Gymnastics

This summer Zada joined a Gymnastics Club at a local community centre. She loved it! They did mostly floor and beam. She got very interested in it while the Olymics were on, after I told her someday she could be on tv. She said one night while we were watching the Olympics; "Mom, I bet they didn't come and video tape us at my gymnastics." She thought for sure she would be in this Olympics. 

          

Last Wednesday was her last day so we got to watch what they have been doing. 

             

Before she started Gymnastics she had problems doing a back bend (she's very unflexable like her mother) but by the last day as you can she was was doing great!! She has expressed a new interest in taking ballet.

already learning her Diva ways...

Conversation between Zada and Thomas.
The setting, Zada playing with Lincoln Logs, Thomas decided to join Zada.

Zada: "Thomas, find me the small logs."
Thomas: "No. Why do I have to do everything for you?!"
Zada: Because. I. Need. Them.
Thomas: .....silence....

St. Louis here we come..... soon.

Saturday morning:
Zada: "Is this the day we leave for St. Louis? And Can I bring my swim suit?"

Mom: "umm....not THIS Saturday...you have 7 sleeps."

Zada: "OH MANNN!!!! That's too many sleeps!"

Sunday:
Zada: "Now how many sleeps until we leave?"

Mom: "Seriously? 6 sleeps."

Monday:
Zada: "So how many sleeps and should I pack?"

Mom: "5 sleeps. No packing."

Tuesday:
Zada: "Is this the day we're leaving mom?"

Mom: "nope, 4 sleeps. we leave Saturday today is Tuesday."

Guess what Zada will ask me tomorrow! hahaha

I think someone might be excited to visit!! I know I am... I kinda do the same thing with James only it's more adult like.... I think I have about 7 lists going of things I need to bring. I almost took out the suitcases 
but I figured James would think I"m nuts.... so many tomorrow! :)

Sleeping Beauty

So these are long awaited for I'm sure... Below are our Halloween Pictures.

The Sunday before Halloween we attended a Halloween Party at the Community Centre Near our house. It was so much fun. The gym was full of games and the kids got loot bags to collect candy. Some of the classrooms were transformed into a haunted house. Zada was less than pleased with that part of the day. Another classroom was turned into a craft room - they got to decorate a mask and cookies! It was so much fun... that was until the hunchback guy showed up. That pretty much ended our day. Thankfully it was just as we were getting our coats.

After the party we headed to a small little Pumpkin stand near our house. While we were there we got to watch some men launch Pumpkins WAYYYYY up into the air! It was so awesome!
Pumpkin carving Tuesday.

The pumpkin was supposed to look scarey!

AND NOW FOR HALLOWEEN DAY.........

Zada got to show off her costum at school with all of her friends. She even got to pose with her teacher, mme Rachel who wore a witch hat. The two black bags are full of candy.

Reasons we have kids....

So tonight we had a little outing to the shopping mall - Jame, Zada and myself. While in the car Zada was having a conversation with James - whom was being silly. Zada then replied; "Mom." With great interest as to what was going to be next - normally it's "I love you." This time however it was something I never really heard before. "I'm so glad you married that guy." Me too! Me too. What came next almost made me pee my pants. No lie. She said "well you married him because you didn't really have anybody else." I of course corrected her and said - I married him because I love him. She then giggled and said "You LOVEEEEEEEEEE him?!?!" hahah I only wish I could see what her little brain was thinking.

Playground Discussions

Sucker or Lollipop?

That seemed to be the topic of discussion among the playground-goers today. There were two of the same conversations and completely different times. One was between Zada and another kid. She asked him quite frankly where he got his "sucker" from. He said, What's a Sucker? Zada being the kid of "always right" said That thing in your mouth. He thus informed her that it was not a so-called sucker but it was a Lollipop. I explained to her that they are one of the same. The more the kids said "sucker" the more horrible it sounded. Although I think any word you say repeatedly can sound a little bad or weird. I remember as a kid I would say words over and over in my head and kind of analyze the word. That word then seemed weird to me. Take the word anticipation for example - say it over and over in your head - put the emphasis on different parts of the syllables. Ok maybe I'm just strange. Words are funny. So back to the playground.

The sucker/lollipop discussion was between two moms. I didn't quite hear the whole thing but I heard one say - Yeah I'm from a small town I guess we just say "sucker". I must admit - Lollipop does sound a little nicer. Infact when I googled the word "sucker" searching for an image file to put up there I got pictures of fish, people SUCKing face, the first image file was of Bush. It wasn't until the fourth page did I get an image file of SUCKERS.

So Lollipop it is....yet another word I need instill in Zada's spounge brain. We are still working on the letter "ZED" and "Girl Guides" instead of Girl Scouts. That's more my fault than hers.

Practicing....

OK this is a trial post... Here's a short video I took of Zada dancing around...

This is a pretty plain-jane video but we're learning.... I hope you enjoy it!

1st Day of School... SR.K

Tomorrow will actually be the third day of school - I am still trying to get back into the swing of things. Zada is going to school in the afternoons again this year and it seems like our morning flies bye. Lunch has been super rushed. It's always my fault as I wait to the last minute to decide what I'm going to make - or what Zada will actually eat.

This year felt so different than last year. As we were walking to school Zada was so excited to be going, she couldn't wait to find out which friends would be in her class. We stopped off to pick up her buddy Thomas and the two of them marched to school as though we were escorting them to an amusement park. That's right - they were so thrilled to be GOING_TO_SCHOOL!!

She is in French Emerson this year and I think she's a bit intimidated by it as she isn't used to hearing it all the time. Time for mom to start learning a few things in French I think! Thomas' mom talks to Zada in French - the funny part is I usually repeat what she says to Zada in English. How I know what she is saying is beyond me! lol Anyway...

Zada seems to be ok with me not volunteering this year. James and I decided it would be best for everyone if Zada and I had some separation. She needs to have time on her own without mom's watchful eye always on her. It's very different - I'm used to knowing everything she does in school - not anymore.

After I picked Zada up from school I remembered to not ask too many questions about school. The information will leak out as the day goes on. All I asked was "did you have a good day at school?" In which she replied "I had the best time ever!" I asked her "So you're going to go again tomorrow?" And I got "MOMMMMM!!!" I think I also asked if she got to speak any French or if her teacher spoke to her in French. Apparently there hasn't been any French speaking going on as of yet.

I'd post a picture of Zada on her first day BUT can you believe that _I_ FORGOT to take one? So tomorrow I will take one and post it right on this page! So check back for her picture over the weekend!
***********
So! For my birthday I got a video camera!! This is so exciting because now I get to SHOW you all how our little one is growing up and what she sounds like! I am thrilled. I will be able to post small videos right here on my blog! How cool is that!! There's one catch - I just have to figure it all out. All in due time!

I know you have read this part a thousand times but Immigration is going very well. I'm not going to toss out any dates yet because I don't want to jinx myself. I will be going for an interview next week to "discuss" my permanent resident status. I have no clue what that all means but hey I'll be there!

Long over due post... these things take time. This letter was written on August 17Th.

Dear Zada,

Today you lost your very first tooth. It took only six days and a lot of wiggling for it to finally fall out. You first noticed your wiggly tooth at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Toronto after a wedding. You were munching on strawberries when you felt as though something was caught between your teeth. I suggested you go to the bathroom with your toothbrush and see what you can do. Two minutes later you were rushing from the bathroom hysterical as if you saw the biggest spider in the world. You told me through your crying that your teeth were bleeding – it was gushing- I think is what you said.
My first thought was my goodness how hard were you brushing your teeth. Then you mentioned that your tooth was loose. You were so distraught at the thought of a loose tooth I had to help you back into the bathroom where I could inspect what exactly was happening. There is no way you have a loose tooth. You’re way too young! I had you rinse out your mouth with some cold water. You couldn’t believe there was BLOOD_COMING_FROM_YOUR_MOUTH! Sure enough – your very first loose tooth!
You managed to go an entire day of not eating. We even went to McDonalds for breakfast; I thought for sure that would cure the “pain”. You immediately said no to food. So we ordered you a blueberry muffin and an OJ despite your desire to eat. You took a nibble of the muffin; said it was too hard to eat and that was that. We tried all kinds of ideas to get you to eat but nothing was going to come near your mouth!
The following day was a totally different story. The bleeding stopped, the pain wasn'tt as bad and you got used to the idea of it wiggling. You managed to eat everything in sight! I think you ate four peaches in one day along with everything else that could be eaten from the side of your mouth! I hadn’t seen you eat like this before. You ate dinner with Dad and I and then you’d ate grandma and grandpas food, then desert, then something else and THEN you asked for a snack before bed. I suggested to Dad that maybe we should only feed you six days a week instead of seven. He reminded me that you had several more teeth to come out so it was bound to happen again.
As the week progressed the complaining discussion of your wiggly tooth subsided. I now know what I must have put your Grandma Jung through when my teeth were falling out. We of course assured you that we went through the same thing when our teeth fell out. You were pretty proud of your loose tooth after about the third day – you told anyone that would listen about it. You even mentioned to us several thousand times that your tooth was wiggly.
     Today is Friday August 17th, 2007. When you woke this morning you made sure to show me just how loose your tooth was. (In your defense I asked you every morning this week if your tooth was still loose.) I think I’m just as excited about your tooth as you are, ok probably more!
We left for Ottawa today around noon – we stopped at Webbers for lunch. We ordered you a Hot dog and Fries. You mentioned that your tooth felt a little funny. I assured you that it would continue to get wigglier until it fell out. You took a huge bite of the hotdog and started to whimper saying your tooth didn’t feel right.


We thought maybe you were just being dramatic about your tooth. I looked in your mouth and sure enough it was bleeding again. What we should have done and what we did were both very different things; we SHOULD have gone and pulled it out and dealt with whatever screaming occurred from it. What we did instead was told you to continue eating. We’re kind of new at this “loosing teeth” as a parent stuff. You tried eating a French fries when you turned to me with deer-in-headlights look and said “my tooth is gone!” You swallowed your very first baby tooth. I don’t know if you were more upset that you swallowed your tooth and now you couldn’t brush it like you wanted to do or because you just lost your tooth and now you’re kind of freaking out. I tried to hide my disappointment – I too wanted to see your first tooth.

I walked you to the car like I had walked you to the bathroom on that first day and had you rinse out your mouth. You kept looking in the side mirror of the car and then you’d cry. Then you’d look again and then you’d cry. When we started driving again you mentioned that you had a hard time swallowing because now your tongue went through the hole!
We made a second stop about 15 minutes into our drive to look at a shop and by now you were pretty excited about your new smile. You bolted from the car and said “Grandma look at my new smile!” Grandpa Doyle was so excited he bought you a moose for loosing your tooth!
I caught you a few times looking into anything that would give a reflection to see your latest smile. You were happy when you realized you could eat normally again. Tomorrow we will write to the Tooth Fairy to let her know that your tooth has been swallowed. We’ll place it under your pillow just like we would if you had your tooth.


Love Mom and Dad

T-Ball

T-Ball has now been over for almost a month and I'm just now getting around to posting some pictures. I sort of forgot about the pictures. They happened to be on James camera so it slipped my mind. I have yet to scan in the "professional" pictures of the team. I'll get them all scanned in eventually - it's tough being home all day. lol

Coach James, Coach Linda and outfielder Zada and a member of the "Green Team". Our main goal as coaches was to make sure no one started fighting over the ball. Most of the time it worked out alright.

There is Zada our very own slugger. You can tell she has St. Louis blood by the way she hits the ball. She could really get the ball out into the field!

There's coach James - he was our batting coach. I was the running coach.

Zada and her team mate discussing the plays about to happen. Something tells me Zada is probably lecturing him about something. I think he might have been frustrated because Zada got the ball before he did.

There she is on third base! Way to go! She looks happy to be playing doesn't she? It seems that about 30 Min's into playing all the kids start asking if that was the last bat and it would be over soon!

At the end of each game we got into a huddle and cheered for our team as well as the other team. During the hockey playoffs we also cheer for the SENS. This was our last cheer of the season!

We finally learned!!

This week has been a calender marking week! Zada has learned to ride her Princess Bike on TWO WHEELs. That's right no more training wheels!! I think it actually started when her little neighbor friend informed her that he could now ride on two wheels. This was exciting because we have only seen him on a bike 1 time since we've lived in our house.

Tuesday night we worked trying to get her on two wheels and after much frustration she gave up. We tried to get her buddy to show her his skills but he said he didn't feel like it. So Wednesday morning I decided to take her training wheels off her Princess Bike - less distance to fall than the other bike.

We started at the top of our yard (grass is softer than concrete) and a few pushes she got the feel of what she was suppose to do. So we moved to the street... needless to say after 1 short 30Min's we got the hang of it! Starts and Stops were rough but she got it!

We immediately called Dad and then Grandma and Papa in STL to share this excitement.

Since Wednesday she has become an excellent biker! Even her buddy has been outside daily biking. They do loops around the street! So exciting!!

I can't believe how much she has learned in the last few months!!! Oh and many of you are asking about school and summer. Zada will be out in 2 weeks! It seems late but she doesn't go back until September. So it's not too bad. We're just ready for the pool to open! It's hot here!!!
 
Zada and Dad                             


 
In action                                      Battle Scares (there are 4 more band aids on the backs)

Resting

The Scream that makes a mothers heart skip a beat.

ME - "Zada get ready for school."

Zada - "Ok, I have to go to the bathroom."

ME - "ok."

**Door Locks**

Zada - "SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETCHHHHHHHHHHHHH" (the kind of scream heard in many horror movies. The kind that makes your ears pop. The kind that makes your heart STOP.)

ME - "WHAT HAPPENED? ARE YOU OK? WHAT HAPPENED? OMG UNLOCK THE DOOR!!!"

Zada - "MOOOOOOMMM, SCREEAMMMMMM"

ME - "ZADA U N L O C K THE DOOR NOW!!!  WHAT IS WRONG"

**door unlocks, pants around ankles. no blood**

ME - "ok, what is wrong, are you hurt???"

Zada - "There's a mosquito on the mirror."

ME - *turns and walks away*

Zada - *standing there waiting for me to get my shot gun out to kill the mosquito* "Well arn't you going to do anything about it, like KILL IT?"

Me- "No."

Major Milestones

I had hoped to get some pictures up here for you all but I failed... I always think about carrying the camera around with me but then I always seem to forget. Maybe it's because I don't usually carry a purse or bag and thus putting a camera around my neck would be very, I don't know touristy.

Zada has had two very major accomplishments in the last few weeks.

1. tying her shoe laces
   
2. mastering ALL monkey bars

Last summer I worked with Zada on tying - I showed her the basics and told her it would take a lot of practice. Last week she needed new shoes - the only shoes I have been able to find lately in her size are ones with laces. So we bought her shoes with laces but I explained to her she had to learn to tie them before she could wear them to school. After a huge blow out last Friday about shoes over the weekend she was determinded to learn to tie. By SATURDAY she was tying her shoes. No lie. Tying HER_OWN_SHOES_WITH_NO_HELP.  It isn't always perfect all of the time but I'm a pretty proud Mom.

Also last summer Zada began trying out the monkey bars but only on a rare occasion did she make them all the way across with no help. A few Tuesdays ago, my day to stay at school, all of Zada's friends called me over to their monkey bars. LINDA LINDA LINDA they all said - ZADA HAS TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING. SO I went over and she made her way all the way across with no help. I'm guessing that they were all impressed because SHE IS THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN DO THEM. HAHA So this weekend at the "Spray Park" There are three different sets of monkey bars. There are the curved ones, the swinging ones and the high mega zooloo ones. She can do all three of them! This is very exciting. She is learning about callused hands - do you remember those? I do. I think my hands are still callused from the monkey bars! What's terrible is when Zada asks me to do them - mommy is too week! lol

Hopefully pictures to come this week.

it's all worth it...

So today was grocery day. Normally the whole family goes but this time James had a lot of stuff to get done tonight so just Zada and I went. As most parents know what it's like to take a child shopping well it can be a hair-raising experience. From "MOM, look at this" to "MOM, I NEED THESE OREO COOKIES." Or "Hey James where's Zada?". So on the way there I explained to Zada I really needed her to be my helper. I laid down the rules;

1. stay close to me
   
2. don't wander off
3. no begging
4. no running (she enjoys running up and down the isles touching every sign in sight.

We got through the fruit and veggie section and life was grand! Simply grand. She was being such a huge helper and a great listener. We got to the meat section I was looking for decent cuts of chicken breast and this gentelman started to talk with me; he said "Excuse me, I would just like to tell you that your daughter has wonderful manners as she passed me and said excuse me." He then went on to say "I just want to thank you for that." Wow. It's working. The pleases and the thank yous and the excuses... it's working. I dropped right to her level and told her how proud I was of her. She then informed me that she just didn't want to bump him as he was starting to back up on her!! WOW.  That makes a mamma proud.

a five year old's perception...

Today's weather was pretty nice today - the wind was a bit chilly but the sun was shinning and that right there speaks volumes. Before comming home we stopped off at the park to burn off some more winter energy for about an hour. I must say it's nice to be able to just walk home with out trying to rush to get into warmth - ahh Spring.

When we approached our street the kids were all out riding bikes and playing street hockey. As some of you may already know our street is mostly boys. Older boys. Boys that think girls are gross - except when the OTHER boys are busy - then girls are ok to play with. We all remember those days. One of Zada's little "boy friends" was riding his bike and there was another one trying to hide from Zada. From my take he was hiding because he wasn't wanting to play with a girl at that time... he was hanging with his BOY friends. He had even called out her name and she simply ignored him. She of course had no desire to play as there was chocolate waiting for her at the end of the long journey home. She saw the little boy "hiding" and she said... "Mom, I know why he's hiding from me." I said oh yeah? She said very seriously, "He must think I'm the Fairy Godmother because of that fairy outfit I bought last year." Just like that.  Yes Zada that must be it.

Where does she get this stuff?

Converstion over breakfast....make note our refridgerater makes a funny noise sometimes...

Zada: "Mom, I think our fridgerater is on crack."

Mom: *blank stare into cereal bowl thinking OH MY GOODNESS*

Zada: "You know, on one of the tiles that is broken up."

Mom: *DUH!*  "Yes, maybe you are right Zada."

*reminder - never let them see you laugh at something they say because then it becomes a part of their normal vocabulary.

How not to react when you want to....

I have a short conversation with my OLD 5 year old I would love to share with you and hopefully you will find it as funny as I have...

Mom: *reading the news on the computer*
Zada: "Mom, look at me. Mom, look at me. Mom, look at me."
Mom: "You know when I am reading I won't be able to answer you."
Zada: "Well screw your mind open and look at me."

Where do kids get this stuff... normally it's me that she repeats but I never recall saying something like that! I'm just glad my back was to her - never let your kid see something they said is funny because they will repeat it!

Good things come to those who wait.

Today was "break apart basement bathroom" day. We eventually want to redo the entire basement to gain more open space; that of course will come when the bank account is overflowing with cash! For now we don't need the fourth bathroom so we have decided to turn it into a storage closet. It was that before except now it doesn't have a sink or shower in it. We want to put some shelves up and make it all organized.

I was throwing away things we didn't need that we had pulled out of the bathroom - ie broken toys and pointless scraps of paper. There was also Zada's Princess cd player. Why was it in the closet? Over the summer someone decided to pour water INSIDE the cd player and guess what happened? It stopped playing. I took it apart and tried drying it but nothing seemed to work. It didn't go to the garbage because _I_ couldn't part with it. It was a gift from my parents to Zada for Christmas and it was only a year and a half old. I knew it wasn't cheap and well it was special; I was probably more upset about it breaking than Zada was! Taking it to get it fixed would have been pointless. (James and I decided we would buy her one this year for her birthday - one less expensive in case of another water incident). So here is this broken CD player sitting on James' work table; I decided to give it ago just ONE MORE time to see that it is really broken before I toss it out. Would you believe me if I told you it WORKED! I guess it just needed 6 months to air out and do whatever it needed to do. It has now been moved back into Zada's room far away from any cups of water and a stern talking to has been done.

dirty...

Zada had her clothes all picked out for after bath. She had chosen some jeans that she wore a couple of days ago. (yes jeans she's worn already this week - who doesnt' rewear their jeans?). I look at them and they were muddy in the bum so I told her she may not wear DIRTY clothes to school. Mind you her coat got dirty again the day after I washed it!

With clean clothes on we go to school. As I was talking to Zada's teacher I recalled the conversation we had about her dirty jeans. I look over at Zada and her "clean clothes" are covered in mud. Her gloves are dirty, she had dirt on her face and her once pink coat is now more brown than ever before. I kind of laughed because of how foulish I was to send Zada to school in CLEAN clothes. Tomorrow she's wearing those dirty jeans!!!

I love my dirty little girl!

melting snow..

 So yesterday and today the temp raised higher than usual and our snow is melting. Needless to say our cut little snow cat has taken a turn for the worst. He's melted away and I didn't even get a chance to take a photo! Poor guy.

Zada gets the opportunity to play outside everyday no matter the weather (unless of course it's heavy down pours). She was mostly excited that the sand would now be available for her to make SAND MUD PIES (chocolate flavor of course). I knew that she would play in this puddle that always seems to have water in it.  Sure enough when we got to school the puddle was there and the sand was visible.  Off I went.

When I sent Zada to school today she had on this adorable pink coat and when I picked her up from school she had on this smelly brown coat! (which is now soaking in the washing machine). Tomorrow I'm certain the same thing with happen. The stories goes that she was filling the bus (bus shaped play structure) with muddy water and the water SOMEHOW got all over her. She probably didn't even noticed it happened when it did... I gave up telling her to stay out of the mud, she loves it way too much!