Jaida has been doing very well keeping up with her piano practice lately. She really seems to love playing and holding mini concerts for us. This last Sunday at church Jaida even played a song for the adult choir and then played it again at youth choir practice and all the kids sang the lyrics as she played. Best of all she is reading music! She still has a few issues working out tempo (which is why you hear her counting on the video but she is getting it).
The Professor's Rest
The Playroom Surprise
De colores
Here is a link to what De colores should sound like and the lyrics. Jaida learned the last two parts of the song this weekend and is now working on getting the tempo down. We are so proud of her!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Christmas with the cousins
We spent the Saturday after the holiday with my family so the cousins could exchange gifts. The kids had a really great time.
Jaida playing magnetic dress-up dolls with cousin Mattie
The cousins ... Jaida (holding little cousin Ryli), Mattie and Jaxon
Jaida playing magnetic dress-up dolls with cousin Mattie
The cousins ... Jaida (holding little cousin Ryli), Mattie and Jaxon
Christmas fun
Jaida is such a fun kid. Mostly because she really has this uncanny ability to temper her excitement .... most of the time. I think I have written before about the fact that it is hard to get Jaida really excited about something in advance. She just isn't that kind of kid. All of her responses are very measured and exact and well pragmatic for lack of a better term. However, every now and again the little kid sneaks out and she just can't hide her excitement. I love these times with her ... mostly because they are so rare (and difficult to achieve)!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Oh Christmas Tree
As far as Jaida is concerned
DSC_0023
Originally uploaded by gias_kids.
this is THE Santa. All of the other mall Santas are simply Santa helpers. He certainly looks and acts the part so who am I to argue. Jaida decided that since there are SO many girls and boys that Santa has to remember that she would write him a note for him to keep as a reminder. After he finished reading her note he folded it neatly and placed it in his vest pocket for safe keeping.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Friday, November 07, 2008
Point Look-Out
Wood Sprite
IMG_7135
Originally uploaded by gias_kids.
We spent a day at the Hard Bargain Farm again this fall. Going to Octoberfest has become our annual tradition ... and a fun one at that. Lots of arts & crafts, hay rides and apple cider for the kids. Bavarian music troupe, beer and brats for the adults. All of this while hanging out in the deep woods. Just a lovely day all around!
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The day history will be made
hopefully! (not that I am superstitious or anything)
I can't wait to take Jaida to the polling place with me to vote. We have talked about this election and the importance of voting so much. This election coincided with the section on graphing that Jaida is doing in her math class so we have talked a lot about the different types of plots ... graphs, pie charts, line plots, scatter plots, etc and how they represent data. It has been great to print out the latest poll data and take it home to talk to Jaida about it and watch her face light up when she realizes on her own that as far as the polls go Obama is ahead.
I can't wait to take Jaida to the polling place with me to vote. We have talked about this election and the importance of voting so much. This election coincided with the section on graphing that Jaida is doing in her math class so we have talked a lot about the different types of plots ... graphs, pie charts, line plots, scatter plots, etc and how they represent data. It has been great to print out the latest poll data and take it home to talk to Jaida about it and watch her face light up when she realizes on her own that as far as the polls go Obama is ahead.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Disgusting
I simply do not want my children living in the same world as these completely and totally ignorant and hate-filled people. From the responses you would think these people are members of some radical fringe political group. Nope, wrong .... just normal everyday hate filled people attending a McCain-Palin rally.
I want so much more for my kids than this. After your stomach settles please donate to the Obama campaign.
I want so much more for my kids than this. After your stomach settles please donate to the Obama campaign.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Our spur of the moment adventure
On Friday I received an email about a last minute Obama-Biden rally in Fredricksburg, VA. So on Saturday after Jaida played her soccer game we packed up and headed over to VA. I explained to the kids why we were going and Jaida was pretty excited about seeing the person that could potentially be the next President of the US. When we arrived we found a deli and had a nice lunch. After we were stuffed with food we started walking to the Mary Washington University campus where the rally would be held. We arrived several hours early and already the line to get into Ball Circle was about a mile long (I think it might have actually been even longer). We got in line and figured we would just play it by ear depending on the kids ability to hold it together. The kids did absolutely wonderfully ... we stood in line for several hours and during that time we played games like I spy, punch buggy, etc. Finally, volunteers started bringing tickets to the rally around ... this gave us a bit of hope that we were actually going to get in. However, there were so many people in line in front of us and people were still turning out in droves and getting in line behind us. From the turn-out I would have thought that we were in a deep blue state but not the case at all.
Finally, at about 3:30 the line started moving. We wound our way through the campus and really enjoyed seeing all the people and feeling such a sense of community with people we didn't even know. We talked a lot about the inherent differences in the Democratic and Republican parties with the kids. We also spoke about the specific differences in Obama and McCain with the kids. Jaida had a lot of good questions. As we kept winding our way through the campus there was such a buzz of excitement in the air. It was easy to tell that Jaida was picking up on it also because she kept asking if Obama was there yet. I have to say the entire event was pretty organized and everything went smoothly. We finally arrived at the security screening area and then made our way into the rally area. It was a lovely grassy area flanked on all sides by huge historic buildings .... quite pretty.
Unfortunately, the weather had been a bit iffy all day. At first it was really hot and humid and intensely sunny. Once we were in the rally area though the skies became more ominous. Because of security issues we were not allowed to have umbrellas, food or water inside the rally area (near the stage). Because of our hasty departure from the house that morning I didn't think to bring rain jackets, ponchos, or much of anything else with us. At about 5:00 (just as Obama was supposed to take the stage) the sky opened and it poured rain. Not a little rain .... a HUGE thunderstorm. There was no shelter so we just stood there and got wet with everyone else. Luckily, the kids thought it was pretty funny to be standing out in the rain ... they didn't seem to mind it one bit. The amazing thing was that no one left ... everyone just stuck it out. After about 30-40 minutes of rain it finally started to clear up ... a bit. At one point the sun came out and there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky ... Jaida thought this was pretty cool.
At a little after 6:00 Biden came out on stage and got the crowd all riled up. He gave his stump speech and talked a bit about the debate the night before. Then to tremendous roars of the crowd Obama started speaking. Shortly after speaking the skies opened up again and Obama stood there and gave his entire stump speech during a torrential downpour. We enjoyed hearing him speak. It was nice that this was his basic stump speech where he reinforced points I heard him make in other televised speeches but more than that he did tailor it a bit to the crowd. He talked about the debate the night before, he worked the lousy weather into what he was saying, and talked about turning VA blue from red. All in all it was a very inspiring night. Jaida was really feeding off the crowds excitement and was so insanely excited when she saw Obama come out on stage. Someone had given Jaida a blow-up Obama banner which she happily waved around when the crowd started cheering. I think Jaida & even Jax left the night feeling like this process is something they can be a bit more involved in which I think is so very important. A few pictures and a link to the speech below.
Jaida and Jax patiently waiting in line
The line to get into the rally from my spot in line
Jaida inside the rally...
One of the buildings near the rally area
The back side of the stage area
Jaida showing off her shirt
Jaida being a goof
A nice lady gave Jaida an inflatable banner thing to cheer with
Soaked after down pour number one
Senator Biden on stage
Senator Obama listening to Biden talk
Giving the stump speech during a torrential down pour
Finally, at about 3:30 the line started moving. We wound our way through the campus and really enjoyed seeing all the people and feeling such a sense of community with people we didn't even know. We talked a lot about the inherent differences in the Democratic and Republican parties with the kids. We also spoke about the specific differences in Obama and McCain with the kids. Jaida had a lot of good questions. As we kept winding our way through the campus there was such a buzz of excitement in the air. It was easy to tell that Jaida was picking up on it also because she kept asking if Obama was there yet. I have to say the entire event was pretty organized and everything went smoothly. We finally arrived at the security screening area and then made our way into the rally area. It was a lovely grassy area flanked on all sides by huge historic buildings .... quite pretty.
Unfortunately, the weather had been a bit iffy all day. At first it was really hot and humid and intensely sunny. Once we were in the rally area though the skies became more ominous. Because of security issues we were not allowed to have umbrellas, food or water inside the rally area (near the stage). Because of our hasty departure from the house that morning I didn't think to bring rain jackets, ponchos, or much of anything else with us. At about 5:00 (just as Obama was supposed to take the stage) the sky opened and it poured rain. Not a little rain .... a HUGE thunderstorm. There was no shelter so we just stood there and got wet with everyone else. Luckily, the kids thought it was pretty funny to be standing out in the rain ... they didn't seem to mind it one bit. The amazing thing was that no one left ... everyone just stuck it out. After about 30-40 minutes of rain it finally started to clear up ... a bit. At one point the sun came out and there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky ... Jaida thought this was pretty cool.
At a little after 6:00 Biden came out on stage and got the crowd all riled up. He gave his stump speech and talked a bit about the debate the night before. Then to tremendous roars of the crowd Obama started speaking. Shortly after speaking the skies opened up again and Obama stood there and gave his entire stump speech during a torrential downpour. We enjoyed hearing him speak. It was nice that this was his basic stump speech where he reinforced points I heard him make in other televised speeches but more than that he did tailor it a bit to the crowd. He talked about the debate the night before, he worked the lousy weather into what he was saying, and talked about turning VA blue from red. All in all it was a very inspiring night. Jaida was really feeding off the crowds excitement and was so insanely excited when she saw Obama come out on stage. Someone had given Jaida a blow-up Obama banner which she happily waved around when the crowd started cheering. I think Jaida & even Jax left the night feeling like this process is something they can be a bit more involved in which I think is so very important. A few pictures and a link to the speech below.
Jaida and Jax patiently waiting in line
The line to get into the rally from my spot in line
Jaida inside the rally...
One of the buildings near the rally area
The back side of the stage area
Jaida showing off her shirt
Jaida being a goof
A nice lady gave Jaida an inflatable banner thing to cheer with
Soaked after down pour number one
Senator Biden on stage
Senator Obama listening to Biden talk
Giving the stump speech during a torrential down pour
Friday, September 19, 2008
NOW Endorsement
For the first time since 1984 NOW (National Organization of Women) has endorsed a presidential candidate in the general election. Very important news for women everywhere.
Spoke to me
Anyone that knows me knows I am an Obama suporter. Now that that disclaimer is out of the way .... this video really spoke to me. Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gwqEneBKUs
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