Chinese proverb

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle but will never break."
(ancient Chinese proverb)


Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Other January happenings

Our new puppy Blitz is growing fast! 
Maura likes to put on his hoodie vest and walk him to the bus stop with us in the morning.  Although he doesn't like the cold at all!

 
I found this adorable shirt at Walmart and got one for each of the girls.
The Boston Terrier on the shirt looks exactly like Blitz,
same markings and all!


One of Riley's paintings from his high school art class made it into an art show at the local museum.
 
We had no idea what his piece of artwork looked like, so we all walked around and tried to guess.
None of us would have ever guessed that this little masterpiece was done by Riley!
 
It's pretty enough to hang in any room of the house :)

Our January schedule lightened up ALOT earlier this month when Aidan broke his arm.
Both the bones of his forearm, through and through. 
This kid keeps us busy every single day with all his sports:  soccer, wrestling, ice hockey and roller hockey.  He never seems to have a day off from practice/games, but that is how he likes it.
It happened during his first middle school wrestling match of the season.
And only in this day and age of technology would the whole thing be caught on tape.
Turns out the father of the kid Aidan was wrestling at the time was videotaping the match and that kid "found" Aidan on social media and shared the video with him.
It's pretty graphic...something only a 12 year old boy would want to watch.

So he's laying low now sporting a green cast for 6-8 weeks !!

X-ray 1 week later

X-ray 2 weeks later

 

Monday, January 30, 2017

Celebrating the Year of the Rooster

We spread out our Chinese New Year celebrations over a few days.
 
Saturday January 28th
 Audra followed tradition and got a haircut for CNY,
which symbolizes starting fresh for the new year.

 The girls wore their matching Big Sister/Little Sister shirts.
 
And we went out to see a movie.
One of the previews was for this:
 I really want to go see it!!
 
Sunday January 29th
 We went out to dinner with Uncle Tim, Aunt Dawn and their girls.
I got my pretty girl all dressed up and did her hair..
 
 
We went to P.F. Changs and the atmosphere was so reminiscent of our days in China.
 
Selfie at the dinner table...
 
There were lots of rooster themed decorations...
 
But the lanterns hanging from the ceiling were my favorite.
They were gorgeous!

 
Uncle Tim and Aunt Dawn gave each of the kids a traditional red envelope
{filled with a little bit of U.S. green $$}

 
 
Monday January 30th
Another day...another qi pao!
{Chinese silk dress}
Audra's inclusion class was planning to talk about CNY during social studies,
so she dressed the part!
 And I did another photo shoot!
 

Audra's sweet aide sent me this picture of the teacher reading a book about CNY to the class.  I love how Audra seems to be paying attention just like all the other kids :)

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Maura's 9th Birthday

January 22nd
 We had some family over on Sunday (after Maura's soccer game) to start the celebrating of
Maura's 9th birthday!
One day is just never enough to celebrate your birthday :)
 


She got a Hatchimal...
we waited and waited and rubbed the egg and talked to it...
and finally it started to hatch!

 
 We were so busy on her actual birthday that I didn't even get any pictures!  The 23rd was a Monday this year, and that is our craziest day of the week.  I dropped off donut holes at her school for her to share with her classmates at lunch.  After school we had a quick dinner/happy birthday before we all headed out the door in different directions:  dance, soccer, hockey, etc!

January 25th
Maura and Aunt Dawn share a birthday (January 23rd) so we always make sure to celebrate both of them when we get together 



Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Fun with the cousins

We packed a lot of fun into a couple days with cousins:
 
 Carousel rides at the mall...


Making wishes at the water fountain...

Playing arcade games...

 
 Even grandma and a bitty cousin got in on the fun at the arcade!
 
 Baking cupcakes...


Riley wearing his Dr. Who shirt that matched his cupcake with Dr. Who sprinkles...
 
 
Our finished beauties...
 
Cousin Dylan got a check up...
 
Aunt Brownie helped Maura make tutu's for herself and her doll...
 
More fun at the mall...

Nap time for a little one and a not so little one...

Sunday, January 1, 2017

New Year's Eve and Day

Welcome 2017
 
We had fun ringing in the New Year with a house full of family!


We ate lots of food {above},
and played fun games {below}...
 

 
Snapchat filter fun:
{nieces Brianna and Tatum)
 

Maura led the Beanboozled challenge:

A certain someone was unimpressed with all the celebrating...

But this little neice stayed up til the big event...
 
Group selfie just before the ball dropped


 
All the celebrating proved to be to much for this little one,
caught her napping at the table after breakfast the next morning!
 
On New Years' Day we went to my parents house to celebrate Christmas #2 since my brother and his family were here visiting.

Then, Maura joined her aunts, cousins and Grandma for dinner at a Hibachi grill
She's not an adventurous eater by any means,
but she really enjoyed the entertainment!