the second

It is the final long weekend of the four.  Jade, the eldest of the twins, the second grandchild, who claimed going last, is spending her four days with us.

Jade is funny and smart and talkative and creative and did I say smart?  She is a Math Genius.   She scored 100% on the math portion of her forth grade TAKS test (for those who don’t know what the TAKS is it’s the test students have to take every two years to advance to the next grade level).  She sees the big picture.  Individual elements will sometimes stymie her but she can look at all the components of a thing and instantly see how they all go together.  She can visualize a scene or scenario and rattle it off so fast you have trouble keeping up but jotting it all down on paper is more difficult.  She’s basically a happy kid when she’s not viewing her life as a glass half empty, which is all too often.  She tends to want to give back what she receives instead of giving what she wants to receive.  We’re working on that.

Whereas, all the kids like to help in the kitchen, Jade wants to learn how to cook.  She came with one of her mother’s cookbooks and we went through it and picked out recipes for each night’s dinner and dessert.  So I am teaching her how to cook.  She is doing it all while I instruct and supervise and lend an occasional helping hand.  I haven’t spent this much time in the kitchen in years.  

Before we start cooking for the day, we have been going around exploring some of the weird little shops out here and garage sales or she’s been busy drawing, coloring and cutting out accessories for her scenarios.  She made her chef’s hat (and one for me that said ‘chef’s helper #1’).  She’s had the camera mostly so I have used some of the pictures she took of herself.