Children....

Children Learn What They Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.


If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

Copyright © 1972 by Dorothy Law Nolte

Happy Birthday Christopher!!!

Sometimes you get discouraged,
because I am so small
And leave my little fingerprints
On furniture and walls.
But everyday I'm growing
And soon will be so tall
That all these little fingerprints
Will be difficult to recall.
So here's a little handprint
That you can put away
So you will know how my fingers looked
On this special day.


FOUR YEARS AGO TODAY, GOD SENT ME A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE BOY!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTOPHER!!!

Like star dust glistening on fairies' wings

Like star dust glistening on fairies' wings
Little girls dreams are of magical things.
-- Sherry Larson

A daughter is a day brightener and a heart warmer

Wow. Everyday is a learning experience for a parent! I never put a collage on my Facebook for Taylor on her birthday as I did for Britany (previous post). I thought about it, but Taylor is extremely picky about which pictures she considers flattering and is very particular about me not posting anything that she would deem "embarrassing".

Of course, though, yesterday she saw Britany's birthday collage and wondered why I had not done the same for her. So, I have sent her this collage via email hoping she will "approve" it for Facebook. I will post it here, because I am fairly certain that none of her more than 500 FB friends visit my blog. I do feel terrible however, because I was certain that I had posted a Happy Birthday wish to her here on my blog. After careful review of my previous posts, I do not see one.

In my defense, however, her birthday was sandwiched between back to back to back trips between Toronto, Arizona and New Hampshire. I can remember those few weeks not knowing if I was coming or going. I did get her a cake and gifts when I was visiting NH in October, but alas, I have slipped with my blogging duties. So, Taylor, my love, my precious ~ here is your collage. Do NOT flip out on me if you don't like any of the pictures. I did my best to recollect your previous reactions to these and I think I'm good. Here's hoping!! I love you MADLY forever!!!!!

There Was A Star That Danced..And Under It, I Was Born....

19 years ago today, God sent me my first Treasure xoxoxo Happy Birthday Britany Faith!! I love you madly forever...

Chinese School December 2009

Today was the Christmas party at Christopher's Chinese School. We had a great time. I have more pictures on Colin's camera that I will try to add later. As you can see, Christopher is just loving it!

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Well, we are home again. I am still pretty tired and busy unpacking and gettig ready for Christmas. The girls arrive the 18th in Orlando! We are looking forward to a wonderful time.

NH Thanksgiving 2009

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Les Miserables - I dreamed a dream....

Thankful For My Treasures

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder


Well, I am off to New Hampshire today for a week. I am looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my family. Britany is flying in from USAFA and it will be so amazing to see her again and give her a big squeeze.

Despite the amount of travel I have done lately, it just doesn't seem to get any easier. It seems like there is always something to stress me out. This trip, I cannot find the battery charger for my camera. And me on a trip without a camera???? I know that I saw it when I unpacked from my last trip, but my mind was on so many things. I remember thinking to myself "you'd better put this someplace safe so you don't forget about it" and yep, no clue where it is.

I'm thinking I can probably borrow Charmaine's camera and just put my memory card in there and bring it back home. The way my brain has been lately, I'd better not lose that memory card!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! God Bless xoxoxo

GO FALCONS!!

Chinese School has begun.....

We had such a wonderful time at Chinese School yesterday! I was happy that Colin was able to join us. It is going to work out great that it is on Sunday, so he will be available to participate in the process.

They usually only allow one parent to stay, but since it was our first day, they let us both stay. Colin ended up leaving and walking around; talking with the principal who was also born in Hong Kong.

School is three hours long, but it is broken up into three different segments with snack and recess in between which makes it nice. The first segment the teacher reviews common words with them all together as a class before handing them each some individual work. There were 12 kids in his class yesterday. Christopher worked on writing the numbers 1, 2 and 3 (yi, er, san). At one point, he looked at me, smiled and said "I love Chinese School".

He will even get to bring a little lunch box for snack time and a back pack for his notebook with all of his work sheets. It is so adorable. It is great that at least one of us can stay because that eliminates any anxiety and just lets him get excited about it and look forward to going. He is already looking forward to going again and going shopping for his notebook and pencils and crayons.

I could tell by the last segment yesterday that it won't take too long and I will move to the back of the class rather than right next to him and then before I know it, he will be telling me that I don't need to stay. At least it will be on his terms though when he is ready to stay alone which will set my mind at ease.

He was so pleased when the teacher pointed to a bowl of rice and asked how to say it because he knows how to say rice in Chinese, so he was all smiles and very proud! He was shy of course at first, which made him very well behaved. When the teacher took him by the hand to lead him somewhere, he would turn around with this worried look to make sure that I was following, then I could see his relief as I smiled and gave him the big thumbs up. They did work sheets in the class room, sang songs in a big room with a stage and organ and then back to the classroom for more work sheets and coloring.

At the end of our last segment, he smiled and said "Dis is juss like First grade or Kindergarten or somethin" with a wide grin. I think this was a great idea!

My Montage 11/12/09 at OneTrueMedia.com

As Christopher's fourth birthday fast approaches, I thought it would be a good idea to start getting him involved in some activities again such as Art class at Gymboree. When I scheduled the preview class by phone, I was not told that it was a drop off class, so I was not prepared to leave him, nor had I attempted to prepare him that I might leave. I thought I would give it a try. I told him just to "try it" and if he didn't like it, we wouldn't do it again. I told him that I would watch him from the window and that he could see me. He was fine - until the teacher closed the door! Then, it was the saddest thing I have ever witnessed. With his elbows on the table, he placed his chin in the palms of his hands, squinted his eyes and cried this sad little cry. He was devastated. He just looked so helpless and sad. He was rubbing his fingers into his eyeballs and I said to myself "That's enough of this. It is not worth it and I am NOT ready for this".. I rescued him and we headed to the mall. I am just not ready to let go of my baby yet...

When I got home, I started working on this video as I poured over the thousands of photographs uploaded to my computer. I think I will have this made into a DVD and give it to Daddy for Christmas.

Warning: It is a long video...approx 20 minutes...

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Aye, Aye Matey!!

So, I predicted that it would rain tonight because it ALWAYS rains on Halloween in New Hampshire and guess what? I was right!!! (But at LEAST it wasn't freezing rain) Christopher had a great time, however after an hour he said "I wish we could go home" LOL....

Sedona, Arizona

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Ok, so now I want to move to Sedona! Oh my goodness was that place ever beautiful! First, let me say I was NOT expecting it. When we landed in Phoenix, I thought "nice, but would not want to live here". We stopped for dinner (I spotted a Sweet Tomatoes and Colin couldn't believe it!) After dinner, we drove over an hour and a half to Sedona. Well, it was pitch dark and I couldn't see a thing.

The next morning, Colin got up bright and early for his meeting. He walked out the door, turned around came back in and said "Come outside, it is so gorgeous out there". I'm thinking he is talking about the weather. So, I got up and walked out the door. I was blown away by the view from the terrace outside. I was shocked because on the way in the night before, you seriously could not even tell there were mountains right there. It is just soooo pitch black.

Christopher and I got up and the adventure began. I couldn't explain it, but I immediately felt some kind of energy there. I was trying to put my finger on it. It had a spiritual feel or something. Later, Colin would tell me he learned some theories that some people have about the energy at his conference. Apparently, it is something to do with the iron in the rocks attracting electricity and causing magnetic pulls or something like that. Alot of people believe that there are energy/magnetic vortexes scattered around the Sedona and that they have healing powers.

I know that I had alot more energy while I was out there and could never sleep beyond 7:30 am., when here at home I have no problem sleeping in..today I woke at 12 noon lol. But there, I woke up at 7:30 and was ready to get outside!

To read more about that click (or copy and paste in your browser) here:

http://gosw.about.com/od/sedonaarizona/a/sedonavortex.htm

I am not a scientist or a doctor, but I know that it is just gorgeous out there and I definitely want to go back each year at the very least.

Canadian Thanksgiving 2009

Another trip has come and gone! I am getting so busy with my travels that I have been neglecting my blog. But anyway..

We had a great trip. Christopher is such a good trooper with traveling now. He is a pro!

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I enjoyed the break from all of the oppresive Florida heat; we even had a bit of snow on Sunday. Our Thanksgiving Day dinner was very relaxing in a small town about 2 hours from Toronto. The food was all toooooo yummy! Time to hit the bike again!

I am looking forward to Halloween (and Taylor's birthday) when I head to New Hampshire again on the 30th.




I get to have another Thanksgiving when I go to New Hampshire for our "U.S. Thanksgiving" lol. And YAY, Britany will be there too! Wooooo-Hoooooo!





The girls will be coming down for Christmas this year and we will be celebrating it at Rob and Ann-Marie's house! I can't wait!

I will spend some of the holiday break with them here in Florida before Christopher and I join Colin in Toronto.

My computer is getting so slow and running out of disk space...it is really sucking the fun out of all of this!!

Happy Birthday Auntie Mimi XOXO

Another great trip to New Hampshire! The weather was beautiful! It was nice to see everyone again, celebrate Charmaine's birthday..(twice; once with April and the kids with a cook-out and once at Applebee's) and spend time with my girls. My computer is getting too slow to keep up with all of these pictures! I have been at this for far too long today! I did manage to get quite a few up on facebook though. I gave up on the slideshow =(

What a great time...I miss my family!!!!

I will try to add some more here and there, but right now I have a little boy and a puppy who want to go outside!!! (Not to mention, grocery shopping and unpacking!)

xoxoxo

Time to hit the road again!

I'm off to New Hampshire on Sunday the 20th. I will be heading back home on Charmaine's birthday; the 27th, however, we will celebrate her big day before I leave. I am looking forward to spending time with my girls, friends and family as well as hopefully seeing some fall foliage and maybe even taking Christopher apple picking. We'll see!

We are looking forward to Cooper's party on Saturday! Woo-hoo!!! Hopefully, by the time I get back home on Saturday, Colin will have a new mini-van parked in the garage! Yes, the time has come to put my van out to pasture...we decided that the $2,500 in repairs needed on the old Plymouth would be better spent toward a new van.. ya think???? =)

Parent's Weekend 2009

Wow! What a great time! I did learn that the next time I go out there, I have to pack more lightly! Not so much fun dragging big suitcases, a car seat and stroller while keeping an eye on a busy three year old! However, all of the stress was well worth it! I was so proud to be the mother of an amazing Cadet!! The campus is beautiful and HUGE. Her coaches could not say enough wonderful things about her; including the statement from the head coach that he is confident she will be All American! The football game was super fun! (Despite the nasty sunburn on the back of my neck) It is late and I am soooo tired. I will try to post more tomorrow.

On the road again....

Just arrived home yesterday afternoon, re-organized my suitcase and we are off for Colorado this afternoon! *Whew*!!! No time to chat so here are a couple pictures!

Morning Minutes USAFA

I know I have told some of you about the little "ceremony" thing that Brit has to go through each morning before breakfast, but I could never remember all of it and I think it's kind of neat. (I'm sure she isn't loving it at 6:30AM) But, I am just so gosh darn proud of her! She gets up each morning at 5:45 all on her own, and is standing outside of her room in formation at either 6:20 or 6:30 I can't remember exactly. Anyway, the night before, she has to go online with her USAFA issued laptop at find out what is for breakfast the next day and memorize it and memorize three news articles/current events because she could be stopped by a Cadre and asked.

So, I had her email me exactly what is said:
.........................................................................

Morning minutes….


Class Rep: Pink Panthers prepare to call the 36th minute please.

All: Pink Panthers there are 36 minutes until the contact time for the morning meal. Uniform of the day is “blues” (or battle dress uniform/airman battle uniform depending on the day). Menu for the morning meal includes ….(say what is for breakfast) Pink Panthers I say again, there are 36 minutes until the contact time for the morning meal. Secure your lights and rooms please.

(We call the 36th, 30th, 25th, 20th, 15th, and 13th minute) we say all of that for every minute we call. We used to get “beat” during this time but they aren’t allowed to anymore. And don’t forget after the 13th and final minute we say “Pink Panther’s Pounce!”
..................................................................................
(Pink Panters is her Squadron and it is 36 out of 40 squadrons. I am just happy she isn't in the squadron called Loose Hawgs...not kidding! I'm pretty sure "beat" means ordered to do push-ups, etc. =] )

So, I'm off to Toronto tomorrow. I will be back on September 1st and then leave for Colorado on the 3rd!!!! YIPPEEE!! I CANNOT wait. On Friday, the 4th, Christopher and I will go to the Academy and we get a tour and we get to actually go to her classes with her (all the parents do) On the 5th, we will get to see a football game which will be exciting I am sure! Be prepared because no doubt I will take a TON of pictures. =]

It is been a wonderful August and I have many beautiful memories. I just thought I'd share a few of them here. It was sad leaving Taylor at the airport today but we know that we will be seeing her (and Britany) in just 10 short days in Colorado!! Hopefully, we will make a trip to NH later in September to see Hopey and watch some field hockey games!!

So, no more texting or talking with Brit until Parent's Weekend =[ Apparently, her squadron's leadership was a little more relaxed about the phones than the other leaders, but it looks like it caught up to all of them and the cadets had to hand over the phones until Parent's Weekend. Well, thank God for facebook !

Taylor arrives tonight at 8:30 YIPPEE!! I am finally feeling back to normal (mostly) so I am looking forward to some quality time with her while she is down. We are going to meet Rob, Ann-Marie and Cooper for dinner on Thursday! =]

I think I am going to attempt to get Christopher started in some activities like gymnastics and karate. I will take him today to watch a tae kwon do class to see if he is interested and then while Taylor is here, she is going to take him to open gym at Lafleur's to get him aquainted with everyone, etc and see if he will participate. There is also a Chinese School nearby that I would love to get him involved in. He needs to get out and make some lil friends but he is so darn shy around other kids.