one week down, 8 more to go

The Grandparents treated Langston, Elise and I to a Cirque du Soleil show last night.

Giao stayed home with Kiefer because he's 3 and has the attention span of a, well, 3-year old.

Both Langston and Elise seemed to really enjoy the show. It ended around 10pm, I think, and by the last act both kids were fast asleep. I tried waking Langston up but he said "Mom, my eyes are really heavy." I think they could have shorten the clown acts between each of the main acts but, overall it was a pretty cool show. I haven't seen any of the other Cirque shows so I have nothing to compare this one to.

Ha! Look at Langston's hair! He's been styling his hair into a faux-hawk lately but it's a bit too long now. He needs a haircut really bad but he wants to grow it out. He has what I like to call "crunchy" hair. It's really hard and doesn't move. Just like his dad's. The only hairstyle that really works on him is a short buzz with a fade.

In other news, we've survived our first week of summer vacation! On Tuesday, our first day back home from our little trip, the kids were already whining about being bored and wanting to have playdates. Seriously, is this what I have to look forward to in the next 8 weeks?

I was pretty easy on the kids this week. They watched tv, played video games, and played with friends. I pretty much let them do whatever they wanted. Next week will be different. They will have to work on their workbooks and read, read, read. Langston is currently reading Rick Riordan's new book, The Red Pyramid. He really loved the Percy Jackson series. I'm hoping Elise will finish all of our Magic Tree House books this summer but she doesn't seem to be that interested in them. She's reading a Franny K. Stein book right now. I've let them know that they will have to read in order to enjoy privileges such as tv and video games.

In the next 8 weeks I will:

-enjoy the summer with the kids. take them to the water parks and the aquatics center, visit the library regularly, go on more bike rides, and just have fun.

-organize the kids schoolwork and have them fill in their scrapbooks.

-order photobooks for the year.

-apply for passports for the kids just in case we spontaneously decide to take a trip abroad somewhere.

-finish the backyard. we are so close to being finished. just need to plant a few more bushes and trees and put in the bark and we're done! we're debating if we should kill the grass and make room for more gardening.

-lose 8 pounds. i think i'm down 7-8 pounds since giao and i came back from our 7-night gluttonous cruise in february. more importantly, i feel slimmer and my jeans are fitting better.

-sign up for a half-marathon in the fall. i ran 8 miles today! my first time running more than 5. i figure if i'm running this much, i might as well train for a half-marathon.

-join a yoga studio for bikram yoga. i love yoga but i haven't been doing it as much lately. i'm just really focused on hitting my goal weight. once that happens, i want to incorporate more yoga into my workout regimen.

-have my Canon dSLR repaired or buy a new one. i miss taking pics.

-read, read, read.

-learn to cook like this girl.

-remind giao to play more tennis with langston and elise.

-teach Kiefer the abc's. He can name every dinosaur that ever lived but he still doesn't know all of his letters.

-go camping with friends, enjoy a trip to the central coast for a wedding and a trip to LA/SD. We will have a new nephew to visit in July!

-get rid off all the junk that is piled up in the garage via goodwill/salvation army, ebay, and craigslist.