An Iron Chef in the Family?

Okay, so maybe he's not officially in the family... But our sister, Xuan's boyfriend Dan was a competitor on The Iron Chef. He is the Sous Chef for a restaurant called Joule in Seattle. The restaurant Owners/Chefs were called up by the show's producers and invited to compete on the show and they brought their number one sous chef, Dan! The show was taped back in October, but the episode just aired last week.

His family flew in from Boston to celebrate and watch the show when it aired on TV. (From left to right: Xuan, Dan's Dad David, Dan, his Mom Stephanie, his Uncle Jon, and Grandpa Abe) Don't you just love Dan's hat that someone made for him? Someone also made the adorable bling necklaces that say Iron Chef Joule on them. We brought them home and our girls wore them to school the next day to tell their teachers and friends all about it!

Dan and his Grandpa watching the show. His Grandpa is 97 yrs old.

My Mom came with Dao and I. Along with Linh and Brian, B and Rob. We had some yummy apps before the show.

We picked the prime spot to watch. Next to the food table!

Here is a list of the yummy apps that we had.

The next night we invited Dan's family over for dinner at our house. Dao made salmon, clams, and prawns, and his Dad made lobster and Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. We had some garlic bread and my Mom made brocoli salad. It was an amazing feast! All of Dao's family came too!

Dan's Mom, Stephanie, brought Sculpey Clay and everyone sat down and made everything from beads and Lego hats to unicorns and dragons. Once again Grandpa sat down and showed off his skills

Here is a pic of the clay that was used. You have to bake the clay for about 15 minutes @ 275 degrees to harden the pieces.

Linh watched for the longest time, and we finally made her sit down and make stuff! I love that this family is always right in there with the kids having fun and playing around!

Thank you so much, Stephanie, for bringing such a fun activity for our girls to play with!

We had a Trader Joe's Marion Berry pie and Dan decided to put bacon bits on it. He at 4 pieces with bacon! None of us could say anything because the man has been on The Iron Chef! He had me try it, and I have to admit, it was good.

Haley made a penguin with his own house, TV, and couch! So cute!

Here are a few of the Lego hats and creations. I can't tell you how much fun this is for the kids and adults!

I wish this picture turned out better! Many new Lego hats were made with all of the creative minds that were here. We took an informal vote, and the squid hat was the favorite. They made dolphin, chicken, pig, snake, and dragon hat's to name a few.

We also watched the episode of Iron Chef again. We were in a bar when we watched it the night before, so we didn't catch all the details of the episode. After that, they played a little Super Mario Bros. B is totally addicted to this game! I kid you not, her husband told me that they hop on the Wii almost every night to try and beat the game!

Dan's Mom had never played the Wii before, so Dan gave her a quick lesson.

Thank you so much, Dan, for sharing this special moment with all of us. We are so very proud of you!

Something Yummy

Our oldest has developed a new passion...

She loves to bake!

She is not a fan of milk or dark chocolate, so when she figured out she could make white chocolate chip cookies, she jumped right on it!

They turned out super yummy too! We ate them so fast that a few days later she made them again for us!

I can't wait to try her next creation!

Daddy's Home

Sunday's are hubs outdoor league soccer game day. This Sunday was the first day of the season, and we all piled in the car to go watch Daddy's game. He usually plays forward/striker, but the team's goalie was injured so he couldn't play. Dao has played keeper many times in the past and he enjoys it, so he took over. Shortly after half time, Dao went up for a save and an opponent jumped up (hopefully to kick the ball) and kicked Dao directly in the head at full force. He flipped in the air and landed on his side. I watched it happen and have never been so scared in my life. He popped up (never was unconscious) and the ref and his buddies came over to make sure he was okay. He answered all of their questions correctly and even walked a straight line, so they cleared him to continue playing.

When the game was over he walked off the field with a big goofy grin and said "Is the game over? What happened?". We answered him and he immediately asked the question again, and then again, and again. His teammates quickly told me that this was a common sign of a concussion and I should probably have him checked out. Wha??? A concussion?? But he played the whole game??

Anyway, I managed to get him to the car and promptly took the kids home to stay with grandma while I got him to the ER.

After many tests, and an overnight stay at the hospital he is home now recovering.

I'm not gonna lie, this was one of the scariest things that we have been through. He lost his short term memory for quite some time. He thought it was 2006. He thought Bill Clinton was president. He had no recollection of Christmas. He asked the same questions over and over again without a break for 12 hours.

I have never been around anyone that has had a head injury or concussion, so this was all shocking to me.

Here is a picture of him playing keeper during an indoor tournament last year. He thought that this tournament had happened "yesterday". It was more than a year ago, but he was sure that it had just happened.

It is true what they say, you never know when someone can be taken from you. The doctor told me that had he been hit in the head again while continuing to play after the first hit, he would have died.

I think everyone should know that if someone gets a head injury during sports, they should not continue playing. They should automatically be pulled out of the game/practice. Even if they argue that they are okay, like Dao did (his motor skills were all fine, but he completely lost his short term memory).
Insist on it, you just might save someone's life.

So for now, we have Daddy home recovering. Most of his memory has returned, he still can't remember being hit or anything that happened after and up until the next morning in the hospital.

We are very blessed to have amazing family and friends who care about us. I want to thank everyone for your help and kind thoughts during this scary time.

• Thank you Robin, for coming to the hospital and being there for me, so that I could go to the bathroom and not worry that he would be alone and not know where he was.
• Thank you Sheree, for coming to the hospital to check on Dao and for bringing me food (Dao couldn't eat) and coffee. I hadn't eaten all day, and was starving! Thank you also to David for offering to take over a shift in the middle of the night if I needed to get some things from home. Thanks to the G6 for the sweet card for Dao and the goodies for the kids who were home and worried about their Daddy.
• Thank you Heidi and Joe, for your support and for bringing Haley home from Logan's bday party. We so appreciate all of your kind offers for coffee and help if need be.
• Thanks to Xuan, Linh Ta, B and Rob, for offering to do anything needed to help us out.
• Thanks to Andria and Van for offering to bring our girls to school and help out in any way.
• Thanks especially to my Mom for spending the night with the girls so that I could stay with Dao. I didn't have to worry at all, because I knew that they were in the best of care.
• And thank you to all who have checked in to see how he is doing and let us know that you care.

Thank you all!

Art Day with Daddy

We spent our last day of winter break chillaxing at home. The kids wanted to pull out all of their new art supplies that they got from their Aunties, so I designated it "Art Day with Daddy"! Dao, his Dad, and sisters are super artistic. My family...not so much. So I usually have the kids go to Daddy for guidance, since I have no clue what I'm doing.

The girls pulled out their new easels, paints, and chalks and got to work.

They take art very seriously. Part of this is because they see the things that their Daddy and Aunties have created and they want to do the same.

Kaylin sketched lightly with pencil first.

Then used acrylic paints.

She is working on her brush strokes and mixing colors. Here is her sunset that she finished. I love it!

Haley is using Daddies favorite charcoals.

Em did charcoal and then opted for some good old water colors. She got two paper cuts that morning! :(

Pay started with these cool squeeze paints, but kept squeezing out to much paint.

So she switched it up and started using a brush. The paper was super wet!

Haley also traced first, then used acrylics. Her last stand up easel broke, so she was super excited to get a new one for Christmas. Thanks Auntie Andria!

My girls could do art all day, every day. They have always enjoyed it, and I hope they never lose their love for it!

P.S. Dear Goo-Goo's, Thank you for all the new art supplies! They are ready and excited to have their art lessons with you!

P.P.S. Why do I not have any pictures of the Daddy?? Oops!

Haley's Sleepover

Last week, Haley had a sleepover with two of her besties, Livie and Isabel (unfortunately, her third bestie, Sarah, was out of town for the week). Our good friends the G6 very kindly offered to have all three of her little sisters over to their house for a sleepover, so they had the house all to themselves!

The girls made their own pizza's on pita bread. This is one of the easiest things to make, and the kids love to "cook" and make their own creations. Great for picky eaters, too!

They ate their pizza's while texting (Their cell phones never left their sides!) other friends and each other!?!

Haley planned an evening of facials (with masks) and manicures.

They spent most of the night in her room, gossiping and giggling. Have I mentioned how much I love my daughter's friends? Well, I do! She has a strong group of well rounded girls in her life, and I am so thankful that she is lucky enough to have close girlfriends at such a young age.

Thanks again G6 for taking the little sisters for the night and allowing Haley to have a special night with her besties!

Welcome Twenty-Ten!

Our annual New Year's Eve party/game night was a blast! The G6, and L4 joined us, along with Gabby and Ty (Sheree's lil' bro and sis, also my sisters niece and nephew).

Kaylin, Isa, Luc, and Ty started off the night with a little Monopoly.

Gabby and Haley decided to rock out with Band Hero.

Candy time!

Hubs pulled out the poker table and played the dealer for a little blackjack. This is always a favorite of the kids.

The L4, Gabby, and Ty all had to leave at 11pm, so we decided to get the kids in their jammies and start winding down.

It lasted a little while, but at about 15 minutes before midnight, the little ones started getting really excited! Hubs, and Haley started to fall asleep, and we couldn't let them sleep through the countdown. So....

...we told the kids to to wake them up!

Em and Nana got really silly and started tickling each other.

Pay and Dev started wrestling each other on the floor. I love that he wears a robe! So cute!

We toasted and cheered at midnight.

What a fun, family night!

Besties

The day after Christmas, we chilled and as usual, took down all the Christmas decorations. I know, I do not waste any time! I need to take my house back! That night, we went to the G6's house for a holiday dinner, and when it was time for us to go, the besties didn't want to part, so we took Isa and Nana home to our house for a sleepover!



These two were clearly not ready to wake up, but decided to anyway and brought their blankies downstairs to watch cartoons on the couch. (Notice the balloon animals still hanging around?)

Grandma got Em this candy claw machine (apparently Em's favorite restaurant that Grandma takes her to has one, and so Grandma had to get her a mini one) for Christmas. Em and Nana spent the entire morning trying to pick stuff up with the claw.

They were both so cute with their new design kids that Auntie Andria got them. They take them everywhere together and totally love them. Thanks Auntie!

Husband took the kids outside to play while he took the outside lights down. It was sunny, but cold if you were in the shade. Dao shared his skateboards with Kaylin and Isa, and they played on them for hours (sitting only of course)!

They had to have me come watch them do this swinging thing that caused them to move backward.

They thought it was the coolest thing ever and were cracking up!

The other girls rode bikes and scooters all day. It felt so good to get outside, especially with the sun shining!