I'm on top of the world...

Why?

Because my classroom's ceiling is fixed. The maintenance guys were working on it this morning before school even began. I was so worried that we would be forced out of the classroom for a few days because you just never know how long it will take to get things fixed.

I did have to take my kids to another classroom for about half an hour. It is an empty classroom, so there were no materials, not enough desks, and just a few storybooks. I read them one and a half books and then it was time to go back to our own room. It was so nice to be back among our own things! I had new appreciation!

And, along that theme, here are 3 songs that I recorded this afternoon on MySpace Karaoke, including The Carpenters' Top of the World. I used to sing that song when I was a little kid. It is a special part of my childhood.

Click the song titles to listen, and thanks for listening!

TOP OF THE WORLD

ALWAYS

THE SONG REMEMBERS WHEN

All very different styles of songs! I'm often in a singing mood on Monday afternoons. Not sure why...

A Cousins Weekend...

I have been craving a change of scenery lately. Yes, already I could feel myself getting into that rut during the school year: work, return from work, recover from work, sleep, and back to work. That gets old really fast.

My cousin, Laura, had been talking about going to explore this little town near San Diego called Julian, and picked this weekend as the time to do it. I love spending time with Laura. She's really mellow and fun and easy to be around. And of course, there is is Cassidy, Laura's little 5 year old, who always makes things interesting! But she's a good little girl and we have a lot fun.

Yesterday I got up nice and early and drove the 140 miles south from Los Angeles to San Diego and got to see the little house that Laura is renting in the town of Jamul. It feels like a little ranching town, and Laura's house is up a long steep driveway, tucked away from the traffic that whizzes down the street outside.

We drove the one hour of VERY twisty roads and arrived in Julian.

It was a cute place. Extremely small! It is basically one street that looks like something you would see in an old western. There were *maybe* 30 shops and restaurants total. The antique stores were kind of like glorified thrift stores, most of the restaurants boasted having Julian's best pie, and the gift stores had cute items that were mostly "made in China."

So much for Julian.

We did have a nice lunch at this place called the Julian Grille. It was a house that had been converted into a restaurant. We were at a table that was in what was probably the original dining room. The food and service were excellent. Everyone we met was very nice, actually, except for the grumpy lady who sold us a boysenberry/apple crumb pie. Maybe she was just having a bad day.

Laura navigated the twisty road back to her house like a pro while I held my aching stomach. Twisty roads and me do not go well together, which is why I usually end up driving. But it was OK. We did a lot of good talking in the car. It is nice to be able to feel that comfortable with your cousin, and I do with Laura. After all, she and her sister, Monica, are the closest to sisters that I will ever have, so I'm glad we're very close.

Back at her house we lazed around for a couple of hours and then decided to go to Albertson's for some dinner stuff and Blockbuster for a movie.

We had chicken, green beans, pie for dessert, and watched a double feature of Greenfingers (one of my favorites) and Centre Stage. Cassidy enjoyed a Hello Kitty movie on her own. Laura cleaned the kitchen while I read Cassidy some nursery rhymes at bedtime.

After sleeping like a log on Cassidy's little bunk bed, I left around noon and stopped in San Juan Capistrano for about 2 hours. I couldn't pass up popping into the Old Barn Antique store and getting a burrito at Pedro's across the street from the lovely ruins of the old mission. I find that town very relaxing. Laura and I want to meet there one day so she can have a chance to see the antique store too.

I left with a pretty cut crystal vase, which I DROPPED on my way into the restroom at Starbucks (doh!) and a really cool 1940's glass lamp for my chest of drawers in my bedroom. I've been wanting a new lamp for that space. The old one was malfunctioning (from a moving sale.) When I saw this one I just thought it was so interesting and original. A good size too.

I can't believe I dropped this little vase 5 minutes after I purchased it. Here's a strategic picture hiding the area of the lip that got a little broken with my clumsiness...

The bottom of the lamp was practically black, but with a little polishing, I was able to rediscover its nice copper color. It is cool the way it refracts the light on the wall. I like the random pieces of glass all shooting off in different directions. Original stuff is fun to have in the home--much more interesting that things from modern day stores.

(Click either picture to see it full-sized...)

Another hour and a half in the car and I was finally home. Be it ever so humble.....etc., etc., right?

I had a good time this weekend. It was just what I needed. A little change.

Amazing Bicycle Acrobat Video...

Got 5 minutes? Watch this video. It is incredible what this guy can do. Mothers will cringe, but it is still very cool! Great music in the background too...

Ah, the weekend...a time to reflect...

This is the time when I review the week in my head and weigh what went well and what could use some improving.

I have 3 kids in my class that will be attending counseling soon. Emotionally, they're on the fringe. All boys. I've had to handle things differently with them. One I knew about, the other two I discovered had some emotional problems in the first couple of days. One is ADHD whose mom slips his meds into his breakfast each morning, one has abandonment issues because his parents sent him here to the US to live while they stayed behind in Mexico (years ago,) and one is from a family where the dad died and he's got emotional and self-control issues.

When I weigh what went well, I feel like I have done pretty well with these 3 boys, showing patience and understanding. Knowing their situation helps me with my reactions a lot.

Of course, in the neighborhood where I teach, practically every kid has a story, it is just a matter of learning what they are over time.

When I think about what I can do better, I think I need to do a better job of picking my battles with the group as a whole. With 34 kids, I definitely have to be strict, but I know I'm going wear myself out a lot sooner if I try to correct every little behavior flaw. I'm lightening up on the uniform policy a tiny bit because I just don't have the energy to say "Please tuck in your shirt" 100 times a day to the boys who where them down to their knees. I'm focusing more on self-control, honesty, and respect. Hopefully the little things will follow.

Yesterday we had a training all day and no students. Easy money, a day without stress. I got to meet with my grade level for a while and we navigated throughout the district's website, which was helpful.

After school I went to my Mom's house to spend time with her and my nephew. We took Alexander to our Friday night sushi dinner and then to Macy's. We went to my favorite Macy's, which is on Lake Ave in Pasadena. It isn't part of a mall, and is an old building that has been refurbished, but still has some great older touches to it, like frosted art deco designs in the glass windows and old staircases that take you decades back in time. I took advantage of the Estee Lauder gift with purchase, my mom used a coupon from the newspaper, and Alexander got to experiment with taking things off the rack and then putting them back. At least he put everything back the same way!

Then we came home, packed up his things and drove him to my brother's apartment. I came home and got caught up some more on Grey's Anatomy episodes. Sleep came great and lasted long.

Hooray for the weekend. They always come at the right time...

My Alternative to Cable...

I'm going to make this short and sweet.

I don't have cable TV.

I've never had cable TV.

I don't want cable TV.

I've seen several families on Facebook recently ruminate over whether or not to cancel their cable to save money. CANCEL it. You will survive. When I have been in hotel rooms that have cable, it does nothing (for me) except confirm that I don't need it.

OK, I will admit that I do have an extensive DVD library, but mostly because my favorite shows are off the air (M*A*S*H, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Friends, Wings, to name a few...) And I like British movies and old classics. But I also have this:
Ah... my wonderful ROKU player.

$100 bought through Netflix. My Netflix plan is $8.99/month. That's right....$8.99. That is the one-at-a-time unlimited plan which allows for unlimited Instant Viewing.

The Roku player sits on my TV, is connected only wirelessly to my router, and streams the Instant Viewing movies and TV shows straight to my TV, so I don't have to watch them on the computer monitor. I LOVE IT.

Yesterday I was browsing the Instant Viewing movies and TV shows on Netflix and saw that Season 5 of Grey's Anatomy was going to be released today. And--YAY! It is available for Instant Viewing. So I can have a Grey's marathon instantly on my bedroom TV. Love it!! (I missed most of last season...)

Yes, a lot of the movies and TV shows available for Instant Viewing are older and perhaps more obscure with a few exceptions (think the $1 theater in Provo, BYU people...) But I have discovered some fantastic documentaries this way, including Stolen and the one about Dominick Dunne that I recently blogged (and raved) about.

My point? Cable is not the end-all-be-all. There are alternatives. I really like this one!

R.I.P Patrick Swayze...how sad...

Today it was announced that Patrick Swayze lost his year-long battle with pancreatic cancer. I'm so bummed about this. He was such a good, decent person, no scandals, and married for 34 years to his childhood sweetheart.

Watching Dirty Dancing or Ghost you just fall in love with the guy...

There are lots of pictures of him swirling around the internet of the way he looked in his last days, but I don't want to remember him like that. To children of the 80's like me he'll always be Johnny Castle, originator of the famous line, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner..."



Rest in Peace, Patrick.

Christmas in September...

We had such a great time last night at my mom's house celebrating the September birthdays! We sat out in the backyard and enjoyed the cooler weather. My Uncle Bill was the BBQ champ, BBQing chicken, ribs, halibut, and some veggie kabobs. There was fruit and chips and salsa for appetizers and apple pie for dessert.

We always have a great time no matter what, but it's funny how each gathering develops its own personality. Last night's party kind of turned into a little meeting, deciding when and where the next few family gatherings will be. We are entering into the holiday season very soon--it will be here in no time--so we had to discuss these things.

Conclusions:

1. October birthday will be done on October 10th at Ruben/Alicia/Dov/Ari's house

2. Thanksgiving will be celebrated on the DAY AFTER Thanksgiving so that Dov and Laura can attend, at Bill & Nene's house

3. And the biggie....Christmas Eve. For the FIRST time in my lifetime, we will not be celebrating Christmas Eve at my grandparents' house. Last year, despite the fact that my grandpa passed in March and my grandma passed in July, we still did Christmas Eve at their house. But now, the house is being dismantled room by room (my mom goes every week with the cleaning lady and they work there for hours.) There's no furniture left and things are set out and labeled on the floor of every room.

So....where to have Christmas Eve now?

The vote was to have at MY HOUSE.

Even though my house isn't big, it has a very laid out floor plan that is great for parties. It is also centrally located. My mom will do the turkey and pumpkin pies and the rest of the family will bring different foods for the dinner, but I'm the "house committee."

This is very momentous, having Christmas Eve at another house, because it is the only occasion that has ALWAYS been done at the grandparents'. I'm feeling the mantle of responsibility already!

Something else we talked about was Christmas Lists. In my family we draw names and buy for only certain people. We've done this for about 12 years and I've always been the person in charge of organizing who buys for who, the lists, and distributing the lists to the Santas. Last year I discovered Wordpress.com, another blog site like Blogger. It's a little more "business-like" and not one I would like to use for my personal blog, but for the Christmas lists it is ideal because you can have multiple pages for the blog. So, each person emails me their wish list items and I post them on their personal page. Click HERE to see last year's.

And this morning I spent about 2 hours setting up the one for this year, HERE. With the websites, there is a lot to do in the beginning, but in the long run it saves a lot of time and trouble for me, the official family elf.

And I still need to draw names and contact everyone today...better get busy!

Alexandra has been found...

Thank goodness! She is with her mom again. But there are many issues that still need to be worked out. Still, the most important thing is that she is safe.

Let's sing our problems away...

Ah, the weekend. It came at just the right time, as usual. School has been tough. My grade is overcrowded, but not enough to create a new classroom. I just got my 34th student. Oy vay! And we're short on a few books, so I've had to use some of my precious copies on things that we're supposed to have. Not quite sure what's going to happen when the Williams people come for a visit...they are the people who are in charge of the Williams law, which mandates that there be enough books for every child. But if we don't have them, well, we don't have them...

So, 34 kids, not enough materials, and the kids are just out of 3rd grade and adjusting to a class with so many students. In 3rd grade there were only 20 kids in a class. And, I don't know why it is, but 32 kids (the amount we're supposed to have) feels fine, but 34 feels like 50.

Yesterday I was at full force all day. I worked through lunch, then the kids had their library time (my planning time,) and I stayed 2 hours after school setting things up for next week. There was a bulletin board to change, planning to do, more copies, and getting ready for ELD mixing, which begins on Monday. That's when we have some of our own kids and some from other classes and do a language lesson at their language level for the bilingual kids. I have 32 in that group, last year I only had 25.

So, yes, it's been busy and hectic and a little frustrating because there's no end in sight and our missing items are on backorder until October.

I wish I could be one of those people who lets things just roll off my back and not internalize them. I wish, I wish, but I'm not. I'm a worrier and things stay in my brain and roll around in there for a while. If I could choose anything to improve, I think I would just wish that the kids would calm down a little more. I've had to be a real disciplinarian this week, which I don't enjoy. But with 34 kids, a little noise becomes a lot very quickly. I have to nip some things in the bud right from the start just so we can get things done.

OK, enough whining and venting from me. Time to sing! Here are a few recent ones I've done. Click on the song titles to hear them...and thanks for listening! (To the singing and the venting! LOL!)

THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME

AMAZING GRACE (I'm really happy with this one :-)

SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME

DAYS OF WINE OF ROSES


P.S. regarding my last entry, no news yet...

Please Help Find Alexandra...

This morning I turned on my computer to find a sad and surreal Facebook post from the sister of a friend of mine. Nicole posted that her husband, Leon, had kidnapped their daughter from her parents' house late last night.

I'm posting this on my blog in case anyone has any information. We have got to get this little girl back to her mom and little brother.

If anyone sees Leon and Alexandra or knows of their location, please contact the local authorities immediately. Alexandra was taken from San Gabriel, CA (in the Pasadena area.)

So sad. I have known Nicole since she was born. Her sister, Cathy, is one of my oldest friends. We met in kindergarten. I am so sad for the families.

***UPDATE 9/10/09 5:20pm***
As of now, Alexandra and her dad have not been located. Mom Nicole has a court order for him to return her immediately, so he definitely does not have a legal right to have taken his daughter as he did (not to mention breaking into the in-laws' house.)

Help us find Alexandra and Leon Lo ASAP.

***UPDATE 8:00pm***
Leon added a comment to Facebook a couple of hours ago saying that there are 2 sides to the story and asking for everyone's understanding. Two sides, yes, but to put your child in the middle and take her away from her mother is still wrong. At least Alexandra is OK.

At the Norton Simon with Xander...

My mom and I love taking my nephew, Xander, to new places in the area. Considering that he's only 18 months old, he really does remarkably well. We are fortunate enough to live just about 10 minutes away from the wonderful Norton Simon Art Museum in Pasadena. If you watch the Rose Parade, it is along the parade route and always has a big rose pasted onto the side on New Year's Day.

But what it is really famous for is the quality of the art collection. It's a small museum by most standards, but it houses works by the world's masters: Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Monet, Degas, Rodin, Gaugin, Renoir, Picasso, to name just a few. Today Xander got to go for the very first time. He did great and enjoyed seeing the paintings. We looked at colors and he would point to the painting and then point when he was ready to move on to the next one. Then we went out into the garden for a snack and a walk around the lily pond. He also went home with a cardboard book with textured pictures of some of the most famous paintings from the museum gift store.

Obviously, things go slower with a little one, but we did manage to take a few pictures of Xander's first art museum visit...

Film Review: Dominick Dunne--After the Party

Today has been a much needed "slug day," which is what I call a day where I stay home and read, watch TV, go on the computer, and stay in sweats or pajamas all day long. A day like today is not necessarily unproductive, though. I have discovered some of the most fascinating documentaries on slug days.

It is no secret that I have a love of words and culture and learning about interesting people and periods in history, but sometimes I'm a late-bloomer when it comes to certain things. I attribute it to the fact that when I'm learning about something or someone new (to me) I like to give that subject my full attention, so multi-tasking doesn't quite work.

This disclaimer is necessary because I will honestly say that when I read the recent obituaries covering Dominick Dunne's death I didn't really know who he was. I knew that he was a writer. I knew that he was the father of Griffin Dunne, the director, and of Dominique Dunne, the actress from Poltergiest who was murdered by her boyfriend back in the early 80's.

But I have also found that sometimes the exact time I learn about people or events is an anomaly in itself. Last night during the party I had at my house the subject of Vanity Fair worked its way into the conversation. I did the head nod thing that we all have to do once in a while--I've never read Vanity Fair in my life. To me it's just been another thick, overpriced magazine that I pass on the way to the checkout at the market. Did I know that Dominick Dunne was the star true-life crime writer for the magazine? Not until today.

So today, while enjoying my well-earned slug day, I was browsing through new documentary releases available for instant viewing on Netflix. (It amazes me how much movies and TV have changed and how much my tastes have changed. 99.9% of TV these days is absolutely uninteresting to me.) While browsing I saw that there was a documentary about Dunne. Coincidence? Who know? But I thought, well, this is the time to learn about him.

I was riveted for an hour and half. Not only did he lead a fascinating life, but he was a fascinating person, who is not only the film's subject, but also the viewer's main tour guide on a retrospect of his life. And he does it all in a charming, yet self-effacing way that makes him very human and easy to relate to.

Like most interesting people, Dunne's life has been a mixture of privilege and tragedy. One of 6 children to a world-famous heart surgeon, he was also the unfavored son, beaten by his father with a riding crop until welts appeared on his legs. His need to find his niche in life led him to several different jobs until, at the dawn of the golden age of television, he was hired as a stage manager for an emerging network. As he worked his way up behind the camera, he became acquainted with some of Hollywood's most famous stars while they climbed to the top in the public eye: Natalie Wood, Steve McQueen, Jane Fonda and many others.

Yet, even as he married a beautiful ranching heiress and hosted the A-listers, he always felt like an outsider, and hardships continued to work their way into the family, including the young deaths of 2 daughters in their first days of life.

In his 80's at the time when he's narrating this documentary, Dunne describes and recognizes his earlier mistakes and choices that eventually led to his 1965 divorce and the ebb and flow of his career. He does it all with an appreciation for what he's had , what he's learned, and what he can pass on to others about his experiences. 26 years after the murder of daughter Dominique--who he absolutely adored--you can see that the wound is still very fresh, but he used that event as a way to educate others about the justice system in his own colorful way. Lucky for him, and lucky for his devoted readers, that the new editor of Vanity Fair met Dunne right before the trial of his daughter's killer and recommended that he keep a journal, also imploring him to contact her when it was all over. It set the wheels in motion for a new career that made his name synonymous with the magazine and with covering high-profile trials.

I remember reading in one of the obituaries that Dunne admitted that he always had a certain "prosecutorial" slant to his writing, but it stands to reason considering that his own daughter's killer was only given a 6 1/2 year sentence and served only 2 1/2 years of it. You can tell that he sees her face side-by-side every new victim. He offers his opinions about OJ Simpson, the Menendez brothers, Michael Skakel (the Kennedy cousin accused of murdering Martha Moxley in the early 70's,) and is shown attending every day of the first Phil Spector trial, which eventually ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury. The documentary is from 2008, but he obviously lived to see Spector prosecuted again and convicted.

Naturally, the defense attorneys hate him. That's Hate with a capital "H." Lesley Abramson***, the Menendez brothers' attorney talks about his twisting of facts, his unnamed sources, and does all but accuse him of influencing the outcome of the trials he attends. But he didn't write to impress the defense attorneys. In fact, it doesn't seem like he really wrote to impress anyone, but to simply tell it like he saw it, and hope that his readers saw it the same way.

A very, very interesting film.

***Sidenote: I had a brief encounter with Lesley Abramson a few years ago that I'll never forget. It was the year that I took off from teaching and working retail at Eddie Bauer. She came in and I recognized her. She's a lot shorter that you would think, but still has an intimidating presence.

As she came up to the register to pay for her items, I said, "You're Lesley Abramson, aren't you?" "Yes," she replied curtly. "Really?" I said back. And, in true, lawyer fashion she said, "Would you like to see my driver's license and I'll prove it to you?" My response, "No, no, that's OK."

We finished the transaction, exchange cool "thank you's," and she left, after which, one of the younger employees turned to me and asked, "Whose Lesley Abramson??"

That's what happens when you live in LA. Once in a while you have interesting run-ins with interesting well-known people.

A busy fun day on Saturday...

Yesterday was a GREAT day from start to finish. The morning was spent taking my nephew out to see his great-grandma again. She was thrilled, as you can imagine.

During the visit with my grandma, Xander got to interact with my stepsister's baby, Jackson. My stepsister, Amy, tragically passed away last October, when Jackson was only 6 months old, of a sudden stroke at age 38. We were so happy with the way Xander was kind to Jackson and brought toys to him. My mom was thinking that maybe Xander could sense that Jackson needed extra sensitivity because he doesn't have a mommy (fortunately he has a very good daddy and 2 very attentive grandmas.) He would bring him books and open them for him. Of course, these were Jackson's toys that Xander was using! LOL


We also enjoyed watching the progress Xander made as he got more and more comfortable with my grandma, who is 91 and still sharp as a tack! It took a while, and she was very patient, but he finally started responding to her. I was able to take this priceless video. These are the moments in life that are to be treasured. (The voices in the back are Jackson and his grandma.)


In the evening I had 3 friends over. We ate pizza, chips and salsa, and TALKED and TALKED and TALKED. We moved from the living room, to the dining room, to the backyard, where we ended up staying for over 2 hours. We covered many major issues and managed to have a lot of fun. The night flew and before we knew it, it was nearly midnight. I fell asleep with a smile on my face, happy about all the relationships that were strengthened throughout the day. A very good day!

Week 1 in Retrospect...

The first week of school ended today, and, as usual, I think I already have an idea of how things are going to be this year. The kids' personalities have definitely emerged. My class is made up of the typical potpourri:

1. the perfectionists (do everything right, follow every direction)
2. the hand-raisers
3. the wanna-be teachers ("Teacher, you forgot to...")
4. the talkers
5. the sneaky ones
6. the helpers
7. the not-performing-to-potentials
8. the needy ones
9. the polite ("Have a nice weekend, Teacher.")
10. the cheeky (Me: "Why didn't you do your homework?" Child: **shrug**)
11. the wallflowers
12. the tardy
13. the tattlers ("So-and-So was talking when he was benched...")
14. the minimalists ("How many lines is half a page?")
15. the over-achievers ("Is it OK if I do the back too?")
16. the whiners
17. the clock-watchers ("When's recess?" "When's lunch?" When do we go home?")

In other words: a pretty normal class. But, overall, they are nice kids. And now that I'm in my 13th year of teaching I can feel myself being calmer and drawing more from past experiences with other kids with similar issues. There is definitely something to be said for experience.

That being said, this 3-day weekend came JUST IN TIME. Freedom!

2 days down, 178 to go...

If that sounds dreary, it isn't my intention. We had a very good day today. The weather seemed a tiny bit cooler and the A/C worked almost all day. The kids tried harder to behave once they saw that acting out is pretty futile in my class.

Since I was worried that we would have another very hot afternoon, I decided to work on math in the morning. We had a good lesson on place value and they used their math journals for notes for the first time. By the end of the lesson they were doing very well.

Recess and lunchtime play were indoors again because of the air quality. The nearest, biggest fire is only about 25% contained. We may be doing this indoor play thing for up to 2 weeks. Yikes. I hope we don't get cabin fever!

I also found out that this is my year for a formal lesson observation. Drag. It's not a big deal except that I don't want to! I'm also grade level rep for the first time in my career. It is something I've always managed to avoid since I've been the newby to different grades. But, alas, this is my turn. It's no biggie and it gets me out of signing up for a long-term committee.

This afternoon I finally took some individual pictures of the kids--all 33 of them. And yes, the room feels very full of little bodies! They really showed more effort today. I like this group. And here they are. Introducing Room 30's 4th grade class of 2009-2010...

First Day of School...

...is done! I survived.

There were 33 kids on my list and, miraculously, all 33 appeared today. Gosh, they seem so young! My kids from last year were practically 6th graders when I said goodbye to them in June and this group just came out of 3rd grade.

We spent a lot of time on the rules and established how the class is run. Most of the kids did really great. There were 2 boys that ended up not getting stars on the behavior chart, but I've had worse! Much worse. They'll shape up.

The really hard part was that, with the horrible air quality (the sky has been a reddish gray all day today) we had to change our recess and lunch schedule. The district decided to have us use the rainy day schedule. Doing this gives the teachers hardly any breaks. Recess was early and supervised in the room by a yard duty aide. I left for a very brief time, certainly not as long as the normal length of our break. Lunch was also early and only 30 minutes instead of 45. The kids could only play in the room, so we went into my closet of games, puzzles and blocks that is normally used on a Friday afternoon or a rainy day. The kids had a great time, but we were very cooped up. And with 33 little bodies and the hot weather, it was a little difficult.

But that is what being a teacher is like a lot of the times. No matter how much you plan and prepare, there are always things that throw a wrench into the works. By the afternoon we were so hot--the A/C was just blowing room temperature air--that I didn't even give them a math lesson today (on the stipulation that we will definitely do one tomorrow.) Instead we saw part of a film on bugs. But we got through some language arts and some writing this morning, which was good.

Overall, I have a good feeling about this year. I hope it lasts! And I REALLY, REALLY MISS COOL WEATHER.

Here are some pictures of the kids during their indoor play. Lotsa kids!