I picked Hudson up from his taekwondo class (in our complex) and started to walk back to the house. Side note...he was wearing his new backpack that they gave him for a Christmas gift! He looks up at me and says, "Mom, am I big enough now to go home by myself? I can do it. I'm big." Well, it is in the complex and he is seven and Jonathan is at home waiting so..."OK."
Don't worry. I watched him go all the way to the door. He was so proud of himself :) and yes, I called Jonathan to make sure he got off the elevator ok. I wouldn't want anyone to worry :)
There was a light show outside our window for New Year's Eve. I was really hoping for a fireworks display, but no such luck. It's ok. I had fallen asleep anyways. Jonathan woke me up to say Happy New Year and to let me know that I didn't miss anything :) So sweet.
Lauren had her ballet dance test. She is officially level 4...which means officially practicing lots of things on "tippy toe" shoes.
This is Lauren's dance teacher. The younger kids tested first (which is Lauren) but they were still waiting for the judge (not sure what you call them...grader? judge?) to arrive.
They had fun stretching and posing for pictures :)
I never saw this one, but the mom of this little girl sent me the picture.
Christmas and New Years were over, but Lauren had decided that she REALLY wanted to buy a tiny little Star Wars figurine for her big sister. She was so excited and spent EVERY penny that she had. Regan felt bad that she spent all of her money on her, but I told Regan that it was ok. It was Lauren's decision and she just loves her big sister so much. I don't need to tell you what little figurine is being displayed on a dresser right now.
The kids ate their Christmas cookies (well some of the cookies). Only Benjamin would turn his gingerbread man into Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon. :)
It's been a while since I've been grocery shopping. I was debating whether or not I should buy some fish heads...not really!
So, Hudson has been struggling in school since we started. He's doing well, but has a hard time because he has to literally climb into a chair and then try to sit "properly" to do his work. It just wasn't working well, but we had no other option. Well, we came across a steal! We found a desk that is just his size!!! I have never seen him so excited! I was so glad to see how well he did in school this week. His handwriting was so much better, his coloring was awesome, and he paid better attention! It confirmed that it wasn't in my head and that he really did need a desk.
Katherine had a soccer banquet. She got an award.
It last a long time. They had a raffle giving away prizes throughout the night. She was wanting to win something so badly....and she DID! She won two tickets to a trampoline park. I am so glad she didn't win some of the other prizes...they gave away mattresses, and picture frames the size of a couch! (I'm not joking)
Ayi came by last weekend and took Lauren and Katherine out on the town. I asked them what they did and they said, "walked around, went shopping for high heel shoes, and ate pizza"
This is what our air has looked like for the past 2 weeks. I'm really thankful that it's not worse than this, but this is midday and even the kids have started asking when the sun will come back. We've live in this country for a long time and pollution is just a part of it, but it really bothered all of us this week....headaches, burning eyes, hard to breathe well, coughing...we even had to close all the doors and windows one day because you could actually smell the air. yuck!
Regan was so excited that she was on "make dinner" with Daddy duty this week because she got to make fried rice!!!
This mat has been the best purchase ever! He wakes up EVERY morning and starts playing with cars, building buildings, making train tracks, parking buses, etc. It's one of the first times I have seen his imagination really explode.
The much anticipated day has arrived! Lauren got ballet tickets for Christmas! She said, "This is the best day of my life!"
It turned out to be a beautiful night! It wasn't hot, and it wasn't cold. The sky wasn't clear, but we could still see the moon.
We had to take every opportunity to take pictures because photos were not allowed during the show.
I love seeing the kids so excited about things :)
Lauren ran into one of her ballet classmates at the performance. She was so happy to see one of her friends there. Lauren's eyes never left the stage. She loved every minute of it. We looked over at her friend and she was sound asleep. haha!
It's almost time to start!!
Inside before it started
They let us take pictures at the curtain call. Lauren was so glad that I got to take at least one picture :)
We also celebrated TWO YEARS of having Hudson! :) Katherine wanted to make a cake for him. She did everything by herself!
I cannot believe how much he has changed and grown in 2 years! I went back and looked at my blog from the day we picked him up and just laughed and laughed. It was so funny. I had completely forgotten so much. I think my favorite thing that I read was how the first night he kept saying(while I was in the shower, "Mom, are you in there? Are you done? Are you still there?" And then that night he kept opening my eyes saying, "Mom, wake up. Let's sing a song." And then he just started singing. It's so funny now because he hasn't changed one bit. I have never met a child who talks so much and so nonstop! haha! :) I love this kid! Happy two year "Gotcha Day"
