Guess What We Did This Weekend?

PJ's & Pancakes & PBS Kids - what a way to start the weekend!


Friday night I got to take some turns in actual snow. Not ice, not chopped up leftover snow from the day but fresh powder. It was a thin thin layer of fresh powder but I was happy to have it! Knowing it would snow all night, Jim planned to get up and out the door Saturday AM so he could take a few turns down the hill. He had an amazing time and took a break in his day to ski with Marie too. While Jim and Marie conquered the beginner hill, Ty got a walk in the sled and then we were lucky to run into family. So the little girls went down the hill "together" a few times. Cute fun stuff!

Skiing with little one's is oh-so-easy on the parents. Becky is bending way lower than most like to get Annie unwilling into her skis. Jim is leaning forward because his boots make his feet ache when he stands in them for a long time. Worth it in the end though! Jim says that Marie is skiing better; she is weighting and unweighting her skis and turning as she goes down the hill. Alas, she figured out she can keep her weight on one ski, turn uphill, end up facing uphill and then ski backwards down the hill. A new game, "How to Ski Well and Drive Daddy Crazy at the Same Time" was formed.

Ty at the bottom of Buck. He loves his red sled. He drags his mitt, grabs snow and eats it while I pull him along. Some comments, " Now THAT'S a good deal! " "Can you pull me around?" "Does that sled come in adult size?"

Annie in pink, Jim and Marie in the middle and Becky on the right. No tears, no crashes (although a few near misses) - A successful run!

Parent meeting

Marie attends a Montessori school and next year is her 3rd year in her primary classroom. The 3rd year is analogous to the kindergarten year in a traditional setting. At her school, these children are referred to as "extended day" because they attend for a full day of school. So...last night I had to attend the parent night for upcoming extended day students. Jim and I aren't sure yet if she will do a full day next year or not but STILL!!! Needless to say, I cried before I went to the meeting. How could THIS little face possibly be eligible for extended day/kindergarten???

How?

Shaving Cream Party

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We have instituted "Family Fun Night." Thursday nights, we are fried, frazzled and frayed. So, life goes on hold and we PLAY. We have gone sledding, dance-partied, gone out for Chinese food and last night...shaving cream party! I totally stole this idea from another blog but it was a good heist! We de-clothed them, plopped them in the big tub - dry - and introduced a can of shaving cream. One rule - you must stay on your bottom. No walking on the slippery stuff allowed. They were given measuring spoons, cups, bowls and all the time they wanted. After a while of slithering in shaving cream, they were ready to rinse and bathe.

Needless to say, all slept through the night!

Big Boy Cup

Happy Year of the Tiger

Good friends sharing Lunar New Year with us. We had food brought by friends, food made before hand by us and food prepared by all at the gathering. Must say a HUGE Thank You to "The Pete" who is my on-call chef. Could not do this without you. Mmmmmmm to all!!! Yummy stuff!!!! I admit that I just dug into the leftover spring rolls as I am typing!

At Lunar New Year, babies and children abounded. If you weren't careful, you got tagged to hold one! Tak, of course, has the touch.

Eric, seriously??? Yes, it is the Year of the Tiger but the tiger claw is a bit much... We had two tables to hold the adults and the kiddos were farmed out into the other room. Close but happy quarters.

Looking the other way down the table... 14 adults

Kiddos marching around with the dragon while the adults made noise to scare the dragon away and ensure good luck for the upcoming year. In this photo, you can see the two lead girls have taken off their clothes and switched to princess gear. The children marched around the house 3 times with the dragon and then promptly tore it to shreds.

Egg rolls, Korean Beef, Lemon Chicken, Rice, Soup, Peanut Noodle Salad and Molter Spring Rolls. On my Grama's plates on her Grama's table.

It's blurry but this picture is so sweet...This young lady is awaiting HER baby brother's Homecoming from South Korea. He is two and their family anticipates the travel call any day to go get him! Tonight, she played with Ty and practiced her sign language, prepping for her new brother! Our hearts overflowed to see these two together, knowing that this big sister is sooo ready to welcome her little brother home!!!! This photo is worth much more than a thousand words!


The Dragon Team

So, there is our night. Happy Year of the Tiger to all of you!!! We are blessed to share this with dear friends and remember that we are part of a celebration much bigger than our families, town or country. We have connections to others across the globe and tonight, I thank and remember those who loved and cared for my children. We also remember those who have gone before us and know that they are part of us still today. Gung Hay Fat Choy Happy New Year!

Ah Jim!!

My photo won't upload but if you saw them, you'd "Ahhhh Jim" too!

Every year my husband sends me flowers the Friday BEFORE Valentine's Day. Why then? Because that is the day we first smooched (in the parking lot, outside of Marcy's apartment in Ann Arbor, to be exact).

This year, I told him no, don't do that. Too many other things needing our dollars right now.

But, as you know, we had another celebration this year, right around Valentine's time.

Feb 11th, 2009 is the day that Ty Ji-Tae joined our family forever! We always celebrate our children's "family days" and this was no exception. Ty gorged himself on Chinese food at the restaurant last night and Marie delighted all the diners by walking around and announcing to all that she was from China.

But before that, in the middle of a yet-another-exciting-and-stimulating chemistry lesson, flowers appeared in my classroom. Jim.....

He did it. Again. Not quite violating my request of no flowers either. He sent them on Ty's Day, on Thursday, not Friday.

And they are beautiful.
And I am loved, blessedly loved, by my dear husband.
Ahhhh, Jim!

Valentine's Mail!

Ty and Marie received some special mail today. They got Valentine Cards from Uncle Jeff and the family got a box of chocolates from Grandpa and Aunty. Ty wasn't all that excited about the wrapped gift but he certainly recognized the M&M's when they were unwrapped and dug right in! Here he is shoving them in.


Marie's gift took a little more figuring out. It is a plastic, see-thru purse filled with candy jewelry. Tonight she put away one of the candy bracelets. She carried her purse the E-N-T-I-R-E night, stopping random people in the store to show it off!!!

Blurry but Happy!

Sunday we got to watch our friend's little girl! Marie was thrilled to be with her and worked hard to help take care of her. Everything that I did with the baby, Marie did with her Charmin Bear. When the baby napped, Charmin napped. Baby needed a blankie and bottle, so did Charmin. It was fun and, while we enjoyed it, we aren't ready for 3 little little ones!

Updating All of You...

I tried to get a good shot of Ty in his "Little Randy" snowsuit. You know, the baby brother from "The Christmas Story?" Ty is a big bundle of snow love. When any of us gets our snow pants on, he gets so excited! Starts to emphatically and repetitively screaming his little-toddler-phrases-that-only-I -understand and tries to throw his little body into the snow suit so he doesn't miss out on the fun.

When I left school today and stepped out of the building into the beautiful winter day (grey sky, temp in the 20's, no new snow...bleh), I decided that we as a family had had ENOUGH. Sickness, Parent-Teacher conferences, car problems, computer virus, phone tag of a variety of issues...ai yi yi!!! Here's our week: Marie learned the phrase, "Hocking up a lugie." Thank you, Jim. Yeah, nice. So, in order to combat these blues, tonight was designated as "Family Fun Night." Once Marie got up from her nap, she and Ty and I danced, ate chocolate and listened to "Thomas the Tank Engine" songs on the computer. Then, I opened up a can of Campbell's Extra Noodle Soup, steamed some broccoli and, voila, dinner in 5 min. No prep, no pots and pans. Once Daddy got home, we headed outside to all go sledding. Marie had a huge blast sledding down our small hill. Jim took Ty on the banks next to the driveway. He would drag him up the bank on his sled, take him 5 ft along the top and then make him say, "GO!" before he would pull him back down the snow bank.

You see what we are aiming for...a night of uninterrupted sleep. We figure we send them to bed tired and happy and full of fresh air and just maybe, there won't be screaming in the middle of the night. Please. I need it. Strategic but fun.

Want to give our thoughts to the Molter Family who are waiting for their final paperwork to go to South Korea! Their son (aka Ty's new best friend) is waiting for them!!! He is older than Ty and we are very excited to help welcome him home! Sending good vibes!

Here is Ty "dancing" to the Thomas song. Some of you might recall Marie dancing to this 2 years ago...