Higher Thoughts

Tweet

Daddy just started a new blog called Higher Thoughts of Nude Realities. It’s a little high for my comprehension, but then I’m only 15 months old. Check his first post out and let him know if you agree or disagree and why. He loves a good discussion.

Now we’re off to bake for our non-birthday get-together tonight . . .

Thursday 13 - Reasons I Love My Husband

Tweet

Esme's Mommy here.

In honor of his (1st) 39th birthday tomorrow, here are 13 reasons I love my husband.

1. He is the best father in the world! Just ask Skateboarder Bebe!
2. He’s generous. Never stingy, he gives when people ask. Not just financially, but with time and muscle and brains, too. He cares about people.
3. He’s a problem-solver. Anything needs fixing – I know he can figure it out.
4. He listens. I can talk for hours about my day or problems, and he is genuinely interested.
5. He is a wide conversationalist. He’s interested in and can talk about just about any topic.
6. He’s a leader. He can rally the ranks and get things accomplished. People naturally look to him for advice and direction.
7. He’s strong. You’ll often see him carrying what it takes 4 people to carry on the other end!
8. He’s active – always at the center of the basketball or volleyball games, and ready to organize rock climbing or other extreme sports and to share his love of them with others.
9. He’s got drive that pushes him beyond normal limits.
10. He loves cats (and doesn’t mind bunnies and dogs).
11. He likes shopping and sleeping in, and he makes a hot curry.
12. Just look at that photo!
13. We love because God first loved us . . . Only through Him can love last a lifetime.

WFMW - "E" Crafts

Tweet

Wow - we are just whizzing through the alphabet here! This was the best week of all, because my name begins with "E!"

Mommy's note: I sometimes have stressed over whether these crafts are too structured or directed, but this week Esmé relieved me of that concern by taking over some of these projects! It is great to see her taking initiative and trying out different products!

Envelopes. Remember those cards I made in "C" week? I made matching envelopes this week. Glitter stickers, glitter glue, and my markers were all it took, with a tiny bit of help from Mommy on squeezing the glitter glue.

Etymology. OK, maybe this one is a stretch, but I found this alphabet confetti in Mommy's scrapbooking cupboard and wanted to sprinkle it. So we made a suncatcher with contact paper. Maybe this is how some words get created - just sprinkle those letters and see what words pop up!

Elephant. Mommy tried to help me make an elephant headdress, but I DON'T like anything on my head unless I decide to put it there myself. So this really didn't work for me.

Esmé. I have a beautiful name! And pink is my favorite color. Mommy printed my name out using WordArt and I added the colors and sparkles. If you write my name, I'll say it for you!

Esmé. Here is some more Esmé art - I colored myself!

Eat. We do this all the time! Here I am helping one of my bunnies eat! I LOVE feeding them!

Ears and Eyes. Mommy made a potato head using toothpicks, raisins for the eyes, a grape tomato for the nose, a pepper slice for the mouth, and apple slices for the ears. I can name all the parts. And I love eating eyes!

Earth. Mommy made a blue circle, and I painted the land on it with green poster paint.

Earthquake. I got to bounce on my BIG yellow ball and pretend it was an earthquake.

Eagle. Mommy cut out wings from index cards, and we tore up tissue paper and put it on the wings using double-sided tape. Then we taped the wings to a rubber ducky of mine, making it an eagle! I think there's a spiritual application there. Maybe the ducky has been doing some waiting?

Eel. Mommy tried to show me how to roll playdough to make this eel, but I had more fun breaking the playdough into pieces. Then I pulled out the pipe cleaners and wanted to add them to the project, so we pretended they were seaweed the eel was swimming through.


Eggs. Mommy rolled some balls out of playdough, and we made a nest for them. I liked to hide them in the green grass and then find them.

Eggplant. I got into the scrapbook cupboard and found a sticker to put on a blue scrap paper. I showed it to Mommy, and she was very proud of me, because I picked an "E" sticker - eggplant!

Egg Carton. This was our alltime favorite project this week! Mommy put tempera paint drops into each of the egg spots, and I got to mix the colors and paint away! For the full story, see today's Wordless Wednesday post.
----------------
**I know I should be giving people credit for most of these ideas, but I've picked them up all over the place so can't remember or figure out who. So if you feel you deserve the credit, let me know and I'll give it to you. Some key sites I've used:www.everythingpreschool.com
www.softschools.com
www.first-school.ws
The Artful Parent blog
----------------
If you have a post or link related to "E" Activities for toddlers, link up here!

Wordless Wednesday

Tweet

Here is our favorite art project of the week! See today's WFMW post for more info.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Tweet

Esmé (15 months) has figured out the "No" shake of the head and uses it all the time now when she doesn't want something. It's SO cute - especially with the smile that follows when she realizes I get it!

Any bets on how much longer I'll think "No" is cute?
---------------
She's figured out the sign for "More" and says "More," too. I'm not sure if she thinks it means raisins, though. She uses it when she wants more raisins at breakfast.
---------------
Esmé is now officially in charge of preparing her own meals - I see no reason to do it when she has proven herself perfectly capable!

The other day she got a packet of two-minute noodles out of the pantry and then proceeded to the silverware drawer and grabbed a table knife out and tried to open it. How does she know what a knife is for??

Another time she took a plastic bowl out of our plastics cupboard, went to the fridge and took the granola out (it's stored there to keep bugs out). She managed to get the clip off the granola bag and shook it out into her bowl (and all over the floor). Then she grabbed a spoon out and started eating. At least she didn't get the milk out, too.
---------------
In Portuguese, she can say tchou (goodbye) and agua (water). Not sure if she knows what she's saying, but other people are sure she knows!
---------------
And Esmé loves to take off her clothes and put them in the laundry basket. I bet some of you wish you could get your husbands to do that. Only problem is when I DON'T WANT her clothes off.
---------------
The last week has been "E" week for our crafts, so I've been writing her name over and over, being an "E" name and all. At bathtime one night, I wrote her name with bathtub crayons, and out came "Eh-mé" with no prompting. I was in shock, so wrote it again, with the same results. Very cool! Hearing her say her name was definitely the talking highlight of my week.
---------------
I'm a little worried, though, that the same week she says her name is the same week she says "boy" for the first time. She was quick to pick out all her boy magnets out of her magnet set as she was saying it. I tried to get her to say "girl" with her girl magnets, but no luck.
---------------
And now for a photo of the granola criminal, face blurred to prevent recognition since she is underage and all (not misuse of camera, no way!):

T I A Part 2

Tweet

Esmé's Mommy here.

The first "This is Africa" post last Friday wasn't exactly a positive one. Just wanted to follow up and let you know that there are positive connotations to that phrase, too. The following photos are of Africa - highlighting the reason we are so glad our baby is growing up here.

On Saturday we went to a church dedication in Zona Verde. Esmé and a new little friend stole the show for a few minutes as they played by the front door - the "dignitaries" were getting ready to start the key ceremony, but people were too busy taking photos of the babies to pay attention. At the center of baby conflict - a $0.97 doll I bought from WalMart. I'm so wishing I had brought over a suitcase of these.Here's a photo of the new church, with church members gathered around.
The old church building next door  is being put to good use as the children's classroom. In a country where the children are often ignored in church, it's wonderful to see the country's future in a building designated just for them.

Here are the Africanized pews in the old building - cardboard rolls (probably inners for plastic sheeting or something like that) tied together with string and placed on homemade concrete blocks). ("Africanized" means ingenuity here.)
While the dedication service was going on, Esmé was making friends outside. She played with this girl in a rock pile for hours.

I'm considering changing our profile photo to this one.
This boy had on a monkey shirt. Esmé excitedly called me over to see it, saying "mon."
The action brought over quite a few more boys. Esmé wasn't quite sure what to make of all the attention.
She returned to the rock pile. Notice that "monkey" boy followed.
Here he is watching as Esmé pours rocks inside a plastic bag with no bottom. Her girlfriend had had this wrapped around her foot, and when she took it off Esmé was quite fascinated with it. She tried putting the plastic bag on her foot, too.
And girlfriend found some ribbon from a cassette tape in the rocks and was "flossing her teeth" with it. Esmé had to try that, too!
Another little girl who found plenty of entertainment in a piece of tape!
There is JOY in Africa, friends! Found amidst the rocks, plastic bags, cassette ribbon, and tape.

And peace and love and all that other good stuff found in the pages of a worn Bible in the old church.


THIS is Africa!

Wylde Women Award

Tweet

I was honored to receive the Wylde Women Award from Celita of The Spice of Life. I always thought papercuts were a bad thing until I saw her blog! Talk about inspiring papercuts . . .

Tammy Vitale recently created the Wylde Women Award with the purpose "To send love and acknowledgment to women who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy."

By receiving the award I get to share it with some of my favorite bloggers. If you would like to pass it on, here are the rules.

1. You can give it to one or one hundred or any number in between - it's up to you. Make sure you link to their site in your post.


2. Link back to this blog site (http://www.tammyvitale.com/) so Tammy can go visit all these wonderful women. And remember the Purpose of the Award: To send love and acknowledgment to women who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy.

Without further ado, my Wylde Women Awards go to. . . . . .

Laura at Clearly Living. She is living her dream at a Mozambican orphanage, and in reading about her boys, I am inspired to live my dream, as well.

Reluctant Memsahib. She makes me laugh at the absurdities of life in Africa instead of getting frustrated with them, and that definitely deserves an award.

Genny at My Cup 2 Yours. She consistently inspires me to be a better, more godly mother with her thoughtful posts.

Andrea at The Laughs Will Go On, Danielle at New Mommy Rant, and Pam at Random Thoughts. Sharing mommy moments with these bloggers has been a privilege. It makes the motherhood journey seem a little less lonely and scary, and a lot more rewarding.

Hanging

Tweet

When I saw the PhotoHunt theme for today is "Hanging," this is the first photo that came to mind:
This is at a church dedication. Can you believe that was 8 months ago, back when I was only 7 months old?!

So I decided we needed a more recent photo. Here is my friend A, hanging in a tree today. He's from South Africa and his dad is part of our well project.

T I A

Tweet

Esmé’s mommy here.
I laughed when I saw the title of Reluctant Memsahib’s recent post. “T I A.” “This is Africa.” This has been my mantra since moving here!
------------------------
You know that joke about the employee who takes time off because he would like to attend his mother-in-law's funeral, only to ask for time off again the next month for the same reason? (The punchline is that she isn’t dead yet.)

Well, in Mozambique I don't think people would get the joke.

For starters, people refer to extended relatives as brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers. So when someone tells you his “sister” has died, it might be his cousin. And his “mother” might be his mother’s cousin. Seems sweet, but it’s a little disconcerting from an employer’s perspective when one tries to be sympathetic and keeps giving time off and funds for employee family funerals.

Remember our gardener, Antonio? The beanless guy? Yesterday he informed me that his wife just died, and he needs 2 weeks off and some travel money to fetch his son.

What? His wife died late last year – he took a month off then. Did he marry again already?

No, no. That wife was his second wife, his Maputo wife. His primary wife lived 3 days travel up north. And his son now has no one to care for him. The grandparents are dead, too.

How many more wives does he have????

Just these two. No more. Now he has no wives left.

My heart grieves for the motherless son. And once again I’m troubled by my lack of sympathy and compassion as an employer.

------------------------
We (our project) have been getting repeated phone calls from the bank requesting authorization to deduct $20,000 from our account for our cell phone payment.

Normally our monthly bill is about $1,500. So we’re not giving authorization without an explanation.

Now we don’t always get bills from the cell company. Some months we do without any problem, and other months we don’t even if we beg. And we haven’t received a bill since March.

So Eli, our logistics person, uses his Portuguese skills to get the last bill from the cell company. 12 new phone numbers on the bill of which I know nothing. $18,000 for ONE phone alone – with calls all over the world, but primarily to Pakistan.

Did an entrepreneur steal one of our phones (two have been stolen) and start a payphone business because the cell company neglected to cancel our stolen phone accounts?

Is it just the cell company tacking charges to our account and hoping we won’t notice, as I’ve been told they often do?

Is someone trying to frame us as a terrorist cell group?

Explanations please!!! And something other than “This is Africa!”

------------------------
And theft is a constant problem here. Some of our best and brightest employees are the culprits.

You could say there’s a cultural difference that makes it more acceptable here. Does that make it okay? Even when it’s hard-earned money from little old ladies in the US that is being stolen, ultimately?

Since it is a problem, we try to implement checks and balances. What that means is no one steals alone – there are always witnesses or accomplices.

An ethical question for you – do you fire just the person who stole, or also the people who watched and said nothing?

------------------------
To cheer things up, here is a photo of Esmé, my poor runny-nosed bebe who put her hat on all by herself – you can’t even tell it’s upside down, can you? Not pictured are the (fake) pink crocs on the wrong feet.

Thursday 13 - What Esmé Needs

Tweet

I’m copycattin’ today – thanks, Sarah!

Here’s how it works – Google your name followed with a verb like “needs." Copy the first few results and add your own commentary.

So here are our Thursday Thirteen for this 15-month-old bebe:

1. Esmé needs to go date about 3 different guys and have the time of her life. Okay – I can do this, but I’m not sure Mommy and Daddy would approve until I’m a little older, say 16 months?


2. Esmé needs her story now. Did you know there was a song by Jawbreaker about me? Neither did I! It’s not exactly kiddie music, though, so I’m not linking.


3. Esmé needs love. Definitely! I’ve got plenty of it, thank goodness.


4. Esmé needs to address her bank accounts. And which ones might those be? I got a piggy bank full of change – maybe I should bank it?


5. Esmé needs people to pass out flyers. You wanna volunteer? I’m soliciting funds and fans for my own skateboard park. Or maybe I should focus on world hunger - but I can always feed people who come to my skateboard park, right? I’ll get those flyers designed this weekend!


6. Esmé needs 24-hour nursing care. This must be old information. I still need 24-hour mommy care, but I’m not nursing 24-7 anymore. That stopped at about 6 months, I think. Now I can survive an hour or two between feedings . . .


7. Esmé needs an escape. Mommy says ABSOLUTELY NOT! I was eyeing the bedroom windows today. There’s a mosquito screen and a pane; both look like they should be easy to unlatch with a little practice. Then I’m outa here (until my next feeding . . .).


8. Esmé needs to get her leg up anyway. Maybe this has to do with one of my cheerleading moves?


9. Esmé needs to be someone not too young and pretty. Okay – I don’t think this one’s gonna work for me. 15 months is still pretty young, and I am DEFINITELY pretty.


10. Esmé needs much, much more love. I think we covered this with #3. How much love can a little kid stand?


11. Esmé needs assistance with walking, showering, and getting in and out of the car. More old information. I’ve got walking downpat, thank you very much! Getting in and out of the car is quite simple, IF I want to do it. (The car seat is another story.) Alright, maybe I still need assistance with showering.


12. Esmé needs to look like a Victorian doll. Not quite the look I was going for. I was aiming for the hot cheerleader babe image. Or the skateboarder punk.


13. Esmé needs educating. Bring it on, folks! I’m ready to learn as soon as you start teachin’ me!

So there you have it! That was fun! Now you try it!

WFMW - "D" Crafts

Tweet

The "S" key is sticky on our computer - a soft press doesn't do anything, and if you press hard, you get multiple ssssss's. Thank goodness this isn't "S" week! We had a hard enough time as it was - I was coming down sick and Mommy wasn't feeling inspired by "D." What's Mommy gonna do when we get to "X"?


We did do SOME stuff, and here are the "D" crafts that worked for this 15-month-old this week.


Doll Prints. Mommy made some play dough, and the idea was to put doll hand and feet prints into it. Obviously I think I'm quite a doll, cuz I put my own prints in it!
Paper Dolls. We colored some dolls and Mommy cut them out for me. I practiced dressing them - putting socks on before shoes, that sort of thing. Mommy's note: We went for something simple and used templates from http://www.makingfriends.com/. They weren't very durable - we only intended them for short use, and I've taped the heads back on 4 times now.
Drinks. When we went grocery shopping, we bought six cold drinks and handed them out to people on our drive back. Mommy says it definitely doesn't alleviate world hunger, but it does put a smile on faces, and that is a special kind of art.

Doilies. I colored some foil doilies. The oil pastel crayons worked pretty well on the foil, but Mommy still keeps a careful eye on me because I like to eat them.

Doughnuts. We were going to make baked doughnuts - Mommy got the recipe and everything. But we ran out of time, and I was so sick Mommy decided they wouldn't be good for me anyway. So we made blue doughnuts out of play dough instead.

Diamonds. I made a diamond suncatcher. Mommy cut two pieces of contact paper into a diamond shape, and also cut pieces of gold ribbon into diamonds. I stuck the diamond ribbon pieces onto one of the contact papers, and when I was done she put the other contact paper onto it sticky sides together.

Stickers. This was a big sticker week for me. Here are a dragonfly bookmark and a dog card I made to give away. I gave the card to Uncle Marlon for his birthday.

And then while Mommy was busy doing something else and I was supposed to be coloring my Dragonfly page, I snuck into the scrapbooking cupboard and pulled out a bunch of alphabet stickers. I put them on my coloring page all by myself! Obviously I like stickers . . .

Dinosaurs. We made some dinosaur finger puppets - templates from http://www.enchantedlearning.com/. I put my fingers through the holes to make legs. But I didn't want to model this for Mommy to take photos, so here is a photo of some legless dinosaurs.

Dots. Mommy put some glue dots on a piece of paper and I sprinkled baby powder on it. The idea was to get white dots, but it didn't work as expected. Mommy says glitter would have worked better, but we don't have any. But sprinkling baby powder is always fun! Then I put dot-like stickers on another piece of paper.

Diapers. Ever wonder what to do with those unused disposable diapers that have missing tabs, etc.? We did diaper art! Mommy mixed some watercolor paint (food coloring would probably work better, but we didn't have any) with water, and then we used a dropper to drop the colored water onto the diaper. I needed a little help squeezing, though I did fine squeezing the dropper when it WASN'T over the diaper.

Mommy says you might want to use a color other than red. But I don't think yellow would look so hot, either. In fact, I can't think of any colors that don't have some "yuck" connotations to them when it comes to diapers. But it WAS fun!

Doll Dressup. Two "D"s with this one! When we were in the US in May, Mommy bought a bunch of scarves from Goodwill for 99 cents a piece. I like to use these to dress up myself AND my dolls.

Dog Card. We made a dog card by folding a square sheet of brown construction paper into a triangle, and then folding ears down. Mommy drew a face, and I painted yellow spots on the dog.


Dog Mask. This one wasn't such a hot craft. I barely colored it - my favorite coloring spot was the eye holes, which Mommy cut out afterwards, anyway. And I DID NOT want it on my face. So Mommy had to model it.

Daisies. I painted the inside of some muffin cups with yellow tempera paint to make daisies. Mommy's note - keep a close eye on this one. Three of the daisies were eaten before I got to them. I guess muffin cup paper is as delicious as toilet paper.

Drums. I love tapping a beat on my African drums!

So that's what worked this week. Thanks to everyone who gave ideas last week! And the "E"s are going much better - we'll show you next week!

----------------

**I know I should be giving people credit for most of these ideas, but I've picked them up all over the place so can't remember or figure out who. So if you feel you deserve the credit, let me know and I'll give it to you. Some key sites I've used:

www.everythingpreschool.com

www.softschools.com

www.first-school.ws

The Artful Parent blog

----------------
If you have a post or link related to "D" Activities for toddlers, link up here!