Making Sugar Cookies for the New Year

It was just Saiya and I for New Year's eve, so we put on a movie and made sugar cookies.  I've never made sugar cookies from scratch before, so this was a lot of fun for both of us.  We even made icing from scratch for the cookies!

Happy New Year!

Sea World at Christmas Time

We took Saiya to SeaWorld's Christmas celebration last week.  She had a great time.  We got to see Santa and bought some ornaments for our tree with our names and the year on them.  The walrus was really enjoying all of the kids.  He came up to the glass and would bob up and down in the water.  Then he smeared his whiskers along the glass and tried to kiss the kids.  Saiya was lucky enough to be sitting right up front while he was doing his antics.

Enjoy the pictures!!

Living Room Camping and a Party!

Saturday night, Saiya's cousin spent the night.  It was nice and cool out, so we set up the fire pit and let the girls roast marshmallows.  After that, I figured since we werent able to go camping last month like I wanted, I would let the girls camp out in the living room.  We set up my new tent and let the girls sleep out in the living room.  They had a great time!!

This past Sunday was Saiya's Kung Fu Christmas Party.  We had a great time.  Saiya and her class performed some Kung Fu stances and katas for us.  The Sifu even performed for the audience.  It was an amazing display of talent, skill, and dedication.  Saiya won an award for being the most energetic in her class.  She was so proud of herself!  This is the first award she has ever won!  We were so proud of her!

Trip to Boston for Chinese New Year

This February is the CAWLI Chinese New Year luncheon.  In previous years, there has always been a large party with a raffle and auction and traditional Chinese performances.  We have never been able to go, so this year, I promised Saiya we would go.  As it turns out, the venue where the party was always held closed down, so they are doing a luncheon in China Town this year.  I conspired with the Winter family (who live in Winsconsin) and we are all meeting up in Boston for a few days with the girls.  Saiya is SO EXCITED!!  She has not seen Matteah (aka Wen Wen) in about two years.  The first december they were both home, was the last time they saw each other.  I would love to try to get them together more often, but lives and schedules always seem to get in the way.  I hope over the summer we can arrange for Matteah and her family to come to Florida for a visit.

I booked our tickets to Boston today.  Saiya is going to be super happy!  :)

Trading

We decided to trade Tae Kwon Do for Kung Fu about a month ago.  The Kung Fu place we chose for Saiya is very traditional.  They are a staple in the chinese community here and perform for Christmas and Chinese new year.  I love that they are very strict and demand lots of discipline and respect from the kids.  It took Saiya a little while to get used to the way they do things, but we just got her first progress report (yes from the Kung Fu place) and she is doing great!  Her confidence level has increased (which was the original reason we wanted her in martial arts to begin with) and her focus and determination have improved.  We are so happy we found the Kung Fu place and that we are able to help her maintain that connection to her chinese culture.

Christmas Already?!

Christmas Tree is up!

We put the tree up a little early this year.  We usually do it the weekend after Thanksgiving, but this year Saiya will be with Chris and his family, so we had her put the tree up this weekend with my mom.

It came out beautiful!  I can't believe it's almost Christmas already!!

Happy Halloween!

Saiya was dressed as the Grim Reaper this halloween.  I tried to paint her face white with black parts for her eyes and mouth to make her look more skeleton-like.  She didnt like it at all, so I took the paint off before we went out, which made her much happier.  My sister had my mom's truck and we pulled a small trailer around the neighborhood and we had about 11 kids with us for the night.  They ran around getting candy and a great time was had by all.  Saiya looked so cute in her black robe, but after the first house, she wouldnt carry her scythe so it was hard to tell what she was.