A visit with Santa

Tonight we went to the mall across town to find a Macy's. EmmaLi wrote a letter to Santa at the North Pole and Macy's has a program where they donate a dollar to the Make a Wish Foundation for every stamped letter dropped in the mail box. They deliver the letters to Santa for the children.

Afterwards we went to see Santa. Believe it or not there was one wee little baby getting her picture taken when we walked up and there was no other line. EmmaLi walked right up and got the Big Man's attention. Afterwards he gave her a special sign that says "Santa Stop here!"On the back it has a place for EmmaLi to write her list. He instructed her to put the sign in the front window so he will see it and make sure he stops.

Santa was provided to the mall by a photography company and they forbid pictures taken with personal cameras. I was not going to pay for one of the "packages" they offered since they started at $19.99 and went up to $50.00 with additional buy up options. Instead we only have photos of her mailing her letter to Santa at Macy's. I would also like to put in a plug for the ladies at Macy's. Three of them helped us locate the mail box to Santa. They were outstanding customer service representations.

Busy, Busy Weekend

What a busy weekend we had this past weekend. It started Friday night. We went to the Christmas pageant at First Baptist Church Columbia. I hadn't planned on going this year. We went last year and EmmaLi didn't seem to enjoy it too much. She whined about it taking so long to get inside the church due to having to get there early to get a decent seat. The tickets where for assigned section but each section was first come for seat. She did like the Bell Ringers that were playing while we waited to go in. Once inside she had a difficult time sitting still and kept asking when it was going to be over. Apparently, that's how she shows she likes the show.

Last weekend she asked when we were going to the church show that we went to last year. I told her I didn't think she enjoyed it last year so I didn't get tickets. She was disappointed and said "I wiggled around alot but I liked the show and want to go again." The next day I called the church and was able to secure our tickets. So we went to the Christmas Pageant Friday night. I am glad we did. It was a better show this year than last year. This years show was geared more towards kids. Towards the end they had a live nativity and the show proceeded to show the life of Jesus. EmmaLi kept asking questions during the show which gave us an opportunity to discuss how Jesus was crucified on the cross even though he did nothing wrong. She had known that Jesus died on the cross for our sins but she didn't really get the magnitude of what that meant until she saw the show. She asked a number of questions all the way home and even continued asking questions once we were home. It was good for her to see it in a non-threatening way. She wanted to know why the guard kept pushing Jesus up the steps? Why they were being mean to him? Why if he didn't do anything wrong was he killed? I gave her the answers as best I could. It's one thing to hear that Jesus died on the cross for our sins but quite another to see it happen.

Saturday morning we went to our Families with Children from China Christmas party. EmmaLi had a great time. She made a new friend named Nan. She has come a long way for sure. Several of the older girls (7 to 9 years old) were playing just outside the doors where the parents were chatting and visiting. There was a large basketball court out there and a couple of basketballs available. Emmali wanted to go out there too. I suggested if she wanted to go play she go out with the girls but I was going to stay inside with the parents. She asked why I didn't want to go outside and accepted my answer. She actually, went outside with the girls and hung out with Nan. They were running around, playing and shooting hoops. She had a blast and the best part was I was able to stay inside and talk with the other adults.

After that party we went home to rest for a couple of hours. Later that evening we went for Christmas party #2. That one was full of food; shrimp cocktail, grilled roast pork, grilled prime rib, several different chips and dips, cocktail wieners, and veggies. There were four girls EmmaLi's age and they had a blast. They danced the night away on the deck then in the living room then back on the deck. Some of the guys there were dancing with the girls and the girls were just loving it. EmmaLi was fine tuning her hip hop skills. She had those fancy feet of hers going a mile a minute. She would slide across the living room on her knees impressing everyone watching. She even threw in a few donkey kicks while she was dancing her heart out. LOL When we were getting ready to go to the party, she didn't want to go. Once there she didn't want to lave. LOL

If she had to pick which party she liked the best, I think she would have a hard time deciding. They were different styles of parties with different people and activities but both included her favorite things. She was exhausted by the time she got home. This morning she woke up complaining her tummy hurt. It was low in the front about where her bladder was so I suggested she go in to go potty to see if that might help. I went to start my coffee and she came out and climbed on the sofa. Within a few minutes she had dozed off. I covered her with a blanket and let her rest some more since her tummy had hurt. She slept from 8:30am until 10:50am. She woke up and had no tummy ache. I was thankful for that. We missed church but I thought it was better to error on the side of caution than to get to church and her throw up all over the place.

The Christmas Season has begun!

We have been in the throws of the holiday season with no end in sight. The shopping is nearly finished. Our first Christmas pageant was last night, our second is Friday night and we have two Christmas parties this weekend and we went to the Parade of
Lights complete with Santa Clause last weekend.Two more weeks til Christmas so lets take the ride for all it's worth!

Enjoy the pictures of EmmaLi at her Christmas play at her day care. They did the A, B, C's of Christmas. While I took the pictures EmmaLi, one thing I find hilarious is the looks on the kids faces that are in the pictures and around her but didn't know the pictures were being taken. Check out some of these kids!

This is EmmaLi passing her "Letter M" to Ms. Suzette to hang on the tree.

Thanksgiving Day

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We went to Savannah to spend a couple days with friends. Our friends Chrissy, Gordy and Jackie came from Aiken as well.

We had good food, good friends and a great day. What else could you ask for. We have a great deal to be thankful for every day. Carol returned from Iraq healthy and safe. Everyone is healthy. We all have jobs, a roof over our heads, and food on the table. Compared to more than 95% of the worlds population, we are rich indeed. I try very hard to remember that through the year. I may not be able to afford everything I would like but I can afford everything we need. Thankfully, that is enough.

A letter to Santa from a Mother

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school Playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jea ns that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable?
It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,

MOM...

PS. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

Fall is in the air

Mid November the leaves start to fall off the tree in our back yard. For the past couple years I tried to get EmmaLi to help me rack leaves into a big pile and play in them. She would have nothing to do with it.

This year her teacher was discussing fall, the changing colors of the leaves and the leaves falling off the trees until spring and playing in the leaves. So while Mom has no knowledge of how much fun playing in the leaves can be (ahem) her teacher does. This year EmmaLi decided she wanted to rack the leaves and play in them in the back yard. Below are a few pictures of her playing in the leaves.

A very sad day

Yesterday was a bad day all around. It seemed everything that could go wrong did. The last half hour at work was spent trying to get out of there by 6:00pm to go to soccer practice but the calls and "emergencies" kept coming. I did make it out the door at 6:00pm and picked up EmmaLi. I forgot her soccer cleats and she insisted on wearing her cleats and not regular tennis shoes. So we went home before going to McDonald's for diiner on the go. As soon as we walked in I noticed something was not right. Our kitty Mei Mei usuall is at the door to greet us. She was not there. Instead I found her laying on the floor in the living room. She was not moving. As I approached her, she didn't lift her head and I noticed her face was contorted. She had passed away. I do not know what caused this kitty or her sister to pass away. Both seemed healthy and fine the morning each of them passed away. Meimei was eating, drinking, peeing and pooping on schedule. She was running in front of me to leave the bedroom before me in the morning like she always does. It is a mystery. I suspect there was some sort of genetic disorder or siezure disorder these two sister kitties.

We will miss her very much. We buried her in the back yard today and will remember her forever. EmmaLi wants a new kitty but I told her we would take a break from pets for now. We will have to make due with our guppies.

It does seem strange in the morning when a kitty is not chasing me out the bedroom door to get in front of me. It seemed strange to lay in bed last night and look up to the spot Meimei liked to sleep and find it empty. It was also strange to come back from our soccer game this morning and not be met at the door by a kitty.

In honor of both of our kitties Mao-ee and Meimei, I am posting their pictures.

I was menstioned on the news today!

Normally in the morning I get EmmaLi off to school and come home to have a leisurely morning watching the Today show, checking email, and breakfast. Yesterday I decided to tune into a local program on WACH Fox. Basically, I am tired of hearing all of the details and praises of Obama who has yet to DO anything other than speak eloquently and ralley a crowd.

Anyway, the anchors started talking about a Barbie from the 60's or 70's that grew breasts. It was a vague memory and one anchor thought maybe she had imagined it. I jumped on the PC and did a quick search and found that Mattel did in fact make and sold TWO of these Barbie's. They were named Growing Up Skipper and Growing Up Ginger. You crank their air and they grew breasts. It was designed to help girls going through puberty. Apparently the public outrage was rather great and while Mattel thought we were in an age of acceptance, they were sadly mistaken. We were at an open age for grown ups but not for the little girls.

I was never into Barbies as a young girl but I do not remember these Barbies. Maybe one of you remembers this Skipper doll. I emailed the anchor with a link showing the Skipper and Ginger dolls. This morning they were discussing my email and mentioned my name several times like I was an expert. They would say "Kim a first time viewer wrote in...", "Kim says..." and "What else did Kim say?"LOL It was kind of wierd knowing they were talking about me. I've never wanted to be famous so hopefully, that will be 5 minutes of my 15 minutes of fame.

Follow the link below to see Growing Up Skipper.

http://www.dollreference.com/skipper_doll2.html

Soccer Update

This weekend we played a team I remember well from the past two seasons. They caught me off guard this time because the name of the Head Coach changed. We were scheduled to play a team whose coach was named Palmer. To our surprise, we played the assistant coach Shealy instead. He does not follow rules nor does he teach his girls to follow the rules. In the end, my girls (all of them) played great against this team. Kaya scored a couple of goals, EmmaLi scored a goal and our smallest player on the team Ms Terri even scored against them. I was so proud of them. They played awesome and by the rules.

Here are the long awaited photos of EmmaLi and the team. We have one more game to play and then the end of season banquet and the Fall 2008 season will come to an end.

EmmaLi's first report card

Another first for my baby girl. She received her first report card last week. She has a perfect report card with all C's. Kindergarten does not have A's, B's, C's, D's, and F's like the upper grades. Kindergarten has C for Consistantly completes task, S for Sometimes completes task, and R for Rarely completes task. It was a little inaccurate in that it was marked indicating EmmaLi can count to 20 but she has been able to do that since she was two and a half. She can count to 100 but the report card only goes to 99. I am assuming the expectation for the first quarter was only to count to 20 so they mark it to 20. She did have a check mark on all of her letters and the sounds they make when asked "Can identify the following letters" and "Can identify the sound of the following letters". In her Related Arts classes (Computer Lab, Art, Library, Music and PE) she scored all S's. In these classes kindergarteners score S for satisfactory or N for Needs Improvement.

So her first report card is a perfect one. I hope she continues to love to learn and pick up on what is taught. When children love to learn they do better than when they don't. Hopefully, I will continue to enable her to reach her full campacity. I think we are on the right track. She told me earlier this week that for Christmas she only wants DVD's, Wii games, board games, books and puzzles. LOL She has always loved puzzles and enjoys the challenge of them.

She also wants a microscope and telescope. I am not sure that she would play with those right away but it is one of those toys she will grow into and hopefully she'll get a love for science. Kindergarten science is not terribly challenging but she loves the study of and learning about nature which is what kindergarten science concentrates on. Once again I must sing the praises of EmmaLi's teacher. She has hatched caterpillars into butterflies and let them loose with the kids, they conducted "experiments" on pumpkins around Halloween and she has set up an aquarium in the classroom and took some of our baby guppies to class so the kids can learn how they change colors when they grow up.

I am so proud of my girl and her love of learning. She comes home every day and never ceases to amaze me with what she has learned, retained and understands.

A Sad Day

All I can say is that we need to pray. Everyone. Pray for our country, pray for our Senate, Congress and House of Representatives. Most of all pray for our President Elect that he will have a change of heart on the issues.

Barack Obama did not win this election based on ability to run the country or skills as Commander in Chief. He won because the American People are ignorant. They like being ignorant. They voted for Barack Obama for the same reason my 5 year old daughter wanted to vote for him. In the words of my daughter "I like the way he looks better than the other guy." I told her I like the way he looks too. He is a very handsome man but when John McCain was the same age as Barack Obama is now, he was even more handsome. I told her that Barack Obama is also a very eloquent speaker but he doesn't say much. He talks, it sounds nice but it's like pretty music with no words to understand what he says.He hums to the music and disguises his words.

I explained to my five year old how Barack Obama voted when he was a Senator for two years. Then I explained how John McCain voted when he was a Senator for almost 40 years. After hearing the issues regarding basic non graphical abortion, basics on gay marriage, illegal immigrants, and English as the official language of the United States, and attending a church for 20 years where the pastor seeks to oppress anyone who is not black, my brilliant 5 year old made a better choice than grown adults who have the opportunity to vote. I told her that Black people are voting for him just because he is black. They do not know (or the choose to ignore) where he stands on the issues. Issues are important decisions that affect everyone. All they say is they want change. Hispanic people are voting for him because he lets their family and friends who are criminals by being here illegally stay and become US citizens. A large number of the people in prison are illegal immigrants and our tax money is paying for them to be there. We could have more money for your school if we weren't paying so much money for welfare, food stamps and medicaid for people who are here illegally and not paying taxes. She looked at me and said "Oh I didn't know. We need to vote for John McCain. Marack Bobama is not a good guy."

Now I have to explain to her what happens to our country now that our President Elect is "not a good guy".

A night of Halloween fun

Well, we survived another Halloween. EmmaLi had a great time.

Here are some pictures of EmmaLi before we left the house.

We went to church for the Fall Festival for a little over an hour. They had hot dogs and chips and drinks free for all attending. They had big blow up slides, a mini ferris wheel like you see at the drive ins, a blow up obsticle course, and a ride I am not sure how to describe. It had long poles that hung down from a frame at the top. At the bottom of the poles were the "cars" where you sat. Similar to the Mad Hatter tea party at Disney, they had the wheel in the middle so you could spin the car in a circle as the ride spun around. It was sort of like the swing ride but had cars you sat in. They also had a bunch of games to play for candy, a cake walk and a live band playing. Each year they have about 3500 people attending and they were expecting even more in attendance this year. Every year more and more people come. I will say we have gone for the past 4 years before trick or treating.

While we were there, I was able to meet EmmaLi's "special friend" from school. Olivia is in the third grade and is EmmaLi's special friend. EmmaLi and another student have special friends from third grade that come down to her class twice a week to work with them. Both girls are advanced in reading and are not challenged by what the rest of the class is doing so they each get a "special friend" who comes in and they read harder books and play games that help with reading skills. EmmaLi loves having a special friend for this. EmmaLi's special friend was at the Fall Festival and EmmaLi spotted her from across a field. I don't know how she did it as I certainly could not make out anyone from across that field. LOL

Happy Halloween!

EmmaLi has been counting down the days to Halloween since September. She is so excited she cannot stand it. Normally we go to Country Adventures for the annual FCC (Families with Children from China) and AFG (Adoptive Families Group) where we participate in pony rides, petting farm animals, hay ride, pumpkin patch and ending with a weenie roast. This year we had a slight conflict with soccer so we didn't go. I didn't think EmmaLi would miss not going but she asked when we were going. Next year we'll have to go if we are still living here.

On to the pumpkin deets. This year she was flip flopping back and forth about what she wanted to carve on her pumpkin. At first she wanted a bat since that is what she will be tonight for trick or treating. However, she ultimately decided on an owl. Last summer she went on a field trip with the day care to the local zoo. Apparently, the owl there winked at her and now she loves owls. So we (I) carved an owl on her pumpkin. We bought two pumpkins not because I like carving pumpkins so much as we wanted the extra seeds for roasting when we were done. So I drew a regular Jack-O-Lantern face on the other and believe it or not, EmmaLi carved the second pumpkin. She did an awesome job. I did the mouth because she had gotten a little tired and the mouth is the trickiest after all.

Below are some pictures of her working on our master piece.

It's been a while...

So I thought I would post a few things that have been going on.

EmmaLi is having a blast in kindergarten. She LOVES school and she LOVES her teacher. She still has mini anxiety attacks every now and then regarding things she isn't sure how to do. For instance just last night she was a bit upset and was obsessing about some thing her teacher told her that she didn't understand. She said her teacher told the class that in the morning she wanted them to check out their name. She came in and asked me "Mommy, how do I check out my name?" I said I am not sure what you mean? Usually when some one says check out something they me to look at it." She said "Oh" and she went back to the living room. Then she came back about 5 minutes later and said "Mom, I really need to know how to check out my name. Mrs Ricard said that in the mornig we need to check out our name. I don't know how to do that." I suggested in the morning when she gets to class she ask Mrs Ricard how to check out her name. She said "OK." and went back to the living room. Five minutes later she was back upset more than before whining at me that she knows I know how to check out her name and wants to know why I won't tell her. Finally, I told her that I would call Mrs Ricard and find out what she means by checking out her name. I called and left a message for her teacher. Within half an hour Mrs Ricard called back and said that it was not to check out her name it was to check off her name on a clip board. The whole time I was talking to her teacher she was askling did she tell you how to check out my name? I nodded and she was happy again. When I hung up she immediately wanted me to show her how to check out her name. I explained that she wants her to check OFF her name not check it out. I made a list of several of her classmates and included her name on the list. I said to check off you name you look down the list, find your name and make a check mark like this or put an X next to your name. She was relieved and happy she would not be in class in the morning and not know what she is supposed to do.

EmmaLi has a special friend that visits her twice a week. O is a third grader who comes to the kindergarten class and works one on one with EmmaLi. They retreat to a corner in the room and work one on one. They read to each other, and play learning games together. EmmaLi had told me about her and said she had fun with her. There are only two children in EmmaLi's class who get to work with the third graders. Mrs Ricard told me last night on the phone that it pushes both girls to do well and challeges them both. EmmaLi has the best teacher. I was worried with no child left behind that my child who I personally believe is brilliant would not be challenged. She has the good fortune of being placed in a great teachers class and she truly does not leave ANY child behind including the advanced kids.

Soccer has started up again and I am the coach this year. We have a full team with 6 players but have yet to have all six girls at the same game. This is great for EmmaLi as she would play the entire game, all four quarters if it were up to her. Unfortunately, if all of the girls show up, she will only get to play two quarters per game unless one of the other girls decides she doesn't feel like playing. So far though that has not happened. She has gotten one goal so far this year and is stressing about not getting more. However, she still has a heart for soccer and loves it. Each game she starts off believing she will make many goals.

Baby guppies! We have given away more baby guppies but they just keep coming! LOL We have a fresh batch of babies almost weekly. Sometimes we can go two weeks without a fresh batch but then we usually have a couple within days of each other. I am looking for homes for some babies so if you are in the market for baby guppies (or grown guppies, let me know and we can hook you up.

First Day of School!

August 20th was the official first day of school for EmmaLi. We visited the school about 6 times prior to starting. We spent more than 2 hours at the school on Meet the Teacher Day and when she had questions she just needed answered I called the school and asked. All of that preparation worked wonders for her.


I was allowed to walk her to class the first three days. On the forth day I walked her and our neighbor girl to the "green hall" and they walked the rest of the way them selves. The fifth day I walked them into the building and they walked the rest of the way themselves. Her teacher had them practicing walking to their class too.



Here is EmmaLi and our neighbor girl walking to school on the first day.



This is EmmaLi with her Teacher Mrs Ricard.



This is EmmaLi with her Teacher Assistant Mrs Jumper.


EmmaLi loves her teachers. She got the best teachers in her entire school. She is big on communication and big on reading. EmmaLi loves reading and loves that she has homework!? Of course, her homework is nothing that we don't do already. She is supposed to read no less than 10 books per month. We write the name of the book and the author in her homework folder. When she has ten books she gets a prize. We also have home work like bringing her her activities at school home and reading it to me. I sign it and she takes it back. She brings it home again and it has a "Great Job" sticker on it. She has also had to find things at home based on shape. One day she had to bring a circle from home. She brought a Dora Plate. Then she needed some thing square and she took a square sticker with a raised dolphin on it. She also took a rectangle and triangle. The class used the things they brought in and glued them to a poster for their shape posters. When the class as a whole gets a "way to go" from one of the related arts teachers or administrators, they get "Brownie points". The teacher has a picture of a baking pan on the door. When they get a brownie point, the teacher puts a picture of a piece of brownie on the pan. When the pan is full, she will bring brownies in for the entire class. These are just two awesome teachers.

It's Folly Beach Time Again

We had our annual visit with friends from MI who come down to Folly Beach every year. I keep saying we will go down and camp while they are there but as it turns out they always go the week school starts here. Here are pictures of the girls playing in the water.

After dinner with our friends we took a walk to see the old abandoned light house off the coast of Folly Beach. Below are some pictures taken at the tip of the Island overlooking the light house.

At one point we saw something way out in the water and could not make out what it was. It sort of looked like an island or a ship or the shore on the other side of the inlet miles across. I zoomed my camera in on it and took a picture. I was lucky it turned out. The "mysterious object" turned out to be a Navy ship. Here is a picture of it. I guess the water was pretty rough that day.