Kung Hei Fat Choi!!!!!

This week we went to a 5 year old girls birthday party with life size balloon recreations of every Disney princess...

2 bouncy castles....

A candy bar....

Live entertainment.....

And one heck of a cake....

 Sam had a Chinese New Year Party at school!.......

with fortune telling....

and calligraphy.....

And Noah is now enjoying sugar cookies.....

In other news....we have a special guest, Bryan Kryder, coming this weekend, so the boys are back in the same room!

We pulled the trundle out from Sam's bed for Luke to sleep on but, apparently, the trundle is cool. That resulted in a fight over who got to sleep on it. 

Problem solved....

two toddlers in a single bed.

Today I took the crew to Stanley to get out some excess energy and we ended up at the barber. 

Luke, pre hair cut, still with funky bangs from Silly Putty incident.....

Mid cut....

Sam got one too.....

(No clue if that's a male or female cutting his hair?)

Post. 

Looking pretty cute....

Here is a bad attempt at getting a picture of all 3.....

This weekend is the Chinese New Year. The Year of the Snake is ending & the Year of the Horse is beginning. 

Our schedule is unrealistically busy for an exhausted mom and kicks off tomorrow with the traditional dragon dance....

More fun footage to follow! 

Kung Hei Fat Choi!!!

(Happy New Year)

I've read a couple very touching blogs lately that have both verbalized motherhood & made me appreciate motherhood in a whole new way.

Sorry Phil, this isn't your king of blog. 



Here are some excerpts...

From a mother of three, attempting to respond to her husbands question, "how was your day?"

How was my day? Today has been a lifetime. It was the best of times and the worst of times. There were moments when my heart was so full I thought I might explode, and there were other moments when my senses were under such intense assault that I was CERTAIN I'd explode. I was both lonely and absolutely desperate to be alone. I was saturated -- just BOMBARDED with touch and then the second I put down this baby I yearned to smell her sweet skin again. I was simultaneously bored out of my skull and completely overwhelmed with so much to do. Today was too much and not enough. It was loud and silent. It was brutal and beautiful. I was at my very best today and then, just a moment later, at my very worst. At 3:30 today I decided that we should adopt four more children, and then at 3:35 I decided that we should give up the kids we already have for adoption. Husband -- when your day is completely and totally dependent upon the moods and needs and schedules of tiny, messy, beautiful rug rats your day is ALL OF THE THINGS and NONE OF THE THINGS, sometimes within the same three minute period. But I'm not complaining. This is not a complaint, so don't try to FIX IT. I wouldn't have my day Any.Other.Way. I'm just saying -- it's a hell of a hard thing to explain -- an entire day with lots of babies.


And on a more touching note....
From a mother (who lost her own mother at young age) to her children:

I wrapped my arms around you, your little breaths hot and quick on my neck. I learned how to rock you to sleep, how to pick you up when you fell, how to make you giggle, how to make your eyes light up with wonder. I held you closer than I've ever held anyone and I vowed that I would never, ever let you go.

This bond between us -- the one between she and I, and the ones between you and me -- is something utterly intangible, unbreakable, and unstoppable. Nothing, not distance or silence or chaos or death, could ever undo this connection we have.

My wish is that I am here to guide you for as long as I can. I hope so much that I will be here to see you enter into adulthood, to become mothers yourselves, to find yourselves in work and love and the world. There is so much future that I want with you. The good and the bad, the times you hate me and the times you unexpectedly curl up next to me years from now, long after you've stopped doing that.

I want the days when don't want to talk to me, and the days when you won't stop calling. I want the tears and the rage, the inside jokes that no one will get but us, and the secrets you tell only me. I want a million trips to crazy places, and I want mornings where we never leave the house. I want to see you fail and also succeed. I want to see you frustrated and bursting with pride. I want to see you reinvent yourself a thousand times over, twirling before me each time with renewed pride.

I want to be here every time you ever need me. I want to hear you when you most need to be heard, and even when you don't. I want to see you even when you think I'm not looking. I want to be the force that makes you feel safe enough to propel yourself out into the world as far as you can, the tether that unspools as far as you need to go, knowing you can always return.

I want to love you for you who you want to be, not who I want you to be.

I want to always be strong enough to allow you to be even stronger.

I want you to live your grand and glorious lives knowing that you are loved every second of every day.

These are the things that my mother gave to me. These are the things I want to give to you.

We're so blessed to have these little midgets. I just pray that I am able to be here as they grow and that if I am, I don't mess them up too much....

Little Boy Blue....

The pollution this year has been beyond horrible and we've been stuck indoors.

It's been rough.....

And Noah is still wishing he was older like his brothers....

BUT Saturday we had one nice day!!!!!

We took a scooter ride / walk along the beach.....

Some of us were tired at the end, even though it was only about a mile.....

We followed that up by going to watch a rugby match.....

And after all that Phil and I went on a date!!!

While getting ready I thought I'd be a clever and creative mom and let the boys "paint" with shaving cream and food coloring......

Good idea or bad idea?

You decide.....

Luke's been down with a fever for about 5 days now and all three boys have minor colds. 

We are hoping for better weather and health this week!

Please don't go!!!!!

Dear Sam and Luke, 

We have SO much fun together!!!!!

Please don't go to school!

It's awful when you're gone.....

Love, 

Noah

P.S.

I'm totally playing with your trains while you're gone!

Hahahaha......

9 months old!

Some how this guy is 9 months old already!! 

I CAN NOT believe it. 

He is so sweet, happy and is always smiling. 

He shakes his head no when he doesn't like something, pulls himself to standing position every chance he gets and LOVES to be around his brothers. 

He is over baby food...after all he is 9 months. He prefers soft bananas, cheerios, toast, muffins, plain pasta, and crackers over the mushy stuff......

We gave him some scrambled egg the other day. Of course, he loved it. 

Just for comparison, here are the other 2 at 9 months....

And here is an adorable pic of Bear in Bali I forgot to include in my last blog. 

Bali, a birthday & a stomach bug

We survived Christmas and all 3 boys kicked pneumonia just in time to head to Bali!!!

The airplane ride was relatively smooth until Luke got Silly Putty stuck in his hair and I had to cut it out mid flight. 

(Thank goodness security didn't find my cuticle scissors)

We arrived safe & sound and were welcomed to our hotel by dancing Balinese girls. 

The beach was clean, shallow, beautiful.....

And relaxing....

The pool was just as nice and very kid friendly.

Here are the big boys doing pool yoga or yogurt as Sam says....

There was a walking path along the beach that we explored one day.....

We found more beaches....

a volcano....

A Hindu monument

A helipad.....

And a place to eat!!!!

We celebrated Luke's 3rd birthday by taking a glass bottom boat out.....

(This is the boat we took to get to the glass bottom boat)

We had an amazing time and saw tons of cool fish!

We came home to chillax.....

And then we had dinner and the most important part of any birthday....

CAKE!!!!

We also went to the Bali zoo. 

It was AMAZING!

Less safety regulations than in the US but it was fun & very hands on!

A monkey threw poop at us.....

Phil fed a live tiger raw chicken.....

Bad picture, here's the video:

http://youtu.be/4ch02LxbrEA 

We ended that adventure by having lunch in a rice paddy....

And while we have the hats to prove that 2013 is over and 2014 has arrived....

We were sound asleep by 9pm so we can't be sure.....

Since we've been back to Hong Kong all 3 boys have been fighting a stomach bug. Bali Belly as I like to call  it. 

Everything that goes in has been coming out one end or another quite rapidly. 

Today we have some relief, so we are headed out for a walk. 

The boys are thrilled....