~ TURKEY DAY AND BEYOND ~

The rest of our Thanksgiving Day(S) went really yummy! We celebrated two days in a row: after Mia "show" we had a relaxing day as a family of 5 and then started cooking! We had dinner together and then watched some movies. The next day, we had our family over (my mom had to work on the original turkey day, and what would Thanksgiving be without having the whole crazy crew together ~ so, we happily started cooking again :) It was such a nice night together, the boys and Mia got to play with their cousins; and we all enjoyed each others company.

Once we finished with our Thanksgiving celebrations, it was on to the Christmas season traditions! We got the kids ready to go out to dinner and to stop by and say "hi" to Santa Claus! The boys were excited, Eddie wanted to ask for a fire station; and Anthony was a bit nervous to ask for what he really wanted...he was afraid it would seem greedy and was trying to think of a backup, just in case he lost his nerve :) Too cute! When I asked Eddie what we should tell Santa that Mia would want...well, he was so adorable thinking and thinking. Finally, he said "a crib for her baby, with wheels ~ so WE can roll it around!"

I tried to prepare Mia for what would happen when we visited Santa... I tried to explain that she would sit on Santa's lap (whenever I say "Santa", she would reply: "ho, ho, ho") and tell him she has been a good girl, and he will bring her a present on Christmas morning. She seemed happy with that:

"Mia, we're going to see Santa!"

Big Smile!

"Santa, get ready, here I come!"

She was soooo excited!

Once we entered Santa's little "village" the line moved along. Mia would take peeks at Santa and I would try to build him up...I love the way she is peeking at him:

"Hmmmmm"

I tried to have Anthony walk her over, but she started screaming and yelling "mommieeeeee" and she clung to me... that is why there are too many "children" in this photo:

My poor girl looks so sad :(

But, look at the boys faces!

I love the way she's peeking over at him!

After our photo, the boys sat and talked with Santa for a bit. I am so glad we have these photos ~ they are magical to me ~

In the end, Anthony did ask for his beloved gift (X*box*360) and he said to me, "and Santa didn't seem to think it was too big of a gift! Maybe other kids are asking for it too!". He seemed so relieved.

WE LOVE YOU SANTA!

~ HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY ~

We are starting our morning out like most of you, watching the M*cy's Thanksgiving Day parade. When Mia saw the dancers (tap dancers) she wanted to put on hers, a dress and "perform" for her guys :) Enjoy:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I hope your turkey day is happy enough to make YOU want to tap dance :)

~ THE PICTURES THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT ~

Oh what fun it is to get the "perfect" Christmas card photo ~ NOT! Believe or not, I took these photos a few days before Halloween. I planned on doing them a certain night and it just so happened that Ed (the husband :) was running late this night (on purpose? I wouldn't blame him, but no it was the 'trains' fault). Anyhow, I bravely dressed the 3 monkeys; begged and bribed for a calm photo session. I'm not going to lie, it was rough (isn't it supposed to get easier as they get older?! Not in this house ~ the kids get silly, they get annoyed, they get wild! I did get THE photo on this night and had the cards finished and delivered, yes delivered on Halloween!! I'm awesome (or sick); however, you want to look at it :) Enjoy:

Love how Mia has them by their ties :)

~ Singing ~

This is where it gets wild!

We change spots ~ nope, didn't help

Daddy didn't appreciate this one!

This photo means so much to me.

Eddie has come a long way in "accepting" his big brother status.

I love their expressions :)

Melt my heart!

The boys

so different

yet,

so loveable!

At this point, they'd had enough. Their shoes were off, shirts untucked...

I just snapped a few more of the little miss alone and called it a night

(um, that means had a glass of wine!)

Love how her legs are crossed :)

~ singing, again ~

~ she had to stand on the chess table ~

But, she is oh so pretty

~ my girl ~

~ CHINESE SCHOOL FIELD TRIP ~

We had our first field trip this past weekend ~ we all met in Flushing (a large Chinese community) for a walking tour with our Chinese school teacher, Man Li. The weather was misty and cloudy, but we hoped it would clear up.... Mia & Meg with Ken (Michelle's foreign exchange student)


The girls with their teacher

We started out our tour at a kung-fu school. Mia loved watching the kids jump, yell and kick! They looked really good ~ our entire class plus a few more families sat around on the floor watching their "show", umm except Miss Mia ~ she was all over!

"No mommy, I just cannot sit still"




Mia watches the performance,


she is very interested in their swords. . .






Michelle & Meg

Afterwards, the parents and kids are asked to come up and try out some of the kung-fu moves. It is hard and takes much balance!

"Aren't you scared of me!?"
While I do kung-fu, Daddy catches Mia

with one of the swords! (it is fake)

We then walked through the streets and stopped at a pharmacy, the streets and shops were very crowded ~ afterwards we went for a yummy lunch. I then realized Mia had wet through her diaper, pants and shirt and a very kind mother lent me an extra outfit she had (thank you!). Since I had Mia in her panda dress (from Redthreadstitches.com ) I just took off her wet clothes and put the one piece outfit under her panda dress!

"Oooo Mommy a water wall!"

Daddy & Mommy with their little princess!

Mia ate two bowls of these noodles ~ she was in heaven!

Sweet Meggie!

"Look, it's raining!"

Mia used up some energy

climbing these stairs,

some, but not all!

We have so many "sayings"

for how active Miss Mia can be:

"what a busy bee"

"she has ants in her pants"

"she's a loose canon"

"she's a wild woman"

"does anyone have a straight jacket?"

Since it started to rain pretty hard, and our next stop on the tour was a quiet little Buddhist temple, we decided to end our tour and head home. It was an interesting day and I think Mia will enjoy is more when she's a bit older.

Ta da!

I have been playing around trying to make a panda bear

clippie and I think I am happy with how it came out.

It is entirely make of grosgrain ribbon and it has a

black rhinestone on his bow!

It matched Mia's dress perfectly :)

~ HALLOWEEN 2008 ~

BEAUTY & THE "BEASTS"

We had a fun Halloween ~ this is the first year daddy was able to get home a bit earlier ~ by two hours, but it made such a difference! This was Mia's second Halloween, and although she looked somewhat confused when she saw all the neighborhood kids dressed up; she quickly began to get into the swing of trick-or-treating!

Anthony was some sort of scarey-guy,

Eddie & Mia were petrified of him!

he didn't keep his mask on very long,

thank goodness!

Eddie had planned on being Indy Jones, but when he

saw this Clone*Trooper costume ~ this was it!

not that he watches Star*Wars :)

E & M (and Penny) helped give out candy while waiting

for daddy to get home. Notice where all the goodies are,

someone took advantage while we were trick-or-treating!

Meggie stopped by for some treats!

We run into Taylor too!

When we returned home, I found many candy wrappers on the floor! Penny looked SO guilty and I was thankful she did not get into the chocolate ~ can you see her smacking her lips?! She seemed to enjoy the candy corn the best ~ hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!