It's the last day of 2011, and I have yet to post any pics or stories from Christmas. Hopefully I can get to that tomorrow, but I didn't want to end the year without a little reflection.
2011 was a year of growth for me. It has been a year of big decisions and milestones. Thankfully, it was a year of health and togetherness with family. Rebecca started preschool and turned four years old. I got the job that I had been waiting on for more than a year, then decided that it wasn't what was best for our family. I went from volunteering at Casa Colina to gain hours towards licensure to a part time job to a full time job to a permanent position and raise. I passed my licensure exams and got my psychologist license. Ramy left the land of felony trials and began as a supervisor. We put our first home on the market and fell in love with a new home in a new city. Rebecca finally stopped sleeping in our bed! Grammy spent all the holidays with us. For the first time in my life, I didn't have Christmas in Tennessee.
2011 was a good year for me and for our family. There were a few tears but far more laughter. God has blessed us tremendously and we are grateful. Tomorrow brings a new year, and I pray that it will be a joyful, healthy, loving one.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Waiting on Snowy
Snowy, our Elf on the Shelf, has really been mischievous this year. He has been getting into all kinds of things! Rebecca loves to race around the house each morning to discover where Snowy is and what he has gotten into overnight.
One night recently, Ramy made Rebecca a promise that they could stay up all night and try to catch Snowy leaving to go back to the North Pole. So they camped out in Rebecca's play room (because Snowy had been hiding on the plantation blinds in her room that day). Ramy ended up falling asleep about an hour into the night watch, but Rebecca made it at least another 45 minutes after he did. I came in to check on them and found that Snowy was already gone and they were asleep! I woke them up to see if they had seen him leave, but he was too sneaky for them! That sneaky Snowy waited until they were asleep, and then he was off to the North Pole!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Christmas Program
Thursday night was Rebecca's Christmas program at her preschool. I will be posting clips from the video so check back to see all of them as I add them.
Thanksgiving 2011
Yeah, I am really behind in doing some actual posts, rather than little snippets on ToT. And pictures! Where have the pictures been? I have no idea. But here's to trying to improve on those things.
We started the morning with a leisurely french toast casserole while we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Afterwards, we watched the dog show while we cooked. This was our first Thanksgiving in the new house, and it was such a pleasure to cook in my new kitchen! There was plenty of room to have different projects underway in various places on the countertops, while also having someone (my mom!) cleaning without us tripping over each other.
Rebecca was a tremendous help in making the decorations. She began her projects a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving and had quite an assortment of things. She made little turkey art projects with craft foamboard and feathers and googly eyes, which we made into place cards. Rebecca added her collection of tiny pumpkins to the dining room table also.
I had twig pumpkins that I had planned to use for centerpieces, but that was just not fancy enough for Rebecca. For the table where we had the food, she added a handprint turkey she did on a spare piece of cardboard. Probably two weeks before Thanksgiving, she folded paper napkins into triangles and then glued them into place with a glue stick. This was very fancy indeed. As she set her tablescape, she added a stuffed bird and a baby Jesus Christmas tree ornament. This completed her look and she was quite pleased.
Rebecca also helped me make another centerpiece for the main table from flowers and herbs we bought at the farmers market in my fairytale pumpkin. She only would not participate in the cutting of the pumpking, "because that stuff inside is GROSS!" I thought it turned out really nicely, compared to the similar one they had at Costco for $40.
Not everyone in our household was as helpful.
Just kidding. Ramy took out the trash regularly and didn't ask too many questions. Actually, Ramy did the nicest thing by befriending our neighborhood security guard who was on duty and has to make rounds of all the building construction sites every 2 hours. He's a nice Filipino man whose wife is still in the Philippines. So he was both alone and working on Thanksgiving, until Ramy convinced him to join us for Thanksgiving dinner. We were pleased to have our new friend Rod with us for dinner.
Myrna, Ed, and Jessica came by for appetizers on their way to their other-side-of-the-family obligations. We had cheese straws and sausage balls as appetizers.
Then Grandma and Auntie Theresa came over and Rebecca entertained them while we finished up preparing for the meal. We had turkey breast, honeybaked ham, cornbread dressing, hashbrown casserole, creamed corn, macaroni and cheese, and homemade rolls. Dessert included pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, and vanilla bean pound cake.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Ten on Tuesday
1. December is moving way too quickly! I think I've actually gotten less Christmas shopping done to this point than ever before. It is 19 days until Christmas! I have so much to do! We have almost no free nights left between now and Christmas. I think tomorrow night and maybe one random Thursday night, but that's it until 2012.
2. On Friday, we went to tour Western Christian School, which is a school that we are considering for Rebecca. It was a lovely school, and we felt really good about the possibility of sending her there. We will consider a few others, and she will have to do entrance testing in the spring, and we also have to do an interview (that could kill it right there!), but we will put it in God's hands to see where He wants her to attend school.
3. Kindergarten is not the same as it was when we were in school. My child is bright, but after hearing about their expectations, I have to admit that I engaged in a bit of quizzing to see how much she knew. I think the only things we may be "behind" on are that she doesn't have our address memorized and she doesn't know our telephone number. Cut the kid some slack though, we just moved a few months ago, and the post office and Google Maps don't even know our correct address! Plus, what exactly is her phone number? Our home number? A lot of good it will do for her to know that one! I would much rather her know my cell phone number, which could actually be useful if she needs to tell someone how to call us. And Ramy doesn't even have that memorized. Otherwise, she is good to go.
4. Today, Rebecca won the "Angel of the Day" award for spreading joy. Oh, how she is indeed a joy-bringer!
5. Thursday night is her Christmas program at preschool. She is an angel and has a line and lots of songs. They said they should wear their "Sunday best." Was that a challenge or what?
6. Last weekend, Rebecca told me that she and two of her friends (Zanya and Ireland) like to swing on the tire swing and make up songs. They made up a song about heaven, which they sang quite loudly. Rebecca explained that that was how they praised God. She went on to tell us how, when she and Ireland and Zanya were swinging and praising God, the sun shone brighter.
7. A bit of fashion advice: Faux fur vests are currently trendy, wearable by most body types, and of the sort that can be dressed up for work or down for casual. I bought into this trend. Today I wore my faux fur vest to work. However, I made the mistake of wearing it with black. Hence, I looked like I had spent the night curled up with a Great Pyrenees. I was also told that it reminded them of Cruella de Ville. I took that as a compliment.
8. Speaking of fashion, Ramy and I will be attending the Casa Colina Holiday Party at the Fairplex this Saturday night. It is a command performance. However, I hear that there is an open bar and a lot of prizes that are given away, so we'll see what happens. By the way, "open bar" is really not a big draw for me. In fact, I will be avoiding it completely. I consume alcohol approximately once every 18 months, and libation causes lowered inhibition, which is the last thing that needs to be going on at a work function. Loose lips sink ships.
9. I have spent a lot of time considering what to wear to said Christmas party. It has resulted in the purchase (and return) of a skirt outfit and three dresses, all of which are in some shade of black. We will see what I will ultimately end up wearing probably around 5:45 p.m. on Saturday evening.
10. I may have found the most delicious pair of tall black leather boots that fit and do not bag at the ankles. And I may be getting them for Christmas.
2. On Friday, we went to tour Western Christian School, which is a school that we are considering for Rebecca. It was a lovely school, and we felt really good about the possibility of sending her there. We will consider a few others, and she will have to do entrance testing in the spring, and we also have to do an interview (that could kill it right there!), but we will put it in God's hands to see where He wants her to attend school.
3. Kindergarten is not the same as it was when we were in school. My child is bright, but after hearing about their expectations, I have to admit that I engaged in a bit of quizzing to see how much she knew. I think the only things we may be "behind" on are that she doesn't have our address memorized and she doesn't know our telephone number. Cut the kid some slack though, we just moved a few months ago, and the post office and Google Maps don't even know our correct address! Plus, what exactly is her phone number? Our home number? A lot of good it will do for her to know that one! I would much rather her know my cell phone number, which could actually be useful if she needs to tell someone how to call us. And Ramy doesn't even have that memorized. Otherwise, she is good to go.
4. Today, Rebecca won the "Angel of the Day" award for spreading joy. Oh, how she is indeed a joy-bringer!
5. Thursday night is her Christmas program at preschool. She is an angel and has a line and lots of songs. They said they should wear their "Sunday best." Was that a challenge or what?
6. Last weekend, Rebecca told me that she and two of her friends (Zanya and Ireland) like to swing on the tire swing and make up songs. They made up a song about heaven, which they sang quite loudly. Rebecca explained that that was how they praised God. She went on to tell us how, when she and Ireland and Zanya were swinging and praising God, the sun shone brighter.
7. A bit of fashion advice: Faux fur vests are currently trendy, wearable by most body types, and of the sort that can be dressed up for work or down for casual. I bought into this trend. Today I wore my faux fur vest to work. However, I made the mistake of wearing it with black. Hence, I looked like I had spent the night curled up with a Great Pyrenees. I was also told that it reminded them of Cruella de Ville. I took that as a compliment.
8. Speaking of fashion, Ramy and I will be attending the Casa Colina Holiday Party at the Fairplex this Saturday night. It is a command performance. However, I hear that there is an open bar and a lot of prizes that are given away, so we'll see what happens. By the way, "open bar" is really not a big draw for me. In fact, I will be avoiding it completely. I consume alcohol approximately once every 18 months, and libation causes lowered inhibition, which is the last thing that needs to be going on at a work function. Loose lips sink ships.
9. I have spent a lot of time considering what to wear to said Christmas party. It has resulted in the purchase (and return) of a skirt outfit and three dresses, all of which are in some shade of black. We will see what I will ultimately end up wearing probably around 5:45 p.m. on Saturday evening.
10. I may have found the most delicious pair of tall black leather boots that fit and do not bag at the ankles. And I may be getting them for Christmas.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Ten on Tuesday
1. What happened to me last week? Why didn't I post anything, not even a ToT? I don't know. I have no good excuse for you.
2. We had a lovely Thanksgiving. Preparing and cleaning up for a big meal was so much better in the new house with a kitchen actually large enough for such a task.
3. Rebecca contributed all sorts of decorations, including hand-drawn turkey centerpiece for the food table, turkey place markers with feathers and googly eyes, and paper napkins folded in half and then glued shut. She also stuck a Model Magic birthday cake and a baby Jesus ornament on the table as additional decorations for the food table.
4. As soon as Thanksgiving was over, we started decorating for Christmas! The tree is up. The mantle has some gorgeous garland, as does the archway between the hall and dining room. Still more to do, and I feel sure that I'll be adding new stuff every year but we're off to a good start.
5. How is it that I am decisive and taking action on decorating for Christmas, when there has been absolutely no decoration of the rest of the house with the exception of Rebecca's room since we moved in five months ago? Too much pressure to do that, I think.
6. If you usually send us a Christmas card, please note that our address has changed to:
14788 Oak Leaf Dr., Eastvale, CA 92880
7. We went shopping on Black Friday, as always. We made out with some great deals. However, now that I am considering it, I am not sure that I actually bought any presents. Rebecca certainly got a boatload of new clothes. I bought myself a faux fur vest and some shoes. I got some stuff for our house. But, no presents. Ooops.
8. It was so hard to go back to work on Monday. I had five days off, which was glorious. It was a nice break from Casa, which I really needed. But boy was it hard to go in on Monday afterward!
9. Mother and I have been trying to convince Rebecca to go to the movies with us. Grammy wants to see Happy Feet, and I want to see The Muppets. Rebecca isn't interested. She assures us she will watch them when she can see them at home instead of in the theater. She also suggested that if we wanted to see them so much, we should just go together and she would stay home. She's one tough cookie, that girl!
10. On Friday, we will be touring a potential school for Rebecca. It looks to be exactly what we want for her, but we'll see what the vibe is in person. She'll have to have testing in the spring and we have to do a formal interview and get letters of recommendation. It's hard to believe that we are preparing to enroll her in "real" school. Gulp.
2. We had a lovely Thanksgiving. Preparing and cleaning up for a big meal was so much better in the new house with a kitchen actually large enough for such a task.
3. Rebecca contributed all sorts of decorations, including hand-drawn turkey centerpiece for the food table, turkey place markers with feathers and googly eyes, and paper napkins folded in half and then glued shut. She also stuck a Model Magic birthday cake and a baby Jesus ornament on the table as additional decorations for the food table.
4. As soon as Thanksgiving was over, we started decorating for Christmas! The tree is up. The mantle has some gorgeous garland, as does the archway between the hall and dining room. Still more to do, and I feel sure that I'll be adding new stuff every year but we're off to a good start.
5. How is it that I am decisive and taking action on decorating for Christmas, when there has been absolutely no decoration of the rest of the house with the exception of Rebecca's room since we moved in five months ago? Too much pressure to do that, I think.
6. If you usually send us a Christmas card, please note that our address has changed to:
14788 Oak Leaf Dr., Eastvale, CA 92880
7. We went shopping on Black Friday, as always. We made out with some great deals. However, now that I am considering it, I am not sure that I actually bought any presents. Rebecca certainly got a boatload of new clothes. I bought myself a faux fur vest and some shoes. I got some stuff for our house. But, no presents. Ooops.
8. It was so hard to go back to work on Monday. I had five days off, which was glorious. It was a nice break from Casa, which I really needed. But boy was it hard to go in on Monday afterward!
9. Mother and I have been trying to convince Rebecca to go to the movies with us. Grammy wants to see Happy Feet, and I want to see The Muppets. Rebecca isn't interested. She assures us she will watch them when she can see them at home instead of in the theater. She also suggested that if we wanted to see them so much, we should just go together and she would stay home. She's one tough cookie, that girl!
10. On Friday, we will be touring a potential school for Rebecca. It looks to be exactly what we want for her, but we'll see what the vibe is in person. She'll have to have testing in the spring and we have to do a formal interview and get letters of recommendation. It's hard to believe that we are preparing to enroll her in "real" school. Gulp.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Ten on Tuesday
1. Last week, Rebecca won the "Turkey Award." This is actually a good thing! Each month's award has something related to the month (e.g., September = Apple award, October = Pumpkin award, November = Turkey award). She got the award for "thoughtfulness," as she helped a peer find something they had lost without being asked to do so.
2. When she told me about this award, she said, "Mama, I'm the turkey of the day!"
3. Tonight, she told us that in school they each had to say something they are thankful for today. She said that she was thankful for "mama, because she snuggles me before I go to sleep every night." Awwwwww! That was the nicest thing I've heard all month!
4. I finally have official business cards. With my name and title and license number on them. Seems legit, huh?
5. Pinterest keeps losing some of my pins. What the heck happens to them? I had a whole board of Christmas ideas and they are all gone.
6. I'm entering the Casa Colina Bake-Off on Thursday. Part of me wants to make something so fabulous that I knock the socks of the judges. The other part of me just wants to go to bed early. I'm not sure which will win tomorrow night when I have to come up with this creation.
7. We got our housekeeper ladies back last week. It was one of the happiest days of my life. I came home to the smell of bleach and lemon Pledge, and there was no dust on my plantation shutters.
8. XM Holly station is on! It's now all Christmas music all the time!
9. If you want to keep up with all the Christmas movies that will be coming on television, then here's a great website for you so that you don't miss anything!
10. Please watch the 20/20 special on Gabrielle Giffords, if you can find the full episode online. It was really great. They showed a true picture of brain injury recovery, the hard work, the frustration and tears, and the way that even a miraculous recovery doesn't mean someone is back to 100%. They didn't have any neuropsych on the show though, which was a bummer though.
2. When she told me about this award, she said, "Mama, I'm the turkey of the day!"
3. Tonight, she told us that in school they each had to say something they are thankful for today. She said that she was thankful for "mama, because she snuggles me before I go to sleep every night." Awwwwww! That was the nicest thing I've heard all month!
4. I finally have official business cards. With my name and title and license number on them. Seems legit, huh?
5. Pinterest keeps losing some of my pins. What the heck happens to them? I had a whole board of Christmas ideas and they are all gone.
6. I'm entering the Casa Colina Bake-Off on Thursday. Part of me wants to make something so fabulous that I knock the socks of the judges. The other part of me just wants to go to bed early. I'm not sure which will win tomorrow night when I have to come up with this creation.
7. We got our housekeeper ladies back last week. It was one of the happiest days of my life. I came home to the smell of bleach and lemon Pledge, and there was no dust on my plantation shutters.
8. XM Holly station is on! It's now all Christmas music all the time!
9. If you want to keep up with all the Christmas movies that will be coming on television, then here's a great website for you so that you don't miss anything!
10. Please watch the 20/20 special on Gabrielle Giffords, if you can find the full episode online. It was really great. They showed a true picture of brain injury recovery, the hard work, the frustration and tears, and the way that even a miraculous recovery doesn't mean someone is back to 100%. They didn't have any neuropsych on the show though, which was a bummer though.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
This morning, Rebecca decided that we HAD to send a letter to Snowy to be sure that he would know that we moved. After all, last year, he came to us in Chino Hills, then had to meet us in Tennessee. So he could very well be confused about where to come to find us. And even though we'll have to write a letter to Santa separately, she wanted to get the jump on telling him that she wanted a Josefina (American Girl) doll!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Ten on Tuesday
1. Halloween pics to come tomorrow! Our girl was a queen. A nice queen. We trick-or-treated with Rebecca's cousin-twin Hannah and her mom Jasmine.
2. The highlight of trick-or-treating was NOT the candy. It was the ringing of doorbells. The girls took turns ringing doorbells. We came across several homes where the people were sitting outside or groups of neighbors had a little block party in the driveway. These things were huge disappointments for our girls, because it meant they didn't get to ring the doorbell.
3. Rebecca got a SACK full of candy. She ate 2 or 3 pieces last night and then I put 2 pieces in her lunch box. And I got busted. Apparently there is a no candy rule at school. Rebecca scolded me for it this evening. Geez, not even a piece of your Halloween candy on November 1st?
4. This evening, I felt as though I earned the award for terrible mom of the year. Rebecca got covered in mosquito bites while we were trick-or-treating last night. Mosquitoes LOVE her sweet blood apparently. Poor girl!
5. Rebecca was sick toward the end of last week. Ramy picked her up early from school on Thursday, and we skipped her last night of hula because she was running a fever and feeling achy. She was better on Friday but ran a brief fever again that evening. By Saturday she was all better, though she milked it for one more night to get to sleep with mommy.
6. I don't understand the frenzy over Kim Kardashian getting a divorce 72 days after her wedding. First of all, these are reality tv stars who film their entire lives for fame. Secondly, did anyone else watch the wedding spectacular television event? They had nothing in common and they fought the whole time. It was clear they didn't have good communication skills or expectations and hadn't even considered anything past the honeymoon location. And finally, what's it to us? Yeah, she had a crazy elaborate wedding and got millions in gifts and that money could better be spent on starving children in Africa. I agree, but it's not my money. That money was spent whether they divorced or not.
7. I think what I actually find interesting about the apparent outrage over the Kim Kardashian/Kris Humphries divorce is that many of the people I know who are so aghast about it also talk about how gay marriage would erode the sanctity of marriage. Yeah, because straight people haven't thoroughly done that already!
8. This week at work I got officially switched from being a per diem employee to a permanent employee, and I got to keep my day off. I also got a nice raise in honor of my now being licensed. That has made work a lot nicer this week, I have to admit! But actually, it has been a good couple of weeks at work (knock on wood). The stress of the internal politics weighs heavily but I really do love my patients.
9. I've already started Christmas shopping! And I have firm ideas on a few others. That's so exciting! And so unlike me. Watch - I'll get cocky and then not do any more until December 20 and I'll be on here freaking out.
10. Goals for this week: Get Rebecca's flu shot (last appointment cancelled because she has been sick).
2. The highlight of trick-or-treating was NOT the candy. It was the ringing of doorbells. The girls took turns ringing doorbells. We came across several homes where the people were sitting outside or groups of neighbors had a little block party in the driveway. These things were huge disappointments for our girls, because it meant they didn't get to ring the doorbell.
3. Rebecca got a SACK full of candy. She ate 2 or 3 pieces last night and then I put 2 pieces in her lunch box. And I got busted. Apparently there is a no candy rule at school. Rebecca scolded me for it this evening. Geez, not even a piece of your Halloween candy on November 1st?
4. This evening, I felt as though I earned the award for terrible mom of the year. Rebecca got covered in mosquito bites while we were trick-or-treating last night. Mosquitoes LOVE her sweet blood apparently. Poor girl!
5. Rebecca was sick toward the end of last week. Ramy picked her up early from school on Thursday, and we skipped her last night of hula because she was running a fever and feeling achy. She was better on Friday but ran a brief fever again that evening. By Saturday she was all better, though she milked it for one more night to get to sleep with mommy.
6. I don't understand the frenzy over Kim Kardashian getting a divorce 72 days after her wedding. First of all, these are reality tv stars who film their entire lives for fame. Secondly, did anyone else watch the wedding spectacular television event? They had nothing in common and they fought the whole time. It was clear they didn't have good communication skills or expectations and hadn't even considered anything past the honeymoon location. And finally, what's it to us? Yeah, she had a crazy elaborate wedding and got millions in gifts and that money could better be spent on starving children in Africa. I agree, but it's not my money. That money was spent whether they divorced or not.
7. I think what I actually find interesting about the apparent outrage over the Kim Kardashian/Kris Humphries divorce is that many of the people I know who are so aghast about it also talk about how gay marriage would erode the sanctity of marriage. Yeah, because straight people haven't thoroughly done that already!
8. This week at work I got officially switched from being a per diem employee to a permanent employee, and I got to keep my day off. I also got a nice raise in honor of my now being licensed. That has made work a lot nicer this week, I have to admit! But actually, it has been a good couple of weeks at work (knock on wood). The stress of the internal politics weighs heavily but I really do love my patients.
9. I've already started Christmas shopping! And I have firm ideas on a few others. That's so exciting! And so unlike me. Watch - I'll get cocky and then not do any more until December 20 and I'll be on here freaking out.
10. Goals for this week: Get Rebecca's flu shot (last appointment cancelled because she has been sick).
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Pumpkin Patch
Last weekend, we met up with the Woltil family to take in a pumpkin patch. We headed out to the border of Hollywood and Beverly Hills, which, as you can imagine, is not exactly a place where they grow pumpkins. It was the same one that we went to last year - Mr. Bones.
And once again, Rebecca's favorite thing was the hay maze. This year, I wasn't able to capture nearly as many pics of her, because she's so fast!
Julie and I dressed up for the outing, see?
Then it was time for face painting. Rebecca again decided to get a spider in a web. With sparkles.
A new addition to Mr. Bones pumpkin patch this year was the pony rides. Rebecca had a blast! She named her horsie Cinnamon.
(Rebecca and Addie would give each other the thumbs up sign across the ride)
Next, it was on to the petting zoo, where Rebecca was particularly fond of the goats.
At last, it was time to pick out the pumpkins. Rebecca settled on two baby pumpkins and one small pumpkin.
These three were determined to not all look at the camera at the same time. But when you're this cute, who cares?
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Ten on Tuesday
1. Today my husband did something that made me fall in love with him all over again. Not that I had fallen out of love with him anyway. But it made me love him even more. It was hat day at preschool. Naturally, since Rebecca hadn't been to school since last Thursday, we forgot. I thought about it when I was pulling into work and was upset that Rebecca might be the only one who didn't have a hat. Our knight in shining armor came to the rescue and went home to find Rebecca's favorite floppy hat. He couldn't find it, so he went to the Halloween store and bought her a white cowgirl hat and took it to her at school so she would have it for hat day. She was so happy and has worn it all night too.
2. Rebecca has chapel on Wednesdays. I always look forward to hearing her rendition of what they learned about that day. And let me tell you, this is no Noah and the Ark and Baby Jesus kind of chapel. It's serious stuff. Most of the time, Rebecca is able to give you a play-by-play of the story from beginning to end. Sometimes, however, she has a hard time remembering, but she can wing it. Particularly with the ending.
3. Two weeks ago was the story of Moses and the burning bush. Rebecca recounted that "Moses was in the desert walking around and saw a tree that was ON FIRE. And he talked to it and it was God and then he took his people and took them home. And God took care of them." The next week, she told us about "Jah-suh-fuh." Who? "Jos-a-fuh." I thought he might be kin to "Jo-phus," who is Jesus' father. But no, I finally figured out she was talking about Joshua. So asked her to tell me the story. She said, "God told Jos-a-fah to go to Jericho and march around the city and blow a HORN! And the wall fell DOWN!" I said, "And then what happened?" She said to me wisely, "Well, God took care of them." She proceeded to sing me the song over and over and over and over. Then I had it in my mind and was walking through the aisles of Costco singing it. Last week, she said she learned about "these 3 brothers." I wasn't following it until somehow the Lord put into my mind that she was talking about Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego. I said, "Well what do you know about them?" She paused and said they were thrown into a fire because they loved God. "Well what happened then?", I said. Rebecca nodded and said, "God took care of them!" So that's the take-home message of all Bible stories in her book.
4. Rebecca is looking forward to Halloween. She is going as a "queen. Not a princess. A queen! But not a mean queen, a nice queen." Got that? Even more exciting to Rebecca, however, is that Sydney and Paddington have costumes also. They are going as Superman Dog and Wonder Woman Dog. She and I attempted to try their costumes on them. Let's just say that it will be an adventure to get them into these contraptions and have them stay in them long enough to snap a picture. But it is worth the delight Rebecca has had in thinking about it.
5. Rebecca has become a big fan of talking expressively. I know. I have no clue where she gets that! She's also become very animated in the using of her hands to talk. She loves talking on the phone to Grammy and demands phone time any time it rings. She walks around the whole house, jabbering and and making melodramatic hand gestures. Then she randomly decides she's had enough, says "okay, bye Grammy" and hands me the phone.
6. I did indeed survive last week. It was hellacious, but I survived. Thank you for the prayers that I not spout off at the mouth and inhibited the inclination to run around cursing at people. It's been a better week so far this week, thank God. Things will be changing though, I feel sure.
7. Last night as we were getting ready for bed, Rebecca asked me why germs were so small. I told her that they didn't want us to be able to see them so they were very tiny so that they could hop on our hands when we touch things and then we touch our faces and they hop off into our nose and mouths to make us sick.
She accepted that but then said, "who makes germs?" "Does God make germs?"
I couldn't come up with the best answer for how God doesn't make anything bad right off the top of my head but no matter, Rebecca had already come to her own conclusion.
She said, "Are they from Hellman?"
Me: "What?"
Rebecca: "Hellman!"
Me: "What's Hellman?"
Rebecca: "Hellman!" You know, that bad place where that angel that tried to be higher than God lives!"
I figured out that she was talking about HELL but got it confused with the name of the street in front of our house - Hellman Avenue.
8. For the first time in my life, it won't be a Tender Tennessee Christmas. We're having the thing that I swore I would never stand for - a Christmas with palm trees. There better not be a heat wave. If there is, I'm cranking up the a/c to 32 degrees and it may snow inside our house. But even though I'm not thrilled, there are some positives that I'm looking forward to. Like the chance to get to see all the things at the holidays around here that I've never had time to do - like the Mission Inn. A dozen different theaters doing versions of A Christmas Carol. Our church's Christmas Eve children's service. Breakfast with Santa. A good excuse to buy a new taller, bigger Christmas tree for the new house.
9. For the past couple of weeks, we had Flat Bailey visiting us from Tennessee, based on the Flat Stanley project. My childhood pal Cathy's little girl Bailey is participating in it for her school, and we were excited to have Flat Bailey visit us in California. We took her on a tour of Hollywood. Rebecca was sad to see her go back and said "I liked that cute girl!"
10. On my quest to make a different pumpkin recipe every weekend until Thanksgiving, this weekend I made pumpkin bread with a new recipe. It was a total score! Stay tuned for the recipe.
2. Rebecca has chapel on Wednesdays. I always look forward to hearing her rendition of what they learned about that day. And let me tell you, this is no Noah and the Ark and Baby Jesus kind of chapel. It's serious stuff. Most of the time, Rebecca is able to give you a play-by-play of the story from beginning to end. Sometimes, however, she has a hard time remembering, but she can wing it. Particularly with the ending.
3. Two weeks ago was the story of Moses and the burning bush. Rebecca recounted that "Moses was in the desert walking around and saw a tree that was ON FIRE. And he talked to it and it was God and then he took his people and took them home. And God took care of them." The next week, she told us about "Jah-suh-fuh." Who? "Jos-a-fuh." I thought he might be kin to "Jo-phus," who is Jesus' father. But no, I finally figured out she was talking about Joshua. So asked her to tell me the story. She said, "God told Jos-a-fah to go to Jericho and march around the city and blow a HORN! And the wall fell DOWN!" I said, "And then what happened?" She said to me wisely, "Well, God took care of them." She proceeded to sing me the song over and over and over and over. Then I had it in my mind and was walking through the aisles of Costco singing it. Last week, she said she learned about "these 3 brothers." I wasn't following it until somehow the Lord put into my mind that she was talking about Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego. I said, "Well what do you know about them?" She paused and said they were thrown into a fire because they loved God. "Well what happened then?", I said. Rebecca nodded and said, "God took care of them!" So that's the take-home message of all Bible stories in her book.
4. Rebecca is looking forward to Halloween. She is going as a "queen. Not a princess. A queen! But not a mean queen, a nice queen." Got that? Even more exciting to Rebecca, however, is that Sydney and Paddington have costumes also. They are going as Superman Dog and Wonder Woman Dog. She and I attempted to try their costumes on them. Let's just say that it will be an adventure to get them into these contraptions and have them stay in them long enough to snap a picture. But it is worth the delight Rebecca has had in thinking about it.
5. Rebecca has become a big fan of talking expressively. I know. I have no clue where she gets that! She's also become very animated in the using of her hands to talk. She loves talking on the phone to Grammy and demands phone time any time it rings. She walks around the whole house, jabbering and and making melodramatic hand gestures. Then she randomly decides she's had enough, says "okay, bye Grammy" and hands me the phone.
6. I did indeed survive last week. It was hellacious, but I survived. Thank you for the prayers that I not spout off at the mouth and inhibited the inclination to run around cursing at people. It's been a better week so far this week, thank God. Things will be changing though, I feel sure.
7. Last night as we were getting ready for bed, Rebecca asked me why germs were so small. I told her that they didn't want us to be able to see them so they were very tiny so that they could hop on our hands when we touch things and then we touch our faces and they hop off into our nose and mouths to make us sick.
She accepted that but then said, "who makes germs?" "Does God make germs?"
I couldn't come up with the best answer for how God doesn't make anything bad right off the top of my head but no matter, Rebecca had already come to her own conclusion.
She said, "Are they from Hellman?"
Me: "What?"
Rebecca: "Hellman!"
Me: "What's Hellman?"
Rebecca: "Hellman!" You know, that bad place where that angel that tried to be higher than God lives!"
I figured out that she was talking about HELL but got it confused with the name of the street in front of our house - Hellman Avenue.
8. For the first time in my life, it won't be a Tender Tennessee Christmas. We're having the thing that I swore I would never stand for - a Christmas with palm trees. There better not be a heat wave. If there is, I'm cranking up the a/c to 32 degrees and it may snow inside our house. But even though I'm not thrilled, there are some positives that I'm looking forward to. Like the chance to get to see all the things at the holidays around here that I've never had time to do - like the Mission Inn. A dozen different theaters doing versions of A Christmas Carol. Our church's Christmas Eve children's service. Breakfast with Santa. A good excuse to buy a new taller, bigger Christmas tree for the new house.
9. For the past couple of weeks, we had Flat Bailey visiting us from Tennessee, based on the Flat Stanley project. My childhood pal Cathy's little girl Bailey is participating in it for her school, and we were excited to have Flat Bailey visit us in California. We took her on a tour of Hollywood. Rebecca was sad to see her go back and said "I liked that cute girl!"
10. On my quest to make a different pumpkin recipe every weekend until Thanksgiving, this weekend I made pumpkin bread with a new recipe. It was a total score! Stay tuned for the recipe.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Ten on Tuesday
1. I'm officially licensed! The Board of Psychology issued my license number last Tuesday. I still haven't gotten my card in the mail, but the number is the only important thing.
2. Today was Rebecca's sharing day at school. It is "G" week. Rebecca shared about her Grammy. We're never really sure what she shares, because every time you ask her about it, she tells something different (both before and after her presentation).
3. Please say a prayer for my mother-in-law who for her safe, quick trip to the Philippines and back this week.
4. Pottery Barn recently displayed an autumnal centerpiece display with rattan pumpkins. Their rattan pumpkins range from $45ish to $79. I found very similar pumpkins at Hobby Lobby when I was in Tennessee, ranging in price from $12 to $15. It was a nice find!
5. Speaking of Pottery Barn, I have a slight obsession with throw pillows and table linens that are crewel embroidered. Actually, I have an obsession with finding throw pillows that I'm in love with for our couch. I think there are just too many options and I'm paralyzed under this decision.
6. As much as I love the Real Housewives franchise, I think it may have jumped the shark. I actually fell asleep this Sunday night about 15 minutes into the first half of the New Jersey reunion special. I totally missed the Beverly Hills episode on Monday night. The drama has just reached levels that bend reality so far out even willing suspension of disbelief, and the effects are just toxic. Am I falling out of my state of being enamored with them? Horrors!
7. Rebecca has 5 Christmas dresses. Does that seem like too much?
8. I showed Rebecca a picture of a beautiful red dress I was planning to buy her for Christmas. She saw it and loved it. She said, "Oooh, I wanna wear that for Thanksgiving!" I said, "Well, I think it is better for a Christmas dress, since it is red." She said quickly and diplomatically, "Yeah, or I could wear it for Thanksgiving!" She wasn't giving up on that idea.
9. On the news, they are reporting that a zoo full of wild animals has been found to be open, with wild animals now roaming in the community. What the heck?
10. It's been a hard week. A really hard week. (At work.) Please pray for me. I need a whole lot of restraint, a hefty dose of discernment, and a clear plan/path for how to proceed.
2. Today was Rebecca's sharing day at school. It is "G" week. Rebecca shared about her Grammy. We're never really sure what she shares, because every time you ask her about it, she tells something different (both before and after her presentation).
3. Please say a prayer for my mother-in-law who for her safe, quick trip to the Philippines and back this week.
4. Pottery Barn recently displayed an autumnal centerpiece display with rattan pumpkins. Their rattan pumpkins range from $45ish to $79. I found very similar pumpkins at Hobby Lobby when I was in Tennessee, ranging in price from $12 to $15. It was a nice find!
5. Speaking of Pottery Barn, I have a slight obsession with throw pillows and table linens that are crewel embroidered. Actually, I have an obsession with finding throw pillows that I'm in love with for our couch. I think there are just too many options and I'm paralyzed under this decision.
6. As much as I love the Real Housewives franchise, I think it may have jumped the shark. I actually fell asleep this Sunday night about 15 minutes into the first half of the New Jersey reunion special. I totally missed the Beverly Hills episode on Monday night. The drama has just reached levels that bend reality so far out even willing suspension of disbelief, and the effects are just toxic. Am I falling out of my state of being enamored with them? Horrors!
7. Rebecca has 5 Christmas dresses. Does that seem like too much?
8. I showed Rebecca a picture of a beautiful red dress I was planning to buy her for Christmas. She saw it and loved it. She said, "Oooh, I wanna wear that for Thanksgiving!" I said, "Well, I think it is better for a Christmas dress, since it is red." She said quickly and diplomatically, "Yeah, or I could wear it for Thanksgiving!" She wasn't giving up on that idea.
9. On the news, they are reporting that a zoo full of wild animals has been found to be open, with wild animals now roaming in the community. What the heck?
10. It's been a hard week. A really hard week. (At work.) Please pray for me. I need a whole lot of restraint, a hefty dose of discernment, and a clear plan/path for how to proceed.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Ten on Tuesday
1. I passed the CPSE yesterday! It is such a huge relief, I can't even describe it. Actually, finding out I passed the test was rather anti-climactic. The test proctors who had no idea if I was taking a test for my dog walker license or my psychologist license just print off something after returning my ID to me. I scanned it for a millisecond to find the word "Congratulations!" and then ran out the door. The idea of being DONE with this whole long process is what is such a relief.
2. I stopped at the post office on the way back to work after finding out that I passed to mail in the form to demand the Board of Psychology issue my license. I was going to overnight that sucker to Sacramento until I realized the cutoff time for Express Mail is at 12:30, so I sent it Priority Mail instead. It will be there on Wednesday. Since I already sent in my initial license fee, hopefully I will avoid a lengthy delay in their issuance of it. I'll start stalking the website to see if it lists it starting on Thursday.
3. Did you notice above that I said "on the way back to work after finding out that I passed..."? Yes, I went to work yesterday morning. Left at lunch to drive to El Monte and take the exam. Then I went back to work, arriving at 4:00 to attend a neuropsychology department meeting. That's dedication, isn't it?
4. Not really. If it weren't for the fact that I'm going to be leaving early on Wednesday and off the rest of the week, I would have just taken the whole day off. But I have a lot to do before I go away for a few days. Rebecca and I are heading to Tennessee for a few days and are looking forward to it!
5. We've had a rough go of the sickies in our house in the past few weeks. Rebecca and I got a coughing sickness about two and a half weeks ago. We got over it. Then last week, I got sick again - sore throat, congested nose, and then more coughing. Ramy got some of that this past weekend too. Then yesterday evening, Rebecca started feeling sick from some kind of tummy upset. Jury is still out on the exact nature of her illness.
6. I realize that I should have changed the blog header and theme this week. Unfortunately, Blogger has revamped their design and I can't find the location of where I change it. Hopefully soon!
7. Rebecca is loving pre-K this year. She enjoys "centers" the most. She also likes when they have "sharing day," which for her is on Tuesdays. On Sharing Day, a subset of students bring something to talk about that is related to one of the themes of the week (e.g., letter/number/shape/color/Bible verse/theme of the week). It's a good first opportunity to become comfortable with public speaking. Rebecca wings it as an extemporaneous speaker each week. I tried practicing it with her a couple of weeks, but every time she does it, she says something different. I think she probably stands up and talks about her topic until they make her stop. This week is "E" week. Guess who she is going to be talking about? Lord have mercy.
8. Her other favorite thing about Pre-K is the opportunity to be a teacher's helper. Every day, they have a line leader, an American flag holder, a Christian flag holder, a Bible holder, and the teacher's helper. With that many jobs, it's almost assured every student will get to have a role once a week or so. Last week, Rebecca was ecstatic that she got to be the holder of one of the flags. She said, "It was so exciting!" She has yet to get to be THE teacher's helper, which is the person who passes out the nap mats and directs people to change centers. I think the power may be dizzifying.
9. In a note to demonstrate how glamorous our life is, one of the most sensational things going on at our house has been that we have had gophers in the back yard. There were some gopher mounds Ramy had noticed. Well, Sydney noticed them also, and there is NOTHING that will keep her from trying to GET THOSE GOPHERS. She races into the yard, ignoring our demands that she do her business and leave the gopher holes alone and digs like her life depends on it. Rebecca let her out the other day and by the time Ramy noticed, she had dug down to expose the pipes for our sprinkler system. We've tried vinegar. We've tried dog deterrant. She scoffs at those things. Ramy has put the gopher traps into the holes, but no dice. I think Sydney destroys their holes and they move on before we can get the trap in.
10. I apologize for the lack of posting lately. As you can tell, things have been busy. I am determined to achieve a better sense of balance in my life now that I'm done with the tests and things look to be settled a bit at work. That's my goal! Hopefully that will mean more time to take pictures during more good family time and more blogging!
2. I stopped at the post office on the way back to work after finding out that I passed to mail in the form to demand the Board of Psychology issue my license. I was going to overnight that sucker to Sacramento until I realized the cutoff time for Express Mail is at 12:30, so I sent it Priority Mail instead. It will be there on Wednesday. Since I already sent in my initial license fee, hopefully I will avoid a lengthy delay in their issuance of it. I'll start stalking the website to see if it lists it starting on Thursday.
3. Did you notice above that I said "on the way back to work after finding out that I passed..."? Yes, I went to work yesterday morning. Left at lunch to drive to El Monte and take the exam. Then I went back to work, arriving at 4:00 to attend a neuropsychology department meeting. That's dedication, isn't it?
4. Not really. If it weren't for the fact that I'm going to be leaving early on Wednesday and off the rest of the week, I would have just taken the whole day off. But I have a lot to do before I go away for a few days. Rebecca and I are heading to Tennessee for a few days and are looking forward to it!
5. We've had a rough go of the sickies in our house in the past few weeks. Rebecca and I got a coughing sickness about two and a half weeks ago. We got over it. Then last week, I got sick again - sore throat, congested nose, and then more coughing. Ramy got some of that this past weekend too. Then yesterday evening, Rebecca started feeling sick from some kind of tummy upset. Jury is still out on the exact nature of her illness.
6. I realize that I should have changed the blog header and theme this week. Unfortunately, Blogger has revamped their design and I can't find the location of where I change it. Hopefully soon!
7. Rebecca is loving pre-K this year. She enjoys "centers" the most. She also likes when they have "sharing day," which for her is on Tuesdays. On Sharing Day, a subset of students bring something to talk about that is related to one of the themes of the week (e.g., letter/number/shape/color/Bible verse/theme of the week). It's a good first opportunity to become comfortable with public speaking. Rebecca wings it as an extemporaneous speaker each week. I tried practicing it with her a couple of weeks, but every time she does it, she says something different. I think she probably stands up and talks about her topic until they make her stop. This week is "E" week. Guess who she is going to be talking about? Lord have mercy.
8. Her other favorite thing about Pre-K is the opportunity to be a teacher's helper. Every day, they have a line leader, an American flag holder, a Christian flag holder, a Bible holder, and the teacher's helper. With that many jobs, it's almost assured every student will get to have a role once a week or so. Last week, Rebecca was ecstatic that she got to be the holder of one of the flags. She said, "It was so exciting!" She has yet to get to be THE teacher's helper, which is the person who passes out the nap mats and directs people to change centers. I think the power may be dizzifying.
9. In a note to demonstrate how glamorous our life is, one of the most sensational things going on at our house has been that we have had gophers in the back yard. There were some gopher mounds Ramy had noticed. Well, Sydney noticed them also, and there is NOTHING that will keep her from trying to GET THOSE GOPHERS. She races into the yard, ignoring our demands that she do her business and leave the gopher holes alone and digs like her life depends on it. Rebecca let her out the other day and by the time Ramy noticed, she had dug down to expose the pipes for our sprinkler system. We've tried vinegar. We've tried dog deterrant. She scoffs at those things. Ramy has put the gopher traps into the holes, but no dice. I think Sydney destroys their holes and they move on before we can get the trap in.
10. I apologize for the lack of posting lately. As you can tell, things have been busy. I am determined to achieve a better sense of balance in my life now that I'm done with the tests and things look to be settled a bit at work. That's my goal! Hopefully that will mean more time to take pictures during more good family time and more blogging!
Friday, September 23, 2011
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