Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy Chinese New Year!

We just celebrated Chinese New Year--it's the year of the dragon and so I made a dragon cake (thanks to my friend who gave me the suggestion:-)

The original recipe produced a cake that was over four foot long---a little too much for our family celebration and so I cut it in half and we still had plenty---in fact we were still eating cake three days later:-)

It was a really easy, cute cake to do and made me wonder if there was some way to revamp it into different shapes since I've got the girl's birthdays coming up---hmmmm....



My beautiful girls in their chinese outfits......


Way too grown up......


My perpetual smiler.....


Cutest baby ever.....


and the cheeseball award goes to......

A Recap of January

We've had some unseasonably warm days for January---warm enough to play outside with only a light jacket. Mind you, I'm not complaining. I'd be just as happy to get thru the rest of the winter without any snow or ice. I miss the sunlight and the longer days. All of this darkness and cold makes me tired, or maybe that's the lack of sleep because my sweet Baby M is having some sleep difficulties:-) I know I'll just be a much happier camper once the trees start budding out and the grass gets green.

Here are some pics of the girls playing in the backyard. It was Baby M's first time in the swing.







I love watching these two talk to each other--they have their own little way of communicating that they don't seem to share with anyone else.



We are also enjoying our family membership to the Children's Museum (thanks to all our family members who chipped in on this!) The whole family went to the main branch and then I took K and Baby M to the Short Pump location when we were in Richmond for a doctor's appointment. Neat places to play and visit!


G in the art studio


K "picking apples" with Daddy

We celebrated Mimi's birthday with a lunch out and I managed to get a pic of the cousins---actually, I took about 30 pics of the cousins to get this one shot where they are all looking forward.


Are they cute cousins or what?

Where'd that time go?????

A little over seven months ago, a tiny baby slept in this rock n' play.



And now, she plays in it....




"Look at me!"

Thanks Aunt J!

I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks to our wonderful Aunt J for sending all of us such great gifts! I usually take pictures of the girls opening her gifts so that I can send them with our thank you note but she happened to bring the gifts to Grammy and D-daddy's and I had to use the camera on my phone to capture a few shots. Unfortunately they are not good print quality, but at least she can see the girls excitement with these digital copies.

I would have preferred to have waited until I could get my camera but do you think my tiny tykes were going to wait that long?





Aunt J made each of the girls hand-made quilts. Here are two of them.





The older girls got new babydolls and my sweet Baby M got an adorable little pillow shaped like a cat--love it!



This little chinese silk jacket fits Baby M perfectly and will go with her Chinese New Year outfit. I'll definitely have better pics to post then!

Mama said there would be drama!

Sometime ago, my mother (as well as other folks) commented on how with three girls we were going to have lots of drama in our lives. Well, it has begun.

G is now in 2nd grade and that seems to be the stepping stone for the best friend's drama. It is the, "me and schoolmate "A" had a fight today.......she said she's best friends with schoolmate "B" now.....and now we're not best friends anymore"

I'll admit I'm struggling with a response because I don't remember going thru this in school and certainly not in 2nd grade. I've been advising, "you should have lots of best friends in 2nd grade, not just one."

What I've noticed is that usually in a day or two, G will say whatever the "fight" was about has been resolved and now they're best friends again. It's a bit maddening because as an adult, I personally hold onto negative feelings much longer than a day or two. Yes, I realize that this is not especially healthy but at this point I haven't figured out a way to change that about myself.

I think with G, that this drama is heightened because there are 12 girls in her class so there is always someone that is "not happy" with someone else. I guess I should fee lucky that the "fights" seem to be over small matters such as not wanting to play the same games,etc. but I'm still a bit nervous that this may be just a prelude to the future dramas!

A New Year has begun

As much as I look forward to the "new" feeling that comes with the beginning of a new year, I'm sad to see 2011 go. This has been a year of many blessings for me and my family.

We've all managed to stay healthy (maybe a few colds and viruses but nothing too serious), and the same can be said for our family and friends, we're still both employed in this tumultuous economy, and last but not lease we were blessed with the arrival of our sweet Baby M.

I rejoice in the fact that the new year is going to bring the opportunity to continue to see our beautiful girls grow and flourish (for which I am very excited) but it also brings a bit of sadness as this mom realizes that with each new step to independence that they will need me less. Actually, I could use a little more sleep at night :-)

Both older girls are doing great in school (it's hard to believe that K is in preschool) and I expect that Baby M will be walking way before she turns a year-old, and so there are lots of things to look forward to this new year.

I will miss the holidays but I am happy to have the opportunity to slow down a bit in January. G told me yesterday that we had to start planning her birthday party---it's in March! I think I can wait for at least a few weeks to jump into that!

I'm resolved to not make any resolutions this year but to take each day one at a time and enjoy it to it's fullest. And with that thought, I leave you with some final pics from Christmas!


Putting out the reindeer food


K and Lady


The annual Jones family Christmas Eve pic


Mimi made all the girls new hats


Somebody got new dress-up shoes


Marie-Grace made it onto the sleigh!


Liking this new playring!


The cousins on Christmas Day


Cousin Wes and his biggest fan