Rei at the Special Olympics

Rei took first place in the 50 meter dash at the Socorro ISD Special Olympics. There is a page (link below) with her and the superintendent and lining up wearing her medal. :)


Link: Socorro Independent School District

Balloon Rally

Last weekend, we went to the Mesilla Valley Balloon Rally in Las Cruces, NM. It was pretty interesting to see people setting up balloons and riding in them. We waited our turn to take a ride, but it got too windy and never got our chance. I found out that there is another balloon rally in El Paso and we might try to go to that one and ride a balloon. :)

Ju Jitsu

My daughter takes ju jitsu lessons twice a week. Her teacher at school recommended it and she loves it very much. Finally, I got the chance to take some photos of her in her gi and at practice in the dojo. :)

Thanksgiving

Finally! I got myself together to post these Thanksgiving pictures. It was just me and the two kids on Thanksgiving. I made a whole chicken, stuffing, squash, real home-made cranberry sauce, gravy and potatoes (sweet and regular). Rei ate the chicken, some olives and Ian ate crackers and chicken. They are both picky. >.<

You can't tell in the pictures, but Rei is wearing a cute dress. Ian, of course, is wearing a cute little suit. I even dressed up in a skirt and blouse. Whoa. :)

Licon Dairy

Yesterday we went to Licon Dairy. It's a place that makes asadero cheese, which is really good, and it has a great petting zoo. Rei loves the goats and the ducks. Ian is less sure of the animals, but he enjoyed throwing rocks in the pond. :)

The place has parrots, which dance and talk, doves, peacocks, chickens, a swan, and ducks. It has ostriches, a camel, bighorn sheep, longhorns, buffalo, goats and donkeys. :) It's totally free, too, which is also cool. ;)

Licon Dairy Links:

• About the cheese
• History
  

Good Times

I've just been having a super time with my daughter and son. Something just kind of "clicked" last weekend, and while before, I felt like I was "managing" my kids, now I feel like we're being a family. I don't know how else to describe it.

Anyway, I've been teaching Rei to play dominoes using this $1.00 set I found at Target. It has animal pictures instead of numbers, so it's easier and more fun for her. She even asks me to play dominoes without any prompting. Another game she likes is Memory, which we play using a deck of "Noah's Ark" Animal cards I found at the Dollar Store. (Yeah, I'm frugal).

Rei has also started taking ballet dance lessons and jiu-jitsu. She likes both. Today, after class, I practiced some of the moves with her. She remembered them very well! I'm very proud of her.

My son likes to have me help him walk up and down and up and down the stairs. He can crawl up and down very well by himself, but he likes to hold on to me so that he can actually "walk" up the stairs like a grown up. It's cute. He has these velcro hands now that grip me all the time. I'll be walking from one room to another and suddenly velcro boy has my pant leg and won't let go. He just walks with me.

Yeah, that's all. We're all waiting for my husband to come home from Korea. I hope it will be soon, so he can see all this stuff happening. :)

Rei's faces

Rei drew some pictures today. Just a few months ago, she couldn't even draw a circle. Now she's drawing faces with ears, noses, mouths and hair.

I am so proud of her. :D