Journey to Jasmine

Dragon Cake....

2012-02-19T18:38:00.001-08:00

Year of the Dragon Tet Party....

2012-02-19T18:14:00.000-08:00

Tonight was a Tet party at the O'Neil's house in central Phoenix. On a side note, their little house built in the early 50's was amazing. The husband is a contractor. They bought the house 6 years ago and totally remodeled it... new stucco, concrete floors, really nice kitchen, all kinds of stuff outside for the kids to play on/in. It has an Asian look with the frosted sliding glass doors, and they even have chickens outside!- all right next to the airport! They have adopted three boys and one girl from Vietnam and have a little newborn foster baby girl. Plus, they homeschool!

Anyway, we had Pho of course... Jazzy's favorite, pot luck everything, and a huge Dragon cake covered with yellow chocolate balls...

Making a dragon craft.
Eating Pho.
Playing in the playhouse.
Jazzy says "No way am I going under that dragon mask".
Dragon dance.

Gadiels 5th Birthday Party.....

2012-02-17T20:10:00.000-08:00

Theme of Transformers. Lots of pizza, cake, and bouncing in the bouncy houses at "Bounce U" in Gilbert. Jazzy got Gadiel a "Bumble Bee" Transformer, which looks like it takes and engineering degree to "transform"! We had lots of fun, and Jasmine was exhausted. Good thing we get to sleep in a little tomorrow.

Getting ready to go to the party.
With all the kids.
Gadiel opening Jazzy's present.
Mark and Jenny.

Tuna jerky! ??

2012-02-16T16:55:00.000-08:00

Because my life is so incredibly boring most of the time, I decided to take some online and in-person classes and become a certified F.E.M.A person for my "neighborhood. Apparently, you get called to go clean up chemical spills, help people in emergencies if you get there before anyone else, stuff like that. I just started it a couple of months ago and will finish in April some time. Reason for bringing it up--- They have a list of "food recommendations" to have in the case of "emergency" one of which is all kinds of meat jerky. Just the thought of it disgusts me,... SO gross, dehydrated flesh. I was at Whole Foods Market this morning picking up some quick groceries, when I noticed some "all natural chemical-free tuna jerky". It was *very* expensive.... tiny little package for $8.00. Japanese, wild caught tuna. I thought... ok, it's supposedly chemical free, so we will give it a try.

When I got home, I opened up the smelly package and took a little bite. I had some involuntary gagging as I was trying to swallow. I thought of giving it to the dog, who was stalking me from the moment I brought the package home, but decided to see if Jasmine might like it. The little monkey loves it. She loves all kinds of seafood anyway, but she literally wanted to eat the entire package... which I would not let her do because I thought she might get.. uh... constipated:)... since it is so dry. She said "I feel like a dog. This is SO good, kind of like my little doggie treat". Yuk, so I think I am going to maybe try some turkey jerky or something not quite so smelly. You can purchase it online fairly cheaply, but it is the chemicalized processed junk. The non- chemical kind is really cost prohibitive. So, new discoveries about Jazzy every day:)

Jazzy art....

2012-02-14T18:43:00.002-08:00

A snowflake falling in California!? I asked her why California, and she said "because it is cold there". Well, maybe compared to Arizona.....I just think she liked/remembered when we went to our favorite beach.."Newport Beach" close to the dentist.

Today is Arizona's 100th statehood birthday. On the radio they said.... Arizona is called "The Valentine State"... and Jazzy said.. "No, it's called the State of Love":))) Actually, I always thought it was called "The Grand Canyon State"......

More Valentine's Candy!!

2012-02-14T15:38:00.001-08:00

Miss Wachtel made a box for each student, and they all filled each other's boxes with cards and candy.

Jazzy making her Wuggle Pet.

Then..poor Jazzy had an appointment to get her teeth cleaned right after school on Valentine's Day!! :) I didn't bring the camera because we had been to the dentist so many times.... but her classmate Rebekah was there at the same time. They were in the same exam room and got to help the doctor with each others exam and cleaning. It was so cute!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T06:41:00.000-08:00

Opening presents from Grandma and Grandpa after getting out of the shower last night!

Valentine presents from Mommy this morning....

nice Sunday.....

2012-02-12T12:18:00.001-08:00

This morning we got up really early...5 AM...which is kind of early for us.... especially on a Sunday. Got ready and drove down to the Arizona State Fairgrounds where they have the VNSA (Volunteer Non-Profit Service Association) Book Fair. The building is bigger than a football field and is filled with all kinds of used books, which are cheap to begin with, but on Sunday...the last day, they are half priced. We got around 50 books for 25.00. They give all the proceeds (usually around 1 Million dollars) to various charities. About 100,000 people or more go every year, and this is the 56th Annual sale.

Then we drove a short way to downtown Phoenix, where I was thinking there wouldn't be many people being that it was a Sunday morning. Wrong. Every restaurant was packed with a waiting line. We ended up eating a nice brunch at Sweet Tomatoes and didn't have to wait too long.

Jazzy at the book fair.
All the books we bought.
Jasmine riding her bike. She puts the back tire in a little dip at the end of our driveway and pretends she is in a "spinning" class.

Jasmine's new Godparents.....

2012-02-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

Our friends Jenny, Mark, Abby and Gadiel Tindall who live in Casa Grande, AZ. We met at the gym several years ago where Gadiel and Jasmine became instant friends. Then, Jenny and I became good friends too. She is ALOT younger than me... i.e. 20 years.... and has lots more energy than I do! Jenny has a Master's Degree in Education, and Mark is a Manager at WalMart.

Jazzy funny saying again...

2012-02-10T15:29:00.000-08:00

Jasmine is always bugging me about having a brother. She asks me about once a week, "Mom, I want you to have a baby boy". I just keep saying the same thing over and over. Sorry Jazz, it's just not going to happen. We have been talking alot about adoption and childbirth lately. She got to watch puppies, a mare, and a human giving birth, so she keeps asking me about it. Last time she asked me a day or so ago, I just said...."Jasmine, I am just too old". Then, just now....days later when we were driving to ice skating which is where we are now, she said, "Mom, are you also too old to have a boyfriend"!!! (Another thing she constantly bugs me about). Well, maybe I am too old for that:)!

Kindergarten Field trip.....

2012-02-09T16:34:00.000-08:00

The entire Dobson Academy kindergarten went on a field trip today to Valley Youth Theater to watch "Charlotte's Web". I wasn't one of the "chosen mothers" to go to the play, but I did get to meet them at Tempe Town Lake for lunch. About 80 kindergartners got off the bus pretty much single file, went to the picnic area and were amazingly well behaved. We had a really nice brown bag lunch in perfect 76 degree weather. They played on the playground for awhile and called it a day.
Tempe Town Lake is just the dammed up Rio Salado River. Alot of fishing, boating, Iron Person swim races, rowing competitions and lots of festivals go on there. About every 90 seconds a huge jet goes overhead since it is pretty much next door to the airport. As usual, I forgot the camera:(

The results...

2012-02-07T06:32:00.001-08:00

Not too bad really:)

Jasmine doing homework this morning!

First time in curlers:)

2012-02-07T06:27:00.000-08:00

We are practicing using curlers because the little mice in the Cinderella production have to have curly pony tails. Jasmine said, "Do I have to wear these things all night long". I said... Yes. She said, "Well, Grandma doesn't wear hers all night long". Oh yes she does!
Jasmine put curlers in my hair too. That was a sight for sore eyes!

Just woke up.... curlers are amazingly still in place!
Last night with curlers:)

Quotes from the past 24 hours.....

2012-02-05T16:25:00.000-08:00

Last night, we were reading Jasmine's Life Book.. her adoption and life story book. She asked, "Mom, did you live by yourself before you came to the orphanage to pick me up". I said "yes". Then she said in a long moaning voice, "Ohhhhh Mommmyyyyy, that is sooooooo saddddd!. I am sooo sssooorrrryyy" ! I thought she was going to cry. Then there were 100 questions for about a half an hour. "Why did you live alone?" "How could you live alone"? "Why, why, why". "What did you do when you lived alone". "But you didn't have anyone to play games with"... Well, that part is true, but let's see: things I didn't say... Well, when I lived alone, I had much less laundry to do, *alot* less house cleaning.... didn't have to clean greasy hand prints from the walls, (I'm not talking about Jasmine here), didn't have to cook plus do all the dishes, both plan and pay for the vacation, did what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it, had sometimes more money... and sometimes less money just depending on the person, got alot more sleep, and didn't have alot of drama. So, what I said was something like.... "There are alot of people who live alone". Actually I read or heard that right now, around 61% of all households now are single people living alone. It would probably be more if it wasn't for the economy. So, I still don't think she understands how someone could live alone:)

Next quote:
Tonight, Jasmine was riding her bike down the street and completely wiped out. She didn't cry or get upset, but when she got up she said in a very news-castorish voice......"That crash will cause some *major* delays tonight."!!! What! I cannot imagine where she comes up with these things. I listen to KTAR News/Weather/Traffic in the mornings.... so I can only surmise that she heard it on the radio!:)) Maybe she will be a comedian some day.:))

Glendale Chocolate Fair....

2012-02-05T13:59:00.000-08:00

We started out this morning having a nice high protein breakfast, good energy, yoga class.... then 40 miles over to the west side of Phoenix for the Glendale Chocolate Festival. I thought that this.... being SuperBowl weekend, would be a less crowded time to go.... wrong. The place was packed. I heard multiple people expressing the same thoughts as me....Why would you sit at home and watch a goofy football game when you could be out in 70 degree weather eating chocolate?

There were chocolatiers from all over Arizona, lots of artists, live music, and romance novelists giving talks about their books and how to write a romance novel....
Anyway, we had "s'mores on a stick, chocolate covered bananas, and Jasmine made a chocolate pizza. You have a little pizza tray, pour in the chocolate, add nuts, raisins, marshmallows, peanut chips, then mix it all up. Put warmed white chocolate on top, and you have your pizza!! I was in a coma after leaving there, then we had to drive all the way home and go to swimming lessons:(

A quote from Jazzy....We were on the way to the chocolate festival and I was complaining about a very long red light. Jasmine said "That's the way life goes, Mom"!!!:)

Jasmine making pizza.

Mouse costume...

2012-02-04T14:56:00.001-08:00

Today, all the kids in the Cinderella production at Polar Ice got their costumes. Amazingly, I don't think we need to alter it. It came with some little mouse ears. It should be such a cute show to see all the little kids... and the big kids...putting on the show. We've been practicing every week since October...

Groundhog Day....

2012-02-04T14:54:00.001-08:00

The groundhog saw his shadow yesterday, so we have 6 more weeks of winter! Yippie!!

Jazzy comment of the day.....

2012-01-31T11:04:00.000-08:00

Last night, we were in the car on our way to dancing lessons. Jasmine wanted candy for dinner, and of course I told her no. She said in an uppity way..."Well, when you die and I am still alive, that is when you will no longer be the boss of me":) Ok- that sounds good. Then, she said, "When I am the mom and you are the little girl, I am not giving you candy". (Arms crossed for effect). That sounds good too, since it's not the healthiest item to have for dinner..... not that I haven't done it before!

Golfing today.....

2012-01-28T15:15:00.001-08:00

Perfect 75 degree weather....

Chinese/Vietnamese New Year....

2012-01-28T15:11:00.000-08:00

Jasmine's class is studying Chinese New Year.... which overlaps alot with Vietnamese Tet. They made little dragon puppets. She said "I am a dog, Dr. Vince is a dog, and you are a pig" (Chinese zodiac that we learned at Culture Camp). Then she said "I am a poodle, and Dr. Vince is a bulldog:))"

We made it...

2012-01-25T19:13:00.000-08:00

.... home from school, to gymnastics and dance lessons, despite the President O'Bama motorcade. No one knew exactly what route the motorcade was going to take, so luckily we just missed it coming home from school. The Intel plant where O'Bama spoke is right next door to Jasmine's dancing lessons, so we got there apparently right after he left. Good timing!

Here is Jasmine waiting for her lesson while playing with mazes on my Kindle.

Etiquette class:).....

2012-01-19T19:21:00.000-08:00

Chandler Parks and Rec has a class called "Glitzy Girls" for ages 4-10 which started tonight. I actually remembered the camera, but parents were not allowed in:( They talked about posture, how to introduce yourself, then they each gave themselves a manicure. First they soaked their fingers in soapy water, then learned how to file the nail properly:)), then paint and apply appliques. Jasmine got her own little nail file.

I wonder... when they get to table manners.... how long it's going to take for the teacher to figure out that Jasmine and I sit on the living room floor almost every night to eat dinner:)))

MLK Day.....

2012-01-17T18:19:00.000-08:00

Today, apparently the kindergarten class talked about MLK and what he stood for. Jasmine said...."For example, when a boy says 'I hate girls', MLK would go up to that boy and say 'love'!".
She cracks me up every single day:)

Fun Saturday!

2012-01-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we had a busy/fun day. Gym, Cinderella practice, then off to a birthday party at a bowling alley. Jasmine's classmate Genna has a sister whose name I just learned yesterday- Lauralin. It was Lauralin's 9th birthday, and her sister Genna was allowed to invite one person to the party. She chose Jasmine. It was fun to see the bowling escapades.

A couple of times, Jasmine held the ball over her head and threw it. Of course it landed with a very loud thud, so I am guess that is why the manager (?) came over with a "ramp" for little kids. All they had to do is put the ball on the ramp and direct it to the pins. A couple of times, when Jasmine "threw" the bowling ball, it almost didn't make it down the lane. Everyone was wondering who was going to have to walk down there and get the ball when it stopped halfway to the pins. It actually made it after what seemed like 3 minutes! Knocked over quite a few pins too! We had pizza and cupcakes, then had to go to golf lessons. She was a little better behaved a golf this week:)

I was so comatose after taking a 30 minute nap prior to the party, I completely forgot the camera:(

Jasmine's drawing....

2012-01-11T09:53:00.000-08:00

Drawing from art class. It is me walking Jessie! You can tell because of the hair. At least I am thin in the picture:)

Good book...

2012-01-08T17:19:00.001-08:00

I just read a really interesting book that I found out about at our "informal book club" ... which is our spinning club at the gym. It is called "The Glass Castle". I thought it was a novel until I got to the end and found out it was about the life of Jeanette Walls, a news writer/reporter for msNBC. That is one disadvantage of reading a Kindle... you can't flip around easily. There are many photos of her online.

Anyway, she was born in Phoenix... and her family was homeless her entire life in the 60's and 70's. They just lived in the desert, in cardboard boxes, old shacks...in old cars. She never knew what it was like to take a shower or bath, never had any food... had to steal food from trash cans at school, lived mostly in the city library of Phoenix and then Appalachia. Because of that, she and her siblings (except one) are all extremely successful due to their intelligence- constantly reading.... never having a TV, electricity, running water, or any holidays. She got a full scholarship to an Ivy League school and no one ever knew she had been homeless until she wrote the book. I thought it was really interesting that it was written from a child's perspective. Her mother is still a homeless person in NYC and has no desire to live in a house, have clothes, etc. We'll see what the "book club" recommends next!

First Golf lesson.....

2012-01-07T16:04:00.000-08:00

Today was a long day,.... to the gym in the morning, Cinderella ice production practice, then to the Chandler Fire Station to adjust a car seat. Every Saturday, the fire department has a car seat clinic. Another adoptive family gave us a really nice used car seat for use up to 60 pounds. She said she paid 300.00 for it. Since you need an engineering degree to install those things, I thought I would take it to the fire department to do it for me. Well, I guess I had another thing coming to me.... Since it was "used" and apparently over 6 years old, they would not install it. I had to sign a 3 page waiver,.... I guess so that they cannot be sued. Then, they gave us a new car seat! I had forgotten that the city of Chandler has free car seats. They confiscated our old one:) Next, they give you a demonstration on how to install it..... then... I had to install it myself with them watching.... then... they had to check everything. At least I know it is installed correctly and I also have done it correctly in the past.

Next, we went to Jasmine's first golf lesson. NYS (National Youth Sports) has just about every sport lesson for age 2 up to 18 years. The instructor, Bill Neal, has been teaching golf for 52 years. He recently just returned from India where he teaches golf there... as well as other "third world" countries.

Jasmine was misbehaving, so I told her we would try it one more week. 3pm is kind of her grumpy sleepy time, but I was really annoyed with her. I thought that next time we might go with the 3-4 year olds since she was acting like a baby.

All the 5-7 yr olds lined up working on their grip.

Bill working with Jazzy's feet and hand placement.

First spelling test....

2012-01-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

This morning was Jasmine's first spelling test. We studied all week for it! They didn't even ask all the words we/she had to study. I hate when that happens:)

New Year's Eve.....

2011-12-31T12:56:00.001-08:00

We spent the day with Jenny, Gadiel and Abby. First we went to Tumbleweed Park to play, then to the 3-D movie Tintin, then to eat at Rubio's. Happy New Year!

Winter Camp....

2011-12-29T10:16:00.000-08:00

Jasmine has been attending "Winter Camp" all week with her friend Rebecca from kindergarten. When I stopped in yesterday to see how they were doing, Rebecca (green shirt) said to Jasmine while simultaneously rolling her eyes and sighing, "Why does your Mom ALWAYS have a camera with her?" :))

Real London Bus Tour....

2011-12-28T10:45:00.000-08:00

Last night we took a bus tour of Tempe and Mesa to see Christmas lights. I purchased tickets in September, and made reservations on November 1st... the first day they were available, and within hours, they were already booked up until after Christmas. It is a very popular and touristy thing to do around here:) It worked out perfectly though with the timing of Jasmine's eye surgery. The bus was old and rickety with no heat. We sat on the top deck, and it seemed like we were going to run into every traffic light at every intersection. After leaving Tempe Marketplace, we went to a couple of neighborhoods, then over to downtown Mesa. I didn't realize the extent of the lights at the Mesa Arts Theater. Almost as many as Zoolights. We didn't get home until 10pm and Jasmine was a grump at the end. We got to sleep in a bit this morning. There were lots of people on the bus who were visiting from Denmark, Holland, and of other places.

Christmas morning.....

2011-12-25T12:54:00.000-08:00

This morning, Jessie got me up at 5:30Am to go out.. as she does every morning. Then, Jasmine gave me 15 minutes before she got up, raced into the living room and started screaming. We've had a fun day, opening our presents and playing outside. It's almost 70 degrees today. Jasmine got lots of earrings, ice skating supplies, tons of books and tapes for learning phonics, counting money, and geography. She also got a cash register to practice, a big Intelliglobe that tells various facts about the area you point to, clothes, and of course a scooter.

We just had our really nice dinner, and are going back outside to play again:) !

Christmas Eve.....

2011-12-24T17:56:00.000-08:00

Making Ambrosia from Jasmine's recipe. We have enough Ambrosia and food in general for three armies. Earlier today, we went to Whole Foods and bought turkey, mashed sweet potatoes with walnuts, smoked salmon pasta ( for me:), stuffing, pecan pie, and lots of other things. All we have to do is heat everything up!

Tonight we went to Pink Pepper Thai restaurant just down the street. Jessie even had a little Thai dinner of her own.

Christmas Eve Day....

2011-12-24T12:55:00.000-08:00

Jasmine and her friend Skyla at the Polar Ice Christmas Eve pajama party, then sprinkling reindeer food in the yard. Miss Wachtel gave each student a bag of oatmeal and glitter to sprinkle in their yard to attract reindeer:) We have alot more to do today.

Art Class..

2011-12-22T14:48:00.001-08:00

I signed us up a long time ago- for a little art class at the Chandler Parks and Rec, knowing that there was maybe a 50% chance that Jasmine would feel like going. The edema of her face and eyelids is definitely better today, as well as the scleral hemorrhage. The conjunctiva is still bright red with still alot of scleral hemorrhage remaining. Hopefully by tomorrow, she won't want to itch and rub her eyes so much. She definitely wanted to go to the art class today when I told her about it, then we went out for ice cream afterwards (very bad here lately:(. There was only one other little girl in the class. They made even more crafts....aarrgghh... more crafts!! A ceramic Christmas tree with little jewels on it, a snowman made from a paint stirrer, a gingerbread man and a couple of ornaments. It was still better than being home and thinking about the pain. Just took the focus off for awhile.

Eye Surgery for Jasmine....

2011-12-21T12:24:00.000-08:00

Today was surgery day. When it was our turn around 9AM, Dr. Plotnik had already completed 3-4 infant surgeries. Jasmine was pretty upbeat, and I am told she entertained the doctors and nurses in the pre-surgical area. I can only assume she was singing and dancing. The surgery itself took about 45 minutes. Every time she would start to wake up, she would start screaming and try to rub/scratch her swollen eyes and face:(. We had to keep giving her Demerol- which meant another 20 minute wait each time. We finally got to go home after everyone else had left long before us. I hope she sleeps for the next 24 hours. No glasses for one week, then in one month we will know if she can stop wearing glasses.

In the waiting room.

In the pre-surgical area.

Just after pulling the endotracheal tube.

Holiday Concert....

2011-12-20T14:08:00.000-08:00

Last night, Dobson Academy K-3 had their Holiday Concert. The kindergarten class sang "La Navidad" and two other songs. The girls and boys sometimes sang separately. After months of hearing the rehearsal at home, finally I heard how the song really was supposed to sound. Jasmine kept singing words to one song...."Parents say that children are gibsons from above". For a couple of months, I have been trying to tell her that the words are "Parents say that children are gifts sent from above"... But no... "Mrs. Kimmel (the music teacher) says it's "gibsons from above"!!! Finally, it got thru to her. It was cute to see the little kids all dressed up. Every single man, woman, child, grandparent, aunt, uncle, and cousin was in the audience and each one had a camera as well as a video cam!

Going to the concert.

Jasmine with one of her best friends... Brianna.

Singing at the concert.

Kindergarten today.....

2011-12-19T10:23:00.000-08:00

Today was Gingerbread House day at school. There were several parents plus all the kids in one little room! It was really crowded. The place was ransacked. All of the tables and chairs.... including the legs, were covered with frosting and candy. Paper everywhere. We had quite the clean up to do, but the creations were beautiful:) Technically, they were not supposed to eat the candy, but I caught Jazzy eating a few pieces. I guess they are going to decorate cookies this afternoon! I think they do get to eat those.... Total sugar overload prior to the school concert tonight.

We gave Miss Wachtel and Mrs. N their gifts which were buckets of Godiva chocolate and teacher necklaces with their names engraved. I just found out last week that Miss Wachtel is now going to be Mrs. Somebody. She told me that her boyfriend took her to the Grand Canyon and got down on one knee and proposed:) They met online last year at this time. She has a huge rock on her finger! Oh well, maybe she'll still wear the necklace.

Jasmine's creation.

Jasmine and Riley made an extra gingerbread house and delivered it to Dr. Bengochea, the principal.

Nutcracker Ballet...

2011-12-17T18:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight we went to the Nutcracker Ballet. I didn't know that the first production of the Nutcracker was on December 17th, 1892, in St. Petersburg, Russia. Apparently it was terrible and was not popular at all. The first Nutcracker Ballet in the United States was in 1944 in San Francisco. It wasn't popular until 1954 when George Balanchine, a famous choreographer, re-worked it. Now it is the most performed ballet all over the world. This was the first time we've gone that Jazzy has been totally enthralled. She has been in ballet for over two years now... maybe that's why. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the performers:(.

Fourteen years ago, I had a little accident and broke about every bone in my body. I've been in pain ever since, am a chiropractic mess, and supposedly need a hip replacement in the future. Oh well, stuff happens. Gotta deal with it!

My only photo is overexposed:(

AzFAP

2011-12-17T17:52:00.000-08:00

Arizona Foster Adoptive Parents Group has a toy and bike giveaway every year for thousands of foster and adopted kids. I told them that we are still using our bike from last year! Jazzy got a bag of toys including a Chutes and Ladders game, a photo journal that looks like a purse, jewelry, teddy bears, a hat, some books.... and.... a brand new school backpack, which she really needed since the other one was falling apart!

Picking her toys up at the warehouse.

At home.

More Holiday Crafts

2011-12-14T16:30:00.000-08:00

Jasmine's class has been studying Kwanza, Christmas and Hahnukka. She has made more crafts this year than I have made in my entire lifetime! This photo is of the mkeka- a straw mat that represents a firm foundation. The muhindi (harvested corn) and mazeo (harvested fruits and vegetables) are placed on the mat. There is also a kwanza necklace now on our tree, which by the way is a Norfolk Pine which is supposed to look droopy and scraggly! Today was also "recipe day". Jasmine now wants to make "ambrosia" on Christmas. I think we can arrange that!

Holiday Creations....

2011-12-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

Tonight was a cold and rainy Monday night. We didn't really want to go to this Holiday Craft Class at the TRC, but we already paid for it a long time ago. It ended up being fun once we got there. Jazzy made a "candle" for Miss Wachtel, heard some Christmas stories, and had hot chocolate and cookies. I think I am partied and crafted out for the season... but we have a few more to go to:)

Cat Fanciers Show....

2011-12-11T15:31:00.000-08:00

This morning, we visited the downtown Phoenix Convention Center for the All Breed Cat Fanciers Show. We walked around, saw all the cats and watched several of the classes. One of the judges spotted Jasmine in the audience and gave her his little feather plum that is used to play withe cats to check their interest, etc. I am not sure what we are going to do with it, since we don't have a cat!

It was fun walking around downtown Phoenix on a Sunday morning. 71 degrees, perfectly clear sky.
I only took one picture of Jasmine petting one of the cats.

Getting ready for gymnastics exhibition...

2011-12-10T18:13:00.000-08:00

Hanging out in the parking lot for hot dogs and Christmas cupcakes after the exhibition.

More gymnastics photos

2011-12-10T18:05:00.000-08:00

Uneven bar routine
Starting floor routine
Vault into the foam
Santa giving out medals....

SUPER busy day.....

2011-12-10T17:53:00.000-08:00

Every second of this day had something scheduled. Early morning pilates class as usual, Cinderella ice skating practice as usual, then a Jingle Bell Rock Gymnastics Exhibition. Ate lunch at the Asian Diner. Next, back to the ice rink to watch our friends AnnaLi and Kathy in their Holiday on Ice skate that they did together, then to a "golf meeting" with Jasmine's new golf instructor.

The gymnastics exhibition was so huge, they had to divide everyone up into different times of the day. Ours was at 12:30. Jasmine had a beam routine, uneven bar routine, floor routine, and a couple of vaults. They also rotated thru the "craft station" where they each made little reindeer out of candy canes. Then the "big" kids showed their talents... amazing. Santa showed up and did some floor moves, walked on the balance beam, and did some vaults. Then he put a "gold medal" on each performer.

Beam routine: mount, routine, and dismount.

Reindeer craft.

Funny....

2011-12-10T06:22:00.001-08:00

We are just getting ready to leave for our busy day today..... Jasmine said she couldn't go because she has a cooking show that airs this afternoon and she needs to prepare:))!

Skating last night then to Zoolights.....

2011-12-10T06:17:00.001-08:00

Jasmine with her friend and little elf.....

Zoolights with our obligatory 10.00 hot chocolate......

Crafts made by Jazzy this week.....

2011-12-10T06:15:00.001-08:00

Poem by Jasmine.....

2011-12-06T12:19:00.000-08:00

In class, they were told to pick a color... of course, it is always going to be pink for Jazzy. Then write a 4 line poem. I think the flamingo was prompted by the fact that Jessie's only toy is a little pink flamingo that she carries around sometimes, as well as all of the 50 or so flamingos around the restaurant at the zoo the other day!

Photos from 11/23/11 shopping trip...

2011-12-05T19:47:00.001-08:00

These are the photos that somehow downloaded from my camera today. Our shopping/Santa trip the day before Thanksgiving.
Jasmine's first ride on a merry go round by herself.
The sand castle that some artists made. This was where Jasmine sat on Santa's lap, but they would not let me take a picture.

Chandler Tea Party...

2011-12-05T19:33:00.000-08:00

Tonight, Chandler Parks and Rec had a tea party for little girls age 4-6yrs at the Tumbleweed Recreation Center. There were only 6 little girls there... three of which were named Madelyn:)

They had raspberry tea, little cakes, read two stories, "Little Ponies Tea Party" ... and one other I cannot remember. Then they made purses with feathers and flowers on them:)

Pitiful Christmas tree update...

2011-11-27T16:04:00.001-08:00

It looks a little better.... but not much:)

Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium....

2011-11-26T17:02:00.001-08:00

So... yesterday I had to work all day. Jasmine was stuck in the living room watching cartoons and playing by herself when it was 75 degrees outside. The living room was covered with Barbie Dolls, Barbie's accessories, shoes, clothes, bike, car. etc. I also kept hearing the refrigerator/freezer open multiple times. I told her she could have *one* of the cookies we made if she promised to eat lunch. She agreed. When I came downstairs, interspersed in between the Barbie stuff were tons of cookie crumbs/parts and lollipop wrappers. She had eaten the entire plate of cookies! She had also opened a bag of lollipops from Halloween and ate the whole bag! I told her she had to eat the nice piece of salmon and spinach salad... and later I found the bowl on the floor completely cleaned, with just a little piece of lettuce next to it. Presumably, the Chihuahua vacuum cleaner had a very nice lunch and a few cookies to top it off.

Today, to keep keep Jazzy a little busier, we visited the Wildlife World Zoo/Aquarium... way on the west side of Phoenix. It is literally 1/4th of the way to Los Angeles! It is really much nicer than the Phoenix Zoo because all of the animals are very close and used to human interaction... as opposed to the safari like atmosphere of the Phoenix Zoo. We stood on a platform and were able to feed and pet the giraffes. Jasmine screamed hysterically when the giraffe stuck out his long tongue to reach for the food... then everyone stared at us!!....probably thinking I was torturing her or something. We also were able to get very close to the tigers/panthers and leopards... literally about one foot away for a long time. We then went thru the extensive aquarium. We stayed at the zoo for the whole day. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera:( We could have had some very close up animal photos:(....

On the way home, we picked up a little Christmas tree. It kind of looks like the pitiful Charlie Brown Christmas tree, but it was the only one that would fit in my mini-mobile car. I just got the lights on... and am totally exhausted. We will finish it probably tomorrow. Of course, Jasmine is not tired!:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T13:49:00.001-08:00

Went to the gym this morning, while Jazzy made a turkey craft in Kid's Club. Instead of going out for dinner, which was our original plan, we cooked a tofu turkey, sweet potato rice pilaf, and steamed veggies.... then Moose Tracks ice cream- the best ice cream on the planet. I don't really like pumpkin pie- so ice cream is a better option. Jazzy will have to decide that later.

While we were "cooking", we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Purina National Dog Show. The amazing German Shepherd received second place in the Herding Group, and the short coated Chihuahua named something like "Stand to the Side":)) got second place in the toy category.

Then, the big cookie baking extravaganza that Jasmine had been bugging me about all day. Our cookies looked more like miniature pancakes than they did cookies. Way too much sugar today.

Three year anniversary of our first day home from Vietnam! Thanksgiving Day- so grateful for this little munchkin:)

Watching the dog show wrapped up in a blanket. It was cold and sprinkling today.

Decorating... and eating.. our lovely cookies!

Day off with Jazzy....

2011-11-23T16:24:00.001-08:00

Today, Jasmine was off from school. I decided to take the day off work too, because working with her around is virtually impossible. We went to the gym - as usual- this morning... then to - of all the places... Arizona Mills mall. I really don't enjoy going to malls, but we went there specifically because there is a huge life sized sand sculpture that took some artists many weeks to make. Santa was there, too. Jasmine sat on his lap and told him that her favorite princess was Ariel. I really don't know why none of my photos turned out:(

Next, we went to the movies there in the mall. We saw The Muppets Movie. There were literally 30 minutes of previews and Jasmine started whining even before the movie started. Two hours was kind of long for a kid to sit there... even if is *was* the Muppets. We rode the merry- go - round, since they have rides in that mall too. The mall is so huge.... 6 different "neighborhoods", and it took us the entire day to go to each one. I swore I wasn't going to buy anything since I am basically done Christmas shopping, but then there was Claire's and the Sanrio store. Jasmine picked out a couple of stocking stuffers. I told her that I would have to call Santa on his cell phone to see if it was ok to buy them.

Today was a really nice day...81 degrees with perfectly clear skies. We should have/could have gone to the Wildlife World Zoo, but it is really far away on the west side of Phoenix, (not the regular Phoenix Zoo) and this is the worst traffic day of the year- or so they say, so we didn't go. The plan was to do that on Thanksgiving day.... but not if it is pouring down rain.... which is what it is supposed to do. I asked Jasmine what she wanted to do tomorrow if it is raining and we have to stay inside all day and she said... "Bake and decorate cookies"... aaaargh. I am not a happy homemaker. So, I went to the store tonight when she was in gymnastics and bought the kind of cookies where you just slice them and put them on the baking sheet and that is it- along with some decorating supplies.

Three years ago right now, we were just getting home from Vietnam!

Happy Thanksgiving!
A placemat made by Jasmine this week at school. It is even laminated!

They also made "stone soup" yesterday. Jasmine had to bring an onion to class! It was funny watching her go to school carrying an onion! I guess they put the whole onion, carrots, other vegetables and potatoes in a big pot and cooked it. They ate it for lunch, and according to Jasmine.. they cooked a turkey. I don't know if I really believe that!

Funny again....:)

2011-11-20T19:10:00.000-08:00

Tonight I asked Jasmine what she wants Santa to bring her for Christmas... even though I'm already done shopping. I just wanted to see if I missed something really obvious. She said very seriously,
"I want a brother". !! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha... Sorry Jazzy!:)

Funny...

2011-11-19T18:29:00.000-08:00

Tonight we were watching a show on PBS about turkeys. There was a guy who lived with wild turkeys for 1 1/2 years, learned their language and became part of their "pack". I will never be able to eat a turkey again... not that I ever could. Anyway, after the show was over, I left the room for awhile. The Lawrence Welk show came on and Jasmine was engrossed in it:)). I changed the channel and she got very upset insisting that it was American Idol:0))) So funny!

Pho Van and Gelato 64.....

2011-11-18T19:13:00.000-08:00

After ice skating, Jazzy and I went to Pho Van and of course the next door ice cream/gelato shop afterwards. Jasmine had her usual Pho.. and I had some type of thing that ended up being kind of gross.... so I took it home to the Chihuahua vacuum cleaner who thought she was in heaven.

Here is Jazzy with her little change purse with money in it!

Adoption Day.....

2011-11-18T11:49:00.001-08:00

Three years ago today, Jazzy and I were in a Vietnamese courtroom "making it official". Jasmine wasn't very happy at the time, but I was:) Today she is taking cookies into her kindergarten class. Later after ice skating, we will go to a Vietnamese restaurant (probably Pho San) and have Pho- the traditional Vietnamese breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then I will give her one of the little gifts that I purchased for her in Vietnam. It is a Asian fish coin purse with money in it.:) I purchased 16 items... one for each year until she is 18 yrs old.

Jasmine with her cookies out in our front yard.

With Melissa Wachtel, her kindergarten teacher whom she loves dearly:)

Hopefully... someday.

2011-11-17T12:01:00.000-08:00

I love the boat drawing:) It kind of looks like a Vietnamese boat!

After the all night party....

2011-11-13T10:16:00.000-08:00

Here is Jasmine from the minute she got home until now... hours later. We still have to go to swimming today!

Happy Birthday to me:)! Three year anniversary of the day Jazzy and I first met!

More Rockstar Campout photos....

2011-11-13T09:56:00.000-08:00

Jasmine and her friend Skyla - in deep conversation. Nicole Bishop is Skyla's mom. She just had a baby a couple of weeks ago, then organized this whole campout! She is also the organizer for the Cinderella production. The new little baby came to the campout and was very quite the whole time!

Inside our tent. A little girl.. who I didn't even know, put her stuff in our tent and just stayed with us the whole night. Her name is Kyla. She wouldn't get up in the morning so I could take the tent down, so I had to carry her out of the tent and lay her down on the concrete floor where she was still sleeping when we left!

Jasmine's picture frame. It's a bit "busy", so we'll have to choose an appropriate photo to fit:)

Ice skating in pajamas with hula hoop somewhere around 2-3AM.

Rockstar Campout...

2011-11-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

This weekend was the Polar Ice Rockstar Campout. Everyone brought their tents and camped on the hard concrete floor. We had a "tent city" with about 40 kids and maybe 10 adults. The purpose was to be a fundraiser for the Cinderella production in March. Jazzy is a mouse in the show.

They had *alot* of activities - starting with coloring their hair different colors- striped green/red/orange and blue. Jasmine's was orange. Then they played alot of games like potato sack races, making crafts, eating everything in sight like hot dogs, cookies, cake, a few veggies.

The first skate they had was a "disco skate" where they turned off all the lights in the rink and had multicolored disco lights and loud music (which they always do anyway). The second - or maybe it was third- skate was at 2AM with hula hoops and pajamas on. We went to "bed" at around 3 AM, but it was way too cold and noisy. Lots of teenage girls and little kids still up screaming. I had to go home at around midnight to let Jessie out since she was probably crossing her legs by that point!

I didn't know that Polar Ice is open 24 hours! There was a hockey game that went on until around 2 AM in the other rink, then the zamboni to clean the ice, then cleaners to clean up the mess that the beer drinking rowdy hockey people left. The hockey players from ElPaso, TX were back with even more figure skaters at 6AM for yet another game!!! (on a Sunday morning!) and more practice for the figure skaters. It's pretty funny, the hockey people have beer, popcorn, chips, and they yell and scream alot... and the figure skating parents all have their glasses of wine and horsedevours, are fairly quiet, and don't make nearly the mess. Some parents have kids in both sides and don't know which side to stay on:)) I also saw one of my classmates (genius Ken) from naturopathic school. His son is in hockey. He says they have travelled all over the world !! for hockey meets. I always see huge *really nice* busses from all over the country in front of the rink with all of the 15 yr old hockey players. Those guys are intense.

Making a picture frame with AnnaLi and the other kids.
At the bouncy house.
Watching movies... "Kid Rock" or something like that.

Gift from AnnaLi

2011-11-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

AnnaLi gave Jasmine her "old" ice skates... which are barely used. They are way too big for Jazzy, but maybe in a couple years she can wear them. Here is Jazzy with her new skates.

School photo from September.....

2011-11-08T19:05:00.000-08:00

She refused to smile, and the photographer didn't even try to get her to smile.... and hence, I refused to pay to have them taken over again.

Dance Recital....

2011-11-08T19:01:00.000-08:00

Tonight was Jazzy's dance recital with the Tempe Parks and Recreation tap/ballet class. They always have a party afterwards, too. As has been typical of the past couple of recitals, Jasmine just stood there staring off into space when she was supposed to be dancing. Miss Jana said that Jasmine and her friend Katherine are the "class comedians". I think that was just a nice way of saying that they are always goofing around.

I didn't get good pictures with the black stage and background.

Star Student.....

2011-11-06T17:12:00.001-08:00

This week, Jasmine is "Star Student" for her class. I really didn't know what this meant until just yesterday. Jasmine (uh.. me) is responsible for all of the food, two snacks per day, for her entire class for the whole week. I didn't know they ate *two* snacks every day. No wonder Jasmine doesn't eat lunch. On Monday, she brings a few pictures of herself to show the class. Tuesday, a jar of something for the kids to guess how many in the jar. We are bringing a jar of beads. Wednesday, a "mystery box" with clues. I think she is going to take one of her purple ponies that lights up. Thursday, her favorite toy which right now is a little stuffed Maltese dog in a little carrier. Then Friday, her favorite book to read to the class... probably "A Mother for Choco"-- an adoption book.

Here is only part of the food for her class. I still need to go to Costco and get massive amounts of sliced apples and little carrots. We just joined Costco this week --because I volunteered to bring dessert for our "campout" in a couple of weeks. Little did I know that there were going to be around 100 people at this ice skating campout! Jazzy picked a "adoption cake" with an American flag on it!! even though she could have had a princess crown or other girly things. Then, she designed my birthday cake with a rainbow. We will pick those cakes up right before we go to our "campout" at the ice rink.
We also have to go back to Costco to get cupcakes for a dance recital this week. Wow!!

Oh yes... to top it all off... we had a flat tire this morning. I drove about 60 feet down the street before figuring out that something was wrong. There was a nail in the tire.... and the tire was totally ruined. Now I get to buy new tires.... yeah... right before Christmas!

Trick or Treating.....

2011-10-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

Just went to a few houses since pretty much everyone had their lights turned off. Jasmine immediately dumped her candy on the floor when she walked in the door. Off to the next holiday....

Chandler Community Center..

2011-10-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

Very crowded. Long lines to play a game and get one piece of candy, but Jazzy seemed to enjoy herself.

Jasmine with her spider hat, homemade half-eaten caramel apple, and the pumpkin she decorated.

Hitting the pinata.

Mouse eating Caramels....

2011-10-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

The other day, I got a note that each person was supposed to bring something to class for a party on Friday at school. Jasmine was supposed to bring two bags of melting caramels for dipping apples. This morning, I put the two bags of caramels in her book bag. Apparently, some time in the morning, she opened the bags and gave candy to her friends. There were half eaten caramels and wrappers in her book bag. I got a note from the teacher who said that Jasmine was passing them out to her friends. Yesterday, I got a note that Jasmine kicked someone..... and the day before that, she wouldn't do her work in class. When I asked her what happened to the caramels she told me that the bag spontaneously opened itself and mice got into her bag and ate them!! So...for punishment, we are not going to the Halloween Carnival at the Community Center tonight!

Oh yes...When I told her that we were not going to get to go to the Carnival tonight, she said, "Well, when *I'M* the mom and YOU are the kid, I am going to be nice to *YOU*. (So funny:). I am actually enjoying staying home for once!

Jenny's 35th B-day.....

2011-10-22T06:07:00.000-07:00

Last night was Jenny's 35th Birthday party. It was *way* out in the middle of nowhere- close to our old house- in a really nice B & B back on some dirt roads. It took me awhile to find it at night. The place was beautiful though. It was a "Twilight" theme with lots of guests, vendors to buy stuff, make up people, and we even got the little "strands" in our hair. Women only party of course. Jazzy stayed with Gadiel, Abby, and Mark (Jenny's husband). Got home really late!

Schnepf Farms...

2011-10-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Today, all 63 kindergarteners from Dobson Academy went to the Farm. There were lots of other schools there too. The farm has a petting zoo, rides, games, playgrounds. I think we are pretty "farmed" out after today. Each child was assigned a "partner" for the day. Jazzy and Rebekah were partners. At the end of the day, we went to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin which they will decorate at school.

Jazzy and pumpkin in a bag.
Rides.
Going down the slide.
In the corn maze with Rebekeh and her mom.
Eating lunch with classmates.

Eye Dr. Appointment today....

2011-10-20T17:57:00.000-07:00

We visited Dr. Plotnik, the pediatric ophthalmologist/surgeon today. We have Jasmine's eye surgery set up for December 21st. When I asked him if and for how long Jazzy would have to wear glasses after the surgery, he said "50% chance until she is 15 yrs". I hear a different response every time I ask that question. One of the prerequisites of graduating from medical/vet/ any kind of professional school, is to simultaneously attend "MSU". (Make Stuff-Up University)!!

Quarter Horse Congress....

2011-10-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

Today we visited the QH Congress.... the largest horse show in the world. It's only 15 minutes from Grandma and Grandpa's house. 17,000 horses. The show brings in around 120-130 million dollars into the Columbus area every year. As usual, we ate lots of junk food and watched a few classes afterwards. One of the most fun parts is the shopping. I bought a new purse, and some horse earrings for Jasmine. Today just happened to be the Cutting Classes and Team Roping which we watched for awhile. Then, I ran over a squirrel on the way home:((

"Creepside".....

2011-10-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to "Creepside"... held at the Creekside area in Gahanna. It was basically trick or treating at vendors tents. Later we ate at Signature's Cafe and brought a sandwich home for Grandpa. This was "not his kind of thing".

Jasmine with her cowgirl costume. Everyone thought she was "Jessie" from Toy Story.

Jasmine and her candy stash from the evening.

Blacklick Woods...

2011-10-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

This morning we went to Blacklick Woods for a puppet show on "Leaves", made a leaf craft, then went on a walk in the rain. Photos taken with my phone, so they didn't come out too well.

Buckeye Lake....

2011-10-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

Today we drove around Buckeye Lake and Dawes Arboretum. Saw where my Mom used to go on vacation with her family in the 1940's.
Jazzy at Buckeye Lake.

Max & Erma's for dinner and ice cream sundae

2011-10-10T16:42:00.001-07:00

Making a sundae with Grandpa.
Eating dinner...

Goofing around today....

2011-10-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

Pigeon Roost Farm.

Feeding the goats.

Picnic with Grandma.

Today.....

2011-10-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

I couldn't really go anywhere today since my driver's license is missing.... probably somewhere on an airplane. Anyway.... Jazzy, Grandma, and Grandpa carved the pumpkins from yesterday after Jasmine drew the face on it. Played around in the yard.

Carving the pumpkins.

Jumping in leaves.

Mowing the lawn with Grandpa.

Blowing bubbles.

Wiener Roast and Smores for Dinner....

2011-10-08T16:30:00.000-07:00

Pickin' apples....

2011-10-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

Today, after sleeping in.... we went to Lundt Farm to pick apples and get a couple pumpkins in the pumpkin patch! Then went to a little Festival, rode the train and ate junk food:)

Picking apples with Grandpa.

At the pumpkin patch.

Brushing a little miniature horse with Grandma.

Trip to Ohio...

2011-10-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

Skipped out of school a little early on Friday to go to Ohio. When Jasmine told Miss Wachtel she was going to Ohio, Miss Wachtel said "Can I come too"? Jazzy said "No... there's no Starbucks there":))).... and according to Jasmine, "Miss Wachtel drinks aalllloooootttt of Starbucks!.
After sitting in Chicago for awhile, we made it to Ohio at midnight. Stayed up until 3AM talking and goofing around!!! Even Jasmine stayed up. Slept in until 9:30-- a first for me.

On the plane ready to go.

With Grandpa and 3D glasses.

In the backyard with Grandpa.

Tuesdays....

2011-10-04T19:22:00.000-07:00

Tuesdays are busy days. After school, we go to the City of Tempe dance class.... which is over in a couple of weeks, then we go to "Let's Play Music"... a 3 year class we just started a few weeks ago. Ms. Janalee is the teacher and holds the class at her house. Parents go every other week.
Each child has their own xylophone labelled with Do, Re, Mi, etc and a workbook with "homework" every week. More homework!! In the second year, they begin piano with this program.

On the weeks that parents don't go, I have dinner with Heather (Sierra's mom) .... the blonde mom with gray sweat pants. She and her husband are both "project managers" at Intel.

Here we are in class tonight. Rocking back and forth to a song.... and I cut Jasmine out of the photo:(.

P-T Conference.....

2011-10-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

This week at Dobson Academy is Parent Teacher Conference time. Jazzy got all E+'s and the only item that needs a little attention is "focus". Gee.. where have I heard that before?

One week, they studied American symbols and they made a poster of themselves. She also keeps a "journal", and when she draws a picture of herself.... she draws her hair blonde!

Ice skating fun....

2011-10-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

Today some black clouds rolled in, so we were looking for something to do. Out of default, we ended up at the ice skating rink. It was so crowded that I couldn't even get a picture of Jazzy skating.... typical Saturday there. During a "break", Jazzy had cotton candy and hung out with her friends for awhile. Later we had to leave because she fell, gashed her head and wouldn't stop crying... mainly because of the blood. It ended up just being a small scalp abrasion which bled alot.

Last night we also went skating. "WE".... as in Jazzy. They did their "graduation recital" to music. Forgot the camera though. Also, yesterday was Miss Wachtel's birthday. They had a party, cake, lollipops and Miss Wachtel got to wear the birthday crown all day:) I heard about that all night long:)

Jasmine is singing to me right now. She says "I have a song for every occasion":)

Then she said... "There was blood on my head. That was a disaster":))

Tumbleweed Rec Center...

2011-09-29T18:06:00.000-07:00

Every Wednesday night, the Recreation Center has "Family Night"... movies, exercise classes, etc. We decided to go last night and it was "Autumn Craft Night"... Oh boy, more crafts!:). So, we made an autumn pumpkin looking thing and a scary tree with leaves. Jasmine gave her "pumpkin" to Miss Wachtel, her teacher. I am told that she said "Awww.... that's nice.. Give me a hug:)".

Eat lunch with Jazzy day.....

2011-09-24T07:17:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was "eat lunch with your child day" at Dobson Academy. 107 degrees.... record high temperature...and we were sitting outside on a picnic table eating lunch and getting heat stroke. They only have 20 minutes to eat lunch! so it was kind of rushed, and now I know that Jasmine doesn't really eat lunch. She just sits there, plays around with her friends and talks the whole time:)

Later we went ice skating where Jazzy was promoted to Basic One in skating. She has made it thru Snowplow Sam 1, 2 and 3. They are supposed to be 6 yrs old to go to Basic One... but they didn't want to hold her back. Basic Seven is the level when they get to start to compete.
No photos:(.

Autumn Moon Festival....

2011-09-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to the Chinese/Vietnamese Autumn Moon Festival at Indian School Park in Scottsdale. Lots of little Chinese and Vietnamese adopted kids were there playing on the playground and eating mooncakes- apparently the customary thing to eat at the Autumn Moon Festival. They are supposed to have an egg in the middle resembling a moon.... which I am grateful that they didn't... yuk.
The Autumn Moon Princess read a story, then they marched around in a parade with the lanterns they made

Coloring with the college kids from the Chinese Undergraduate Group from ASU. Brittany seemed to be Jasmine's personal babysitter for the entire evening.

Eating a mooncake.

Listening to the Autumn Moon story.

Beginning of the lantern parade.

Busy week....

2011-09-17T15:08:00.001-07:00

Been doing all kinds of new things this week: New piano lessons, "Let's Play Music", new dance class, gymnastics, ice skating.....
Today is "National Gymnastics Day" so there was a free open gym. Normally, we don't go to the open gym because there is really no supervision or guidance. The kids just go around do whatever they want... which is fun...but it would be better if they actually had classes.. like today. Apparently, National Gymnastics Day is the beginning of the competition season. Typically, we get in more skating time because unlimited skating at the public sessions is included in the fee for lessons. More bang for the buck... so to speak.

Having fun today. There was a handstand contest to see who could hold a handstand the longest. Jazzy didn't win of course.. but she was right up there.
Practicing a backbend, on the bar, and of course... making a face at me:)

Statue of Liberty...

2011-09-11T18:02:00.001-07:00

Today when we arrived at swimming lessons, Jasmine pointed out an emblem of the Statue of Liberty which is in front of "Liberty Insurance" right next to the swim school. She told me that it floats in the water in New York! Then she asked me if we could go see it... Aaargh... Next year we are possibly/maybe/probably going to the New York Vietnamese Culture Camp up in the Catskill mountains, but my intention was to fly into Hartford, CT and avoid NYC if possible. Now we might have to go? I am not looking forward to going there with her by myself, but it would be a really nice thing to do. She also can recite the Pledge of Allegiance- with a few mis-pronounced words:)

This morning on the news, I heard about a book called "Life Is Too Short" about the post 9/11 lives of 12 people who were in NYC and experienced the Twin Towers destruction. I ordered the book on Kindle and read almost the whole book on the stair stepper at the gym, then went to my usual Sunday morning yoga class. The book featured their stories on that day, but mostly it was about how their lives had changed for the positive in the past 10 years... i.e. various organizations they had started, changes in their professions, moving away from NYC, and changes in their belief systems.

It was 99 degrees today.... first day below 100 degrees since some time in June!

Imagination Ave....

2011-09-06T14:05:00.000-07:00

Today, Jenny and Gadiel came over for a "playdate" since Jasmine didn't have school due to a "teacher's conference". We went to a place called "Imagination Ave".... which is a little town for kids. It has a hospital, post office, houses, dress shop, streets, etc.

After playing there for a couple of hours, we ate lunch at Red Lobster. Jazzy and Gadiel got to pet a lobster.

Jazzy in her wedding dress from the "dress shop"

Dr. Jasmine administering a treatment in the hospital.

Jenny, Gadiel and Jasmine eating lunch at Red Lobster.

Tonto National Monument

2011-09-03T18:29:00.000-07:00

Today we left Cherry Creek Lodge and drove about 60 miles to Payson, AZ. I hadn't been there for many years and it certainly has changed quite a bit. About 12 miles north of Payson is the Tonto National Bridge. We had to climb down some steep terrain to get to the bridge/monument, but it was well worth it. Very pretty with a natural waterfall spilling over the bridge.

Dr. Vince and Jazzy sitting under the bridge with the waterfall in the background.

Jazzy playing with some hound dog puppies at the ranch.

More photos from Cherry Creek Lodge

2011-09-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

Cherry Creek Lodge vacation....

2011-09-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we picked Dr. Vince up at the Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport ..... a little airport in Mesa....and drove a very scenic 180 miles on semi-paved roads to Cherry Creek Lodge in Young, Arizona. The "driveway" alone to the lodge is 5.1 miles. We saw lots of billowing smoke on our way here and weren't sure what it was. Turns out, there are "controlled burns" in the area.

The lodge is in a beautiful setting with alot of history. Apparently, there was a multi-generational family feud. Cherry Creek Lodge sits on a 300,000 acre working cattle ranch. There are horses for trail riding, archery, hunting--- if someone is into that sort of thing, and Jeep Tours.. which is what we did.

This morning, we walked down to the barn to visit the horses, then over to the lake to skip some stones. We had a nice home made breakfast since this is a B & B. We brought all our other meals from Whole Foods market in our big cooler.

Later we went on a Jeep Tour of the area. This redefined 4-wheeling for *me*. We went thru some very rough terrain, rocks, thru creeks, into canyons, and saw lots of huge Elk bull tracks. Later we took a nap. Amazingly, Jazzy slept thru part of the Jeep tour as we were almost bouncing out of the jeep.

Tomorrow we will leave and drive a short distance over to Payson and do some hiking, stay there the night... then go back to 114 degrees in Phoenix.

Having breakfast
Checking out the horses
Skipping stones at 6:30 AM
In front of the barn
Jeep Tour

Gymnastics....

2011-08-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

Miss Kay, Jazzy's regular gymnastics teacher was absent yesterday.... so Amanda Borden taught the class. Jasmine had a lesson from the world champion all around gymnast in the Olympics.... not exactly sure which year. Amanda is very bubbly, kind of jumps around when she talks, and was born and raised in Tempe. She owns the gym where Jazz takes lessons- which is why it is called "Gold Medal Gymnastics".

Books I managed to read this year...

2011-08-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

while waiting for Jazzy at gymnastics, swimming, piano, cheerleading, karate, and now 45 minutes twice a day dropping off and picking up for school:

"Freakonomics" by Steven Levitt - Does a good job of explaining strange phenomenon like why the crime rate has diminished in NYC (and other places) over the last 30 years.

"Decision Points" by George W. Bush. He's not such a bad guy after all. Interesting childhood and life he had/has.

"Your Soul's Plan: Discovering the Real Meaning of Life You Planned before Birth" by Robert Schwartz. Numerous examples of between life agreements between people. Ho hum... written for total beginner. Kind of boring. Didn't really finish it. Got bad reviews because of his boring writing style.

"Messages from the Masters" Brian Weiss MD. Psychiatrist who specializes in past life regression. He has written many books, most of which I've read over the years. Hundreds of cases. He uses the information in the past life and between life regression to heal the patient of various anxieties and other ailments.

"Growing Up in Heaven- The Eternal Connection Between Parent and Child" by James Van Praagh. Producer of the show "Medium" with Allison Dubuois- the "intuitive" who works with the Phoenix Police Department and is now a prosecuting attorney. Death of children and how they continue on in the "between life" environment. Again, I've read most, if not all of his books. Usually go to his "psychic development" courses when he is in Phoenix. Too bad I'll be missing the one happening tomorrow in Phoenix:(

"Glimpses of Eternity- Shared Death Experiences" by Raymond Moody, MD. People occasionally mention to me that when their animal is put to sleep, they have a "shared death experience". Book has many examples of this.

"Pompeii- City on Fire" by T.J. Higley. Author is an English Literature/History professor who writes novels about true occurrences in history, but makes it really interesting in a novel format. Always been interested in Rome/Pompeii. Maybe I'll read all of her other books that have to do with other periods in history.

"A Stolen Life" by Jaycee Dugard. In 1991, Jaycee was an 11 yr old girl who was kidnapped by Phillip and Nancy Giordo. Kept for 18 years in a backyard compound, kept tied up for years, raped often. The book is very graphic and written in very basic language... i.e kind of like a 14 year old girl's writing.

"Anastasia of Russia" by Vladimir Megre. Now I'm reading Book One of this 8.2 Ringing Cedar Book Series. Fantasy book about "spiritual principles"... natural gardening, living on the land, communication, in perfect harmony with the land in the wilds of Siberia. Going to take me a long time to get thru 8.2 (9) books!

August party

2011-08-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

Today we spent most of the day at Aunt Doreen's house for the annual August birthday party. There are alot of people in the family born in August.... hence the one big party for everyone. We had a hamburger shaped/decorated cake, hot dogs and all the fixings with it, and lots of presents.

Jazzy and Jade

Getting ready to blow out the candles

Aunt Doreen, Grandma and Jazzy

Eating lunch, Grandpa Blakeman looking on, Jerry in the background.

A picture of me that Jasmine took. It's kind of fuzzy, but at least it's centered.

August 10th Birthday Party....

2011-08-11T13:56:00.001-07:00

Tonight was Jasmine's 5th Birthday party at Pho An Sen Vietnamese Restaurant. Several of Jasmine's pre-school friends attended including Josephine Boucher and her brother Henry, Addis Beaty, Adam Elliot, Kiera Umble, Margot McArdle, Katherine Samas from dance class, and of course Gadiel and Abby Tindall from Casa Grande. Teresa at the restaurant fed us continuous Vietnamese Egg Rolls and Spring Rolls, then we had the Princess Cupcakes. The kids each decorated a Vietnamese lantern to take home, as well as a Vietnamese hat. Jazzy received LOTS of presents! We tried to keep it short and sweet since it was a "school night":)!

Me and Jazzy (making a face), but it's the only photo we have of us together.

Opening presents and eating cupcakes.

Jasmine and Addis... Those darn balloons keep getting in the way.

Jasmine at home with a couple of her presents. A shiny purse and shoes from Addis and some crafty games from Adam. Kiera gave Jazzy a carrying case with two dogs.