mayabear: December 2011

Dec 31, 2011

Goodbye 2011

2011 has been really good for a very few, okay for some people, but very sad for many.

As we say goodbye to this year, let's wish for a brighter and peaceful new year.

Let's be grateful. Always.

A year in review through a four year old's eyes:

(click on each one to read)

Lolo got sick and recovered.

I got eyeglasses to help me see better.

Lolo turned 75. Wow. He's like 70 years older than me.

After two years, I left my preschool to start a new chapter in my life.

Our trip to Sequoia National Park.

Mom's trip to the Philippines.

The new chapter in my life: Kindergarten!

Just lots of stuff not going well in the world.

High winds in SoCal that caused damages in surrounding cities.

I turned 5.

My first volunteer experience serving the needy.

My uncle joining the police force.

~

SWINGING OUT OF 2011...

...AND SWINGING INTO 2012!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Congratulations Uncle!

My uncle graduated from the police academy.

Congratulations Uncle! We're proud of you!

Dec 27, 2011

We hiked at Griffith Park today. Long walks aren't for me. But give me rocks to climb, crevices to squeeze into, hills to go up on, things to balance on or swing on, and dry flood beds on the ground to jump in, I'm in!

This is Bobo. We met him on the trail. A real nice doggy.

I didn't want to go because I wanted to climb the steep hill again. Mom said no. She's no fun sometimes.

This is another stand-off. My parents wanted to turn around, but I wanted to keep going up, up, up. You know why?

Because we're almost at the top! We're really close. But they coaxed me down with gummy fruit.

Sheesh. On the way down, I was running fast and BAM! I fell on the gravel and scraped my knee a little. Part of being a rough and tumble kind of girl, I guess.

This is a nice cool walk beneath the trees. See my right leg with the pant leg up hip-hop style? That's my injured knee, but I keep walking. No big deal.

Dec 26, 2011

Lab Experiment

All morning, I was bugging my mom to help me with this lab kit I got for Christmas from my cousin Danielle (Thanks!). She finally did and wow and the experiments were cool.

Our first experiment is a mini lava lamp. My mom read the instructions to me and showed me that water and oil don't mix. She proceeded to mix the two and dropped a fizzy tablet in there.

Oooooh, magenta bubbles started rising. It was so pretty.

Shake, shake, shake. Tiny bubbles uniting into a big blob.

Next one is an experiment called Garbled Marbles. We soaked these tiny little beads that are polyacrylamide polymer gel. Yeah. Go ahead Google it.

These little guys are like sponges that belongs to a class of molecules called "superabsorbents". Hey, my diaper when I was a baby was sort of like that.... Anyway, after a couple of hours, the tiny beads grew into these gorgeous bouncy balls. Yes, they do bounce. And yes, they do look like boba/tapioca, but no, you don't eat them.

Next up is Gravi Goo. This experiment involves tossing the liquidy substance between two cups for a few minutes after we mixed water and this powdery stuff. My mom mixed in the Garbled Marbles to give it some interest. After a while, the goop just crawls by itself out of the cup. Its molecules are hooked on to each other so they pull each other. Very goopy, but cool experiment. I love this stuff!

Cooking up a storm (sort of)

My poor daddy has been sick all week. Sore throat, fever, not sleeping well...the works. He wasn't eating well either. The worst of it was on Christmas day. He went to urgent care on Christmas morning while we had family over. He was pretty much sleeping all day, a much needed rest with the help of Codeine. This morning he sounded like Kermit the Frog which was funny, but he's on his way to recovery. My mom cooked chicken noodle soup and corn bread.

She also made ham the way Lolo made his for them. It reminds her of the food when they were welcoming the new years in the Philippines. Hopefully, daddy will get better soon so he can eat everything again.

Christmas 2011

Auntie Rissa hosted the Christmas party this year.

Lots of food brought in by everyone.

Family mingling around.

And telling stories.

Here's the (police) line up for the evening. All three are guilty of giggling and running around.

Laughter.

My gorgeous aunties (my mom's cousins) performing a belly dancing number with a holiday twist.

Here's are their kids (my cousins) performing a very cool version of "Baby, it's cold outside." They figured that since they can't beat their moms in this Christmas competition, they better just sing something cool. And it was.

From left to right: Mike, Vanessa, Nicole, Arianna, Danielle, Dana, Mariel, and Kat.

Family picture taking.

The three of us.

Peace, y'all.

I hope you had a nice time with your families however you celebrate the holidays.

See you next year!

Dec 24, 2011

Holiday 2011

Wishing everyone a peaceful holiday season and a new year filled with hope and abundant blessings!

Dec 23, 2011

Cousin and me

Today, my cousin Kayla and I hung out. Guess what we got together?

We got our ears pierced and we got earrings!!

We both didn't cry, but I later told my mom that I cried "inside".

Oooh, did you hear that? I think I just heard my mom's heart break into a few pieces.

Dec 17, 2011

Caring for Others

We woke up early today to help my daddy's work distribute care packages to the homeless at Union Station Homeless Services in Pasadena.

The care packages had toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoos, deodorants, combs, snacks, etc.

Too many times, we take things for granted. The littlest things that we don't think about like daily supplies mean a lot to these people.

It's nice to be able to help even if it's just a little bit. It shows someone in need that we care.

****************************************

Every year, my family donates to a couple of charities. Usually, one local and one international. This year, we donated to the following organizations:

Midnight Mission
http://www.midnightmission.org/index.asp
This organization in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles provides several services to the homeless and people in need such as recovery services, educational training, project safe sleep, employment center, and family housing. Their mission statement:

To offer a bridge to self-sufficiency for homeless
people through counseling, education, training and job placement.
To make available the necessities of life to homeless people: food, shelter, clothing, personal hygiene needs, and medical care.
To offer the 12-step approach to recovery.
To serve homeless people with empathy and respect, without sermonizing.
To provide for the homeless as an independent social service agency.

Picture courtesy of Midnight Mission

Heifer International
http://www.heifer.org/
For over 65 years, this organization helps people obtain a sustainable source of food and income all over the world. My mom and I chose to help buy a goat for a family this year. The gift of a dairy goat can supply a family with up to several quarts of nutritious milk a day - a ton of milk a year. Extra milk can be sold or used to make cheese, butter or yogurt. Families learn to use goat manure to fertilize gardens. Cool huh?

Picture courtesy of Heifer International

Dec 14, 2011

Winter Celebration Performance

Our school had the Winter Celebration Performance tonight.

Family and friends arriving.

Ta-dah! Here we are: the kindergarten classes combined to provide you smashing entertainment for the evening. There were four group performances from various grades.

We were the second group to perform.

That's my teacher Ms. Logsdon in the front leading us.

Do you see me? I'm the shortest one in front. =)

We performed the following songs:

"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"

"Winter Wonderland"

"Jingle Bells"

and of course,

"The Chipmunks Song"

My lolo and lola enjoyed our performance. I joined them afterwards in the audience to watch the rest of the show. We had a nice time.

Dec 11, 2011

Beads

I'm making my Christmas presents this year.

First I have to pick the best pendant for you.

Then I pick the color and bead pattern.

There are too many bead styles and color to pick from sometimes.

It also requires fine manual dexterity stringing the smaller beads.

I'm almost done. Oh you want one? Go ahead put in your order.

Dec 4, 2011

Birthday Fun Day at Kidspace Museum

This weekend, I celebrated my 5th birthday with friends and family at Kidspace Museum.

Mommy writing on the cake.

Celebration!

I love the balloon lady because...

...she made me a a ginormous balloon cupcake hat!

We got a visit from Ozzy, a bearded dragon.

He actually feels nice.

We also got a visit from another Kidspace Museum resident...

named Rosie. She's a tarantula. Cool huh?

My friends were intrigued by Rosie and had lots of questions about her.

Moms, dads, and grandparents eating and watching the activities unfold.

The parachute activity was a lot of fun.

I got to sit in the middle. Whoo-hoo!

Not sure what I was doing here, but looks like I'm having fun.

Then we did limbo rock.

Really, how low can you go? Hahaha!

My cousin Kayla with her giant flower balloon.

Science time!

We put our goggles on and started stirring a mysterious substance that turned to....

slime! Nice!

How about a puppet show?

More activities. This one is cool. After we colored the bowl and the fish, we cut, folded, and glued it on the end of a pencil. Then we held the pencil between our the palm of our hands below the paper and started spinning like we're rubbing your hands together. As the paper flipped around rapidly, the bowl and the fish start to look like they're one drawing. Paper animation!