All of my stuff

Is her stuff. Books, pens, and my knit hat.

Nesting

On a walk yesterday, she noticed that the rocks in front of a neighbor's house looks like dinosaur eggs. So she sat on some to see if they would hatch. Thankfully none did.

By the Numbers

This is our first time trying these dry-erase workbooks Huelan got for Christmas from Cheryl and Ryan. She can trace alright, but the freeform part is a challenge. It's funny the things we take for granted with our decades of practice- learning this stuff for the first time is not easy!

Browsing

This is what happens when we wait for Mama to shop. We also chase each other around. Makes all the other kids jealous.

Smoke Show

For the past few months, more often than not, the last few thoughts to meander through my brain are about bbq. More specifically, smoked meat. I'm posting this laying in bed past midnight. I'm officially obsessed.

I've always been a fan of smoke. But a smoked turkey at Kevin's house crystalized a connection between two of my favorite things- DIY and meat.

First was the Thanksgiving turkey. Actually the practice turkey was first- there was no way Liz was going to let me go into Thanksgiving totally green. And The practice paid off with and sexy and tasty bird.

Since then, I've taken a run at chicken, salmon, ham, and beef jerkey. Mostly successful, though a few things still need fine tuning.

But really, all that stuff was just a prelude to last weekend: baby back ribs. I have high pork standards and at the risk of dislocating my shoulder with an over enthusiastic pat on my own back, these turned out pretty dang good.

I'm still a novice at this, so I need to work out some more recipes and techniques. If you want to be a guinea pig, come on over. Maybe tri-tip this weekend?

No Shame

 

 

We had a few people over Saturday to watch the football game and give me an excuse to smoke some meat. Vivien and Stella came straight from a friend's birthday party, goodie bag in had. Stella, being the gracious girl she is, offered Huelan some of the loot, namely a candy bracelet and some gummy treats. But me, being Ba, thought she had had enough for a while, but could have some later if you give Auntie G a hug when she gets here in about an hour. She accepts that deal and goes back to playing.

G arrives later as planned and before she could even get her coat off, Huelan sprints over to her while screaming, "Auntie G!" and gives her a huge hug. Everyone thinks it's so cute except Ba of course because I know what's going through her diabolical little noggin. After about five seconds, Huelan comes to me and says, "Auntie G is here, candy please." Well a deal is a deal I guess.

Here are some recent pics as well as some I just came across from Chuck E Cheese in December. Hard to tell what's going on in a couple, but in a few she's a teacher leading us from her music book,  flying a kite off a spool of thread in the dining room, and checking out some hummingbirds visiting the feeder that Carl gave her.

GymTastic

Sunday afternoon we went to a birthday party for some kids that Huelan knows through Gosia- twins who she helps with in the evenings a few days a week.  They turned three recently and had their party at a full-on gymnastics gymnasium.  The gym has a section for kids, and after a little guidance, basically let them go hog wild.  Parents were encouraged to join in, so I eventually got Liz into the foam pit with us.  Here are a couple of vids:

New for 2013

You're crazy if you expect a kid this age to display any kind of consistency or stasis. Even fully knowing that, it blows is away all the little things Huelan picks up and incorporates into her reality.

- Not a surprise- candy. She will get up in the morning, go to the kitchen, grab a Hershy's Kiss, go to her hiding place behind the Christmas tree and eat it. Then she'll come into our room with a huge choco smile on her face and pretend like nothing happened. Sneaky one.

- She's the Mama Bird. Liz is the Daddy Bird and I'm the Baby Bird. No idea how this happened but sometimes I'm not allowed to pick her up because Mama Bird is too heavy for Baby Bird to carry. Duh.

- The Shriek. When she's excited, when she's scared, when she's being chased, when she objects to something being taken away from her. It's like a genetic time sensitive code unlocked a door in her brain and now she's got a new weapon she's experimenting with. And we're the test subjects.

- "Monsters are pretend, but I still scared." I have a few parenting tricks that I'm proud of, but the crown jewel so far may be teaching her that monsters are scared of farts. Ba clears her room of monsters before bedtime.

2012 Wrap Up

 

 

 

 

 

December seemed like it was about 12 weeks long. Not that  I am complaining! It's just with all the birthdays and holidays and parties and mini-parties and more birthdays, and travelling and days off, I lose all track of proper time. 

The second half of the month was very eventful as we made our rounds with friends and family.  Great times, especially with people who we don't get to see very often.  I guess that's what the holidays are about?  During the year, we get so caught up in our day to day that it's too easy to lose contact.  What better way to catch up than over a beverage and some home cooked tastiness.  We are incredibly fortunate to be able to feel the love of so many.

We did a pretty good job amping up the holiday for Huelan.  We did the advent calendar thing and talked about Santa and the holiday.  Of course her birthday we thrown in the mix as well- we celebrated no fewer than four times and had at least three cakes.  I am positive that she got gift fatigue, but kept unwrapping them like the trooper she is. 

This year we celebrated the actual day of Christmas with Ba Noi and the clan in Stanton.  The drive is a little more difficult now that Huelan's potty trained, but we only had to do one emergency roadside pitstop and she handled it like a seasoned trucker.  Huelan had a blast building tents with Ong May and slept with Ba Noi every night (Ong May got the boot).  Ba Noi cried when we (Huelan) left. 

Next year Huelan's going to be competing for attention.  I am scared.

Love you, Happy New Year.

some pics here

Huelan's 3rd Birthday Gift..

...and she loves it!  When she first opened the 5+ foot box and saw that there was a giraffe in there, she said, "It's a real giraffe!" So cute.  She was very quick to name her new giraffe pal Ka-Zo.  Not sure where or how she came up with that name, but we all think it's a great name!

It appears that Patty loves Ka-Zo, too.

Christmas Cheer 2012 (with pics)

This past Christmas was a great one.  All of us siblings (minus BiBi) made it down to my Mom's house for a feast and well needed family time, even Patty's sisters Kristine and Karla made it over!  We spent Christmas Eve at Co Khanh's house exchanging gifts and gaining pounds as well.  Here's a link to some pictures: Pics

Hope you all had a great holiday season and Happy New Year!