We've been enjoying some warmer weather lately, so Sunday I thought it would be nice if we took a family outing somewhere. At first I thought of the New Jersey State Aquarium, but when I realized it would cost us close to 100 bucks just to walk in the door (and spend over an hour getting there) I thought again.
Enter good old Turtleback Zoo- which in looking back was a much more appropriate field trip for the girls just now. The zoo is VERY small and you can get through the entire thing in about an hour. Vica LOVED the snakes and Natasha thought the ponies were adorable. Didn't bother bringing them over to the petting zoo area- Mommy's not quite ready for that complete gross out. Afterward we took them to Mc Donald's for lunch and to play on the indoor playground.
The next day Matt asked the girls if they liked the zoo- they both nodded their heads yes very enthusiastically and then in unison said "Chicken McNuggets"
Score another one for American culture......
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Art Project Hysteria and The Blessed Mother
Sue Ann, thanks for the clarification on the creepy Barbie fairy wings/karaoke thing-yeah, fairy wings that you can wear that come with an attached microphone- makes perfect sense.......
So, Vica came home from school with an art project....... Apparently, they are doing a unit on different countries and each child has to decorate a paper doll and flag for their assigned country.
Vica was assigned Russia...........
Soooooooooo, since Matt was going to school for parent/teacher conferences that night, I asked him if he could NICELY ask the teacher if Vica could do Ukraine, I thought it might be nice since I had every intention of decorating, I mean HELPING Vica decorate her doll in traditional Ukrainian costume and having her color the Ukrainian Flag ANYWAY.... I thought maybe I won't make a statement, just this once- but they also have to write three facts about the country they are doing- Ooooooooooh, WHAT fun I coulda had with THAT one if I let her do Russia.
hhhhhmmmm, let's see..... "From 1932-1933, Soviet Dictator Joseph Stalin's policy of forced collectivization created an artificial famine which resulted in the deaths of 6 to 7 million Ukrainians....
Oh, yeah- that would really win my kid some popularity points wouldn't it????? And Matt STILL wonders why I won't join the PTA- how fast do you think they'd kick me out???
Of course all of this is in good fun- but after I went out and bought "supplies" for our paper doll, Matt tried to ruin my fun by informing me that Vica was supposed to do the project.
Where, I ask you, is the fun in that??? I guess I've got to let her help a little.....
Today, I was in the kitchen washing dishes while Vica was unpacking her backpack from school. Natasha was talking a mile a minute for a full five minutes, I assumed she was talking to Vica until I walked into the living room and saw her conversing at great length with a figurine of the Blessed Mother that Matt had given me for Mother's Day several years ago. She was talking VERY animatedly to Her- I thought it was pretty cute and thought the nuns who taught me at Saint Nick's are probably all smiling down from Heaven over that one since I was such a "holy" child while I was there- hhhhhaahhhhhaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!
Back to the parent/teacher conferences the other night. Vica's teacher and ESL teacher were both extremely relieved when Matt told them that we had every single intention of having Vica repeat the 1st grade next year. I guess they get a lot of parents pushing to have the child moved up to the next grade before they are ready. We want Vica to continue to enjoy school as much as she does now, once she gets English up and running, then we'll worry about how she's progressing academically- although, I don't think that's going to be a problem at all. Right now we're just concentrating on her learning new English words every day. She's still enthusiastic about going to school every day and comes home all smiles and excitement when I pick her up from the bus.
And that ends the latest chapter of my dull and boring life :)
So, Vica came home from school with an art project....... Apparently, they are doing a unit on different countries and each child has to decorate a paper doll and flag for their assigned country.
Vica was assigned Russia...........
Soooooooooo, since Matt was going to school for parent/teacher conferences that night, I asked him if he could NICELY ask the teacher if Vica could do Ukraine, I thought it might be nice since I had every intention of decorating, I mean HELPING Vica decorate her doll in traditional Ukrainian costume and having her color the Ukrainian Flag ANYWAY.... I thought maybe I won't make a statement, just this once- but they also have to write three facts about the country they are doing- Ooooooooooh, WHAT fun I coulda had with THAT one if I let her do Russia.
hhhhhmmmm, let's see..... "From 1932-1933, Soviet Dictator Joseph Stalin's policy of forced collectivization created an artificial famine which resulted in the deaths of 6 to 7 million Ukrainians....
Oh, yeah- that would really win my kid some popularity points wouldn't it????? And Matt STILL wonders why I won't join the PTA- how fast do you think they'd kick me out???
Of course all of this is in good fun- but after I went out and bought "supplies" for our paper doll, Matt tried to ruin my fun by informing me that Vica was supposed to do the project.
Where, I ask you, is the fun in that??? I guess I've got to let her help a little.....
Today, I was in the kitchen washing dishes while Vica was unpacking her backpack from school. Natasha was talking a mile a minute for a full five minutes, I assumed she was talking to Vica until I walked into the living room and saw her conversing at great length with a figurine of the Blessed Mother that Matt had given me for Mother's Day several years ago. She was talking VERY animatedly to Her- I thought it was pretty cute and thought the nuns who taught me at Saint Nick's are probably all smiling down from Heaven over that one since I was such a "holy" child while I was there- hhhhhaahhhhhaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!
Back to the parent/teacher conferences the other night. Vica's teacher and ESL teacher were both extremely relieved when Matt told them that we had every single intention of having Vica repeat the 1st grade next year. I guess they get a lot of parents pushing to have the child moved up to the next grade before they are ready. We want Vica to continue to enjoy school as much as she does now, once she gets English up and running, then we'll worry about how she's progressing academically- although, I don't think that's going to be a problem at all. Right now we're just concentrating on her learning new English words every day. She's still enthusiastic about going to school every day and comes home all smiles and excitement when I pick her up from the bus.
And that ends the latest chapter of my dull and boring life :)
Monday, March 05, 2007
Vica needs a Barbie...
Remember the post not so long ago where I wondered just how long it would take for Vica to make the connection between what she sees on TV and actually wanting to HAVE it?
Time's up! it's official and not only that, but she hit me with two kid favorites-
Lucky Charms cereal and naturally, good ole' Barbie.
The cereal thing was easy- but you know I'm not feeding her Lucky Charms! She's actually quite happy to have Cheerios and asks for cereal now every morning. Natasha likes the cereal part but isn't having any part of the milk that goes along with it. Oh well!
The Barbie thing isn't just ANY Barbie either- they've come out with some kind of creepy Butterfly wing thing- I don't know. I guess I'll have to pay closer attention the next time the commercial is on and Vica drags me by the hand to see it. Too bad her birthday is still 8 weeks away and by then she'll probably want six thousand other things. I kinda get the feeling this is the floodgates just opening.
Oh, and they both also do the take the gift out of the bag, put it down and peer into the bag tearing through the tissue paper looking for MORE thing too!
Well on their way to being typical American kids! LOL!!!
We have a parent/teacher conference tomorrow, so I'll update more on that for those of you still reading this boring stuff!
Time's up! it's official and not only that, but she hit me with two kid favorites-
Lucky Charms cereal and naturally, good ole' Barbie.
The cereal thing was easy- but you know I'm not feeding her Lucky Charms! She's actually quite happy to have Cheerios and asks for cereal now every morning. Natasha likes the cereal part but isn't having any part of the milk that goes along with it. Oh well!
The Barbie thing isn't just ANY Barbie either- they've come out with some kind of creepy Butterfly wing thing- I don't know. I guess I'll have to pay closer attention the next time the commercial is on and Vica drags me by the hand to see it. Too bad her birthday is still 8 weeks away and by then she'll probably want six thousand other things. I kinda get the feeling this is the floodgates just opening.
Oh, and they both also do the take the gift out of the bag, put it down and peer into the bag tearing through the tissue paper looking for MORE thing too!
Well on their way to being typical American kids! LOL!!!
We have a parent/teacher conference tomorrow, so I'll update more on that for those of you still reading this boring stuff!
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Vica loses a tooth and the Teacher Death Stare
Everyone is finally feeling almost 100% around here. No one is as happy as Mama around here.
Vica lost her first tooth (with us) Matt and I naturally thought this was a big deal. We tried to explain the concept of the tooth fairy. I got the Russian equivalent of "Yeah, whatever, Mom"She was more excited about GETTING the tooth OUT. Matt jokingly told her about the string around the tooth/doorknob trick- she was all ready for him to do it. Once the tooth was out she was completely enthralled by the hole it left behind and the fact that it was grossing her little sister out. When she woke up and found the 5 bucks under her pillow (Matt's call, not mine- it would have been 1$) she simply told me to put it in her piggy bank- excitement over....
The kids are all back in school this week, so this will actually be Vica's first full week of school. We had some not eating her lunch issues earlier in the week, but they seem to have resolved themselves. Tuesday she came home with Spanish homework. My first reaction was that I hoped she wasn't getting confused. She had the worksheet completed pretty well considering. I just have to laugh- I guess this qualifies her as being tri-lingual???? Oh, by the way, anyone know the Spanish work for the color Purple?? It's driving Matt crazy, and my 4 years of French 25 years ago won't help here either :)
Matt has been reading the complete works of Dr. Seuss to the kids every night before bed and they just LOVE it- can't tell you how happy that makes both of us- they both are starting to memorize the stories too- it's VERY cute!!
Natasha has been crying almost every day when Vica gets on the bus- it doesn't last long, but I've got to get on the ball to get her into some kind of preschool program. With her being sick, that set everything back a few weeks. Right now she's enjoying watching Cinderella 3 snuggled up with Sophia on the sofa. I finally broke down and got a stroller to cart her around in. What was I thinking???? This Motherhood thing seems kinda slow to sink in on some levels. Here I am with my 40 year old back and knees lugging this toddler around- can you say STUPID! She absolutely loves riding around in it like the queen-in-training she is. Matt put it together with Vica last night- he said she had it figured out before him. Kristin- if you're reading this, I know how hard you're laughing right now.....
This weekend we're going to start getting the larger bedroom re-painted to be the girl's new room. Our neighbor, Debbie gave the girls these gorgeous butterfly decorations as part of their welcome home gift and I think I'm going to do the room around that theme.
Oh, I almost forgot, I caught the Teacher Death Stare from my own husband in my own house the other night- the nerve of him! Matt was doing homework with Vica while I had the audacity to speak to Natasha in the other room- I wish you could have seen this look I got for disturbing his lecture, I mean "Lesson" I felt like I was about 8 years old getting busted for talking to the kid next to me- not that it EVER happened when I was in school!!!!
Next week I'm gonna pass the kid a note.......
Vica lost her first tooth (with us) Matt and I naturally thought this was a big deal. We tried to explain the concept of the tooth fairy. I got the Russian equivalent of "Yeah, whatever, Mom"She was more excited about GETTING the tooth OUT. Matt jokingly told her about the string around the tooth/doorknob trick- she was all ready for him to do it. Once the tooth was out she was completely enthralled by the hole it left behind and the fact that it was grossing her little sister out. When she woke up and found the 5 bucks under her pillow (Matt's call, not mine- it would have been 1$) she simply told me to put it in her piggy bank- excitement over....
The kids are all back in school this week, so this will actually be Vica's first full week of school. We had some not eating her lunch issues earlier in the week, but they seem to have resolved themselves. Tuesday she came home with Spanish homework. My first reaction was that I hoped she wasn't getting confused. She had the worksheet completed pretty well considering. I just have to laugh- I guess this qualifies her as being tri-lingual???? Oh, by the way, anyone know the Spanish work for the color Purple?? It's driving Matt crazy, and my 4 years of French 25 years ago won't help here either :)
Matt has been reading the complete works of Dr. Seuss to the kids every night before bed and they just LOVE it- can't tell you how happy that makes both of us- they both are starting to memorize the stories too- it's VERY cute!!
Natasha has been crying almost every day when Vica gets on the bus- it doesn't last long, but I've got to get on the ball to get her into some kind of preschool program. With her being sick, that set everything back a few weeks. Right now she's enjoying watching Cinderella 3 snuggled up with Sophia on the sofa. I finally broke down and got a stroller to cart her around in. What was I thinking???? This Motherhood thing seems kinda slow to sink in on some levels. Here I am with my 40 year old back and knees lugging this toddler around- can you say STUPID! She absolutely loves riding around in it like the queen-in-training she is. Matt put it together with Vica last night- he said she had it figured out before him. Kristin- if you're reading this, I know how hard you're laughing right now.....
This weekend we're going to start getting the larger bedroom re-painted to be the girl's new room. Our neighbor, Debbie gave the girls these gorgeous butterfly decorations as part of their welcome home gift and I think I'm going to do the room around that theme.
Oh, I almost forgot, I caught the Teacher Death Stare from my own husband in my own house the other night- the nerve of him! Matt was doing homework with Vica while I had the audacity to speak to Natasha in the other room- I wish you could have seen this look I got for disturbing his lecture, I mean "Lesson" I felt like I was about 8 years old getting busted for talking to the kid next to me- not that it EVER happened when I was in school!!!!
Next week I'm gonna pass the kid a note.......
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