What Can I Say?

The girl's a musical genius. No seriously...she did very well, and was quite pleased with herself even after her slip ups. She told me she was nervous, which surprised me. I think next time she will want to practice more.

I really like her new teacher. Her old teacher did not have high expectations of her students and it showed in her recitals. This recital was very different.

Amanda's new teacher gives her difficult pieces and Amanda rises to the challenge. A much better fit.





This is her new teacher Azusa. I think she is a very talented teacher and would recommend her to anyone.

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Amanda’s Fairy Garden

Amanda’s been a little fascinated with Fairies these days.
Unbeknownst to me, she’s been leaving notes under her pillow for the fairies and they were not replying. I explained that without a tooth or a reason, the fairies will not visit.

So we pulled out a Fairy Book she got last Christmas and we decided to create a fairy garden to attract them to our home.
We went to Target, bought some flowers, a large aluminum pan, some fish tank ornaments, and some potting soil.

She is so proud of the way it came out. Take it away, Amanda Shenkman...

Check out Amanda's first YouTube Video Clip

She is now working on making some clothes so that the fairies won't get cold.

The Fairies' CafeThe Fairies' Sleeping Area

The Finished Product

I love this girl!!!

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Twilight Book Purse in the making

I bought the Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga for my niece Andrea last Christmas. She loved it. I read the book with my book club, so I can appreciate why she was so crazy for it. I on the other hand did not care for it at all, and Bella made me want to scream. I hope most young readers did not find her to be a

Anyway, I think it would be fantastic to make her a SmartGirl Twilight Purse. I ordered the book today, so hopefully I will be working on it by Tuesday.

Here is a SmartGirl's Twilight review that I love.


SisterSalad YouTube Channel

I cannot wait to get started on this purse. Thanks Missy for the idea!

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Painful Expectations

I told Amanda we were off to buy her school shoes and backpack for the new school year. She was very excited for she had her shoes picked out already. She wanted the Girls' Twinkle Toes: Shuffles - Glitterazzi. I was cool with her pick, unfortunately they slid off her foot when she walked and the smaller size was too tight. The pain began. She cried and begged me to buy them anyway. Every pair I would pull out, she would tell me how she hated them. I found her a cute pair that had some of the same qualities, but she still did not like them because they did not have scull and crossbones on them. Why was my 8 year-old into scull and crossbones was beyond me. After about 30 minutes of threatening to not buy any shoes, she agreed to try on the pair I thought would work. She liked them in the end. We even found laces with scull and crossbones on them.
How cute are these?

Well the pain did not end.

Amanda has to carry a lot of books to school along with her lunch box. Plus she rides a bus. With that in mind we needed to get her a backpack on rollers. Target had nothing left on wheels that did not have a Disney character on it. So off to the mall we went. After seeing all the cool messenger bags, Amanda could not and would not find a backpack she likes. Now mind you...Amanda weights nothing and thinks she can carry all her books over her shoulder. Walking in and out of stores through out the mall, she is trying to convince me she can carry a heavy bag. The fighting, pleating and crying begins. I even showed her a Roxy backpack on rollers at Nordstrome's, that any girl would love. She stubbornly did not want it.

I now have no patience, I'm 8 weeks out from my surgery and I give up. I walk from one side of the mall to the other where we are parked, with Amanda behind me crying and pleading for me to buy her a messenger bag. I can't give in now because she brought it to such a crazy level.

On our way out I point out a regular backpack that would work and how ridiculous she is behaving. She looks at it and said OK. I try and explain to her that this process should be fun not painful and she starts crying that she feels bad for fighting with me. She tells me that she just felt disappointment and could not help herself. She tell me she does not want to act like that but she felt out of control and just wanted her way without thinking. It amazes me how she can look at herself. Many adults cannot critique themselves when it comes to behavior. I think she truly understood how unreasonable she as acting. A painful experience became quite a learning experience.

Well we purchased the backpack I liked and she ended up loving it too. It is made from organic cotton so she thinks that's way cool. She did spent the rest of the day apologizing for her behavior and we had good conversations about expectations.

Next year, I will begin shopping early enough so that if she behaves badly we can just leave. And if I am lucky, she will be a little more mature and not be so unreasonable. One can hope.

Tuesday morning I packed up her lunch and I forgot the pain. .
I am so proud and happy of my little 3rd grader.

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Grandpop Marvin would be proud

I helped by drawing the outline. It was tough to only help when she asked for it. I kept my controlling impulsive to a minimum.

Amanda's very excited to share it when her grandfather comes to visit. He gave Amanda her very first painting lesson during a visit. It really came out great. I'm very proud of her.

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Summer Reading

This summer Amanda who loves to read and reads well, showed no interest in reading. Well...until this morning. I woke up to find her at the kitchen table reading. I gave her breakfast and off to a cozy corner on the sofa she went. It is now 11:00 and she hasn't moved. Thank G-d!I love how she piled the pillows to keep her toesies warm. Oh yeah! She is reading Gilda Joyce Psychic Investigator by Jennifer Allison. Must be good!

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Watch out Shakira

I am so happy that Amanda got to go to a great camp this summer.

Because I knew I was spending my summer recovering, I could not enroll Amanda in her usual summer fun. She usually attends camps at Lion Country Safari, The Children's Science Museum, and the Palm Beach Zoo. I knew I was not going to be able to drive her all over the place so I had to find a place that had a full day and was close enough for Ben to drop off in the morning and pick up at the end of the day.

I discovered Camp Fusion last year. Because I had a bad experience at another full day public school camp and I wasn't sure Amanda would like attending a camp where she did not know anyone, I did not enroll her.

Well this summer I had no choice. I went over to the school and met with the director and toured the facility. I was very impressed with the program and what it was offering. The camp was at a Middle School and run by middle school teachers that are off during the summer. A dance teacher, a music teacher, a drama teacher, a PE teacher and even a science teacher were giving quality instruction while incorporating a lot of fun. I then told a couple of my friends and next thing you know, the school is packed with Wellington kids that Amanda knew.

Amanda woke up every morning excited to go to camp. If I had to struggle with her everyday over going and knowing she was not having fun, I would have had a horrible summer recovery.

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