Chopsticks Times 6

Monday, November 7, 2016

When Daddy's Away...

While Jonathan was away all week, we managed to survive. The kids did a great job of helping out and getting all their schoolwork done. Hudson thinks Regan hung the moon. What a way to do your homework :)

Katherine and Benjamin had their art class. Every week, I think they must be about finished, but then they add the cutest details. Katherine cut up some straws for the base of this, glues a patterned paper on top, found a rock outside to glue on it, used a fake tree, and made the cutest little flowers out of clay and paper. So creative!

Benjamin is also loving this class! He has added a pool and a fire pit and now he is working on other small details. He has a small grassy area that the teacher wanted him to put a playground on. He said that he didn't want to do that because then there would be no room for the kids and the dogs to play together :) So, she agreed and told him that next week he can make little models of animals and kids to add to his house.

We took a field trip! Hudson fell sound asleep on the bus! He was so funny.

On our field trip we went to see the WTA tennis tournament. The tickets were only 5 dollars! We couldn't pass up the opportunity to learn what tennis was and see some really famous athletes at the same time!

The kids all got tennis balls painted on their cheeks before we went in. I was trying to get a selfie but my arm wasn't long enough to get us all in. Thankfully, someone agreed to take our picture for us.

We didn't even know who we were going to see until the match started! It was Zhang Sai Sai from China against Timea Babos from Hungary. China won, making it into the semifinals. After that we saw part of a game with Australia playing France. We left before the end so that we could get back for dinner. The kids didn't really want to leave! They enjoyed it more than I thought they would.

Benjamin made the comment that it looked easy until I pointed out how fast the ball was going. The slowest ball we saw was 145km/h (91mi/hr) and the faster was 181 km/hr(112mi/hr)! No wonder they are tired after playing for an hour.

You can't go to a sporting event without concessions! No cokes and popcorn or hot dogs or nachos, but they did have these. It tasted a bit like a waffle with the sweetness already added. It was actually pretty good.

Hudson was so excited to paint his birdhouse! Everyone loved helping out! Katherine opened the paint, Benjamin cleaned the brush for him. You'd think he was a movie star the way he was being waited on ;)

Then, we hung it outside on the balcony...17 floors up. He ran to check on it every 5 minutes to see if a bird was living in it yet :) He's too cute!!!

Since Daddy was gone, he got to go around with me to so many different places. We were waiting on Lauren's dance to end and he wanted to try to make his hair spiky. This was the best we could do, but he thought it was funny.

Look who got her official uniform!!!! She's number 1 and sooooo excited!

I'm so proud of her. She is my most shy, but did not even hesitate to jump right in and play soccer. She's the only girl, the only foreigner, and the only 3rd grader (in a class of 4th graders) and fits in perfectly! Even her height!

Warming up with some drills...

Day 2 of learning soccer and she went right for the ball! Go Katherine! They are supposed to start on the field next week. It was supposed to be this week, but one of the kids didn't wear the right shoes.

This is a true smile. Natural. Hot. Sweaty. Tired. Happy.

Daddy is finally home! So what do we do? We went for a family bike ride at night to celebrate!

Jonathan's arms are long enough to attempt the group selfie :)

We rode out to one of the islands. It was so nice.

We all enjoyed looking back at different parts of the city at night. The island was really crowded at night....tons of people biking, walking, running, and singing/playing instruments along the way.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Hudson's Week :)

We made a day trip to our old city to visit some special friends. We haven't been gone that long, but everyone was surprised at how tall Regan was. She loved the attention ;)

Kids love playing on exercise equipment

While we were in our old city, Lauren's old dance teacher sent me a message asking for our new address because Lauren had a certificate. Lauren was excited to get to meet with her teacher, but even more excited when she realized that the certificate was actual for getting 2nd place in the group competition for the province!

Everyone loves selfies with Wing!

The first birthday package arrived early. He got some tablets that turn the bathtub water different colors. He thought it was the funniest thing and couldn't stop laughing about it (and couldn't wait to try it out)

Everyone loves a good coloring book.

Well, we had a two typhoons in one week! The first one wasn't anywhere close to us really, but it caused some crazy weather. The second was huge and headed straight for us. It was supposed to hit in the morning, but the night before it took a sudden turn and just barely missed us. We enjoyed the beautiful sky as a result of one of the two (I don't remember exactly when I took it)

Ok. I just can't resist...Why did the chicken cross the road?....hilarious. just hilarious

My two little girls LOVE LOVE LOVE going out to eat "soup noodles" at the "la mian" (Handmade Muslim Noodles) shop.

The new shirts are in! I really like this one. These two are so cute together.

Hudson got some Finding Dory Uno cards!

I think Lauren's expression in the background is so funny! Hudson got a stash of play money. He and his sister have had fun buying stuff all in our house.

There's a store at the mall that a has a few "car buggies" and Hudson is ALWAYS hoping that one is available. We really were not planning on being at this store for very long, but he got so excited that there was an empty on that I just had to look around for a bit. :)

I had these 3 on a walk and they got really hot. One of them asked for ice-cream, so I said they could look and see what they had. The cat slept right through the entire thing. It must have been worn out!

It's almost time for his party! He picked out a big bottle of Sprite and Coke to have during the celebration.

Regan made him a huge Dory Happy Birthday sign.

Birthday boy

pizza

Party!

He wanted to know what a birdhouse was. So cute. He can't wait to do this!

Happy 7th Birthday!

Birthday boy.

I also made some chocolate cupcakes and put the figurines on them.

Jonathan snapped my picture while serving the cake. See, I do come out from behind the camera sometimes.

Muslim noodles twice in two weeks! They are going to get spoiled ;) Our friends spent the weekend with us and I wanted to make sure they got some food they liked.

The kids are taking Chinese class. They were having a Halloween party and asked our kids to come. Katherine dressed like her purple zebra and Lauren was Officer Hops. I love how creative all of the kids are!!! They come up with all of this on their own!! (They only let me see the final product)

Hudson was Mickey Mouse. My older two were not as into it for the public display of a costume....we had Benjamin the pet owner, and Regan a Jedi Knight (dressed in a sheet)

And this was the gist of the party...lots of cameras and video.

Hudson and Lauren checking the mail. YES! A PACKAGE!

We went out to eat with friends. They took us to a seafood restaurant. I still cannot eat at these places by myself. You go outside where the lady with the fancy order taking machine follows you around to look at all of the live/fresh seafood. You tell her what you want. She asks you how to cook it (there seems to be a million ways...I just want to say "whatever tastes the best") a receipt prints out with the order....the guy in the blue shirt picks up the paper and a trash can and starts throwing your food in it. Then he takes it over to the kitchen for them to cook...then, presto. It's at your table.

This was the HAPPIEST girl!!! She has asked to play soccer for a very LONG time. I have never been able to find anything. As I was walking last week to pick up Regan from class, I passed a guy that looked like a soccer coach on the street. I asked and, sure enough, he was.

She took her first class a few days later.

She is just too cute!

I couldn't have been more proud. My shyest child out there playing a sport that she has never learned, she's the only girl, and she's a foreigner. She did great! The coach said that if she liked it (which she did) that he would bring her a uniform to the next class.

Our city skyline.

Halloween. The kids got some of those sugar canes in the mail to decorate a cake or cupcake with. It was the perfect dessert. So, the big question....what did everyone dress up as for Halloween/Trick or treating inside our house? It's always a big surprise...and just to show everyone's creativeness, I have put snapshots from the computer next to each participant ;)