Mid Autumn Festival 2013

After so many years, my kids finally remembers Mid Autumn Festival and gets a little excited about lantern, though Cody did kick a fuss about NOT wanting to go. But once the candle was lit, he changed his mind!

As it was the day before we left for Santa Fe and we were running late, i nearly forgot to actually go on our lantern walk! Good thing Uyen called and reminded me!

Anyways, we did a really short walk due to time constraints but it was fun for all! Here are the pictures of the night!

Tyler has officially beat me at swimming

I've been suspecting that Tyler can beat me at swimming for some time because every time we do a challenge, i quite often lose. But i thought maybe it's just me not trying hard enough(since i'm such a nice mother!)

But this weekend, while we were all swimming, i challenged him to a swim for a length of the pool(25 meters, i think) and off we went. First of all, i didn't even finish because as he blew past me, he basically kicked in my face. So, i had to change from free style to breast stroke. But he beat me. But i thought.. maybe i STILL wasn't trying ALL my best and i was distracted by his swimming.

So we did time trial style. He swam the whole length in 33 seconds. I swam as hard as i could( i know that because i couldn't even finish the whole length with free style, had to switch to breast stroke) in 40 seconds!!!

I guess i better practice my swimming if i want to keep up with the boys!!!!

Till my next challenge!!! Maybe i should try a running challenge.. not sure i'm ready for the truth yet. AND besides, i got bad knees!!!

More flooding

We had a dry day this weekend and i was feeling quite good about living in Broomfield and how we were perfectly fine, despite the rest of the state being washed away by flooding.

So Sunday, it POURED for two hours straight and Lowell started to flood and for the first time, fear struck!! And when i got closer to home, i couldn't believe my eyes when i looked our neighborhood park!!! It was OVERFLOWED!!! The entire park was now a lake! I was thinking, "Great, i had to go jinx myself"

I, of course, took Cody to go check it out!

It has overflowed all the way to the play area

And beyond

It's a two foot drop past the concrete sides

Cody found it fun to wade around in his rain boots

Depth of the flooding

Convinced him to venture a little further.. just a little...

The lake usually starts quite a bit past the other side of the path

Making wontons with Mommy!

Due to the lovely flooding of our state, our initial plans of going to see a British car show was cancelled. And since the kids were doing nothing at home, i figured i'd put them to work. They have recently developed a great liking to wontons and i thought making wontons would be fun!

They were both quite excited when i told them about it. So, after a quick fix up on the filling, we were off making wontons. Tyler was very enthusiastic about his wonton making and managed to make wontons from the start till finished. He probably was responsible for making about 1/3 of the wontons that day.

Cody on the other hand made one and decided he didn't quite like making it but stayed around to chit chat and made rude comments while his big brother worked.

I used a bunch of the wontons to make wonton soup for lunch and both kids really enjoyed eating them. The rest of the wontons are frozen for future use! Yay!!

First you put the filling in the skin

Then you fold up the sides

Then you squeeze it shut

Cody's one attempt

Our wontons!!!

Cody suggested Tyler should wear a chef hat when he's beating the eggs

That's the wonton making crew!

Colorado Flood 2013

It's been raining continuously for longer than i can remember(4 days) and suddenly Colorado is under some serious issues. It started off with some flood alert warnings on our phones during dinner time and when i heard that schools were closed the next day, i was thinking, "because of rain???"

Anyways, it wasn't until i was driving to work that i realized that A LOT of Colorado was indeed in deep trouble. Empty fields were filled up with water to form oceans and rivers threatening to take out roads! I left work early that day just to make sure i could get back home.

The kids somehow still had school during all these time. True dedication to education, i say! But truth to be told, Broomfield area was fine. If they had cancelled school, i'd be upset! When they got home, they went on an "adventure" to check out neighborhood lake.

Lake getting full

Paths are obscured by water

High drains..

On a funny note, we got a note from the school during the school hours, which i thought was funny. It was titled "Unique Nature of the Weather and Hulstrom Student Pick-up". Initially i panicked a little and thought that it was going to say, "flood is coming, come get your kids, now!"

But here's what it really said:

First, we want you to know all students are safe and learning.

Given the unique nature of our school, with some parents commuting long distances, we want you to know you can pick up your child early today if you believe it?s appropriate given the current weather. If you choose to pick up your child early, please check your child out of class at the front desk.  This will not affect student attendance

Oh no, flood is coming. But my kid is safe and LEARNING?? Ah well.. no worries then.. it's good! And which parents are going to care about attendance during times like this?

Tyler's first piano class

I've been meaning to put Tyler in piano class all summer but with crazy activities and the lack of piano teacher that was convenient(hehehe), it hasn't happened. But i was given a few recommendations by a friend at work and decided to bite the bullet.

Tyler's been back and forth with his piano lesson enthusiasm. But thankfully, when the piano class was planned, he was on the up side! But i still sat in trepidation while the class was in session. I realized there was A LOT of new concepts to grasp for a little kid. But the teacher who seemed to have gotten her act perfected over the years was GOOD!

She was as cool as cucumber a even when Tyler was not paying attention to her(and kicking around) while i sat in my chair and twitched with annoyance! I think maybe i should take a class about patience from her!! Her style and demeanor did remind me of Evelyn. If you don't believe me, just take a look.

And the classic line was when she asked Tyler:
Teacher : Do you read?
Tyler : (nodded.. unsure)
Teacher : Maybe a little??
Tyler : I read a lot!!
Teacher : Oh..

Anyways, the class went quite well and there was plenty of new concepts thrown in. I wasn't sure how much Tyler managed to absorb. But he claims he really likes it! :)

We did our first home practice and he was really enthusiastic about it! Let's hope the enthusiasm continues when he realize he has to practice his piano EVERYDAY for YEARS to come!!! ha!

Here are some pictures and video of Tyler's home practice.

Tyler practicing at home

At piano class.. doesn't she look just like Evelyn??

Here's the piano video

Science Experiments at home

The boys always want ice in their drinks, and Cody loves to take a spoon and give his crushed ice a stir, so I set up a little experiment for them which involved ice, salt and food coloring.  What could go wrong !!

More salt?

Yes more salt?

More colors?

Yes, more colors