What A Difference A Day Makes

On Monday, our back yard resembled a waterfall after a drenching rain that with the freezing ground did not drench but rather cascade between the trees to descend ultimately down our driveway. There was really nothing to do but enjoy the view while it lasted.

Today, however, required the whole family's participation.

Yes, this is the same view.

What started out as a school day quickly turned into a snow day as the snow continued to fall quicker than anticipated. A "swell" they call it and I suppose for the many school children it was. For the parents, maybe not so much. 

Ariana and I spent the morning coloring, watching PBS Kids, playing on the computer and doing worksheets that I printed out from one of the many educational websites available. I figured we should do some sort of school work and since she actually likes filling in the blanks with letters and numbers, it seemed like the logical thing to do. As the weather started to clear, I debated going out to shovel. With baba away, it is my job and since I am too chicken to start the snow blower, I figured the exercise would do me good.... eventually. Still inside, we moved into the family room for some Wii time.

Whoever invented this should have a holiday named after them. The Wii is a brilliant devise that brings families together, improves reflexes, balance and coordination for kids and in most cases, just makes you laugh. If you have ever tried the Penguin game in WiiFit, you know what I mean. The funniest one I have found so far is a game where you must move your hips right, left, back or front so you hit the numbers so they add up to ten. Not only do you get a hip workout, but you improve your mind as well, since you have to quickly add up the numbers before you move. That may sound easy, but as someone who is directionally dyslexic, I am telling you it is not. Ariana likes the bicycle obstacle course and I enjoy watching her stamp up and down on the pad.

She had started on the "Snowball Fight" game when I realized "hey, we could do this outside".

At that moment, I looked and saw the neighbors on the driveway, so Ariana and I quickly got dressed and we went out - me to shovel and Ariana to play. Tess came as well and ran immediately to the big dog that belongs to the lady next door. 

The other neighbor. 

The unfriendly one. 

The one who has yelled at me twice already about Tess going onto her lawn.

Luckily, she was on her cell phone and so she only watched as Tess ran around on her lawn and Ariana followed her, sliding down her hill on her little butt. She didn't say a word to me about either of them. Perhaps she was too preoccupied with her conversation to get irritated. 

While I waited for another lecture on why I should prevent my dog from peeing on her lawn, I was busy shoveling. 

And shoveling. 

And shoveling. 

I did have help for a short time as Ariana decided that what I was doing looked like fun. Her shoveling lasted longer than I thought, but it didn't last that long as she preferred to make snow angels. Finally full of snow, she was ready to come inside and I had my fill of aerobic exercise, so in we went for some well deserved hot chocolate.

As the sun went down, we noticed little white flakes, gentle at first, falling from the sky. Heavier and heavier it came, prompting me to think I better get ready for more shoveling.

And more angels.

A Little Bit Bad

The other day, in an act I like to think of as a celebration of life, I bought Ariana a bag of Cheetos.

Earlier in the day, I had been discussing the very large topic of being a mother with a friend of mine, someone I consider an excellent mother who is currently plagued by the self-doubt that we all experience from time to time.  Many times this self-doubt involves food choices. Not satisfied with the common sense “healthy food in - junk food out “ mantra, we now torture ourselves with just how healthy our healthy food is. Whole wheat used to be good enough. Now, it must be whole grain, preferably organically grown whole grain. Low fat used to be good enough – now, only hormone, antibiotic free roaming cows milk will do. Or better yet, soymilk.  And God forbid you give your child something unhealthy, you risk the evil stares from parents whose mission in life is to educate you about what poisons you are feeding them or worse, you risk being told, “you know you are killing your child with that” (this was actually said to a friend of mine, I am not making this up).

Going to the store these days requires a lot of patience and a good pair of reading glasses to see the sometimes miniscule print in which the ingredients are listed.

As an experiment, I spent ten minutes comparing the leading organic Mac and cheese to good old Kraft – just to see the difference.  Between the chart and the really small print below the chart, which required me to hold the box at arm’s length under a strong light just to read, I was more than just slightly confused. The chart lists the stats for one cup “as prepared” and then a tiny little asterisk states “amount in mix when prepared”, with slightly different ones. What is the difference? No wonder parents are confused these days. The organic brand with all of its organic ingredients had less Calcium and Iron than the Kraft. It did have more protein, but also more fat if you add the butter, which is listed as a suggestion for “richer flavor”. It would also have more calories.  They were about equal on salt and carbohydrates. So, do you go for more vitamins or go the organic route? Therein lies the dilemma.

Recent events bring it all home for me. We have choices that are almost mind-boggling. Let’s look at milk. Generally thought of as a healthy food. Full of calcium and vitamin D – great for growing bones. Now comes the hard part. Full fat or low fat? If you are going low fat, do you buy 1 or 2%? Perhaps go for fat free? What about vitamin enriched? Organic or just hormone free? Regular old milk flavored or vanilla or chocolate or strawberry?

People in Haiti would settle for any milk at all. And so would most of the people in the world.

So why? Why do we torture ourselves? The quest to be perfect and worse put that expectation on our children is pointless, as life just doesn’t work that way. If you eat in a restaurant, go to dinner at a friend’s house or have your child play at another’s house, you have little control over the quality of what is served.  Sure, you can bring your own food, but do that and then take a look at your child’s face  - I don’t think it is a smiling one. 

So after swimming class, Ariana wanted a snack from the machine, this being a very fun thing for a 5 year old. So, we scanned the selections and while I suggested the popcorn or pretzels, her eyes were fixing on the little orange bag with the tiger on it. I thought of all the unhealthiness in that little bag – the mystery ingredients that contained the artificial colors and flavors I should shun. But, I also thought that standing there, I had the luxury of choice and every once in awhile it’s ok to make the choice to stop thinking and just listen to my child. So, as Ariana slipped the quarters one by one into the slot, I got ready to lift her up so she could push the magic numbers, and then we both watched as the little bag of delicious poison dropped into the slot.

She rode home in her booster seat, crunching away and when we got home, she proudly showed me her little orange fingers. With a big smile on her face. I have to tell you, that smile was worth a little badness.

Christmas in Connecticut

Well, I tried.

Having gathered all the pictures taken over the holidays and artfully arranged them for your viewing enjoyment, at this moment you were supposed to be looking at the first holiday season in our new home. The scene on Main Street during the event that starts off the season, filled with lights, horse drawn carriages, ice sculpture and Santa; the snow that has blanketed our lawn since late November; Baba gallantly clearing the snow with the snow blower; pictures of Ariana lighting the Hanukkah candles; Baba chopping down the Christmas tree; Ariana decorating the tree; our Christmas dinner with the Humphreys and my beautiful (if I do say so myself) Christmas pudding; Pictures of our trip to New Hampshire to see cousins Suzan and Woody - complete with the most beautiful blizzard I have ever seen; the fun time we had at Melissa and Kevin's Kwanzaa party; our New Year's Eve party with fireworks and funny hats; the snowman.

But, you will just have to use your imagination.

Because.

I cannot figure out how to get the pictures into the blog.

Because.

I got a new computer.

Because.

My old one kept shutting down for no reason.

Because.

It was a piece of crap.

So.

Baba generously buys me one as a combo Birthday/Christmas gift. And for some reason, my ability to learn yet one more machine has left me. With a move from one country to another and a new house, there are lots and lots of new instruction manuals piled up and waiting to be read. New phone, new car, new vacuum cleaner, new lawn mower (ok, that's Baba's job) and last but not least, the new computer.

I sit.

I read.

I get bored much to quickly to actually absorb any of the many instructions there are.

I try to find my way around and get the most basic stuff. But anything more than searching the web and sending email allude me. I have faced my loss in technological intelligence and signed up for one-to-one lessons they give in the Apple store. The first lesson was spent trying to figure out how to sync my computer to my phone without having my address book appear more than once. Simple solution? My instructor had to go and ask for help about 4 times and guess what? I still have my address book syncing twice. And he gets paid to help people.

So, you will have to trust me that we had a lovely holiday, Ariana continues to be adorable and our house is slowly shaping up. And, one of these days, I'll have pictures to prove it!!!

A Brief Announcement

Homeland Children's Foundation is run by the two women who were instrumental in assisting us bring Ariana home. They do wonderful work in China, providing health care, educational opportunities and much needed supplies to children currently living in orphanages. Clicking on the icon below will bring to you their page where you can find out more about the organization and how you can help.

Leaves

With guests gone, it is now time to set our sights back on the house - specifically the leaves that have surrounded us like a winter blizzard. Unable to see the grass underneath the vast autumn colored carpet of fading green, orange, scarlet and brown, we rake and blow, blow and rake, curse the fact that our inherited leaf blower is on it' s last legs and rake and mow some more. And the sadistic thing about it is, we can get every last leaf and tomorrow there will be more.

I take the adventurous, cardio burning route as in: "What fun it is to be outside as a family", "look at all the beautiful colors", "beats going to the gym and being stuck inside on sweaty machines". Arny, while everyday heading out to split logs, ever proud of his growing pile, has a very different opinion of the leaf removing task - "tell me again why we bought a house in the woods?". Ariana has the entrepreneurial viewpoint, stating "I'm going to do a lot of jobs and make a lot of moneys". Her "jobs" consisting of riding the Lighting McQueen car around the driveway and pushing at the leaves with a stick. She did rake a bit, but quickly tired of the repetitive nature of the task and went off to play in the ravine.

The weather was lovely yesterday and the cold air was crisp and clean. Today is another day - our piles still there waiting to be picked up. A quick look up at the treetops this morning and I can see a few stragglers - those leaves that are hanging on for that last bit of sun. I admire their tenacity, though sooner or later the rake will be adding them to the pile.

The Big Halloween Days

Day I - Friday, was filled with school parties. Ariana was so excited to be able to wear her costume to school.
Personally, I think the pink shoes and backpack with the Transformer costume was an inspired choice. She and "Dorothy" patiently waited for the school bus.

Once at school, there was a parade for all of the kindergarten kids and then a pumpkin making craft. Here Ariana's teacher is helping out.....

At home, we made the second pumpkin with our house guests and roasted yet more seeds. The anticipation was mounting but unfortunately, so was the rain. Add the flu for our three house guests and it was touch and go whether or not everyone would be able to participate on Saturday for the big events planned.

Saturday, part 2. Our guests had a quiet morning while Ariana went to her Chinese class - no Halloween celebration there; just learning.

Everyone was well enough for a little trick or treating, so we started around 4 to visit at a friend's house - the kids decided to catch some zzzzzzzzz's before the festivities.

We made our way into town where we went to a party and then visited house after house, filling our pumpkins with lots of candy and treats. Due to the rain, the big street is having their "stroll" tonight - we will see if we are up to putting on the costumes again. Here is our group - the dentist, the Hulk, Ms. Vampire and a french woman, little miss transformer, a dinosaur, a unicorn and Mr. transformer (there were many, many transformers last night)

Pumpkins and Leaves and other Fall Things

Every morning I take Ariana to the bus stop, I curse myself for not bring along a camera. For each morning brings another breathless sight as the leaves continue to change and the water on the like shines, mirroring the ducks as they swim back and forth in a tight procession. I will get pictures - one of these days.

Fall means apple picking, pumpkin carving and leaves. We are experiencing all of them thanks to the area we live in and our friends from Japan who are visiting, prompting us to leave the chores of the house and venture out.

Our first stop was the Blue Jay Orchards, where rows and rows of apple trees greeted us as we drove up. With five of us picking, it didn't take long for the bag to be filled. It will take longer to figure out what to do with them all.


While they are spending a few days in the city, my cousins Suzan and Woody came down to visit with home grown pumpkin in toe. Ariana helped water it when we were visiting them on their farm in New Hampshire and they were kind enough to bring it down with them.


Ariana had a fine time drawing the face - it seems all of her faces look like Ampanman.
My job was to scoop out all of the gook and separate the seeds for roasting. They are drying off as I type.

While all of this was going on, baba san was being manly:
We do have a fireplace after all................

Random Things

Driving up to Connecticut with our EZ pass, we come through a tollbooth and for some reason, it doesn't read the pass. A policeman slowly and rather menacingly walks over and asks us for it. Sheepishly, Arny hands it over. The policeman, without changing expression or making a sound, takes it and rather violently whacks it against the gate a few times, until the gate rises. He then hands it back to Arny without a word.

Birthday Girl

We used Ariana's birthday as an opportunity to have some friends over. "Brave" was the way some responded, having people over to a house that was still being unpacked and worked on, but we know our friends don't care. Or, if they do, they are smart enough to keep their comments to themselves.

Ariana decided the decor, which was a combination of Lightning McQueen, Pokeman and the Care Bears - let's just say she has an eclectic nature. We (or should I say baba) splurged on an electric "Lighting McQueen" car, which Ariana took great pride in. Sharing was a challenge, but most of her little friends got to ride in it, if only for a second or two.


No child's party is complete without a pinata and while it was one of the Kinder and Gentler one with strings attached, so all the kids just pull one and the candy comes out, Ariana wanted the challenge of actually smashing it apart.

Afterwards, we had cake, which she and Molly enjoyed immensely, black icing and all.

The parents were slightly horrified, but after all, that's what makes a great party.

My Big Girl

We talked about getting on the big yellow school bus. Now that she was going to kindergarten, she was a big kid and big kids go on the bus with their friends. The first day, all three of us walked down to the bus and waited to see it come into view. We carefully crossed the street and met the driver, Tina, and was relieved at her big friendly smile. Ariana returned the smile as she got on and before I could say "bye" the doors closed and she was off. I turned away and there were tears in my eyes.

My big girl who still likes to be carried and needs help putting her socks on. Who still likes being fed sometimes and tucked into bed. Who loves riding in the cart at the store, preferably those huge ones with the little cars attached.

This big "little" girl who likes all those things, can confidently climb on a big yellow school bus without a tear.

Time flies, doesn't it?