I thought I'd post a little about everyday life around here. (Mainly for historic purposes. Each year we turn the blog into a hardcover book using
Blurb. Anyone else do that? It's so nice to have a family journal!)
Anyway, the girls have been taking swimming lessons. They have come so very far. I'm proud of them, especially Jia. She went from refusing to put her face in the water to swimming across the pool within no time at all! We stopped taking lessons when Jia had her ear surgery, but we'll get back into it soon.
For now, we are taking a family Zumba class! Willa is about half the size of everyone else and it's so cute to see her in the line doing all the moves! The teacher clearly doesn't work with kids often because she teaches the steps at lightning speed, but the girls are good sports and loving it.
Jia has been enjoying girl scouts. She has a small troop and we have been taking turns leading. I'm leading next week and among other things, we are doing a collage of courageous and strong women and girls. Jia chose
Ruby Bridges. We are both looking forward to it.
We are very fortunate that Jia is able to take Chinese classes at her school twice a week. The classes are immersion and they make them very fun for the kids. Yesterday, her teacher had them do New Year art projects and gave them red envelopes and other gifts. I love hearing Jia speak Mandarin. She sounds like she's almost singing, it's just beautiful.
We are pretty sure that Willa is lactose intolerant. Poor kid has tummy aches and burps all the time. We are big dairy eaters, so we have been modifying our diet for her, and the doctor is having her do formal testing in the future. (We have the special milk, but if anyone has any suggestions about other lactose-free alternatives, I'd love to hear them!)
The girls have developed their own music tastes, and that has been fun to experience. Lately, we have been playing a lot of Justin Bieber (for Jia), Adele and Rihanna (for Willa, yes, really), Arcade Fire, The National and Mumford and Sons (for us). Willa sings verses from Adele songs all the time.
The girls have been attending "school" at the neighbors' house regularly since summer. Their third-grade boy, Cal, manages a well-run class! He loves teaching the girls and his little brother and sister. He spends a lot of time in advance planning curriculum and creating materials. His classes include math, reading, writing, science, spelling, recess, snack, art, theater and sometimes a short video. He gives the kids stickers and rewards for their work. They receive formal (sealed!) report cards. Our parent-teacher conference this fall lasted 20 minutes! Cal is very serious about his school, and sometimes dresses in a suit for his teaching. We love him!
It is eleven below zero right now, with a windchill of nearly thirty below. Winter is finally here! (And honestly, it doesn't feel that bad!)
The biggest hit of the day was the performance by Circus Manduhai which involved performers doing acrobatics, juggling and the twirling many hula hoops. They also loved that they got to spend a lot of time in the bounce house:
They tried juggling sticks.
Yes, we bought some. They're quite fun.
Jia had this nice man do calligraphy for hers:
We had fun catching up with old friends. Here's Jia and Jia.
Happy New Year!
They felt so fancy! Our first event was a New Year-themed dance at Jia's school. When they entered, they instinctively held hands. Love that.
Then they found their friends and spent the entire evening dancing and running around.
What a great time.
And the younger ones are being daredevils as usual:
It is currently 40 degrees (what?) and rapidly melting away. Hopefully we'll get more soon.
We will be attending a few events, including a Chinese New Year dance at Jia's school! I will be doing a presentation and some crafts for Willa's class as well. Should be fun!
It is eleven below zero right now, with a windchill of nearly thirty below. Winter is finally here! (And honestly, it doesn't feel that bad!)
Success!
The girls splashed around in their new mermaid tails at my parents' pool.
And my sweet Aunt Sandy visited. We were thrilled to see her, and she got to meet baby Mac!
The new year also brought us fun with old friends. On New Year's Eve, we went to Jeremi and Tom's house, and as usual, the girls loved playing with their sweet daughters, Ella and Zoe. The night started with an art show and progressed into a play.
We had our traditional new year's fondue.
Cheers!
The evening's grand finale was Jeremi's tap dance, which greatly entertained the girls:
The new year brought us fun with new friends as well!
Afternoon tea to be exact.
Tea for the dolls, as well as craft projects to do, games to play...
...and fancy tea sandwiches and desserts!
