Soph Singing French (Nuit de Folie)

Does it sound French? Well, maybe not.

Can she sing? Uhhhh, not really :o/

Soph listened to this song several times. I didn't know she was trying to learn the song until I played it again and this time she started singing the best she could for an English speaking, just turned 6 year old.

Christmas 2009

It's that time of year again, and as I was reading last year's Christmas letter, I was almost tempted to just change the date. Seriously, this year is very similar to last years.

We took two family vacations. 1) So. California in January to do some whale watching and visit theme parks. 2) Orlando in September where we did the whole Disney World, Epcot, Animal Kingdom park and beach tour. We had such a fabulous time, especially Sophie, that we're planning our next vacation to Orlando the first part of 2010.

Soph's Uncle Eric (from Belgium), was here in March. As usual we skied, played trivial pursuit (btw, Uncle Eric is such a good sport since these games are American geared), shopped and had stimulating conversations.

I got to see my brother Jim and his wife, Sandy in May as he had a meeting of all places in Draper, Utah. We saw them again in October for a quick visit and to spend precious time with mom. Of course, the saddest news of all and as most of you already know, my mom passed away mid-November. You can read my tribute of mom within this blog.

Aside from realizing how time flies by, I've created a public blogsite compared to the ones I created in the past. Knowing how fleeting life is, I really felt the need to stay-in-touch with family and friends the best way possible, especially because everyone is scattered all over creation. And at the same time, the blog provides a great deal of health-related matters I wish I knew when I was young that I can now pass on to Sophie at a much earlier age, or whomever else that's health minded.

Funny, I already see signs of Sophie eating healthier preferring grilled fish over fried chicken or dark chocolate versus milk chocolate, reminding me she needs to take her vitamins and other supplements so she can be healthy. It's hard to believe she will be 6 years old in 6 days. She's very mature for her age and to be quite honest reminds me of a 16 year old stuck in a 6 year old body.

Last year I volunteered at Soph's preschool and just showed up as scheduled. This year, I was relegated...lol... as a room mom for her kindergarten class planning the schedules, organizing class parties and field trips, enlisting as much help as I can from other moms, which isn't always swift and easy. Nevertheless, it's nice to have so many parents that are not only interested in their kids education but are "involved" in some form or fashion. I definitely have a greater appreciation for teachers and if there's any way I can help, I'm all for it.

Vince continues to enjoy and excel within his company. They say if you love and are passionate about something, you will succeed. Accordingly, he loves what he does and it shows, especially when the president of the company acknowledges his work in more ways than one. Yes, I'm a lucky girl :o) He travels weekly to Caremark in Arizona. I sometimes wonder why we moved to Utah?....lol. Yet, he prefers it this way as opposed to going in an office and commuting back and forth in never ending road construction traffic-ridden jams.

As you can see Vince isn't mainstream when it comes to work. I'm not mainstream when it comes to health and nutritional healing and Soph isn't a mainstream child. However, one thing that is mainstream is we wish we lived closer to family.

We want to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday filled with peace and harmony and everything pleasant and nice.

Love,

Vince, MaryAnne & Sophie

Sophie's Kids

This post is really appropriately titled "Sophie's kids." She's always saying "my kids...." thus referring to her classmates.

So, here's her Kindergarten class picture of all her "kids." Being a "Room Mom" has allowed me to enjoy interacting with all these cute kids. Some are really smart, some suffer from ADD, some are funny, some are allergic to peanuts, some are wild, some are calm, some are shy, some are very gregarious, etc. According to Soph's teacher, she does what she's supposed to do. Is she turning into an L7 like her mother? Hubby's biggest quibble about me, I'm too square....lol.

I never really signed up to be a "Room Mom." It just kind of happened, but I'm not complaining. As long as I'm able I don't mind helping out, and besides Sophie luvs it when I volunteer. Hubby, an intelligent listener commented one day when I said, "I have to go volunteer today." He said that doesn't sound very good if you "have" to volunteer. But seriously, I don't mind it all. And plus, I believe parents need to be involved in their kids education as much as possible.

As before in preschool, the kids know I'm Soph's mom. They always tell me not only does Soph look like me, but that she sounds like me...hmmm.

So far, Soph has done well in school, achieving all 3's and 4's on her report card. She has advanced to level 2 in her reading and level 2 at gymnastics. She still wants to be an artist; however, she also wants to combine that with being a doctor. Her daddy approves.