Hippity Hop

Spring has sprung in the Samour household.  As Easter nears, we await the arrival of E.B. (that's the abbreviation for the Easter Bunny) and isn't he adorable?  Can you believe that E.B. plays the drums too? 

How cute is that?  Just like my little bunny, or rather my little buddy.   If you haven't seen Hop, too bad for you.  It's cute and gets you all sweet on candy, cuddly things, and a drummer's big dreams of Hollywood.  Okay, shameless plug over. 

So we have some very special guests headed our way soon and we have been busy like little easter bunnies trying to get ready.  Rob had the air conditioning units serviced to make sure our snowbirds don't experience a meltdown, and is completing landscape duties so that the curb appeal is up to 6 Meadowview Drive standards.  Sienna and Spenser have even lent a hand by pitching in to build a new patio set.  We know how much our guests enjoy sitting out on the patio in the morning to read the paper and have their coffee.  We don't want to disappoint.  To further the outside ambience, we upgraded the decor.  Drum roll please............

Here is Sienna enjoying the fruits of her labor.  (She's writing war poems for an anthology due in Social Studies.....quite serious stuff)

The sight of this new patio set makes me want a strawberry margarita for some reason!  Tee hee!

Mony was the foreman of this job, since the Deputy State Engineer is so busy overseeing the Valley Freeway Transportation System and hitting the gym to stay svelte.  Building things can be fun, although I can only say that now that the job is done.  In the middle of it, it was frustrating and yes, even involved one structural error and one trip to Home Depot.  Well Grandma, Grandpa, and Tara - hope you like it.

Up, Up, and Away in a Tramway

It's hard to believe that while lying poolside in 80 degree weather, or sweating it out in the bleachers of the BNP Paribas Open, a 10 minute tram ride will take you to a winter wonderland.  Well believe it!  It's just one of the secretive wonders that the Palm Springs area has to offer.  The Palms Springs Aerial Tramway boasts that it is the world's largest rotating tramcar and that as you ascend from 2,643 feet to 8,516 feet through Chino Canyon, the views are spectacular. 

I can't attest to the experience, but Rob and Spenser can.  Here is Buddy as he waited to board the tram.

Here is another vantage point that shows how the tramway is engineered.  I'm sure Spenser is thinking, "I'm going to get on that and go up there?"

Brave and adventurous boy that he is, here is what he got to see on his ride up.  It's not the best picture but keep in mind it was taken with a disposable camera as Mony had the digital camera with her at tennis.

The tram actually rotates as it ascends, I guess to provide a 360 degree view.  Spenser seems to be taking it all in.

Here are the guys atop the mountain. Whew!  They made it!

Can you believe this is what they found at the top?  S - N - O - W !

Well the winter wonderland was Spenser's spectacular spring break playground, so he went to work.  Rob said he spent over an hour trying to break the ice that formed over a stream.  Here is the boy at work.

Yes, I know the picture is landscape when it should be portrait, but no matter what I did I couldn't get it to work.  Darn disposable camera and Walgreen's photo software!  Ughh!  But it's important that you see the before and after shot.  The sideways picture is the 'before.'

Here is the 'after.'

Can you find Spenser? 

Time for some hiking!

Here is Buddy, carrying a tree up the mountain!  Just kidding, he's only hiking, using the tree as a rail.

Don't mean to leave Rob out.  He's there enjoying it all too!

As the pictures portray, you are definitely rewarded by taking the ride up the mountain.  The pristine wilderness offers fun year round, whether you're a summer or winter enthusiast.  From camping to hiking, or snowshoeing to fine-dining, this place has it all.  Maybe next time the girls will make the trip too. 

Spring Break

Spring has sprung here in Arizona and to kick it off we headed to the Palm Springs area to meet up with Papa and Papa Rose to enjoy tennis and casino/resort vacationing.  This time we tried a new hotel casino called Agua Caliente.  It was quite upscale as far as the decor and the quality of the rooms.  Let's start in the bathroom.

Any time there's a flat-screen television in the bathroom, you know it's fancy. Here's Spenser modeling the size of the bathtub.

And Spenser, channeling the 'thinking man.'

Here's another neat feature, tempting goodies in see through jars!  Of course to the Samours, those were just decorations.  Can you see the price of breaking one open?  Yikes!

Here are Papa Rose, Sienna, and Rob lounging poolside. 

Rob and Spenser doing the flex.

After enjoying the hotel amenities, we dined at the nearest Red Robin for dinner, then headed back to the hotel for cocktails and some gaming. 

On Monday Ray and Mony headed to tennis while Rob and Spenser ventured to the Arial Tramway.  Unfortunately Sienna was too sick to go either place, so she and Papa Rose spent the day at the hotel. 

The BNP never disappoints, and this year was no exception.  Although only there one day, I was able to watch a few matches and quite a bit of the pros at practice. 

This is Juan Martin Del Potro.  He won the U.S. Open in 2009.

This is Victoria Azarenka, pretty in pink.

This is Novak Djokovic, currently ranked #3 in the world.

This is Jo Wilfried Tsonga.

This is the man, Roger Federer.

And to top it all off, I also met up with my teammates from Cuesta.  It was a cool reunion.

After fun in the sun in Palm Desert, it was time to head back to Arizona, sans kids!  Sienna and Spenser are now spending the rest of their spring break on the Central Coast.  What lucky kids they are! 

Trophy Time

Spenser's first football season ended and his team came in 3rd place, a great effort for his first time.  All he wanted out of the season was to get a trophy, as he didn't like the feeling of finishing in 4th place in basketball, and missing a trophy by one spot.  YES!  A goal achieved!

So here's one last look at Flag Football Season 1 and Spenser's skills......

 

Here's the team celebrating an overtime win to clinch 3rd place.

Stay tuned, season 2 starts in April.

Teaching is Tough

If you've ever read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton then you may recall Johnny Cade's  reference to things being 'tough' and 'tuff'.  He would describe living on the wrong side of the tracks with abusive or absent parents tough, and Cherry Valance's red convertible stingray as tuff.  If I had to pick one of the two homophones to describe my job, it would have to be the former.  I think in some circles, teaching is tuff or cool, but I'm not sure who would claim to be in those circles.  A teaching job certainly isn't trendy, nor is it highly valued or highly compensated.  So on the tough-tuff spectrum, I would say teaching is tough.  Sure the schedule is great with holidays, weekends, and summers off.  Unfortunately these days, that is the only remaining perk.  Teachers are being asked to do way more with much less. It's hard to motivate kids when you lack the motivation yourself.  One of my strategies to overcome the downsides of teaching (large class sizes, mouthy/spoiled kids, students with ADD/ADHD, negative attitudes, poor effort, increased teacher responsibilities) is to continue to encourage, and to surround myself with things that motivate me and make me happy.  So while in the trenches (my classroom) I immerse myself in things that both encourage my students and make me smile.  Here are some of those things:

I made the Twilight diorama this summer with my figurine collection and created the collaged background from my many magazines devoted to the saga.  This is on a filing cabinet near my desk.  Here's a closer view of the hero and heroine.

Here is a view of my back wall, with cut out standups of Jacob Black and Bella Swan.  The name plates behind are of all my students.  They make cool wallpaper.

Of course I can't forget Edward Cullen, the most famous vampire of all time (in my opinion).

Just so you know, it's not all about Twilight - if you look closer in the tree, you will find Harry Potter characters.  The halls and hallows of Hogwarts must be explored and experienced.  Harry is the headmaster in my classroom, along with his nemesis/protector Severus Snape.

So when the going gets tough, I let characters from books cheer me up.  In the words of Johnny Cade, "I think that's tuff enough."

 

 

Thank You St. Valentine

Who knows the real story behind 'said holiday' Valentine's Day?  I don't, and sadly am not that interested in researching the origin of the day either.  It's not that I don't enjoy the holiday, I just would rather leave it a mystery.  What I know about Valentine's Day is that many of my students carry around heart shaped balloons, teddy bears, and bags of candy that they think that they can eat in class.  Of course, cranky teacher that I can be, the rules don't change on Valentine's Day - even if you share with the teacher. 

The tradition in our family is that Rob buys me roses, a card, candy and treats me to dinner.  So what's not to like about Valentine's Day?  I love chocolate, even though I am not eating much of it these days while being good on weight watchers.  The kids get chocolate too, and I even splurged and bought them a video game.  I know, just what they need, a new video game.  But this is The Michael Jackson Experience!  You can live out your dreams as back up dancer extraordinaire, or even The King of Pop himself.  It is so much fun and gets the whole family up and movin'.  I also baked and decorated muffins instead of purchasing candy. 

Rob made his customary secretive trip to Basha's for the roses and candy for Valentine's Day morning. 

Here's an up close picture of the roses.

Aren't they blindingly beautiful?

You know what else is blindingly beautiful?  MJ's awesomeness!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

D - E - F - E - N - S - E ! !

Since Spenser's first flag football season started our Saturdays have been filled juggling football games and music lessons.  Spenser's team, the Black Hawks, started strong with three wins but then lost the next two.  Spenser is always bummed when the team loses, even if he did something personally contributive, which he normally does.  Whether on offense or defense, he seems to make some big plays that include receptions, interceptions, and touchdowns.  Today the Black Hawks were victorious thanks to Spenser's game winning interception and run back for a touchdown.  Check it out.....

Too bad he was out of the camera shot when he caught the ball, but you can see him zooming toward the end zone and I'm the one screaming "Go Buddy! Go!" in the background.  I will confess I'm no 'tiger mother' and I would rather be doing something else than watching his football games.  It's not because I don't support his athletic endeavors but I find myself highly anxious at athletic events that I have a personal stake in.  I want him to have fun, do well, compete, and learn something from both winning and losing.  What I don't enjoy is the people - the loud, opinionated parents and spectators who coach from the sidelines and think every game is the championship.  Obviously you heard me in the video rooting on my son, but that was the only peep you heard from me.  I was so anonymous that after Spenser made the touchdown one lady said, "Who is number 19, the one that just scored?"  Another gentleman replied, "Oh, that's Spenser, he just got a haircut and he looks three years older."  They didn't even know that his mom was standing right next to them.  Tee hee!  If I was a pushy parent I probably would have spoke up right then and there, bragged a bit that he was my son, and gushed that they noticed his haircut that he had gotten only two days before.  But not me.  I let those comments ride, my anonymity intact.  Shortly thereafter, Spenser ran across the field toward me, wearing the 'MVP' medal that the coach awarded him for the game.  So I guess the jig is up, the mystery solved.  Oh well, that was fun while it lasted.  At least I'm the mom of the MVP.  And speaking of player of the game......here he is!