Catching Up

Last Day of School

After a great school year, we're ready to enjoy the summer.  Where did the time go and how can I make it slow down?   The kids are growing so fast and it's all going by so quickly.   Here's Miss Lily on her last day of 2nd Grade



Here we are at the Second Grade Party

Here's our Second Grade Party Crasher

and here's Lily and her BFF (notice how Andrew always positions himself between the pretty girls)



Sharing some recent scrapbook pages................

From Einstein to a Min-vacation

It's been a very fun past few weeks. First, Lily and all the second graders put on A Night at the Wax Museum. Each student researched a historical figure, wrote a report, dressed up as their person and became a "wax statue." Then as families strolled through the musuem we had a remote control (a paper button) and when we said "beep" they statues came alive and gave their reports. It was the cutest thing e-v-e-r. Lily, my shy and introverted child, did awesome. She was Mia Hamm and she spoke loudly and confidently and totally stayed in character. In fact, Andrew was confused as to why she wasn't responding to him. Here are some pictures of the historical figures. Isn't Einstein a hoot?

Then we headed down for a weekend getaway in Cincinati.   We traveled with our dear friends and it was a blast.   Between Uncle Yip's authentic Chinese food, visiting Jungle gyms, the Cincinati Children's museum, swimming at the hotel and an Ikea shopping trip for just the moms (dads and kids were in the pool), it was an awesome mini vacation.    Here are some pics of the kids.
                                     

Enjoying every day life

Not much new to report here.  We're enjoying a busy, normal life in our new home while looking forward to spring and some more outside activities.

Library Visits, Friends and Family

 Winter, if you can call it that, has been going by quite nicely for our family.  We've been enjoying our local library and their activities, visiting with friends and having our weekly family get togethers.   As you can see, I'm back into scrapbooking.   My pages may not be fancy, but they are easy to put together.  I started this format last year and I'm confident I could have kept them up if we hadn't had the fire etc.  

Lion Dances

Last weekend, we enjoyed a dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant and 5 lion dancers. 

Birthday parties, glasses and more

We've had a nice 2012 so far.    Andrew's birthday party complete with pinata, presents, cake, friends and family was a success.   Lily was diagnosed with mild near sightedness and got her first pair of glasses.  She loves them and looks fabulous.  We started our Chinese New Year celebrations last night.  Pictures of that are to come.  Untill then, here are a few scrapbook pages I've created. 

Turning 4

On Tuesday, my little guy turned 4. He's had a pretty amazing year. Even with


all the loss and change, he's matured and grown so much. He's mastered sleeping

in a twin bed, given up his paci (which he looooooved), becoming independent in

the bathroom and calming his temper. You should see him take a deep breath and

count to 10. It's hilarious. All of this happened while dealing with things

that challenged people 10 times his age. He's still hilarious and very

entertaining. Just yesterday morning, he woke up, crawled onto my lap and said

"Do you want to know the extent of my powers?" Sometimes I fear his powers and

sometimes I'm charmed by them. There's so much personality packed into that

little guy of mine. Today we're celebrating his birthday just the way he

wanted with a "cake and pinata." It should be fun. I'm at times challenged

keeping up with my Andrew, but I'm equally blessed to have him in my life.

Getting excited

Both kids can't hardly wait.   Me either!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The Christmas season is in full swing and we're really enjoying it in our new home.   New decorations have been purchased, dear friends have sent decorations and our beautiful new home looks so festive.   Not only do we all love our new home, it's just so wonderful to be settled and establishing our new normal.   

The kids are doing really well.  We couldn't be more proud of Lily and her success at school.  Andrew is showing growth, though we do seem to have to call him a different name daily per his request.  Today, he is Blitzen as in the reindeer.    Our elf, Mr. Kringles, is here bringing lots of joy each morning.    It's been a wild year for our family, but we are determined to have a great end to the year.