Hello weekend!

Hello to fun sleepovers, Chinese food and warm chocolate chip cookies for dinner and the Muppets.  Hello to bagels for breakfast, new tennis shoes and library books to delve into.

Hello to warmer clothes and goodbye to summer ones--it has been so fun!  Hello to puzzles on a rainy afternoon and hot cocoa.  Hello to healed little cheeks and gentle afternoons for Daddy. 

Hello to the weekend.  We soo look forward to you!

Ouch!!

Today was picture day at the Noodle's school.  I'm not one of those people who goes hog wild over buying school pictures.  The basic, cheap-o package generally suffices.  Usually they are decent.  Sometimes they aren't.  Every once in a while you get a really cute one.  So it goes.  I've got enough photos of the Noodle, so a formal one isn't too big a deal for me.  When she left the house, she was all ready.  Hairbow in straight.  Combed, untangled hair.  No stains on the shirt (phew...made it through breakfast without peanut butter glopping down), no milk mustache.  You get the drift.  We had reviewed what a "nice" smile looked like verses a "goofy" smile or a "scrunched" smile.  Bottom line, she was ready.

Everything was going fine (I'm guessing).  Her class had gone to their "outside classroom" where they go for a portion of the day, before going in for pictures.  As they were trooping back inside, the Noodle tripped over her boots and fell big time.  Poor baby!  Her teacher dried her eyes, gave her a cuddle and helped clean up her scraped face.  Then it was picture time.

While I haven't seen the pictures yet, I'm sure they will be priceless.  The photo will capture a snapshot of her in this moment, a bit more banged up than normal, but every bit as lovable. 

Hello, goodbye

Hello bright blue skies, warm sunshine and crisp fall air.  Hello yummy pumpkin pancakes--what a delicious way to start the day!  Hello trip to C*stco...we'll sample our way through the store.

Hello to livin' the "easy" life.  Hello to dinner with extended family that we haven't seen in a loooong time.  Hello giggles, hugs and games of tag!Hello sleepy little girls.

Hello being challenged to be bold and live vibrantly for Christ, at church.  Hello to the excitement that comes with attending birthday parties.  Hello ice cream sundaes in the middle of the afternoon and warm, filling soup for dinner.   Hello to getting ready for a new week--goodbye to a fun-filled weekend!

The creeping crud

One thing that I have always been a stickler for, is "following the routine".  J teases me that I'm the one who needs the routine more than the Noodle.  He's probably right!  Ha ha.  I do know, however, that all most kids feel comfortable, secure, safe and therefore happy, when they know what to expect and what's coming next. 

Even now that I'm back to work, we still follow the same basic structure and routine.  Take quiet time for example.  I know that I had it pretty lucky that she napped until this past summer.  "A 4 plus-year old napping?  Lucky you!" I'd always hear.  When we finally did away with the nap, but moved to "quiet time", I didn't know how she'd do.  But again, the structure and routine was already there, so that really helped.  I just introduced the timer and the big ol' bag of library books and we were set.  She really is so good at entertaining herself.  Much better than I'm sure I was at her age.  Probably more like her daddy.  He's still good at entertaining himself...and me, still not so much.  Some things never change.

So you're probably wondering where all this rambling is going.  And why I'm posting at 2:15 in the afternoon instead of being at school.  And why the title of this post is "the creeping crud".  Weeellll....I think the Noodle has pink eye.  Poor thing!  J took the morning off from work and I got the afternoon shift (along with the doctor's appointment).  At least she feels fine, just a weepy eye (insert yuck chorus here).  We'll see what the doctor says.

Forever Family Day

We had a lot of fun celebrating our Forever Family Day yesterday.  The Noodle ended up waking up a bit earlier than usual, and so she opened up her presents in the morning, rather than having to wait until later in the day.  She was pumped and so got a little extra time to play with what she had gotten.  Bonus!

I think she looks so "Chinese" here...that serious face with the hands behind the back...classic!

For dinner, she got dressed up in her new "silks" that Papa had brought back from China on one of his last visits.  Once we finally rolled back home, we had cake (a panda's face was the request) and then collapsed into bed.  She was rather wound up and so had a hard time settling down.  Isn't that always how it is?  They are so tightly strung and obviously tired, but just can't seem to calm down.  Anyway, she's sleeping like a little bug in a rug now.  All cozy for the night!

3 years ago...

From this:

to this:

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

I know that as our "forever family day" approaches, that means that the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is also right around the corner.  Sure enough, when I walked out this morning and saw the full moon, I realized that today's the day!

Since I knew we had a relaxed evening in store, I thought we could make our mooncakes.  In years past the Noodle and I have gone down to the market to buy "offical" mooncakes, but after buying them last year (at $3.00 a pop) and not eating them (somehow lotus seed paste never sounds as appetizing at home as it does in the store--go figure) I decided that our own homemade ones would be just fine. 

We made the dough, let it chill in the 'fridge while we read a few books and then dolloped on the jam.  I popped the cookies into the oven that was cooking the fish for dinner, and so by dessert, we were ready to eat our mooncakes.  As an FYI, jam is definitely a preferred filling to red bean or lotus seed paste anyday...at least in our household.  Happy Mid-Autumn Moon Festival!