A day in the life

Today's guest writer is Ms. Ava Hsieh:

Yawn.  I'm going to get my jams on.  That's my nickname for jammies.  I don't really sleep with clothes on because I get hot.  I'm going to go downstairs to have breakfast.  Good morning Mommy.  Mommy is a little tired in the morning so I try to cheer her up by putting on little shows.

Sometimes I hang out in the bathroom and see what mommy is doing.  I think she's putting on makeup and blowing her hair.  I love, love my slippers.  They are cozy!

This is my picture.  I'm a pretty butterfly because Ava drawed it just the way I wanted it.  Oh, no my mom is not here!  Where is she?  I think she's crying because the mama butterfly is gone.  Her mom is outside gardening.

I'm eating daddy's favorite cereal and my hair is crazy so I think I should brush it today!

My hair is pretty because I need it nice to go to school today.  I'm very excited about school.  Sometimes Mommy puts it in a gorgeous and styling bun, but today she did a half-up ponytail.  I like when Mommy does braids.  They're pretty but Mommy's still practicing so sometimes they look funny.  But that's ok because I love her.

I am a ballerina.  I am a ballerina.  Maybe I have ballet practice today.  I'm going to be in a show called Hansel and Gretel.   I am going to be a village child and a stripey candy.  I am the star and I'm going to sing and dance on stage. This is a special move called an elevay.

Me and Mommy are holding hands.  We always pray before I go to school cause me and mommy love God and talk to Him.   After we pray we sing a song that's called, "I love you Jesus."  It goes like this,  Praise God from whom ours blessings flow.  Praise Him above and here below.  Praise Him all creatures down here below.  Praise Him above he heavenly host.  Praise him and the holy ghost.  Amen.

This is my teacher.  Her name is Ms. Kim.  I love her very much.  She is the best teacher in the whole universe.  Some day she is going to be one of my very bestest friends.  She is so silly.  I think she was born silly.  She is silly for real!  Every day when I go to school she acts silly.  And she gives us great snacks.  Oh, and when some people kiss, my friends at school say, Ewwww.  You know, like when we read a book about fairy tales.

This is me and my butterflies.  I make a lot of butterflies because they are so pretty and Ms. Kim and Ms. Deanna think butterflies make good crafts.  These are real butterflies and two of them fell down.  But the other ones are making their chrysalis.  Chrysalis's has at least four or five s's in it.  It's a very s'y word.

This is my school.  It's ok.  I wish it had twenty flying horses on the roof so we could all fly home.  They would be our pets.  Mine would be called Goldie.

This is my playground.  I like the slide or just running with my friends.  

This is lunch.  These are really special Cheezits because you can make words and letters with them.

I love watermelon because it's juicy and sweet!

Mommy gave me a strawberry jello.  We get to have a lot of special treats.

I made two words.  Slob and cuxe.  I like to make silly words sometimes.

Ian is spelling very long words but he doesn't know anything.  He can't spell until he grows up.

This says Ava.  I like my name because it's pretty.

My job is to feed Sabrina.  I feed her pretty often, like three or four or a hundred times.  I love my pet.  She's a kitten and she does really funny things like chase her poop around on a string.

This book has a scary robot.  Mommy reads to me before my quiet choice time.  Mommy's a good reader cause she does funny voices.

I like to play with my animals or sometimes watch a movie but if I can't watch a movie I hang around and be bored sometimes.

Here, I am snuggling with Sabrina and watching Tinkerbelle.

I went to Grandma's house for a sleepover, tonight or two nights ago, yesterday.  I love Grandma!  She is a kissing Grandma I'm pretty sure.  She bakes me cookies and reads to me and plays puzzles with me.

Goodnight to me!

pulp fiction or book review monday

There is this one shelf right by the entrance of our library called "lucky day" and on this shelf are all the books that people want right now. Usually each one has about 200 holds on it so you're only alloted two weeks to read them. Now under normal circumstances I would keep an ear out for what people are reading and then put a book on hold. But since the life of a mama with two young kids, and an overwhelming desire to "sleep when the baby sleeps" even though said baby is now two and a half, doesn't really afford that luxury, I am forever indebted to the library for this service.

I should probably re-do that sentence but it's late and I'm half watching Mad Men so just go with me on this. I must admit that I have a slight addiction to this shelf. If I see anyone near it I get a little antsy and I may or may not knock Ian down to cause a diversion so that I can get my hands on something that looks interesting. Desperate? Maybe. But it's been a LONG winter so again, just go with me on this. Aside from checking out some very confusing science fiction and one soft core porn book (the title French Lessons sounded promising but looking back I probably should have known), I've had some very interesting reads. So if your looking for a book to take on your trip to the french riviera, I'm sorry we can no longer be friends, but if you find yourself locked in a closet while you're supposed to be playing hide and seek with your children, I've got a few suggestions and maybe some to avoid.

Oh Mindy. She does warn us in the beginning that she's no Tina Fey but even though I read Bossypants a year ago I still couldn't shake the comparisons. Still the last few chapters finally got me laughing out loud. And the one about dating men instead of boys is worth the price of the book. If you're the sort who actually buys books. Amy O. you will particularly love the Kids In The Hall references.

I realize I'm a little late to the party on this one but I thought I'd throw in my two cents anyway. I read a book called the Maze Runner a couple years ago and this kind of reminded me of it. I think it's a very well written story and I liked the suspense. But I've decided the Apocalyptic/Dystopian society genre isn't really for me. Although I didn't let it stop me from seeing the movie. I liked Katniss but Peeta just made me giggle. Couldn't they find someone taller than her? I thought Finn from Glee would have been much better. Cute, tall, strong, but still a little vulnerable. The movie sort of felt like the book. Well done, just not really my thing.

This one was definitely worth the twenty minutes it took to read it. It actually reads like a story so you need to start from the beginning. Take it on a road trip and read it to your significant other as they are driving to keep them entertained.

I'm a pretty big Jane Austen fan so I was excited about this one. It's a murder mystery that takes place a few years after the two big weddings of Pride and Prejudice. I thought it was worth it just to get a little more of Elizabeth and Darcy's story. There were a lot of parts where I couldn't stop smiling, especially her twists at the end.

I'm a little embarrassed to put this on the list but like I said, there was someone eyeing the book and so I felt the need to take it. I finished it so that says something right? It's not that the story's bad it's just that it feels like he's going through the motions. Here is a quote from the book:

"On his way home from the pool hall, Thibault remembered his second tour in Iraq. It went like this, Fallujah, spring 2004."

Or my translation,

"Seriously, can someone please just write me a check for a million dollars because I don't really feel like coming up with a legitimate transition paragraph."

And finally, The Paris Wife. This was by far my favorite. I must preface this by saying I went through a serious Ernest Hemingway phase while I was living in a shabby Chicago apartment that he and his first wife inhabited after they got married. This book is about that marriage from her perspective. I think it would be classified as historical fiction. I don't know how the author managed to write with such detail but I suspect she did her homework. She created such sympathetic characters that you feel their heartbreak instead of judging their actions. I couldn't believe that I cried as much as I did towards the end. She manages to give a strong voice to a woman who rarely gets more than a line in the volumes on Hemingway's life. This was one of my favorite paragraphs from the book:

"But in the alleyways behind the marketplace, fruit and meat rotted in crates. Rats crawled; pigeons crowded and pecked each other savagely trailing feathers and lice. This was reality, and though living with Ernest was giving me more tolerance for the real than ever before, it made me feel sick even so. It was like looking into the gutters at the Place de la Contrescarpe, where colored dyes ran freely from the flower vendor's carts: brief false lushness, and ugliness underneath. What had Ernest said way back when in Chicago? Love is a beautiful liar? Beauty was a liar too. When I saw the rats the first time, I wanted to drop my basket where it was and run away, but we weren't rich enough for symbolic gestures. So I walked."

Happy Reading!

parting shots

Oh, these five. I could tell you some stories. Within five minutes of seeing each other, they are all in matching pajamas. It's like something out of a science fiction novel. One minute I'm hugging everyone hello and the next minute there's a screaming blur of pink cotton running past me. But the joy is contagious and even though there are some very significant fights. Like whether or not the red berry on fruit ninja is a bomb or your secret to a high score, all is forgiven and the wounds are mended with ice cream and the sharing of a My Little Pony. It is a lesson for all of us really.

My Grandma went to Uganda and all I got was this Pocahontas outfit

Miles away & some gushing

It's funny how a short term change of scenery can be so good for the soul. Maybe it was all the cousin love or the infectious giggles of five kids under five. It was probably the daily intake of Cinnabons but I'm not going to think about that. My mind said that because they were mini it wasn't going to count but then my belly volunteered some counter arguments...and won. Ian even nicknamed it, "fawt towmy" and laughs to high heaven. But I digress.

This weekend we high-tailed it out of dodge for a weekend celebrating my amazing mother in law. I should and one day will, write an entire 10 page blog post on how crazy lucky I am to have her in my life, single spaced. With extra points because she doesn't even know about my little space here in cyber world.

Simply put, Jeanette Hsieh is an inspiration. She not only showers me with thoughtful gifts but with wise counsel and heart filled gestures. She's single-handedly responsible for some major good things in my life. She was a professor at Wheaton when I started school there. In our first conversation more than 17 years ago she convinced me to go into teaching. She said it was because she saw something. In our second conversation she introduced me to my future husband. Pretty impressive so far right? Oh, there's more. She bought me my first strand of pearls. She called me one month after I had Ava, while I was wandering our neighborhood pushing a stroller and crying and told me she was on her way to pick me up and take me shopping. I got an outfit from Nordstrom and Ava got a wardrobe from Janie and Jack. You get the picture. She is superwoman.

We were invited by Trinity University to come and recognize her for her achievements at the school. From being a dean to being it's President she had served with grace and integrity and this year she will be retiring. I hope she writes a book. A legacy of her role as a woman of high ranking in the evangelical community. Whatever she chooses to do I will be so proud of her and always in awe of her inhuman abilities and awe-inspiring achievements. And mostly, I hope that someday I can emulate even a small portion of her awesome mother-in-law-ness.

First time flying with four seats!

Cousins posing for their album cover

Does it get any cuter then this? Guess who bought their matching outfits? Nai Nai!

Yeh Yeh gets a little pre party love

Telling secrets

Mischievious Amarie gets her hands on a big girl glass

Ladies in waiting

The program

Ben and Matt get a turn to bring some lighthearted humor to the occasion

Celebrating the next morning at our favorite breakfast spot with the guest of honor!

Easter fancy

happy hostages

Today was a beautiful day. I'm happy to report that although we haven't seen it in awhile, the sky is still blue. Birds do exist and spring flowers are all around us even if we can't hear or see them every day. (Or every 20 or 30 days.) So instead of our usual routine we let the spring day take us where it would.

We chose walks over playroom trains

and friends over quiet reading

and twirling over tv

and love notes over laundry

And in the captivity of spring all was right with the world again