Jiao Zi

I'm making dumplings for the new year, a big whopping batch, mostly to have on hand. 

X (excitedly): Are you making so many [dumplings] because I like them?

Playdoh

J2: I made it!

BB: What?!

J2: Buh [J] made it.

BB: No...

J2: Belle Belle made it! 

Christmas Village

Starting with favorite and "best" (according to M2) of the village, the knight's castle (largest) and the hunter's castle.

Artwork

By Lulu. People are only about an inch tall.

Cleanliness

After playing outside in the sandbox.

Ornament Swap

Friend's ornament swap party, mostly for kids, G took cork reindeer, BB the fireplace, and X the cinnamon stick Christmas tree. Came home with some very creative ones.  

Bees

J made a discovery outside,

J: Daddy, one of your bees died.

Drew: Bees die all the time; they reach the end of their life and they die.

J: No, I think a spider punched him in the face and he died. 

Celebrating

Two years with this baby. Wearing dress and shoes from Aunt Theresa (godmother), carrying Ruby (left), gift from Z, and Surshee, handmade by BB. 

Snow

On the way home from church — took us extra fifteen minutes to get there —, Drew thought maybe 3-4 inches. An extra bit of memorable for J2's birthday celebration today. Smaller snowman Z built, bigger was joint effort between M, M2, and X. 

Silly Scents

Baby smelling each marker as she uses them.

St Nicholas Visit

Empty Message

In the Cabinet

Friday nights X gets to "camp" somewhere in the house, not his bed, usually in the living room. Last night he chose the hallway outside M2's room — with a twist.

Look at All Those Fingers!

Empty Message

Road Rash

Riding her balance bike, reportedly took too sharp of a turn and face planted. 

The First Lesson

Does Daddy look nervous?

Narration

During (Chinese) read aloud time this morning, X showed me some earwax from his ear. 

X: Earwax tastes bitter.

Me: Eww, how would you know? 

X: When we were having apples I told Lulu that my apple was bitter and Lulu said that apples are sour, earwax is bitter. So I pulled some out of my ear and tried it.

Me: I see. Do you think Lulu knew that it was bitter because she tried it herself too? 

X: I don't know.

Fire “Tush”

On the way to church, we'll sometimes see new oil well torches burning in the distance. We drew J's attention to one and when she finally figured out what we were talking about, she yelled out, "Fire tush!"

Ice Storm

First picture just after river birch snapped on Mon; second on Tues, hoping bent over (unbroken) trunk makes it. Just to left of shed, you can see neighbor's tree snapped in two places. We're under ice storm warning until Wed.

Winnie the Pooh

The peanut butter version, dipping into the pot.

Mitten Feet

J2 wanted to wear mittens on her feet. 

Quote

J: Don't go in there [the back garage], Daddy, it's hot. You'll burn up like chicken. 

Drew: Yes, Bubbie. 

Pilgrims

Picture someone took during pilgrimage last weekend. 

Quote

Me (in Chinese): Do you have boo-boop? Do you need a bappy change?

J2: Ge-bieve...boo-boop..."n"-er. (Lol translation?)

Finger Puppet

M2 got the idea for this finger puppet using a hideaway doll pattern. The other is a pillow for the doll.

Water Crisis

Outdoor water spigot (on house) broke, causing Daddy to shut water to whole house off in order to fix it. Naturally when there's no easy access to water, everyone becomes thirsty. J found partial bottles of water and combined them, so then J2 wanted some. After sharing a couple mouthfuls of water, J started shaking her bottle vigorously and I overheard her say to herself, "I'll just make some more water." Wouldn't that be an awesome way to solve the world's water problems? 

Human Bridge

Empty Message

Popcorn balls

X found a recipe in cookbook, and we happened to have all the ingredients on hand. BB made an almost caramel corn.

Quote

G and J sharing a flavored soda water. 

J: Don't give any of that to the chickens.

G: Silly, chickens don't drink soda water.

J: Yeah because they don't have hands.

More dancing noodles by M2.

Quotes

Warby : water please

Uh wing : want swing

Mah-nana : banana

Homemade

Swim skirt (inside out) by BB, from leftover fabric she used to make swim shirt. 

Dancing Noodles

Doodles by Lulu.

Awww

Empty Message

“Firing” His Homework

I offered X to burn his alphabet cards when he mastered them. Happy day!

Swinging

Drew installed an old favorite for Our Lady's birthday. J and J2 never knew this swing like the older ones did at the old house.

Frisbee

Annual tournament, won by the blues. Root beer floats enjoyed by all.

Elderberry Gummies

Even Bigger

Second tooth in as many days, from the top. That size gap makes it hard to eat lol.

Blocks

J2 will tell me to look at the things she builds, and it pleases her so much when I offer to take a picture.