Memorial Day Weekend And More

It was Memorial Day weekend (three day weekend - yippee!) and somebody had a lot of work to do.
Dallas has been wanting to replace many of our split rail posts for some time. It was finally warm out and Home Depot was offering a 10% military discount this weekend. Sounded like as good a time as any other.

"I've been working on the railroad. All the live long day...." I am not sure why but this song came to mind every time I saw Dallas working with the posts.



Old rails.

(The rails on the back side of the fence were in even worse shape.)




New rails.





"I've been working on the railroad....."

Dallas replaced over 45 posts this weekend.







Another of the Home Depot purchases was a new water hose. Tru helps Daddy with the pliers.








Garden Update:

Good News - All of the plants are prospering and there will soon be a nice ripe strawberry for the kids to eat right from their very own garden.

Bad News - The strawberries were so tempting that something (probably a squirrel) ate them all the next day!





Time for some fun. Lin-Ley requested a new sprinkler this year. I purchase this one - it is an inflatable ball that you can roll or kick around while playing in the water. I purposely chose this one because have Tru kick a ball is great exercise for him.

Tru was not interested!





Dallas tries to show Tru how much fun it is. He and Lin-Ley took turns jumping over it trying to entice Tru closer.

Take a look at those new rails - looking good!










It did not work!




















It was time for Tru to go the dentist again for a regular check-up. The last two visits were very traumatic for Tru and me. He screamed from the moment that he sat in the exam chair (while sitting in my lap) until we left the building. The dental staff was polite and helpful but I did not feel the same about the actual dentist. She did not seem like a person who enjoyed being around children which is obviously a requirement for a pediatric dentist. Finally a couple months ago after Lin-Ley's last dental visit with the same dentist she and I had a disagreement of sorts. I immediately began looking for a new pediatric dentist.

Moving on! We found a new dentist and Tru was to be our guinea pig. The questionnaire asked who the child's favorite cartoon characters were. The hygienist came out to greet Tru and told him that Thomas the Train was in her room. He stood up and took her hand without even looking back at me!


And here is Tru relaxing in the dental chair like a big boy. Just watching Thomas the Train, sporting some cool shades to the keep the bright light out of his eyes, and being the helper by holding onto "Mr. Thirsty".









Time for the dentist to count his teeth. The dentist walked in and introduced herself and had the following conversation with Tru:

Dentist: Can I count your teeth?
Tru: Nope.
Dentist: Can I brush your teeth?
Tru: Nope.
Dentist: Can I look at your teeth?
Tru: Nope.

Can you guess what Tru's new favorite word is? We are working on transitioning from "nope" to "no mam". So far - it's not going well.

In the end we found a great new dentist and Tru shed no tears. What more can you ask?!


Today was the last day of Chinese School until next fall. Party time!

Yes, that is Lin-Ley, the one hanging onto the teacher.











Lin-Ley and Mrs. Tai.

Mother's Day (A Little Late...)

Mother's Day began on Friday. During Lin-Ley's whole Kindergarten school year I was unable to accompany her on any field trips. With Dallas in Kuwait/Iraq and Tru's 100+ doctor appointments it was just not possible.
Finally, I was able to go on a 1st grade field trip to the zoo....

1st photo op.















Lin-Ley, Mrs. Kim and Abby

















Lin-Ley's favorite zoo animal is definitely the giraffe.




























After returning to Lin-Ley's school that afternoon I drove to Tru's school. They were having a Mother's Day treat. I was a little late. Once I walked in the door Tru started jumping up and down and began reaching for my treat which he had helped make. His teachers told me that he had been asking where his mommy was because so many other moms were already there. Tru sat me down in one of their tiny little chairs and brought over the cup of goodies which consisted of strawberries and grapes in a thick whipped-cream. He sat the cup in front of me, removed the foil, and began eating the fruit. He continued to eat every bite smiling at me between each bite. He truly enjoyed himself. It was then that I realized he was not so happy that I was there but that my being there finally meant he could eat my Mother's Day treat....

Then Tru and I were off again to pick up Lin-Ley at her Chinese tutor's home. Mrs. Yuzhen had taught Lin-Ley a Mother's Day song in Chinese. In this video Mrs. Yuzhen's daughter, Lucy, joins Lin-Ley:


Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAHH4TuGAPc

Then Lin-Ley decided she wanted to share one more song while I had the camera rolling...


Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFIXsXCUqtM

Garden Update -

Lin-Ley poses with the sprouting plants (and one flower). The potatoes are really growing!













Budding strawberries.
















One of Lin-Ley's favorite outdoor activities lately (other than getting her clothes as dirty as possible while collecting worms, butterflies, spiders, etc) is climbing the rope on their swing set.









Tru takes it easy.





















Time for one last race between Lin-Ley and Daddy. As you can see Dallas does not play fair.

World Fair

Lin-Ley's school held a World Fair last weekend. Families within the school were encouraged to share displays from their home countries. It was amazing to see all of the diverse cultures represented within one small elementary school!

Typically each family that participates represents one country. Not us! We represented the USA and China. And we took our own spin and shared how the two countries came together to form one family...

This is our completed display board.














Some close up shots.




























































Here is our family mascot posing near our table.

On our table we also shared some items we purchased in China. The most popular item, however, was a Chinese version of Harry Potter. The kids loved looking at the Chinese books (courtesy of our local library - love the library!).








The family representing India brought along an aunt who painted Henna on the children.















Lin-Ley found her friend Abby (also a China Girl) and they show off their henna hands. Lin-Ley's henna art lasted almost a whole week.













Our DJ also represented Poland. Apparently the Chicken Dance originated in Poland. The kids take advantage of the fun music.









There were also many performances including a Chinese lion dance, polka music, traditional Canadian music, traditional Indian (India - the country) dancing, etc.

Lin-Ley participated in the performances by reciting Chinese poetry and then she led the audience in the Pledge of Alliance to the USA.








Another treat was this Native American chant (not sure if that is the proper term). It was impressive and the kids enjoyed dancing to the beat of the drum.









There was also an International Cafe'. There were breads, fruits and some other native dishes from many, many different countries.








The kids and parents were encouraged to visit the world map and place a marker where they have visited or may want to visit in the future.

One of our goals (I worked on the committee) was to make the children aware of the their ancestry. The school librarian took photos of many of the children holding a sign. On the sign the children were to write their name and where their ancestors were from. These photos were made into a power point presentation and shown during the fair. It was so cute to see the children holding their signs stating that their ancestors were from Texas (or some other US state).


Following are photos of the some of the other displays (this is just a sampling). These displays had so much more to offer than ours because these families once lived there and had many personal, culturally significant items to share. We will have to work on that!



















































































































The fair was a big success. I have already signed on to co-chair the fair next year.
This is one of the reasons we love living here. It is great to have our children grow up with so much cultural diversity. Of course - let's face it - we often talk about how "God makes everyone different" in our house . But it's nice for them to be exposed to as many different cultures as possible.