Archive for the ‘Favorite Girl’ Category

School Spirit Week

Posted in Favorite Girl on Monday, 20 November, 2006| 2 Comments »

Last week was School Spirit week and FG enjoyed dressing crazy all week. Her favorite day was “Wear your PJs” – especially getting to wear slippers to school.

Unfortunately, the school chose this day to present the five art finalists with their certificates and take photos. FG received 5th place in the school-wide art contest. I would post the drawing but I didn’t think to scan it before she turned it in. FM and I have ZERO artistic talent so I think FG takes after my sister, Jo.

It was also parent-teacher conferences ~ all’s well on that front except the teacher showed us some take home projects which were turned in early. FG’s class each picked a different building on base to duplicate. She picked an apartment building (barracks really, but they look like apartments to me) and she’s been working BY HERSELF on the project. Well, the one turned in is the base airfield and there is no way it was done by a third grader. It’s even built to scale. So my question is: how much do you “help” your child? I want her to learn to do projects on her own and to take pride in her own work. But it’s disheartening for her to see the other works of art ~ she thinks the kids did it on their own.

She also has a power-point presentation due on the Rainforest and has to make a diorama to augment her slideshow. She’s been working on it herself but when FM checked her work, he had to have a discussion about plagiarism ~ it’s was a little too easy for her to cut and paste off the internet 🙂 Since she wants to be a travel writer, she best learn now about not ‘borrowing’ someone else’s work.

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Friend for Sport

Posted in Animals, Favorite Girl on Wednesday, 15 November, 2006| 6 Comments »

Most people who know us won’t be surprised we’ve added a new puppy to our family ~ Maya.  She’s been adopted from the local animal shelter (G.A.I.N) and is sweet as can be. We brought her home on Saturday for what FG calls a “sleepover” so we could make sure Sport liked her.  They certainly look good together since Maya is the color of Sport’s spots. She’s a matching accessory 😉 

Since Sport is 11 years old, I didn’t want him to feel jealous and thankfully, he seems to like her a lot.  He’s been very lonely since Bennett died.

Sport actually started running around and playing like a young pup himself. That sealed the deal for Maya ~ she now has a new family and is officially off death row.

This is FG’s first experience with a puppy and she’s having to get use to Maya being underfoot ALL THE TIME. Needless to say, I am going through the ordeal of the puppy training ~ I’ll be really happy when she’s housebroken and doesn’t refuse to move everytime I put the leash on her.  She’s quite the charmer though so she makes us smile a lot.  

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Flashback Friday St. Martin’s Day Parade

Posted in Favorite Girl, Flashback Fridays, Germany on Friday, 10 November, 2006| 1 Comment »

St. Martin’s Day Parade 2001



St. Martin’s Day Parade 2002

One of my favorite traditions while living in Germany was the annual St. Martin’s Day parade which took place every November. When FG started kindergarten in 2001, she was able to participate in her first parade. The children take weeks making their own lanterns and then on St. Martin’s day at sundown, they march in a parade through town re-enacting the legend of St. Martin.

The legend (and parade) goes something like this: A knight, wearing a red coat, on horseback, rides through the town with the children following behind with their lanterns and singing songs about St. Martin. There is a beggar walking alongside the horse. Once they arrive at the kindergarten, where the bonfire is, the beggar asks the knight (St. Martin) for help. St. Martin takes off his coat, cuts it in half and gives the beggar half of the coat to keep warm. Then, St. Martin gives the beggar bread for his hunger. More songs are sung by the children and it is a festive time for all.

After the play is done, everyone enjoys warm glühwine and bread. Every year, it was so cold and the glühwine was very warm and tasty.

The first year FG participated in the parade, she was only three and there was a REAL candle in her lantern. Needless to say, I worried the entire time about these fire hazards. Thankfully, no one burst into flames that year so I was much less neurotic during subsequent parades.

Each year, she made a new lantern which we still have. The kindergarten teachers were always so creative and patient when helping the children make their lanterns.  We’re  going to get the lanterns out of storage tomorrow for St. Martin’s Day and light them at dusk ~ just for old times sake. 

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Probabilities

Posted in Animals, Favorite Girl on Tuesday, 7 November, 2006| 5 Comments »

For the last month, FG has been begging for a hamster.  By begging, I mean every two hours, I get the question “What do you think about me getting a hamster?” I was pretty strong about saying no at the beginning but, after losing Bennett, I’m starting to waiver a bit.

Not to mention, FG is getting better at her persuasion tactics. Since she’s learning probabilities at school, she brought her legal pad and pen with her last night to have a  hamster discussion with me:

FG: What is the probability that I can get a hamster?

Me: Oh, about 60%

FG: If I get a hamster, what is the probability that I can get a white one?

Me: 30%

With that, she runs off to figure out how to raise the probability of getting a white hamster.

My reluctance about getting a hamster is what to do with it when we leave the island in 2.5 years.  Also, I really don’t like the white ones with the beady red eyes (too mouse like) and, ironically, FG loves them. 

I’m sure Sport would be thrilled to have a hamster in the house ~ all the while hoping it makes the grave mistake of escaping the cage 😉

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Happy Halloween

Posted in Favorite Girl on Wednesday, 1 November, 2006| 7 Comments »

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I’m not sure if FG had more fun getting or giving candy. After she went Trick or Treating, there was still about 45 minutes left of the allotted “on base” trick or treating time, so she helped hand out candy and loved it.

Last year, in Würzburg, COL Cooper and his wife, Debbie had the best “scary” yard I’d ever seen.  At the time, I said to myself, next year we’ll decorate a little more.  Sadly, one carved pumpkin and a pumpkin decoration is all I could muster.  We did have tiki torches though so it was a very tropical Halloween 😉 

Contrary to my saying I would dress up, I couldn’t find the inspiration… maybe next year!

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So, Do You Have a Boyfriend?

Posted in Favorite Girl on Saturday, 21 October, 2006| 3 Comments »

I was volunteering with FG’s class on Wednesday and was assigned 6 children to work with on an Urban Landscape project using recycled material. Yeah, I know, I’m so much better helping with reading or math. Creativity is not a strong suit for me.  As we’re working on the project, this conversation transpired:

Boy:  “So, do you have a boyfriend?”

FG:  “Uh, no.”

Boy: “Well, I’m already eight and I’m not ‘taken’ yet.”

FG:  “You do know that’s my mom standing right there, don’t you?”

Boy:  Wide-eyed and silent.

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We’ve Been BOOed!

Posted in Favorite Girl on Thursday, 19 October, 2006| 3 Comments »

We were BOOed a couple of nights ago and FG was so excited she could barely contain herself.  For those of you who haven’t heard of being BOOed (I hadn’t), here’s how it happened for us: about 9:30 pm there was a loud knock on the door and when we opened it, there was a large Halloween gift bag with lots of goodies inside.  Among the candy, candles, pumpkin napkins, etc. was a note which stated that We’d been BOOed by the Phantom and needed to pass it on to two other people. There was also a sign to put on our front door so others wouldn’t give us a repeat BOO.  We thought it was a fun idea and were only too happy to continue the BOOing.  

As excited as FG was to receive the goodies, I think she was even more thrilled when she got the chance to BOO someone else. We let her pick out what she wanted to include in the bags and she re-did the notes herself. The funniest part was when she mapped out on paper how she was going to approach the house, then she practiced knocking loudly and finally strategized a retreat plan.  She also chose to wear all black least someone see her.  Very stealth.  With these planning skills she’s going to either be in the military or a cat burglar.

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PBJ AGAIN?

Posted in Favorite Girl on Saturday, 16 September, 2006| 5 Comments »

As the third week of school ended, I’m feeling increasingly inadequate as a ‘lunch packer’ for my favorite girl. She’s had Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches for 4 out of the last 5 days. If this were a real job, I’d have been fired for sure.  

Last year, I had to pack a lunch (always PBJ) only once a week or sometimes not at all. The Würzburg cafeteria offered more non-meat options and they also allowed the children to order a salad instead of the main meal.   

FG decided a couple years ago that she wanted to be a vegetarian which, being a non-meat eater myself, was not a problem with me. It’s not difficult to get her the nutrition she needs when she’s at home since she loves beans, spinach, cheeses, broccoli, salads, etc. The school here doesn’t have veggie friendly options so I am having to pack a lunch every day. The problem for me is packing items in a way that’s easy to transport, will stay fresh and easy for her to eat in the 15 minutes they allow for lunch. Broccoli is so much better freshly steamed ~ not sitting around for a few hours.

Thankfully, before we moved to Guam, my mother set us up for life with Tupperware containers so the storage of items isn’t the problem, it’s what to put in the container that has me stumped.

While searching the blog world for some much needed inspiration, I came across a couple of lunchbox sites ~ who knew you could dedicate a whole blog to packed lunches. If I can’t find inspiration at these sites then there’s no hope for FG’s lunches. If anyone else is having lunch box block, check out The Tiffin Tin and The Vegan Lunchbox.

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Goodbye Lazy Days of Summer

Posted in Favorite Girl on Wednesday, 13 September, 2006| 4 Comments »

Hello Busy Fall! 

Seems as soon as school starts, the crazy schedules start. So much for a nice dinner and a glass of wine ~ there’s been something going on every night this week. Not that I’m complaining, it’s been fun meeting new people. I’ve started volunteering at various organizations here on base and I’ll stick with the ones I like best. We all know once they get your name, you’re called for everything.

Last year, I had so much fun volunteering with FG’s 2nd grade class, I decided to volunteer at the school here as well.  FG’s new teacher seemed thrilled to have a parent helping out so I plan to go in a couple days a week for a few hours to help with reading and writing. The kids are adorable and still at a sweet age.

Also, I’ll be teaching CCD one night a week. As I plan for my first class this week, I’m in awe of all those teachers who have to plan for 5 full days. Sometimes parents don’t realize how much time a teacher puts into the class before the class even starts.  Here’s to all those great teachers out there who take the time to make their class-time special!

The strange thing about saying Goodbye to Summer is I have to remind myself the weather is NOT going to cool down. It’s so odd not to be changing from summer to winter clothes. In Germany, there were more than a few days when the weather changed so drastically from morning to afternoon that FG was either freezing or boiling by the end of the school day.  It’s nice to know it’s 80 degrees in the morning and 82 degrees in the afternoon 🙂

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First Day of School

Posted in Favorite Girl, Travel on Wednesday, 30 August, 2006| 3 Comments »

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Yesterday was Favorite Girl’s first day at her new school. Her attitude has been wonderful considering this is her third school in three years. I’m glad we’re moving so much when she’s young and hopefully we’ll be settled in one place when she’s in high school.

Children are allowed to walk to school alone but, being the over-protective mom that I am and since we’re about a mile from the school, I will either walk with her or, more likely, drive her.

First impressions of her new teacher are positive. I met with the teacher after class and she mentioned needing parent volunteers. Since I’m actively seeking a job, I didn’t want to commit too much too soon so I said “Yes, I will help when I can. I did a little volunteering in Germany.” Well, FG piped in with “A LITTLE ~ you got an award for all your volunteering last year.” So much for trying to keep a low profile.

In the photo, FG is holding a ‘schultüte” which is a cone filled with goodies i.e. candies, pencils, stickers, fun shaped erasers, etc. The German tradition of the schultüte is: it is given to 1st graders on their first day of school and the children take it to school with them. FG’s cone for her first grade was huge and matched her backpack but other kids, with more creative moms, had home-made cones which were GORGEOUS!

Last year on the first day of second grade, FG’s German nanny Nadja gave her a smaller tüte and this year I continued the tradtion by using the same cone and filling it with goodies. FG was so happy when she saw it. She loves traditions!

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