Dana Daily

The Deer Lakes Spray Park is somewhere I'd been wanting to take the girls for awhile. Friends of mine in other cities would post pictures of their kids enjoying the spray park and it looked liked fun to me. The girls LOVED it. For two hours they played while Sal and I hung out on a blanket with our reading materials. It really was the perfect afternoon. Later on we tried a new ice cream shop located near my church. Sarah swore her chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream tasted like peanut butter and mine didn't have a trace of coffee flavor like it was supposed to, but it was good. We saw a sign for Bairdford Park at the end of the ice cream shop parking lot and decided to check it out. There was a family reunion or something going on, but we decided to play on the playground anyway. Yep. Total crashers, but no one said anything to us and the girls had fun. Today was the type of day summer memories are made of.      

Didn't I just go to Kindergarten yesterday? Wasn't I just wondering about who my roommate would be my freshman year of college? Didn't I just start my first "real" job? I guess not. Kindergarten was 30 years ago. My freshman year of college began 17 years ago, and my roommate was a trainwreck named Cherish. I started my first job in 1999, 13 years ago. My. How time flies. So, here I am, 35 years old. My life looks nothing like I thought it would when I dreamed of being in my 30s. . .it's better!!! While work was hectic, I had a wonderful birthday. My mom spent the night on Thursday so I had help getting everyone out the door on time for school. Sarah was the first one to wish me a happy birthday as she stumbled into the bathroom where I was getting ready for work at 6:30am. Emmy made me a birthday card at daycare and told everyone it was my day. Sal took the three of us out to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings (my choice) and gave me an array of Bat...

Today was Sarah's first day of Kindergarten at St. Ursula's, the same school she went to last year for Ready-K. She and I were both so excited for the first day of school. Of course we took a few pictures at home before heading off to school I promised Mrs. Bridgeman that I would not be this obnoxious all school year, but that I did need to get a few picture of Sarah's first day. As you'll see she was very accommodating.

first tooth lost on August 20

my kindergarten picture Now that my firstborn is days away from her first day of Kindergarten, I've taken some time to remember my first year of school. My Memories: I attended Rocky Grove Elementary on Wiley Ave (the school was torn down a few years ago). My mom walking me to school everyday. My Aunt Judy giving me the butterfly necklace (in photo at right). Mrs. Fallaker was my teacher. I attended morning Kindergarten. Sitting next to McGree Gramp and writing with a green crayon down his shirt sleeve because I didn't like him. Sadly, he passed away a couple years ago. Telling another classmate that she was stinky. Throwing up in the classroom restroom for no apparent reason, and being sent home early. Mrs. Fallaker's felt board. It was my favorite and she rarely brought it out. Letter People I believe Mrs. Fallaker also had a puppet (a marionette maybe), but those memories are fuzzy. We hung our jackets on hooks along the wall opposite the window. There...

The covered rock shelter from the parking lot. Sal surprised me with a trip to Meadowcroft today. I remember mentioning it to him last spring as a place we should visit and when my sister went this summer she told me I would love it.   Looking down into the dig site. This archaological find changed the history of the peopling of North America thousands of years ago. Evidence suggests that people were living in North America 4,000 to 6,000 yeas earlier than originally believed. And, all of this history right here in southwestern Pennsylvania. Love it! It was so fascinating and our tour group included a man who evidently has serious interest in Native American cultures as he knew just the kinds of questions to ask the guide. It was interesting.  Here we are in front of big dig. Besides the rock shelter itself, there are several villages to visit at the site including a frontier town. Sentimental image of the day. This picture of a calendar is simply ...

Sal and I went to yet another baseball game. This time we took Sarah and Emmy to watch the Cleveland Indians. With a score of 14-1, it was not a good day for The Tribe. After a quick tour of the city, we made our way to Progressive Field where there were plenty of photo ops. Then we grabbed some lunch and found our seats. Emily chose her shirt over a hot dog. The obligatory picture of the field from our seats. It was a fun day and it certainly wore the girls out.

My sister got kre8tiv in the kitchen: Here's the birthday boy himself:

It's that time of the year again and a friend of mine posted this on a private message board on which I'm a member. This is brought to you by Father Martin Linebach at St. Patrick Parish in Louisville, Kentucky. Dear Lord, As my children leave for school, I pray that you will keep them in your care. Send your Spirit to open their minds to all that is true and beautiful and good.  Help them to see the gifts and talents you have given them and to use them well.  Help them to grow in knowledge and wisdom.  Help them to be kind to others and to lead others to be kind to them.  Give their teachers patience and understanding and help them teach what is just and true.  Send your angels to guide and guard my children and to keep them from all harm.  Open their young hearts to your presence and enfold them in your peace and protection.  Hold them in the palm of your hand and bring them home safely at day's end.  Amen.

I'm so excited about Sarah having a uniform this school year. I bought a few things on Lands End last week and picked up a jumper at Schoolbelles over the weekend. I wanted her to try it on for size and Emmy wanted in on the action too. Excuse the blurry phone pic. Sarah's been doing a chipmunk sort of smile lately and this is the result of me asking her to smile really big. It's a slight improvement :-) On her first day of school I'll post an official uniform picture, but I think the jumper is a good fit. In other news, Sarah finally got the shots today she should have had at her 5 year well visit - the MMR and Chicken Pox. That was the second round for both so she's done with them for life (we hope). She shed a few tears, but she's a brave little thing.

Sarah has a loose tooth!!! This is so exciting to me. Some of my friends with kids about Sarah's age have already experienced this milestone, and in many cases the tooth fairy has already made several visits. Sal came over for dinner last night and I pulled out all the stops by grilling steak, steaming zucchini, and boiling corn on the cob. Both of my kids love corn on the cob. Sarah got through an ear and told me her tooth hurt. I asked her if it was loose. Upon further inspection she was able to determine that it is. It is loose. My baby is growing up - a loose tooth. . .Kindergarten just around the corner. . .my goodness!!

One of the items on my birthday bucket list is to read a classic novel. I've had many false starts over the past year. From the library I've checked out Animal Farm , Emma , For Whom the Bell Tolls and several others and just can't get into any of them. I'm waving the white flag. I took 5 years of English in high school and had my share of Lit courses in college. I've read Twain, Melville, and countless others that I just did not enjoy. Forcing myself to read books that I just cannot get into is a thing of the past. Life is too short and there are far too many books to torture oneself. This item is going to remain unchecked on my list, and I'm okay with that.