The New Citizen Oath

Today Aanika took the oath of an official "new" citizen! (Sorry, I have no pictures). Even though she technically became a citizen on the day that our plane landed in Chicago in 2003, there was still some final paperwork that would make it official. I've procrastinated for five years with getting this taken care of but I'm so glad I didn't get it done when she was a baby. After seeing her her stand there with her right hand raised promising to protect her nation, bear arms if necessary and to be a productive citizen, it was worth it! It was even better when the officials that oversee the process complimented her on how good she did with the oath....sure wish I could have recorded it!

First snow and other stuff

SNOW!
We've gotten our first snow of the season so, of course, I had to stick Smudge out in to check it out. He wasn't too sure of it and I bet he's glad he's got a cozy house to go back into!

FAREWELL
We've had to say goodbye to a good friend recently. Vivian is a consultant friend of ours who lives in California, flies in each week and then would leave on Friday just to do it all over again on Monday. Well, we adopted her into the family and she and Miss Alex (another consultant friend) would come over one or two times a month for a home-cooked dinner and some fun on the Wii. She told us that, because of our family, she saw what she was missing in having a family of her own and that's why she resigned her position. We're sad but we wish her the best of luck in her new endeavors. Playing on the Wii will never be the same for us after having played with her! Check out the clip of her with Aanika playing Tennis.....
VIOLIN PLUCKING
Technology is a wonderful thing. Aanika has a program on the computer that she can play along with an orchestra for her at-home practicing. As her training advances she'll be able to analyze her skills with it. Very cool to say the least! The clip below is of her using it for the first time.

5 years ago today.....

Five years ago today, as we landed in Chicago with our sweet little girl, Aanika became a US Citizen!

Here she is pictured at her homecoming with Auntie Sue (holding her), Uncle Matt and Aunt Chrissy. Lots of other folks were in the background but too many to write here. We were so happy to see all of you there!

Here she is today - all grown up! I can't even begin to imagine what her life would have been like......

Little Reader

How old were YOU when you started reading? I started school when I was still four years old but I didn't start reading until first grade. Was I just behind or was that the norm back in the early 70's? I'm a bookworm now and love to read so hopefully Aanika will keep up her love of it through her life too.

Here's our little Kindergartener sounding out her words and reading a book. They have a reading log that shows how many books you've read for that month and if you fill every line you get an award of a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut with their Book It program. Boy, talk about motivation!

First Violin Lesson

Violin. Who'da thunk it? I personally have no musical ability even though I was named after the patron saint of music, St. Cecilia. My daughter on the other hand is everything artsy that I am not so I guess I'll have to live vicariously through her.

She's asked for months to be able to learn the violin and she's finally gotten her wish! She had her very first lesson with Ms. Melissa but I think little miss Aanika was sorely disappointed when all she got to do was pluck some strings with her fingers and learn proper finger and hand positions. : )

Remember, she has visions of Celtic Woman dancing on stage with her violin and she wants to be HER! (check out this link, it's awesome)

My new obsession

Confession: I'm obsessed with a person I've never met and her name is Ree. Check her out yourself at ThePioneerWoman.com.

I found her blog recently and am totally hooked! She lives on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma, is a photo nut (fabulous pics!), sounds like a hoot to know and is madly in love with her Marlboro Man.

If you're into reading and like great stories, you gotta read hers: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. I started from the very beginning and (blush) haven't gotten a thing done in my house for at least 3 days!

Here's a link to all the chapters http://thepioneerwoman.com/category/black_heelstractor_wheels/the_night_i_met_marlboro_man.

My kitty's a killer

He's a killer. That's all there is to it. After being with us for a month, I now know how he survived in the woods. I have to acknowledge that my sweet little kitty is a killer and can take out a small rodent in no time at all. This is only a toy .... yeah, it's best if I don't think about it.