MayaTimes #21

Last Violin Lesson

Maya had her last violin lesson of the summer and is off until school starts in September. She'll be leaving for Wisconsin next week which means it will be her Grandma's responsibility to make sure she does her practice every day. I would recommend not allowing her to watch Sponge Bob on the Cartoon Network until she has done her practice but I'll leave that up to Grandma. I remember when I was little and she had promised us M&Ms if we did our practice only to find out after the practice that Cory had already eaten the entire bag. It's that kind of thing that can engender some real trust issues later on in life...

Cleaning the Room

We went ahead and started cleaning Maya's room this afternoon and it was a sight to behold. We threw out five garbage bags full of trash. It was like nothing we'd ever seen.

Uncle Sven's Comics

This summer in an effort to elevate some of the drudgery of watching over a three month old, Maya and I have been taking mid afternoon trips to Uncle Sven's, the local comic book store on Saint Clair, to break up the afternoon. Maya has been getting quite a few comics as of late - I've noticed since I'm the one who has had to pay for them. So as is sometimes my nature, I had to ask myself, "What exactly am I getting out of this deal?" We came up with the idea that from now on Maya will perform some kind of tasks (primarily based around making my life easier in some way) and after completion of said tasks will then be rewarded with comics from Uncle Sven's. Now all we have to do is come up with tasks. Any ideas?

I know Grandma is going to suggest keeping her room clean but there are some things in life that cold hard experience has taught us will never be - getting troops out of Iraq, replacing the internal combustion engine, and keeping Maya's room clean - all noble hopes, yet reality will not yield.

Reminder

The Ladies

Computer games

Here Maya is showing Annah how to play computer games. From the picture I'm guessing Annah is not really getting the hang of things since her face doesn't display the same trance like expression as that of her sister.

Maya & Annah in the pool

Almost Goal

Team England

Final soccer game

The final game of the year ended in a 1-1 tie.

Working on her dives

Fishing

Here she is catching what will one day grow up and be a catfish.

Peaches

Yesterday Zaheeda was making a fruit salad when I happened to notice she was putting canned peaches in what was up until then a nice fresh fruit salad with strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe and bananas - really not the kind of dish that was asking for some slimy old canned peaches. So I said, "Hey, don't put canned peaches in that." She got mad and started taking the peaches out one by one and throwing them back towards the can. I don't know, but I suspect she needs to do a little more yoga or something, we can't have people chucking peaches around the house.

New Guyana viewers

We're happy to say that Auntie Waheeda and family finally got their computer hooked up and are now loyal readers of the blog. Now all we have to do is solve this bandwidth problem so we can get Skype working seamlessly and we'll be all set.

Soccer Game

Team England (Maya's team) took on Team Italy tonight and beat them 3-1. One more game next next week and the soccer season is done.

Flower

Talkin' to Annah in bed

Swimming

I'm working on a swimming movie but just haven't had much time... I don't know when I'll get it done but there is some nice footage of Maya taking Annah swimming.

Bike Ride

Went for a bike ride yesterday and it was enjoyable for the first half, primarily due to a swift wind at our backs. Unfortunately we had to ride back and Maya was forced to ride straight into the unforgiving headwind. We weren't sure if she was going to make it across the Mendota Bridge because given her wafer thin physique she succumbs to the wind like a butterfly on a drafty day.

New refrigerator

After a lot of complaints from visitors (namely Maya's Grandpa) that our refrigerator is always crammed full, we finally broke down and got a new one - and it is big. We can refrigerate pretty much anything and everything now. We weren't sure the delivery guys were going to be able to get it through the door but after removing the freezer drawer they managed to squeeze it into the kitchen. The daycare requires we have a lot of food on hand and now when we get back from Sam's it can all go right in the fridge:-)

Yoga

Zaheeda went to a yoga class today as a way to experience peace and serenity. She will undoubtedly experience this peace too because I am watching the girls while she is away. If I want peace and tranquility I guess I'll have to lock them in the closet and go sit in the garage.

Mannequins

Maya watched this episode of Doctor Who where all the mannequins came to life and started killing people - ever since she finds them creepy and a little scary. Here she is with her back to a couple of them with the full knowledge that they could attack her at any moment.