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| A couple months ago, we were driving back into our neighborhood when we saw that some of the kids in our neighborhood got together and were running a lemonade stand. CJ noticed that, and said that she wanted to run a lemonade stand too. She didn't pursue it, so neither did we. A few weeks later, CJ brought up the lemonade stand again, but this time, she said that she wanted to take the money from the lemonade sales and donate it to church! Well, we couldn't discourage that kind of charity entrepreneurism, so we started working on the details together, including having CJ make a sign, and making sure we had the ingredients needed for lemonade. We also decided to give people a choice by offering bottles of water (conveniently, they were on sale at the grocery store for $2.99/flat) as well as cups of fresh-squeezed lemonade. I assisted CJ by making some signs indicating where the proceeds were being donated, the Florida United Methodist Children's Home. (This was the charity for which the Chapel Day donations were being made when they were attending Preschool). For several weekends afterward, however, every time we'd think that it was a good time for the lemonade stand, the weather would dictate otherwise, and rain would delay our efforts. This afternoon, however, the weather (finally) cooperated (no rain in the afternoon--unusual for Florida summers) and we didn't have any other appointments or errands, so we decided it was a good day to attempt the lemonade stand.   We selected a corner near our neighborhood which is an intersection of the main road that runs through our community and a street that goes into three different neighborhoods. There is also a stop sign. We weren't sure how well the lemonade stand would work, but we figured that this location might have enough traffic to sell some lemonade.  The girls hard at work...thankfully we had an umbrella for some shade, because it was a VERY hot and sunny day!  We ran the lemonade stand for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until we ran out of lemonade (we had made a gallon and sold EVERY drop)! and only had 5 bottles of water left from the entire flat that we had in the cooler. People not only stopped at the stop sign to get lemonade, but many people ended up turning around so they could stop and purchase lemonade or water from the girls. Many people gave more than the price of their purchase, told us to keep the change, and several even made donations without wanting a beverage in return! The total amount raised from the lemonade stand ended up being $46.14! We are considering making a trip to the Florida United Methodist Children's Home (not too far from us, in Enterprise, FL) so that CJ can donated her hard-earned proceeds in person. I am so proud of my girls! They did all that hard work, not for themselves, but to donate the money to help the children in need! They proudly told everyone what the money from the lemonade stand was for. I am most proud of them because they came up with this all by themselves, not as a result of any prompting or suggestions from us! They truly have learned to have a generous heart. A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor. Proverbs 22:9
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| Do you remember this photo? It was taken 20 years ago, in 1989, after the supression of the Tiananmen Square Democracy Protests in Beijing, China.  (c) Jeff Weidner, Associated Press
The tanks were attempting to drive out of Tiananmen Square. As the column of tanks approached an intersection on a road ironically named Avenue of Eternal Peace, an unarmed man stood in the center of the street, halting the tanks' progress. He was reported to have said, "Why are you here? You have caused nothing but misery." As the tank driver attempted to go around him, the "tank man" moved into the tank's path. He continued to stand defiantly in front of the tanks for some time, then climbed up onto the turret of the lead tank to speak to the soldiers inside. After returning to his position blocking the tanks, the man was pulled aside by onlookers who perhaps feared he would be shot or run over. (Photos and some text from Wikipedia) Prior to this, students and Democracy advocates began to speak out more freely and demand more freedom of speech and political freedom. This began first as posted handbills on a "Democracy Wall" and then grew into live demonstrations. Tiananmen Square became the gathering place for those who yearned for freedom and chose to speak out. The peaceful demonstrations continued to grow and gain support and momentum, both within China and throughout the rest of the world. Many around the world watched and waited, with trepidation and hope, to see if Democratic reforms would actually be enacted, or what response, if any, the repressive Communist regime in China was going to take. Some of us really hoped that this might be the beginnings of a free China when the students erected the "Goddess of Democracy" in Tienanmen Square on May 30, 1989. 
However, the Communist government responded by declaring martial law and then responded with violence. They rolled toward Tiananmen Square in tanks and armored personnel carriers. They began their attack on the square at 10:30 at night, when many of the students were going to sleep in their tents and makeshift shelters. By dawn the next morning, the Square had been cleared. The Goddess of Democracy had been torn down and crushed. What happened to all those people? We will probably never know the full extent of the violence and bloodshed that took place in that Square that night. The Communist Party of China denies that there were any deaths inside Tiananmen Square. However, based on eyewitness accounts and reports from journalists and other sources, it is much more likely that several thousand died in Tiananmen Square that awful night. And all for what? To prove a point. That the Communist Government was in charge--and no one, not even tens of thousands of students in Tiananmen Square and around Beijing, nor the millions who supported their efforts around the world were going to sway this repressive regime. This student "rebellion" ended in bloodshed and deaths. However, the desire for freedom will continue to live in China's people. We may not see a free China in our lifetimes, but one crushed rebellion will not crush the spirit of a people. The photo of the lone man in front of the line of tanks still gives me goosebumps when I look at it. I have a framed copy of a poster of this photo in my office above my desk. It reminds me of the lengths people are willing to go to speak out and defend the need for freedom. It reminds me of just how lucky I am to live in a free country where I am able to speak out and not have to face a row of tanks in order to do so. By the way, if you are interested in reading more about the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989, there is a great summary found on Wikipedia at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989
Note: Some of you may have read this article previously, as I posted it to my CafeMom account, but in the wake of the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, I thought it would be appropriate to repost it here and to my other online writing outlets.
LET FREEDOM RING ALL AROUND THE WORLD!!! | |
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|  Incidentally, CJ lost her tooth after her balance beam routine and before her floor routine during her gymnastics performance! Appropriately enough, the Tooth Fairy brought her a new gymnastics leotard. :-) - Current Mood:happy
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| It's been well-known to most family and friends for a while. When CJ grows up, she says she wants to be an artist, a SCUBA diver, and an astronaut. In other words, she could be following in the footsteps of Alan Bean, who is all three (though his renown as an artist came after he was well-known as an astronaut).
At any rate, the other weekend, we went to the Kennedy Space Center, and took the tour, which included a short movie of the history of the space race. The movie showed the Soviet Union being the first in space and some of the many problems that NASA encountered in the early days of the US Space program. Then came the success of the Gemini astronauts, and then the quest for the moon. In typical movie-dramatic fashion, the narrator recounted the tragedy of Apollo 1, when the astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee died in a fire in the cockpit during a practice launch. The narrator made the point that "These brave astronauts PAID WITH THEIR LIVES."
At that moment, Anna looks over at CJ and asks:
"CJ, are you SURE you want to be an astronaut?"
...CJ did reply yes, by the way. She's not deterred by the danger involved at this point, though the rest of us are! :-O
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| We were watching the Kentucky Derby on TV. That led to lots of discussions between the girls and Mike and I about horses, and questions about different kinds of horses and all sorts of other questions that involved more information about horses than Mike and I could provide off the tops of our heads. So at one point Anna asked something else that we admitted we didn't know the answer, to which Anna replied...
"Don't worry! I'll just look it up on Horse.com!"
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| It doesn't matter how you view Barack Obama. You can like him, dislike him, believe he's the Second Coming, or believe he's the Antichrist. Or you can be completely indifferent. But there's one thing to be sure...today, when he was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, that was a historical moment. Certainly something I didn't expect to see, perhaps even in my lifetime.
Anyhow, because this was such an historic moment, I wanted CJ & Anna a chance to see it too. We happened to be at the Ice Rink today at noon. Fortunately, there were multiple TV screens in the lobby of the rink. Adjacent to the lobby is a game room where the girls like to play. After we finished skating and got all of our skates off and put away, the girls ducked into the game room to play (or pretend to play) the video games. At just about noon, I realized that they were getting ready for the swearing in ceremony. So, I called CJ & Anna into the lobby (more importantly, out of the game room) to watch Barack Obama get sworn in as President.
To their credit, they came without much fuss, and I directed them to watch the swearing in of the new President.
Immediately after the words "So help me God." and "Congratulations, Mr. President." were uttered,
CJ turns to me and asks: "Can I go play NOW?"
I've been assured by my friends that years from now, my girls will thank me for "making" them watch that historic moment.
I think back and remember a similar experience in my childhood. I was probably about the age between CJ & Anna, perhaps 4 or 5. I don't remember exactly. However, I do remember my Mother rousing me out of a sound sleep very early one morning. She was so excited and I remember wondering just what the big deal was? Anyhow, she sat me in front of the TV, and I remember seeing some fuzzy black & white pictures. All the time, I just remember thinking "What's the big deal? Can I just go back to sleep now?"
Looking back, I'm pretty sure I was awakened to see Apollo 11 launching. And that was definitely an historic event. And nearly 40 years later, I still remember seeing it, through fuzzy memories and black & white TV images, I still remember. It was an historic moment and I did get to witness it, in my own small, childlike way.
And this, I hope, is what my girls will remember--that they did see the moment when Barack Obama became the nation's first President who comes from an African heritage. I believe that this will be one of those "Where were you when..." defining moments. You know, like "What were you doing when you heard Kennedy was shot?" Or when the Pope was shot? Or when the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up on launch? Or when the planes hit the Twin Towers on 9/11/2001? Regardless of how one might feel about Barack Obama, it is an indication that here, In the United States, anything really IS possible. Regardless of what other problems we might face in this country, we still live in a country full of possiblities and dreams, and nothing is impossible.
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| OK, today it was raining. I had the van door open and Anna was in her car seat. She stuck her hand out of the door and said:
"The rain tickles my hand. The raindrops look like jewels in my hand."
Well, you know, I wouldn't have thought of it that way, but that's a pretty accurate description!
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| Last week Anna's class (Pre-K 4) was learning the Pledge of Allegiance. Most kids have problems with the word "indivisible." Apparently their teacher was explaining what "indivisible" meant, (you can break it apart) and Anna replied: "My FAMILY is indivisible!" Ne'er a truer sentence was spoken! :-)
Over the weekend, the girls were playing. They get pretty imaginative sometimes. So...they were playing with a flashlight. At one point, I hear them saying "You be the shepherd, and I'll make the Star of Bethlehem with the flashlight." So I watch, and one moved the light of the flashlight around the room, while the other followed the light. Then, of course, the girls got silly, and the one with the flashlight started to spin around faster and faster, so that the other girl had to run around in circles to follow it!
Yesterday, Anna was in gymnastics. I had put her hair up in pigtails to keep it out of the way. Anyhow, she told her gymnastics coach that she was "level-headed" because she had pigtails! She told me that the pigtails made her level-headed! Where do kids come up with this stuff? ;-) | |
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| My children have been brought up around technology and has perhaps taken for granted what is possible (or make assumptions about what should be possible).
While I still remember the days of our first computer (the Commodore VIC-20) that we purchased my SENIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL!
We've sure come a long way, baby!
For example:
CJ will ask about something and I won't necessarily know the answer, so she responds, "Look it up on the Net!"
Or...
One of the girls will talk about a specific toy or book or game that we don't have. CJ will quip: "See if you can find it on Ebay!" :-)
One of my favorite ones was from Anna, who had drawn a picture on a miniature "magna-doodle" pad. It was really pretty and we were oohing and aahing over it. I said "too bad we can't keep it." That's when Anna responds:
"Send it to the phone." (!)
Ah, from the mouths of the babes who are techno-savvy...or think they are! | |
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| ...to make a Halloween costume! Seriously, it was a total TEAM effort to make CJ's Halloween costume this year! So here's the saga: ( Read more... )Not bad, eh? :-) | |
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| ...CJ now wears glasses. We figured genetics were really not in her favor in the eyesight department. With Mike's severe nearsightedness (which has since been corrected by Lasik) and my nearsightedness and pretty significant astigmatism (which actually makes me a poor candidate for Lasik), it was pretty likely that CJ and Anna would probably need some form of eyesight correction before long. I thought it might take longer than it did--I didn't get my glasses until after 4th grade, though I think I probably needed them long before that (I have memories of coming up the aisle between the desks and squinting at the blackboard in class, and still not being able to see clearly), but apparently she failed the vision screening test at school, and so we took her to the eye doctor. She is slightly nearsighted in both eyes, and does show signs of developing astigmatism. It's not too serious right now, with 20/40 vision in one eye, and 20/25 in another eye. She was actually excited about getting glasses and begged to get them the same day as her appointment. Thank goodness for Lenscrafters! Turns out she's the 3rd or 4th kid in her 1st grade class to wear glasses, so it's actually COOL to wear glasses in her class! :-) Anyhow, here she is with her new glasses!   She picked the frames out herself! | |
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| Just had to share this one... A couple nights ago, at bedtime, the girls and I read "Amelia Bedelia" together. Now, Amelia Bedelia is supposed to be a maid/housekeeper, I guess. But she's not very good at the housekeeping part. She has to have her instructions in "plain language" or else she will take the instructions very literally! BUT, one thing Amelia Bedelia IS very good at is baking. So anyhow, Amelia Bedelia made a lemon meringue pie for her new employers, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, and that's what saved her job! Anyhow, after reading Amelia Bedelia with the girls, CJ asked if we could make a lemon meringue pie. I told her that we could, but we would have to buy...um...the lemons or lemon pudding, the pie crust, and enough eggs to make the meringue. :-) But, today, we did just that. We are getting some of the outer rain bands from Hurricane Gustav. So most of the day it was a day to just hibernate. Later in the afternoon, though, to stave off a creeping cabin fever, we decided to go grocery shopping. CJ made the shopping list (and did a great job, too)! We picked up all the ingredients for making a lemon meringue pie. We used Jell-o lemon pudding mix instead of making lemon pudding from scratch. BUT, not wanting to drag out our Kitchen-Aid mixmaster, we made the meringue by whisking by hand. Anyhow, we had the girls fill the miniature pie crusts themselves, and then they got to put the meringue on, including making the peaks. They loved it! We even had enough filling and meringue left over to make a full sized pie, but I cut up a pint of strawberries so that the full-sized pie would have more substance than a half-filled pie. Then after dinner, the girls each got a chance to eat a mini pie. CJ at all of hers and LOVED it! Anna ate the meringue off of half of the pie, then decided she didn't like the lemon filling. So Mike and I finished it. That's OK, though...the main part of this exercise was doing it together, as a family project. And for that, it was a RESOUNDING success! I only wish that our weekends had more of these days with no scheduled activities, where we can just leisurely take the time to do a project together! | |
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| We were living in Central Florida in 2004 when the three Hurricanes came blowing across the Florida Penninsula in 6 weeks. Charley, Frances, and Jeanne all came through, and caused an unbelievable amount of damage all across the state. It was also nearly unheard of to have THREE hurricanes all come through the state in such a short span of time. Charley was an incredibly powerful hurricane; he was also fast. He was a Category 3 hurricane when he made landfall at Punta Gorda, and even after he cut his swath across the state, he was still a Category 1 when he hit the Atlantic Coast around Daytona. We were in the track of the eye for that one. I just remember it was August 13 (Friday the 13th, by the way) and not many people gave too much thought regarding this hurricane in the Gulf, and then late that morning, it was all over the news--Charley changed tracks and was coming across Florida! It was almost surreal, and I remember just being in kind of a daze, trying to figure out what I'd need to get prepared for this hurricane that was coming in a matter of hours! Well, Charley's bands started coming through in the mid-afternoon, and then started the wind and rain. We lost power for about a half hour, but ended up being much more fortunate than many others in our neighborhood, who lost power for a week or longer. We also were fortunate to only have lost a few shingles and had a loose support piece on our lanai screen. Driving down the road the morning after was also quite an experience. The roads were green with all the leaves and branches that had fallen into and blanketed the road. More seriously, many large trees fell over from the strong winds, and blocked quite a few roads. The aftermath of Charley was pretty devastating in many areas for quite a long time. But, he came and went overnight. The next morning, we had to deal with his aftermath, but he was already long gone and out to sea. Then there was Hurricane Frances. She was coming in the Atlantic side, and at one point threatened to be a Category 5 (but she stalled over the Bahamas and didn't regain her intensity). Coming on the heels of Charley only a few weeks before, people were much more prepared. We all got water, many MANY people boarded up the windows in their homes, there was also a run on duct tape and tarps. I even taped up some of our more exposed windows and stashed away some of the things that we wanted to save just in case we had to evacuate. We had friends in the Atlanta area that offered a place to stay if we decided to evacuate. Some of the people who had lost power after Charley packed up and left before Frances hit. They even set a curfew where everyone (except emergency and essential personnel) had to be in their homes or in shelters. Of course, after they called the curfew, Frances stalled over the Bahamas and kept spinning over that island chain for over a day, while we were stuck at home, where it was still bright and sunny, but we knew that the threat was just looming offshore. When Frances finally came ashore on the East Coast of Florida, her movement had slowed down and when she was midway across the state, stopped. Her forward movement was stationary, but her bands kept swirling, causing high winds and lots of rain. She was the hurricane that just wouldn't go away. She stayed for probably two days...which was two days of continuous roaring and wailing winds and stronger gusts, all of which brought rain as well. She caused a lot of flooding as well as wind damage. Then there was Ivan, which ended up devastating Pensacola and areas along the Gulf Coast. This was where the storm surge and flooding did at least as much damage as the winds. We were all experienced "cone watchers" by then, and were all worried as we followed the track of Ivan (I even spotted it on satellite before it had a name--Tropical Depression #9) that it would follow the same track as Charley. It did, through the Caribbean, but Ivan didn't take the turn across the Florida peninsula. Instead, he kept going straight up, and hit the Florida Panhandle. It was scary to watch, and while the storm itself might not have affected us directly, it did affect us with the high gas prices (though it doesn't seem so high now)! The problem was that there were many places where there just wasn't any gas available! There was a big gas shortage, and that was also the weekend that Anna was to be baptized. Our friends John & Sandy who live in Tampa were to be one set of Godparents. They couldn't come because John had to be there in case they needed to close the plant where he worked. Also, they would have had a hard time getting enough gas to make it to our side of the state. Similarly, our other friend John was to be our photographer, and he lived in Sarasota. He just wasn't able to get enough fuel to drive anywhere, and didn't want to come out to our side of the state and then get stuck, unable to make it back home. Finally, when Jeanne was spinning of the coast and it seemed inevitable that she was going to come across, just like Frances, we were all in a "Here we go again" kind of attitude. People hadn't even bothered to take the boards off their windows after Frances, so the After the HURRICANES OF 2004, we have been fortunate to have had a respite from that, while people had a chance to rebuild and dry out. The next year devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast with Hurricane Katrina and Rita, and the Yucatan Penninsula and Cozumel with Hurricane Wilma. Wilma was about a Category 1 when she went across the southern part of Florida but gained strength as she re-entered the gulf. She stayed spinning over Cozumel for two days, and really caused a tremendous amount of damage. They had to rebuild so many things, but Cozumel seems to have come back from Wilma now stronger and better than before. At least our part of Florida hasn't really been affected by many storms during Hurricane season since 2004...until Fay, that is. Today is another day where the kids are off of school. The were off of school Tuesday and Wednesday because of the treat of T.S. Fay heading up the Florida peninsula. She slowed down so much that she didn't really make it up to us until Wednesday night. (Though she has really been doing a nasty number all up the East Coast of Florida)! Turns out the kids really should have been off of school yesterday. Instead, we were all slogging through the monsoon and winds because the schools were open and so were all the activities. (we thought the worst was over...boy, were we ALL wrong there)! There's LOTS of flooding around, and the schools are closed today. Yesterday, CJ got off the schoolbus (which was 20 minutes late) and she told us that the parking lot at the school was flooded! The weather has been way worse yesterday and today than it was at any time on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yesterday and today are definitely days to stay indoors, with blowing sideways monsoon-like rain and winds. The gusts are really strong, and it's really hard to drive in a straight line when the wind gusts keep pushing your car sideways! It's been really nasty out there. The dirt has become so soft from all this rain that our young trees are falling over (the roots don't have any dirt to grip onto). One of my friends has leaks coming in all her windows. With all this rain, she's getting LOTS of water coming in her house from every window.
And water + drywall = crumbling walls. The more rain comes in, the more her house will start to fall apart. We lost power for a few hours yesterday; thankfully the power came back before it got dark. We did pull out our flashlights and were ready for it, but I had just gone grocery shopping yesterday and wasn't really looking forward to having rotting groceries in the refrigerator and having to replace everything.
At least Fay hasn't brought heat; she's kept the temperatures relatively cool...mid-70s. So for the few hours (not sure exactly how long because we weren't at home when it happened) that we didn't have power, things stayed cool and the refrigerator & freezer stayed cold enough. If it had come down to that, we have friends who still had power and a deep freeze freezer in their garage. So we could have brought stuff over to them. Thankfully we didn't have to move any of our food yesterday. They also have leaks in a few windows and the blinds in their son's room fell down because the leaks in the window saturated the drywall enough to crumble and the anchors of the blinds came loose and the blinds just came down. I guess it teaches us that one shouldn't underestimate a Tropical Storm...just because it's not a Category 3 Hurricane doesn't mean that we should take it lightly. This has taught us all a good lesson. The most damaging part of a Tropical Storm or Hurricane may not be the winds (though the winds, when powerful enough or blown just the right way, can pack a nasty punch and do LOTS of damage). The most damaging part of a Tropical Storm or Hurricane can be the water that the storm brings with it. People on the coast know this well, as many fall victim to storm surges, which cause more damage than the storm itself. In our case, it's just this neverending monsoon-like rain.
There's lots of flooding all around the area. The people on the coast have gotten it much worse than us. This has become the storm that just won't go away! The thing is, the Emergency Management Services people took Fay seriously, but most of the rest of us didn't...not really, anyway. EMS erred on the side of caution when they closed the schools Tuesday and Wednesday, but Fay slowed down so much (and with all of our technology, in the end, we still can't predict exactly what a storm system is going to do) that she really didn't come up our way (Central Florida) until Wednesday night...and then she stayed and has been dumping rain and blowing winds at us continuously for over 24 hours. Looking at the radar track, she seems to finally be moving across the state, so maybe we'll finally get the respite we need. The strange thing is, conventional wisdom says that the most powerful and damaging part of a tropical storm or hurricane as it spins are the bands to the northeast, while the southwestern side of the storm is considered more mild. Well, were were in the southwestern part of the storm all of yesterday and it was more severe than anything we had experienced up to that point. I guess T.S. Fay was just being fickle and not doing anything that's expected of her.
We've gotten a few brief respites from rain and wind, but just when we think it might be finished, the rains and winds start up again. Fay is still teasing us. One thing for sure, though...today is definitely a day to hunker down and hibernate. - Tags:charley, fay, floods, frances, hurricane, ivan, jeanne, monsoon, rain, tropical storm, winds
- Current Mood:thoughtful
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| CJ & Anna have been going to a preschool/Kindergarten that's part of a Methodist Church. This year they decided to do VBS (Vacation Bible School) over 10 successive Sundays instead of every day for a week. So we've been attending services, while CJ & Anna go to VBS at the same time. They've really loved going and have a lot of fun! Of course they do crafts, sing and dance, and all sorts of fun stuff, and learn about Jesus and God at the same time. (We've actually been enjoying going to the services as well)! The way I see it, it's a win-win all the way around! Anyhow, I got this e-mail last week from Kathy, the Director of the Preschool. It's such a great story I just had to share! I'm going to paste it here, without any edits or modifications. Enjoy! Hi, Christiana, I just had to share with you what happened at VBS while your girls were in my Bible Exploration class. I've shared it with a dozen people since Sunday morning. I was introducing the story of Penecost (when God sent His special helper, the Holy Spirit, to His followers (Acts 2:1-47) to give them power to share the Gospel). I asked the middle-schoolers that were helping with the preschoolers if anyone had studied a foriegn language. One piped up that she new Spanish, so we all counted to 10 in Spanish as a group. Then, C.J. confidently raised her hand and said that she knew Chinese. So she stood up front by me and proceeded to count to 10 in Chinese. Not to be outdone, Anna raised her hand and said that she knew French. I thought to myself, "Right." To my shock, she stood right beside me and counted to 10 in French! It was awesome. The next thing I knew, another child raised his hand and said that he knew another language. I was ready for anything at that point! He just stood there, and I sensed that he was clueless, so we all counted to 10 in English (to help him save face). I enjoyed the experience so much! Your girls were so confident and willing to share their gifts with the world. I can't wait to see what God has in store for both of them as they grow! Hope my story made you smile! Please share it with Michael! Kathy
By the way, Anna knows how to count to 10 (though she usually only counts to 7) in a total of 5 languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, French, and German! She picked up the French only after hearing it from me two or three times--and the next night she repeated it perfectly. She also knows the colors in English, Chinese and Spanish, and can interchange them without getting confused! She's also really adept at remembering song lyrics. She has an ear for sounds the way CJ has an eye for drawing. I always prayed the my girls would be gifted with different talents from each other (so that they wouldn't be constantly compared with each other or compete with each other doing the same things), and it appears that God listened, and my girls are both blessed to be unique in their own ways with their own gifts. | |
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| It is indeed a momentous occasion when a child loses her first tooth! CJ has been eagerly anticipating this event for over a year--as she's seen so many of her friends, many of whom are younger, all lose their first, second and even third teeth! She's wanted the Tooth Fairy to make a visit, but her teeth just haven't kept up with her friends, it seems. Well, finally, FINALLY it's happened! After weeks of wiggly teeth and even the permanent teeth starting to grow in behind the wiggly teeth, she finally lost her first tooth last Monday!  See the gap? Her first loose tooth was in the bottom row, and there has been a tooth growing in behind it even before the tooth came out!  This was taken about a week before her tooth fell out. Do you see the permanent tooth already behind it? The one next to it is also loose and probably will fall out in the next week or so, and also has a tooth behind it waiting to move forward! We joked with her not to be too eager to have that second tooth fall out yet, because the Tooth Fairy will go broke if she needs to make two visits in two weeks to the same person! Her Kindergarten teacher has given her the nickname "Shark" since she has teeth growing in behind the ones that are falling out--just like sharks, who have rows and rows of teeth, to replace those that continue to fall out! Of course, humans only have one set to replace the ones that fall out... By the way, the Tooth Fairy made the first tooth visit a special one. CJ got a $5 bill AND a Leapster Cartridge (Grammar Rock). I told her that the Tooth Fairy is really good, because Grammar Rock is out of print, and I haven't been able to get it. (I think the Tooth Fairy is well acquainted with Ebay, what do you think)? ;-) The advantage of having other kids lose their teeth first is that we can compare notes about what the Tooth Fairy brings to their kids! These days, sometimes the Tooth Fairy might bring a book or a toy instead of money for subsequent teeth. I think that's cool...and will have to keep that in mind when I next consult with our household Tooth Fairy! LOL | |
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| I've been meaning to post this for a while. It was really an amazing thing to hear and validation that despite all my faults, I guess I'm doing *something* right! :-)
We were at our neighborhood park during the MOMS Club Easter Egg Hunt. I chatted with one of the Moms I know whose son is in the same playgroup as Anna and has been to playgroups held at our house in the past. This particular Mom had just made the decision to leave her day job and released her nanny to make the transition to full-time Mommyhood! I was really excited for her, and more importantly, she was really excited to be doing it!
Anyhow, later on when the kids were playing on the playground, I saw her again, this time with her husband.
She said to him "This is the Mom I want to most be like..." (indicating to me).
Wow! Me? A Role Model for other Moms? I never would have thought that!
She then said that she loved coming to our house for playgroups because the moment she walked in, she could see that the house was truly "child-centered" and she really liked that. That was a really nice and very heartwarming way to say that our kids have taken over the house and their stuff is everywhere! LOL I just didn't realize that other people really do appreciate that and even strive to emulate it! ;-)
It really meant so much (I don't know if she realizes how much her words meant to me) to hear her saying that she wanted to be a Mom like me! But I almost feel inadequate as a role model...Her words gave me validation that really boosted my spirits...and gave me confidence to continue along this path that I'm taking with my children and how I'm raising them. | |
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| A couple weeks ago, the girls and I got to spend their Spring Break in Las Vegas. It was their first time, and it had been so long since I had been to Las Vegas that it was just like my first time.
Anyhow, we were there for almost an entire week. The first couple days, Mike got to help play "tour guide" and we walked around, saw some sights, and got to take the Las Vegas Monorail up and down the Strip. Then Mike had to work the booth at a trade show, so the girls and I got to wander around by ourselves. One day we took the monorail all the way up from the south end (MGM Grand Station) all the way to the top of the strip at the north end (Sahara Station). We took monorails on about 4 days of our trip. We had a fun time and saw a lot of cool things. But that's the subject of another post.
Anyhow, this afternoon, we got home and the girls started playing together. Mike alerts me to what CJ's saying in their dramatic play...
"Please hold firmly on to the handrails..."
"...Next stop Northbound, Sahara Station..."
"...Next stop Southbound, MGM Grand Station..."
and..."Next stop Convention Center..."
(By the way, she had the northbound and southbound stops absolutely correct)! :-)
Now, they haven't said much about the Monorail or the trip since we got back 2 weeks ago. And this is the first time it's come up in play! I guess it just goes to show that they really do pick up on things and it gets filed away in their brain for later! | |
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| There's a Barnie's Coffee shop in our neighborhood. They have a game that they play, where they put up a trivia question each day, and if you answer correctly, you get a free coffee! So I go pretty often. The chance for a free coffee is definitely one incentive. Another incentive is that I just LIKE Barnie's coffee better, and the environment is a lot nicer (I don't like the local Starbucks--it's hard to park, and there's always smokers sitting at the tables right outside the door. Smelling cigarette smoke usually takes away my appetite for anything, and walking through the cloud at the door usually means I end up smelling like cigarette smoke the rest of the day too. Yuck.
But I digress. I have probably won as many free coffees as I've paid for at that Barnie's! :-) Today apparently was no exception.
The question was:
Q: What did the United States pay $7.2 Million for in 1867.
Anyone? (I went at around 11:00 and turns out I was the first one to get it right that day)! :-)
OK...here's the answer:
A: Alaska. Also known as Seward's Folly. It was NOT the Louisiana Purchase, which is apparently what everyone thought (Lousiana Purchase happened earlier).
It's a small thing to happen during the day, but something that does make me happy. And I do give them real business too.
So, it's a little bright spot in my day. :-) | |
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| Yes, my girl is now 6, but she does show signs of actually growing up too! I'm really proud of her.
First, she's volunteering to help with chores at home. She'll pull out the vacuum cleaner and vacuum the floor without being asked. One day she even went into the laundry room, realized that there was no basket to empty the dryer, so she went upstairs, got a basket, then emptied the clothes out of the dryer all by herself, without being asked. This morning, Mike and I were collecting the trash from the baskets around the house, and CJ wanted to help. So I gave her bags to line the cans after they were emptied.
Also, she's helped her sister "do her Kumon" (Anna's not really in Kumon, but we have some of CJ's old pages that CJ's worked on with Anna) so she's turning out to be a good tutor!
And yesterday was CJ's birthday party. She got 3 Webkinz (stuffed animals with online games and stuff you can play). CJ offered to share one of her stuffed animals with Anna so Anna could cuddle with one too. She offered without being asked.
Oh, and this year, she's helping to write her own thank you cards! When I suggested it at bedtime, Mike said that she should wait 'till tomorrow because it was late, but she actually BEGGED to do her thank yous! So how can you say no to that?! It's like a child begging to eat vegetables! (and she's done that before too)! ;-) So she wrote 5 thank you notes last night. She'll be done by the end of the week if she does a few each night. What an awesome kid.
My little girl is really growing up! (But don't let that fool you. She has her moments when she acts...well...like a little kid. ;-) | |
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| My firstborn, my oldest daughter, is really growing up! She's 6! Yes, her actual birthday was a couple weeks ago, but we just celebrated her birthday party yesterday. And I'm so pleased that it went so smoothly and everyone had so much fun!
And I wasn't even stressed out over it! A friend of mine was hired to be the photographer so I didn't feel like I had to catch all the photos. I was helping to set up the party room (it was at an indoor bounce house place) while the kids were having an amazingly fun time bouncing and sliding in all the different bounce houses. Almost everyone who was invited came!
It was a Harry Potter theme, and in addition to the themed plates and napkins, we had a really cool cake (we actually had two--from the warehouse club, which was great because we got a 1/2 sheet and a 1/4 sheet BOTH for $35, when a single 1/2 sheet at the grocery store would have cost around $40!) We're definitely going to the warehouse club next time for our cake again!
Anyhow, there were two long tables in the party room, and we set them with the plates and napkins, and I had ordered these really cool plastic golden goblets which were put at each place setting. And then I had ordered Harry Potter (eye)glasses, so we set them on each plate. The kids LOVED them! There was definitely a "wow" as they walked in and saw the golden goblets lining the table. And I had little stickers that I wrote the kids' names on to stick to the goblets so they knew whose were whose. (I got lots of kudos from parents for that trick)!
I had several parents gush over what a fun party it was, AND I even had one 6 year old boy (who has been to a LOT of birthday parties in his time) come up to me and say "This is the BEST BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER!!!" Now if that isn't a boost to my party planning ego, I don't know what is!
Oh, and I made up their treat bags which had these little wands that light up when you press a button, a Harry Potter lightning bolt sticker, a sheet of Harry Potter stickers, and some Harry Potter trading cards (that I found at the Dollar Store at Xmastime, at 3/$1). :-) All the other stuff I bought in bulk online at different websites, including some wholesale websites...it was great! So the wands were less than $1 each, and the Harry Potter glasses were about $0.49 each! I plan these party themes way in advance, then hunt online for the best bargains. I have lots of fun planning the parties for my girls, but it's most gratifying to see my children and their friends having so much fun!
When I sync my camera I'll post some photos. | |
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| The other day, we were driving down the road, which was lined by trees. The sun was shining through the branches, which made the sunshine appear to flicker as the car moved.
Anna asks "Why is the sun blinking?"
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| Anna has hit another milestone. We finally took the rail off of Anna's crib! It's a convertible bed, so now she has a "daybed" instead of her crib. She was SO excited about it and loves it! She can now climb in and out of her bed by herself! So the first night after she goes to sleep in her bed, we're downstairs watching TV and we hear a THUNK! from upstairs. Mike goes to check and see what it was. Turns out Anna's a VERY sound sleeper! She had rolled out of bed and was on the floor. She was still sound asleep! Mike picked her up, and she stayed asleep. He put her back in bed and covered her back up with her blankets. She never even flinched. | |
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| Anna goes to school 3 days per week. Her sister goes 5 days per week. So on the days that Anna doesn't go to school, we still end up going to drop off her sister. Last Friday and also this past Monday, Anna started crying because she couldn't go to school too! She kept saying
"I WANT to go to school! I WANT to go to school!" I actually had to drag her kicking, screaming, and literally in tears AWAY from school because she didn't have class that day! I told her to remember that she was saying this when she becomes a teenager! :-)
Then there was her quote the other day...I'm not sure what prompted this but she said,
"I do NOT like chocolate. I like spinach."
Now it is true, she doesn't like chocolate. She's never been a fan of chocolate candy. She does like chocolate milk. However, her taste for spinach is a relatively recent development. Thanks to her big sister who eats or at least will try almost anything, Anna's starting to follow suit, and has discovered that she likes a lot of different foods, spinach and broccoli and carrots being among them! | |
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| Now that school has started, and BOTH girls are actually in school at the SAME TIME, I actually have a little time to myself for THREE days a week! Of course, the first thing everyone asks is, "What do you do with ALL your free time?"
Well, in reality, 5 hours per day that they're in school does not truly translate to 5 hours of free time. It's really only 4, since you have to make allowances for travel to and from the school after drop off and at pick-up.
So what do I do? Usually the errands that I would otherwise have to do while dragging the kids around with me. It's much quicker when I can just run in the store and pick up one thing. Or drop something off at the Post Office. Or get some work done with the home business. But it never seems to be quite enough time.
So what did I do today? Well, I was feeling unsettled, and doing the office work at home just wasn't what I felt like I "needed." Finally, I realized what I needed. I pulled out my violin, that had been sitting in the closet, almost forgotten for so long. I tuned it up and started playing. First I warmed up with a few scales, then I started playing (first an attempt by memory) Bach Partita #2 in D Minor. When I realized it had been just too many years since I had last played, I pulled out the book and started practicing with the music. My fingers still remembered many of the runs, and it felt so good to play. I worked on a few of the more difficult passages, and practiced one of the movements from the E Major Partita as well. It really did feel good to do something that gave me a piece of myself back again. The thing is, I didn't even realize that I missed playing violin so much until after I started practicing! It was like getting back together with an old friend again.
Today, I did something with my precious free time that wasn't something that I had to get done, but I took my free time and did something that was just for me. And it felt good to be able to do that, and feel like I was able to recapture something from my life before children. I didn't purposefully quit playing when I had kids, it was more that I had other priorities and so playing violin just kind of got overlooked.
My violin is no longer in the closet. It's staying out next to the piano, and I plan to practice more regularly. Maybe I'll even start working on some works that I haven't played before! | |
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| It's really amazing to see the HUGE changes that Anna's gone through these past couple months! She's really matured a LOT and I can really appreciate the difference between Anna at 2 and Anna at 3.
To start, Anna is now FINALLY potty-trained! YAY! Hip Hip Hooray! Yipeee! [Doing the Happy Dance] :-)
What we did to finally get Anna "over the hump" so to speak, was to give her an incentive. She really wanted to go with CJ to summer camp. But she couldn't go unless she was potty-trained. The camp they went to was great--they agreed to let Anna come and try it out for two days. I liked this summer camp because they had bathrooms with little kid-sized potties and sinks. It is very empowering for kids to be able to do everything themselves, without needing an adult's help at any point in the process, from sitting onto the potty to drying their hands off after washing them. I only wish more preschools took that example and provided small potties for the small kids!
Anyhow, the first day Anna went to camp with CJ, she had several accidents, and her outfit was changed 3 times that day. But, I brought her back the next day, and guess what? She came out in the SAME outfit I dressed her in that morning! She's been going to that camp twice a week all summer since then, because she has so much fun, and because I wanted to reinforce her potty training skills in a structured environment. She's only had a few accidents when we've been out, since then, and they have all had good reasons. A couple times it was because she had difficulty pulling down her pants (they got stuck). And one time, at a friend's house, she couldn't get the toilet seat up (there was a safety lock on the lid). :-) Other than that, she's been accident free now for about 2 weeks! The next step is potty training her for the nighttime, but that will take a little longer. I'm not nearly as worried about that, though! That will happen soon enough. And we went on a trip to Tampa (about a 2 hour drive), and Anna was in her regular underwear the whole time--and didn't have any accidents the whole time! Not having to worry about diapers during the day (or in the pool) makes life SO much easier! I'm just so excited to not have to bring diapers with me all the time! I still carry spare clothes with me in the car, but haven't had to use them in a while!
Another indication that Anna's really maturing--highlighting the difference between a 2 year old and a 3 year old, is how she's interacting in dance class. All last year in her dance class, she'd usually just listen to her teacher for at most 5 minutes, then she'd go off and do her own thing, whether it was to run around the room, hang from the bar, or go up to the mirror and admire herself. Rarely did she stay on her assigned space, and if she did it wasn't for very long. Well, Monday I took her to her first pre-Ballet class at the dance studio that CJ's been going to. Anna AMAZED me! She stayed with her group, listened to her teacher, and participated in the class and followed everything she was supposed to do! It's like something just clicked for her, and she figured out what she should be doing!
Third thing she's started doing is ice skating. Big Sister CJ has been skating for 2 years, and Anna's only just now old enough to skate herself. She had tried skates a few months ago, and wouldn't walk, and cried on the ice. Well, last week, Anna ASKED to go on the ice with Mommy and so we went around the rink (I was holding her the whole time). She took a quick break, and then wanted to come back out with me! She's even started taking brief lessons with CJ's skating coach! I think we're just going to stick with private lessons the whole time with Anna. CJ probably spent one year too many in the group lessons "Learn to Skate" program. She's improved so much faster with the private lessons! So we won't waste our time and money with that for Anna. We'll just give her the one-on-one lessons, and "practice time" with Mommy.
Fourth thing is Anna's eating. I've given updates on Anna's eating in the past, but I've already lost track of what Anna WILL eat because that list is actually quite long now! Some of her favorites are still Chicken (not just nuggets--she'll eat regular unbreaded chicken) and french fries. But, she also loves noodles and tofu! And edamame (soybeans). She's eaten carrots, broccoli, baby corn, beans, and cauliflower. She loves apples--it's her favorite fruit. She likes mangoes too. She's also eaten Boca Burgers (meat-free protein patties that are like hamburgers). It's great because we can make one food for dinner, and EVERYONE can eat the same thing!!!
Fifth thing is Anna on the computer! She's sat next to her big sister and watched her play on the computer, but Anna's hasn't really had many chances to actually play on the computer herself. When she did, she had a little bit of difficulty grasping the concept of "drag and drop" and "point and click." Well, that just (pardon the pun) clicked for her now! She has been playing on the computer herself, and has no problems moving the mouse to where she wants, clicking to pick up or select an object, and then moving the mouse to move the selected object and then clicking again. I didn't really spend much time showing her how to use the mouse, and when I did, she didn't seem to "get it" then. Now, she does it on her own! So somehow, she's figured it out on her own!
It's amazing to see how sometimes things just click for kids! | |
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