1st dance competition

Both J and W competed in their first dance competition this weekend. Boy, were they excited! They both loved it and can't wait to do it again.

They did really well; getting "High Gold". J even brought home her team's trophy as she was captain of her team. I think they will get little trophies from the studio this week.

Hopefully, I'll be able to post some pictures later.

getting ready for baby with cloth diapers

I'm so excited that I finally bought some cloth diaper. So far I have got

Prefolds (18 infant and 4 premie size)

various diaper covers (1 Bumis Super Whisper wrap, 3 Thirsties in XS)

1 snappis (need few more)

2 white Thirsties AIO (for outings)

1 tiny Heiny pocket diaper (for outings and night-time)

I think I still need to get a wet bag(check), and pail liner (check). Later, I'll probably get 18 more prefolds (check) , 3 more Thirsties in S (got 2) as well as 1 or 2 Duo Wrap in size 1 (check) , and 3 Duo Wraps in size 2 (got 1 for now) and 1 Bumgenius 3.0 (check). And maybe some additional inserts for night time (check- got 2 Flip covers and 6 organic inserts). That should take me from birth to potty training for about $300- $350 (spent $308). Depending on how it goes, I might get some more AIOs and pocket diapers and diaper liners for convenience.

I'm also planning to use mainly cloth wipes (thirsties Fab baby wipes-18-check) at home and make my own detergent (Castile baby soap- check) . This is all very new to me but luckily I have a good friend who's guiding me through this.

sweet reminders about homeschooling

Homeschooling as anyone who does it can attest has its' challenges at times, but during those times, I want to be always reminded by what W said 2 days ago (even after a rough morning when I just seem to got up in a bad, maybe hormonal mood and did some yelling at the kids),

"Homeschooling is the best! "

Tonight, J told me her friends at dance studio had said,

"I wish I can be homeschooled"
and

"You're lucky."
when she told them she is homeschooled.

Her friends and teacher are also curious about our green lemonade and "Color the Classic". So next week, we are bringing in the CD and maybe even some samples of green lemonade.

Climbing Mt. Everest

Yes, it is winter where we live. Here are the only pictures I have from this winter. This is one day when W was playing outside and he's pretending he's climbing Mt. Everest. It is freezing. I think only kids want to be outside longer than 10 minutes. The adults would all rather be inside. One thing we have loved doing is sitting by our front door when the sun streams in usually during lunch time. And that's where we have our lunch.

Pretzel making

We finally got around to making these AA's pretzel.

Rolling the dough was fun!

Look, it does look like a pretzel.

So proud.

Yum!

Almost all gone.

Keeping busy

J and W has both been sick. Today, they finally seem to be getting better, no more cough. The absence of it's sound is very sweet. I'm hoping we can run some errands as we have pretty much stayed inside for many days. We are still unschooling and the kids keep themselves plenty busy. Sometimes, when I get a little nervous, I ask them to do a little math practice or little grammar. But I think they are happier learning on their own and doing what they like to do.

W has been drawing and reading a ton. He can probably do that all day and the concentration is just amazing to watch. I think the boy is happiest when I leave him be with spurts of hugs and kisses. He also requested for some animal books and reads them as soon as he can. We also read a couple of Enki fairy tale at his request and he enthusiastically retells it to me the next day w/o me asking.

J is similar though she has been lying on the couch resting for a lot of time. If she feels not so drained, she likes to design, color or draw. I can tell when she's not well since she didn't ask to go outside and she's not putting on music to dance. When she's just resting, she'll ask me to read her a Chinese story. Other times, she watches Chinese cartoons. She has requested ballerina books, and her favorite dancer after reading many is Alicia Alonso. She also wanted more Sherlock Holmes books. Today she is making soap on a rope.

One thing they are not is bored and asking me what they should do.

I have been working hard to speak Chinese to them, though there is still a lot of English spoken. I guess this will be a work in progress for me. I was surprised they liked writing Chinese characters. I guess it's a little like drawing.

Why Chinese Mothers are Superior....WSJ article

My friend forwarded me this interesting article...definitely has some points in regard to cultural differences, though some are on the extreme side. ThoughI think some of the beliefs are partly due to the economic state of China and being an immigrant in another country, i.e. survival of the fittest.

It explains sometimes why I have a hard time over riding my own cultural background while living in the States and reading about schools like Sudbury Valley or some of the other alternative schools. I still believe there needs to be a balance in everything though balance can certainly be elusive at times.