Chinese New Year and TET 2009

A great time was had by all! Great food, Great friends, and Great memories. The girls now have some competition now. The boys are gaining on them. I look forward to our gathering in March.

Wish I had time for a nap!

The kids and I headed out around 10:00 this morning. We ran to our favorite bakery. It is run by Vietnamese couple and has the most delicious pastries. I bought a Vietnamese fruit cake for our Chinese New Year/ TET celebration tomorrow.

Then, we grabbed some lunch and went to a playgroup. The kids were tired but I then went to an Asian grocery. Their electricity was out and it was cold inside. I got some more rice and noodles(was running low and like to keep it stocked). After another stop for dumplings we headed home. Both kids are asleep. At least I hope Rachel is.

I have a bunch of vegetables to chop for tomorrow. I am making a dish I learned in a Chinese cooking class. Cooking for 15 or so adults and about that many children is going to be fun. I would have loved to make homemade dumplings, but just not up to the task for that large of a crowd and a toddler.

I can finally get out of the drive. I was home all day and got a lot of cleaning done. I am going to take the kids out with me tomorrow to do some grocery shopping and to do something fun. With being sick and the weather, we have been in this house way too long

Here is a picture of Rachel at her Daisy scout gathering on Saturday. They earned their manners patch. The other picture is of Nate the Dragon.

Tree pictures

Here is John, Nate, and Rachel standing by the fallen tree.

Snow, rain, ice, sleet, more snow...what a mess!

We were all restless last night. Sirens, popping, and cracking was going on all night! Around 10:00 John and I heard a big boom. We looked out the front window and saw numerous limbs down but nothing big. This morning, we looked at the side window and a tree was across the drive. The whole tree is down, nothing but a stump. It was a huge 100+ year sugar maple tree. If it had fallen the other way, it would have been in our living room. We are feeling fortunate! I am glad we have a 4-wheel drive.

The electricity has flickered, but is still on. The numbers of people with electricity is growing. We have several friends without electricity.

I will post a picture of the tree later.

Sickness continues....

Nate has pneumonia again. Rachel has tonsillitis, cough, and a fever. Exhausting!!

Back to work one week and already having to call a substitute...

It is going to be a longgg winter!

Back to work

Yesterday was my first day back to work. Teaching went okay. Just as school was out, I got a call from daycare director saying Nate had a temperature. I drove 30 minutes (I teach that far from home) to the daycare. He was being held by one of the teachers. He immediately started crying when we saw me.

I gave him something for his temperature. From the time we got home he whined/cried. He wanted to be held, but still cried. He was so upset. I cooked dinner while John held him...he cried. He ate and then wanted me to hold him...still cried. This went on all evening. John would hold him, then I would. He was so unsettled.

I was off today, but I work tomorrow. I hope he has a better day.

Nate went to daycare for 4.5 hours yesterday. There were a few tears (by him) when I left. Otherwise, things were okay. The girls were really great at calming him down. There are 5 kids in his class. He ate well and took a good nap. Of course, as soon as I walk in the tears roll again.
Something about Nate that is funny... he has the biggest alligator tears you could ever imagine. He can have the tears rolling down his face in a split second. Like right now, I took his cereal bowl away because he was playing in the milk and down the tears come.

Rachel is "Star of the Week" at school. She has been looking forward to this all year. She is so proud of herself. She said, "I made good choices, set a good example, and did her work with no talking (that is a hard one for her) She gets to be line leader, all week, and sit in a special chair at circle time. It is the little things that make her so happy.

John and I are going to see "WICKED" this afternoon. We are going out to eat afterwards. I have been looking forward to this for a while.

2 months home...

Is that all?? Seems like much longer than that!

Not sure if just a slight fever, but Rachel has one. I hope it isn't the other stuff the rest of us had or strep. (she said her throat hurt yesterday) We've had a quiet morning. Coloring, watching a movie... Anyway, she is resting now. That is always good for her. She loves her sleep. Keeping my fingers crossed she is better after her nap.

Nate continues to make great strides. Our pediatrician had recommended having him evaluated when we got home. Mainly due to not walking. They came early December to assess him. He qualified for OT/PT/DI(development interventionist) and for speech. We decided to have further testing done with an OT and DI. The DI and OT have both finished their assessments, as of today, and he does NOT qualify. His development is on target for an 18 month old!! Both the OT and PT were amazed at his progress in short time!

Family update

We are finally getting over all the yucks (On top of everything we had , John and I got a stomach virus last week). Nate got a clean bill on his pneumonia, so he will start his shots on Monday. Rachel continues to stay healthy (knocking on wood).

Nate is now a walker! Boy, is he busy. He had been very frustrated not being able to walk. He is enjoying the freedom. He is walking all over the house and is starting to get into everything. The sleeping is getting better. We still have issues to work through... but it is getting better.

Rachel was glad to get back into school. She loves her teacher and has some great friends. I am teaching a Chinese New Year lesson to her Daisy troop on Monday. She is really enjoying reading books and has been working on number patterns. She is into playing card games and Tic-Tac-Toe.

It is hard to believe it has only been 2 months. Seems like much longer.

Baptism

Today during church, Nathaniel was baptised. He wore the outfit we had made in Hanoi... Blue silk dragon outfit. Rachel wore the blue Ao Dai outfit. John and I both wore shirts we had made in Hanoi. It was a nice ceremony. Nate was alert and very interested in the baptismal water. The church had cake and punch. The cake was made by the woman who helped with the baptism. It was delicious. Nate passed out just before the cake was servered.

After church we went to a Japanese restaurant to eat. They have a hibachi grill. It is one of our favorite places to eat! The kids love the soup and stir-fry rice. It was a great day.

Walking begins

One of the upsides of Nate's gross motor delay is...

We got to see his first steps...

He has been taking steps for a few weeks, but in the past 2-3 days he is really getting the hang of it. He is getting so strong.

He still prefers crawling, but is trying to walk. He just gets so tickled when he starts walking. His balance is getting better. He will walk a few steps, fall, and just crack-up laughing. Then, he gets back up and walks. He has taken as many as a dozen steps. He is going to be running all over the place before we know it.