First time sledding

A lesson to share with the world - by John Macdonald

When taking your child sledding for the first time, don't be over zealous. Try a small hill first. 

We apologize for the video shaking quite a bit because Vivien laughed so hard  - it felt like I was watching an American Home Video. It sounds mean to laugh at your own daughter and husband who came down a large sledding hill with such speed, but Sydney quickly joined in the laughter after she stopped crying. It was amazing to see how brave she was after that experience to try the small and medium hills. However, with that said, I think it will be awhile before she goes on another big hill sledding adventure!

Did I hear "Jesus"?

It's funny what a kid says and it's another thing as to what a parent hears. I was in the kitchen (as always) and Sydney at the dining table. As I'm wiping up dishes waiting for her to finish lunch, I hear all of a sudden "Oh Jesus!". 

It sounded like she was sort of swearing and I thought maybe she was imitating something she heard. So, I leaned over and asked her to repeat her statement. It came out loud and clear again, with much gusto this time "Oh, Jesus!".  She smiled sheepishly and said that, that's what Brother bear said in the Berenstain Bears book titled "Trouble with Friends". What? "No, Sydney, I'm sure there's no mention of Jesus in that book", I added confidently.

I stopped doing dishes and went over to find the library book. We found the page she was referring to and lo and behold, to my relief, she was quoting the statement "Aw, gee, Sis" (when Brother bear apparently didn't want to join in on the tea party invitation). 

It definitely reaffirmed that I should be always aware of what my kids read and listen to. But, I should not be too quick to jump to conclusions either and be careful to put on my parent ears!! 

The Ph.D. race is completed!

John graduated on Sunday, December 21st 2008. It was a glorious day to celebrate all his hard work and we couldn't have done it without the help of 1. GOD and 2. the help and support of FAMILY & FRIENDS (esp. from Montgomery County Church of Christ). We are very proud of John completing his doctoral program, through the ups and downs. I feel like I should write a book about our 4 year or something. Well, actually I have published a book through blurb called "Journey Days in Maryland" and it has all our highlights and challenges while living in Maryland. It's great to have something tangible that we can look back at from time to time. As we start the next chapter in our lives, the book reminds us of God's continual blessings and promises to us.

Rachael Ray Fan

Yes, I'm a Rachael Ray fan and I'm not ashamed to say that at all. I know some people think she's too goofy and crazy with all her acronyms, but I think it's cool. It defines who she is. For my birthday, my wonderful brother & sister in law gave me a Barnes & Nobles gift card which I used to buy a Rachael Ray cookbook. Up till then, I just printed out RR's recipes from Food Network. Her cookbooks are so well written and they make me want to cook everyday. I told John that he's going to look forward to 2009 because I'm going to spice up things in the kitchen. I have a favorite recipe to share that the kids love too - It's called Honey Nut Chicken Sticks. I even made up the honey mustard dressing to go with it and it's YUM-O! With my new cookbook and a new appetite to try some different things this year, I think our family will be going out to eat less. Yippee - good bye to large portions of boring food and hello to YUM-O food.

Artists at work

The kids got several great Christmas presents this year. One of them included a Melissa & Doug Art easel and accessories. The kids are enjoying drawing and painting on the easel. Of course, mummy has to supervise so that Caleb doesn't take his art work all over the basement. It's great fun! Thank you to Uncle Leslie and Aunty Christina atthai. And thank you to Grandma Macdonald for the art smocks.

No traffic story

It was another afternoon where I was driving Sydney to her preschool. Prime Time preschool is literally 5 minutes down the street from where we live. After two minutes of being on the road, Sydney asked me why there were no cars on the street. Well, I didn't know what to say and then we saw a car coming down the street as we approached her school. Sydney continued saying "Mommy, I like Michigan. There's no traffic here". As Anne (our friend in Maryland) would say, John and I must have talked about the traffic a lot in Maryland. Even if we made a long stop at a traffic light, Sydney would complain about the traffic from the back seat. 

A little boy turns 2

Caleb can barely use his two finger to point out that he is two but he can say the word "two", at least. He didn't really know what all the fuss was when I got him a Thomas the tank engine helium balloon and a candle to put on his cupcakes. It didn't matter to him - he still enjoyed eating his cupcake. Unlike his big sister, he rather eat his cupcake without frosting. Personally, I think he prefers my homemade frosting to the Betty crocker store-bought type. I don't blame him. :-)

It was fun to have Grandma and Grandpa Macdonald there for his birthday and to see him open up all his gifts. I think the big hit was the green John Deere tractor that they bought for him. 

Ho Ho Ho

Our library had a small Christmas program on Dec. 18th where they had story time, some snacks and a chance to meet Santa. Sydney had written a letter for Santa telling him of the toys she was interested in getting and was looking forward to the day to meet him. However, when Santa showed up on the scene, Sydney fled -- not interested on sitting on his lap at all! We waited at the library (Grandma & Grandpa Macdonald were visiting at the time as well) until Santa was done with all the other children and then she changed her mind and was willing to visit with him. When she opened up the card to read to Santa, we heard people in the room comment on how organized Sydney was and that she might be a CEO someday. John just shook his head wondering, could it be that his little girl is just like daddy. Caleb showed more enthusiasm in the beginning to visit with Santa but then refused to sit on his lap. But he would boldly point at santa and say "Ho Ho Ho!". It's the cutest ho-ho you've ever heard. Anyway, the library took a similar picture and got our permission to post it in our local area newspaper. 

Winter is here

We're all excited about the snow, but I don't think the excitement will last for too long. I do have a little Sydney-story I would like to share, though. I try to cook Indian / Malaysian food as often as I can. The last time I made a curry, it was a little too hot for the kids. Caleb just eats it all up and then drinks tons of milk to cool off his tongue. I usually have to persuade and urge Sydney to eat up and I keep telling her that she's my little Indian girl, so she needs to get used to spicy food. Well, a few days ago, she said "I am your little Indian girl and Caleb and daddy are your Indian boys." John turned around and said "uhhhhh, not quite".  I had a good chuckle. Okay, pictures of the kids enjoying the snow...............

Moving In

It's been awhile since I updated the blog site. I've only been a tad busy you know....with packing and moving our family to a whole new state! Yup - Michigan, here we are. We had a light snow fall on the first day of our move-in. I guess it was a "Welcome-to-Michigan" present. The kids were so excited about the snow. It melted away after a day or so and Sydney was already disappointed. Oh boy, is she in for a treat this winter. 

So, we're still busy unpacking and getting settled in. So nice to have so much space. The basement is finished and kid-proof so that makes a nice, spacious playroom for the kids. I can't find my camera-uploader, so can't quite upload pictures yet. 

Be patient, everyone!!  :-)