High Tea With Auntie

For Christmas this year, Auntie Robin decided to give experiences instead of toys. She gave Emma and Payton a teacup and saucer with a coupon for a trip to High Tea with her! Haley and Kaylin are both going to the new Cirque de Soleil show that is coming to town in the summer!

 Saturday was their day and they went to Queen Mary in Seattle. If you've never been, this is a great place to go. I've only ever had High Tea there, but everything is always delicious and they have a decent tea selection. They also have a special price for kids and let the girls borrow tiara's so they can be extra fancy (Emma chose not to wear the tiara).

 This was Emma's very first time and she loved it! She was especially happy to find out that she could have hot chocolate instead of tea!

I love that she dove right into the chocolate cake before eating her sandwich!

Thanks so much for taking her Auntie Robin!

Gung Hay Fat Choy

Every year, on the Saturday before Chinese New Year, we pack up the kids and head to Chinatown to check out the festivities. This year is the year of the Tiger. Our oldest, is also the year of the Tiger, which means =deep breath=  she will be twelve this year!

This year, there was plenty for little kiddos to do. They had crafts, and face painting, and a place where the kids could bang drums and symbols with chopsticks. The girls didn't want to bang the drums, but we did watch the other kids for awhile.

Our favorite thing to see is the lion dance!

We got super close this time!

There is a local Kung Fu Club that does the "parade". They go from business to business blessing each place with good luck for the new year.

The kids didn't even squint when the firecrackers went off (even our baby, Pay).

We finished it all off with a special dinner at Dao's parents house on Monday night. His folks had to work most of the day, so little sis Xuan and her boyfriend Dan did most of the cooking.

Here is some of the yummy food.

The kids were ready to chow down as soon as we said it was time.

Cousins Kaylin and Lucas getting their grub on!

 Husband had to work late (and pick up our oldest from her friends house) so when they got there, Kaylin, Brian, and Rob kept them company while they ate and watched the Olympics.

Kaylin and Chloe the pug (B and Rob's dog) watching Auntie Robin do some smooth yoga moves.

 My sister Robin chillaxin (and looking fabulous!), on the couch after teaching the kids some yoga.

 This is one of our favorite holidays for sure!

Friendship Party

The Friendship party for our 1st and 3rd graders was a success. I tried to plan two crafts that I thought would be about 15 minutes each, but these kiddos love to color and take their crafty time very seriously, so some didn't get the crafts finished in time. :(

 I didn't get any pictures of the cool dragons that we made for Chinese New Year or the pretty heart's with clear acrylics and tissue paper that can hang on a window that were made for their Valentine's!

 In fact, I only remembered to pull out the camera after all the crafts were cleaned up, and the kids started going through their big bags of Valentine's!

No pictures of the yummy snack of marshmallow dip (this is a major crowd pleaser) with apples and string cheese on the side, either.

But, I'm glad that I did get a few pictures of the kids in. And the kids and parents did tell me that it was a good party, so that makes me happy. I came in the next day to help the kiddos that were not able to finish their crafts at the party. The kids were so appreciative of me and my help, and that makes me really happy because I am so very lucky to be able to spend time with this wonderful group of kids!

Beginning Band with the Flute

Our oldest has had piano lessons for about 5 years. Last year she decided that she was done with the piano (right around exam time, imagine that!) and didn't really like her piano teacher. Believe me, we tried to be the mean parents and make her stick it out. But, man that is draining on both us and her, so after nearly a year of complaining, our hands went in the air and we let her quit. It was a sad day for us, because after talking to many people who had piano lessons as kids, they always say that they wish their parents didn't let them quit. I have to say, I feel for the parents, it's really hard work to nag, and threaten, and be the bad guy.

 Anyway, when school started this year, she decided she wanted to play the flute. Of course we were thrilled! I think the best thing about this is that it has sparked her interest in music and the piano again. In November, she announced she wanted to join the schools jazz band as a pianist! Last week she informed us she was ready to start piano lessons again (with a different teacher, of course)! Her first Flute performance with the beginning band was a success, and we were so happy to be able to see her enjoy this part of her life again!

 Her Grandma, Daddy, her sisters and I all came to watch her in her first flute performance. The G6 were there too, cuz their oldest is in beginning orchestra and it was her first violin performance! Our families were on opposite ends of the gym, because orchestra was on one side, and band on the other. This did not stop the kids from being together though! Madi (youngest of G6) was so cute! Once she saw us, she spent the entire time dancing back and forth from her Mommy to me across the gym. Pay danced with her a bit, and then tried to take her back to her Mommy.

She would walk her back and then come back thinking she had been the big helper and gotten Madi back to her Mommy. Then a few minutes later, Madi would come right back. It was really cute!

 Of course these two were inseparable the entire time! They are always so happy to spend time together!

I think one of the coolest things about this "concert" is that they also had the middle school band and orchestra perform, so us parents could see what a little time and a lot of practice can do. The middle schoolers were impressive. At our school, the music program can begin in 4th grade, so by the time they hit middle school they have had over 3 years of practice and experience. That means by high school, they could be in Advance band. I'm thinking this should give them an edge for college scholarships!

Haha! I'm always trying to talk to my kids about scholarships and about how great our local university's are. I want them to stay close to me,  not move across country and meet their hubby and then move out there with them...... 
 
Oh! Sorry! I get all worked up when I think about it! I want them (and my grand babies) to stay close to me!

Rink Rats

Okay, so we are not even close to being "rink rats"! We usually go roller skating a couple of times a year. We, meaning husband and the big kids, I usually stay home with Pay. But, when the G6 invited us, we were super excited to go as a family!

The hardest part about it is getting the right size skates for everyone and then getting all 4 kids (and their friends) all laced up.

Isa (from the G6) had thought she was having a skating party for her bday, but her family surprised her and had a big surprise party/sleepover instead. Poor Isa (and Kaylin) were so confused that we promised them we would still take them roller skating the week after.

 Haley brought one of besties Sarah along with us. =-)

We were so proud of Em! She hardly held the wall at all!

 Em and her bestie, Nana, and friend Olivia doing the trio skate.

 Dev (from the G6) was super brave and went out on skates for the first time. He LOVED it!

Pay spent most of the time playing with Madi (youngest of the G6) whom she loves.

 We did get her up and on the floor with skates. She kinda freaked out after a few minutes, and that was it for this time. We'll try again next time!

Thanks so much for inviting us G6!

School Family Dance

Our school had a family dance and we all went. We were super excited to see Haley perform in the Jazz band!

I've been trying and trying to get the video of her performing on the piano to upload and it won't work! Ugh! I do have this picture of her, though. They performed two songs. She did one and the another pianist did the other. They did great!

Right after they performed, the girls noticed the snack bar in the back. Their Daddy took them to get snow cones!

A very happy girl!

I tried to do a quick shot of Pay, Dev, and Livi eating their snow cones, but Livi got kinda cut off. =-(

They took forever to eat them and enjoyed every bite!

After Haley's performance, we hardly saw her and her friends all night. They were off being tweenies.

Besties Em and Nana are always good about posing together! They were running around and dancing all night. Em's cheeks are super rosy!

I wish I had taken more pics, and I really wish the video would upload!

Pay's first sleepover

Last weekend, Pay had her first friend sleepover in her room. Her best friend Dev spent the night!

We sent them up to put jammies on, and found them like this. They both LOVE Lego's so they spent some time checking out the Lego catalog. It's so cute to hear these little 4 year olds having conversations or telling jokes.

We then got their beds ready and had them settle down with their lovies and Legos. They played in their room for over an hour before falling asleep covered in Legos! We had to fish around in the semi dark to get the ones in their beds so that they wouldn't sleep on them.

They posed with their Build-a-bear's. Aren't they adorable?

Dev's big sis stayed the night with Em. It was their biggest sis, Isa's, birthday sleepover, so Kaylin and Haley stayed the night at their house.

In the morning, the kids requested pancakes for breakfast, so husband made these.

Then we all sat down to make some Lego hats with Sculpey clay.

They sat for 2 hours working on the cutest hats.

Can you see the pizza hat or the sombrero?

We were so happy that her first sleepover was a success!