Chinese New Year Parade

We had such a good time at the Chinese New Year Parade! I had no idea what to expect and it was better than I could imagine! The boys were so excited all week that the kept asking when we were going to Chinatown.

One of the best parts was watching Walker ride the train. He is in a phase where trains are his sun, moon and stars. My Dad took some great shots of him on the train, as well as the parade, so I'll have to post those when I can get a hold of them!!

Here are some of ours:

Walker & Eric watching the parade start...

Will and his Chinese hand fan

Walker's not sure about the dancing dragons:

Will was most enthused by
the confetti and spent the majority of his time
watching it get thrown and then picking it off the ground
to throw it again:

One of the best parts of the parade, as is always the case, was the people watching. This cute man was standing near us with his wife. He was thrilled to greet anyone and everyone on the floats as they came by...but it was a special delight when any of the Chinese New Year royalty came by on their floats. You'll have to turn your head sideways to watch it, but this is what he'd do:

The parade website said that the parade would go from 2:00pm - 5:oopm. I thought there was no way it would go that long, or that they were marking time from the start at one place and the finish...boy was I wrong! At about 4:00pm we decided to walk around Chinatown. It was fun to see ALL of the people out for a good time.

We decided to forgo trying to get Chinese food IN Chinatown given the crowds. In the end we trekked back to the train station and rode back towards G-town.

In what seemed to be a strange move we decided to celebrate the Chinese New Year at a Mexican restaurant! (Chinese food is hard to find gluten-free!)

The boys were famished and exhausted....a great day was had by all! I'm still hoping that next year we can celebrate the real deal :)

Face painting Bob Ross style...

For those of you unfamiliar with the awesomeness that is Bob Ross, you might want to go here to learn more about him. I (Shelly) have a t-shirt with him on it that I wear a lot around the house and the boys love it. They usually ask me questions about Bob Ross and sometimes even tell him hi. One night this week we showed them a video of Bob Ross online and they, Will in particular, were mesmerized.

So the other night I broke out our possibility box and decided we could do Bob Ross painting. Unfortunately I failed to take pictures of their artwork before putting them in an envelope to send to Pop (Eric's grandpa) who also is a Bob Ross fan. However, once Walker lost interest in painting (about five minutes into it) Will and I turned to each other as canvasses.

It started with me painting one fan on Will's face:

and then another:

and then a goatee:

He retaliated by painting my entire face.

(he told me I had to hold still and not smile)

A view of him as he's painting my face - so intense:

I'm going to ignore any possible symbolism from the red slash on my throat.
He loves me - right?

Voila! An artist is born!!

We did try to paint Walker's face - but he wasn't as fond of it. I got 1/2 way through a balloon and he was out of his chair. He came back for a minute and I was able to get a red 'T' (for trouble) in Scarlet Letter form. That was about it for him though!

Check us out!

Well our little gluten-free family made it's first foray into the GF online menu world.

Check us out!

And thanks to Liz and Melony at Kill.The.Gluten for letting us submit a recipe. I get so many ideas from their site - it helps make my GF life somewhat sane.

For those of you gluten-eaters - try this recipe only instead of making rolls buy Pillsbury Crescent rolls and put a little bit of the chicken mixture inside of it. Then bake according to the crescent roll directions - put a little dab of warm cream of chicken soup on top and presto!

Ah, the mind of a 3 year-old!

I have been wanting to post this video for a long time - but with all of the other fun and adventures we've had, I have always had something else to post!

However - tonight is one of those kick-back nights where I find myself trying to find something to do. Oh sure I'm doing the laundry, just cleaned out the fridge, and got the boys to bed...but still, I'm a tad bored. Maybe it's because Eric is working late and we usually do crosswords, watch a movie, or yap our ears off.

So here we go - now you all get treated to this magical video! Both Will and Walker are at phases in their life where their imaginations are wild with activity and their learning ability is ripe. I LOVE it. This is the best time to be a parent - and an observer.

In August Eric and I put the boys down for a nap - and decided to do our favorite activity...OH GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF THE GUTTER! We played Trivial Pursuit. It is by far one of my favorite games...even though Eric kicks the patootie out of me every time.

During the game Will woke up from his nap - came out and joined us. Within a few minutes of watching he was ready to take over. And here is what happened (watch round 2 if you are short on time):

Round 1: Warming Up


Round 2: The Challenge Begins


I am SO glad that Eric finally lost!

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow we will hopefully get some answers.

Tomorrow is Will's endoscopy. Hard to believe that it has taken so long and also that it is finally here.

I'm not sure what to hope for. As his Mom I'd much rather him not have Celiac Disease. However, after doing all the research I feel comfy with him having Celiac Disease. It's manageable, it's doable, it's livable.

If it's not Celiac, or even if it is but the test still doesn't show it, then I'm not sure what that means. And I'm not one that settles easy with the 'unknown'.

More to come...

tomorrow...

Firsts and Seconds

You think that just because your child has started rolling, then eating big boy food, then crawling, and then walking, and then talking that you have hit all the firsts. In fact the first year, or two, are so filled with big events that you forget how precious other firsts are. I've failed to blog about a lot of firsts...but today we experienced a big one.

Will started preschool. He has been excited for preschool all summer as we've been working on potty training so that he could go. Last week we had the meet & greet and he was thrilled to meet the other kids and play with the toys. Today he was more apprehensive about going, which had more to do with having to leave his toys behind.

Today was a short day so that the kids could get used to their teachers and the room. Some kids needed to get used to now having mom and dad around, but for Will that wasn't an issue. He was more than happy to kiss me goodbye and walk in.

This moment is special for me not just because of the experience that Will is about to embark on, but also for the time that Walker and I will now get to have. Being second child isn't any easy role. Since I am the oldest (as is Eric) we of course think that first children get the raw deal...but the reality is that each kid is subjected to the good and bad of parenting.

Having Will at preschool twice at week for a couple of hours will give Walker and I time we haven't ever had before. He thrives when he gets to play on his own or when just he and I read stories. I cannot wait to experience this first with him - and see what other first emerge from it. I'll keep you all updated as I can.

For now, here are some pictures from Will's first day:

Intestinal Fortitude

Being a Mom has introduced me, even just in three short years, to many experiences and subjects that I'd rather have died without knowing. And this summer has involved my most hated of subjects:

Poop.

I hate poop.

I hate talking about poop.

I hate knowing that people have to go poop.

I even lied to my husband the first year of our marriage by telling him I never did. I wish that were true. I'd be first in line for the surgery if there was one.

So when you are a coprophobe or a rhypophobe (who knew there were actual poop-phobes!), potty training your child is not a easy thing to do. You have to talk about poop A LOT! And you have to deal with poop A LOT! On the floor, on their clothes, on their bodies, and sometimes, in the toilet.

'Sweetie do you need to go poo-poo?'
'Oh what a big boy! You did a poo-poo in the potty'
'Honey, we do not poop on the kitchen floor'

I know, I know. I am strange. You probably come from the Taro Gomi school of bodily functions. The land where everyone poops and gas is something we pass. In fact, I know one friend of mine, in his college days, even had a poster, something like this. He thought it was hilarious and asked my opinion once...how is one even supposed to respond? My sister-in-law will go on and on about the importance of regular bowel movements in order to have overall good health. Or you at least realize it happens, accept it, and do your thing without much thought or consternation (or is it constipation!).

This is not my world!

However, today something magical happened. It is impetus for this post and for my overall happy demeanor.

Wi, my oldest, pooped in the potty. I wasn't sitting there with him, hoping it would happen, reading stories. He walked into the bathroom, put his potty chair on, and did his thing. I went in and he was standing, looking into the potty. His face lit up with glee! We stood, the two of us, staring at the offering he had given the porcelain God.

And I haven't talked about anything else all day.

Driving Lessons

I bet none of you know what a great diver I am! In fact, until today I did not even know.

But the story of my diving day starts before my dive, so let me tell you. Mom invited some of her friend, and therefore some of my friends (I like how that works) to come swimming today! Walker and I love to swim but it is so much better when I have my friends here. So N and A came over with AG. The weather was a little gloomy but the pool felt great! My friends and I were having so much fun. Here is N showing us his signature smile:


And here is A. She looks like she's screaming but she's not mad. She kept making me laugh!


This is AG and his Mom. His Mom is really nice and lets me come over a play a lot. She even thinks I'm nice!


After we swam for a while I got done. I'd been swimming the night before and wasn't really excited to be in there for too long. So Mom took me inside and changed my clothes. She also let me bring out a couple of trucks. I think she was just being nice but not being so smart.

About five minutes after we'd been back out there I drove my truck right into the water, and took my first dive! I was not very happy about it and have told everyone I can about it. Fortunately N and A's Mom was right there and got me out of the water fast. I was pretty mad, especially when Mom did not really react and immediately went to go get the camera. I cheered up though as soon as I realized how funny it was. Plus Mom showed me the picture and you all know how much I love seeing myself!



We got to have lunch together too! My days are a lot better when my friends are around. It was funny because AG asked for ketchup for his carrots. I thought that was weird at first, especially because I don't like to eat my carrots. Then I saw his genius! You use the carrots as a ketchup delivery system! Just dip, eat the ketchup, and reuse. Brilliant! By the end of lunch we were all doing it.




It was such a fun day and I am hoping that my friends will come back this week and swim some more. We'll have to see if I can get Mom in a good mood!

Love,
Will