Weather can't stop us!

Who says you can't go down a slide even if the weather is cold and rainy?  Maya sure can and she did exactly that the other day.  We are forced to be creative as the snow and very cold temperatures are unfortunately around the corner.  Here is Maya having fun in our not so finished basement but finished enough for a cool toy and exercise room!

Tried something new...

Well I had a vision for Maya's hair but it didn't turn out exactly how I planned.  It ended up being cute as I just love her hair pulled back.  I had fun playing and Maya did great.  It helped that Dora was on TV.  Hopefully the hair workshop this Saturday night will give me some very good hair style ideas!

Candy Anyone?

Maya had a blast this Halloween.  First she attended a Halloween party at her daycare on Friday afternoon and then trick or treated around my work.  She had a blast wearing her costume and picking out candy.  Yes, picking out candy.  Many people at my work just leave their bowl of candy at their desk for the kids to take whatever they wanted.  Thankfully Maya listened when I said "just one piece Maya". 

Here is Maya at daycare having her snack...she just drank the juice and licked the sugar off the cookie.  Nice huh?

Here Maya is with her friend and classmate Solomon.  They are just too cute together.

Like I said, Maya had a blast at my work.  She did very well too and had very good manners.
 

Today Maya attended another Halloween party at her good friend Wren's house.  She had tons of fun at the party.  The kids decorated a spider, checked at the scary snakes in the fire place, and snacked on some yummy food such as peanut butter and apple butter sandwiches while drinking a glass of bloody bug juice.  Yum!  After the party the kids went trick or treating around the neighborhood.  Maya scored another full bucket of candy.  I think we have enough candy to get us through until next Halloween.  If anyone needs some sugar, stop on by!

Shopping While Black - Social Experiment

An interesting video to say the least, one that is sure to create a unique conversation with whoever you are talking with.

This is an area that I have thinking about lately, especially as Maya gets older. We have emphasized her Ethiopian culture and plan to continue to do so, but I feel that is more for her personal interaction with the world so she knows who she is and where she has come from.

We need to start preparing her for the world as a black woman and how the world is going to react to her, which is going to be prove to be a much larger task than what we have been doing to date. To think that someone could treat Maya like the woman in the video is hard to imagine, but not that hard to believe. It is our responsibility to do our best to prepare her for when this time happens, this includes identifying role models in the black community for her to connect with, learn with and identify with.

Would love to hear others thoughts on this topic and what others are doing to prepare their children for the time when racism rears its ugly head.

How does she managed to always be so darn cute?

Maya cracked me up this weekend.  We didn't do much as far as activities but instead stayed home for most of the weekend.  Can I just say it was one of the best weekends ever?  I love spending time at home with Dave and Maya.  Here is a recap of some of the cute things Maya did over the last 2 days.

1. Push-ups -  Maya took her turn with Dave's new exercise equipment
 
2. Pretty pink ghost - what a fun game.

3. Alone time - Before heading to church, we found her sitting in her baby's high chair which Dave had to fixed later in the day.
 
4. Play date - Maya and her friend Wren had a blast playing together.  They were both dressed up as a princess with cool shades on signing some songs.

5. Puppy time - regardless of the love hate relationship, Sebastian endured some cuddle time with Maya while watching some football with daddy.

My Birthday and the Pumpkin Patch

I haven't found the time to update my blog recently as too many things have been going on.  Last week I turned another year older.  Despite being sick with a cold, I had a nice birthday.  Dave and Maya surprised me with a birthday balloon and present. 

In case my balloon looks strange to you, it is because Maya popped it soon after coming home!  It certainly was a nice gesture on their part and I loved it regardless :)

This past Saturday we visited a nearby pumpkin patch with some friends.  The weather was beautiful and the kids had a blast.  Maya enjoyed visiting the playful animals, playing the games, and of course running around!  We also managed to grab a few pumpkins to carve at our upcoming Halloween party. 

Maya's new word

Maya has a new word which she uses in almost every sentence.  We are trying to break her of this habit but it isn't easy.  Unfortunately Maya doesn't really understand what we are trying to tell her.  Even though it is a tad annoying it is hard to get too annoyed with it considering it is coming from a sweet little girl.  Here is what she likes to say these days...

"Hey Daddy...."
"Hey, hey what's is that?"
"Hey Mommy..."
"Hey I don't like that..."

Can you guess her new favorite word these days?  Yep, it is "HEY".  She begins almost sentence with it and sometimes says it 2 to 3 times in each sentence.  Patience is the key right now...patience Theresa patience...