Sunday, April 29, 2012

One thing I read this week was that children are a mom's most beautiful jewelry. Here are some beautiful jewels playing in a water table outside on a beautiful day (not hanging on mom's neck!)... 
This is me at 8 months even though I'm 9 months old today and mom forgot to take my picture!
What do you think of this pose? Inquisitive? Too serious? 
Happy Easter! I got the egg dye kit out and invited some friends over. B.Y.O.E.!
(bring your own eggs!)
This is the second year we actually tried those little plastic egg wraps. The kids (and moms) enjoyed watching it shrink right onto the egg after dipping it in boiling hot water. Do people usually throw that part of the kit away? I don't remember ever actually doing that as a kid. Maybe safety or time was a higher value than coolness. 
Easter Egg Enthusiast Evan (taking a break from such grueling work)
Layla found the toy drawer more interesting than the egg wrappers.
How we colored our eggs this year!! With egg dye!! 
(Do you think that pic & caption will make pinterest boards?! Ha!)
Next week's lesson: how to use the focus button on your camera. (Whatever that thing is laying on top of the eggs looks like the item most in focus.)
choose the best caption time
"M-o-o-o-o-o-m! Lily won't trade me this egg for her allowance (whine, whine)"
"Now, kids, listen. First you have to find a round egg with no cracks in it as you see here. Then you pick the color you want, lets say, blue, or pink...." etc.
"My leg hurts."- Something Hadassah conveniently says OFTEN, like when it's time to pick up, when she has to eat her peas, when she's dying eggs.
Library Story Time again! 
showing off their best moves
The Easter Egg Hunt! This was the "make a normal face" picture :)
Zion waiting patiently to fill his basket
What a challenge! Thanks dads for such great hiding spots!
Who will get it first?
Not me as long as I'm wearing this seat belt!
Maybe Zeb will share some.
Viv is in the "fighting the nap" stage. The nap won today!
A homeschooling mothers' most desired moment.




Lily reading to Olivet trying not to get her hair pulled by Hadassah pointing to Caedmon flying his jet toward Vivi picking her nose. A typical morning in the Golackson home :)
Our friend Xiao Li is staring a business selling homemade baked goods frozen! Here are the cinnamon rolls we served to our friends this morning at our hc.

This is a scrumptious chicken casserole. Her menu has over 20 items and she is willing to make any recipe we give her! I have a feeling her business will succeed.
On this morning the kids played "boat" for over an hour and a half. It was amazing.
You will find this man every morning without fail on the street right outside our window. He may be the most dedicated person I ever saw.
In conclusion to this post- here is Josh and two friends (Josh is wearing the Chinese mask. Just kidding... he's the one taking the pic) on a trip to the country side with some good buddies.
That's one way to do it!
I wonder how long he has been riding around like this and how long it took him to feel confident, like he knew he wasn't going to fall off.
Once again, my college Earth Science teacher would love this place.
I love the way the land is toiled. 
drying corn
for Mr. (or Mrs.?) Pig to eat

Friday, March 30, 2012

What a busy month! We are enjoying our family and lots of together time.
I'm 8 months old already!
Lil, Dass and I went to a concert this month for girls night.

  We listened to the Jazz Trio "Excess Baggage." They were amazing. The trio consisted of a piano (played by one of Norway's top pianists), an electric organ and a drum set. The drummer was the most amazing I have ever seen/ heard. (For the record, Lily stayed awake until 11pm! Hadassah fell asleep right after the first song began :)
 This chinese/ french couple sat next to us. This lady's sister has the same exact chinese name as Lily. 
 We brought crayons and paper to draw what we heard. Here is the drummer and the organist drawn by Lily.
 I was wondering how the granola was going so fast this morning.
 Zane's Birthday Party! We all planned on riding the train. About twenty minutes after its scheduled arrival, the guard approached us saying the schedule has changed and the train comes only in the morning in the spring. Oh well! We road a double decker bus instead!  
 luvin the snuggle time
 It looks like Olivet is just waiting for Hadassah to take one of her toys.
 Some friends over to play- Jason, Susan & Xi xi
Vivi is not a shy one
 Lily made our desserts for Sunday all be herself! I helped her reach all the ingredients but she did the rest. She made granola bars and bread pudding. What a huge help. (It must have been a cold day :)
 a fun passtime
 moms & kids out to lunch
 green tea- yum 
 i guess you can tell they're related
 I don't know why I even get Vivi dressed in the morning. I should time her someday to see how long the clothes actually stay on.
 kids dancing around Caedmon's remote control car that plays some funky music
 it dances too!
 tipped over!
 some presents from GG & Gampy- THANKS!!! Wish you were here to play with us!
 Hmm... where to begin?
 this scooter is a hit in the courtyard

 getting dressed up for Xiao Luo's wedding
 flowers for the flower girl
 spikes for the flower boy
 Josh took pictures for the wedding! He did a great job. Here the guys are decorating the car for a cruise around the city.

 parents (and grandpa) (and cousin??) of the bride and groom
We were able to communicate with the groom's parents, but the bride's parents didn't speak mandarin.
It was a joy to meet them all.
 double happiness- a traditional wedding symbol
 And here's the bride! What a special day.
 Bride & Groom

 a sun umbrella
 more sun umbrellas
 The wedding took place in a sort of banquet hall. We sat around tables as the bride and groom said, "Yuanyi"- "I do."

 
Even though the noise level in the room was really loud the whole time- the music was beautiful.
 No one fought over the bill today (at our table anyway)!