Getting Ready

Today I have been pretty much been cooking all day since everyone is coming for lunch right after Church tomorrow. I think it is all ready except that I haven't had a chance to clean. I am going to finish this post and pick up some. I also had to finish prepping for singing time tomorrow so that took some time too. I am super tired and we have to be to Church by 7:30 am for choir practice. I haven't had much of an opportunity to practice the piano but I guess it is what it is.


Joseph: #40/365

This is my basketball I got with my Chinese New Year's money.

 

 

 

Julia: #40/365

 

Good thing I have good help around here.  Katelyn is turning the crank on the noodle machine.  We were making Lo Mein noodles.

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year falls on Feb.10th this year. My friend hosted a dinner tonight. There was tons of good food. Sadly Joseph wasn't feeling well. We took the kids home and put them to bed. I went back to the party until it wrapped up. It has been really fun to have some Taiwanese and Chinese friends. I feel like my language skills have improved quite a bit.


Joseph: #39/365

I got a snake cake pop at school at my class Chinese New Year party.  It didn't taste very good.

Delicious food at the Chinese New Year party.

Busy

We have been so busy lately. I had a friend come over to visit this afternoon. That was nice since we rarely have the chance to catch up much less hang out. Joseph also had a strings rehearsal for a concert Monday night. It was at the main campus so the school bused him down for the rehearsal but Doss had to pick him up. Tomorrow night we have a Chinese New Year dinner. Saturday Joseph has a soccer game. Sunday I am hosting a Chinese New Year dinner. Monday I am helping out with Chinese New Year activities for Audrey's class. I forgot to mention that Joseph's class has their celebration tomorrow. Whew! I will be glad after all these activities are over and done with. Oh...I started a new painting today in art class. I am excited to be working on something new.


Joseph: #38/365

This is a decoration at my school. It is a mossy frog.

Julia: #38/365

Katelyn and I decorated for Chinese New Year this morning. We hung red packets on an "art project" that Audrey brought home last year.  In case anyone was wondering, the art project was a tree branch with different yarns and strings tied onto the branches. We bought the cherry blossom branches at the local grocery store.

Rainstorm

I had to grab a few groceries at the store so I left Joseph at soccer practice. One of the moms said she would keep an eye on him. When Audrey and I left the store, it was in the middle of a big thunderstorm. Practice finished early and a friend picked up Joseph for me. It was easier to get him from her house than to try to fight traffic to get back to the school. The storm was fierce and sudden. It even knocked down a huge tree so that the normal exit from the grocery store was blocked. We picked up Doss on the way home.


Joseph: #37/365

This is my bean plant at school. It's bigger than the other kids' plants.

Julia: #37/365

I was up again before sunrise since my stomach has still been bothering me. I thought the sunrise was much more interesting than the last one I posted. I really liked the look of the sky.  I played around with one of my iPhone camera apps and applied a filter that darkened the buildings and made the sky stand out a little more.

Dumplings

I went to a friend's house to learn how she makes dumplings. Joseph loves her dumplings! I think the secret ingredient is msg, but I still learned quite a bit. I learned a different way to prepare the skins as well as a different way to cook the dumplings. I also learned about how to make noodles from scratch without a noodle maker. It was quite an informative morning. I have to make tons of dumplings for all the upcoming Chinese New Year activities we have going on so this was a good time to learn more about the art of making dumplings.


Joseph: #36/365

This is a new game I made up called Army Cast.  It is a simple game for 2-4 people.  You have different color blocks and each person builds a castle with their color.  The colors are red, blue, yellow, and green.  You get 5 army men to hide in your castle.  Each person has 6 shots with a Nerf gun.  The person with the most army men left wins.

 

 

Julia: #35/365

 

My friend is cutting up home-made noodles with a cleaver.  The dough is folded on itself several times.

Switcheroo

I went up to school today to participate in the Kindergarten switcheroo. That is where the kids get to choose what they would like to do from a variety of activities. Audrey wanted to do board games and puzzles. Next time I may volunteer to do an activity with the kids. Katelyn even partcipated.


Joseph: #35/365

This is a decoration at the apartment for Chinese New Year.

Julia: #35/365

Katelyn participated in switcheroo with Audrey. She even interacted with the other kids and with the teacher. She actually wanted to stay in the classroom with the teacher when I left for a few minutes to do a different activity with Audrey. Maybe Katelyn will be ready to go to pre-K in the fall.

Stomach ache

I haven't been feeling good since yesterday. I made it through Church, but I have been feeling worse. I hope I will feel better in the morning.


Joseph:#34/365

I saw these colored tents on the side of the road.

Julia: #34/365

KFC was sponsoring some event at the stadium. Today it was extra difficult to make it out of the stadium to try and get to Church.  Luckily we left early enough that we made it to Church on time. We never know what to expect each Sunday.