Monday, February 24, 2014

Being a MoM

Painting  nails is not my kind of thing but it's one of those things that I like doing with my little lady, Ms. Burrito.  If it makes her happy, it makes me happy too.  We seldom paint our nails, only when there's special occasion.  I painted her nails last Christmas, she asked me to because she has to play piano in the church.  I told her, nobody will see your nails and she said, "I know but it makes me feel good to put my fingers on top of the piano when it is newly painted".  Okay young lady, you got a point lol.  
Being a Mom, you have to be versatile, you have to learn things that you didn't normally do when you were still single.  It can be overwhelming but at the end of the day, you are still contented especially when you see the smiles on your children's face.  No high paying job can top  that, the feeling of being  a Mom, the feeling of being appreciated of what you do, and the feeling of being loved-back!

Sunday, February 23, 2014

School of Music


We took our daughter to  Doquesne University last Saturday so she could try out their  music  program.  My husband said that it was  the Asian's place as w have seen so many Korean and  Chinese children taking  music lessons.  There were so many cool instruments that we saw, not sure though if there is cool snark from those who are taking guitar lessons but I am sure that they have one.  The founder of the program was very impressed  of  our daughter's ability when we told her that she's been  only  learning piano for over a year.  She said that her level is in fourth year level already.


Monday, February 17, 2014

Happy Birthday Daddy

Dear Daddy,

As you celebrate your birthday, here are some words to describe how blessed we are to have you!
Smart, Intelligent, and Witty
Supportive
travel buddy
Goofy,  funny, and silly.
A great sport.
Not only you are a great father, you are also a great son.
A great companion
Adventurous, Awesome, Outstanding!
Challenging
A great motivator
A big kid at heart
You will always be the number one Dad in our hearts!

WE LOVE YOU!

Friday, February 14, 2014

Toy Story Costume #Jessie-the-Cowgirl

My daughter was so thrilled when we went to Disney World a couple of years ago, she got to  walk around with the Woody mascot lol.  Imagine how excited she was when I told her that she is getting a  Jesse the Cowgirl costume  from the official toy story website.

So without further ado, I am  presenting Rylie errrr.. Jessie the cowgirl from Toy Story.  My son was like "I want  a Woody Costume too!"  I told him that I  might get it for him later on.  Ahhh.... the challenge of having two kids who always wants to have what the other one has.   But anyhow, my daughter had so much fun trying on the  costume that The official Toy Story website has sent me for review.
The set included the jumpsuit with attached belt and cuffs and then  matching hat and hair bow.  I wish that the set included the boots instead of the hat since my daughter has the hat already.  I like the design but the material is too thin.  She will need to wear this on top of   a thicker clothing if she will  wear this on Halloween as it is cold in here  during those times.  The price for this set is $39.97 which I think is a bit high but then again, you can find discounted ones online.  I will be purchasing the boots for this costume  if she decide to wear this on Halloween this year.
 
Disclaimer: The author of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review. Opinions expressed is not in anyway influenced by other factors. The product/s mentioned above was provided for FREE for evaluation purposes.

Friday, February 7, 2014

10 Interesting Things About Learning Mandarin


Chinese (primarily Mandarin) is considered by many as a tough language to learn and the belief is as true as the fear people have of learning it.  So, here are 10 interesting facts about Mandarin Chinese that should get you thinking.  


I have not listed these facts as a part of supplying you with some interesting trivia. Rather, I intend to encourage you to learn the language so many people swear by the thought of learning.

1.  Mandarin might not strike you to be as romantic as the Latin languages such as French, Spanish and Italian, but believe me, it is the most widely spoken language in the world.  With about 1 billion speakers, it sits high atop the list of the most widely spoken languages.  A specific language always plays an important role in any country to co-ordinate with each other.

2. Actually, Mandarin is pretty straight forward to learn, contrary to what most people think. While we look at words like kung-fu (gōngfu in Mandarin) and tai chi Chuan (tàijíquán in Mandarin) you will be surprised to know that the language has words taken from the English language too. If you’re up for a drink, you might want to order a kěkǒu kělè (Coca Cola), a kfēi(coffee) or a wēishìjì (whiskey).

3. Unlike in English, German or French, you do not need to memorise verb conjugation’. Meaning, you do not need to wrack your brains see-sawing between “see/saw/seen”, just a simple word “kan” will do.

4. You don’t have to be conscious of noun declensions. You do not really need to worry about singular and plural noun forms while speaking Mandarin.

5. Just about everything is simplified, the numbering system, tenses, prepositions, and there is no subject/verb agreement too.

6. The language contains a set of one lakhs of Chinese characters, but knowing two to three thousands of characters will enable you to go through the newspaper. Now three thousands of characters seems like an immense number, but it will be easier if you break them up and learn about ten characters a day and (with a good mnemonic system) you could learn everything you need in a year. And given the absence of grammar and a simplistic numbering system, the task in hand should not be as arduous.

7. Mandarin is a tonal language so what you speak and what the other person makes out of it entirely depends on the tone you use.  For example, tang’ and tang’, although similar words could convey two different meanings with changed tones. Tang’ with a high tone means soup and tang’ with a low tone means sugar. There are four basic tones and a fifth neutral tone in Mandarin Chinese. Master them and you will master the language.

8. Learning Mandarin could also help you in learning Japanese as both use similar characters with exactly the same meaning, although the grammar and pronunciations are different.

9. With China gradually gains a superpower status, learning Mandarin could only benefit you more rather than not. The rapidly developing Chinese market will provide plenty of opportunities to a Mandarin speaker with better man management. Moreover, China and Taiwan provide such exotic travel locations.

10. Speaking Mandarin always makes it easier to get around when the time comes to visit a Mandarin speaking destination.  Or even at a China Town near you! 
About the Author: Beth Nicholas is a professional writer for Lingos – the online language learning community dedicated to pairing language teachers and learners, and providing a digital forum for learners to interact with like-minded students.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Reaching for the Stars

My daughter took home a Smart529 form last week. Smart529 is a our state's college savings plan and they always host an essay writing contest for every students in West Virginia to participate to. I always encourage my kids top send in an entry even though the chance of winning is very slim. This gives them an avenue to express their creativity towards writing. This year's topic is about what they want ot be when they grow up. A perfect topic to have them start thinking about their future. This is a chance for them to jot down their thoughts on what they want to be. My daughter is only 8 years old so she does not much of an experience on how to write a good essay so a website like promptessay.com can really be a good help for an aspiring writer like my daughter.
The essay writing contest is dubbed as "Reaching for the Stars".  The grand prize is five thousand dollars and they can use it towards their school expenses.  We saw an update of this on TV  yesterday morning.  The contest committee said that they  don't have a lot of entry due to snow days where most schools were closed for so many days.  This prompted our daughter to start writing her entry and hopefully we could send it in before  the due date  comes.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Hobby Lobby Heaven

Hobby Lobby is the perfect place for our little crafty lady. It is right up in her alley, arts and crafts. She was so delighted seeing different stuff that are not available in Joann's Fabric store lol.  She asked "How come we never came here before".  I told her  that it is way  far from our home to be able to come here frequently.  She was surprised that I did not buy anything.  I know how to control my spending habit, that's why, wink.

She said that it feels like heaven being inside the store.  We bought her a paint set  and  the little man  chose some commando set toy.

Youth Leadership Graduation

Each year, Weirton Area Chamber of Commerce hosts a Youth Leadership for sophomore students different schools in Weirton and nearby counties...

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