Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Anna's 9th Birthday Celebration

Anna has been saying all year that she wanted a birthday party on the beach.  Her birthday hit the Friday after the STAAR.  Unfortunately, we could not leave Friday or Saturday because I had the UIL Academic Regional Meet in Corpus on Saturday.  I am the High School UIL Coordinator and I could not get out of this.  So Anna did travel with me and the student that qualified for Regionals.  This college was on the beach and Anna and I thought that was really amazing. 

We had the following Monday off so we headed to the beach on Sunday and got to the Hotel about 2.  What Anna did not know was we had a room with a view of the bay.  I had originally planned to have her party right on the beach but our room had a balcony with table and chairs and she decided that was perfect.  So I set it up for her and we had her party.  Then Andrew and Anna went swimming and body surfing.  We walked to Joe's Crab shack and had Anna's Birthday dinner.  Afterwards, we walked back to our hotel and Alan watched the Spurs and Andrew was beat and went to bed.  Anna I sat out on the balcony for a while and then she wanted me to take her down on the beach and take a walk.  I took her down for a walk on the beach and enjoyed the breeze, waves and conversation with my daughter.  Once we got back to the room, I went right back on the balcony and Anna went to bed. 

I will say it was not my favorite beach in this area at all, but the room with the view was really special.  Before we headed home the next morning, we stopped at the Selena memorial and Anna got her picture made.  We all had a great time and the look on her face during this time was priceless.













Staar Wars Episode II

April 21 and 22 was STAAR Assessment for both Andrew and Anna.  This is Anna's first year for this and Andrew's second.  On the night before any big exam, test, or standardized assessment, I prepare a meal with some kind of seafood because it is suppose to be great brain food.  The morning of I prepared a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit and an It Works! smoothie.  Andrew ordered a chocolate one and Anna wanted Strawberry. 

I pulled out the table linens, candle light, lavender oil, played soft music and dimmed the dinning room lights to keep them calm.  Alan said that I spoil them.  I say, if they have to go through this ridiculous assessment, then we have got to make at least part of it fun and give them something to look forward to.