Chopsticks Times 6: One Last Hoorah

These two girls had one last hoorah with their buddies. They had a 2 1/2 day slumber party. The girls' mom picked up Katherine and Lauren and brought them to her house. I rode the train later to bring them back home.

It was so quiet without these two in the mix. We missed them :) Here we are waiting for our train home.

Yes. Bunny made the trip also. This is one well traveled bunny. She got it when she was 15 months old and it hasn't left her side yet. Bunny even has her very own passport since she travels to so many countries ;)

The train wasn't as crowded as it sold have been, but you can see that everyone was trying to get back to their homes to start back to school and work.

We went to the mall and Katherine got to pet this real bunny. It really liked her. It was soft and cute, but no thanks.

Someone was super excited to finally get to hold Phineahas.

I wok up on my birthday to find some very excited kiddos. They had been planning my day for weeks (including using their own money to buy me some surprise gifts) Sweet kiddies.

My boy who won't let me get many pictures of him. I took about 45 birthday selfies right in a row to get one good one :) Most had either silly faces or a hand up...until he got tickled and then I finally got one. He got up that morning, saw all the presents, and said, "is it someone's birthday?" haha!

My girl who loves photos. She was helping me do the laundry hoping that it meant we could party sooner ;)

My biggest baby. A heart of gold and so much fun. She was busy staying on top of her schoolwork and let me squeeze in beside her for the selfie.

They made me pizza! What is a birthday if you can't eat pizza?

The typical pictures I get of this boy. I love him.

My mini me. She loves to cook and craft and help others. She does what she sets her mind to and has a great laugh.

My youngest baby. He's not so little anymore. He's always ready with a question about anything and everything. He loves bikes, music, and anything electronic (computers, phones, watches) :)

All my babies and me.

One last one with the whole family before eating the pizza.

Hudson wrapped a popsicle stick and gave it to me. haha!

My new plant from Jonathan and all the kids. I really hope I don't kill it because it is so cute!

My birthday cake from my sweetie

Happy BirthDay, Kelly....contrary to my son's thoughts of "Hudson, Benjamin, Dad" so it must just be for the boys to eat ;)

I love this. Wait. Wait. Wait. Let me get a picture first.

We were back at the mall and the older kids got to pet the bunny. They said it was so soft.

Katherine came home with this. She spent her Christmas money (some of it) to buy this little hamster and all the supplies. She said she was responsible and was going to buy it's food each month and take care of it all by herself....we won't even know she has it. So far so good :)

So introducing Brownie to our zoo.

But Gracie will alway be my favorite even if she thinks she HAS to be on my shoulders. She's such a tiny little cat.

You know you live in Asia when...your kids get up in the morning, look outside, panic and proceed to wrap their heads in sheets and make masks for themselves so they don't die from all the pollution....just for their parents to tell them not to worry...it's just fog. I will agree though. That is some thick fog!

Mother daughter

So Katherine had a "daddy fish" that died, so she bought a fish to replace him. We got it home and she said, "I think this new fish is going to have babies tonight." I decided that she might be right so we put her in a separate container. The next morning...35 babies!! Katherine had the biggest grin. "Now, I have 57 pets! 35 new babies plus the 12 babies from the other mom fish, both of the moms, the blue fish, Hudson's 3 fish, 2 dogs, a cat, and a hamster." Like I said....a zoo :) a happy one though.

This was the pretty mama fish. She actually just died. I guess giving birth to 35 was a bit more than she could take.

Ayi teaching Lauren how to knit.

Hudson has a great big sister. His desk was a disaster zone, to the point that I couldn't take it anymore and told him he had to clean/organize it. Katherine got so excited (She love organizing/cleaning) and she offered to do it for him. I took this picture and told him that I always want it to look this way :)

Lantern Festival. The end of all the celebrations. Our complex had carnival type games for everyone to play. We won several things of chips and a coke.

Regan won a tea pot.

This is the picture that Regan drew for me for my birthday. She kept it a surprise. I had no idea. She used colored pencils.

I will treasure my picture always :)

So our old city put on a fantastic fireworks show to celebrate Lantern Festival. Literally all my friends were sending me picture from the event. I was about to tell me best friend in that city that next year I wanted to come up for the fireworks and then I had a friend send me these....

uhhhh

I hope the bridge can hold that many people!

oh, the traffic!

Are you kidding me?! There were literally people EVERYWHERE! On the bridge, under the bridge, on the street, everywhere! I think we will stay home. :)

These girls were so excited! They all got their new dance outfits. This is the outfit for level 5 and 6 in ballet. Look carefully. All the girls are just standing around waiting, except Lauren (in the back center) who is practicing her curtsey. I love it!