Neighborhood Bike Ride

Past Emerson Elementary
Near the big house on the corner
Up close with the helmet

Hopi Elders Speak

by The Elders, Hopi Nation, Oraibi, Arizona

We have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour
Now we must go back and tell the people this is The Hour

And there are things to be considered:

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.

It is time to speak your truth.

Create your community.
Be good to each other.

And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold on to the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination.

The Elders say we must let go of the shore, and push off and into the river, keep our eyes open, and our head above the water.

See who is in there with you and Celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally.
Least of all, ourselves.

For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over.

Gather yourselves!

Banish the word "struggle" from your attitude and your vocabulary.

All that you do now must be done in a sacred manner
And in celebration.
"We are the ones we have been waiting for...."

Weekend Pics

Papas and Kids on the paddle boats at Encanto Park
Sat Darshan, Nirankaar, Kirpal, Ananda, Mangala Sadhu Sangeet Singh, Satvinder & Hari Kartar
I tried out a buying club for organic produce and have been very excited about all the pretty food we got. Locals, if you are interested: www.ourorganics.weebly.com
At the zoo: Satvinder was giving tractor rides "to Japan". Pictured here: Mangala Sadhu Sangeet Singh, Carter, Heather, Brian, & Satvinder
Satvinder held out until the very end before she asked to hold Carter. She was very pleased to have the opportunity.

In addition to baby holding, Satvinder was feeling very big today for combing her own hair and coming with me to my work with the teacher training class this morning. However, she did feel the need to clarify that she wasn't yet big enough for everything, "Just because I can comb my own hair doesn't mean I can drive a car."

I wonder if I can use that line when she's 16?

Notes

I was thinking today about how important notes were when I was a kid in middle school. Exchanging notes with friends as we passed in the hallways was a big part of our social interaction and juicy gossip. If you got a note that was folded in some fancy way then that was even cooler. And it it said "B.F.F." or "T.G.I.F" even MORE cool.

I wonder if kids even write notes anymore. They probably don't, do they? They probably just text each other. (I hang with the preschool crowd so what do I know about middle school kids these days?) I bet they text each other and I bet its mostly "LOL" and "WTF" and emoticons.

Anyways...I was thinking about notes and smiling a lot because the best notes I have ever gotten in my life are the notes I get now from Satvinder. I'm so glad to have this time where I get to be the recipient of her sweetness! Most of them have hearts or rainbows or smiling faces and they always express love. BEST. NOTES. EVER.

Delight

Things that delight Satvinder:
ice cream
playing with friends
costumes
being recognized for being "sneaky"
laughing about bodily functions
using office supplies
doing "Kindergarten work"
"throwing big parties"
the color green

and this play house that her Nonni made for her...


Satvinder has requested that if I am posting about things she likes, I also post things she does NOT like. This is what she says she does not like:

"going to bed when it is my bedtime
going to bed when it is not my bedtime
scary movies"

There you have it.

Satvinder's House

Saturday

The writing of young children is endlessly amusing to me. I love to see how they break words into sounds and figure out how to write them. Here are two samples from today.

A card for Lavi, Satvinder's friend who is having a sleepover birthday party today. I asked Satvinder to decide if she wanted to stay for the sleepover part or just go for the evening. She was all for sleeping over. All day Satvinder has been asking "Can we go now? Is it time yet? Can we go to Lavi's now?" The words on the card say "To Lavi", "From Satvinder", "I chose to have a sleepover."

I really like the picture of Cleo and Clyde, the two dogs we are watching this weekend. Plus fireworks!
This was a happy discovery for me today as I was unpacking one of Satvinder's many bags of school work (she brings home piles of things she has done at school.)

This one says "I love my mom. Some day she will come to school. I will show mi work. I will show my mom my (unknown word!). I will show my mom moom (even Satvinder doesn't know what the 'moom' word is.)" But it is so very cute!

Lots of puppy play going on this weekend. Sadly, Mangala Sadhu Sangeet and I have discovered that we are allergic to one or both of these dogs. So the puppy play has gone to mostly outdoor play. Luckily the weather is great!

Dog-Sitting

We are dog-sitting Clyde and Cleo while our friends are out of town for the weekend. It was like Christmas this morning for Satvinder, who was very excited about our guests.

Random

Satvinder displaying two buttons: a cupcake and a cute ninja. Somehow those seem perfectly appropriate for her.


Satvinder this morning before school - in our front/side yard. Lucky for us, our neighbors plant nice flowers whose seeds blow into our yard and start to grow. This yellow flowered bush (not sure what it is called) is one that just started growing of its own accord. Welcome, yellow flowered bush!

5 Year Olds are Fun!

Some of Satvinder's favorite things to do lately are read, write, add numbers, staple things, play animal care-taker or big sister, tell goofy jokes, sing to the German songs of Schnappi, and now...she likes to play card games. We play "Crazy 8's" and "Go Fish." It is really so fantastic to watch her grow and learn. She brings so much fun and joy to life. I could gush forever about how super fantastic she is.