My Brilliant Blog Mascot!

A few weeks ago I was invited to a Build-a-Bear cele-bear-ation birthday. (Get it?) Prior to this exciting event, an idea POpped into my head, and I figured that I could create my blog mascot there.

PRESENTING...

THE ONE AND ONLY...



Angel Face!

Angel Face is a lovable little monkey that is a 4 time world champion in karate.
Keeyah! (Karate shout!)

She loves hanging out with her best buds and always finds the time to practice karate, swimming, (well, rather basking in the sun), piano, karaoke singing, swinging on the trees, and, of course, roller skating. Many of these activities are in the Animoto slideshow below.

I hope you enjoyed Angel Face's slideshow!

Please tune in to read some of Angel Face's perfect posts that will be posted pretty soon!

Blog owners, do you have a blog mascot?

For anyone else, if you had a blog, who would be your blog mascot? Why?

Have you ever created a stuffed animal at the Build-a-Bear Workshop? What was it?

Persian New Year Celebration

On Thursday, my brilliant third grade class went to my former teacher's wonderful second grade class to celebrate Persian New Year also known as Nowrouz. Nowrouz means New Day in Farsi. Persian New Year is the first day of spring, which falls on March 20th.

Our Haft-Seen for our class celebration.

The exact second this glorious event takes place, one year being precisely 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 50 seconds, is calculated. When it occurs, the oldest member of the family kisses and hugs everyone and presents the children with an Eidi (a New Year gift), which is usually in the form of new currency, gold coins, or jewelry.


Here is a story of how it started:


In Iran more than 7000 years ago, King Jamsheed was devoted to his country. The whole country was sorrowful and depressed because for one whole season, they had been lingering inside since the climate was very frigid. As a result, many people became ill. King Jamsheed wanted the people to be jubilant, so he planned a celebration for the country. It made everyone forget about the winter and move on to spring.


First there is the haft-seen. The haft-seen is a table that Iranians place certain foods and plants on. There is sprouted lentils, a dry fruit, apple, a sweet, vinegar, crushed sumac berries, and garlic. Every Persian enhances the haft-seen in their own special way. 

For example, here is my haft-seen from this year.

Now here is my grandma's haft-seen from last year.

Before Nowrouz, there are a lot of things to do such as spring cleaning and Char Shambeh  Soori. Char Shambeh Soori is when you jump over a burning fire. You can read all about it on Hannah's Hacienda. A few days ago, while I was jumping over the fire, I burned my ankle. That was very careless of me. I highly discourage anyone trying this at home without adult supervision.

Here is a picture of Char Shambeh Soori from last Nowrouz.

After that, finally comes Persian New Year. Next, we go to relatives' homes and collect eidis. Eidis (ey•deez) are money that we collect from our friends and family that is a gift for the new year. 


Seezdah Bedar comes afterward. Seezdah means 13 in Farsi. Seezdah Bedar is exactly 13 days after Nowrouz. This event is an annual outdoor picnic. Usually, we go to a park with a lot of friends and family, and the children always play on the delightful playground while all the adults are babbling with their buddies, play backgammon, or cards.


Here are some questions for you:


Have you ever been to an Iranian home at this time of year and celebrated with them? Would you like to?


If so, what was a similarity and difference to the way I celebrate this special event? 


For the people that are Iranian, what is your favorite part of Nowrouz and what about this is most important to you?

Girl Scouts Event

Earlier today after school, I had a Girl Scouts meeting. My friend's grandmother visited, and taught us about her native country, Japan. The girls in my troop and I learned to prepare delicious sushi, tried on a kimono, learned about Japanese culture, and viewed some beautiful dolls.

First, the kanzann (kon-zon), the hair clip, is gorgeous, but powerful. In Japan, women wear it in their hair in case they ever get attacked. This way they can defend themselves. It is a very clever weapon.

Second, the paper, which is wrapped around her hair (like a ponytail or pigtail) is for having her hair to remain smooth and straight in the morning when they wake up. This way, women don't have to brush their hair in the morning, something we girls just dread. 

Next, each girl in my Girl Scouts troop had a chance to try on an attractive, handmade kimono. A kimono (kee-mo-no) is a cultural Japanese costume that women wear at fancy celebrations.

Finally, I made some tasty sushi. I thought that it would be extremely difficult to make but no, making sushi was not so hard, it was pretty manageable to prepare.

Tell me about your country background and the special traditions that you celebrate. 

I'd love to know some fascinating facts about that country!

Do you know any other facts about Japan, which you would like to share? 


If you are currently a Girl Scout or were a Girl Scout in the past, what interesting and memorable activities have you participated in?

February Babble of the Month - Winner!

Thank you to all the participants for the babble of the month! On the bottom of this post I will announce our winner.

The information for the post was from Wikipedia.

The answer to #1 is: Backgammon is about 5,000 years old!

(Good job Margot, Amitai, and Hannah on #1!)

The answer to #2 is: Some countries in which backgammon is known to
have originated from are Iran, Iraq, and Egypt.

(Good job Hannah and Amitai on #2!)

The answer to #3 is: The first world champion competition for 
backgammon was in Las Vegas, Nevada 1967.


(Good job Hannah on #3!)

Everyone did an amazing job on "Babble of the Month." Thank you for all your comments!


The winner is:




Hannah! 


Congratulations, Hannah! You did a wonderful job with your research, and you really deserve the prize. 


Everyone else did an outstanding job! 


Until next time, Babblers... Get ready for the March Babble of the Month!

February: Babble of the Month!

The highly anticipated Babble Word of the Month is...

drum rolls please...

 backgammon

Please research the answers to the following questions and post them in the comment section of Adia's Babble Blog:

1.  The history of Backgammon goes back approximately how many years?

2. Name at least 2 countries where Backgammon is known to have originated from.

3.  Where and when was the first world championship competition in Backgammon held  at?

The first person who posts the correct answers to the above questions, will be announced the winner, who is entitled to his/her own travel size Backgammon. 

Good luck, babblers!

Lakers vs. Clippers

December of last year, my dad invited me to go with him to a Lakers vs. Clippers game at the Staples Center. 

Here is a picture I took of Magic Johnson's statue in front of the Staple Center.

Here is a picture of me inside the flashing Staples Center ten minutes prior to the game.

                         Two hours prior to the actual game, Lakers starts preparing for their upcoming battle against the powerful and strong Clippers.

  During halftime, the Lakers cheerleaders entertained us by dancing.

The audience became extremely excited when there were only three seconds left in the game. One of my favorite players, Derek Fisher, made a winning two pointer shot when the score was Lakers 65 - Clippers 66. Clearly, the Lakers are an incredible team.

My favorite team players are Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher. I like Kobe Bryant because he is an awesome player and he has gotten the MVP seven or eight times in a row. I like Derek Fisher because I actually met him. My first grade class had invited him to come to our school and visit us. We prepared by making decorations, drawing his pictures, and creating a huge poster. But after all that work he never made it to our classroom.

The day after we invited him, I met Derek Fisher at a middle school graduation. I couldn't believe my eyes! He was there with his wife, his children, and his protective bodyguard.

My dad and I decided to approach him for an autograph, however, to our disappointment, his gigantic bodyguard just would not approve. We said hi, shook hands, and when I told Derek Fisher that my class was so disappointed that he didn't arrive at my school, he apologized and explained to me that he had to be at the Lakers parade for winning the championship. I generously, out of the goodness of my heart, accepted his heartfelt apology, although, I truly didn't feel like forgiving him.

   Here is a picture of my sparkly Lakers cap and my festive Kobe Bryant jersey.

Have you ever been to a real live Lakers game before? Tell me about it! Who did you go with?

Who is your favorite player in the Lakers and why?

Welcome!

Welcome to Adia's Babble Blog!

Here, I will babble a lot. To babble means, to speak in a silly, excitable way; to chatter; to talk enthusiastically and excessively. 

I will have a monthly "Babble of the Month" competition, where I will introduce a new word and you have to figure out the meaning. Whoever finds the correct definition first, is the winner. The winner will be entitled to a prize that is relevant to that specific word.

I will be babbling about karate, my future black belt test, my sparring championship competitions, Lakers games, cultural events, Girl Scouts, and much more.

If you had your own blog, what engaging and inspirational subjects would you babble about?

What would you educate or instruct your readers about?

Have fun!
Adia, a.k.a Queen of Babble

(P.S. I would like to thank my teacher, Mrs. Yollis for supporting me on my blog.)