Cinco de Mayo Trivia Night

The Mid Rivers Ethical Society is hosting its first annual trivia night on Cinco de Mayo- Saturday May 5 @ 7 (doors open @ 6:30). I have reserved a table and need about 5 more people to fill it. It's $20 per person and there are door prizes, silent auctions and snacks provided. It is a Mexican theme and has a prize for the best decorated table, so if anyone has any cute ideas please pass them on to me. Also, if anyone/business would like to donate items for the door prizes or silent auctions please let me know ASAP. Also if anyone/business would like to sponsor a round of trivia, it's a $25 tax-deductible donation and you get your business name on the promotional materials and get to put cards/flyers on the tables. Thanks already to Amy at AAA for sponsoring a round! Let me know if anyone wants to go, I'm sure it will be a great time!

Alena's Rough Weekend

On Saturday Alena was suppose to be napping when all of a sudden I heard a thud. I ran back to the boys' room and retrieved my now screaming daughter who had a big red mark, right in the middle of her forehead. I think she probably fell trying to climb up to the top bunk, but no one really knows. Anyway, as the evening went on I noticed her right eye wasn't as open as the left one. It wasn't red and she was acting fine, but I called mom just to be on the safe side.
The next morning Alena's eye still wasn't open as much as the other eye, it looked a little swollen, but still wasn't red or bruised. She played outside all day long while Brian cut the grass. And as if she wasn't suffering enough, she ended up with a little sunburn on her arms.
The next morning (Monday) Alena woke up with a big black eye! I don't know why it took two days to appear, but she looks pretty rough with her black eye, red mark on her forehead, and sunburned arms. I have a feeling it is going to be a very rough summer!

Easter 2007

Easter 2007 was quite cold, but we made the best of it anyway. We started the day with a visit from Kenny to give the kids their Easter cards and then headed off to "church" (see ethical society post). Alex lost a tooth in Sunday school and Alena skinned both of her knees as we were walking in, so I was a little concerned about how the rest of the day was going to go. After church we went to my mom's, ate some great food and watched the baseball game. The crowd at her house was smaller than usual, and mine were the only kids this year, but it was nice to visit with everyone who was there.
After mom's we headed to Brenda's and the kids hunted eggs in their winter coats. They all had a good time finding all 75 eggs we had hidden throughout the yard. After the hunt, Alex and Brady wanted to hide eggs for me and Brian to find. So they hid 30 eggs and Brian and I raced to see who could end up with the most. When we stopped to count, I had 15 and he had 14, which meant there was still one egg to be found. Brian was on a mission since if he found it we would be tied, but if I did I would "win". We probably looked for that one lost egg for another 10 minutes, but in the end I was victorious. It was really fun being a kid again for awhile, I think we have to make it an Easter tradition.

Alena's 2nd Birthday Party

Alena's 2nd birthday party was a success. The weather was great! It was 80 degrees and everyone hung out outside and played in the yard. She had a Care Bears theme and got lots of great stuff, including a new baby doll which didn't hardly leave her side the rest of the day. She even took it out to play on the swing set! Everyone seemed to have a good time and Alena is now officially a toddler. Let the terrible two's begin!

Mid Rivers Ethical Society

Since February, the boys and I have been attending "church" every Sunday. I know what you are thinking-- Rachel is not religious and fears organized religion. All this is true, but we have been attending services at the Mid Rivers Ethical Society, which is not really a church but is a nonprofit organization that has a lecture/service for the adults and a Sunday school for the children. The Ethical Society does not follow any particular religion, their mission statement is "to bring out the best in others and thereby in ourselves." The Sunday school's core values are:
Ethics is my way.
Every person is important and unique.
Every person deserves to be treated fairly and kindly.
I can learn from everyone.
I am part of this earth; I cherish it and all the life upon it.
I learn from the world around me by using my senses, mind, and feelings.
I am a member of the world community which depends on the cooperation of all people for peace and justice.
I can learn from the past to build for the future.
I am free to question.
I am free to choose what I believe.
I accept responsibility for my choices and actions.
I strive to live my values.
Basically, do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, not because you will be rewarded in some sort of afterlife. The lectures often discuss current events or political causes, other times they are just inspirational stories that make you think. Everyone that goes there are intelligent, professional people (many are teachers) and it is great have an adult conversation at least once a week.
The Society also does community service projects. Last month the Sunday school collected items for the local no-kill animal shelter. They got to deliver all the items in-person and take a tour of the facility to meet the animals they were helping (see pic). All the kids had a great time and the boys actually look forward to going to "church" every week.

I know, I'm a bad blogger

I apologize for being a lousy blogger as of late. I am currently taking 6 different classes at 3 different schools and my homework load has been insane the past couple weeks. The next month is going to kill me, but it will all be worth it when I graduate in June! I have a little bit of a break this week, so I'm going to try to get caught up on some of the posts I have been planning. I will have pics from Alena's b-day party, Easter and maybe even a few others, so stay tuned!