Yes - I am a Star Wars Geek

O.k. - Here is a post inviting comment. I was watching Star Wars again and My Geek Mind got to working - here is my question:

Was Anakin Skywalker created by Darth Sidious?

Here are the facts:

Anakin was created by midiclorians - there was no father. In Episode III, Palpatine tells the story of Sidious' Sith Mentor . . . Darth Plagueis. According to Palpatine Plageuis was such a powerful Sith Lord that he could manipulate life itself. Sidious killed Plageuis and became a Sith Lord.

Palpatine also manipulated Anakin and he never was completely honest with him, even after Anakin became Darth Vader. For example, Palpatine told Vader that Vader killed Padme. He was partially honest but always holding something back. Thus, Palpatine was only being partially honest when he said he had not learned Plageuis' powers before killing him. Is it possible he had actually learned those powers so that he manipulated life to create his ultimate apprentice - Anakin?

Go ahead - comment.

Happy Birthday Maddie

Born this morning at 8:18 and 8 lbs 14 oz and 20.75 inches. We hope to be able to meet you soon. Congratulations to mom and dad (Chris and Trish). Enjoy yourselves!

M. A. P.

Peter Piper Pizza

We met Patrick's playgroup friends at Peter Piper Pizza tonight. It was the core group of the kids and the Moms. We had a good time eating and playing the games. After the tokens were all spent we turned in our tickets and got cheezy prizes. The kids seemed to have a great time. As Moms, we didn't really get a chance to chat much. We'll have to plan a "girls night out" for that!

Patrick and Makayla

Patrick is thrilled to have Makayla around. He always wants to hold her and to help in general. They are really cute together.

Working on the Car

Patrick was Mike's helper working on the car. He would do things like gets tools and paper towels for Daddy. However, in the middle of changing the oil on the truck he took over and started asking Daddy for tools and paper towels. You will see the picture of him "fixing" the truck. He was very serious about it. It was way too cute. Although, they both were terribly DIRTY!

Dinner Club

We have been having dinner on Friday night recently with a group of people Mike has met through work. Patrick comes along too and absolutely LOVES it. In fact, we didn't go this Friday and he kept asking all day if we were going to go out with everyone. He is pictured here with Ron, who works with Mike and his friend, Eva. He always has a good time. We usually end up practically closing the restaurants we go to.

Happy Birthday Dad/Grandpa

Happy Birthday Fifty - *cough cough* and still playing with toys. Here is a toy we would have liked to get you but then thought that you wouldn't want to have it in that cold IA weather. So instead we got a picture. What year is it?

Papa Gets the Scoop...

Papa spent some time questioning Patrick about school and he got the scoop. WOW! He got more out of Patrick at one shot than we were able to get all week. We found out the following: he painted, worked with beads, made a necklace, swept the floor and used the dust pan, read books in the library, ate snack, played on the playground, sang songs (Hokey Pokey must be a big hit! He thinks it's hillarious that they sing "put you bums in..."), Mr. Bob comes in (had NO clue who he was til I asked today and found out he's the janitor), transferred those craft pom pom type things from one bowl to another with tongs, and I think that's about it. That was WAY more than Mike and I got out of him. We'll have to have Papa question him weekly to find out the scoop. He wouldn't tell me much today either. Although I did get his painting. It is BEAUTIFUL and he had to have me hang it on our bedroom door! Oh, found out what they had for snack and that he doesn't like celery. Guess snack is the important thing!

Ring Bearer or Ring Bear???

Patrick informed us today that he would not be the ring BEARER at Katy's weddding but the ring BEAR! He said he would wear his black clothes (aka his suit) and he would growl and scare people. (Thus the BEAR instead of BEARER.)

Patrick and Makayla

I have embarked on a new adventure. Starting last Thursday I began to babysit for a 10 1/2 month old little girl named Makayla. She is such a precious little girl. She is very easy-going. She loves Patrick and Badger. Patrick is thrilled with her and is wanting to help all the time. On Friday he held her, fed her, and shared his toys with her. He's been so good! Makayla's Grandpa works with my Mom which was how this all came about. Her mom, Amelia, was hired as a part-time Kindergarten teacher. This is her fist position. So far all is well and I am excited about having her here!

Sigh Of Relief

Yesterday morning - We woke up to some good news here in Mesa. They arrested two guys in connection with the notorious "Serial Killer" investigation here in the Valley of the Sun. As the day went on, it appears that they have the right guys. These two idiots apparently kept some kind of map of their crimes in their apartment. Thank God. Their final shooting was only about one mile from our house about a week ago. We probably would have heard it but we were luckily staying in Tucson that night.

First Day of Preschool

Patrick had his first day at San Tan Montessori today. I dropped him off at 8:15 and returned to get him at 11:45. I was able to run a couple errands and do some stuff at home. He did well I guess. When we ask him about his day he tells us that he played on the playground (went down the slide and rode the bikes). He also said he had pretzels and melon for snack. When asked what else he did he would either say "I don't know" or "I don't want to tell you." Ok, then. Although he did finally tell us tonight that Mr. Sippel (principal) told him to sit down. Hmm... Although Ms. Danielle said he did awesome. So we will see. At least there were no tears from him. I had a hard time even getting a good-bye. He took off and went into the room. There were numerous children who shed a few tears. Not our son though. He went in and came out smiling. He did say he had fun at school today.

Visit to Tucson

We went down to Tucson on Sunday and spent the night at Schockmels. We took the kids to the Sidewinders baseball game Sunday night. Shanon made us an awesome dinner before we went. The kids really enjoyed the game. Monday Mike had to drive to Bisbee for a hearing and Leigh and I took the kids to Celebrate where they have those jumping castles indoors. The kids had a blast. Patrick enjoyed playing with Zander and Ethan and holding Maddelin. The picture shows Mike, Patrick, and Ethan at the game.

Patrick and Cabo

Patrick certainly enjoys spending time with his buddy Cabo at Nana and Papa's. We have been spending lots of time there recently taking care of him. They really get along well. In fact, it's when Patrick comes that Cabo eats his food. Not sure why ~ perhaps Cabo thinks Patrick is going to eat it. (Wouldn't put it past him!)

Kiddie Kickers

Patrick took a soccer class through the Gilbert Park and Rec department. Mr. Skyler taught them some of the basic skills. Patrick had a good time in there. Notice the little girl in the picture next to him. He talked about her often and her pink shoes. Her name is Ashley. Guess he was fascinated with those shoes! That class was always going to the bathroom. In fact, one day Mr. Skyler had to take the WHOLE class to the bathroom. We were able to observe at the end of the last class. Patrick has learned some skills that will be beneficial when he does soccer again.

All Star Sports

Patrick completed his Sports Class on Wednesday. He had a great time learning about and playing soccer, T-ball, and Basketball. His friend, Denton, (from playgroup) was in the class as well. He says he liked T-ball the best. He did really well with basketball though. The parents were able to go into the class and observe on the last day. Mr. Skyler did a great job with the students.

Seahorse Red

Patrick and Sofia completed another swimming class. They did really well with this group of lessons as well and both passed the class. They had a great time and will progress to Seahorse Yellow next time around.

I wish I had my camera with me

Today - as I was driving home on one of the freeway's here in Phoenix I saw one of the sites that make you think about who we are hiring in government agencies. There was a large flat bed in front of me with a few large packages on it. I noticed two crates on the back. As I got closer, I realized that the two crates were from the US Post office. They are the crates you often see sitting in the corner of post office - the white ones with no cover, handle holes on each side and they say "Property of US Post Office" on front and back. As I passed near the truck, I noticed it was also a US Post office Truck.

Made me wonder - did they put these two open top crates on the back of this truck full of mail when they started out their trip? If so, the mail for several people is now spread all over some highway on the west side of Phoenix.

Dan - Since I know you read this this is not a knock on US postal workers in general . . . just these two morons. I hope it wasn't my Million dollar check from publisher's clearinghouse.

MPO

Our 6th Anniversary

Mike and I were able to go away for our anniversary! My parents gave us an overnight stay at the Scottsdale Marriott at McDowell Mountain. How nice that was. (Patrick stayed over at their house.) We arrived early and checked in. We wanted to see Pirates 2 so we headed to the AMC theatre at Desert Ridge. We were early so went over to The Yard House for chicken wings and beer (for Mike not me). They had SO many different beers on tap including Pabst Blue Ribbon. That one really made us laugh. Mike even asked when they last tapped that barrel! Glad I'm not a bartender there. Wouldn't want to have to change those barrels! We saw Pirates which was very good, but of course leaves you in suspense for the next one. Headed over to JW Marriott Desert Ridge for dinner. I had won a gift certificate for the Blue Sage restaurant entitling us to dinner for two. Nice anniversary treat. The meal was awesome. Mike had buffalo ribeye and I had bacon wrapped beef tenderloin. The meal was yummy. We headed back to the hotel where we checked out the pool and hot tub. This morning we had a fabulous breakfast buffet at the restaurnt downstairs. It was SO yummy, but boy were there a lot of carbs. We walked around to check out more of the hotel and then left for home. We really had a super time! It was a nice close get-away for us. What a neat treat!

Family Night at Preschool

Tonight was Family Night at the preschool Patrick will be attending. He'll be part of the San Tan Montessori school which starts August 1st. Our baby is going to SCHOOL! Anyway, Mike and I weren't able to take him so my parents took him. They said he just walked around and observed and took everything in. He obviously impressed a couple of the girls already as they made it a point to say good-bye to him. Patrick and I met with his teacher, Miss Danielle, yesterday. She is very sweet. I am excited about the year and a little nervous too. I know it will be good though. I know the directors as well as the music teacher which was a major draw for me. Patrick is excited to go to school I think. It will be good for him.