Em arranging some flowers she picked from our yard in a vase. I love having flowers for them to pick and enjoy!

Almost one month

Wow! Has it been almost one whole month since I last blogged? I guess it has. After a somewhat mild day yesterday full of playing with cousins and jumping on the trampoline, we woke up this morning to this:



Snow in April! It's good day for staying inside playing games, reading and blogging!

It's so hard for me to get started blogging again after a long hiatus. There is so much that has happened that I don't know where to start!

We moved! Well, across town. We are now renting a house!! It is such a nice change. We have a basement and a back and front yard. We have a living room and a playroom. It's pretty sweet.

I'll finish off with some random pictures from the last month.


My gorgeous boy.

Emma and I went to Barnes and Noble for their storytime (A big dissapointment) and while waiting for it to start we found some great books to look at. Have you seen those large hardcover books with little envelopes inside and flaps to lift - very rustic and heirloom looking? Emma was facinated. Ipulled this one off the shelf first and was sure that she would love it.



No go. She walked straight past it and pulled this one off the shelf.


Yeah - I was surprised but happy that I got to ooh and aah my way through the fairy one while she thumbed through the piratology and wizards and wands books. LOL






Why is it that pictures of children asleep over their food are so darn cute? Anyway - here is our most recent dreamy diner.



I'm not entirely sure why, but I crack up everytime I see these pictures. Check out Daniel. He's a game show host!


Fun with the kitchen. I think that they are using an old, old bottle of dried basil I had laying around. The place smelled like dried basil for days!


A quiet moment. *sigh*


She was so worn out. Can you see the drool running down her cheek? :o)

Join me for Earth Hour

http://www12.earthhourus.org/

On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships–Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco and Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.

What will you do when the lights are off? We have lots of ideas.

Join people all around the world in showing that you care about our planet and want to play a part in helping to fight climate change. Don’t forget to sign up and let us know you want to join Earth Hour.

One hour, America. Earth Hour. Turn out for Earth Hour!

opinions please!

Well, the other day I stopped by a fuel station and a man at the next pump commented on my bumper tags. You remember:




The left one says "Circumcision? NO! Moroni 8:8"
The right one says "If God wanted me to have a foreskin, I would have been born with one."

So we got to talking and mostly only talked about the religious aspect. While I am religiously aposed to routine infant circumcision, our bodies are temples - no unnecesary cosmetic surgery and all that, what I feel most passionate about it the human rights aspect. You know - the owner of the penis should get to decide how it functions and what it looks like.

That said I think I am going to swap one of them out so I have one religous and one not. This is where you guys come in. Which one should I replace it with?

"Foreskin is NOT a birth defect"

"10 out of 10 babies oppose circumcision"

"His body - His choice"

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire

"Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity" George Bernard Shaw

Post your vote on your blog - great way to get the word out - or just leave a comment here. Thanks!

The haircut!

And the haircut has happened! We took Emma in for her birthday pictures and the next day she helped us shave her head. I would post the b-day before pic but they haven't called yet. Oh well.

Shaved beauty!



I made this hat for her the day we cut her hair. Her favorite is a purple one I made but she won't wear it for a pic. That's Em for you! lol

Emma asked for a red cake with black frosting. Her only other request - spiderman! It turned out pretty nice if I do say so myself. :oP I'm a bit disapointed because I forgot to draw the web on. I got a little excited and just put the toys on.



She didn't seem to mind.



While Emma opened her gifts Daniel had plenty of fun with her birthday cups.



Tuan helped Emma put together her new puzzles. They were made by a great company in Vermont. I recomend them very highly. Maple Landmark Woodcraft

I've been tagged!

Weird! I typed this out on Feb 12 but for some reason never posted it. Well - better late than never! ;o)

I have been tagged by my sister Cindy

Here goes!

10 Years Ago:
I was 15 years old and a senior in high school. I was an orch dork (viola), a band nerd (french horn and color guard) and music geek (chorale). I stayed home every night reading great books and watching great films and living a nerdy but happy existance. lol

Things on my to-do list today:
1. blog!
2. finish making finger-knitted flowers w/ Emma and a card w/ Emma and Daniel for a Valentines package for Tuan.
3. Play violin with Emma
4. Read to Emma and Daniel
5. Continue making Emma's planet mobile - hopefully we'll get the sun painted
6. Recover from falling onto my head while holding Daniel on the ice this morning - OUCH!!


What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
Buy a modest home. Donate the rest to my favorite charity Nocirc.org

3 of my bad habits:
1. Putting myself down.
2. Yelling.
3. Underestimating myself and my kids.

3 places I have lived:
1. Ponca City, OK
2. Stillwater, OK
3. Twin Falls, ID

5 jobs that I have had:
1. McDonalds
2. Certified Nurse Aid
3. Newspaper Carrier
4. Mom
5. seriously - that's it!

5 Things people don't know about me:
1. I love to watch the commentaries on movies and will happily spout off random factoids if (and if not) asked.
2. I love to start puzzles but rarely finish them because I get to frustrated not being able to find the pieces.
3. I crochet play foods that I haven't yet had the courage to sell on Etsey.
4. I suppose I am either boring or perhaps everyone just knows me really well.
5. see number 4!

scissors + hair + Emma =

Emma has gotten tired of waiting for me to find the time to shave her head. She keeps asking to do it and has for at least a month now. Thing is - she started asking right after she got the cute bob. I keep saying that we'll shave her head as soon as we get some family pics w/ her bob to at least have some documentation of the cute hairstyle. I'm just a horrible procrastinator. I know - tell you something you didn't know. So today she practiced cutting her hair while I put together some gifts for a five mom baby shower. Luckely I noticed before she gave herself an entire new hairdo. So the pics are scheduled for Saturday with a headshaving soon after! Whee!

Happy Birthday Emma!

Wow - it seems like just last month that I posted a Happy Birthday post for her second birthday. Has it really been a year? I suppose it has.



Happy Birthday Munchkin!!

btw - I'm not sure what she's thinking in this pic. I thought it was funny and silly. I'm still browsing for a cute b-day pic and I'll post it when I find it.

I'm back!

Ok - so I'm back and really behind on the blog. I have so many started just not finished. Here are some fun pics.

Pics

computer be broke!

My notebook is on the fritz. Tuan is trying to figure out what is wrong with it. So I'll be back in a day or two. Or three. :o(

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/66

This is a witty, informative talk. It is 20 min long so if you don't have time just skip to the end - around the 17:50 min mark. He will give a conclusion that sums up his talk. I enjoyed it very much.

Fancy Nancy

Emma really enjoys this book. I grabbed it while we were at the library. She tends to stick with what she know's she likes - board books - even though she really enjoys the longer books I find at garage sales. So I grabbed a few that were at a higher level than most we have at home. This was one of them. Ta-da! One point for me! lol

It is a really fun story and we always stop on these two pages:





It goes something like this.
Em - "Why is she sad?"
Me - "Because the parfaits are all over the floor."
Em - "Why are the parfaits all over the floor?"
Me - "Because they fell off the tray."
Em - "Why did they fall off the tray?"
Me - "Beause she tripped."
Em - "Why did she trip?"
Me - "Because she stepped on her shoelace."
Em - "Why did she step on her shoelace?"
Me - "Because it came untied."
Em - "Why did it come untied."
Me - "uh - I don't know!"
Em - "Is she sad?"
Me - "Yeah."
Em - "Why is she sad?"
.
.
.
lmao!

My favorite colors

I love baking. And while going gluten-free threw a small wrench into the works, I have since learned to work with our limitations. This is one of the prettiest sights. The way all the colors complement each other. The creamy rice flour, the rusty cinnamon, the tawny ginger, the bronze cloves. Yum! It's like eating with your eyes. I turned this bowl of goodies into pumpkin cookies - with a few chocolate chips thrown in. ;o)

Sledding

Today I was pleasantly surprised to see a decent blanket of snow on the ground. About 2 inches. Blades of grass poked up sporadically through, but it was enough for sledding! On Saturdy the groundhog saw his shadow predicting 6 more weeks of winter. Regardless I'm afraid that each snowfall will be our last and so try to take advantage of each chance to sled we have. Today after breakfst we bundled the kidos up and headed to a nearby park with a great sledding hill. The sun was hidden behind the clouds but the snow was still beginning to melt. Perfect for snowmen and snowballs! We built a decent snowman, but it toppled over before long. I think I plunked the head down a little too vigorously! We had lots of fun sledding and after a few runs Emma was carrying her sled back up the hill all by herself. She wouldn't let us help her! I don't know why I was so surprised, after all - she is really independant. My little girl is growing up! *sniff*

When we got cold, damp and Daniel got tired we headed back. Well - we let Emma know that she had 5 more runs down the hill. When they were up Emma still wasn't ready to come home. I ended up carrying her (kicking and screaming) all the way back to the car. :o( Definately not my best mommy moment. *sigh* As we pulled in we could see that the fort our neighbors were building when we left was really an igloo! They had been hard at work the whole time we were gone. Cool stuff.

Awesome story!

A friend linked this story from her blog. I was very inspired.
Long Journey for Mother's Milk

Basketball prodigy

Her hair will date this video. It's really not that old at all. This talent would be something she got from her dad - everyone who reads this blog knows for sure she didn't get it from me! lol

books

Daniel really likes to choose books from th shelf and bring them to Tuan or me to read to him. He efinately has his favorites.

He loves this book and I try to come up with actions for each verse. It fits to the tune of "Over in the Meadow"



This book is one that Emma chose every so often. But Daniel isn't interested in it at all! lol I don't think we have ever made it all the way through.

More syrup please!

What an independant 2 1/2 year old does with a syrup bottle while you nurse her younger brother down for a nap!



Hee! Notice that she got towels to wipe it up and really had it quite contained. There really isn't any thing she can't do and I love to see her so boldly doing new things.