Princess Ballerina

She's in a dancing mood a lot, our princess the ballerina!


Is it a phase?


She is a girl, you know, my eldest reminded me.


That explains why she picks what she wears. And that must also be why she adds a graceful twirl, standing on one foot, in the middle of tossing a ball! Even at the supermarket, when the mood strikes, she's poised to spin around... and dance away!


Without trying, our li'l girl already has some "princess" (means pink, by her definition) knick-knacks. Not including more stuff now she will try and convince me to get, when something and it need not be princessy catches her eye: "Can we buy it? Please! Pretty please!" !


See how precocious she can be, and cheeky, too.


"My (own) JUNK drawer?!", she asked me, wide-eyed -- when I told her that the bottom drawer in the kitchen I had cleaned out, could be hers for her knick-knacks. The drawer she liked to rifle through anyway. 


Yes to her NEAT drawer. No, I've not got to our other messes that will need more massive decluttering. 


Honestly, most days I just want to say good night to yet another busy day, after being on my feet constantly with the chores and children, and school and activities/projects for the older two. And especially with my toothache not gone away yet after the dentist re-treated an old rootcanaled tooth, that I don't want to have to take it to the next level. 


But how can I not oblige, when called on by Her Highness to "Dance with me, let's dance!"? 


For that quiet moment to step back a little.


Our pirouetting princess turned 2 1/2 last month.  I'm hoping a "princess" sleeping bag she asked to have will encourage her to go down for that one and only nap she's been refusing for more and more days in a row now. She's a bundle of energy and loads of fun! She likes to play soldiers with her second big brother who plays stuffed animals with her. She also likes to help the oldest feed the fishes and he gives her a piggyback ride. That leaves their dad to play princess with her, besides me, who also plays school with her loving to be engaged constantly. And keeping me on my feet and toes also! 

Pray for Japan

After news broke of the massive earthquake and tsunami, I've been thinking of my friend Stardust, not sure where in Japan she and her loved ones live.

God watch over you guys and keep you safe! Hear from you soon!*

Praying for God's protection on Japan and the places with tsunami warnings and alerts.

***

*Update: 

Glad to hear Stardust is well! Take good care, my friend, you, Bear, and Breadcrumbs, and your bro also... stay safe, amen!

Let's be keeping the people and country of Japan in prayer still.

A Blogher blogger has compiled a list of funds here.

Think safety first

Some recent happenings on our end that made me not want to take safety for granted... 


Police have arrested the man who planted the backpack bomb along the route of the Martin Luther King Jr Day march in downtown Spokane. Imagine the deadly impact had city workers not been quick enough to alert the authorities to the ordinary-looking backpack, for the march to be re-routed in time.  


We finally got our first snow day in two winters! Not that the other winterstorms this season were not major.  But so good to know that safety still ranked up there. We didn't drive out in the blizzard and white-out conditions.  Our earlier run-in with ice on a clear day has also made me more conscious about driving slowly and braking early whenever there is snow, slush, ice, sleet, fog or just rain.


In another incident, a total stranger pounced on me with a "BOO!", when my back was turned, buckling the youngest up at a public carpark. It was after dinner, and the 20+ looking gal said she wanted to wake me up for my drive back!  I didn't think that was funny though, it gave me more like a MINI HEART ATTACK + *COLD SWEAT*! The wake-up part for me was the need to watch our backs, and vary my routine while outside waiting with the youngest or younger two for her brothers to be done with their afterschool activities.


Separately, my two boys had their too-close-for-comfort encounters, like being put in a headlock, and plowed to the ground while waiting to take the schoolbus home. The packed schoolbus, I'm glad something is being done about that, as it does save me some to-ing and fro-ing. But it is not the only reason why my sons like me to drive them. They have their rough days and tough moments. 


The schoolmate who picked on my younger boy in the last schoolyear, threatened to do a particular dangerous act to him this time. My elder boy was made aware of how real something like this could be from another incident when a child he asked over to play made slashes on our lounge chair with a pocket knife, that was the parents' gift to her but they denied it. Sigh!


Kids will be kids, but sometimes it could be a fine line between having fun and playing with fire.  My own children are not exempted from us having to tell and remind them again and again to check their actions, the importance of the golden rule, and to play safely. Yet only so much we can do, and pray and hope they'll do the sensible thing -- to keep themselves and others out of danger, including to walk away from it.  As a mom, I love to see my children playing nicely with their friends, and think you do, too.