Unabashed Bragging

Zinash enjoying some hot chocolate

This past week we got some great news from Zinash's teacher. The school had given Zinash a test to determine the progress she has made in understanding, speaking, reading, and writing in English. Last year she was given the test at the beginning of the school year and scored a 1 out of 5 which meant that she was a very beginning English learner. That wasn't a surprise! At the end of the school year, she was re-tested and also scored a 1. Based on the descriptions given of each level, I thought she was more accurately a 2, but it didn't show up on the test. This fall they re-tested her again and she scored a 3! She has been working hard at school and at home on her homework. We are so proud of her!!

We also found out this past week that Zinash was being recognized for some artwork she submitted in a bookmark contest which is sponsored by the library. We went to a ceremony today to celebrate the contest winners and she was awarded 2nd place for the grade 3-5 division for our city!

Zinash with her award and her bookmark

A closer look at her bookmark

I am proud of her hard work at school and love her artwork, but the thing that made me most proud of her today was something that she did this evening. As she has gotten older, playing and running around with her little sister has lost some of its luster. Tonight we were at an APU football game and a bunch of kids were playing and running around in a grassy area behind one of the endzones. My social little Mihret really wanted to play with the kids and tried several times to get into their game, but she was younger than the other kids and they didn't seem interested in including a little kid. She came back over to us feeling sad and then went back over to try again. I looked over and saw her standing around watching the other kids play. Before I knew it, Zinash called Mihret over and said, "Hey Mihret! Wanna play tag?" Zinash spent the rest of the evening running around playing with her little sister. Mihret went from sad panda to utter joy.

Utter Joy

Gotcha!

Zinash had a lot of fun too, but I knew that her decision to play tag with her sister was motivated by her love for her sister rather than a personal desire to play tag. It was a precious moment and absolutely filled my heart with joy.

Zinash continues to amaze us. She is a remarkable girl and we are so blessed to have her as our daughter!

The Bottom of the Box

Mihret, with one of her many boxes in the background

Last night I was trying to help Mihret find something in her room. I was digging through one of her precious cardboard boxes (yup, she's a box hoarder--I mean, collector--but that's another story). As I got near the bottom of the box, she stopped me and said, "Mama, promise you won't be mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you, Mihret?"

"Ummm....just promise you won't be mad?"

Now I'm starting to get worried. What would I find at the bottom of the box? Something broken? Something ooey, gooey? Something of mine that had been "repurposed"?

"Mihret, just tell me..."

"Ummm...well...umm...."

I smile, trying to be non-threatening... "Just tell me, honey. It will be okay." (I'm hoping...)

"Um..." she pulls back the last layer of stuff at the bottom of the box to reveal....two small potatoes. "I took the potatoes so I could make noses on some aliens."

I couldn't help it. I busted up laughing. Scenes flashed before my mind's eye of a sweet little baby girl who had a slight potato obsession.

Once I caught my breath, we did have a little discussion about working on potato aliens in the kitchen instead of the bedroom. After all, I wouldn't want potato aliens taking over my house, which with this girl, is a real possibility.

Halloween Fun (on film)

Last Saturday we took the girls to an "LA Pumpkin Patch" (i.e. an empty gravel lot transformed into a pumpkin selling station and bounce house area). Unfortunately, the pumpkin patch we visited was charging $10-17 for a normal-size carving pumpkin and $2 for 5-7 minutes in one bouncer. Ugh...good old capitalism... We offered the girls the choice between 5 minutes in one of the bouncers or a movie rental of their choice from Blockbuster. Zinash chose a movie; Mihret chose the crocodile bouncer/slide.

Brave Mihret entering the mouth of the crocodile bouncer/slide.

Zinash and Chuck waiting patiently for the little jumper.

Posing for a free picture with overpriced pumpkins.

We ended up at the grocery store choosing $3 pumpkins from a cardboard box. I always felt sorry for kids who had to get their pumpkins from a cardboard box at the grocery store rather than off the vine at the pumpkin patch, but honestly, the girls were thrilled with their grocery store pumpkins.



On Sunday we had a great time carving pumpkins (results seen here), and on Monday we went to a Harvest Festival at Mihret's preschool and then trick-or-treating at one of the residence halls at Azusa Pacific University.

The Jellyfish and the Princess

Mihret dressed up as a "Princess Rapunzel Unicorn Fairy who likes fashion" (I was soooo glad when Halloween actually came because her costume got more complicated by the day...)

Zinash dressed up as a jellyfish. We found the costume idea online at Disney's Family Fun website.

Chuck dressed up as himself (aka "a Buckeye fan") and our friend Matt dressed up as Michigan's coach, Brady Hoke. Our families actually hung out and trick-or-treated together at APU that evening. It was a Halloween reconciliation miracle. :)

I dressed up as a mom from a decade ago - you know, the type that carries a film camera. I can't tell you how many times I looked at the back of the camera to check the picture only to find a black plastic camera back. Oh well... (On a happier camera note, my new digital camera arrived! Hooray!)

We all had a great time and the girls came home with enough candy to last us for a year. Actually, we'll probably still have some left next Halloween... On a completed unrelated note, guess what you'll get if you come trick-or-treating at our house next Halloween?