Nora-isms: Skills of Language Acquisition

Until our Colombian princess learns how words are spelled, she will continue to pronounce them the way she hears them, which is not always clearly nor correctly.  It may be contributed also to our lazy speech or the rapid-fire delivery we occasionally use.  It makes me laugh.  Have a glimpse into our kitchen this afternoon:

Nora: Mom, will you paint with me tomorrow?

Me: Sure, I will paint with you.

Nora: What is taint?

Me: I don’t know what taint is.

Nora: You just said taint.

Me: No, I said paint.

Nora: Oh, ok.  What does taint mean?

Me: (thinking that I don’t want to explain a tainted woman) Nothing really.

Nora: Isn’t that where you put the gas in the van?

Me: No, that is TANK.

Nora: Oh, I thought it was taint.

And so our lives go on as she learns to carefully pronounce words in English.  I distinctly remember the Colombians laughing at my Spanish.  I’m sure I had some doozies as well.  Later today she asked if I wanted to watch a movie with her. Sure. 

Nora:  How about Robin Hoove?

Me: What?

Nora: Robin Hoove…. you know with the wolf and the chicken.

Me: Oh!  You mean Robin Hood, and he’s a fox.

Nora: Hey, just like my book I read Sox the Fox!

Me: Yep! 

Nora: Can we start Robin Hoove now?

Her words make me laugh over and over again.  And the word Congratulations has lots of syllables.  Too many to remember sometimes. 

Later I asked her to pause the movie so we could eat dinner.  She replied, “Yes, man.” 

Me: What?

Nora: Yes, man.  I learned that on a Focus on a Famly story.  The boy kept saying “Yes, man” to his mom.  She said it was good matters. (manners……)

Me: It is actually, “Yes, Ma’am.”

Nora: What is?

Me: Yes, Man is supposed to be Yes Ma’am.

Nora: Oh.  I wondered why he was calling him mom a man.

And later again, we were in my bedroom looking for matches to sterilize a needle….

Nora: Did you look under the covers?

Me: No, why would I keep matches under the covers?

Nora: I seen them there before.

Me: YOU DID?  (Reflecting back 15 years ago when Larisa tried burning the house down by lighting matches in our bed!) Who’s bed were they in?

Nora: What do you mean bed?

Me: You know what a bed is.

Nora: Why would you keep matches in a bed?

Me: That’s what I want to know.   (She stares at me like I’m stupid.)

Nora: (Exasperated) Look under the covers in your bathroom…. I seen the matches there.

AHA!  Cupboards = covers.  Good grief!

The English language is a beast.

The Old has become New

Remember back in April when I spent all my birthday money at Goodwill on 50% off day with visions of a shabby chic backyard?  Well, it is slowly materializing!  Finally!  I found this top from a girl’s bedroom set… maybe from the bed or a desk hutch… and I could envision a garden shelf dealie to stack my pots and hang my tools.

Then I looked for MONTHS for a bottom piece to store my dirt and fertilizer and turtle kneeling pad.  I think it was in August or September that I happened on this gem at Goodwill… on another 50% off day!  Sweet mother of baby Jesus!  It was perfect.  The guy at the store told me that it came in from a monastery full of religious books all in Chinese.  So half of the finished product was in the ministry.  :o) 

After much painting and sanding and hammering 1×4′s on the back so it doesn’t fall and kill a small child or dog… it is finished!  My husband took one look at the finished product and asked, “So you had all that junk?”  Nice, eh?  Yes, I did… and one man’s junk is his wife’s treasure.  I actually will use the junk, well, most of it.  The ceramic butterfly in the center was handmade by my six-year-old self in Renton, Washington in a ceramics class at a neighbor’s house.  The rest is truly junk.  Not the butterfly.

We did have a near catastrophe whilst waiting for the 1×4′s to be nailed on the back.  I had it set up in the middle of our back porch… clearly capable of falling and killing a small child or dog.  The wind whipped up a gale to behold and knocked the top right off.  It fell backwards, hit the NEW, glass patio table, got a big bash-in on the back piece and fell to the ground.  Shoot.  I put the big tin plate on the top shelf in front of the bash-in evidence.  All is well now.  Why would anyone need this in their yard, you ask?  Because now my gardening gloves won’t get chewed and buried by the dogs.  That’s really what this was all about…. me having to repeatedly replace my flimsy gardening gloves from the dollar store.  See, all is well now. (I have since planted those violas in those six pots in the little green stand on the right.  They are darling.)

Adoption Art Auction

My mother is an amazing artist who paints in oils.  She has sold hundreds of paintings through the years.  She has donated two paintings to help raise some of our adoption funds.  They are up for auction for a week over at my adoption blog: www.BagsForZaza.wordpress.com   Please go take a gander and bid to help bring our darling Nora home.

Here is one of the paintings:

Thank you!

Home Again Home Again (too tired to jiggety-jig)

Yes, I’m home.  Home and tired.  Tired and glad to be home.  Why did I think that I could do 3 weeks on the west coast, 2 days at home, 4 days camping, one day at home, 10 days at a cabin in the woods, then two days of homeschool convention….. in a row???  I’m so tired even I’M eating cereal for dinner.  Usually that’s reserved for those who can’t cook.

My calendar is basically empty until school starts the end of August… with a few exceptions…. luncheons with several friends whom I’ve neglected in the past months…. two homeschool planning meetings…. and a five-day visit from a college friend with her family.  That is pretty empty for me.  With all those empty boxes on the calendar… (you knew I couldn’t sit still!).. I’ve decided the walls in the kitchen, family room, downstairs hall, upstairs hall and loft need a fresh coat of paint.  Really.  They are quite disgusting.  They were white five years ago.  Mr. Clean Magic Eraser has worn through to the gray layer of sheet rock.  It’s time.  And I have all these willing slaves helpers lying around.  Perfect!

Since I’m planning on painting… why not redecorate too???  I’m not buying new furniture, although I would love to, let’s move all this heavy furniture around and around a few times.  Just for fun!  I do want to add some color to the family/kitchen area.  And I’ve never done cute valances in the family room.  I’m thinking paint, fabric, pillow forms….maybe some framed Greek ocean photos… and I’ll have a new oasis for under $150. 

I already have “before” pictures taken.  So I’ll keep you up on the transformation of the Crosby’s drab living situation. 

On your marks.  Get set.  GO!

Superbowl Sunday

Not what you’re thinking.  I’ve been painting Zaza’s tea table and chairs since I got up this morning.  Holy Guacamole, this takes a long time!!!  I started a week ago!  I’ve done at least two coats of paint on every color…. five coats on yellow the infamous see-though color.  And I’ve gone back and touched up everywhere paint appeared in the incorrect places.  Whew.  I have to re-do the teeny white lines in between the pink and green squares under the table top… and THEN I’M READY!!!

Ready for what, you ask?… swirlies and roses and polka-dots and checkers and butterflies and more polka-dots.  I just can’t decide what to do! I’ve printed about 16 pages of pictures of painted table and chair sets, but I can’t decide.  I’m usually not this bad… but alas, the game is starting and we are off to a friend’s house to eat and sit in the jacuzzi and yes, I think there’s a football game on.  I’m not real big on the Superbowl.  I did watch last year when the Cardinals played… being the home team and all.  But the previous Superbowl game I watched was Superbowl XVII.  You figure it out!!!

Yoga

Tonight my daughter laid on the floor, tummy down, and proceeded to raise her shoulders up as far as her arms would push.  Her hips stayed down and she was peering at the ceiling behind her back.  A graceful J curve.  (Position #7 on the chart above.) #2 son notices the “salutation to the sun” position and asks, “Are you doing yoga?”  She replies, “No, I’m just stretching my stomach.”  #1 son adds, “Isn’t yoga a religion?”  “No,” answers my daughter, “that’s Yoda!”

That’s all I have for you tonight…. I’m busy painting Zaza’s tea table and blast it all, I need lighter pink!!!!  This pepto bismal color is no good!

It’s Friday Night and the Feeling’s Right

Relief.  Resting.  Exhaustion.  Tiredness. SO glad it’s Friday night.  This week was packed full of activities, as per usual at our house, but when you throw in a bit of coughing and sickness, it is so tiring.  Again, I’m glad it’s over.  I don’t have a thing to do for two days.

Our homestudy update meeting went well. 

I spoke at a MOPS group on Thursday and that went well.

We started a new unit for the boys on Colombia and that went well.

Many of our media drive items sold on eBay this week and that went REALLY well.

(Is anyone else seeing a trend here?)

But the most exciting trivial news for me personally is that I FINALLY found a second little wooden chair for Zaza’s tea party table.  I’ve been looking for one for months.  I sauntered into a second-hand store on a whim and there it sat, shining its happy yellow self at me.  Yes, it needs to be sanded and primed to get caught up with its sister chair and accompanying table.  I’ve been saving pictures of darling hand-painted furniture for inspiration.  I’ve often thought that I would love to paint children’s furniture as a hobby/money-maker… but alas, I’m too busy momentarily.  Maybe when the kids are gone…. but then I’ll be painting the furniture for the grandkids.  So much for money-making.  Here are a few ditties that I love.  I can’t wait to get started, but it will most likely be after Christmas.

 

 

Good Grief! Where did this week go????

Just so you know, I haven’t been watching soap operas (we don’t even have TV) or eating bon bons (maybe that would have helped!)  This week has been one long blur of activity and busy-ness.  On Monday morning I figured out that school starts in one week.  Homeschooling, that is.  That’s when my life gets a schedule and free time is minimal.  The week before school starts is usually spent getting everyone’s books straight, cleaning the book shelves, sharpening the pencils (really!), testing all the felt pens and throwing away the bloopers, etc.  BUT, on Monday morning I also figured out that it was the last week of “freedom” to get stuff done around the house that hasn’t been done for….. well… some of them FOUR years.  (Sad and disgusting, I know.)  So I made a TO-DO list for my unsuspecting family.  Here it is:

 And There’s my hubby too… on the fridge.

The list had more than 50 items to be done and on Monday alone we finished over 25!  I was thrilled and exhausted.  We have slowly accomplished more of them as the week has drawn out.  The ones that are left require my husband to help…. or a task that I’m not exactly sure how to handle.  Then if cleaning and painting and wiping weren’t keeping me busy enough, my book came back for me to proofread!

So that was another day of not getting ready for school OR checking off items on the TO-DO list, but I’m glad that task is over.  I’m officially done with my part of Laughing in the Midst of Marriage.  It’s ETA is Mid September, I think.  I haven’t actually heard a date, but I saw on www.christianbook.com that it is pre-selling with a Sept. date for shipping.  Cool!

So THAT is why I haven’t blogged since Monday.  It’s not that I stopped having crazy things happen to me, or that I didn’t have strange stories to tell.  B~U~S~Y with a capital B.

Painting Again

Today I got ambitious and sanded and started painting Zaza’s bedside table.  As some of you know, I painted her canopy bed purple… it’s darling.  So I did the bedside table white with purple drawers.  I’ll post a photo when it’s done.  Zaza’s room is slowly but surely coming together.  It seems like it’s taken forever because IT HAS!  I painted the walls yellow over two years ago.  They already need to be touched up from the boys playing in there.  (sheesh)  A clear and empty room is so tempting for boys with a car mat and a million Hot Wheels.

Another family who has worked with the same agency as us, Gladney, returned from Colombia yesterday with their two little bambinos.  I have enjoyed following their blog because it’s the most current information from Colombia… with pictures to ease my curious heart.  Here is their link if you want to have a peak:  http://colombiantortoise.wordpress.com/  Their daughter could be my niece, Katelyn’s, Colombian twin sister.  It’s amazing how much these two little girls look alike!  Anyway, enjoy, you know, if you have time to spend reading blogs. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Donated Oil Painting for our Adoption

 Detail

 Detail

“Home to the Hearth”

A local artist has donated this beautiful 22″x28″ original oil painting on canvas with the frame so the proceeds can go toward the adoption expenses for our little girl from Colombia.  We are honored to show it to you, in hopes that you might know someone who would be interested in purchasing it. 

The artist, Grace Nikander, has painted over 300 paintings that have sold across the U.S., Canada and in Europe.  Her work has been on display in galleries in Carmel by the Sea, California and in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Grace is a native Canadian, but has been residing and painting here in the Valley of the Sun for over 20 years.

The painting, as you can see, is of a heartwarming winter eve where a small group of children and their dog are returning after a day enjoying snow activities.  This is a “warm” snow scene with the pink, orange and golden tones of the sunset reflecting off the snow and the water in the river.  The detail is amazing!  There is a church in the background, complete with steeple and cross, along with a horse in the stables behind the cozy home.  The artist’s ability to make the light shine from the windows is reminiscent to Kinkade’s paintings. 

In galleries, this piece of art would sell for $1,200.  The minimum bid is set at $600, and will be sold to the highest bidder.  All the proceeds go toward the adoption. Shipping is free.  We will be accepting bids at rixgal@cox.net until April 10, 2008.  Please pass this link to anyone who is an art lover and has a heart for orphans. 

Thank you for helping us bring Zaza home!  Rick and Linda

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