Happiness is a Balloon Creation

We waited in line last weekend almost one hour to get this cool penguin on a stick, but I think it was worth it. Archie waited with a friend and was so happy! Doesn't his grin just show pure joy?

Grace just wanted a pink bear but the clown surprised her by putting her pink bear at the bottom of three cascading hearts attached to a pink and purple swirly balloon stick. Pretty cool! She came up with her outfit ensemble herself and it is complemented by a yummy red snowcone residue spilled everywhere. Ahhhh...happiness.

5-4-3-2-1 BLASTOFF: Archie's Rocket Day!

Great space shuttle, huh? Bet you're wondering when NASA (no, SpaceX) is going to give me a job offer. Archie's class recently did a two week unit on space, which required children (oops, I meant parents) to build a massive space shuttle/rocket from a large cardboard box. I must admit I was feeling pretty proud of myself after pouring way too much time into this preschool project. Please note behind the keyboard workstation, there's a recycled from bottle tops control panel with a solar panel for (pretend) power on the back. High tech, right?

WRONG! Although Archie was pretty happy with his space shuttle which now takes up approximately 1/3 of the space in his and Grace's bedroom, this kid's rocket could not be beat. Not only does it look like a SpaceX replica, its insides feature a working LCD screen and light up electric control panel. If preschool is this intense, what will high school be like?

This is one half of Archie's class with their projects. (The other half made their space shuttles the next day.) I guess no matter how ours does or doesn't stack up, the important thing is Archie likes it.

Happy (Chinese) New Year!

The kids at Blacksburg Chinese School did another great performance. Archie went to so many practices and worked so hard! (Grace, on the other hand, was added to the program at the last minute.) It's funny how hard kids can work and how out-of-rhythm they can still get. Still, they were SO cute! (On the far right, are two older kids doing Chinese yo-yo tricks. It's pretty cool, but I'm not sure how much of it the video captures.)

I was so proud of Archie for remembering to walk through this door and strike his pose. (It's a common congratulations pose.) He kept forgetting at practice but remembered when it was important.

My little performers. Grace LOVED being on stage. She also loved her costume so much she wore it to church the next morning.

You may notice the dragon coming through in the video. Dragon dances are traditional at New Year's celebrations, and this is the year of the dragon.

Archie and his friend Theo.

This little girl is so cute! I love to watch her and Archie play.

Welcome to the World of Reading, Archie!

Archie has come a long way in a year. We've been working on reading for about a year now, and just last week Archie finally took off! We got him a Superheros easy reader from the library, something clicked in his brain about reading independently, and he's read that book about a million times now by himself. He's also willing to take on the challenge of reading other books to himself. He is a big fan of a Hot Wheels easy reader I bought at his school consignment sale. I never thought the day would come when he would be able to work through a book without me sitting beside him, but it's slowly happening! Grace is even enjoying listening to brother read!

Archie is getting a new Angry Bird stuffed animal for finishing all five levels of Hooked on Phonics, but more importantly he's getting the gift of enjoying a good book for life!

To see how far Archie has come in a year, click here to hear him reading last February.

The Good Samaritan (According to Grace)

Archie's class studied the parable of the Good Samaritan at church last week. I love that wonderful story where an injured man is passed over by a priest and a Levite but finally helped by a despised Samaritan. Hunt decided to share the story with Grace. Here's how it went.

Dad: Once there was a man that got hurt on the side of the road.

Grace: And did the policeman come help him?

Dad: Not the policeman exactly. A priest and a Levite came by but didn't help him.

Grace: That's not very nice. Santa's not going to bring them any presents this year.

Gotta love a two year old's perspective! Let's try to do a little better at helping our neighbors this year!

The DeJ Clan

After talking since Thanksgiving about making a family pic, we finally made one on New Year's Day! Thanks, Aunt Kay, for letting us use your beautifully decorated fireplace.

Taking pics of multiple people is tricky with kids. (Can I get an Amen from some moms?) I spent forever Photoshopping new eyes into one person's face whose eyes were closed...(Can't have everybody's eyes open/mouth closed for the same pic.) Then, I got to thinking. I really wasted my time. The first pic including everybody is the important one. No family pic is ever complete without Aunt Kay!

Speaking of Aunt Kay, she's one of Grace's favorite people to nap on :)

New Year's Travel Adventure!

It was CRAZY!!! The weather was great all of New Years. In Virginia Beach, there's not too much time out of the year you need a coat anyway, and we had hardly busted them out over the holiday. We had a great drive home all the way past Staunton (two hours away) and then out-of-the-blue: WHITEOUT. (OK, not a true whiteout but a lot of snow blowing at our windshield.) A few minutes later, we run into black ice everywhere on 81S, and nobody is going more than 15 mph. We pulled over for gas, heard about all the accidents and turned our afternoon trip home into a hotel adventure. One guy at check-in told Hunter he had personally counted 27 accidents on his way to the hotel. Think we made the right choice. The next day: cold but BEAUTIFUL!

The kids were super hyper but cuddled with Hunt awhile before Archie settled down in his bed and Grace in mine. Precious saying of the night: everyone is pretty much silent and all settled down when Grace suddenly busts out, "Mommy, I love you so much." AWWWW. "Grace, I love you so much, too."

The hotel had a small playground and the next morning the kids wanted to play. They lasted about five minutes.