Beetles Have Feelings Too

The Eagle

Mrs. Hawk
The Bob Cat Hissed at Us!

The kids were so proud to keep the shirts secret!

We went camping in Arrowhead with our friends The Byuns and the Woods. What a fun trip! I've said it before, but one of my favorite things about Murrieta is that we can be at the beach in an hour, the mountains in a hour, Disneyland in an hour, the desert in an hour...the list goes on.

On our camping trip we were able to visit a wildlife refuge. This organization takes in animals who have been "adopted" by people (yes, people think they can adopt baby bears!) injured, found, etc. and they rehabilitate them. We saw owls, coyotes, bears, eagles, hawks, bobcats, mule deer...all kinds of animals native to the San Bernardino mountains. They were doing an educational tour through a UCLA-run summer camp, and we got in with the tour. It was very interesting. I plan to send Emma there for an internship when she gets a bit older. Hee hee hee.

Back to our camping trip: We road our bikes, told stories by the campfire, visited a lake with a waterslide, went out for pizza (yes...while we were camping...but Arrowhead Village is so CUTE!) and ate really, really well. (Don't we always?)

The highlight of the trip was the big "Beatles Have Feelings Too" reveal. The background: Years ago we camped with the same two families in Big Bear. The campground we were staying in was being bombarded with these giant, whiskery, aggressive beetles. They would dive-bomb our food, our hair, our drinks, and our kids. Finally, we'd had enough, and when a beetle landed nearby, one of our friends speared it with a wire hanger used for roasting marshmallows. He then held the flailing beetle over the fire as it crackled and squirmed. Our other friend, Chistine, who is more earth friendly on a bad day than me on my best day, was irrate! "Beetles have feelings too!" she cried, and stormed off.

Our goal ever since is to make "Beetles Have Feelings Too" shirts to surprise Christine on our next camping adventure. We unveiled the shirts at our pizza outing; even Christine's 9 month old daughter Kathleen got a shirt. All of the kids AND the adults proudly uncovered our shirts when Christine was inside the restaurant. We were all cracking up about our silly inside joke when she came out, but we tried to keep straight faced. It took her just a minute to notice, and then like a good sport she went inside and put her shirt on too. Then we all went for ice cream wearing our crazy shirts like we were in some strange Beetle Lover's Club or something. :)

Husband Survey

Got these questions from someone's bulletin on MySpace. Of course, I had to blog them because my answers are so dang long. :)

1. How did you meet your husband and how old were you?
I was 16 and he was 17. His mom moved to Bishop and he was new at my school. He says he saw me first semester and I didn't notice him. I don't remember. Second semester our classes changed and I sat across from and one desk behind him in history. I had a giant crush on him immediately.
2. Was it love at first sight? Apparently not, since I didn't notice him for an entire semester. It was, however, at major crush status by second semester.

Everyone knows the rest of the story. He moved away, and we lost touch for almost four years. He "found" me by calling my house in Bishop and getting my # from my sister- and the best part was that I had just moved from the Central Coast to Southern California and was living about 3 miles from his house.
3.How did you know you were supposed to marry him?I just KNEW. I called Danielle after our first date (after he "found" me) and said "I'm going to marry this boy!"
4. What was the first date like?In high school, it was me trying to teach him to drive in my old Subaru, eating quesadillas with him at his house at lunch (open campus) and getting in trouble for being out past curfew to hang out with him.

Our first REAL date was after he'd "found" me. He came to my cousin's house (where I was staying until I found a place with my roomate) and I was SO nervous. My cousin was trying to get me to wear her shoes instead of my Doc Martins. I just remember being horrified because the shoes she wanted me to wear had BOWS on them. I wanted to wear my tights and my skirt and my big ugly boots. He picked me up and we went to dinner and then to play pool. He kept remembering things from high school (my favorite song, stuff I used to say) and I was amazed that we had both kept each other in our thoughts after so many years. Of course I had yet to tell him that I had searched for him and written poems about him...too stalkerish. :) hee hee
5. Where did your first kiss take place? In high school on the couch in my living room.
6. Dating... local or long distance? Local, but years of long distance romanticizing. :)
7. Do you know everything there is to know about your husband? Yikes- I think so. His patience still surprises me (like when I recently crushed my truck's bumper by backing into our trailer...I swear, nothing rattles him.) 8. Were your parents supportive of you when you started dating?In high school, NO. He was sort of a bad kid back then....They only met him once when he bussed our table at Firehouse Grill
.
Later on, they really liked him. I think they were relieved that I found someone who was so patient and kind and who would put up with my shenanigans.
9. OK...erasing this question. Too personal! :)

10.How long was it till you got engaged after you started dating?
Let's see...

• We met in January of 1989 (if you count my version of the story- second semester during our junior year of high school.)
• 
  We kissed on the couch (hee hee) in April.
• 
  He moved away in June (1989) and we didn't see each other or talk again until July 14th, 1993 (15 years ago.)
• 
  We got engaged in June of 1994. :) As romantic as our "lost soul mate" story is, our engagement story was basically me telling him he needed to set a date and buy a ring or that was it. I don't know why I was in such a hurry, but I wanted a commitment from that boy! (Maybe because my sister was going to get married and I was older and thought I would do all of that first...)

11. Long or short engagement? Short. We were engaged in June of 1994 and married on January 14th, 1995.
12. Did you write your own vows? No.
13. What was one of the things that attracted you to your husband? In high school it was probably that rebellious side to him. He was shy with a bad streak. As a 16 year old girl, that fascinated me.
14. Do you believe he is your soulmate? Yes!
15. Are you happy that you married him? Duh...yes!

Facts:
1.Place your husband was born and date? This seems a little too "steal your credit" sort of a question.
2.Favorite movie? He rarely watches movies. He falls asleep. He likes The Outsiders, Stand By Me, and The Sandlot.
3.Occupation? Sales/Garden and Awesome Daddy
4. What is one of his favorite things to do on the weekends? Four Wheel Drive or Body Board.
5. What was his first thought of you when you first met? I just asked him and he is blundering at answering this question. :) He said, "All I know is that I saw you, I liked you, and now we're married."
I told him he failed that question. Now he's making stuff up about his "life flashing before his eyes" and moonlit walks on the beach.

Geez. :)
6.Does he snore at night while sleeping? Definitely and randomly, yes.
7. What about farting in his sleep? Ewwww....
8. If you could go one place with him anywhere in the world where would that be? I would love to tour the United States with him and camp along the way.
9.Once again, I deleted this ? due to inappropriate content for the eyes of nieces and former students.
10. Is he the best thing that ever happend to you? I feel like God giving me this man and my beautiful daughers (AND a bonus son) is the best and most wonderful gift.

Disneyland Rocks (Title By Grace)

By Ian, Emma, and Grace

Us on Space Mountain- Check Out Ian's Hair and Emma and Grace's Serious Faces

The Hippo at the Jungle Cruise

Pluto's Bed

Ariel Was Way Up High!

Dude...Feed Us!

Yum...We Ate at the Rainforest Cafe

Mickey's Garden

Mickey's House

Speed Racer

The Parade...Getting sorta tired...

Trying on Silly Stuff

Where's Grace?

The Gas in ToonTown is Better than Regular Gas and Probably Less $$$$

Indiana Jones Talked to Our Mama



Grace: First when we got to Disneyland...

Ian: When we parked in Disneyland's parking, right next to us there was people, and I said that the tram was FUN, and the strange boy next to us was trying to make fun of me, like, "Fun? Yes! Fun! Very fun!" and we thought it was a little weird. The rest of the day, we were like, "FUN! FUN!" in weird voices.

Grace: I'm not finished! First when we got to Disneyland we went on Space Mountain and it was really fun and Splash Mountain was my favorite. Since Matt was in the front, he got soaked! I liked when we went to where Micky Mouse lives because we got to go in Minnie and Mickey's house. Mickey's house was big. We got to go in his garden and we relaxed on his dog bed. It was fun. At Minnie's house, the refrigerator opened and you could see the dishwasher where you could see the dishes getting washed and an oven where you could see a cake getting baked. In Mickey's house there was a washing machine and we got to see the clothes getting washed. EMMA, YOUR TURN!

Emma: We went on Space Mountain twice, Splash Mountain twice, Matterhorn twice, and Thunder Mountain once. We watched the parade. We saw Cinderella and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. We saw the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland and we saw two cards that had hearts on them. We saw two guys with stilts. We saw Ariel and we saw the crab from Ariel. We went on a couple of trains. We went on Indiana Jones, Roger Rabbit, and Pirates of the Caribbean. We went on Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear. We went on the Haunted House and it was very, very, very fun!

Ian: My favorite ride was Space Mountain. It was our last day with Matt. We had FUN.


Grace: We saw the parade and when we saw Ariel, Ariel was way up on a thing. We saw Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella and Belle.

Emma: I had a lot of fun, but I got ready to go home because I was a little bit tired but I wanted to stay because I wanted to go on more rides but I would get too tired. I wanted to stay so bad that I can spend the night there.


We were the tiredest kids in the world after being at Disneyland for 14 hours and riding EVERYTHING!

Marriage Survey

Tonight I interviewed Ian, Grace, and Emma with a survey I got from online that asked kids questions about marriage. The answers the three cousins gave were so funny...I had to post them.

Here goes. (I wrote down exactly what they said...)

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY?
(1) You first like hang out with them a little bit and like see how they are. If you know if you like them or not then you'll know. And then you'll get married and then you'll live happily ever after.
- Ian
(2) You figure out if they're nice or not and if you like them and how they are and if they're going to change on you or anything. And then you get married.
- Grace
3) I'm not doing it.
- Emma
WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?
(1) I'm not doing it.
- Emma

(2) Ummm (giggles)....about 20 something.
- Grace,

3) Uh, like 28, 29, or 30.
- Ian

HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?
1) Ummmm, they're hanging out face to face.
- Grace

2) They're holding hands and kissing.
-Ian
3) They have rings.
- Emma
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?
(1) Uh....cuz we're all family.
- Emma
2) Ummm, they're both light sleepers. When you touch them and they're sleeping they wake up. They both brush their teeth every morning. They both share the same bed. Do all people do that when they get married?
-Grace
3) Uh, they both are funny and cute and nice and they treat me good.
--Ian
WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?
(1) They share their food and they talk about theirselves
- Ian
(2) They get their food with a fork and shove it in the other person's mouth. And then they eat dessert and then after that they drive back and talk about how they like each other. And that's about it.
- Grace
3) They would share food.
-Emma
WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR?
(1) I would just like start over. Like, "No no no, wait!"
-Ian
2) Umm, I would just say, "No, stop talking! I don't like you anymore! Please...go away!"
Grace
3) I would do nothing. Just walk away.
Emma
WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?
(1) Uh, right now. (Plants one on her mom.)
- Emma
(2) When you're the age. About when you start dating. (Ian inserts..."Well....I'm dating, so I'm in luck.")
- Grace
(3) When you really like them and they like you back. But only on the cheek or something. Maybe on the forehead. It's not OK until teenager age to kiss on the lips.

- Ian
IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?
(1) I'm not doing it.
- Emma
2) Married, so you could get babies. And you get an anniversary day!
-Grace
3) Married, because you have someone to spend time with you when you're all lonely.
-Ian
HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?
(1) You would have no babies! Sweet little babies! And you'd never have an anniversary day. That stuff would not get invented if people don't get married. Life couldn't run and get more people if you didn't have getting married! That's how it goes!
- Grace
2) It would be different because that you would have no one to enjoy your life with and you wouldn't even be there!

-Ian
3) I'm not sure.
-Emma

HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?
(1) You have to be kind to that person always and you have to respect what they say and you have to propose nicely and carry them all the way to the limo.
- Ian
2) Silence.
-Emma
3) You would be with someone when they wanted to, and when you had work and they wanted to be with you really bad...CHANGE YOUR SCHEDULE. Always love them and do stuff what they want. And that's about it!

-Grace

The Great Meatball Caper and the Missing Tooth

Two plates of meatballs mysteriously disappeared from the table after dinner last night. I had asked Emma and Grace to please rinse their plates and put them into the dishwasher when they were through eating. The girls didn't like their meatballs, so they left the table (and their meatballs) and ran back to play with cousin Ian.

So.....

Who ate the meatballs?

I checked (and photographed) each dog.

Marty did not eat the meatballs.

Sophie did not eat the meatballs.

Acer did not eat the meatballs.

Guess who ate the meatballs!

Poor, sad, greedy little grub pig Olivia ate ALL of the meatballs. I haven't seen a pug in a more pained and depressed state since Sophie at all of my Christmas chocolate and wound up at the emergency vet. ($$$$) Olivia, who usually follows us from room to room, sulked lethargically under Emma's desk and looked like she wanted to DIE. She threw up numerous times, and we gave her some water which she barely had the energy to drink! She rested her little chin on the water bowl. Later, we lost Olivia again and found her under Grace's bed; she was overcome with misery.

Emma was devastated that she allowed one of her animal friends to suffer, and she also knew I was very upset at the whole thing. She wrote me the sweetest note (To "MoMo"- for some reason she always spells "Mama" wrong) about how sorry she was and how she hoped I would get "unmad" at her.

As if missing meatballs didn't provide enough drama, Miss Gracie lost one of her bottom teeth and then dropped it while playing with it on her bed. The tooth was nowhere to be found! Grace was very concerned that the tooth fairy would not leave her $$$$ if she didn't have the tooth, so she wrote the toothfairy a very concerned letter. :) (Click on either of the girls' letters to make it bigger so that you can read it.)

What can I say? Even though it's summer and we should be relaxed and carefree, there is NEVER a dull moment around here.

A Cousin and Brother Summer

The highlight of our summer so far was Matthew's arrival. My stepson and his family moved to Ohio two years ago, and needless to say, we were long overdue for a visit. The girls were esctatic to see their brother, and they haven't stopped following him around, hanging from his arms, hugging him, asking him questions, and making him watch them dance/read/sing/play/eat/etc.

Matthew is an absolute joy. He has grown up a lot, likes to talk and tell stories, and is very sweet to his sisters and cousins who are competing for his attention. It's going to be very difficult to send him home in a couple of weeks!

We're trying to squeeze as much California fun in as we can before Matthew leaves. We spent Monday-Friday camping right on the beach in Carlsbad. Danielle's family, my family, and my mom all had trailers there, and we had ALL the cousins.

The ages:

Emma and Grace 7, Ian 10, Kelly 11, Megan 13, Harley 15, Matt 17

They were all so adorable. We body boarded all week, roasted smores and brown bears by the campfire, played silly games, rode bikes, ate LOTS of junk and candy, observed the dead sea life that washed up (one sea lion that was torn up and one giant sea turtle with everything intact but the head, which was a skull.) We saw dolphins playing in the waves right in front of us, and used bottles and bottles of sunscreen (and got burned anyway!) The week went by too fast.

Tomorrow, Jeff is taking Matt and Harley to the Van's Warped Tour in Ventura for Matt's graduation present. Matt has a meet and greet with Angels and Airwaves. :) He's very excited. He'll stay the night with Harley in Santa Clarita, and then his Bishop Grandparents (Jeff's mom and Tom) will pick up Harley, Matt, and Kelly for a week in Bishop. They'll camp in June Lake for a couple of the days they're there.

He'll return to Harley's, then back here, then to San Diego to visit his old high school friends, then back here for a couple of days, and then on the plane home. I know I'm going to have two devasted little girls when their big brother leaves. I wish so much that a country didn't divide us! I know Matt's mom is missing him from her end as well. It must be both wonderful AND difficult to have so many people love you so much! Jeff is in 7th Heaven with all of his kids, and I know he's very proud of what a sweet young man Matthew has become (quite unlike the 15 year old Matt from two years ago...) :)

OK...I'm off to make an assembly line of sandwiches. I have NO IDEA how people feed 5 kids. (Plus tonight I'll have two more cousins added to the mix when Megan and Ian come over.) I can't believe how much food we've gone through in just a week! I adore every crazy second of it, though. I think I'm meant for a house full of cousins.

Celebration of Life- PMS

My dad sent the following email and it just CRACKED ME UP. I've added pictures of PMS Kitty, and I am not changing Dad's spelling or grammar.
(By the way, we named the kitty PMS when she transformed from a normal cat to a bipolar attack kitty who will attack at any random moment.)


Dad's Email:

Hi everybody, Well if you didn't here by now our 20 plus year old cat died! So I've decided we should have a celebration of life at the grave site soon. Well maybe everyone should just toast her in your own way privately. She was the only animal I brought home from the famous UTC pet store. Antoinette told me one cold day in February 1988 to bring home a cute little "Sweet Kitty"! Well I thought I did, until she ate my hand one day, hence the name PMS. You could pet, stroke and scratch, listen to her purr then from nowhere she would attack your hand, face, arm in fact she would bite . If you walked to close to her enclosed bed a paw would find you and draw blood sometimes. Yes even guests were warned about getting to close. People would tell me "what the %^*#@ that damn cat just bit me"! The Pugs stayed their distance and even Otties Dalmatian would walk around her. Before her first heat we had her fixed but she went through a false pregnancy and her belly dropped and never returned up. So when she walked she waddled, hence another name "Alien kitty". I once painted a car in my shop in Bishop and forgot she lived in there , when I was finished she meowed and staggered out side totally intoxicated. Her last days she became deaf and would scream meow at us. Well the garage is now clean of all the hair, no more missed cat box stories, the non stop meowing has stopped and we can now stop buying band aids. Funny though I still look for her when I go out to the garage. She was a good pet, I know where's the Kleenex? Later Neil

My Favorite Part of Today

I wasn't feeling well and didn't do anything monumental today (always disappointing on a three- day weekend) BUT I did have some splendid moments....

Emma reading "Gallop, Oh Gallop"- a poem about horses, out loud. She read it so beautifully. I can't believe how well that child reads aloud!

Grace telling me that Grandma Otti said that if she didn't clean her ears, cabbage would grow out of them. Grace was quite concerned about this.

Talking to Matt on the phone. When I was asking him about graduation gifts, my (almost) 18-year-old stepson said, "Dawn, I make 200.00 a week. I buy myself whatever I want." I wish I were in a place in life when I thought 200.00 a week was a surplus!

Finishing cleaning my house. I HATE doing it, but when I am done, and the house is really clean, it feels SO good. I bribed the girls to help me (beyond normal chores)...I had those girls vacuuming under couch cushions and polishing base boards. They rocked!

Going to Trader Joes. MAN I love that store. My favorite purchases- Vanana Yorgurt (the perfect mixture of vanilla and banana), Emergencee (Dana's recommendation to help me feel better), Lemon Curd (I adore it!) and organic raspberries. Yum.

Now...it's past ten and I'm going to put on my pajamas and watch a movie or READ in bed. I know it's late, but my OTHER favorite part of today is that there is NO SCHOOL tomorrow and the gals and I are sleeping in.

School: Projects and Parties

Ian and his Immigrant Report

Me, Mary, and Nicole

Mary and Jeff (top)

Katherine and Dana's baby, Blake

Emma, Josie, Grace, Mikail, Sophie, and Jade


Now that it's May, school is winding down for everyone.

One of my great joys this year has been tutoring my nephew, Ian. In exchange for Grace's dance lessons, I take Ian in the afternoons and we work on homework. He's been working really hard, and his progress has been significant! (I call my truck the "tutor bus" because after school I have Ian, Emma, and Grace, along with their backpacks, lunch bags, and projects.) Recently, Ian was assigned an "Immigrant Project;" he had to research one of his relatives and the way he or she came to the United States.

Ian and I truly bonded over our research of Adomas Zakarouski, Ian's great, great grandfather (my great grandfather.) At just sixteen, Adomas boarded a tramp steamer in Lithuania and travelled to Ellis Island. Once in America, he moved to Illinois, where he met his wife (Great, Great Grandma) and they started a sewing business. When Adomas died, he left Great Grandma with no money; she moved into a Polish neighborhood and in order to fit in, she changed her name to Zakarski, the Polish form of Zakarouski. Every time she moved to a new neighborhood, she changed her name.

Adomas's son was my grandfather, Stanley Raymond Zakar. "Grandpa Ray" as we called him, grew up and joined the Navy, and his officers told him to shorten his name because Zakarouski was too difficult to pronounce. He shortened it to Zakar, which is my dad's last name and my maiden name.

Ian made the most rockin' immigrant project board known to man! We are both very proud of it. We added maps, pictures, and his report, and the entire board's colors were those of the Lithuanian flag. We felt pretty crafty and clever when we were finished!

The best part of tutoring Ian was recently when my sister said that when he received his progress report (which was very, very good) he couldn't wait to show me. :) He's such a punkin pie I tell ya!

Other school news: Our English department had a party/bbq and all of us ate (a lot) while the kids played. I work with a wonderful group of friends, and I love watching our kids grow up together.

School's almost out and I can't wait for summer break to begin, but I must say that parties and projects have been rather enjoyable this year. :)

Glamour Cowgirl and Dance Class Dropout

I love this picture. It is a perfect photographic display of my daughters' personalities.

Emma is in a sensible tank top and blue jeans; we're about to go visit the pony with our friend Kylie (on the right) and Emma wants to be prepared for some real horse interaction. She put on the hat to humor the other girls, but she'll take it off once we get to the ranch so she can wear her helmet.

Grace is all glammed up to go riding, although once we get to the ranch, she will not ride at all. She'll run around showing Kylie all of the things to do: swing on the swingset, find the pig in the hay stack, visit the new baby horse, jump on the trampoline....but she won't ride. Grace is wearing her pink cowgirl hat (with the tiara), her pink Roxy capri pants (not sensible to ride in) and horse socks. Grace is NOT wearing boots because she loaned them to Kylie so Kylie could be a "real cowgirl" like Grace. :)

Miss Emma Claire rides Pony Gypsi like a little pro. She gallops around the arena with her buns sticking to that saddle like peanut butter. When (and if) Grace gets on the pony, the pony just stands there. Gypsi is smart enough to know that Grace has NO IDEA how to control her, so Gypsi just stays put, or tries to squeeze her head under the arena fence to eat grass.

Now dance class...dance class is another story.

Emma decided NOT to take Hip Hop because Hannah Montana bugs her.

Grace enrolled in two Hip Hop classes, as well as ballet and tap. She dances four afternoons a week.

Emma asked Auntie if she could NOT wear her hair in a bun and NOT wear pink. Auntie said those were the rules. Emma complied, and didn't complain, but didn't look thrilled.

Grace has 900 dance outfit combinations- jazz pants, footless tights, velvet ballet leotards, sparkle skirts. Some are hand-me-downs, some are Emma's old stuff, and some are Grace's. She doesn't care, as long as she can throw together a new ensemble for each class.

Grace is truly a talented dancer and she has the willowy body of a ballerina. She is a total dancin' kiss-up, raising her hand to answer Auntie's questions, and folding her hands quietly while Auntie helps the other students.

Emma's short tenure as a ballerina consisted of messing around in the back of the class, stomping across the dance floor, and zoning out. Finally one day, she came out of dance class with her face all blotchy and she quit. "I get too tired doing dance. I'd rather ride pony any old day." And that was that.

Emma's ballet slippers are now in Grace's closet, and Grace's pink cowgirl boots are clean and shiny.

Sisters.

Emma and Gracie remind me of my sister Danielle and me. Danielle doesn't read; I adore books. Danielle hates English class at school. I teach English. She dances beautifully; I am unbelievably uncoordinated! Danielle loves to exercise; I have to force myself to go to the gym.

But...I love her to death. Being so different has only brought us closer together. I know Emma and Grace will be just as close, if not closer than we are.