Go Team USA!

Yesterday I read in the paper that the Women's Olympic Hockey team would be practicing right here at the Air Force Academy before they head off to China. So, Amelia, Gabriel and I thought it would be fun to go see them practice. As we were driving to the practice, Amelia kept talking about how she wanted to play hockey and Gabriel was doing the CC Tiger Hockey celebratory cry of "Do do do - Sieve!" They were both excited.

We enjoyed watching them play in their Team USA jerseys. After the practice, Amelia walked over to see them come off the ice. She was so impressed that they were "girls NOT boys" who were playing! One of the players, #9 Molly Engstrom, saw Amelia, leaned over the half wall and said, "Do you like hockey?" Amelia enthusiastically replied, "Yeah!" Molly asked, "Do you like this stick?" and held up her hockey stick. Once again, Amelia agreed that she did so Molly gave her the stick! Amelia asked them to "write on it" and she got autographs from: #9 Molly Engstrom, #26 Rachael Drazan, #25 Kelli Stack, and # 31 Jessie Vetter (goalie). We also met #4 Angela Ruggiero who told Amelia she'd have to cut that stick down pretty far to use it at 3 years old.

Amelia and #9 Molly Engstrom

The players were SOOO nice. Amelia and another girl were the only kids there so they really were kind, took their time and spoke with the kids. The other little girl was in Pee-Wee hockey and just starting the league with checking so Angela Ruggiero took quite a bit of time to talk with her about hockey and give her advice. It was really inspiring to see them mentor the younger generation of girls' hockey.

GO TEAM USA! Support them 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Championship from April 4-12, in Harbin, China!

http://www.usahockey.com/Template_Usahockey.aspx?NAV=TU_02_03&id=225390

Oh, and by the way. Amelia announced on the way home that she wants to play . . . basketball!?!?!

My Challenge at DonorsChoose.org

Today I received a touching package in the mail from no one I knew, with pictures and letters from strangers. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to make a donation to DonorsChoose.org to fund a classroom project. I searched and searched the site until I found the perfect classroom to help - a girls' charter school in Chicago with 88% poverty rate. The teacher had a plan called Creating a Passion for Poetry. Since I loved incorporating poetry in my classroom, I gave money to fund this project.

I got teary as I read the letters from these 3rd - 5th grade girls and saw their pictures as they worked in their classroom.

So, if you have the opportunity to give, or would like to gift a donation to someone, please check it out. It is time we started doing more to support our children and their education.

I have created a Yoga Education Challenge, so please help me fund these programs.

Easter - eggs, eggs, and more

Coloring eggs . . .

Amelia and Gabriel liked dyeing our Easter eggs and putting stickers on them. Amelia really wanted to take them out of the dye early to check their progress each time my back was turned. I would turn back around and suddenly her fingers would be green. "Amelia, did you try to take out the green egg?" "No, Mommy, I was just kidding," said with a grin, of course. Then, I'd turn around again - purple fingers. "Just kidding, Mommy!" I think she is a little unclear on the meaning of that phrase.

Hunting for Eggs . . .

The manner in which you approach an egg hunt probably says a lot about your personality, so it was no big surprise that Amelia and Gabriel had very different strategies for their quest for the eggs. Amelia took off at full speed (once she realized the point of the game) and gathered up as many eggs as possible. Meanwhile, Gabriel would find an egg, open it and eat the chocolate inside. As you can foresee, Amelia was able to find many more eggs than little Gabey Baby which makes it seem that Gabriel's strategy was the poorer of the two. Alas, we saw the genius of Gabriel's plan when we later saw Amelia swiping empty eggs from Gabriel's basket. He knew that his sister would continue her hunt right into the grasses of his precious basket and he made sure her stolen treasures would be empty! Good thinking little G-man!

And the "More" . . .

So, how do you explain to a 3 year old the story of Easter? To die and rise again? Renewed hope, sin washed away, saving for all? Pretty heavy stuff for a little girl whose biggest problem in the day is helping Dora follow the map to the Mermaid Kingdom. Despite all that, as I put Amelia to bed last night, I told her the story of Easter. I started with the beginning - like Jesus did for us, if you love someone with all your heart, you will do anything to make sure they are safe and cared for later. That part was easy - I have some experience in loving with all my heart.

Zoo Fun!

Short version.

Giraffes are a hit, but stinky. Amelia went up 3 times to buy crackers. That equates to 18 opportunities to be slimed by a giraffe's tongue.

Lions like to come up to the glass because, apparently, little ones look like appetizers to them.

Poor Gabriel. Chickens DO attack if you're holding an animal cracker.

All in all, we had a great time!

Preschool Easter Party Fun!

Today was Amelia's Easter party at preschool. I filled two dozen eggs with cute little toys (trying to cut down on the amount of candy she's bombarded with on a daily basis), dressed Amelia in a cute little dress and sent her off to school.

The party began with snacks of cookies, apples and juice while the parents shielded the Easter Bunny's secret identity outside. Once all the eggs were in place, five hundred preschoolers hit the yard with a whirlwind force. (Okay, so it was more like thirteen preschoolers, but those kids have ENERGY!) Amelia was so excited to find the eggs, she was hopping with joy! I thought it was so cute until I realized she was really hopping because she had to go to the potty! We rushed inside, took care of business, then ran back out only to find that she missed the end of the hunt. No worries - there was more fun to be had inside.

She and the other kids did some dancing, singing and rhymes (nothing like celebrating Easter by singing about Little Bunny Foo Foo smacking innocent field mice on the head) until it was time to go. Gabriel enjoyed pretending he was a big three year old. He's going to be a ready and willing preschooler in a couple of years!

By the way, we got home and checked out all her eggs - CANDY! Disgusted Mommy, but jubilant Amelia. Just the way it is supposed to be I guess. :)

A Whole Lot of Nothing!

The title will prepare you for what's going to be written in this blog! I guess I am starting it because it would be nice for friends and family who we don't get to see very often to know what we're up to. What that boils down to most days is "a whole lot of nothing!"

A 24 hour flu in in the process of disrupting our household. On Sunday Amelia woke up feeling unwell. She spent the day with the Sesame Street friends, Dora and Diego and by evening she was herself again. Then, on Monday it hit me. Today is Yodi's turn. Hopefully Gabriel will somehow avoid it.

Today the kids had a great time. Both of them had Kindermusik classes and Gabriel got SO excited when the teacher began to read a book that has a "choo-choo" in it. Amelia's class made a group map of special places to them and in Amelia's square, she drew a map to her sister Ashley's map. Lately, all Amelia talks about is seeing Ashley this summer! Later we ran some errands and then the kids played at My Gym. Amelia spent the hour running about with the big kids and Gabriel's favorite places were the ball pit and the balance beam.

See - a whole lot of nothing! I make no empty promises! But, if you are interested at all, please visit again for little tidbits of our days and I hope it makes you feel a little just a little closer to all of us!