School Celebration

We had an early birthday celebration at school for Luciana yesterday because Tony is going out of town for work. She got to get dressed in an extra special dress that I knit for her which she says makes her look like Sleeping beauty (I don't get it either) then she got to open up an early (and the only birthday present from us). Tony made her a picture book with pictures of the two of them and her response was, "Read it to me, Daddy."

In the afternoon we brought in some homemade treats for the kids to celebrate her birthday. I spent a lot of time making a homemade cake and marshmallow pops for the party and of course Luciana only really wanted the popcorn, which was microwaved. Also to celebrate the special day, Tony got to read a book to the kids during circle time which Luciana loved.

Rainbow Cupcakes

Since Luciana is obsessed with rainbows right now, I thought it would be fun to make some rainbow cupcakes. She was really excited when she saw what I doctored up and then preceded to eat only the frosting. Go figure.

Guess Who?

Can you guess which picture is Luciana and which is Miles?

Thanksgiving Crafts

Since Miles' arrival, it has been hard getting one on one time with Luciana. So I have learned to make the most of mornings, since she usually wakes up by six in the morning, to do things like art projects, learning to write, read, etc. It is not always fun to do art projects before the sun even comes up, but watching Luciana enjoy herself always makes it worth it in the end.

Miles: 14 Weeks

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

I have always found beauty in written words and Tony likewise with numbers. So, naturally I am the one that is teaching Luciana to read and Tony is teaching her basic math. Although we encourage her to pursue whatever interests she has (yes even if it is something as lame as princesses), it is always fun to see her interested in something we also enjoy. To witness first hand the amount of information children can absorb and retain at this age is truly mind blowing and also a privilege.

Untitled from h d on Vimeo.

For the words cat and hat, she is saying the Vietnamese equivalent. Sorry about the scratching part....I guess she had a little itch that day.

Untitled from h d on Vimeo.

Halloween 2009

Halloween this year was very fun and eventful, but I am glad it is over. Luciana actually had two costumes this year (long story)....a cute little kitty cat and a Snow White outfit which she looked cute in as well, but since Tony and I pretty much loathe little girls' fascination with princesses that costume was a harder sell. Anyway, Luciana had so much fun dressing up, getting together with her friends and trick or treating.




A couple days before Halloween the students at UC Berkeley held a Halloween event for kids in the dorms and we went with Sebastian. Here they are enjoying a nutritious sweet treat while waiting for the bus before the not so nutritious treats enter the picture.


Enjoying a not so nutritious treat.


Luciana's preschool had a Halloween parade and party to celebrate. With a few exceptions, the girls were almost all princesses and the boys were mostly all superheroes of some sort.


Enjoying the cupcake lollipop I made for the party, but they were more of a hit with Tony than Luciana.


Red turned three on Halloween, so what better way to celebrate than with a juice break between bouncing around in the jumpy house.


Our courtyard had a Halloween potluck and there were an unusual number of cat costumes, which were not planned as far as I know.


The dads trick or treating adult style, with some beer for the road.


Reaping the rewards of a hard night of trick or treating.


Miles had a good time too....bundled up and sleeping in the stroller.