Happy New Year - 2010

Hope everyone had a great New Year! Ours was quiet, calm and delicious. Just the way we like it :D

I believe hubby is going to refer to the new year as 2000, 10. Whereas, I'm probably going to refer to it as 20, 10. Kind of like where we reside. I always say 20, 13 instead of 2-0-1-3 or 2000, 13.

For our New Year's dinner, we had crab legs. Sophie can't stop talking about wanting more crabs (to eat) :o/ Two years ago, she was not fond of crabs, but now I find myself getting hungry 1 hour after eating because she ends up eating most of my crab legs. (I think I liked it better when she wasn't into crabs.) Anyway, as hubby learned yesterday, aside from sauerkraut and liver, shellfish is a good source of zinc.

I always keep a bottle of zinc in our health cupboard, either ionic or pill. As a word of caution, you do not want to take more than 100 milligrams of zinc daily. While daily doses of less than 100 milligrams boosts your immune response, doses more than 100 milligrams can actually depress the immune system.

Happy New Year! May you be happy, content, centered and healthy!!

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

Strands of beads and snow

Next school project / homework assignment: Decorate the Christmas tree

Sophie had a lot of fun decorating this tree. I always try and let her do as much as she can on her own. Her favorite part was stringing the beads and coloring. In school, they have been learning a lot about patterns and so she was having a ball creating her own pattern, which was used as garland to trim the tree. Adding the snow to the tree was something we did a couple of years ago to our own tree.

2007 was the year it snowed and snowed and snowed and snowed... And so I decided to carry the theme inside our house with our Christmas tree. Also, while driving through Little Cottonwood Canyon, to Alta, the trees were beautiful, covered with cotton ball looking snow on the branches and limbs. Hence the name "Cottonwood," I suppose. Of course, I had to try and replicate that with our Christmas tree (see below).

So far this year, the snow has been minimal (thank goodness...a nice break); our Christmas tree was decorated with slight snow at the top and beads to match Soph's Christmas tree. You can't see the beads very well, but they are there, little green dangles. Also, this Christmas tree has Sophie's touch at the top. We used her blue fairy star wand as the tree topper.

I can't believe this, but we put our Christmas tree up and decorated the house before December. This is the first time this has happened. Usually, we decorate the tree 2 weeks before Christmas. (I believe having Soph has a lot to do with it.) Also, hubby and I are going to actually buy presents for each other to put under the tree along with Soph's, that way she knows it isn't always about her. (Okay, lets see I want a cellercise, SmartSole, I want it all bracelet ...LOL... that's all :D). Sophie gets a lot of gifts due to the fact her Birthday is the 22nd :o/ And, yes I do wrap her birthday presents in birthday paper so she knows the difference.

BTW, she's still afraid of Santa Claus. So still no picture of her with Santa to date. I might have to wait until she's a teenager. But then again, at that age I don't want her sitting on Santa's lap...how weird (as in hehehe) as I was typing Santa, I accidentally typed Satan....hmmm.

Family turkey project & making Halloween crafts

One of Soph's homework assignment as a "family activity" was to disguise a turkey. He is afraid because Thanksgiving is coming! And needs to be all dressed up in a disguise so he won't get caught!

Mrs. Westover said in the past family turkeys have been dressed like ballerinas, football players, farmers, hula dancers, Elvis, doctors, spys, etc. Well, all of those sounded really cute but a little complicated to me especially since I am not that artistic. Soph originally wanted me to dress him up as a scarecrow, but I was scared I would botch that up as well.

After about 30 minutes of brainstorming, we finally agreed on disguising the turkey with leaves to blend in with nature. Sophie was thrilled and I was even more since I didn't have to draw anything, just cut with the help of a leaf template I found online. Soph did all the coloring and I cut out the leaves. Great teamwork, huh?

Here are some pictures of the turkey who is actually a girl (of course), named Leaf (how original)...lol.

Now you see her

Now you don't

Now you see her

Now you don't

The Halloween party was also a success. I was responsible for crafts and we made these cute, witch's broom with treats. All the kids had lots of fun putting their broom together.

Here are the instructions to make a paper bag witch's broom:

Supplies Needed

• Paper bags (size depends on how large you want your broom)
• Raffia
• Scissors
• Dowel rods or sticks or wooden spoon (I used a wooden spoon/spatula)
• Cereal or candy

1. 1. Fold a paper bag in half, overlap if you want broom bristles to be long. Carefully trim the ends of the folded part of the bag to make fringes (creating the bristles of the broom).

   
   

   
   

   2. Fold another paper bag in half and cut the top off. Proceed to cut slits in the bag to make more fringes for another layer of broom bristles.

   
   

   
   

   3. Fold the bristles back to expose sack. Then, fill your bag with different cereal, popcorn, treats or toys and insert the stick into your bag while cinching the bag around the stick. Add your extra paper bag that is fringed over the top of the first bag and cinch it around the stick also. The cut bags SHOULD cover the base of your paper bag.

   
   

   
   

   4. Tie the bags to the stick with raffia. The paper bag fringe is the broom bristles and the stick is the broom handle. If you want you can color the bags or add any decorative embellishments to dress it up.

   
   

   
   

   Happy Halloween!

Happy Labor Day

Yes, fall is my favorite season; however, I'm not quite ready for it this year.  Summer just flew by especially with all the rain and cooler weather that fell upon us almost daily in May and June. 

Here is a  picture of a mammoth sunflower I planted in June.  Now if I can just have a whole backyard of these sunflowers and other wildflowers.  Instead we'll probably end up having a golf course behind us...lol.  BTW, that sunflower is taller than Soph.

Soph really likes Kindergarten and likes her teacher, Mrs. Westover, a lot.  Heck, I even like Mrs. Westover.  She's a very nice, soft spoken, but stern teacher placing a lot of emphasis on reading.  Based on previous experience, she has seen great strides amongst kids reading abilities when parents read to their child every day versus the ones that didn't.  I read to Soph every night, if not several times throughout the day.  For every 10 mins of reading, Soph colors in an apple for each day during the month of September.  Once all the apples are colored in, she can hand in her "colored apples" to her teacher.  This is an on-going assignment until the end of school.

Mrs. Westover's way of discipline is something I never heard of; she uses the marble method.  She said when kids hear that marble drop in the jar...uh, oh.... it's a sound kids don't like to hear.  They know they better shape-up, wise-up, otherwise parents will be receiving a phone call.  Soph's a pretty well-behaved child and very mature for her age, so I'm not too worried about it.  

She looks forward to school every day and wishes she could go even on the weekends.  I can already see she is very interested in how everything works, including the human body.  She saw a human body model at Barnes and Noble and immediately wanted it....NOT the barbie dolls, not anything one might think a 5 year old little girl would be interested in.  From the time she was a baby, I can recall she showed definite preferences and was quite willful.  She knows what she likes and what she doesn't and is still quite willful even to this day.  However, she isn't very noisy about expressing her wants unless she wants it badly.  So I broke down and got her the model human body even though it was geared for 8+ year olds.  She absolutely luvs it!    

If I had to point out one of Soph's strengths, it would definitely have to be her knack to memorize.  She has excellent memory, memorizing all her favorite shows, commercials, books, etc.  I find it quite humorous and amazing.

Hubby is home for this long weekend laboring around the house and work as usual.  He's also enjoying his new car we got a couple of weeks ago.  It's a beautiful bluish, gray sedan that has a lot of cool features.  We had our car search narrowed down to one of three Mini JCW's and an R32.......BUT....... I received in the mail an outstanding, smokin', sweet deal for the BMW 328 iX. ....almost too good to be true....so, we thought....surprise, surprise!!  Even though the BMW is more expensive than my Tiguan, payment wise it's cheaper than my Tiguan (same terms and all).  I'm beginning to believe my.....ahh, never mind :o)

Enjoy your long Labor Day weekend!

Moms and Muffins

Today was Moms and Muffins Day at Sophie's preschool.  It was a tribute to all Moms for Mother's Day.  Mrs. Chris asked each child basic questions about their Moms.  It was a fill in the blank format.  Soph's answers are in bold and italicized.  

What I know about my Mother:

My Mother is very smart

She is 43 inches tall

She weighs 54 pounds

She has black eyes

She has black hair

The food she likes best is steak and lots of vegetables

Her favorite color is green

Soph's answers aren't too bad, she definitely got the first and last question spot on....well, definitely the last one for sure :o)

As for the 43 inches tall and 54 pounds...here she's crossing streams and getting confused with Mommy's and Daddy's age, respectively.

Overall, she did a pretty good job in "knowing her mother", especially the first question...sorry, can't help myself...LOL !!

Happy Earth Day

Wow, last week we had one snowstorm after another and today it was 82 degrees in the valley.  Where we live at a higher elevation of 6,200 ft, temperatures were probably 72 degrees; there's always about a 10 to 12 degree difference. 

Some of you may have noticed I've been playing around with different templates.  I'm actually getting a little bored with the white and gray.  That's becoming a little insipid for me.  At the same time, I always prefer simple rather than busy.  Oh, well I'm trying out a new template format; who knows how long that's going to last. 

Sophie's bottom tooth still hasn't fallen out.   I'll probably have to take her back to the dentist next week for sure.  It's been way over the 3 to 4 week mark and her Dentist told me if her tooth had not fallen out by the 4th week to make another appointment so he can extract it.  Has anyone heard of this?  When I was younger, I remember my teeth falling out on it's own.

Today is the 39th annual anniversary of Earth Day.  Be sure to reduce, reuse, and recycle as much as you can.  I learned that if every household in the U.S. replaced one light bulb with a compact fluorescent one, it would prevent enough pollution to equal removing 1 million cars from the road.  I mention this because my hubby was trying to convince me to go with the fluorescent light bulbs for our laundry room last weekend.  Well, this weekend I'm picking up the package of fluorescent light bulbs :o)

Blueberry and Marshmallow

Sophie's favorite animals from the land of "stuffed and soft" and "feathery and fuzzy" are owl, bunny and cat.  This doesn't make any sense because she doesn't have an owl??  Nevertheless, these two little ducks have also become Sophie's pals, Blueberry and Marshmallow.   Hmmm......... I wonder how she arrived at those names?

Happy Easter!

Low Down on the Easter Egg Run Down

Sophie had an Easter Egg Hunt at her preschool yesterday which was a lot of fun.  However, the one today sponsored by our community....how to put this nicely(??).....well, was a disaster.  A disaster of a show, with no beginning or end, just the climax which was complete pandemonium.  There was no organization, none whatsoever.  

When I compare it to the community where we used to live in N. Mesa, AZ, there's such a huge, huge difference.   Poor thing didn't get one egg because of all the tiny tykes, and the bigger kids.  

Understandably, they first let the kids 4 and under go search for eggs while the bigger kids waited on the sidelines.  A minute or two later the whistle was blown again to signal the bigger kids to join.   The problem with that, the bigger kids 7 and up were already helping themselves way before they blew the whistle, as they were watching in panic all the little kids grabbing most of the eggs....tsk tsk.  And, being the L7's that we are, especially me, we waited until the whistle was blown.  Too bad and so sorry for Sophie.

Kind of reminds me of the circumstances here in the U.S.  The ones to really benefit are the very poor and the filthy rich, while everybody else in between gets a big goose egg. 

In picture, Daddy and Sophie running, looking for eggs....Where are all the eggs?

Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Schampaert Family Update - 2008

Well, I'm sure most of you are like us and can't believe 2008 is nearly over already. As I ponder on what to write this year, there are so many things that make Vince and I feel a sigh of relief, especially amidst all the bad news on the economic front. After nearly 7 mos, we were able to sell our house in Arizona. We had been renting our house to a very nice couple for 2 yrs. You would think we would have waited until the market turned around but the renters were very wishy-washy not knowing what they really wanted. And so, we decided to put our house on the market while they continued to rent it. In the end, all went well and we closed EOM November.

This past year, we also had 2 family visits from Belgium. Uncle Eric was here in Feb and Christel and Catherine came over in July. In April, we went to our usual vacation spot in San Diego/So. CA. We plan on returning this Jan or Feb to see the whales migrate.

Vincent traveled to Phoenix for almost 5 mos straight, from July thru Nov. for work. Caremark, now CVS, had requested Vince for this particular project and since it was only for 3 days a week, it was doable and a nice break from Micron. If he ever loses his job, I think he would do great selling paraphernalia on ebay. He seems to have a knack for making money quickly, especially when it comes to selling our used electronics, taking him only hours to sell anything --- quite amazing I must admit. I only mention this because he just recently sold his blackberry and my cell phone in less than a day and has a history of selling other items in the past just as fast.

MaryAnne has been occupied being an administrator, chauffeur, volunteer at Sophie's school, as well as, being the project manager and multi-tasker of everyday domestic work to ensure things are run smoothly, efficiently within our household (aka super mom in disguise). Battling Utah County for property taxes owed to us the past 2 yrs was finally resolved in our favor. Initially, we were told it was extremely rare for anyone to receive a refund. So, after many months and acres of time and utilizing Vincent’s clever way with words and logic, our appeal was finally granted which paid off handsomely.

Sophie will be 5 yrs old Dec 22. I'm amazed how much she has accomplished in a year. She's fascinated with words, eager to please and is non-stop with her questions and “whys”. She's a very simple little girl only wanting balloons and a cake for her birthday, no presents. Her current favorite extracurricular activity is gymnastics. She attends preschool 3 hrs a day, 4 days a week and looks forward to it everyday… and wishes she could go to preschool even on the weekends. (I wonder how long that’s going to last?) In her words, she loves doing the centers, painting, coloring, arts and crafts, going to recess, learning how to kick her legs on the swings, playing on the monkey bars and slides, learning how to do a good job as the star helper, pass out papers, pass out napkins, be a line leader, be a good example and lead the other kids in the pledge, going to P.E., singing, etc. Whew !! As you can see she absolutely enjoys it very much. Her favorite shows are Caillou & Fireman Sam. Overall, she’s a very sweet, funny, considerate, creative and expressive little girl.

Wishing you well with lots of love and peace into your hearts and homes.

Love,

Vincent, MaryAnne & Sophie

About Sophie

On October 23rd, Sophie’s preschool will get to meet Fireman York and Fireman Bailey as part of their month long study about Safety.

For her Halloween Party at her preschool,  she is going as an Athlete.  She actually wanted to go as “Sophie” and so being an athlete was the closest thing to being “Sophie.”

Favorite Color: pink and red

Favorite Number: 1

Favorite Animal:  bunny rabbits

Favorite TV Show:  Caillou, Teletubbies, Kipper, Noddy

Favorite Food:  eggs, artichokes, cheese, noodles, pizza, berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries)

Favorite Song for the Month of Oct:  Love Song 

Favorite Activity:  putting puzzles together, making crafts, looking at books, looking at animals

Best Friends:  Misty the Moose, Millie the Cat and Rudy the Reindeer