1st Annual Film Festival

The drama department at Jacob's school put on the first annual film festival. Working in groups the students wrote, directed, acted, edited and produced the films all by themselves. The theme was kindness, pay-it-forward, and all the films touch upon this theme. 

Dominic, Cesar, and Jacob. Not all part of the same group but all are friends.

The kids were encouraged to dress up.

There was red carpet coverage but Jacob's group was uncooperative for pictures. This was the best picture Michael could get.

Here is Jacob's group film titled Kindness Brings Color to the World. It is 3 minutes. 

8th Grade Awards Ceremony

First semester of 8th grade is over and we attended the little awards ceremony that the school does for honorees. Jacob won two awards this year; one for Principal's Honor Roll and one for Science. 

We are of course proud parents and can't believe that the end of 8th grade is a few months away.

Las Vegas 2016

Monday, on our drive out we stopped for lunch at Emma Jean's Holland Burger Cafe on historic route 66 in Victorville. We shared a Brian Burger; beef patty, thick slices of toasted bread for the bun, cheese and some sort of green pepper or chili. It was good and something different.

Flamingos at the Flamingo. Tuesday, we saw Piff the Magic Dragon which is a magic and comedy show. It was fun and amusing. Of course Mr. Piffles the chihuahua was the real star. I wanted to get my picture with Mr. Piffles but the line was too long. Instead we went outside to the Wildlife Habitat. It was night so most of the animals were asleep.

We went to Cracker Barrel Old Country Store for breakfast on Wednesday. Michael is familiar with this chain of restaurants from his trips to the South. I was the one in for a treat. I enjoyed my eggs-in-the-basket and fried apples.

The country store is something to behold.

Wednesday afternoon was spent at the Mob Museum. It was well worth the price of admission, we spent 3 hours there. One of the more impressive pieces is this wall where the Valentine's Day Massacre took place. The bricks were numbered and reassemble here at the museum.

We discovered parts of the hotel that we had never been before, the Koi pond.

And Ferrari shop, Jacob would be impressed.

Garfield Get Together

At our annual block party our car enthusiast neighbor asked Jacob if he wanted to take a ride in a Ferrari. It took much prodding on Jacob's part but we convinced him to go.

Jacob experienced zero to sixty in three seconds and a top speed of one hundred and one. I don't know where in Venice this is achieved as it takes me twenty minutes just to get to Ralphs grocery store. He came back in one piece so I didn't worry.

Jacob's Bar Mitzvah - Friday Night Service

Michael managed to take a few pictures after Friday night's service. Jacob did several prayers on Friday night. He did well and I think it helped prep him for Saturday morning.

The green kippah (yarmulkas) made a big hit.

Jacob looked so snappy in his new suit.

These ladies are part of the sisterhood who made the cake according to Jacob's specifications; white cake, white frosting.

Nothing like a formal event to get your kid to smile.

After Friday night's service, Michael and I went home to assemble 48 cupcake hamburgers.

They were well worth the effort as I think they were a very popular item. We hope to be able to share more pictures later.

Michael's Birthday

We celebrated Michael's milestone birthday with a quiet dinner party at home. With all the big celebrations coming up we decided to keep it low key. You only turn 50 once so the mother of all ice cream cakes was needed to celebrate.

Trying to cut this monster frozen cake.

Naked cake.

Banana Split Ice Cream Cake from Bon Appetit. Recipe and video available from the website. Stay tuned for more milestone birthdays.

First Day of School

Parents warned me that middle school would go by in a blip and they were right. I can't believe that Jacob is starting his final year of middle school. Where did the time go? I seem to be saying that a lot lately, I need to get it on a t-shirt.

8th Grade

7th Grade

6th Grade
This photo melts my heart. Here is to a successful year.