Elf Name

Christmas Elf Name


My Christmas Elf Name is







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Look Mom, No Teeth!

Zaid has lost two teeth so far, the tooth fairy has visited each time. Each time he looses a tooth, another tooth is popping up behind it, so he does not have that "empty tooth" feeling. Daddy has pulled each tiny tooth for the little fellow.

The Windy, Blustery, Day

-from a warm fall day in September
No more sleeping in for me! Thanksgiving break is offically over as of 7:20 am this morning.....yuck! I want to sleep in again, oh well! I tucked back in for a few minutes after Zaid went to school today, then it was time to get to class, quick! Time to get back into the daily grind.
We watched a movie on social class in my class--at the high school part, I felt physically ill watching it. I could see my high school there, I would not go back to high school for a billion dollars. We also watched a part about lower social class, it broke my heart to see this woman who walked 10 miles to work because she did not have a car. And to top it off her son made fun of her.
I had an ASL lab today--I wish that I caught on quicker. I feel bad that I got a D on my midterm.

Zaid said he touched a raw potato today--he does not know exactly why he touched one at school, but it has me curious!

I guess it it time for me to go and exercise--something I would rather procrastinate on this cold, windy, blustery day.

“When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.”
-A.A. Milne

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go…..

We packed our bags and our van for Georgia to spend Thanksgiving with Tamer’s family. As we counted down the days to departure, Zaid was busy on the phone with Nona (his grandmother), planning the Thanksgiving meal, we did not know exactly what they were planning as Zaid would go into his room and speak in hushed tones at times. We did catch snippets about Turkey and a cookbook was requested for a recipe for gravy. When we arrived at Nona’s house, Zaid was excited (and well rested from a long nap) about being there that even though it was very late at night, he did not sleep much. He woke up bright and early and helped Nona cook the turkey and the mashed potatoes; he also helped with the stuffing, washing his hands good so that he could mix it all up.
Some of the highlights of spending time in Winder include, Zaid beating Geddo (his grandfather) at chess, constructing buildings and a space ship from Daddy’s old Legos with Daddy, Aunt Rim and Sean, playing with his cousins Hassam and Jasmine, snuggling on the couch, while eating popcorn and watching Ratatouille with Nona and Geddo. We will never forget the marathon of Sponge Bob, Zaid wanted to watch each one! On Thursday evening, Zaid had everyone research: www.mayfielddairy.com to find out what flavor ice cream they were going to order on Friday at the Dairy; a popular flavor was the Blueberry Pie. Once there we ate delicious ice creamier ($1.50/scoop) and went on the tour of the factory. Hair net, anyone? We packed our bags once again and departed for Rim’s house in Decatur where an evening of football for the guys and shopping for the girls was planned. Tamer was able to visit with some of his best friends Garrick and Josh while they watched the famous Georgia ~ Georgia Tech game. Rim planned a yummy game day fare of gyros, salad and lots of snacks to keep the guys busy! Zaid kept busy watching the game and playing a new (old) game Oregon Trail. He also received a new Wii game from Garrick: Mario Party 8. Living away from home makes it hard to know what is happening with everyone so it was truly a blessing to be able to spend time with family and friends during the Thanksgiving Break.

Lemon and Raspberry Sorbet

Zaid met his 25 point goal. That means he has read 50 books and took tests. We are oh, so very proud of him. His favorite series of books right now, is The Box Car Children and The Magic Treehouse.

He lost his first tooth in September!! It stayed loose for so long, and his permanent tooth was growing in, eventually Tamer just pulled it for him! The tooth fairy brought his $4. He put that money towards a box set of the The Magic Treehouse.

We went to Cold Stone Creamery on Sunday, Zaid tried the Lemon sorbet and Raspbery sorbet and declared it delicious!

Culture Diversity in the United States

It is 2:05 am and I just completed a paper for a college course. I do not feel exhausted, but I guess I am just "fooling" myself and the fact that I am double typing words makes me realize I need SLEEP!!! After tomorrow's class, I am hoping to come home and take a nice LONG nap before it is time to go and pick up Zaid from school.

So many wonderful yet busy days are rushing by, my prayer is that I can cherish each and everyone one of those days and accept them for what they are, a present.

Lifehouse's Everything Skit

This video moves me to tears, it is powerful. Watch it.

Ramblings

"Rivers know this: There is no hurry. We shall get there one day." ~Winnie-the-Pooh

Zaid's first day of school was August 6, 2007.

Butterfly Garden

Zaid released a butterfly at Lost River Cave in June. The butterflies were "sleeping" and when he opened up the little envelope, it slowly, slowly woke up and flew away. He talked about going to http://www.livebutterflies.com/ all the way home, so that we could buy some butterflies.

The butterfly garden was so beautiful with a pond at the front of the garden.

A Summertime Picnic

Yesterday, we packed our picnic basket, invited some friends and set out to the park for a summer picnic. It was so nice to visit with friends, the children laughing and playing all around us. Of course, there were lots of spills and watermelon and cupcake from head to toe, that is what makes good pictures. When our picnic was finished, the rain came, so we had to go back up big hill to get to our cars. It was such a beautiful day.

Thoughts from a Smallish Bear

"If you live to be one hundred, I hope I live to be one hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.”

~Winnie the Pooh

Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta

After about two years of thinking about visiting the Aquarium in Georgia, we finally went.
Let me just say....where the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the Chattanooga Aquarium are set up to get you through there in one path....the Georgia Aquarium is set up on a hub and spoke system. I did not care for that. I did enjoy eating in the Ballroom and visiting with the white Beluga Whales....they were so beautiful and it was not crowded in that viewing area. Zaid's favorite is still jellyfish....

Zoo Day

Mama's Taking Us to the Zoo Today.....Zoo Today......Zoo Today......Mama's Taking Us to the Zoo Today....We Can Play All Day

We played @ the Zoo all day today!
I love, love, love the Zoo.

We fed the lorikeets and watched the alligators for a long time.

We visited the macaws, the crane, the gibbons, the meerkats, the zebras, the eland, the ostrich, the red pandas, the spotted leopard, the smicht's gnenon, the lemurs, the elephants, the giraffes, the red river hogs, the stork, baby COUGARS (adorable), the cougar, the bengal tiger and probably more that I am forgetting.

We took a couple of friends with us and just made a day of it. Yup, me and three tiny tykes. It was a fun day! We had snowcones and lemonaide!

Zaid loved seeing the turtles @ alligator cove.

www.nashvillezoo.org

Our summer has been so wonderful so far. I love spending time with my little tiny one. I look foward to each new day we are blessed with to explore our world even more.

I am so thankful for an amazing family and awesome friends lately. I just feel so blessed.

June 21, 2007

Pool Day

VBS June 25-29

Little Birdy

My little bird elephant died on March 9, 2007 in the wee hours of the morning. I cried and cried and sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. I loved him.

May you sing your beautiful songs forever little birdy. You were in our lives for a short time, but you truly did make an impact on us. You always had a sweet demeanor. You loved to sing to the heavens. And once, you woke me up while I was asleep in the bathtub ~ even though you normally did not sing at night. For that, I thank you little birdy. I hope you liked it here with our family. May you rest in peace and always know you were loved.

~Sunday Drive~

As I was driving home from Mississippi this weekend, I had a self-realization that ~ loving yourself is not about accepting every part of your "body." That loving yourself is loving your inside ~ your heart. A friend asked me recently if I loved myself ~ I did not have an answer until now. Yes ~ I love my soul.

(This picture is of me playing with my sweet little niece Annie B. I pray that she always loves herself on the inside because her little soul is so, so beautiful.)

The Beauty of Friends

You could search the whole world looking for a friendship like ours, and you would only wear out a good pair of feet. -Bradley Trevor Greive

The faith in our friends grows as each of us helps the other move foward in life.
-Bradley Trevor Greive


I feel so blessed by God to have discovered such amazing friends, who accept me as I am~all while motivating me to be the best person I can be, for my awesome faith filled friend Rach, I love you and believe in you girl!

Writings

AS I continue to run, I turn away, I hide my face, I am ashamed. I do not want God to know that once again I have failed. Please leave me alone, I cry. I want nothing to do with you anymore. He is there - but not in my face. When I turn the radio on, even on secular; he is there. When I pick Zaid up from school he is there; he speaks through a teacher. I am in awe. I continue to see a Christian friend that I do not see very often. I know that EVERYTHING HAS to be given to God; not just part. I don't want to. Today-I can do this, God can do this-only if I give up myself to him. I read about children of the light. I ask for forgiveness. I give my heart, Tuesday, January 30-Peace comes to me. I pray ferverntly for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

(This was written a few months back. I shall never forget this time.)

Kites

We flew our kite at the park on Sunday, April 1, 2007. It flew so high!! Zaid did not like for it to fly so high, he wanted it lower.

Skylight

I love looking into the sky and

seeing the beauty of our world. This is what I

saw one spring day two weeks ago.

Pioneer Life

In the third grade, our teacher would read to us from the Little House on the Prairie Books, I fell in love with them at once and begged for the set for Christmas. I would buy individual books, thinking I was not going to get the set. I would read them, over and over again. I did get the set for Christmas. When I was 14 or so my Daddy took a detour from our vacation, and we visited Laura Ingalls Wilder's home in Mansfield, Missouri. I took so many pictures.......it intriques me.

I guess that is why now, after watching a couple of the installments of the movies based on books by Janette Oke (while I was at my Mom's house, they had a 5 night of the Love Series), I keep going to the library looking for the movies that I did not get to watch all of the way through.

I wonder what pioneer life would have been like? I like to think that I would have liked it. :-)

I am thankful to my third grade teacher for opening up the door, to a love of books.
At one point, I had read every book inside my house!!! (When I was younger, and had much more time on my hands.)

Gorgeous Spring

We are going to the park a lot now that spring is here. It is so nice just to let Zaid run and play and we swing and we seem to always see a friend or make a new friend. Spring is my favorite season of the year. The world that God created for us comes alive with beauty and splendor that can only be described as indescribable.

How great is our God - Chris Tomlin

I love this song, it really reaches my soul. It is absolutely true.

Wonderful Spring Days

So much has been going on lately, I really do not know where to begin......tomorrow morning Tamer is getting four wisdom teeth cut out!! Ouch!! Many prayers for him for a quick recovery and not much pain hopefully. We are stocked up on his favorite chicken noodle soup and of course chocolate snack packs. We are to be there at 8:30 am tomorrow morning.

I just feel so aware of my many, many blessings recently.... the most patient husband in the entire world, the cutest little son on the entire planet, super sweet pets, an amazing family and awesome friends!!

Not to say that I have not had some sad times too, my favorite bird Elephant Little Birdy passed away on March 9, 2007. I loved him dearly and never expected to grieve for him as I did. My Mom told me tonight that she felt bad for me when I was crying (that is odd, because my Mom is a nurse and is very used to death.) I started thinking about him again tonight.....he was the best, I know he is in a better place now without any pain at all, singing his little heart out for the King!! Yes, I believe that all pets go to Heaven!!!

I definitely have to blog more later......time for sweet sleep now!

~ Jen

Elim

Today I was reading my Bible study, by Beth Moore and even though for the past two weeks I have continued on Week 1, Day 1 today for some reason I went ahead to Week 2 (the week we are on now), and I finished Day 1 (I was working on that yesterday.) and then I finished Day 2. I needed Day 2, for today so much, it is amazing how God knows exactly what we need and when we need it. I am in awe. God knew I would need to read about how the Israelites went to Marah and the water was bitter, and how he showed Moses where the branch was to put into the water to take the bitterness away. I would have to let God take the bitterness away today and forgive, not to say what happened was okay but that I would be okay. To reach my Elim, it is a requirement to forgive. Exodus 15:22-27

Dr. Seuss

I will write this post this afternoon!! :-)

Zaid loves the new Dr. Suess dictionary that some of his friends gave to him for his birthday. He will look at it over and over and read about the Queen getting a quart of milk delivered. He likes for me to read it to him also.

Thanks Friend!

The Pie

After cleaning out the refrigerator for over 3 1/2 hours yesterday, I decided to make a pie. I wanted to make this, http://food.southernliving.com/southern/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1578375 but seeing as how I am the only one is my house to eat banana pudding, I made a wiser choice with this one http://www.recipezaar.com/9358 . I am not a huge fan of lemons, but Tamer adores them, so.....I got an Excellent in Effort, but I accidentally put 4 TBS of sugar on top of the graham cracker crust instead of 1 TBS. Tamer is always such a really good sport with my cooking endeavors, he said "Sugar, GOOD!" :-) This was my first time making the egg white and sugar top and I think it turned out pretty. :-)

I wanted to go low-carb recently and did not succeed, I am not a huge fan of meant. So, then I wanted to try not eating meat with faces again. So, now I have combined them, I am going low-carb vegetarian. :-)

In other news, Zaid's birthday party was postponed until next weekend, he was not feeling well at all on Friday night. We are excited to celebrate next Saturday!

Cupcakes

The cupcakes that Tamer and I made today for Zaid's birthday at Kindergarten. Zaid's cupcake was the turquoise one with the heart ring in the very back!

Happy Birthday to Zaid!

Zaid is now six years old! I know every year I say this, but it is true. I can not believe another year has gone by. Six years ago, I became Zaid's Mommy.

It seems like every year, I get a little more emotional when another year goes by. I found myself sobbing today thinking about how unique and amazing the little bear is. When he was a baby, I called him little bear and baby toots.

I tried to make today so very special, we Zaid woke up, he did not want to get up, he kept saying, let me sleep a little longer, please, and he lay his head back down, even after we told him it was his birthday and how he would get to open his present. *hint, hint, Jennifer, something is wrong here, Zaid loves presents* Finally we lured him out of bed and he opened his present from us, a projector with disks for his room! He was so very excited!! He has been talking for weeks about this projector. Then he opened his present from his Great-Geddo, followed by breakfast that he picked out ~ Strawberry Toaster Strudel and a pear. He did not eat much at all. Getting out the door for school was quite an event, with me eventually paying Zaid to take some cold medicine (so he would not be so sniffly at school). We ate lunch with Zaid at school, he ate one strawberry and took one bite of sandwich and one drink of chocolate soy milk. Later on in the day we took balloons to school for Zaid and we made beautiful cupcakes with jewel rings on them and sprinkles. Zaid had told me the previous night that he wanted the heart ring, because there was only one, so I made sure to make him a turquoise cupcake with the red heart ring on it. When we got there, Zaid was lying down on the floor asleep on his towel. His teacher said he rarely goes to sleep during rest time, this was unusual. He was so sweet lying there asleep, I took a mental picture of him and it just broke my heart when his teacher woke him up. :-) He did not want to get up, finally they got him up and he sat down, we passed out plates, napkins and cupcakes. Zaid does not take one bite of cupcake!!! I read one of Zaid's favorite books Hedgie Blasts Off! by Jan Brett to Zaid and his classmates. Zaid's teacher took a couple of pictures for us and then they all sat down in front, it was time for a story. Zaid told his teacher, how he was not feeling up for a birthday dinner tonight, then he told her how when he was 4, his favorite restaurant was Red Lobster, but now he really likes Shogun, she told him that he has good taste, if those are his favorite restaurants.

After school, we went to pick up, of all things a new kitty litter box in Bowling Green. Zaid seemed a little confused when he got in the car about the birthday dinner, he said that he was not feeling like a birthday dinner because he wanted all of his friends to come over for his party, then he was sad that he forgot to invite his teacher and he wanted to invite her. We explained to him that his party was on Saturday and all of his friends would come then for his party. He showed us his new birthday pencil and birthday sticker that he got to go the office and get. :-)

He told us thank you for his balloons (they were Scooby-Doo) that he got at school, then he told me how some little boys were throwing rocks at the balloons and how he told on him, I told him that he did the right things.

When we got to Red Lobster, Zaid noticed that there were only two lobsters in the tank and he watched them for a little while, which is his routine. :-) The hostess said that they were getting a new shipment in soon. We ordered lobster and we told Zaid that he could have it, neither one of us were extremely hungry. When they asked what he would be having, we told them the popcorn shrimp, and he immediately said "No, I am having lobster!" We had to explain, that he could have the lobster that we ordered. (He has tried to order lobster for the past eight months!!) I did have some clam chowder there, and it was really good! :-) I have my Caesar salad in the refrigerator for lunch tomorrow. We looked over Zaid's work from school and he did a worksheet, we sharpened the pencil he had gotten at school, something must have been wrong with the lead, we sharpened and sharpened, down to the end of the pencil and Zaid got a little bit of use out of it, but then it broke again and he could not use it, we trashed the pencil. He read an AR book called Meet My Monster! Zaid talked about how he wanted to watch a movie when he got home, he wanted to watch Open Season, Tamer told him that if he eats good, then he could watch it, Zaid ate about three bites of applesauce and drank four sips of Dr. Pepper. All through dinner, he did not eat anything, he just hid and cuddled with his Daddy Finally, he came over to my side of the table and I held him and read his AR book to him and he fell asleep. I carried him to the car. When we got home, he took three medicines, the Zithromax from the Urgent Care in Mississippi on Saturday, Tylenol and a cold medicine. He had a 101 degree temperature when I took his temperature. I had to pay him again to take his medicine! :-) And give him lots of water. He got his jammies on and we cuddled and watched his projector together, we watched the ocean show, it had a CD with it. He talked to his Nona for one minute, we told him good night and told him Happy Birthday, then he was fast asleep.

What is Love?

Last night, a speaker read some children's responses to "What is Love?. The answers were so sweet and adorable!
Tonight as I was saying my prayers with Zaid, I paused and asked him "What is Love?"
Heart. ~ God. ~ God's Love. ~ When you like someone very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very much. When you are twins, then your hearts are friends. Love is when your hearts are friends. His answer to my question leaves tears in my eyes. So simple, so true. So sweet, so pure.

Valentines, Cross Stitch, Coffee Talks

Once upon a time ago, when Zaid was a baby I cross stitched something for my friend. I was trying to save money on Christmas presents, I bought a ton of stuff to make presents. I ended up completing one cross stitch. I had never cross stitched before, but it looked decent from the front, although the back looked like a train wreck. My friend loved it. I gave it to her and her husband for their first Christmas as a married couple. It always made me smile when I would see it on her entertainment center. Tonight, I made iron on transfers for Zaid's teachers. I found the patterns at www.janbrett.com and I iron the transfer on a pink shirt. On one of the shirts, I left the iron on too long and the pink of the shirt bled through the transfer, I feel bad about that, but there is nothing I can do about it. I hope his teachers like it!

Zaid and I made Valentines for his classmates today. I am not sure that he wants to make them, actually I know he does not because he told me as much. "This is too much! I have to make cards for EVERYONE?" I was in a terrible mood by the time we had around 5 finished, so I told him he could stop for the day. I could not handle it anymore. Trying to be so positive, I was DONE! He did make one for his Mawmaw, I told him how she had sent him a box, I think he was mostly trying to get the box, because when he finished the card, he asked where the box was. :-) The Valentines are adorable, we meleted crayons in the shape of hearts, then I cut circles from cardstock. Zaid wrote on them, "You Color My World" and signed his name. I will post a picture tomorrow. It is such a fine line, of trying to get Zaid to do something without speaking sharply to him. I promise to do better tomorrow. After dinnner, we read a sweet book about Piglet's nightlights, then we talked about how many different light sources we have. Zaid read me his AR book, it was about Ed and his sled. It was super cute too. Zaid is doing excellent on AR tests! I am so proud of my little reader. The first time I heard him read one of his little books, I remember it about a mop, Pam gets on the mop.....Mom gets on the mop......I will look for that book, I cried. I was so proud of him! I called grandparents and friends and just generally played the band for Zaid.

I went to a coffee talk tonight at my church tonight, it is always nice to get out and listen to other people. One of the things, I most took with me, well there are two things: 1. You can not give your children something that you do not have ownership up, examples: forgiveness and graciousness. 2. We have to go to Jesus in order for him to fill us with his love. Our busyness keeps us from focusing on Jesus.

Hamburger Helper

Okay, I just looked up the history of Hamburger Helper, and now I know that they began with five flavors in 1971 and I was born in 1980, so I know from that: they had more than the rice oriental when I was a child!! I can remember a couple of things that we ate growing up and I know that rice oriental Hamburger Helper had to be about 50% of what we ate. Yuck! Just the thought today makes me want to be sick. My Mom was a busy Mom, so our pantry had the following: chef boryardee (an assortment), canned soup (an assortment), of course rice oriental, Captain Crunch, bologna, macaroni and cheese, frozen doughnuts, frozen pancakes, chips, cookies and lots of little debbies. Every now and then on a day she was off or something, she would put a roast in the oven. She always thinks we are making "fun" of her when we talk to her about the HH, but really, we just wanted a little bit of variety.......it was not that it was HH, it was that she never bought a different kind.

Could that be why, I always want to eat healthy and be healthy? (I am not saying I always accomplish that goal.) Probably so.....is my conclusion. I do have a strange obsession with macaroni and cheese though, I wonder if looking back even though right now Zaid loves mac-n-cheese, will he wonder why I had it in the house all of the time? Oh, well! I guess I have to give him something to talk about.....

Nostalgia

I am not sure if it is the cold weather that is bringing on the "remember whens" but I have a couple that I will never forget.

The Year ~ mid 90s
The Scene ~ my Big Mama's House for Sunday Lunch ~ her kitchen table to be exact

My Big Mama was famous for her chicken and dumplings, I dream about them to this day. I have never, ever in all of my 26 years tasted chicken and dumplings that were as good as hers. She added something, that no one can repeat, even though my oldest sister has the recipe, she can not recreate Big Mama's best dish.

So a couple of things you should know, I am not, nor have I ever been a picky eater, unless it tastes like soap or something terribly inedible, I do not complain. So here goes.....

I was probably 14 or 15, and I had just finished eating a plate of chicken and dumplings and other "southern" food, you can imagine my surprise when Big Mama announced after everyone had eaten mind you, that those squirrel dumplings were good, and then went into detail about how the neighbor had killed a squirrel and "dressed" it for her. She liked to shock people like that. She was kind of funny in her own unique way. She was hard of hearing unless you were whispering, then she heard every syllable.

New Babies

Our family has been blessed with many new babies this winter, well two to be exact. Lovely little Anna-Belle Grace made her grand entrance into our world in December. Today Corbin Jesse graced us with his presence at 8 pounds and 13 ounces. They sent me a picture over my phone, I can already tell what a little charmer he is, as he was peeking out from the blanket. I am excited to get to see him in a couple of weeks. To date, I now have 4 nephews and 4 nieces. They are all beautiful and unique. I shower all of them with as much attention as I can, and I hope that they all love their "Nini" as much as I love them.

Stopping by Woods.....

February has greeted us once again, with her cold snow and a lot of dark days. Yesterday here, it seemed bitter cold. When I walked outside, I could not stand it. I would quickly come back inside to get warm again. The dog is freezing too, normally she bolts out, as quick as lightening to leave this place (you know, we are so horrible to her, giving her food and treats and letting her sleep right beside us, petting her and playing with her all of the time :-)), but the other day, she could have run out and she jut looked out as if to say, "Nah! This game is not worth it today."
I had lunch with Zaid today and took his class some sanitizer. He is so very cute. I just wanted to bundle him up and bring him home with me. :-) They have five children out with illness today! We are praying for good health.

This is one of my favorite poems, I think I will share it with Zaid this afternoon.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near,
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

---Robert Frost

Getting to know me! :-)

My friend Rachael sent this to me over the weekend. It was a long weekend over here, but fun.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:30 am ~ and that was me "sleeping in"
2. Diamonds or pearls? Necklace or ring? Pearls ~ Necklace
3. What is your favorite TV show? Grey's Anatomy ~ Men in Trees ~ Ugly Betty ~ My Name is Earl ~ Law and Order: SVU ~ Law and Order: CI ~ Brothers and Sisters
4. What do you think is the worst fashion trend out right now? Those cropped sweater tops.
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Eggs
6. What is your favorite food? Macaroni and Cheese
7. What is your middle name? Lynn
8. What food do you dislike? white chocolate
9. What is your favorite CD? I honestly do not have one.

10. What kind of car do you drive? Ford Explorer

11. Favorite sandwich? Grilled Cheese

12. What characteristic do you despise? I am not sure, I would probably agree with my friend Rachael on this one; self-cenderedness and I would throw in there, extreme greed.
13. Favorite item(s) of clothing? pajamas
14. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Italy

15. What color is your bathroom? one is pink ~ the other one is white wainscotting
16. Favorite brand of clothing? Banana Republic
17. Where would you retire to? on the beach ~ near the mountains ~ and in the country but close to the city
18. What was your most memorable birthday? I remember a lot of them. I really remember getting a bicycle when I turned six.
19. Favorite sport to watch? Zaid playing flag football.
20. Farthest place you are sending this? MS
21. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? I do not know.

22. Person you expect to send it back first? I do not know.
23. When is your birthday? October 6, 1980
24. Are you a morning person or a night person? morning
25. What is your shoe size? nine

26. What do you want to do when you grow up? I hope to never grow up. :-)
27. What is your favorite kind of chip? White Cheddar Organic Cheetos
28. How are you today? wonderful
29. what is your favorite candy? banana laffy taffy
30. What is your favorite flower? lavender

At last.....

It snowed on Thursday night. Not a blizzard or anything, but an inch or so. Enough to throw snowballs in, but not the right consistency to make a snowman. I think it has to be more damp to build a snowman. After an hour and a half of getting ready to go outside and play in the snow, we finally made it out there, throwing snowballs and taking pictures and laughing and running and playing in this beautiful snow. All of the kids were eating as much snow as they could possibly intake. Tamer was pelting me with what amounted to snow balls that was much more ice than snow. :-) It was a wonderful day to play in the snow, Zaid with his friends laughing and running. We saw little bird tracks in the snow around our tree that has the bird feeder! Then Mitchel and Serenity had to show me their "paw prints". Mitchel loved throwing snowballs and throwing the snow up in the air to make it snow. Zaid wanted desperately to make snow ice cream again. I picked Zaid up and spun him around over and over again, just to see the smiles and laughs on his face and then Serenity wanted to spin, so I twirled her too.

A magical way to spend a snow day......

Koi Pond

After my flu shot today (OUCH! My arm still hurts!), I was outside filling up the bird feeders and I noticed our koi Pond was frozen. I wonder if the fish are still alive, if they will be able to stay at the bottom? They did the first year we lived here. I am sending warm thoughts to our Koi fish.

School was out today, so my friend who is a teacher flew to Washington State to visit her husband again, so I have watched a lot of Curious George and Dragon Tales and cleaned up a lot of dishes. I did get to go to Wal-mart and pick up a few necessities like new toothbrushes. It is amazing, how many choices you get for a toothbrush. I just went with the one I had a coupon for and took off for the check-out.

Also, I signed up for this mystery shopper website, not really intending to do anything with it, but on Monday, this guy called and asked if I could check gasoline prices at a certain place for $10 and I said sure, so he calls again today and asks if I could check the prices again, so that is what got me out of the house.

I guess I better go and cook dinner now, before they start asking me "Is it time for dinner?" multiplied by three.

Ciao!

Simplicity

I applied to Western Kentucky University today! I made that little step towards a bigger step towards a well....we all know, a leap. I am excited. For the past 5 years I have not been in a school situtation and a little piece of me has missed it. For the first two years of going to school, I just went to college just because it was the "thing" to do. Now, it is because I am ready to go back to school with an end GOAL in mind. After many years of pondering, I have come to the conclusion that I will major in elementary education K-4. At first, my thought was an english degree because with english comes literature and that is where my great love lies. I am not so sure if I could get through to junior high/high school students though, and little kids love me and I have a great love for them, too. Being able to share a love of learning with a little one........I have done that for the past six years and yes at times it is the pits, but the majority of it is pure wonder.

Giving up Fast Food

Tonight, I decided to give up Fast Food for a period of one year. I keep going back and forth over whether Starbucks is fast food? Tamer says it is. Zaid says that if eat salad at fast food restaurants then it is okay, but I detest fast food salads, they are always YUCKY! Old lettuce, anyone? No, thank you!
I went to Wendy's and got a large fry and Zaid wanted chicken nuggets so, we ordered the meal, and so they gave me this massive Dr. Pepper, which I promptly tapped.

Also, no more soda. It is not like I am addicted to fast food or soda, I do not go there every day, but I just want to see if I can do it, if I can make more healthy choices.

I will miss Dr. Peppers and Starbucks....and french fries......and coffee from McDonalds, but I will not miss all of the calories.

I am giving myself one treat, one happy hour drink at Sonic once a week. That's it.

Zaid went to the optometrist today, he said everything was great. Zaid is a little far-sided, but not anything to be concerned about. Zaid did his, I ask a gazillion questions and I am adorable routine. It got him a prize, a pencil, 2 erasers, 2 stickers and some black glasses. And everyone telling him bye. How cute is he? :-) Very.

Who am I

"...what You have done." "...you catch me when I am falling." "...I am Yours."

Godspeed - Dixie Chicks

Instead of Superman, we have Batman. I consider it to be one of the greatest privileges in life to be a Mommy. I hope I never take this amazing job for granted.

Five Years Old and Technology

Tonight, Zaid wanted Tamer to download some songs on his MP3 player. This MP3 player was given to Tamer from his Mom, and it has been sitting in the back of the car since Thanksgiving! :-) I do not have an MP3 player, I listened to one song on my niece's one time, but that is about it, with music I could either take it or leave it. I like some songs, but most songs I only hear the melody not the words, even as a child, I never heard the words only the music. So most of what my friends where hearing, I was hearing something different. I digress.

Wow! I can not believe it! Zaid was listening to Black Horse and a Cherry Tree, he was dancing and singing. It was so cute! Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh......... He had a hard time putting it away to go to sleep. He is growing up so fast. He was telling me tonight about how he is going to be six soon. He talked about how it was creeping, creeping up on us, him being six.

I do not like the number six if you did not know. It did not dawn on me until just now, that Zaid is going to be six. I do not like thirteen either. I do not like three because when you multiply it by two it is six. When I wake up, I will not get up until the minutes are whole numbers or multiplies of five.

Snow

Where is the snow? This is from last year, right about this time actually. We made snowmen and snow cream and snow angels. I loved Zaid walking through the snow and when he balanced on our flower bed. He was learning how to walk on a balance beam.

New Names

Apparently Macy thinks her name is now "Zaid".

She is cute though.

an ordinary day

the day ~ december 9, 2006 ~ the place ~ red lobster

"Zaid, what are you thinking about?"
"Government"
"Oh, really Zaid, what are you thinking about government?"
"Mommy, what was the first government?"
"Ummmmm.....ummmm.....*thinks: Greeks, Romans, Egyptians*, then I ask the waiter if he knows?"
The waiter says "Wow! Let me think, probably the Greeks or maybe the Egyptians, they were incredibly smart also."

Then he tells us about how he was bored in kindergarten. He tells us how he skipped a grade in school and he asks Zaid how old he is. He says his sister is like that. He asks Zaid if he loves to learn. He says he does. He tells him how wonderful that is, and that he loves to learn new things also.

When we get to the car, I call Tamer and he asks his friend Garrick, then they come to the conclusion, that maybe the Babylonians or the Samartians.

Another friend says to just say what you think, that they are discovering new things everyday. That what may have been the first government today, may not be tomorrow.

His questions, are so intense and real and so grown up sometimes.

"Mommy, how high does a butterfly fly? Mommy can we make a robot? then ~ Mommy, when I grow up, I am going to be the King of Cheese, then when he finds out about the Green Bay Packers and their cheese hats, he decides that no, he will be the King of Watermelon.

How high does a butterfly fly?

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/HeightFallFlight.html

Fort Yargo State Park

I took this picture

at a state park in Winder, Georgia. Zaid played on the playground for a long time, then we walked down to the dock and watched the sun go down. The view was amazing.

Walks around town

Today Zaid and I took a walks around town. He talked forever about villains and bad guys and how he was going to capture them with nets and little holes in the floor and tell the bad guys that there is treasure "down there" and trick them. For one of the first times I can remember I asked him to please talk about something else, that I could not take any more of the villains. I tried to explain to him that if bad guys came in, then we would call the police and deal with them, that he would not trick them. I'm not sure if I got through to him. He did get through to me however, and he continued his tirade about the villains. We ate a yummy, frozen dinner, veggie lasagna. (Yes, it was actually good.) Zaid wondered how much he would have to eat, surely he said if he ate 100 of the lasagna, I am not sure if he meant 100 pieces, 100 whole things. At this point, I do not ask. Anyway, he was sure he would "get fat", I tried to explain that to him about how it takes time to become overweight, how he is at a healthy weight, and so on and so forth. Eventually, I gave up.

Sometimes, you just have to take a break and retreat from everything, that is what I did tonight. I just vegged out. I thought about nothing. Nothing at all. I hope that tomorrow, I am all recharged for this Mommy expedition again, because my house is in desperate need of a magical fairy to come down and clean and organize. And if you are listening fairy, I would like for you to finish the projects I am half-way through also. Thank you in advance.

Seriously though, today was a beautiful day filled with lots of hugs, love and praise for Zaid who was a much better listener today to his teacher. I talked to her about that yesterday. I realize that I pretty much give Zaid no responsibility, that he is going to grow up to become one incredibly spoiled brat if we continue down this road. I always think of Zaid in the back of my head as a still a "baby", but today when I put him in a thinking period for hitting Jacob, he demonstrated how "strong" he was as he pushed an antique table, that the bird sits on in his cage, (peacefully and safe until today) around the "real" hardwood floor. One day, I am going to move to a house with floors made out of something that can not be damaged. Something like dirt maybe? :-) Zaid does not like thinking time, so therefore I do not like thinking time. But, I have to keep reminding myself almost hourly, who am I kidding, minutely (is that a word?), that I am the adult and that I have Zaid's best interest in mind, that our hands and objects in this case are not for hitting.

Later on when I told him he was going to have to start cleaning his room, he very quickly came back with that I am going to have to start paying him. I told him I would pay him to take out the bathroom garbage, but I was not paying him to clean his room. I am not a huge believer in charts and all that jazz. No one applauds me when I get clean the potty. Zaid pretty much leads a charmed life, he just does not realize it. I guess as a parent, it is my responsibility to teach him to be appreciative. I only hope that one day soon he is appreciative because I'm not sure how much long I can tolerate the baby tyrant.

Why does the caged bird sing?

I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS
by: Maya Angelou
A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wing in the orange suns rays and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom.


My bird does not appear to like his freedom, actually.

To see......

As I look back over my blog, I see so many changes in myself, in Zaid, in our family, mostly good changes to our life. Growing, learning, bit by bit, more and more. Everyday, this is our life to learn from each other, to love each other, to go on, to exist in harmony with one another.

Yesterday, I went to guidance with Zaid at his school, (I was not exactly sure what it was, Zaid tells me about it a lot.) He is was teaching them yesterday how do deal with their angry emotion. He gave them situations and they sang a a song, when there is a problem, to look at it as a way to a solution. To not get "angry" with our fists up, but to "take a breath, push it down and count to ten." Then to find a solution to whatever we are having a hard time with. Invaluable lessons for a five year old to learn. Invaluable lessons for me to learn. Invaluable lessons that our society needs to learn.

Most days, I do not want to listen to the news, it is depressing and it makes me sad that this is our world, where killing and violence seems to be the answer to everything, but one day Tamer said for me to come and look what was on the news, this was it http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2007/01/03/details_about_t.php , and I had this overwhelming sense of the good in people. That there is good in everyone, even if we have to push to the end to see the good, it exists. It is out there. Kindness, empathy, compassion, love, patience, self-control....

Rain

"Mama, why does the rain fall, do we drink the rain?" me ~ "Umm, rain is dirty Zaid, we can't drink it from the sky?" "Mama, what is in rain?" me ~ "Salt." "Mama, is this where salt comes from?" me ~ "Zaid, I'm not really sure, we will look it up when we get home."

Now, me at 11:18 pm finally getting a chance to look it up for my tiny love. Looks like rain is different from area to area.

On a totally different note, my love for this beautiful light in my life is so strong, so fierce as only a Mother's can be. At times so sad and meloncholy that he grows more and more minute by minute and other times, completely happy and excited watching him grow.

The third thought, we read a book about mosquitos tonight, he was intriqued and wondered if the mosquitos go to Heaven, I said probably not, as we would not want bugs to bite us in Heaven. But I did tell him that I was not for sure if there were mosquitos in Heaven. In the end, he said there were.