katherine and Brett had bumpers). It was so cute that Katherine's score was higher than Brett's and she had no idea.

So, Jeremy and I went onto game two and so did Brett and Katherine. Katherine was doing awesome!! Again, she was ahead of Brett until the last frame. Somewhere, Brett pulled a strike and beat her score.

Anyway... it was good family fun and it amazes me how well Katherine does and she is only 4.

I am looking forward to next Friday! What should we do?

Visit to L.A.

My mom bought her new car here in Phoenix since our sales tax is less than in L.A. and she will be moving here in less than 18 months. Now she doesn't need to pay for tags in California and then in Arizona.

We worked it out that Katherine and I would drive the car to Los Angeles the same day that Brett got back from Israel. It worked out great. It was so much fun to see him when he returned. Usually, he flies into Orange County, stays the night, then flies the work airplane to Long Beach. After they clean the airplane, he gets into our airplane and comes home. So, we don't see him right away when he returns.

This time we did get to see him plus, we stayed out in L.A. for a few days to see grandparents, friends and family. As usual, Katherine had a blast with her cousins. She loves all of her cousins. I really want her to have a relationship with all of them since I didn't have any relationships with my cousins due to family "drama".

Anyway... we had dinner with my parents on Saturday night and Katherine had a lot of fun playing with my dad. On Sunday, we had a little BBQ at Brett's parents and invited a few close friends. It was small but nice. The kids swam and played well together. We were all a bit tired by the end and we were in bed by 9pm.

We left the next morning and it was nice to fly back home. It didn't take nearly as long as driving but we did come home to 115* heat...

I am sure that we will be out in L.A. soon to cool down.