The Happiness Project - Week 25

When I was 5 months pregnant with Ethan,

a dear mate of mine

told me to visit Babycenter.com.

She said when she was pregnant, 

she loved the site.

Asides from the great information she got

she went to the discussion boards.

There are boards for every month you are due.

So I joined the July 2006 board. 

I met a great bunch of women.

I got some great advice.

From the July board,

sub-groups were formed.

These were based on when you were due.

Since I was due July 8th,

I joined the 

Watermelon Seeds

We were all due within the first week

of July.

From Babycenter,

we moved to Facebook.

There isn't as many of us anymore.

We're a smaller group

but a tight group.

Some of these women 

are my best friends,

and I've never met

any of them.

We have a profound friendship.

This week,

Ethan and I got a care package

from one of the Seeds.

Ethan loves receiving mail.

I love being a Seed.

Happiness is receiving some watermelon goodies

from a watermelon mate.

The College Fund

Up until January,

Zambia did not have any coins.

All the money was paper bills.

Then, in January,

the kwacha was rebased

and the ngwee was added.

The ngwee is the coins.

They aren't worth a whole lot,

and after a year and a half of only bills,

you get used to that

and don't want to be carrying around

a pocketful of change.

So we grabbed a large jar

and we place all our coins into it.

We lovingly call it

Ethan's College Fund.

Every once in awhile,

Ethan counts his money

(he is up to 121 kwacha and 40 ngwee -

roughly $25)

and wants to know if he has enough for college.

Nope!

Not even close!

Well...lately, 

Ethan has been obsessed with the 

Volkswagon Beetle.

The other day,

he asked Scott if

when he gets his driver's license,

would Scott please buy him a Beetle.

Of course,

Scott told him to buy his own.

"With my college fund money?"

Ethan wondered.

"Well then you'll need to choose between

college or a car"

replied Scott.

Without even a moments hesitation,

Ethan jumped up:

"I'm getting a car!!!!"

Well there goes our hopes for college!!!!

The Happiness Project- Week 24

This weekend

became a yes weekend

without even trying.

Saturday afternoon, 

Scott and I decided to take Ethan to the cinema.

We went out for burgers for lunch

(Ethan's choice)

then went to see Turbo. 

Ethan

(and us)

had a great time.

Then Sunday,

we headed out for breakfast.

And some shopping.

And while we were out,

we figured,

why not?

We took Ethan to see Planes. 

It was a fun-filled weekend

of movies.

Happiness is going to the cinema.

Guilty Pleasures - Laurell K. Hamilton

This book has been on my TBR list
for some time now.
I've only just gotten around to it.

Meet Anita Blake.
She's a PI,
vampire hunter and
animator.
This means she can rise the dead.
Yes, zombies.

Anita lives in a world
where vampires are not a myth
and neither are zombies.

In this first
of a series,
Anita is "hired" by the Queen
to find out who has been killing her vampires.

She is not a nice Queen.
She does everything vampirely possible
to torture Anita.
(Reminds me a little of Anne Rice's vampires)

Now Anita must try to save her friend,
decide who to trust,
bring zombies to life,
kill a few vampires
all while trying to find
a killer.

Gotta love that!!!!

The Happiness Project - Week 23

We are back to school.

Summer is officially over.

And my little baby has begun the second grade.

I'm still shocked.

I've taughted the second grade for the last 2 years. 

I never thought the day

my child would be the same age as my students

would ever come.

I cannot even bear to think

that next year,

he will be older than the students I teach.

As a second grader,

Ethan got dressed all on his own.

And fought when was asked to change

since he did not match.

Mind you,

he still didn't match,

very well.

Ethan had a fabulous day.

He even wants to blog about it.

(so be sure to check his blog

at some other time ;) )

Happiness is the first day of a new school year.

Back to School

Twas the night before school started,
When all through the town,
The parents were cheering.
It was a riotous sound!
By eight, kids were washed
And tucked into bed...
When memories of homework...filled them with dread!

New pencils, new folders, new notebooks, too!
New teachers, new friends...their anxiety grew!
The parents just giggled when they learned of this fright
And shouted upstairs-...
GO TO BED-IT'S A SCHOOL NIGHT!

I found this online.
Tomorrow school starts.
Ethan is off to Grade 2.
Is he ready?
Am I ready?
I'll let you know. 

The Happiness Project - Week 22

Vacation has come to an end.

Boo!

But Ethan and I are home again.

Yay!

We're very happy to be home,

we've missed Scott.

And Ethan's missed Butch.

Happiness is being back home.

Midnight Frost - Jennifer Estep

When there's a series I enjoy,

I tend to pre-order the next book

on my Kindle.

It's like Christmas Day.

You forget about it.

Then one day, 

open your email to read that the book your preordered

has been delivered to your Kindle.

Christmas!

A book!

And that's just what happened this week.

I opened my Kindle to find a new book

waiting to be read.

Midnight Frost

is the fifth book in the 

Mythos Academy series.

Gwen has survived the latest Reaper's attack.

Logan, 

feeling guilty, 

has left her.

Her days are the same,

school, grandma, library.

One day,

while working at the library,

she catches a Reaper poisoning her water bottle.

And while she does not drink it,

Nickamedes does.

Now Gwen and her friends

must find the plant that will be the antidote.

Without Logan by her side,

Gwen is tougher.

She's able to stand on her own.

I loved that.

And,

we learnt more about Gwen's family.

She meets a cousin she never knew she had,

and learns about her father.

But Loki shall rise.

And we have to wait till spring to find out

what's in store for Gwen and her mates.

Writer's Workshop - Nine and Nine

Our vacation has come to an end.

Ethan and I head back to Zambia

tomorrow.

So I thought,

for today's MamaKat's prompt

I'd share pieces of our vacation. 

9 pictures. 9 words.

niece

grandma

mounties

surprise

love

spiderman

fishing

pool

wet