Summer Sign Language Class

My daugther and I are taking a Sign Language class for the summer and today was our first day. We talked about ASL (American Sign Language), SEE (Signing Exact English) and one other, that I don't remember.

SEE is more for hearing people as opposed to ASL which is more of the language of the deaf.

Our homework assignment for this week is to be able to spell our first name. I'll be sure to take my camera next time and share some pictures from our class.

Menu Plan Monday

Here is our menu for the week. I am trying to get into the habit of making a different type of bean each week. This week I bought the ingredients to make Pigeon Peas. I will have to figure out how to incorporate that into my weekly menu.

1. Basil and Tomato Pasta Dish

2. Pig in the Blankets

3. Veggie Chicken Stir Fry

4. Tacos

5. Pizza

6. Spaghetti

For more menu ideas, visit The Organized Junkie!

Home Makeover Update-Blinds and a few plants

As I am working on freeing my mind of mental clutter, my view of my house is changing. I have lived in my house for 4 and 1/2 years and up until the other day, I still had paper blinds on the windows in my bedroom. As I begin to think more clearly, I realize that the house does not really reflect who I am, or who I am supposed to be rather.

So powered up my drill, went to Home Depot, and bought two sets of blinds. I'm guessing that the paper blinds used to give me somewhat of a depressed feeling, because I feel amazingly better now that I have the real ones up.

While I was there at Home Depot, I decided to get a few plants as well to put outside. For right now I have them inside the house until the Swallows leave. :-)

The state of my plants is usually an indicator of my mental state as well. We'll see how these fair.

Scripps National Spelling Bee

I LOVE to watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee. I'm not really sure why. I guess it has to do with my love for words. I often get out a piece of paper and try to spell with them. Of course by the time I get to the final round, I have no idea what they are even saying let alone how to spell it! LOL

At any rate, the Spelling Bee will be on ABC tonight beginning at 8pm EST. I'll see how many words I can use in a sentence or even perhaps find some new words for my next Boggle game. :-)

Violin Recital

Jasmine's Violin recital was this past Friday. It was supposed to be held at the park, but was moved to a church because of the rain. I am actually glad that it was moved, because on Wednesday when we went to practice at the park, it was very hard to hear her playing. I'm sure part of the problem was that fact that there was a tractor off in the distance, but still the acoustics of playing outside are very different than being in a church building.

The violin recital began with a prayer from one of the Fathers. I love this group. Who goes to a violin recital that begins with prayer?

All of the children did a beautiful job. It's so nice to watch their progress over three years, and it is so nice to watch their personalities shine through as they perform on stage.

I tried to use my digital camera to record Jasmine's duet with her violin teacher,but the recording is very choppy. If I can get it fixed, I will post it for your viewing pleasure.

It really is quite amazaing to see how much she has grown in her playing. When she first started, if I was on the phone with my girlfriend when she was practicing my girlfriend would get off the phone. Now she actually brings people to the phone to listen. :-)