Rynersons In The City

Evelyn and Dilshod

2010-10-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

Here are our friends Evelyn and Dilshod. We enjoyed getting to know them and we miss them bunches!

From Evelyn and Dilshod

Double Whammy

2010-10-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

After months of trying, Elijah finally got the cat food AND the toilet paper on our last night in Brooklyn.

Statue of Liberty

2010-10-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

Where Elijah whizzed in the bushes for the very first time.

Ellis Island

2010-10-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

On our last full day in NYC we went to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

These shoes don't work

2010-09-14T23:43:00.001-07:00

Elijah can't jump at ALL. I thought Nike shoes made you jump better, or at least jump a little.

Elijah on the slide

2010-09-14T23:17:00.000-07:00

Walking Elijah

2010-09-08T05:16:00.001-07:00

Last Visit to Central Park Zoo

2010-09-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

Our Zoo membership expires this month. Perfect timing!

Elijah Taking Steps

2010-09-04T16:00:00.001-07:00

Funny Sandwich

2010-09-04T15:53:00.000-07:00

I made this sandwich for Hannah. H for Hannah, N for Noel, her middle name. She came in and saw it and said "AWESOME."

She was looking at it from the side and thought it was so cool to have an IZ sandwich.

Growing Boy

2010-09-04T15:42:00.000-07:00

Vicki Miller gave Elijah this tiny little outfit and he was so small it fit! Now look at him!

Empire State Building

2010-08-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

We went to the observation deck at the Empire State Building. There is a place across the street from the ESB where I could pivot and see 3 different Starbucks.
1:

2:

3:

Then we went in.

Then we went up!

JCP NYC

2010-08-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

We went to the JCP at Herald Square. It's wonderful. What's so wonderful about it? It's beautiful, of course, and then there are the huge bathrooms! The family bathroom is bigger than some apartments! Well done JCP.

New Saturday Night Live Character?

2010-08-12T15:48:00.001-07:00

I know one of these pics is blurry but, you can get the idea of this character better with 2 pics than one. So this guy came with his giant silk flower that he was carrying around and sat right behind me and planted the flower beside me in such a way that it leaned into me. Then he started smoking while calling his mom on his mobile phone. He tried to con her out of money with a crazy story. She apparently didn't buy it and he yelled at her and called her all kinds of names before hanging up on her. A security guard came over and made him stop smoking.

Then he REALLY got obnoxious. He heckled the performers, calling them names and mocking their looks. He sounded exactly like Harvey Fierstein with a smoker's, raspy, NYC, gay accent. He yelled at anyone who came near him and made wild accusations that they were bumping him on purpose. When he got up for some reason, the crowd cheered and clapped at his departure then grabbed his chair and the papers he was using to dibs the chair so that he couldn't return.

He decided to stand to the right of the stage which is where he was when I took this pic. I assume that he continued his antics over there because when he left there, those people clapped and cheered.

I just have to wonder if this guy is practicing for a role on SNL or something. I have never seen anything like it. And Dallas folks, I know you probably think that NYC is filled with these sort of characters, but he was the first I've come across. So don't worry too much. Hannah was really annoyed with him, but I told her he's not feeling well and we should pray for him. I just don't know what else to tell her that this age.

A Day of Adventures

2010-08-12T15:24:00.000-07:00

The kids and I rode into Manhattan with Paul this morning. We found a farmer's market next to Rockefeller Center. We bought cheese and a pumpkin whoopie from some Amish folks with lots of buttons, but no zippers whatsoever. I got a picture of the pumpkin whoopie, but not the Amish because I remember from watching The Witness that the Amish don't like it when you take their pictures. Then we bought juice and fruit from some run of the mill hippie types. So it was a very diverse food day.

Pumpkin Whoopies:

Yummy Apple Juice:

Then we went to Broadway in Bryant Park and caught some Broadway performances for free. Hannah liked the Marry Poppins performance best.

She made a friend there a couple of weeks ago and they played petanque after the performances were over.

Hannah and Lillian:

A Walk in the Park

2010-08-10T07:56:00.000-07:00

We took Elijah's walk behind toy to the playground and put the Walking Wings on him to keep him from toppling over. Hannah's the camera guy. I think she did a great job!

People at the Playground

2010-08-10T07:47:00.000-07:00

Playgrounds are important here. Most apartments are small and most don't have central air conditioning. Many families spend most of their days at the playground. A playground is not the same as a park by the way. A playground generally has a fence around it and only children and people who are supervising children are supposed to be there. Inside the fence there are swings and the regular playground things. A park is a common area that anyone can enjoy. Parks are generally bigger than playgrounds and many parks have playgrounds within them.

At the playground nearest our place, we've gotten to know a few families who are pretty much there as much as the swings and the picnic tables. They might say the same thing about us!

From left to right: Lupita, Lizabeth, Hannah, Leslie, Kevin, Juana. Leslie and Kevin are twins. Lizabeth is their big sister.

Sal and his mom Juana. Juana has 5 children, Sal, Areceli, Juana, Susana, and Lupita - all very well mannered.

Mama Juana holding Lupita. Susana is behind her in red.

Mama Janice holding Anthony who she is adopting. He's a month younger than Elijah.

Mama Janice's daughters, Janice and Geneva. Geneva is 9, Janice is 7. I told Geneva that I don't remember a time when I was taller than my sister Heather Jo (2 years younger than me). Janice and Geneva are very kind to all the kids at the playground and are sure to include anyone who wants to play tag with them.

Putting their feet in for the eeny meeny miney It selection ritual.

Splashing Around

2010-08-10T07:42:00.000-07:00

The neighborhood playground has a small spray park that Elijah just discovered. He's a fan.

United Nations

2010-08-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

We went to the UN the other day. Isn't it cool how the NY skyline is reflected in the building?

The Chrysler Building. So pretty.

Playground Games

2010-08-08T17:01:00.001-07:00

Banana Split is a playground game requiring at least 3 people, and 2 swings. 1 persons sits in each swing. The swings are twisted a couple of times, then the swing occupants lock their legs together. The 3rd person, usually a parent, swings the swings occupants and they swing until their little legs can't hold on anymore and they "Banana Split."

Elijah signs "more"

2010-08-08T16:11:00.000-07:00

Elijah's fish face kisses

2010-08-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

Elijah does this new thing where he makes a fish face.

Missing Teeth

2010-07-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

Hannah lost two teeth tonight. She is so excited! She's going to be rich with Tooth Fairy money!

Hannah the Teacher

2010-07-29T21:39:00.000-07:00

Hannah loves playing with Elijah. And he loves everything she does. She sat him on her lap and tried to teach him his letters the other day. He likes the idea of it and even tries to get the letters onto the Word Whammer.

Tourist Spotting

2010-07-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

You can google "how to spot a tourist in NYC" and read several funny observations. Most mention that tourists seem to love fanny packs, and taking pictures of everything. True enough. I was thinking about this because the other day I saw a guy walking down our street and immediately I thought, "What's a tourist doing on our street?" I wondered what made me think he was a tourist. I decided it was his starched, brightly colored, Hawaiian shirt, and the M&M World bag he was carrying. Now I am thinking about this more. . .

Grown man wearing shorts in Manhattan on a weekday and he's not delivering something, he's likely a tourist.

Family in Manhattan all walking together on a weekday - tourists.

Carrying an Apple Store bag (easy target), M&M World, FAO Schwarts, American Girl bag - tourist. Locals don't go to Manhattan to buy $12/lb M&Ms. And if they want something from American Girl, they order it on-line so they don't have to carry it across town.

Guy eating hot dog from vendor, not uncommon. Eating hot dog from vendor while spouse takes pictures - tourist.

Backpack or T-shirt has gibberish logo or writing - tourist from another country.

Get on subway and immediately start scheming to get a seat - local.

Get on subway and start gawking or taking pics - tourist about to get run over by seat schemer.

Family walking together on a weekend, all have backpacks - tourists.

People sitting next to you on subway excitedly discussing all they are going to do when they get to their stop that is 5 stops away in the opposite direction - tourists.

Wearing bright colors - tourist or recently moved here. Clothes here fade quickly, some say because of the city dirt that coats everything.

Family with a child in a stroller, may or may not be tourists. Family trying to fit stroller through turnstiles at subway entrance - tourists. Locals know to send the first member of their party through the turnstile. He opens the emergency exit door (yes the alarm sounds, but no one cares) and the stroller is pushed through to him. Then the rest of the party goes through the turnstile like normal, without raising a commotion, congesting the subway entrance, and almost dumping a baby on the subway station floor.

Feel they owe panhandler explanation, apology, or any acknowledgment at all - tourists.

Get to the counter and don't know what they want to order - tourists about to get yelled at.

Whole family wearing foam Statue of Liberty hats - tourists.

I get it now: The Wheels on the Bus

2010-07-23T13:03:00.001-07:00

Ever sing a song and not really know what you're singing about? I remember being in London and Brian Goodall said we couldn't go to some palace because the Queen was in residence. He said he knew this because her flag was flying there. A light bulb went off in my head and that song "Joy is the Flag Flown High (from the castle of my heart)" made perfect sense. Joy shows Jesus lives in me. I had sung that song for almost 30 years and had no idea what it meant.

Same for "Wheels on the Bus," but make that close to 40 years. In Texas the only bus anyone rides is a school bus. So when I would sing "the babies on the bus go wah wah wah" and "the mamas on the bus go sh sh sh" I just assumed they were all on school bus for a field trip with the babies' older siblings. But the other day when I was riding the MTA and the wipers on the bus were going swish swish swish and Elijah was going wah wah wah and I was going sh sh sh, I realized that I was in the middle of "The Wheels on the Bus" and I was not on a field trip.

Captain Underpants

2010-07-19T06:31:00.000-07:00

This is another pic he'll hate when he's 15, but it's so cute now. These are the cutest little training pants ever. I think they are probably run of the mill training pants but putting them on the cutest baby in the world makes them cute too.

Elijah has been doing very well at potty training. If anyone's interested, this is called Elimination Communication. I watch him and I can mostly tell when he needs to go and if I get him on the potty in time, he goes in there. It saves me the trouble of having to wash diapers and it keeps him cleaner. There are many benefits beside those. We're not fanatic about it. We do what we can and if we don't make it, it's no big deal. He wears plastic covers to keep from messing everything up if he has a "miss." I think he feels like a big boy when he makes it to the potty. But I could be making that up. . .

Paul adds that Elijah looks like he's playing air guitar.

King Kong ain't got nothin' on Elijah!

2010-07-19T06:21:00.000-07:00

This picture should go in the Bad Idea Archives. We got a tower fan. These things are awesome, by the way. The Goodalls have a couple and so do the Schirmers. So I picked one up as soon as we got back from TX last month. I have the thermostat on 82F and it feels cool in here. So this tower fan looks like a skyscraper and Elijah was trying to climb it. Paul thought he looked like King Kong scaling the Empire State Building. We took the pic and then told the poor kid he can't do that again.

The Accordion

2010-07-15T20:19:00.001-07:00

On the way to the park we passed a stoop sale. They had this accordion for a dollar. So I bought it. Paul was fit to be tied. He said it was the worst garage sale purchase ever. But Hannah loves it. She has seen this toy before at the toy store and she has always talked about it. My grandmother used to play an accordion. Hannah talks about that often. After I bought it, Hannah went wild and she kept saying "I'm SO HAPPY!" We went to the park and all her friends there wanted to see it. Paul had them stand under a tree off in the distance, but the sound still carried and it sounded like they were right next to us. But it's not awful. Paul will even play around with it some and we don't mind if she "practices" in the apartment - a little.

Hustlers at the Park

2010-07-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

This place is full of what I like to call "hustlers." These are people who are earning a living that they will probably NOT be paying taxes on. There are the water hustlers who walk around selling "ice cold water" out of coolers, the tamale lady, the Italian ice guy, and then there are the street performers, balloon animal makers, and face painters who work for tips. These folks go around to parks and set up shop. The balloon animal folks and face painters just show up and start doing their thing and have a little "tips" jar. Kids flock to them and parents will give a dollar to see their kids having fun. It works. Hannah likes her butterfly face, but she was so worried that she'd mess it up that she wanted me to take a picture and then wash it off. Funny kid.

The Garden

2010-07-15T19:59:00.000-07:00

Our building has a backyard. When we moved here last year, it was full of weeds that were taller than Hannah. The owner told me I could do whatever I wanted with it. I planted a couple of things, but I didn't go to too much trouble. During the winter Matt and Anne moved in upstairs. They have experience in transforming a patch of neglected earth into a garden and they were eager to get the yard into shape. Several other residents in the building said they wanted to do something too. But Matt and Ann really had the vision. We've enjoyed working out there, planting, weeding, watering, and seeing the change it's made. Matt and Anne found this great table and chairs at a stoop sale (garage sale). Hannah likes to picnic out there in the afternoons and she likes to do her writing out there sometimes.

I get it now: Ergo

2010-07-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

Ergo Baby Carriers have got to be the most popular baby carriers up here. You can't go 3 minutes without seeing one. I resisted it for so long. Carissa Brown gave me her Ergo and I was very grateful, but I was also convinced that nothing could beat my home made baby wrap. I do love my baby wrap and so does Elijah. But it's too hot to wear in the summer. So I tried the Ergo and I was hooked! Elijah is close to 20 pounds now and I wear him for hours at a time and I don't hurt or ache and he is happy as a clam in there. He sleeps when he's tired and he enjoys the ride when he's awake and we go on our adventures. Thanks again Carissa!

Union Square again

2010-07-03T22:20:00.001-07:00

I think this looks like the thing they hang your dry cleaning on at the cleaners. Hannah likes it though. This part of the playground wasn't open last time we were there.

I saw a guy selling T shirts with the BP logo and the word "boycott" on it at Union Square today. I wouldn't know how to boycott BP if I wanted to. I called Stephanie O'Dell the other day just to tell her I saw a gas station for the first time in months. I have to wonder who this guy thinks he's going to sell a shirt to. There are millions of pedestrians here and I think you might be able to argue that we're all kind of boycotting all the big oil companies, sort of.

Brooklyn Bridge Park

2010-07-03T22:10:00.000-07:00

This is a new park that runs between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. There are a couple of fun playgrounds here. I like this shot because you can see the Brooklyn Bridge, The Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building in the background.

Well drat, you have to click on the pic to see the Chrysler Building.

Union Square

2010-07-03T21:54:00.000-07:00

A new playground just opened at Union Square. This is some kind of modern looking merry-go-round. Looks like a lawsuit waiting to happen to me. But Hannah loved it.

Here's a tip for you tourists who might one day visit NYC. Union Square is where the locals go shopping at the big chain stores. There's Best Buy, Whole Foods, Babies R Us, American Eagle, 2 different Starbucks, etc. You might wonder why this is important. Why would you want to waste time in NYC at a national chain store that you could visit in your home town? It's simple. You won't go there to shop. They have great bathrooms, huge bathrooms with no lines and plenty of everything a bathroom ought to have. The problem with NYC touristy things is that you can never find a bathroom, and you end up going to Starbucks and waiting in line with 20 other people. It's funny to see 20 people in line at Starbucks in Union Square! They could just go to Best Buy and take care of business without the pressure of knowing the guy behind him is dancing in pain if they take too long. Also noteworthy is the fact that the bathroom at the Starbucks on Canal St in Chinatown has been "broken" for at least a year now. It was "broken" the first time we came up here last June and they still haven't fixed it. I'll bet the broken bathroom saves that location thousands in toilet paper a month! If you need a bathroom in Chinatown go to a national chain hotel like Marriott. They might make you buy something at the bar to get access to the facilities, but trust me, it's worth it.

The Met

2010-07-03T21:45:00.001-07:00

We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They have a huge section with Egyptian artifacts. Hannah prefers the museums that have buttons and levers for her to mess with. She kept asking when we'd get to that part of the museum. A fun memory for Elijah: He made use of the lovely bathrooms at the Met. I'd like to have a facebook application that shows all the places baby has used the potty. I would drop pins at The Boat Pond in Central Park, The Met, Laguardia Airport, DFW, Mimi's house, Govenors Island, Rockefeller Center... He'll want to remember that when he gets older, I'm sure.

Egg Rolls and Egg Cream

2010-07-03T21:33:00.000-07:00

Egg Rolls and Egg Cream was a fun little NYC thing to do.
This is a street festival that takes place where Chinatown connects to a large Jewish community.

Here the kids can make a Lion of Judah mask or a Year of the Tiger mask.

Hannah was a Lion of Judah.

And every little girl needs a custom yarmulke! Paul said he saw an old Chinese guy wearing a yarmulke that said "Alice." I so wish I had a pic of that.

Hannah in Prince Ugly

2010-07-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

Hello again blog world. My laptop was down until last week. Andrew, the family computer whiz, fixed it while we were in TX. THANKS ANDREW!!

Hannah was in a play at her homeschool co-op. She practiced projecting her voice and she did a great job!

Hannah Sings For Mother's Day

2010-05-10T13:27:00.001-07:00

Reading is Contagious

2010-05-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

Hannah likes to read like her BaBa.

Awesome cat

2010-05-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

Elijah loves the cat. And E.G.N.A.R. is so good with him.

Fun with the kids

2010-05-03T10:10:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at a slide show. There were so many fun pics of the kids at Central Park that I thought I'd try this slide show business and see if it works.

Potty by the Pond

2010-05-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

We went to Central Park Saturday. Elijah used his Potette portable potty by the radio control boat pond and I took these adorable pictures. I will keep them forever and I will be sure to get a poster made of at least one when he is about 15. That should keep him in line.

I get it now - Contempt for tourists

2010-04-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

The weather is nice again and the tourists are coming back. Last summer I still felt very much like a tourist so I wasn't on board with viewing them like we southerners view Yankees, but now, I am starting to understand. If you are coming to NYC, allow me to give you a few hints so you can be a part of the solution, not the problem.

We get it, the buildings are tall. You don't have to stop every 15 feet to take a picture of yet another tall building. You probably don't know what building you're looking at. Even if you do, you probably won't take a good enough picture to know what building it is later. Just buy a book of pictures of famous buildings in NYC and we'll all be better off. If I see you stopping on a busy sidewalk to take a picture, I will not stop or get out of the way to give you a better shot. In fact I might give your subject rabbit ears. At least it's only rabbit ears. Some folks have unexpected "birds" in their shots.

Why am I so hung up on this, you ask. The sidewalks are busy. We are pedestrians. There are lots of us. We have a sidewalk etiquette and when you stop all the time, you mess things up.

More sidewalk ettiqette:
Slow traffic keep right - this applies to sidewalks as well as roads.

Walk on the right - WALK ON THE RIGHT!! Don't be all walking on the left and act surprised when we bump into you or don't get out of your way.

These next few tips are borrowed from my friend who gives this talk to college kids who come up here for summer mission trips.

He tells his guests to observe the flow of pedestrian traffic. If you need to tie your shoe, get out of traffic, stop, tie, and rejoin the herd.

Just because you are through the subway doors, you're not done. Don't walk through the doors and stop. You'll get run over. Keep moving until you either find a seat or a place to stand.

Let people off the subway before getting on the subway.

Don't stare at people on the subway, or anywhere else for that matter.

Walk in columns, not rows. Don't come up here with your 2 best friends and then walk s-lo-w-l-y in a row down the sidewalk where no one can pass your little clump of friends. Walk 2 wide at the most. If that means you need to bring 3 friends with you so you don't have a 3rd wheel, so be it.

Be aware of your backpack. Just because you don't have nerve endings in your backpack, doesn't mean I don't have nerve endings when it hits me in the face as you turn quickly and smack me with it.

I don't mind tourists. It could be that many of the row walkers and backpack smackers are not even tourists. But if you come up here as a tourist and you remember these tips, you will be making everyone's life a little better, so yay you! Ask directions. It's ok. I don't know anyone who minds giving directions. Be in awe of the sky scrapers. They're awesome. Just don't be clogging the sidewalk to take it all in.

Another little tip I use when I have my camera with me is this. When I emerge at a subway stop I am not familiar with and I don't know what direction I'm facing, I find a street sign off in the distance and zoom in on it to see the name of the street. That way I don't have to walk all that way just to find out I want to go the opposite way.

New Shades

2010-04-23T05:11:00.000-07:00

These kids are super cool.

Growing boy

2010-04-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

Remember this?

Check him out now.

Laughing Elijah

2010-04-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

Hannah sings at church

2010-04-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

Bunny Wreath

2010-03-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

Miss Brenda sent us a bunny craft idea. Here's a pic of our bunny wreath.

Easter Box

2010-03-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

The Easter box from Mom and Grandmommy arrived last week.

Hannah and Elijah are having tons of fun rolling the eggs around and playing with their Easter loot. Thanks Mom and Grandmommy! Love you!

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

My mom and grandmother sent a box of goodies for St. Patrick's Day. It arrived the very morning of the 17th. This was also a co-op day so Hannah got to share her loot with her friends. Good times!

Hannah looks like a gangsta leprechaun.

Hannah signs "I love you" to Grandma Cheryl and Greatmother.

Why chain stores are held in contempt

2010-03-28T05:01:00.000-07:00

I'm not really sure what qualifies as a chain store. It seems to be ok to have more than one location of a family owned business. I think it's when the family incorporates their business and issues stock that they become outcasts, but I am still trying to get the details straight. At any rate, shopping at a chain store is a rookie move around here. If you do it, wear a disguise while inside the business, and quickly get your purchases into an earth friendly reusable bag so no one sees the evidence of your venture into the Dark Side. Whole Foods and Trader Joes do seem to be exceptions to this rule. So you won't need a disguise there. You can even use your earth friendly reusable bag that says "Whole Foods" all over it, pretty much anywhere without fear of retribution.

So now for an explanation, as I understand it, of why chain stores are the devil. Even though this is a BIG city with over 8 million people living here, it's actually a conglomerate of neighborhoods and tight knit communities. Families live in the same place, sometimes under the same roof, for generations and if you live here very long, you will get to the point where you can't walk to the end of the street without seeing someone you know.

So these families are also business owners. For instance, Has Beans (my coffee shop) is owned by Peggy. Jacky (the soul of Has Beans and everyone's favorite barista) is Peg's step-daughter. Jack was raised in a coffee shop and she will stop, mid conversation, with 25 other things going on, to say "what brew just went empty?" Because her ear is trained to hear when the carafes start going dry. And then, quick as a rabbit, she refills the french roast or whatever it was so we don't go without. So you see, if Starbucks were to install a store across the street from Has Beans, the locals would feel like Starbucks was attacking poor Jacky and they'd protest and put fliers up. It would be chaos. We want our coffee served to us in dark little shops with 20 year old books on the shelves, 3 outlets (for laptops), and most importantly, JACKY.

Other family shops we have a duty to patronize:
La Boulangerie Lopez - used to be "Lopez Bakery," a little shop that sold Mexican pastries, so small you could hardly even turn around in it and only one customer at a time would fit in the store. But I think that at least one of Senora Lopez's 7 kids took some business classes and expanded the place to something that might rival "Le Madeleine." It's not uncommon to go in there after the evening rush and see several of the Lopez sibs eating dinner at a couple of tables they've pushed together. They make the youngest, "Pollito (little chicken)," get up to wait on regular customers.

Enzo's: Hannah likes to go there to see the owner's 6 year old bus the table when we're through. Then she is very happy to give him a dollar. Don't worry the 6 year old bus boy gets to run around outside and play plenty. But he also likes to get a dollar here and there.

Zigo Giveaway!

2010-03-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

You know how I am always trying to win a Zigo? Well here I go again. Check out this blog for a chance to win.

Hannah and the teenagers

2010-03-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

Hannah loves teenagers. We went ice skating with some folks from co-op. Joy is kind and sweet. She really lives up to her name. I should send these pics to Sun Chips and Minutemaid because they look like commercials for either.

This is Hannah with Joy and Hannah K, another sweet teen from co-op.

Moxie Spot

2010-03-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

We went to the Moxie Spot, a great little place in Brooklyn. There are 2 floors of fun toys, games, and crafts, but the first floor often fills up with strollers. They have sing alongs and theme nights - great family fun. I was thinking that this would be a fun concept in Dallas, but I realized no one there would care. It's basically a playroom. Dallas folks don't need to go to a playroom and pay a cover charge for their kids to do crafts. They already have a playroom, if not 2, one for toys and crafts, and a media room for watching movies and playing the Wii. But it certainly is a great concept here. We went on a sing along day. It was so sweet and cute, like being on the set of Sesame Street.

See the Hannah size door. She is having a great time.

Elijah in the Bumbo

2010-03-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

My Artists

2010-03-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

Alphabetizing

2010-03-15T20:01:00.000-07:00

Hannah's favorite thing is stuffing things in bags. Why not make alphabetizing fun? She's always making lists of words she wants to write on cards and then alphabetize. Good times.

North Face

2010-03-12T08:54:00.001-08:00

When I first got here and I noticed everyone has at least one North Face product, I thought they had all been conned into paying more for some over-hyped fashion statement. Not so. Backpacks and overcoats here work overtime. They carry everything you need to have with you for the day. For students, they are a must. They must be durable and roomy enough to carry your stuff, while having enough pockets to allow easy access to that stuff and they need to be comfortable enough that you're not hating life by the time you get to your destination. I get it now. And I must say that I love my North Face backpack (thanks Carel family).

Ugly Boots

2010-03-12T08:51:00.000-08:00

I get why ladies here wear those ridiculous ugly boots. It's to keep your feet warm and dry! I was dead set against wearing those things. I don't even wear close-toed shoes in Dallas. But snow + pedestrian lifestyle = Amber wearing ugly boots.

Doormen

2010-03-03T04:17:00.000-08:00

I get why you would want a doorman. Last week our building's buzzer was broken. This was SUPER frustrating. I realized that my across the hall neighbor and I are the de-facto doormen for our building. This is because we live on the first floor and if the buzzer doesn't work, it is apparently the custom to bang on the first floor window to get let in. Some delivery folks didn't do that though and people had to chase their packages all over the city. If you are a pedestrian, there's a REASON you paid to have your stuff shipped to your apartment. It's because you don't have a way to get it home from the store or from UPS's distribution center. So I put a note on the door telling people to knock on the window. Now I notice every time FedEx, UPS, USPS, and other delivery folks dial my apartment to get buzzed in. I am the doorman and Lord help us all if I am not home.

I'm Walkin' Here!

2010-03-03T04:05:00.000-08:00

I'm walkin' here. I've heard it mimicked plenty of times, but I didn't know the origin of the phrase until someone mentioned it last weekend. I yell at drivers whose cars come to rest in crosswalks all the time. But I say "I guess I'll just walk out here in traffic with my BABY and my LITTLE GIRL! Sometimes they actually back up. Most of the time, they ignore me.

I get it now

2010-03-03T04:01:00.000-08:00

A couple times a month Paul and I see some NY thing that movies or TV shows set in NY reference and we say "I get it now." I am thinking this will be an ongoing "I get it now" list like the Stuff White People Like list.

#1. I'm walkin' here!

#2. Doormen

#3. Ugly Boots

#4. The North Face

#5. Strollers

#6. Why Chain Stores Are Held in Contempt

Sledding!

2010-02-28T03:35:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture taken at the beginning of what the locals called a "snowicane." The snowflakes were enormous! The runts were as big as quarters and the full grown flakes were as big as silver dollars.

This is the 3rd big snow this season. I was telling Paul that I am not going to sit back and listen to Yankee transplants in Texas complaining about how Texans freak out about snow. NYers freak out about snow too. To the transplants who act all uppity about how Texas can't drive on snow: NYers can't either. And NYers cancel school because of the threat of snow too. So no more going on and on about that one.

Rant over. Let's look at pics.

We got out the Ergo for this outing. I knew I'd want to sled and I didn't want to make the headlines as "Sledding Tragedy in NYC: Idiot Texan Wears Baby While Sledding" so I convinced Paul to wear Elijah. That lasted about 5 minutes. But I got this pic, which is really what I was after anyway. I did sled while Paul held the baby, but we don't have pics of that.

At every opportunity Paul pulled Hannah on the sled. Here you can see the footpath on the sidewalk. It was only wide enough to have one person at a time. If people were coming the other way, we'd stand in the snow and let them pass. Also notice how the cars are snowed in. People have to shovel their cars out if they want to use them. But most people don't because they won't drive anywhere for fear of losing their parking place.

Prospect Park under a blanket of Snow. Looks like a scene from a Little House book.

Sled parking at Enzo's, Paul's favorite Italian restaurant up here.

Paul says that was the most fun he's ever had. His favorite thing was pulling Hannah on the snow covered sidewalks. They giggled all day.

EK Worship

2010-02-25T05:51:00.000-08:00

In Dallas, Hannah would sometimes get to go onstage at Extraordinary Kids to demonstrate the motions to the songs.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-25T05:06:00.000-08:00

A couple of special packages arrived for Valentine's Day. One from my mom and one from Brenda. Hannah was overjoyed to get boxes in the mail! Mom's package had little kid Valentines in them. Hannah addressed them to her friends at church and to all the neighbors in the building whose names she knows. Then she taped a lollipop to each card for the neighbors and we went around putting them at their front doors. Hannah loves getting candy, but she loves giving candy even more. I think she could have been some kind of candy fairy if there were such a thing. I got a couple of bags M&M Valentine candies for her to give out at church and she had a great time with that too. Of course she was the most popular kid at church that morning!

Thanks to Mom and Brenda for brightening our day!

Winter Storm

2010-02-25T04:40:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of pics I took during the last big snow storm we had, right around Valentine's Day.

Best Friends

2010-02-10T22:15:00.000-08:00

Hannah loves her Elijah and he loves her back. She's always trying to get him to watch Signing Time with her. And she can't wait for him to play DSI games with her. He smiles at just about everything she does. Such fun to watch.

View from the top

2010-02-10T21:57:00.000-08:00

It's been so cold lately that we haven't gone to the park so much. In order to get some exercise, Hannah, Elijah, and I have been climbing the stairs a couple of times a day. We go all the way to the roof of the building and look out the window and talk about Manhattan. We can see the Empire State building, the Chrysler building, and the Woolworth building. From the roof we can see the boats coming and going past the Statue of Liberty. But there's a silly building blocking our view of the Statue.

I took these pictures after a slight snow.

MLK Day

2010-01-21T16:42:00.000-08:00

Paul was off on Monday for MLK Day. It was a pleasant day (40F) so we decided to go to Belvedere Castle
.

But first we went by The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir.

And then The Great Lawn.

We'll have to go back in the Spring though. Belvedere is a great place to bird watch and it's near the famous RC boat spot. But RC boats don't work so well in frozen water.

Visit to Texas

2010-01-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

We went home at the end of December/beginning of January to see family and to finalize Elijah's adoption. The Fickenshers had also added to their ranks and we met Samuel for the first time.

From left to right there's Hannah, Samuel, Mimi, and Elijah. Elijah and Samuel were due at the same time but Elijah came early. He's 5 weeks older than Samuel, but Samuel is bigger. The Fickenshers make giant offspring. Hannah is 1 year older than JJ and 2 years older than Isaac but they are both taller than her.

Then we had a proper birthday party for Hannah and JoJo.

Mom got some good snuggles in with Elijah.

Brenda spoiled us with another crazy awesome cake.

Then we had a late Christmas.

I don't have pics of the adoption hearing but you'll be pleased to know that it went well and Elijah is now an official Rynerson! Hannah was called as a last minute witness. She was terrified. She figured out we were near a jail and she thought they were going to put us or the baby in jail. When they swore her in, she was trembling in my arms. The lawyer asked if she thought Elijah should be her brother forever and she said "Yes!." Then the judge declared it final and Hannah spontaneously and enthusiastically yelled "THANK YOU!" She was so relieved.

We were supposed to return to NY the next day but in the middle of the night the hospital called to say that a liver had become available for Brianna. We canceled our flight so we could stay until she was stable. The surgery lasted for several hours but went well over all. She should be home tomorrow.

Christmas

2009-12-29T05:30:00.000-08:00

text later

Christmas Eve

2009-12-29T05:08:00.000-08:00

For Christmas Eve we had planned to go into Manhattan and ride a carriage but we stopped at Rockefeller Plaza first.

Hannah took this pic.

The tree and the main entrance to 30 Rock is behind them.

The Empire State Building had red and green lights. Also in the background is the entrance to Macy's.

So while we were at 30 Rock, there was a guy promoting a Cirque du Soleil afternoon show. We got tickets for all three of us for less than the regular price of 1 ticket. It was Wintuk shown at Madison Square Garden. What a great memory. We went home tired and happy with our first NYC Christmas Eve.

Our First NYC Snow

2009-12-24T22:22:00.000-08:00

Hannah was eager to play in the snow. We got about a foot of very fluffy, very hard to walk in snow. Friends advised us not to try to walk the 11 blocks to Prospect Park and the really cool sled hills because no one had shoveled their sidewalks yet and it would wear us down to try to get anywhere. So we went to the park near us with a little friend and put snow on the slide and the girls "sledded" down the slide. They made a little snowman, but the snow was so dry that it was hard to make it hold together. Soon we were all very cold and we went home for hot chocolate.

Q & A

2009-12-18T06:43:00.000-08:00

Gretchen asked:
Edward and Gretchen has left a new comment on your post "Baby it's cold outside":

He is so stinkin cute!!! How is he doing? How much does he weigh? What is he like? Sleeping? Are his eyes brown, I can't tell? Is Paul a baby hog or does he share? We need the life of Elijah update.

Amber responds:
Elijah is doing great! He weighed in at 9.5 pounds the other day. He is still taking donated breast milk and loving it. Heather Jo just picked up some milk from a friend in Dallas for when we visit in a couple of weeks. That way I don't have to deal with TSA trying to make me drink it or something like that when we go through airport security.

He's a very happy baby. He is smiling lots. He has found his hands, but he hits himself in the head often. I guess that's normal. He laughs at Hannah and he likes to have his toes and ears tickled. Paul loves to see him smile. Elijah's eyes are still blue. I've heard that sometimes babies' eyes can change colors after a few months, but his are stuck on blue. And he sleeps about 4-5 hours at night and takes a few naps during the day. He likes to be in the baby wrap and he passes out right away in there.

I am sure that all moms think their baby is the cutest in the world, but I just happen to be right.

Christmas Tree

2009-12-15T21:08:00.000-08:00

This tree fits nicely in our apartment.

What Hannah bought

2009-12-11T19:28:00.000-08:00

Hannah used her birthday money from Grandma Cheryl, Greatmother, and Anthony to get this fun DS game. She's really enjoying it.

Baby it's cold outside

2009-12-11T19:16:00.000-08:00

Elijah's coat. He's smiling lots now.

Teaching Hannah - educational gadgets, videos, websites, games, and MP3s

2009-12-10T11:55:00.000-08:00

I want to start with a disclaimer to say that I am not getting any royalties, commission, or any other type of compensation from anything I am about to list.

I try to only have toys that reinforce learning concepts we're working on. Same for DVDs, Kids' TV shows, and websites Hannah surfs. I want her to be surrounded with opportunities to learn.

Gadgets:
So my favorite gadget to date has been Leap Frog's Leapster. Heather Jo loaned us one for a car trip and WOW did it make the trip more pleasant. I bought a couple for the house and all the kids had a grand old time. I also found a couple of various types of LeapFrog Twist and Shout toys at the thrift store. Those are pretty awesome too. We also like LeapFrog's Bank. But that one has been discontinued. I think maybe the person at Fox who canceled Arrested Development and Worst Week went to work at LeapFrog and pulled the plug on my beloved bank. But that's a different story...

I mentioned some other great LeapFrog products in my reading post.

Our latest gadget acquisition is a Nintendo DSI. I have only gotten educational games for her like My Chinese Coach, Animal Genius, and My Personal Trainer: Math. There are tons of educational games available for the DSI. Sometimes I play the language games when Hannah's asleep and I'm feeding the baby.

Videos and TV:

We like to watch Mei Mei and Me videos to learn Chinese. Signing Time was on PBS for a season and we still have several episodes on the Tivo. Little Einsteins is actually pleasant because of the classical music and art. Sid the Science Kid is a great little show. And don't post comments about how Sid's the devil because of the Sid gets a shot episode. All the other episodes have been great. Zoboomafoo is a good one to have in the rotation too. And I already mentioned Curious George. We don't watch all of this every day. But if Hannah watches something during the day, its one of these shows.

Links:

Hannah has her own gmail account so that I can sign her into the google toolbar. All her incoming emails are forwarded to my account. She has only her favorites available on the toolbar. She calls it the "Hannah Star" and she doesn't even know that you can type in a web address. Lately she's really enjoyed this Signing Time youtube playlist. One day I will figure out how to make my own youtube playlist, but this will do until then. Don't freak out. Hannah's not allowed on the computer unless we're in the room with her. She often surfs at the kitchen table while I'm cooking. She still enjoys Starfall. That site has good stuff for many age groups. Here's a fun typing website.

Games:

Shut the box is a fun game the Goodalls introduced us to. Hannah loves Blokus and Blokus 3D. Cranium Triple Triumph is another good one as well as Sequence States and Capitals.

CDs and MP3s:

Ellen, did you notice I didn't make CDs and MP3s possessive? That was just for you.

Hannah can memorize almost anything she listens to a couple of times. I try to take full advantage of that and find educational CDs and MP3s for her to listen to. In Dallas, it made a bigger difference than here though because we had the van and she was a captive audience in there. Here, I often have various MP3s going, but they seem to be more backgroundish to her and she isn't activley listening like she was in the van. Geography Songs is catchy and fun. Here's a fun addition MP3. Seeds has yet to come out with a song that I don't like. This is very well done music, mostly scriptures. And it really sticks with you. I find myself singing these verses and being encouraged throughout the day. I have classical music playing in the background while Hannah's doing her schoolwork though.

If anyone out there has more suggestions for cool educational gadgets, videos, websites, games, and MP3s, please share!

Teaching Hannah - motivation

2009-12-10T05:16:00.000-08:00

If left to herself Hannah would spend the day watching Curious George while she folds foil into interesting shapes or sorts things and stuffs them into bags. I have no idea why she likes George. She doesn't want to play with Curious George toys. She just wants to watch him on TV. As far as cartoons go, it's ok. The background music is jazzy and soothing, not all hyper and irritating. He's not disrespectful and he can't talk, so he doesn't lie like other cartoon characters that have been banished from the Tivo list. But watching George won't prep her for those CLEP tests that are a big part of the grand plan. So we have to find a way to get her motivated.

She is a very smart kid. But she can be quite stubborn. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we pray each night that the kids will enjoy learning. If I go head to head with her and make each lesson a battle, no one enjoys anything and she ends up dreading her lessons. I have also learned that Hannah will work FOR a goal much more easily than she will work to avoid a consequence. I remember when she was potty training. She'd ask for something and I'd tell her that she could have it as soon as she went potty. And it worked.

I use this same technique with school. She gets little rewards for completing lessons and a big reward for completing the day's work. These rewards are often things only Hannah cares about, like checking the mail. She loves to check the mail and she can hear it when Miss Julia comes in the front door and opens up the community mail box. Hannah goes nuts and runs for the keys. So now, Hannah can only check the mail if she's completed all her school work for the day. Some folks might accuse me of bribing. I call it teaching her delayed gratification. Plus, I don't care what you call it, if she'll do her work and enjoy it along the way, I'm all for it.

Hannah also loves getting a bagel from Has Beans in the morning. This has nothing to do with the bagel. What she wants is to go to Has Beans and greet her fans. Her math work was getting to be a source of contention for her plus she was getting into trouble first thing in the morning each day because she would wake up demanding to know the plan for the day. She doesn't care about my plan. She wants to argue with me and try to convince me that we should go to Has Beans, Target, the park, and come home to watch Curious George. So now the plan is this. Wake up, groom herself, dress, and get right to work on math. If she can complete her math WITHOUT COMPLAINING before it's time to walk to the corner with Paul, she can have a bagel. This will hopefully eliminate two of her biggest bad attitude temptations, the temptation to fuss about the day's plan, and the temptation to fuss about doing homework.

So the first day we tried this was Tuesday. She complained throughout her assignment except for the last 5 problems. When she asked if she could have a bagel, I threw Paul under the bus by telling her to ask her Baba what he thinks. When he told her she didn't make the cut that day, she was devastated. What a HARD daddy moment. But he pulled it off beautifully. When she wasn't around he said I had turned him into a sitcom dad who is melted by a sad little girl's tearful "please." Yesterday she sailed through her math. Today she did well too so I hope this keeps working.

There are days like today that Hannah zooms through her work with very little complaining or distractions. Sure, there were times during reading (I have her read to me while I am feeding the baby) that I'd look away and look back to find she had put a shoe on her head or she was almost completely upside-down and she required some readjusting, but for the most part, she hunkered down and did her work.

But there are other days when she is quite distracted. We break things into smaller chunks on those days and give little rewards for each task completed. Like she will get to watch a little bit of C. George or play with a new piece of foil or something. And I constantly remind her of a big reward that will await the completed school day - like mail time or something else she's wild about.

One more trick I've learned is to offer her choices. I select twice as much work as I intend for her to do and I give her choices for each lesson. Somehow, this helps her embrace the lesson a little better. She is given choices about each part of the process from what color marker she will use to which math sheet she will do. She can't make a wrong choice. Each choice leads to the same end result, but it she seems to feel a little more included in the plan and she gets a kick out of it. Sometimes she tries to talk me into a completely off the wall choice, like C. George or something, but I remind her that's a reward, not a choice and she eventually makes a choice that leads to progress.

Even though she often has other plans for the day, she's proud of her learning. She loves it that she can read most anything now and she feels so grown up. It is so rewarding to me to get to watch her learn and grow. I posted a comment on a friend's fb wall the other day that teaching Hannah has been the best DIY project I've ever undertaken!

Teaching Hannah - Math

2009-12-10T04:56:00.000-08:00

Hannah completed the Math U See Primer last year. This helped her learn to use the manipulatives. These manipulatives teach her to see how the addends work together to form the sum so well. We aren't doing any store bought math curriculum right now. We are focusing on memorizing her math facts. She does a worksheet with 130 problems on it each morning. She has her manipulatives handy and she knows just what to do. She does the exact same worksheet every day. It's in a page protector and she uses her trusty dry erase marker. She is required to correct any mistakes and she gets a little reward if she does her work with a good attitude. Once she masters the problems on that sheet and can do them all by heart, I will make her a new worksheet to conquer.

I will address how I motivate her in a different post. But she does require MOTIVATION, unlike JoJo who probably snuck a workbook, pencil, and flashlight to bed with her last night.

In addition to the worksheet, I always have flash cards with me and we often do them on the subway. We also play math games. I will tell you about that in a later post about educational gadgets, games, and websites.

This kid stole MY plan!

2009-12-08T22:56:00.000-08:00

My plan at work. This sums up my plan - I mean right down to the degree from Thomas Edison State College! This is my lofty plan for the kids' schooling, undergrad anyway. I like to say that if you're going to study something, you might as well study it to the point you can pass a CLEP and get credit for it. And Paul says that even if the school they end up at doesn't accept CLEP tests, the kids will have the confidence that comes in knowing they can pass a college level test. She's a little early in her execution of the plan though. I wasn't planning on the kids taking their first CLEP until age 10. I am glad to have this kid paving the way. I will probably still sound like a weirdo when describing my plan to Joe*, the 50 something year old perennial college student at the coffee shop. But now I know that I am not alone and I can tell Joe* all about it when he tries to proselytize me with stories about how great PS 321 was when his kid went 12 years ago.

* Name has been changed to somewhat obscure his identity although anyone whose ever had coffee at Has Beans more than twice knows exactly who I am talking about. So I don't know why I bothered.

Teaching Hannah - Reading

2009-12-04T23:34:00.001-08:00

Hannah's reading has really taken off in the last couple of months. But this did not happen overnight. It has been a process that has been years in the making. When we first got home from China, Hannah and I would sit at the computer and play at Starfall.com. Vicki Miller introduced me to this site years ago and we have really enjoyed it. Hannah learned to click on the letters herself and she was delighted. She learned to sign "apple" for "A" from this site and she would pull on my hand and sign "apple" and point to to computer to try to convince me that it was computer time. We also had Leap Frog's Fridge Words
on the fridge which Hannah and all the cousins made good use of. Then a neighbor changed our lives and gave us a Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD. The older cousins knew all their letters and sounds and this reinforced them while the younger cousins learned all their letters and sounds very quickly. We bought the follow up DVDs Word Factory and Code Word Caper and everyone learned basic reading in a flash!

Hannah still wasn't convinced that reading was the best use of her time though. There were cousins to be played with and backpacks to fill with random toys and carry around, dominoes to sort etc. Each day for school we had to use the same technique for reading as for writing - her in my lap, my legs on hers, my hands on her hands. And we had to be somewhat isolated to keep distractions at bay. It was still a struggle to get her to look at the words but I would make the first sound and she'd look because she was curious and we'd work though it even though she would say "I want to be done." A couple times per page. For new books, I would read them with her the first time and she'd read them by herself the second time. By books, I mean level 1 Bob books to start out with. Now she can read pretty much anything if she focuses. After she finished reading, she got a couple of MMs. Me too. Yum!

In Dallas we had only 1 car and we'd take Paul to and from work. We'd do flash cards and reading while we waited for him to come down to the car. We also did flash cards with the cousins and made all sorts of games out of that. This is tricky with her. JJ is fast and focused and he can read anything. Paul says "How do you know JJ's been to your house? There's peanut butter all over your Wall Street Journal." And JoJo was also a very early reader. So there was lots of competition. If Hannah managed to focus and win a card she'd celebrate and look around to see who all noticed her victory. By the time she looked back the other 2 cousins had won several cards and she would despair. But this was a good opportunity to train her to be gracious and we worked through it little by little.

Now she wants to read. She uses a combination of sounding things out and memorizing those weird words like head, laugh, neighbor, etc. She loves the story of Esther and she looks for it in her Bible story books. She reads it over and over. She is learning the 10 commandments for Bible class and she can read pretty much any word in the Exodus 20 NIV 10 commandments. She is very excited about all this. She still gets a little lazy sometimes and just wants to guess at words but, if she concentrates, she can read anything that has a regular phonetic pronunciation. We are quite proud of her progress!

Hannah's 7th Birthday

2009-12-04T21:27:00.000-08:00

Hannah turned seven this past Wednesday. She's been looking forward to this for weeks. My sister's daughter JoJo looks forward to turning seven too. She's presently 5. But JoJo plans her birthday parties in advance. Every time I talk to that girl she's planning her birthday. And every time I see her she's making a list of who to invite or what the theme should be. Hannah's never really cared about her birthday like that. On her birthday last year we asked her where she'd like to go for her birthday and she said "Schlotzsky's." We called a a few relatives and 18 people showed up at Schlotzsky's.

This year is different as we aren't so close to relatives. Her birthday fell on a Wednesday which was AWESOME as far as she's concerned because Wednesday is co-op day. Co-op is 5 miles from our apartment. But using the MTA it takes an hour to get there. We ride 2 trains and walk for 11 blocks unless we're lucky enough to catch the bus as we exit the subway station. Cake and cupcakes were out of the question as they wouldn't survive the trip. So we made little candy grab bags for everyone at co-op. We made them 2 weeks ago because she was so excited about it. They sang "Happy Birthday" to her in her drama class and she giddily passed out candy to everyone she saw. She told everyone on the subway that it was her birthday and she finished the day off at her favorite restaurant, No Strollers (Toby's), where Miss Chris gave her a special table near the kitchen and her own ice cream.

Here Hannah is showing off the card her buddy Anthony in Corsicana sent to her along with 5 dollars. The card is a noisy card that says "Happy Birthday." She LOVES it.

Hannah made herself a gift bag. She loves aluminum foil. She also loves tape. She taped bits of foil to the bag and colored the patches with markers. Looks great to me.

I wrapped her gifts in foil. That was like having bonus gifts as far as she's concerned. Pastor Matthew at Trinity Church Dallas sent up a DVD of video taken during this year's VBS. And she got a new game for her DS.

The next day Hannah got a package from Miss Brenda. It had 2 crazy awesome outfits.

Then today we got a couple more cards. The one from Grandma Cheryl had money!!! $7 from her and $7 from Greatmother. We didn't get a picture of that $ yet, but I wanted to get these pics up since I'm being harassed by Stephanie Mac. We will be in Dallas at the end of the month/beginning of next month and Hannah and JoJo will share a proper birthday party with cake and relatives and friends and such. I don't know the details - I'm leaving them in JoJo's capable hands.

Hannah signs "Thank you" for all the gifts.

Teaching Hannah - writing

2009-12-02T03:14:00.001-08:00

For a few days I've been thinking of a post about how I homeschool Hannah. This has very little to do with where we live, but its on my mind so I will write some things down for you. It could be that you have a little student with a learning style similar to Hannah's and you find a trick that will help you, or that you've discovered a trick I haven't and you tell me and I write a new post next week about how your trick has revolutionized our lives. I will break this up into separate posts about different aspects of the process so you don't get bored.

Hannah is a very active child. I used to say that she was like the very active and independent Gerald character in Sid the Science Kid. Now I am thinking that comparing Hannah to the Matrix's Neo would be more accurate - she's just so fast and I am not. She is easily distracted and when I am tempted to get frustrated I try to keep in mind that there are probably some underlying developmental and sensory issues left over from her 2 years of living in an orphanage.

One thing that has has developed on a different pace than many kids we know is the desire to color or write. I remember how Autumn (one of the cousins who lived with us for 3.5 years) used to write anything just to write. She'd copy the ingredients from the cereal box just to have something to write - seriously! And Joshua (Autumn's brother) and his ambidextrous self decided to write one day and then he was writing with both hands. There were times that all of the cousins would be at the table coloring and copying cereal ingredients, you know fun stuff, and Hannah would be way more interested in moving the crayons from bag to bag than coloring.

One thing that helped her along was getting those coloring pages with the raised felt and markers that helps kids stay in the lines, you know, they are in the dollar section at Target all the time. She likes the dollar section and she'd always at least put a little color on the pages before she turned her attention to chewing the markers.

This leads me to another residual effect of having lived in an institution for 2 years. Hannah is constantly chewing things. I have put all kinds of bitter things on her favorite chew victims, but this leads to her finding chew things that are even more inappropriate and to Paul getting a big dose of bitter when he goes to gnaw on his pens that have gotten mixed up with Hannah's. So I try to have things that she can chew on that are less likely to kill her than the random things I fish out of her mouth. Little plastic eating utensils or straws work well.

Because of the chewing issue, pencils don't last long here. What seems to work well for Hannah is dry erase markers. There are several reasons for this. First, Hannah just likes dry erase better. She thinks it's fun.

Let me take a break from the details here and talk about making things fun. We actually pray each night that the kids will enjoy learning. I'm not going to hire a math clown or anything, but if dry erase markers go over better, I will use them. If she gets a kick out of funny colors of ink or paper, I will use them.

Back to dry erase markers. So it has taken Hannah a long time to want to write. This time last year I remember that everything she wrote was actually traced. I would write out her memory verse on a handwriting tablet and she'd trace it. She would sit in my lap, with my legs over hers, and my left hand on hers and my right hand on her forearm and she'd write. I also tried putting ankle weights on her lap and her legs. This is because she squirms so much that I honestly think she had no idea that her foot was behind her ear and it's just really hard to get your writing done with your foot up there. I had to teach her how to sit and give her body the sensory cues to settle down. Lots of work, but it paid off. Now I write her memory verse for the week on a piece of tablet paper and put it in a page protector sleeve and she traces it with a dry erase marker and she likes it. There are days when she squirms and I put her in my lap, but those days are the exception now, not the rule.

Another advantage to the dry erase markers is that corrections are easy if you make a mistake. Hannah HATES making mistakes. She gets really upset and frustrated. With a pen, the evidence of the mistake lingers and she looks back at it and scolds herself. Pencils are just out of the question since the erasers were ingested long ago. So dry erase markers are perfect! If she makes a mistake, she wipes it away with her thumb and moves on with her life. No big deal!

All this has been discovered by trial and error. It has helped that we like to cruise Target for fun and we look for things that might spice up school time and are cheap. But it seems to have paid off. The other day she wrote something on her own, just because she wanted to. What a day! Now she is trying to spell things all the time and she is more adventurous in her writing. She is starting to color more too. She's so proud of herself and I am proud of her too.

Black Friday

2009-11-29T04:54:00.000-08:00

We went to Herald Square to look in the store windows. It was CROWDED! Andrew, there's a pic of the Hearald Square JCP just for you. Everything was beautiful.

I had a couple of Chevy Chase moments. I sat in a bistro chair in the pedestrian area. It was broken. I became entangled in the chair. There I was trying to regain my balance, wearing a baby, shaking a chair off myself. Then I moved to another chair. I leaned on the little table and became entangled in it while accosting a nearby 8 year in another effort to regain my balance. Paul was very entertained.

Pic tutorial anyone?

2009-11-27T21:51:00.000-08:00

Feel free to send me a link to school me on this. I am tired of getting the right side of my pics cropped.

Thanksgiving Eve in NYC

2009-11-27T21:28:00.000-08:00

So we had an interesting day Wednesday. Hannah, Elijah, and I went all the way up to the Bronx, to the Pelham stop, to pick up a milk donation. Then we headed to meet Paul in Manhattan to see the parade balloons being inflated. It was super crowded and we were herded through the streets by traffic cops. We had a great time. Hannah's favorite part was riding on Paul's shoulders.

Funny faces of Elijah

2009-11-16T03:48:00.001-08:00

Well blogger cropped these pictures strangely. You can see his whole face if you click on each picture, but grandparents are probably the only ones who want to go to that much trouble. I'll figure this out eventually.

Hannah learns about sewing.

2009-11-16T03:30:00.000-08:00

I bought Hannah a warm coat at The Big Fat Greek Flea Market. Ok, it wasn't really called that. A private school run by the Greek church had a flea market complete with food vendors selling fried octopus and all sorts of goat cheeses and other exciting Greek things. But this coat is navy blue and not very feminine, kind of ugly. I lopped some pompoms off an old scarf and sewed them on the hat and everyone was very satisfied with the new look. Hannah was mystified at the idea that I sewed though. She has been begging to learn ever since.

So the other day I showed her just a little about sewing. I know very little. But I can get fabric to stick to other fabric using thread and a needle and that's enough to get the job done most of the time.

I remember when I was very little and Mom showed me how to sew. She taught be some basics and we practiced on some scraps. Then we took a nap. I was too excited to sleep and I snuck back over to the sewing basket and started creating. I got out this doll dress and adorned it with buttons, zigzags, and a Muppet nose. I thought it was gorgeous! Mom kept that thing forever. I wonder where it is now.

Reading sister

2009-11-12T04:05:00.000-08:00

Hannah managed to read a book while holding Elijah. She was so proud. She is really starting to love reading. She is starting to see the value in writing too! She is ready to communicate her thoughts and ideas. Progress is fun.

Trick or Treat

2009-11-02T04:14:00.000-08:00

Here Hannah is decorating her treat collection bag. She loves to glue stuff to other stuff. Because we trick-or-treated so early in the day and for such a short period of time Hannah only got a modest amount of candy. She doesn't care at all. She only wants to give the candy away to other kids at church or on the subway. She is so generous and I am a proud Mama.

This is a terrible backdrop. That's because you can't see the Statue of Liberty in the background. I was really hoping she'd show up. That was so cool to be walking around trick-or-treating and look over and see the Statue of Liberty.

Hannah is very silly.

Hannah is dressed as a wingless Tinkerbell. She was allowed to bring one costume up from Dallas and she chose this dress. We forgot to bring her wings. We went to Target to try to find some. They probably had some but the herd never moved them from the stockroom to the shelves. Old Navy and Marshalls were also out of wings. Old Navy must've been having an "everything's a quarter" sale. There were about 75 people in line. And being # 75 in their line isn't like being #75 in Whole Foods' line. I am starting to think Old Navy is run by the government - their lines move so slowly. It was probably a 2 hour commitment for those people at the back of the line. So surely there was a sale or a radio contest or something. Anyway, Hannah is a wingless (modest) Tinkerbell and Elijah is a dalmatian puppy. Paul is a skinny white guy.

More Zigo

2009-11-02T03:58:00.000-08:00

I am promoting Zigo again!

Go to the Zigo website and watch the videos. This thing is so cool. If MacGyver built a bike, this would be it. If Swiss Army Knife built a bike, this would be it. No, I am not making any money from this. I am trying to win a Zigo though. Just go look at the thing and admire the engineering! Hannah likes to go to the website and watch the videos. She knows I entered the essay contest and she asks all the time if I have won "the Zigo bike" yet and if I will go on stage when I win. Zigo said a bike shop near us has one in the store and we went over to try it on. Elijah has some growing to do before he can ride in it, but he likes hanging out with his big sister in there. I think he'll be just the right size to go for a ride when they announce the winner in January. Can you imagine him wearing a tiny little bike helmet?

Chubby Cheeks

2009-11-02T03:53:00.000-08:00

Just look at this growing boy!

Halloween Musings

2009-11-01T05:57:00.000-08:00

I will post pics of Hannah and Elijah later. I have to get them from the camera to the computer. But I thought I'd tell you a little about our day for now. Trick-or-treating is done mostly at businesses, not apartments, in this area. That was fun. We went to a dinner at the home school co-op - no costumes there. Hannah had so much fun playing board games and visiting with her friends.

On the subway ride home we saw lots of folks dressed up. There were a few kids, but tons of grown ups dressed in all kinds of costumes. There was a couple dressed as a box of Wheaties and a carton of milk, a guy with a bandage on his ear who really did look like Van Gogh. Then there were several variations of one costume - hoochie. There was a clown hoochie, a Bat Girl hoochie, vampire hoochie, circus ringmaster hoochie, Little Bo Peep hoochie, Wonder Woman hoochie, bikini wearing angel hoochie, genie hoochie, etc. It seemed like it must have been quite a challenge to use such a small amount of fabric and still get the "Bat Girl" etc theme across. Very creative, if nothing else.

Replay

2009-10-27T03:37:00.000-07:00

Hannah walked right into the door the other day. She was so mad, and embarrassed, and just a little bit hurt. She cried. I grabbed the camera and told her to do it again so we could show Baba. So this is Hannah replaying her mishap. She cheered right up.

Parkour!

2009-10-27T03:20:00.000-07:00

Parkour was recently featured as a silly subplot on The Office. I wonder when we can start Hannah in Parkour lessons.

You may be asking why this pic is included in a Parkour post. Look closely at Hannah's right hand and you will see how it's scratched up. This comes from her sliding down the subway stairs' handrails, holding onto Paul's hand with one hand and the rail with the other. Sometimes she makes contact with the wall and scratches herself. I call it "germification power." I think it's so gross and I can't wait to giver her a wet wipe bath. But she and Paul think it's a riot.

Milkshare

2009-10-26T05:25:00.000-07:00

I wanted to give a quick promo to Milkshare. The generous mothers in the Milkshare yahoo group have been feeding Elijah through donating their milk to him. I am so grateful. The concept is simple, if you have extra milk, you post, and if you need extra milk, you post, like freecycle, but for milk. I posted when Elijah was born and Heather Dy picked up 100oz for him in Mesquite. I posted when we arrived in Brooklyn and 2 ladies who live 5 blocks from us have been sharing their surplus ever since. There have been a couple of other donors too. It's interesting to see how Elijah's been fed milk from around the world. He's had milk from a Chilean lady, a Russian Jewish lady, a Mexican lady, a Hungarian lady, and a couple of white folks too. If you or anyone you know has or needs milk, this is a wonderful resource.

Some pictures.

2009-10-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

Hannah does love her brother, even if she does sometimes ask if we are his owners. I explain that he is family, not a pet. But he is the size of the cat, though much less mobile. So I can see where she'd be confused.

Target

2009-10-19T23:13:00.000-07:00

I wanted to tell you about the Target at Atlantic Center. I looked for some websites to link. There's one that gives a great picture of life at the AC Target, but it's got a big giant Brooklyn word in the name of the website. I just can't link to it. But everything they say about it is true.

So this Target is like nothing I've ever seen before. It has two levels and a special escalator for the carts.

But the escalator doesn't take the stroller up. So we take the biggest elevator I've ever seen.

So here's the deal with the Target. The employees seem like they are more interested in socializing than working. You hardly ever see just one Target worker bee. They run in packs and they gossip about whoever's missing from the herd. There was one guy who wanted to talk loudly to whoever would listen about "nationality" and how it's no good for these parents to try to make their kids keep their old country's culture. They're in America now. They are going to act American. He doesn't act Dominican. He's an American. I am just at a loss as to why he thinks I came to Target to discuss this with him. I just want to find a light bulb. Can he help me? I see why the herd employees are hiding from him.

And they swear at each other and talk about how they told the manager what he could do ... I saw this one lady carrying on about the new registers and how she banged her elbow on them and she wanted the old registers back. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? You think they are going to go find the old registers and bring them back for you? What's easier to replace? A bank of cash registers or an employee who apparently has no peripheral vision. Later, I saw her running around with a bandage and they let her push the carts around.

But I love Target. I don't care that it's messy and I have to stand in line at the registers. It's still Target! If I need something, I look there first. And I've been there enough that I know how to avoid the employees who have left the herd and I know which herd of employees is most likely to be helpful if I need assistance. It's still better than hunting through multiple hardware stores for something. And most of the time, I can maneuver the stroller through all the aisles, which is more than I can say for any hardware store I've ever been in.