This is Sparta!

This is so cool on so many levels. Apparently several months ago high school students around the country joined a group on Facebook with very simple instructions: write "This is Sparta!", somewhere in the middle of the essay on every Advanced Placement test you take and draw one line through it. Graders are instructed to dismiss anything that is crossed out. You can read here how one grader took notice and how the exclamation added a bit of inspiration for what seems to me to be a dreary job. While the kids didn't change the world by an means, or make any huge societal statement, I think it is so amazing that a small act of rebellion can take on an entire country, coast to coast.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good

I'm nearing the end of Erik's very long trip to Germany. He left last Tuesday and finally returns Saturday night. While he has been having an amazing time seeing Germany, as well as working very hard I'm sure, Cooper and I have been holding down the fort with the loving support and company of my mom. She arrived on June 6, in time to celebrate my birthday, and stayed until today, helping to ease the pain of Erik's absence.

Here is a highlight of one of the many wonderful times with my mom these past several days:

Sharing a shake

The Bad

I knew when I planted my garden there were bound to be some failures. Well, I met my first today. What I thought was a pot filled with cilantro (my favorite herb) is actually a pot mixed of cilantro and flat leaf parsley. Basically, the two are incredibly difficult to discern, making the pot pretty much useless. I was so excited about what I thought was copious amounts of cilantro, even made black bean soup to tonight for my dinner, was going to make cilantro pesto. Ugh! Oh well. I've accepted that I'm just going to have to go and buy some plants. The good news in this is that what I thought was flat leaf parsley is actually carrots! I didn't think any of the carrot plants survived, but instead I have a big row! A silver lining in the end.

What I thought was a big pot a cilantro

The Ugly

Whenever Erik is out of town I have a hard time fixing "real" dinners for just Cooper and I. A few weeks ago Cooper's babysitter mentioned that he really loved the SpaghettiOs she served for lunch. I figured SpaghettiOs would be a perfect "dad is out of town" dinner. Little did I know it would create a SpaghettiOs monster! Please note the sauce in his hair. He obviously hit the bath immediately, and I'm a bit concerned that his skin still seems tinted orange. Oh, and he almost ate a whole can. What!?!?!

Friends

Cooper and his favorite friend, Eleanor, at the park.

Eleanor's mom, my great friend Heather, noted this will be a priceless picture if they go to the prom some day. Cooper will be very lucky if that in fact comes true. For now, Cooper enjoys doing just about anything Eleanor says and she watches out for his every need. The other day Eleanor announced at lunch "Cooper needs ice cream now. Danilla, with sprinkles." Cooper was perfectly happy with his pizza bites, but he did enjoy the ice cream too!

Future Musical Theater Star

As I've written about before, Cooper seems to love to sing. Here is a short performance captured at the park over the holiday weekend. You can see he knew I was recording him as he yells "Mama, stop!" at the end. He's standing on this cool bouncy thing, if you are wondering.