My little Daisy

Em and her troop. :)

(She has known six of the girls since pre-school. Her buddy, Breanna, is also in the troop, but not in the picture.)

Em has enjoyed another year of being a Daisy in Girl Scouts. This year, we unfortunately missed many a meeting due to conflicting schedules. But, she did have fun and has decided to continue with Girl Scouts next year. She went through the bridging ceremony to become a Brownie. They received flowers and ate cookies to celebrate!

Spring Band Concert

Haley's last concert of the year for band and jazz band was on Tuesday.

She played flute for band and has decided not to pursue it any longer. She loves the piano and jazz band and is going to continue to practice and play next year. We have even signed her up for lessons again, although this time it will be with her beloved band/jazz band teacher, so we are hoping she will enjoy it more than her previous lessons.

Her Grandma came and brought her flowers. So sweet! I asked Grandma R. to pose with Haley for a picture and she could not believe how tall she is getting!

Auntie Robin, Auntie Andria and Livi all came to support her (Andria and Livi had to leave a little early so I didn't get a picture of them).

Goo-Goo Xuan and Dan also came out!

Thanks to you all for supporting our girl! We are so very proud of her!

Chess Club

Emma started going to Chess Club a little over a month ago. She had been interested in it for quite some time as it is a game that her Dad plays with Haley. Me, I do not know anything about Chess. My Dad and I played backgammon while I was growing up. (hee! hee!)

 Em's bestie, (Nana of the G6) is also in Chess Club. In fact her Mom, Sheree, runs it at our school! Last week, I offered to fill in for her so that I could check it out, and I'm so glad I finally got to see what it's all about! Em loves this game. She is still a beginner, but she loves to strategize and is enjoying learning. She is finally able to play against Nana! (They were both happy to pose for a quick picture!) It is taught by Coach Hristo from Chess4Life and the game is taken very seriously.

Pay, Dev, and his big sis Isa, came along with me. The classroom has a whole corner dedicated to Lego toys so they were entertained very well during the hour. (Thanks for helping, Isa!)

I'm so glad that Sheree brought this program to our school! Surprisingly there are many girls and boys of all ages who are enjoying it!

Thanks Sheree!

A Day Out

My good friend Sheree of the G6 invited us out last Thursday to the First Thursday Art Walk in Pioneer Square. This is something that we have both wanted to do, but had never done before. Her Aunt was working (I love her bags!) so we thought we would go and visit her.

The kids loved looking up at the tall totem poles and running around. The weather was pretty iffy, but the rain stayed away, so we decided to head to Uvillage for lunch. Little Madi is always being silly and trying to get us to laugh. She thought she would hop in her Mommies drivers seat and take us for a ride.

We walked around for a bit and then headed to the Apple store to check out the ipad's. We had never played with one and wanted to check them out. To our surprise, a sales rep said that each of the kids could play with one and even showed them which games would be best for them. This kept them busy for over a half hour, so the Mommies could play, too! I must say they are super cool. I loved that it has everything all rolled into one package. The ibook app allows you to flip it sideways and it looks like a real open book! So cool!

We went to Johnny Rocket's for some kid friendly food, and the waiter made (or attempted to) animals on the ketchup bowls. The kids had never seen that done before and they enjoyed it. We ended our visit with a trip to Barnes and Noble. It was so nice to get out and do something new!

Thanks for inviting us out Sheree!

A Baby Shower

Kaylin and Emma's beloved teacher is having a baby.

The kids and parents threw her an amazing shower. With lots of game and treats. Okay, the shower was more for the kids enjoyment, but I think everyone had a good time.

One of the games was for the kids to guess what type of candy was in the diaper. I can not even tell you how disgusting this looked. It's been awhile since I have had to deal with poopy diapers, and I do not miss it one bit!

Another game was set up for the kids to see and smell, (no touching or tasting) and guess what is inside. The kids were not upset at all when they were told they couldn't eat it.

                 This was the easiest game. A classic. Guess how many jelly beans are inside the bottle.

The set up was pot luck style with lots of kid friendly foods. It was like they got two lunches that day!

The kids grabbed a plate and took a seat with their buddies.

Check out all the presents! Their are 53 kids in the class (it is a multi-age classroom with 2 teachers). Have you noticed all of the pink? Yep, she's having a girl!

The kids all gathered around while she opened presents. My fave was a book that was put together from the kids. They each wrote down what they thought she should know and remember while raising her little one. Like "always give them healthy food, not hamburgers". It was so cute!

One of the parents made this adorable teddy bear cake along with lots of cupcakes. I love the bright pink, purple, and yellow together!

The kids made her promise to bring in her sweet baby next year (she is due in July). We can't wait to meet her!

Hanging Out with Goo-Goo Xuan

 Goo-Goo (Auntie) Xuan (pronounced chun) and her boyfriend Dan, moved to a new apt in Queen Anne. They were having trouble installing a lamp that Dan made from a tree stump, so big brother (AKA, my husband) planned for us to come over so that he could take a look. Xuan had to work late, so we headed over there at 8pm on Saturday. This was a special treat for our girls because a) they got to visit with their Auntie and see her new apt and b) they got to stay up super late.

Check out the book shelves at her new apt. I'm super jealous!
 

 He was so determined! He spent over 2 hours drilling and using wires to get that lamp up!

While he worked on that, us girls chatted and grubbed on the yummy spread of avocado dip and cucumber sandwiches.

 Emma passed out on their couch while Daddy was banging and drilling right next to her! We have decided that she takes after her Goo-Goo Linh in the sleeping dept. They can both pass out and nap anywhere!

Dao finally got the lamp hung by stringing some heavy duty wire through the metal plates in the ceiling. I wish I got a better picture of the lamp. Apparently Dan pulled the stump out of someones yard, and creatively made it into a lamp. It is really beautiful.

Xuan got this amazing bouquet at the World Market down the street, and I had to take a picture of it.

Does anyone know the name of this type of flower? Anyone??? I am super curious...

On Tuesday, Pay, her buddy Dev, and I met up with Xuan and Dan to go to the Pacific Science center together. Xuan called me from the entrance to say that it's closed on Tuesdays! What?! Why the heck would they close it on Tuesdays??
Luckily, Sheree (Mom of Dev) has a family membership at the Seattle Children's Museum nearby, so we headed there instead. The kids (All 4 of them!) spent hours in the art center!

Xuan and Dan got right in there with them, cutting, gluing, stapling (Once Xuan figured out that a stapler had been in front of her the entire time! ha!), and coloring. It was fun for me to sit back and watch and take pictures.

     Xuan and Pay made the cutest little "girl" out of tubes, feathers, cardboard and cloth.

Dan and Dev made a crazy mask out of all kinds of things. From tape and yarn, to egg cartons and clothing material. Dev also made a "bottle gun" that he was super proud of (I did not know that it was meant to be a gun until we got in the car, sorry Sheree!). Most of the materials used were from recycled products, and they had all kinds of things to choose from. Next time I am going to bring a big bag to take home all of the art stuff that they make!

Thanks so much Dan and Xuan for hanging with us! We had so much fun! We promise to take you to the Science Center next time. Apparently not on  Tuesday's though!

One Week In...

We did it! We survived the first week of Spring Soccer! Our schedule is busy. We have soccer every day except Saturday (until May 1st when Pay starts!).

 For the first time in two years, Kaylin is playing soccer again! She quit for awhile after an unhappy rainy and cold, Fall season and has since been our gymnast taking lessons at Cascade Elite.

 Well, she decided to give it another try. She is on a team with her BFF, Isa, and she is very comfortable with Coach David (Isa's dad), so we are hoping that this will be a better experience for her. We met the team at a practice and tailgate BBQ and the girls all welcomed Kaylin right from the start. She is actually playing up this year (She is #4. Notice a size difference?) and the other girls on the team have been playing soccer for quite some time, but she is not discouraged and looks forward to her practices and games.

 Haley team has been the Blue Angels since forever, but this year they were told they would be White because there are too many blue teams?? Anyway, the girls don't seem to mind the team color change, but as the person who does laundry in our house, I would prefer dark blue or black. She has games twice a week without any practices, so I have to be diligent about getting it washed in time for her to wear it. The fields are wet and muddy from the spring rain, so I may have to invest in some bleach soon.

 Emma's team has switched from pink to red. They are now the Ruby, Red, Tigers! This is the same color as her Daddy's indoor soccer team, so Emma was super excited for the switch.

She didn't score, but she came so close a bunch of times. She wants to score, so I hope it happens for her.

 She also loves to play keeper. She gets this from her Daddy. Hopefully she won't get a concussion like him, too!

 The field that they play on (most of the time) has a grass hill that is perfect for rolling down. Kaylin, Pay, Isa, Dev and a few of their friends did this over and over again.

  The grass was wet and a little muddy, but that didn't stop them. Haley and Madi chose to watch from the top. ☺

We ended our week with Daddies outdoor game. It was so beautiful out on Sunday. The perfect day for the family to spend outdoors at the game and the nearby park.

May 1st we add Pay's soccer schedule into the mix. Wish me luck with all this juggling!

Thank you to Sheree and David of the G6 and my Mom (Grandma), for helping me get the girls to and from soccer on time! Dao works late on most days, so I couldn't do it without you!