Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Today we put on our party clothes (that means beautiful silks for the girls and party jeans for me and TubaDad) and headed for the local FCC Chinese New Year’s party. What fun!

First, a note about the clothes: In the middle of her life-changing trip to China to meet sweet Hannah, our buddy Catherine took the time to pick out six different beautiful outfits for Ro and Ree (a set for this year, a set for 2012, and a set for 2013). We were so touched. Still are. Anyhow, here are this year’s dresses (the girls did their own accessorizing), thanks to Catherine:(Ro left, Ree right, oh and all pics were taken with the purse camera)

It was so nice to see old friends and to meet new ones. I think there were around 350 people there, which is just awesome. There was a huge world map in the main meeting room, by the way, and Ro wants to know if we can get one just like it for our playroom. The girl is just nuts about maps right now:

The kids all ran around and played like mad, even though it was so cold that I hiked back to the car to get gloves and coats. This funky climby-spinny thing was extremely popular:

The structure was teeming with kids in brightly colored clothes and moving so fast that I kept expecting bodies to fly off. (Didn’t happen.) Ro and Ree, naturally, went immediately to the top:

The lion dance was loud and exciting, but the best part was that after the finale the kiddos got to pet one of the lions and even be swallowed up by him.

In February, we’re staying in San Francisco to watch their Chinese New Year’s parade – it’s ranked as one of the top ten parades in the world, and we’ve never seen it. Exciting stuff!

How are you celebrating? And do you have any fun suggestions for Chinese New Year crafts for the kiddos?

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

PS: A big “hi” to C, B, and little M. We all got such a big kick out of meeting you in the restaurant and love the pic you sent us!

Um, but I thought Ree would be wearing that skirt. I had plans, see?

Hey Ro! Yes, you, the one wearing the smug little grin. I see that you put on your sister’s new skirt today and are pretty proud of yourself. You do look all cute and fresh and springy, but here’s the thing. I made a new “M” hairclip for your sister to wear with that skirt.

Whatever... hurriedly cutting felt while eating cereal is a little dangerous, but it worked... And I can always clean up the edges after school...

The four white beads on Ree’s clip looked better in my head than they did in real life, by the way. Next time I’m trying sequins or tiny buttons. Cheers.

PS: A few folks asked how I cut out the letters. I print the letters out on manila folders, then cut them out and use the now-stiff letters as patterns. I used a font that doesn’t have any curves or embellishments so the cutting is easy (these are Bell Gothic Black, size 90). Then I just hold the pattern against the felt and cut with the new supersharp, small Fiskar scissors I got at Michaels. I hold the scissors so the pointed ends close right at the end of my cut (so I don’t need to try to stop in mid cut). And that’s about it. A fancy Cricut or Silhouette or something would be way easier, but this is free.

The first hair clips roll off the Salsa assembly line

And I’d say it has been 33% successful so far...

Got a crackerjack team of crafty folks (me, my mom, and Maggie), and we attempted to make three kinds of hair accessories (remember I said we were going to attempt it in this post to save a little money – since the girls lose about one clip a week – and to exercise our creative muscles).

1. The curly korker bow things. A dismal failure. We followed a bunch of online instructions (which all basically said wrap your grosgrain ribbon around a dowel, secure the ends, then bake at 200-275 for 20-40 mins).

Ours were kinda sorta curled after the baking, but the curls fell out shortly after and they just looked like sad little heaps of ribbon. We’ll try this again, will wrap MUCH tighter this time, and will bake longer (we started on the 200-degrees and 20-minute side of things). Any suggestions would be welcome!

2. Monogrammed silk flower clips. We’re still noodling these over, so the jury’s still out... We don’t have the self-covering fabric buttons that I want for the centers yet, but my mom is going in search of them and them we’ll have a friend with a fancy sewing machine do the initials on some fabric and attach the buttons to the middle of the flowers. The sight of our kitchen table in the midst of hair-clip brainstorming was pretty amusing though, so that’s the pic I’ll include for these ones. You can see a bunch of the flowers strewn here and there, and various rejected monogramming techniques:

3. Felt clips. Oh yeah, now these ones are easy and really fun! Got a bunch of felt at Michael’s, then had the girls pick colors this morning and I whipped up a few cute little clips over breakfast. Three colors, a little contrasting thread, and an alligator clip hot glued to the back:

Some of the felt was sparkly, like this pink one below, and sparkles are always a hit with our girlies:

These are the first three I’ve done, and I’ve learned a lot that I’ll apply to the next ones, so they’ll get better. The girls really like picking out their colors and shapes, and Ree was pretty dang proud that she helped me sew hers. I’m thinking these are simple, easy little clips that I can whip up while watching American Idol at night. (Side note: Is anyone else watching it? I really like the new judging panel.)

Sorry Etsy – it’s been fun, and we will alwaysalwaysalways love you, but I think we’ve purchased our last hair clip from you.

The lifebook: “good enough” is great!

I haven’t posted about Project Lifebook in a while, and I’ve made a whole bunch of progress on it recently, so here’s an update.

The book is 90% done and the simple binder format (the one I picked so I would focus on actually working on the project rather than obsessing endlessly over design) is the cat’s meow. It’s cool because I can change things easily and also because as soon as it was “good enough” I could print it out and let the girls start manhandling it. TubaDad and I have read it to Ro and Ree over and over again (at their request) and each time they ask for different things to be added (usually more pictures). I also keep seeing areas that I want to add to, and it’s simple to just write a new page and slip it in the binder. And the girls really enjoy seeing new pages pop up.

Anyhow, they both love it and want to bring it to school for sharing day. I think it helps them to ask questions that wouldn’t otherwise come up and to feel more secure about their beginnings, which were two of our main reasons for wanting a lifebook for Ro and Ree. The other reason was to help TubaDad and I get comfortable with their story, the words we wanted to use, and how to communicate tougher concepts. (Concepts like birthparents, which, I’m happy to say, I can now talk about without stammering and stuttering and sounding like a nervous idiot. So practice really does make perfect in this area.)

I ended up with this outline, and included simple titles that the girls can read. They’re already adept at scrolling through this table of contents to find what they want and then turning to the right page. The titles in the table of contents are also repeated as page titles inside the book for easy skimming:

The items in red in the TOC (and throughout the book) are pieces I’m still working on. And all of the information and writing is geared toward five-year-olds, specifically OUR five-year-olds.

They like the pages with interactive details, or things that they can do, like the world map page, the 2005 calendar page, or naming who’s who in this page:

And they quickly notice the areas I’ve left in red saying “scan from original referral doc” and the like. Oops. Ro likes to point out how long the red sentences have been there (she’s counting) and suggest that I really need to just get it done.

They like to hear minute information – details about the country they were born in or what they did when we met. They never tire of repeating the tiny details that I’ve tried to capture like favorite foods, funny things they did, etc. Here’s the first page of the Family Day section:

They think it’s hilarious to point to this picture below and say that we couldn’t believe they didn’t nap until landing time on the monstrously long trip home from China. And it makes TubaDad and I laugh to point to the “Welcome to the United States” picture that my dad snapped illegally in the airport when we all landed. Hm, I’m noticing a typo or two in the below page – good thing I can just rip that one page out of the binder and replace it! Heh.

Anyhow, if you want to do a lifebook for your sweet kiddo, but are overwhelmed thinking about where to begin, you’re not alone. It’s a hard project to get your arms around. The only advice I have is to just start writing, whichever part you feel most comfortable with. And you’ll be surprised at how it just comes together. It really is worth the time and effort. Ours isn’t going to win any design or writing awards, but you know what? It’s just fine. And, most importantly, in Ro and Ree’s words:

Ree: I like that it has mostly all the stuff that’s true about us.
Ro: I like that it shows everything that we did in life.
Ree (when asked why other kids would want lifebooks): Maybe it’s because they want to know how their family became.

Wow. That last sentence? Well I really couldn’t say it any better than that.

* PS: I originally planned to write two completely separate lifebooks, but almost all of the initial information, pictures, etc was identical, so it didn’t make sense. Once completed, I’ll make two copies (with some personalization).

Happy friday

It’s Friday, the day that TubaDad finally returns from the icy tundra (Boston), and we can’t wait. It’s kind of been a long week. The girls have been beyond hyper and I have been beyond impatient. (I think I’ve got the January blues. Seriously. And I’m taking steps to pull myself out.)

Anyhow, the three of us all had an hour of independent play this morning, and it was heavenly. I think it did us all good, and by lunchtime we were all ready to play nice again. The girls made their own lunches (Onigiri, pretzels, fruit, and nuts for Ree; salami, cheese, crackers, and fruit for Ro; and a tunafish sandwich and pretzels for me). And then I had to take a few pictures because the outfits they picked out just made me smile.

Really, could you look at these ensembles and not laugh? Ree was so bright and vivacious in her souvenir tee that Wela and BobBob brought from Wyoming over a bright blue ruffled sweater from Target, a lime-green corduroy skirt handed down from buds H2 and S2, striped lettuce-edged pants (also from H2 and S2), electric blue socks from Children’s Place (they’re having a big sock sale right now – 5 for $5 if you need any), and new patent yellow boat shoes from Crazy8 (also in stock now). Oh, and she was laughing at something her sister was doing out of my vision, which I’m probably glad I didn’t see:

Ro (who was giving me her smug smirk in this pic), found her fave old princess crown headband that had been lost in the move and paired it with the Rapunzel tee Santa put in her stocking (that Santa is a hip dude!), a light grey corduroy skirt from Crazy8, charcoal grey leggings from Target, and her old standby Skecher shoes (without socks, apparently, which I should have caught before she went to school in this cold weather). Not a bad little look she put together here! I like it, it’s feisty (and if you swapped the Rapunzel tee for a Black Eyed Peas tee, I could totally see a teenaged Ro wearing this look to a concert – those words are going to come back to haunt me in some way, aren’t they?):

Yeah, they’re funny. And now I have to run because I volunteer in their classroom in 15 mins and don’t want to be tardy. TaTa, and happy friday!

I really prefer a caffeine jolt in the morning

The morning started off amazingly. The girls slept in, and a little before 7:30 Ree woke me up, and said “Oh mama, look at the sky, it’s so beautiful.” And it was. An amazing pink and orange sunrise sky that we just stared and stared at. Ro came in shortly after, and we all snuggled in the big bed and turned on some cartoons. We ♥ afternoon kindergarten. Then I remembered the box of Christmas cookies on the nightstand (don’t ask) and wondered if Ro and Ree wanted a cookie for pre-breakfast. They’re too young to fist-pump and say “Hell, yeah!” so instead they bounced up and down on the bed saying “Yeah!” making two syllables out of the “yeah” in their funny emphatic way.

A few minutes later, I slowly wandered downstairs to get some hot tea for me and some warm milk for them. The microwave was working away and I was browsing through email on the iPAD when a new message was delivered: “Early day today, school starts at 8:05,” I read. It took a minute to sink in. Wait. What? Early? Today!? But, OH MY WORD SCHOOL STARTS IN LESS THAN TEN MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!

I yelled upstairs as I started running, “Do you girls have an early day today?!!” “Yes” they happily replied, still in bed and with not even a second’s hesitation. Gahhhhhhhh! “Get up, brush teeth, get clothes, fast as you can!” I screamed, tearing into the bathroom myself. No time for a bra, a big coat will do. Thank goodness I fell asleep in fleece sweats instead of pajama bottoms last night. Maybe a quick brushing of the teeth in case I have to go into the office and explain things. Grab one of TubaDad’s stinky golf hats, run downstairs and throw granola bars into yesterday’s still-unpacked lunch bags (there’s a sip or two of water left in those thermoses, they’re fine), then grab the girls who are wearing god-knows-what but at least are dressed and run to the car.

Dropped them off at the back gate (with what looked like half of the school and their frantic mothers) and they ran to class, getting there only two minutes late.

(breathing, breathing, breathing...)

After a HUGE jug of coffee, I’m going to pop into my Google calendar and reset all early-school-day notifications to 1-day warnings. Ten minutes, rrrrrr, what was I thinking?!

Wishing you (and me) a peaceful, relaxing day...

~~ Update: I was pleasantly surprised to see that the girls actually had on tops *and* bottoms when I picked them up from school. We were running so fast this morn that I really only had time to do a shoe check and was a little worried. Whew. And they actually didn’t do too bad! In Ro’s defense, the bright purple socks are the ones she slept in and she didn’t have time to pick out new ones.

Spunky (punky?) little girls

TubaDad's in Boston (being dumped on by multiple feet of snow apparently), and the girls and I have been left to our own devices, or, um, vices. So in the middle of pouring rain yesterday, we decided to go shopping at the mall. I had a few things to return anyway...

Little Ree found something she liked in every single store. She went hog wild in the Crazy8 store, where they had an entire outfit (including hairthingy, shoes, and glasses) in two of her fave colors: blue and yellow. She was hopping from one display to the next, saying “Oooo, this matches, ooo look at this, oooo they have GLASSES, oh oh oh.” In the end, she walked away with a complete outfit that just about equaled the stuff I had to return to Target -- shoot we almost made money this trip. Heh.

Here she is proudly sporting the entire new ensemble, with some striped pom pom leg warmers the cousins gave her for Christmas.

Ro, by contrast, did not want to spend even one minute shopping. That girl wanted to go home, and she wanted to do it immediately. She loves being home. Always has. While Ree was excitedly assembling her fab outfit, Ro nonchalantly leaned against a display and periodically threw out something like “Come on, let’s go,” “I’m not getting anything, let’s just go,” “I won’t care if Ree gets something and I don’t,” “Come on sister.” In the end, though, while I was checking out, Ro casually looked at what she was leaning against, grabbed a striped purple shirt/dress, and said “Um, maybe I’ll take this one. It’s the right size.”

Ro says that purple is now “number zero” for her, meaning it’s her absolute fave color and ranks even higher than her number-one pink. We’ll see.

I think this was the first day I sent them to school without initials in their hair. And their teacher noticed within a half a second of them walking in the door. Oops, guess she does look at them. I’ve decided that I’m going to try my hand at making monogrammed hair accessories, since they cost too much and the girls lose at least one a week at school. Any tips or good online tutorials you’ve found? I’m going to try some felt ones, some silk flower ones, and some regular bow ones. I’ll post the (hopefully not laughable) results.

I was trying to take pics of each girl alone (I NEVER remember to do that) and someone couldn’t stand it... see Ro trying to squeeze into the shot? Hee!

Ree just adores this curly little hair thing. Wonder if I can figure out how to make those too?

These leg warmers are so fun. I like pretty much everything at Little MisMatched. The stuff practically screams Ro and Ree, doesn’t it?

Cute girls. They are so full of energy and so loud today that I am kind of at wit’s end. Maybe their blessed Kindergarten teacher will have them all calm and zen by pickup time. If not, we’ve got an hour of gymnastics to wear them out after school.

They make me laugh

I was cranky, pissy, and generally hard-to-live with on Wednesday, so it was definitely an eat-out night. On the way to dinner, I kind of groaned to myself “Oh man, I wonder if they serve alcohol at Pizza My Heart?” And Ro (who I didn’t think was paying attention to anything other than the Finding Nemo movie that was playing) sassily replied “No. And it’s not good for you anyways.” Heh. Right on both counts you dang smart kiddo.

Later that evening I said to the girls “I’m sorry I was so snappy and grumpy today,” but before I could get out anything else, Ree said “That’s alright mama, we knew you weren’t mad at us, it didn’t have anything to do with us.” Geez. Right again, kiddos.

On a totally unrelated note, except that it also made me laugh, today I ran up to the playroom to search for a missing jacket and saw this on the floor. Bwah ha!

* The note says “Dear Tinkerbelle, we found your wings on the ground.” Both of these pics were taken with the cell phone. Ree blue, Ro pink.

Little beauties on Christmas Eve

Remember the fancy outfits we were searching for? Well you could have knocked me over with a feather when the girls looked at all the options and then chose traditional, silky, velvety gowns. The dresses did come with matching babydoll dresses, which counts for an awful lot in the five-year-old world. Heh. Anyhow, Ro chose a rich red dress with tulle overskirt and Ree picked out a black velvet dress with a swirled cream skirt. (Both came from T.J.Maxx and were only $29 -- thank you to Kristi for the awesome tip.)

It’s an indisputable fact that I am seriously biased, but I think Ro and Ree (and their dollies) looked positively adorable in their Christmas fancies. It was kind of chilly on Christmas Eve, but the girls couldn’t resist a bit of backyard twirling (and I couldn’t resist grabbing a few pics of them) before we hopped in the minivan and headed out.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break with those you hold dear. More holiday pics and stories to come later. I took a huge blogging vacation over Christmas and have a smidge of catching up to do.

PS: Please ignore the big ole hose holder in the background of that first photo. For heaven’s sake, you’d think I would have noticed it before now and moved it slightly out of eyesight.