A Honeybun Snapshot

Dear Kiddos, 

We haven't done anything super exciting lately, so I'm going to use this post as a quick snapshot of each of your personalities. Hailey, you are starting to show signs of favoring your left hand. When I encourage you to use your right, you will say, "but that hand is tired!" You can actually draw and write pretty well with both hands, but you are just now preferring your left. 

Hailey at the Doctor's Office by Hailey

You love purple and all things rainbow. Anything that Nathan or Hannah plays with suddenly becomes an object of interest to you. Negotiating turn taking is probably one of the only things that we can't talk you out of; otherwise, you are usually a pretty reasonable toddler. 

Your medication requires you to drink more water. Being dehydrated is a dangerous thing for you. One day I took you to the store and you asked for me to buy you this water bottle. This $1 bottle is the thing that kicked started your water drinking once again. 

But with all this water drinking, you have somehow regressed (in a major way) as far as potty training goes. Check out Exhibit A. This is all the underwear that you have gone through in 4 days. I didn't even know we had so many pairs of underwear that fit you! 

I'm trying really hard to keep my cool and not freak out when you have an accident immediately after you tell me "no" when I ask if you need to go. I definitely lost my cool when Hannah regressed and we are still dealing with the aftermaths from that. Keep calm, mommy, keep calm. But that's a lot of underwear, right? 

Hailey, you are always wanting to do what the big kids are doing. This past week Nathan and Hannah had their Chinese mid-terms and you even wanted to jump in and help with the flash cards. 

This week, Hannah is your favorite sibling to play with. You follow her around like a little puppy dog, but you definitely do not let her boss you around. You are good with using your words to explain what you want. Sometimes I can see you pause to think about how you want to say something (which I think is so cool) and then you'll say it with such sass and sometimes attitude. 

Nathan you were super nice to also help Hannah with her Chinese studying while I was busy with Hailey. When I walked by, I just had to take a picture of how sweet your were being to her. 

Another activity that got revived this week was stop motion. You both were creating Harry Potter videos that were hilarious. Nathan, you always say that you are not super creative, but I feel like this week, you have dug deep into your creative bucket and pulled out some amazing things. I've been making sure I point out all these glimmers of creative energy. 

                                                 

Hannah, you play with both of your siblings so well, but differently. With Nathan, you guys recreate battle scenarios and with Hailey, you two create family scenarios, often as animals. I have to remind myself to constantly encourage you to speak up for what you want and not just go with what other people want. In the past, you would just pick the other option from what Nathan picked,  but these days, your answer typically is, "Oh, it doesn't matter." 

The weather has been amazing lately, but I can start to feel the oak pollen start to rise. So when we go outside, we either draw with chalk, jump on the trampoline, take a walk, or ride our bikes. 

I decided to have a little fun this week and I took your requests and made some chalk art myself. Hailey, you have requested lots of scary things with teeth. The other day you had me draw a lion with sharp  teeth. 

Today you had me draw a cute seal and then a shark next to it. 

Hannah, you wanted me to draw a unicorn for you and when I asked Hailey what color hair to make it, you can probably guess what she said... 

And I just had to draw Totoro. You guys hum it almost all day. That's another thing I love listening to you guys do. As you are working, you guys will hum "Totoro," "Magicarp"  or some random classical song that Nathan's been playing on the piano. 

Hannah, you wanted me to draw you a fairy. I told you that I was not that fancy, so I drew you wings instead. 

And lastly, I leave you with a rare family portrait, courtesy of our neighborhood association. 
 

Well, that's about it. Until next week, 

Love, 

Mommy 

The most uneventful spring break ever.

Dear Kiddos, 

This was probably the most uneventful spring break ever. We didn't really do anything exciting, we didn't go anywhere exciting, we just stayed put. We figured that with so many people traveling, it was probably better to just stay home. 

We did, however, celebrate my birthday! You guys helped Daddy make a delicious dairy free sheep cake that tasted pretty good and was also super cute. We ordered take-out all day from places that we normally don't order from, so I didn't have to cook anything and we got to branch out and try new foods. 

We didn't officially do any school, but since Daddy was working, we created a modified schedule with mostly fun things and I let you guys have an hour of screen time a day. We created lots of art, played different sports each day, had some fancy doughnuts, and crafted. The week quickly flew by. 

This was Hailey's first time on wheels outside. I had to hold you otherwise your legs would fly out from under you. One day you will be able to skate fast like Nathan and Hannah. They started out just like you too. 

A google search for vegan doughnuts inspired me to make a curbside order for some infamous Voodoo doughnuts. Our original plan was to take them to a park to eat and then play, but the wind was too cold and we packed up and went home to enjoy the treat. 

And then we made stuffies this week. I had you guys draw a character and I helped you guys cut out the pattern and fabric. Then I reminded you how to thread a needle and make some basic stitches. After a few days, you both completed your projects. 

Hailey, after seeing how cool theirs came out, you decided to draw your own design and since you did such a great job, I just had to help you make your own. 

You specifically asked for skin like Tiana, purple shells and tail, with a pink floppy thing, pink cheeks, and hair that was blue and green. Your picture had the arms below the shells, so I followed suit and made them that way too. I think it turned out pretty cute! 

Here's a side-by-side comparison

Nailed It! 

I don't know what is going on lately, but Hailey, you seem to be always asking for a snack or complaining that you are hungry. I think you are more bored than hungry, so I try to distract you by having you help me with food prep and letting you cut as much paper as you want. 

It's funny to see you just walking back and forth with a piece of paper and scissors in your hand. You'll sit down and just cut. You seem so happy so I just let you cut away. You may not know all your letters yet, but you have some mean scissor skills. 

We also made some rainbow ice "cream" together. I've figured out a good recipe with coconut cream and this time we made blueberry rainbow flavor and chocolate cookies and cream flavor. So far, you've requested the rainbow flavor each night. It's just so pretty! 

 A few days ago we got together with some friends and had socially distanced Chinese take-out in their back yard. You kids all did great, playing with face masks on the whole time and it was just super cool to see how after a year of not seeing these friends, you guys just picked right up and played like no time has passed. 

The adults had some good conversation over delicious food and the kids had some fun outside time with each other. It was exactly what we needed to lift our spirits as this COVID just trucks along. 

Thankful for friends. 

Well, we are back to the grind and you guys are excited that we have 6 weeks of language arts left before we finish the curriculum for the year. We will probably do some phonics and spelling here and there to review everything you guys have learned, but we will continue to do math (because both of you like it) and we will be mainly focusing on Chinese for the remainder of the school year and into the summer. 

Well, that's it for now. 

Until next week, 

Love, 

Mommy 

Social Distancing for 365 Days: Nothing Super Exciting

Dear Kiddos, 

Things around here have been pretty quiet recently. Nothing super exciting has been going on, and we are just trying to make the best of this year of social distancing. Exactly a year ago, the pandemic officially started in Austin. Nathan just had your adenoids and tonsils taken out. Ama was still here in the states. At that time, we thought that this whole mess would be over in a couple of months, maybe a few weeks, but a year later, here we are still. At the end of it all, I think I'll write a post about all the lessons that we have learned and things we have accomplished during this time, but for now, here's an update on the last 2 weeks. 

The weather has been ni-ice! I try to encourage you guys to get out as much as possible. Whether it is to go on a walk, jump on the trampoline, chalk, or blow bubbles outside, this is the best time to be in Austin.  

Last week Nathan and Hannah both had their belt tests. Nathan is now promoted to a purple belt (we are actually a bit nervous about this because Hailey is really eyeing the purple belt since it's is her favorite color) and Hannah was promoted to a solid green belt. 

The kids worked hard and were super sweaty and tired afterwards. The dojo and Sensei works them hard. 

In the evenings, we still play board games before bed time. It's been chess mainly, but we sometimes play other games for a change. 

The Spring festival was also 2 weeks ago and it is tradition to eat little filled sweet dumplings made out of sticky rice dough. We made our own this year. Hannah did the bulk of the preparation. You have been super interested in helping out in the kitchen. 

We tried making them 2 ways. One method requires creating a dough and wrapping that around some filling. The other method requires you to take the filling (cold so it's solid) and roll it in alternating layers of sticky rice flour and water. 

It's also tradition to walk outside with lanterns at night. So we marched on our driveway a few times and went in before we froze. 

You guys have been on a creative streak lately. Hannah, you and Hailey make random crafts daily. Like in the picture below, you guys created little hand puppets. 

And then another day, you guys came up with a contraption called the "picker upper" which is pretty much a little pulley system with a basket to bring toys back upstairs. 

And of course, there's always the bubble wrap dresses that you girls love to make. This one is shiny! 

In the afternoons or evenings Nathan and I will go on a quick walk outside to go catch some Pokemon. You usually will grab my hand when we are walking and I think it's the sweetest thing. I snapped a quick picture to remember this sweet moment. 

Hannah, it's pretty cool how easily you can play with both Nathan and Hailey. When you are playing with Nathan, Hailey usually hangs out with me or paints. When you play with Hailey, Nathan usually just reads. 

Nathan, you have become a voracious reader. You have a spot right by the window upstairs and you wedge yourself between the curtain and window to read for hours at a time. In the past month, you completed the whole Percy Jackson series. Another favorite series are the Firehawk books. Those are short, but you enjoy them and will read 2-3 of them in one sitting. 

Hailey, you continue to love to cut, paint and draw. We've been giving you free reign of the tape roll recently and you've learned how to cut your own tape. You've created pretty interesting things like jewelry, crowns and snack dispensers. 

Last week we visited the Natural gardener to get some new plants for our yard. We didn't find the plants that we were wanting to get, but we ended up finding other plants to spruce up our back and side yards. 

You guys helped pick out some of the plants and when we got home, we spent the rest of the afternoon outside putting the plants in their new homes. 

One afternoon, Daddy needed us out of the house for a call, so I took you guys to the park. It ended up being too crowded, with many people not wearing masks, so I took you guys to get froyo instead. We stopped by another park to eat it and then took a short walk around the trail. This is totally out of character for me (to take you guys for froyo for no reason) but I figured we are in a pandemic, so we can live it up a little. 

Auntie Momo's birthday was also sometime last week, so we held a virtual birthday party with cupcakes and games. 

You all were so excited to have a birthday party that you all picked out your fancy clothes for the party and had a countdown on the family calendar. We played some jackbox games and I had to take a picture of the screen to share the pictures that you all drew. They are pretty adorable! 

Every week Hailey and Hannah still have Chinese storytime to look forward to. Hannah, you also have Chinese class on Sundays and this past week, Hailey joined you for veggie painting. 

This past week we went to Bastrop to get our COVID vaccines. So yay, both Daddy and I have our first dose of the Moderna vaccine. We headed out to Bastrop a little early and stopped at a park to play and walk around. Their playground was pretty fun and the walking path was lined with little wildflowers that you girls could not resist picking. Afterwards, we went to the site. Daddy went in to get his shot while I stayed in the car and then we flipped. Afterwards, we drove back home. 

Hailey, you requested a haircut for some reason, so I gave you your first official haircut where I did more than just little trims here and there. You did a good job sitting still and you actually really like the whole short hair thing. I like it too because now the daily battle of detangling hair is no longer a thing. 

Another not super exciting thing that we did was to visit our favorite local duck pond. This time, you guys packed all their favorite foods and we loaded up into the car. 

We even saw a duck nest with eggs inside! The ducks didn't seem to threatened when we got close to the nest, which I thought was weird. 

Well, that's it for this longer update. Here's to more playground time and laundry basket rides! 

Until next week, 

Love,

Mommy