photos from weekend

It was nice long weekend. Lots of bike ride, playing as well as time spent meeting up with friends.

We spent some time at the beach. It was really hot!

J helping daddy little bit with some shelf building.

Outside eating

It has been quite nice outside and as a result, J/W has been eating outside often. This is their preferred way of eating outside - on the blanket and sitting on the ground.

Today's menu:
Gogurt (eaten just a little while before),
Lemongrass chicken egg roll (courtesy of Trader Joe's)
Capri- orange since they are kind of on a picnic
Cherry tomatos
Cherries

Just had to take a quick snapshot of W with half of his egg roll inside his mouth, reminds me of our hamster. :)

Update on the caterpillars

J has really been keeping tabs on the caterpillars. She also keeps a journal to record what she observes about the caterpillar's progress. Today she first noticed one of the caterpillars has climbed to the bottom of the lid and tried to hang upside down. Tonight, the same caterpillar is completely in chrysalis position along with few others. Very exciting! This is the stage we have to really leave them alone as the chrysalis harden. I have enjoyed observing them more than I expected. :)

Games

My kids love to play games... guess that's pretty common among children and adults. :)

Today, they learned to play crazy 8, Go fish and Old maid. The favorite game was crazy 8. W also loves to play Diego checkers and Connect 4. Whenever he asks me to play a game with him, those are the 2 games he asks for. Another favorite is Rat-A-Tat-Tat, but that is more of a family game.

J/W has also been watching "Chess ("Go") Player" which is a Chinese cartoon about a little boy overcoming hardship in his fight to become the grandmaster of "Go" in China. So I'm looking to get the kids a set of "Go" soon as well as introduce them to Chinese chess in the summer.

A little outdoor fun after wading in a creek
It's time to head to sprinkler park and the pool. Or a nice beach within easy distance would be even better.

some mommy time & rainbow silk

I attended "High Tea" with the ladies this weekend. It was a lovely, lovely event and I'm hoping I'll be able to host one soon, albeit on a much smaller scale, just few close girl friends. I almost didn't go as I had one of those sleepless night... probably still due to some jet lag. Good thing my dear hubby pushed me to go and I do feel so much better in having gone and having enjoyed some "me" time. I am realizing the importance of penciling some "mommy" time. The kids were sweet and called few times.

Today, J and I dyed our last piece of silk with Kool-Aid. I'm so glad we got a chance to try it. The interesting thing is that the yellow dye, after I take the silk out, the water has turned to clear again... no trace of yellow can be seen.

{This moment}

"{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. "by Soul Mama

Caterpillars

We received our caterpillars today and the kids were super excited. So the journey begins... hopefully we'll be able to see them grow into full butterflies. These will be painted lady butterflies.

Here is some fun painted lady facts: (from the pamphlet)
- her scientific name is Vanessa cardui L
- she can lay up to 500 eggs.
- she is the most widely distributed butterfly in the world
- she may travel 1000 miles in her lifetime
- she tastes with her feet
- she has 10,000 eyes
- she breathes through her abdomen (because she has no nose)

I think we will do a butterfly study. I found information on painted lady through Enchanted Learning. But there will be nothing like watching it morph into a real butterfly.

Thanks, Auntie M for the gift!

Leading at GS

J had the opportunity to lead the "Try-It" at her girl scout group today. She had some butterflies going in but when she came out, she had big smile on her face and said she feel it went very well. Previously, she had asked what kind of day today was going to be; whether it was going to be 1)great 2) pretty good 3) okay. That shows you how concerned she is about leading her girl scout troop and it certainly was a big thing. I said, "great" and it really was such a day.

The weather warmed up considerably and we did school outside today for the first time. Our Sonlight package also came in the mail so very exciting! In the afternoon, we prepped for "Try-It" by gathering all the materials for 13 girls.

J showed the girls the magic of white crayon/candle with watercolor, courtesy of Magic Onion. She also shared how to draw a design learned at Classical Conversation.

Plus, she taught the girls how to finger knit which I think we learned from Enki Education. I know I first heard of it from the Enki Kindergarten package. All of which was very received by the girls. This has been a good experience for J. :)

Fantasy

J read this poem today -- like it and decided to copy it.

Fantasy
by Nora Norton

Oh! To be a child again
With wonder in my eyes,
To pick the golden buttercups
And chase the butterflies.

Oh! To be a child again
Climbing a gently sloping hill,
To watch the world awake
And hear the whippoorwill.

Oh! To be a child again
Running in the sun-warm breeze
To kiss alive the blossoms
And watch unfolding leaves.

We read about Mr. Crab today in Christian Liberty Nature reader. As a result, W came up with the following poem.

OH, Mr. Crab! You are strong!
You have a lot of muscle shape.
OH, Mr. Crab! You're so hard!
You are as hard as solid rock that can't melt.
Oh, Mr.Crab! Your claws are very sharp!
Your claws are like a triangle inside.
Oh, Mr. Crab! You're in Sponge Bob!
Oh, Mr Crab! You are very afraid of birds.
Oh, Mr. Crab! Your eyes can stick out 6 inches long!
Oh, Mr. Crab! I know that you are a male or not because it shows on your belly
and your belly is hard too!
Oh, Mr. Crab! I like you but I don't want you to snatch me!

Sibling, dancing, and goofing

There is nothing like a little music, a little dance, add in some goofiness and giggles to make a raining afternoon a fun one. Even though there are many times when I hear J/W fighting, there are even more times when I hear the giggles, and the laughter. Oh, the joy of siblings! There is really nothing like it esp. when you are together so many hours in the day. With J/W, its more like 24 hours. :)

Surfing on my gazelle

Sitting on top of Gazelle is always a favorite. It's kind of like a swing, but more thrilling because if you're not careful, you can easily fall.

J's been loving to dance. She says she dreamed of being "the best dancer".

W giving it a try.

Now this is more W.

J learned this from watching me do yoga. This is her favorite pose. She does it many times a day.

weekend

This weekend, we went to camp M's open house. Like last year, the kid's enjoyed the Fly Trap. One of the staff tried it and said, " Wow! It is harder than it looks." This time, J was noticeably less afraid and went all the way to the top. The kids also tried hitting some real golf balls- 1st time for both of the kids. They also tried rock climbing. This year, they let W try. Last year, he was too light and too short. W was a very determined climber. He held on for very long and was upset he couldn't go all the way up. He wore the wrong kind of shoe so it made it extra tough.

Later, daddy took them to a house party. The hosts are missionaries who just came back Uganda. They have 5 adorable children. Daddy said J/W had a lot of fun. The food they brought back was certainly delicious, homemade pizza from their secret recipe plus lots of cookies and brownie. I didn't go as I am still trying to catch up on my sleep from the jet lag. I know, it takes a while!

Today, J/W played outdoor soccer with local Chinese children for the first time in the season. Good for them to soak in some sun and get a little sweaty. I had a nice conversation with another lady who's more comfortable speaking English. I also talked to a few Chinese ladies. Daddy took the kids biking and it is time for me to finish cleaning the house and make some dinner.





This is where W hung for a long time. He says his arms felt like they fell off after wards. ;)

{this moment}

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copy work

J read from McCuffey Reader today and for her copy work, I ask her to copy one of the passages she read today. Since it was written cursive in the book, she copied cursive (which I thought she might). But I was surprised she copied pretty well since she had no formal training on cursive writing. The only practice she had was a copybook from "Handwriting without Tears" which I told her if she wants, she can work on it at her own leisure. I guess she must have worked on it.


Below is W's copy work for today. It is from a poem written by Sarah Coleridge, adapted by Sarah Buffington called "The Year". His handwriting is coming along... sometimes he will still get a few of his letters mixed up, like z or g, for example.

In the fall, I plan to work with both kids' handwriting using a book I have been looking over called, "Soul Development through Handwriting" by Jennifer Creebin. This book is the Waldorf approach to the Vimala Alphabet which I heard through the Enki yahoo group. It is very interesting to say the least and I'm excited to introduce it to the kids and see what they thinks and to see if there are any results.

bowling

Last year we signed up for the kids free bowling, but never went. So this year, they offer it again and I am really going to take advantage of it. This is really a great deal, 2 free games for the kids every day (or mostly every every day) for the summer.

After buying J/W their own bowling shoes, we took the kids to bowl after dinner. They really love it. W says, "I can't wait til tomorrow!" He also had his very 1st strike tonight. My camera is out of battery but hopefully tomorrow I will capture the looks on their face. So precious.

Hubby wanted to play too , so we signed up for the family package via the net as well. Hubby says, "Can't let the kids have all the fun." True, true.

So this summer, I expect we'll be have fun at the bowling alley often. :)

McCuffey Readers

I started J on McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader yesterday and it is working out nicely so far. Yesterday, she read it first, then I demonstrated how to read the passage then she read it again. After my demonstration, she made big improvement in her intonation and paused where she should. Ha! Maybe I didn't demonstrate properly before or maybe not a whole passages just few sentences here or there or something. Today, I demonstrated first, then she read the passage. Again, with surprisingly good results. If only there was an easy way for her to verbalize her summary clearly and with feeling. Maybe I need to demonstrate how to do it a couple of times then have her do it. Hmmm... think that will be a good idea to try. I should mention the passages are a delight to read and just the right length.

There are also spelling/vocabulary words listed in each of the passage which I test her just for fun. But so far, she gets most of them right so I think this will work well for spelling/vocabulary development as well. For the words she doesn't spell correctly, I asked her to copy the sentence which contain the word she misspelled but she said she would rather have me dictate so that is what I did. I think this would really give her a boost when it comes to Spelling Bee next year. W was trying to spell the same words as J and he was getting some of them correct as well.

One customer said the following in review (which I was delighted to read):
"...They can be used for reading comprehension or as copybooks for improving handwriting skills. The numerous poems can be used to improve memory skills. Furthermore, many of the lessons are focused on nature subjects such as birds, insects, farm animals, etc., and will supplement a natural history text for teaching early scientific observation. Most importantly, all the lessons are moral and help to preserve childhood innocence, something that is sorely needed in today's world. Filled with beautiful illustrations, these hardcover textbooks are an outstanding value."

Easing back

We tried to ease back into our normal schedule today with pretty good success. I was finally able to fall asleep around 3am last night while the kids finally got tucked into bed around 12pm.

I have no picture but was told by J that W did a flip in the air on the trampoline while she is still practicing. We also went to our first ever knit night at our library tonight and met some wonderful ladies. J/W knitted for about 1 hour and the time seem to go really fast. W really likes knitting and is determined to make a square with "no holes".

I'm also really thankful that the medicinal patch I brought in China worked wonders for my chipped bone on my ankle. Today my podiatrist said my ankle is no longer swollen and the x-rays looks fine. Most importantly, I'm walking pain-free. Yeah!

scenes from our trip to China- part IV

A few more highlights from our trip.

J testing out the strength of the silk at a silk bedding manufacturer.

We took a boat ride on this supposedly "only" wetland in China.

Moving on: at my parents' place in the outskirts of Shanghai- J/W really wanted to see the beach but there wasn't enough time to really explore.

W lost his 3rd tooth, same as J. This time he didn't loose his fallen off tooth. :) He is sporting a Chinese boy haircut which he didn't appreciate. You can visit J's blog for details.
J also lost 2 more teeth right before she left China. Here she is with her new haircut.

This is Ling-zhi, a chinese plant that is know for its immune strengthening and anti-cancer properties.

At a nature center in China.

J/W loved these wooden, natural equipment and the challenge of something new.

J/W was mesmerized by a Chinese elementary school. Most people in China can only afford to have 1 child as the cost of educating one is very expensive to the average person. Most Chinese children go to a Sat. review class to ensure they can score well on tests. The buildings are just as I remembered, usually 4-5 tiered. Daddy says J looked as if she were daydreaming, wishing she was in there working out and having fun with them. The students were out for quite some time...seems like they were in some kind of gym class.

At the Shanghai Expo; the scoop is China spent 10 year preparing for this event; many famous performers from all over the world came to perform for the opening ceremony and will perform at the closing ceremony. This event runs from May-October in Shanghai. The theme for this event is called "better city, better life". As you can imagine, security at this event, even entering Shanghai is heightened and tight.
In front of the China pavilion. Inside, the provinces have their own presentation and sometimes shows of their own. We spent a good 2-3 hours inside and don't think we saw everything.

Tibet- inside China pavilion

Inside the Russia pavilion; the theme for this country's theme was child wonderland.

Famous bridge in Shanghai (Nan Pu bridge); the president of China wrote the letters that is on the bridge.

Different ethnicity dolls of China. I love collecting these.

Inside the Expo. Just looking at some of the building themselves were very interesting. It is a huge area with some buildings like the "future" etc is across the river. But alas, waiting in the hot weather is not very fun, esp. considering the wait for the "hot" pavilions like US, France, India, Japan, Germany, etc were over 3 hours long. But later, the wait probably won't be as bad. Some countries just rented the pavilion while others built their own. But regardless, there is always food/souvenir from the particular country to purchase.

Watching a Shao-Ling performance at the Expo.

The famous Bund area in Shanghai; many famous building there, similar to any major city. Night in Shanghai is pretty and filled with activities if you enjoy that kind of lifestyle. But I think for our family, the suburb lifestyle suits us better.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.