Well, we are back from sunny Arizona! Not liking the rain much, but feeling a bit better that we got to enjoy some bursts of sunshine. We had a relaxing yet eventful time while there. We took T to the desert to look for "magic rocks." Lets just put it this way...they are plain rocks but in Tristan's world very special. We visited Rawhide Western Town, went mountain biking on the Desert Classic Trail, swam, fed ducks, hunted gecko's, visited museums and much more. Marley and Tristan both had some difficulty adjusting to the heat. I am not sure T has ever taken so many naps, nor asked to actually go play in the house.
We drove there and were amazed how well Tristan did for 2 days in the car. We did keep a close count on his 97 statements of "I get to go to Arizona too?" It was a great opportunity for him to start to appreciate the desert, climate, creatures and culture. One that my husband and I embrace and hope one day he will too. It occurred to me how much my son is developing his vocabulary, sentence structure and Independence. Here are a few words of wisdom from my 3 year old, hope you enjoy....
1) "I don't touch cactus, they will poke me and I'll have to go get shots!"
2) "Watch where you are going, don't run over my happy coup!"
3) "Momma, slow down, you'll get a ticket and have to go to jail."
4) I woke up one morning and told Tristan to run down stairs, his response, " No mom, I want to walk, not run, I will fall down and hurt myself. You should only walk down stairs."
5) "Excuse me ma'm...move!" (Basically, I tried being nice and YOU failed to respond, now move)
6) " Geckos don't bite, they give kisses, you should give him kisses too Momma." (We didn't want to scare him by telling him they bite so when they bite us we said they were kissing us)
7) "Its hot, I want to go home and play with the dog." (This coming from a kid who hates being in the house, I guess when it's 100 degrees outside things change.)
8) "BOO BOO BOO, you can't get me in the pool"- Tristan's way of teasing us while he was in the pool.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Recognizing the Simple Things in Life
I can't believe I would do this, but I am going to divulge my age on-line. Yes, I am 32! The reason I bring this up is to point out a few simple things I have realized through my 32 SHORT years.
As we all hear stories of what our parents and grandparents went through, how they were raised as opposed to how we were raised and always being taught to enjoy the simple things in life, things have quickly sped up. This day in age, life seems to blow by most people. Next thing they know, their children are married and out of the house,and they are cooping with being empty nestor's.
I wanted to share a quick wake up call for me. Events, very small, that made me sit back and think, wow, I am failing to enjoy the simplicity life has to offer at times. When I was 23, and living in Arizona my roommate asked me to go for ice cream around 9 at night. I remember thinking "that's weird, it's late, a week night and....ice cream?" Feeling a bit obligated to go, her and I met a friend at Cold Stone who just coming from her med school clinical in Glendale. I choose my flavors, toppings, and we found a spot in the crowded shop to sit. As I sat there while the two of them talked I thought about how odd I felt going for ice cream. I hadn't done that since I was a kid. In fact, I truly only thought kids did that.
After 2 hours of indulging in ice cream, girl talk that should have been left at the hospital doors, and enjoying a warm evening in the Arizona climate we made our way home. All I could think about was how strange it felt to enjoy something so simple as ice cream. How strange it felt to take a few hours to enjoy something I loved so much as a kid. I asked myself, "Why haven't I done this before?" Maybe because in in Washington the weather was never nice or maybe just because my life was such a hurry all the time, I drove past the most simple pleasures.
This morning, I awoke and my head was spinning, eagerly trying to figure out what to do with my day. I knew I had to go get coffee at the store. As my son and I walked to the car he said "Momma can we go see big tall buildings?" He has a love for Portland, being wedged between the tall buildings, cars zooming by and people all around. As I began to tell him no, I though to myself, what else do I possible have to do today. So I said "yes." Off we went......
Once in Portland, we made our way to the World Trade Center, had lunch at Anne's Cafe and rode the escalator 7 times. It was the most simple morning to me and the greatest morning for him. I realized he has an appreciation for simple things like the height of a building, a car passing by, a guide dog on the street and escalators. I want him to always enjoy the simple things, so today was a good day, for he reminded me of a valuable lesson that at times I forget.
On the way out of the parking garage we had to circle downward from the 7th floor. As I drove down Tristan said "Momma, we keep going in circles, did they close the door and we can't get out?" Oh, the simplest minds.
As we all hear stories of what our parents and grandparents went through, how they were raised as opposed to how we were raised and always being taught to enjoy the simple things in life, things have quickly sped up. This day in age, life seems to blow by most people. Next thing they know, their children are married and out of the house,and they are cooping with being empty nestor's.
I wanted to share a quick wake up call for me. Events, very small, that made me sit back and think, wow, I am failing to enjoy the simplicity life has to offer at times. When I was 23, and living in Arizona my roommate asked me to go for ice cream around 9 at night. I remember thinking "that's weird, it's late, a week night and....ice cream?" Feeling a bit obligated to go, her and I met a friend at Cold Stone who just coming from her med school clinical in Glendale. I choose my flavors, toppings, and we found a spot in the crowded shop to sit. As I sat there while the two of them talked I thought about how odd I felt going for ice cream. I hadn't done that since I was a kid. In fact, I truly only thought kids did that.
After 2 hours of indulging in ice cream, girl talk that should have been left at the hospital doors, and enjoying a warm evening in the Arizona climate we made our way home. All I could think about was how strange it felt to enjoy something so simple as ice cream. How strange it felt to take a few hours to enjoy something I loved so much as a kid. I asked myself, "Why haven't I done this before?" Maybe because in in Washington the weather was never nice or maybe just because my life was such a hurry all the time, I drove past the most simple pleasures.
This morning, I awoke and my head was spinning, eagerly trying to figure out what to do with my day. I knew I had to go get coffee at the store. As my son and I walked to the car he said "Momma can we go see big tall buildings?" He has a love for Portland, being wedged between the tall buildings, cars zooming by and people all around. As I began to tell him no, I though to myself, what else do I possible have to do today. So I said "yes." Off we went......
Once in Portland, we made our way to the World Trade Center, had lunch at Anne's Cafe and rode the escalator 7 times. It was the most simple morning to me and the greatest morning for him. I realized he has an appreciation for simple things like the height of a building, a car passing by, a guide dog on the street and escalators. I want him to always enjoy the simple things, so today was a good day, for he reminded me of a valuable lesson that at times I forget.
On the way out of the parking garage we had to circle downward from the 7th floor. As I drove down Tristan said "Momma, we keep going in circles, did they close the door and we can't get out?" Oh, the simplest minds.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Pain of Bullying
I am not surprised one bit that Bullying has become the topic of major discussion lately. Without going into the specific details of individuals faced with bullying and their sad outcomes, I feel compelled to speak about this.
As most of you know, I am no longer in Rotary and if there was another avenue of service I could dedicate my energy towards it would be Bullying amongst kids. Bullying is something I faced in school on a lighter note and remember distinctly how it made me feel.
I remember telling adults or talking with other students about what I too was feeling at the time. I faced adult criticism telling me to "grow a backbone" or "get thicker skin". Luckily, I had enough support at home and kept my self busy in activities that helped build my confidence regardless of how much kids tried to knock me down. What I think many people fail to realize, adults mostly, is that everyone's mind works differently. Some kids who face Bullying on a daily basis may also have a unstable home life, history of drug abuse, or just low self esteem. When another student knocks them down, the blows are twice as bad. Without outside support, the Bullying becomes unbearable.
To ease the pain of Bullying we cannot just address the individual doing the Bullying. We cannot just try to pry the truth and information from the victim. We also have to work on giving and maintaining support to the victim in a fashion that will last to adult hood. Giving the victims of Bullying an ability to recognize their self worth. Giving them something to be proud of, making them realize their self worth in the world. Without this ability they will be unable to deal with issues of Bullying in the future. They will not be able to sort through the words and actions that the Bully's impose on them and will continue to feel helpless and worthless. Instead of saying " I am an awesome athlete and great caregiver to my family." They may say, the Bully is right " I am not good at anything and worthless to the world." But first we must help convince every child that they are worth it, they are special and point out their achievements. They must first learn to convince themselves they are special, then their mind can fight the Bully off.
Don't get me wrong, by the word "fight" I only mean, beat the Bully in their mind. Learn for themselves how to shrug things off, recognize whats important and whats not, and learn to talk.
Now about the Bully, simple....Bully's are a product of their own self consciousness. They feel ashamed, lacking in something, and need to make up for it. Every Bully needs to be put in their place, made to feel like a victim for once and identify their own insecurities to become a better person. Adults who simply overlook kids who Bully are doing their job, especially if you are a parent or in the field of Education.
As most of you know, I am no longer in Rotary and if there was another avenue of service I could dedicate my energy towards it would be Bullying amongst kids. Bullying is something I faced in school on a lighter note and remember distinctly how it made me feel.
I remember telling adults or talking with other students about what I too was feeling at the time. I faced adult criticism telling me to "grow a backbone" or "get thicker skin". Luckily, I had enough support at home and kept my self busy in activities that helped build my confidence regardless of how much kids tried to knock me down. What I think many people fail to realize, adults mostly, is that everyone's mind works differently. Some kids who face Bullying on a daily basis may also have a unstable home life, history of drug abuse, or just low self esteem. When another student knocks them down, the blows are twice as bad. Without outside support, the Bullying becomes unbearable.
To ease the pain of Bullying we cannot just address the individual doing the Bullying. We cannot just try to pry the truth and information from the victim. We also have to work on giving and maintaining support to the victim in a fashion that will last to adult hood. Giving the victims of Bullying an ability to recognize their self worth. Giving them something to be proud of, making them realize their self worth in the world. Without this ability they will be unable to deal with issues of Bullying in the future. They will not be able to sort through the words and actions that the Bully's impose on them and will continue to feel helpless and worthless. Instead of saying " I am an awesome athlete and great caregiver to my family." They may say, the Bully is right " I am not good at anything and worthless to the world." But first we must help convince every child that they are worth it, they are special and point out their achievements. They must first learn to convince themselves they are special, then their mind can fight the Bully off.
Don't get me wrong, by the word "fight" I only mean, beat the Bully in their mind. Learn for themselves how to shrug things off, recognize whats important and whats not, and learn to talk.
Now about the Bully, simple....Bully's are a product of their own self consciousness. They feel ashamed, lacking in something, and need to make up for it. Every Bully needs to be put in their place, made to feel like a victim for once and identify their own insecurities to become a better person. Adults who simply overlook kids who Bully are doing their job, especially if you are a parent or in the field of Education.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Time To Get Creative
This year my mom and I decided we are going to host a bazaar next year. Slowly we've started collecting small items to revamp, re-paint, re-sew and so on.....
With my newest addiction to Pinterest I am getting some crafty ideas. If you know me well, you can probably say I am not the most crafty person. I have a good leader, my mom. She has always been crafty with sewing, painting and firing porcelain, making ornaments etc. My true love for getting to do this comes from the opportunity to spend a bit more time with my mom doing, something we both have grown fond of.
If anyone has helpful tips we are always open to suggestions. Last year we enjoyed going to the local Bazaars but then afterwards hitting some of the in-home bazaars. Those were my favorite. As most of you know I'm not really the "cutesy" type, but I'm sure I can create a pretty mean "vintage/western" piece.
All in all, I want to use this experience and time, not necessarily to make money, but to spend time with family, and maybe bring out the crafty side in me :)
With my newest addiction to Pinterest I am getting some crafty ideas. If you know me well, you can probably say I am not the most crafty person. I have a good leader, my mom. She has always been crafty with sewing, painting and firing porcelain, making ornaments etc. My true love for getting to do this comes from the opportunity to spend a bit more time with my mom doing, something we both have grown fond of.
If anyone has helpful tips we are always open to suggestions. Last year we enjoyed going to the local Bazaars but then afterwards hitting some of the in-home bazaars. Those were my favorite. As most of you know I'm not really the "cutesy" type, but I'm sure I can create a pretty mean "vintage/western" piece.
All in all, I want to use this experience and time, not necessarily to make money, but to spend time with family, and maybe bring out the crafty side in me :)
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