Easter Pose

I try and get a cute Easter pose each year and these two were full of crazy smiles.

Brynnisms #25

All week, our daycare is having spirit week. Tomorrow is Princess/Hero Day. Brynn and I were discussing what she should dress up as and I was trying to convince her to wear a princess dress like her Tiana one or Rapunzel.

Brynn: Mom, I want to dress up as Wonder Woman instead.

Me: I thought you said you wanted to dress up as Tiana. Did you change your mind? Why? You could wear a crown w/ your dress if you were a princess.

Brynn: I want to be a hero instead.

Me: Are you sure? It might be kind of cold to wear that costume.

Brynn: Well, fine! I'm going to dress in an old BOOT then!

Me: Did you just say an old boot?!

Brynn: Yeah. An Old Boot. I'm wearing an Old Boot. So there!

She is so Miss-Know-It-All these days, I tell ya! :0

Happy Easter 2011!

Dying Eggs

We spent Thursday night making bunny-shaped rice krispie treats w/ chocolate ears for B2's teachers and a few of my friends at work. We also spent time dying eggs. The kids enjoyed dipping and picking their colors.

Bay's favorite part of soccer

Can you guess what it is?

B's first sleepover

Brynn wanted to invite her friend, E. over for a sleepover at our house. Brynn has stayed at her house once already and had a great time, so we wanted to invite her back. E. was thrilled to ride home w/ me when I picked the girls up from daycare a couple of Fridays ago. She was very polite and both girls, along w/ Baylen, had a great time. Bay had sort of a hard time being the odd boy out for awhile, but he adjusted and we tried to make him feel included and keep him busy. We made bracelets, ate cupcakes, made our own pizzas, and watched Tangled. The girls went to bed around 9:30 and didn't stir once. They were beat. :) All in all, it was a fun sleepover. :)

Happy Egg Hunt!

The kids were super excited to go to daycare today b/c it was their annual Easter Egg Hunt and Easter party at school. They take pictures, have an egg hunt, and make Easter baskets (prior to finding the eggs). They came home with lots of goodies and fun stories. Here they are b/f daycare this a.m.

These Two...

are crazy lately. They are all about:

-wrestling with one another
-hiding from each other
-fooling around
-talking all night at bedtime instead of going to bed
-hitting each other and fighting
-playing My Little Ponies and Cars Cars together
-fighting over stuffed animals to sleep with
-singing together
-finding ways to annoy each other
-calling each other their best friend
-eating us out of house and home
-jumping on the bed
-dancing together
-playing games
-putting together puzzles
-having their own conversations
-always wanting to have the last word

The other day, Dj walked into Brynn saying, "Baylen, give me a butt drop." LOL Yeah...always up to something. haha

It's fun to watch them interact and listen to what they are scheming or how they irritate each other at times. They really care about each other. We'll see how that plays out over the next few years. :)

Vietnam

I'm teaching about the Vietnam War right now...what do you remember about it if you were alive then? I need some first-hand accounts. Tell me about the draft and how it worked. Tell me what people were thinking.

Five presidencies...15 years...a draft...Guerilla Warfare...secrets...secret wars...more bombs dropped than in WWI and WW2 combined (in Laos especially)...millions dead...and for what? Many say this is the war the U.S. lost...would it have been best for us to stay in our own country vs. going to help...many say the United States' intention was to spread imperialism and push democracy in yet another area of the world...do you agree w/ that?

creative writing

posted under my writing blog: Fitz Ink...had to write an example for my kids so they could write their own. How I love to teach writing.

Baylenisms #10 & #11

Sooo funny.

Today, Brynn has been kinda snippy and talking back. This shares a direct correlation to refusing a nap. Earlier this morning, I told her that she would receive some Sassy Sauce if her talking back continued.

Fast forward to dinner tonight. We're eating and everything is going fine. Then, Brynn starts to say, "Mom, it's your fault that I pee my pants when I sleep at night." Of course, I respond and explain that we don't blame others for things that are out of our control but in words she can understand. She doesn't agree and ends again with, "But it's your fault!"

Dj and I look at each other, smirk and continue to eat. Then Baylen adds,

"Mom, she's being demanding. I think she needs Sassy Sauce."

Well stated, sir. :)


Tonight at dinner...

Bay: Mom, what's that on your plate?

Me: It's an omlet. Eggs with peppers, cheese, ham and onions.

Bay: Oh. It has what's that called? Oh yeah...vegetables.

Soccer Mom...I am not

Baylen's first soccer game occurred this past Saturday. I was excited for him even though my expectations were set pretty low considering his lack of wanting to practice during the week. He gets so excited about soccer when we talk about it and then we get there and he's like...no way. Anyway, he wasn't so sure about it when he saw all of the adults there and kids playing, but slowly walked out w/ some gentle coaxing from his father and I. At first, he wasn't quite sure what to do but after the opposing team scored 3 goals on us in a row, he started to figure it out. He was learning how to kick the ball and figuring out which way to go. He was smiling and having fun. The kids on his team were all in the same boat, just trying to figure everything out. The other team killed us, but that is okay b/c all of our kids are playing for the first time. It's sort of not fair that you can write down other kids' names or coaches you prefer b/c then the same kids get on the same team every single time and play for 2-3 years in a row and just dominate everyone. I think it's only fair to place siblings together if they are in the same age group, otherwise, it would be more equal if they just randomly put kids on teams. Oh well.

We have one kid on our team who is pretty good and can score, but everyone else is still learning. Anyway, we're hoping that he will enjoy going to practice this week and look forward to the treats at halftime (his favorite part) and the big surprise treat at the end of the game. Last week at practice, Dj takes him out of the car and he runs onto the field, stops, turns around and says, "I'm tired. I wanna go home now!" LOL This kid!

I must admit that I really do not like soccer. Don't get me wrong; I LOVE sports. I love to watch them and I love to play a lot of them. But soccer is not on my list of favorite things. I don't like standing out there watching and I dislike it even more in the rain. The game on Sat. was cold (thankfully no rain) but just felt "wet' and somewhat muddy. Blah. I am thinking that t-ball might be something we could all be interested in next year...which would include Baylen and Brynn playing.

Looking through old photos...

and found this one of Dj and the kids...this is such a good picture of them and no caption is needed to explain how good of a daddy Dj is.

How does it seem possible that B2 seems so grown up now?

Baylenisms #5, 6, 7, 8

He's a little stinker...

Me: I'm cold...it's cold in here.

Bay: Well, put on a sweatshirt!

*****

Today on the way home from daycare...I'm putting him in his car seat:

Me: I need to put the little pad back in on your seat. It fell off.

Baylen: Well that pad hurts my feelings.

Me: What? It doesn't hurt your feelings! You're silly!

Bay: Smirks and laughs.

******

He's grabbing at his crotch the other day...

Me: What's wrong? Do you have to pee? Is something wrong with your peepee?

Bay: No, I got a wedgie!

******

Me: Baylen, how do you spell your name?

Bay: B-R-Y-N-N-A

hahaha

HECK YES!

It's about time! Brynn CAN'T WAIT! Alderwood Mall is going to have frequent visitors, I have a feeling. So glad I don't have to pay shipping for this store much longer. :)

New Visitors

This weekend was a busy yet important weekend for our family. B & B were able to meet their Grandma Jeriwan (Grandma Jeri) for the first time as well as their Great Grandma Sum Kee (also known as "Rose"). Both live in Las Vegas and when G'ma Jeri found out she had grandkids a couple of months ago, she has been calling and talking to the kids and decided to come and visit. After driving 19 hours, they settled in for the weekend, bringing a new puppy to entertain. Although it seemed like a crazy weekend getting used to a wild puppy, meeting new people (for the kids mostly), listening to Great Grandma Rose tell the same stories many times (she has dementia) and running various errands, it was nice to get to know them a little bit better. Both are funny and very talkative and love the kids. Jeri taught me how to make some authentic Chinese food (fried rice and egg rolls) and also made some other yummy food while she was here. We went to an Asian market for the first time together and she showed me how to look for the right kinds of ingredients and what kind of food is good to buy. HINT: if you like Asian food as much as we do, go to an Asian grocery store...Asian markets actually sell meat cheaper and also sell soy sauce, sweet & sour sauce, rice, etc. WAY cheaper than the grocery store.

Grandma J. works at Marshall's, so she brought all sorts of goodies for the kids like pillow pets, several dresses for Brynn, lots of shoes, and more. She even brought a present for Baylen for his birthday and bought each of them a toy. They were pretty excited about it all.

Great Grandma Rose speaks a little bit of broken English but mostly Thai mixed w/ Chinese. She is a bit hard of hearing and is waiting to get a new hearing aid as well as some new teeth b/c she had to get many of them pulled. She will turn 79 in two weeks. She was very happy to meet us and kept saying she would miss us. She had some really old pictures in her purse of her father and her brother. I'll try and post them later...her father was a very good Chinese doctor and used to help many sick people in his village and neighboring villages. He would find ways to mix herbal medicines to help very sick people return to good health. He was well known. It was neat to hear about the history of a part of our family.

The kids enjoyed meeting their grandmas and spent the weekend eating, talking, playing with the dog, reading to grandma, playing games w/ grandma, and getting to know them both.

Grandma J. and GG Rose left this morning to head back to Las Vegas. We hope to see them again sometime. Maybe we can visit them if we make it to Vegas in the fall for a little adult getaway...we'll see.

It was fun to have some authentic culture and learn some cultural traditions and language that our little family does have a connection to. It's good for our kids to learn about their roots too.