Avery's 6 year old Party with the girls!!

Avery really wanted to do something with all her classmates at school, but it was just too hard with our limited space so I told her she could invite all the girls from her class and two girls that were older and live in our apartment compound. We decided to have a girly girl party where we painted nails, dressed up, and put on make-up. It was really fun. We had a station to do nails (in the study), a station for clothes (in girls room), and a station for make-up(in the living area). The girls played with dolls, the play kitchen, and just giggled alot. It was a delight and I think Avery really had a good time. I made a fruit salad with fresh fruit and a cold pasta salad. Everyone enjoyed it and it was so cheap to make. Fresh fruit and vegies are so cheap here!! The girls had cupcakes instead of an elaborate cake. They didn't seem to mind. Rylan got to invite a friend and that made her feel special as well. She even brought a gift for her. I put some pictures in the gallery of her birthday on the 20th as well at the party. Attached is a video of them singing to her and a picture of her and Tuva (from Sweden) showing off their nails!! Enjoy!!

International Day at QSI school!!

This past friday, the girl's school had international day. It was a day where each child had a passport and went around to different countries to learn about that particular place. The parents of their child's home country made booths that talked about their country. We represented the USA and did the NASA theme. We got costumes made that looked just like what they wear at NASA. It only cost us about $18 dollars to make. We showed a video with Neil Armstrong saying, "This is one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind". One of the parents ordered dry ice cream from NASA and each kid got to taste the kind of food they eat in outerspace. The kids first began the morning with seeing a chinese face changing dance. It is really neat. The chinese put colorful costumes on and have their face painted and as they dance their face changes. I have posted some pictures in our gallery about the day. At the end of traveling the world, all the kids and parents finished the day off with lunch from around the world. Every parent brought a dish that represented their country and we shared it. We had food from India, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Finland, Sweden, Holland, Austrailia, Italy, Singapore, Thailand, America,Spain, and many other places. I took a picture of all the countries represented. It was a busy day, but I think the kids enjoyed themselves. The girls also had to make flags to wear to school one day. Attached is a picture of their flag. I thought they turned out pretty good!!

Avery turns 6 years old today!!!

Today, is Avery's birthday and boy was it busy. To start the day off, Avery had to give a presentation about her Birthday. Since we are approaching International week, the teacher wanted each student to give a presentation about celebrating their birthday in their home country. Avery had hers on her actual Birthday. She wore her Birthday shirt, made a poster of her birthday at Bounce city, and we had cupcakes and party favors for all the kids. They seemed to enjoy it. I interviewed her and she answered the questions and pointed to the picture. She said one special thing about her party was that her Grammy usually makes the cake and her Papa makes the food! It went well. The kids sang Happy Birthday to her in Chinese, English, Korean, and Sweden. I think she enjoyed herself and then gave an inprompto speech about Cohen and where he was born and how old he was. The kids loved him as well. When she got home from school, Daddy bought her flowers and we went to dinner allowing her to choose the place. She selected Pete's Tex Mex!! We then came home and she opened her gifts from her family and friends from home. She loved it all!! Thanks for making a special day so special. Next weekend will be her party!! Look forward to it!!

The girls sing

Rylan is our child who loves to sing. She will make up songs about anything and everything. Before we left the Texas, she sang a song about her family. It started..."I love my mommy she helps to draw..I love my sister she helps me learn to read..I love my daddy he helps write my name.." It had other verses to it, but I cannot remember all of them. I unfortunately never was able to get it on video and now she sings "You are my Sunshine" and I was able to get a blurb of it on video. Enjoy!! Avery also likes to sing as well. In fact, she sings a song at school that she loves called "Sing a Little Song!!" I hope you like it and can catch a glimpse of our sweet girls!!!

Cohen loves to play on his extrasaucer!!

Cohen is growing by leaps and bounds. He now is able to tote around in our backpack that we have and he loves to play in the extrasaucer we have. He grabs all the toys and loves to put them in his mouth. He is our big drooler, but we love him and wonder if he will be getting teeth earlier than our girls.(the girls got their first teeth at 10 months).

Fireworks 15 days after the New Year!

As I told you before, the chinese love fireworks. After all they were invented here!! Anyway, Monday, Feb 9, they had another celebration and it was incredible. The fireworks in America will never be the same. They shoot awesome fireworks all around the city. It is incredible. Here is a picture of Chris, Cohen, and Rylan enjoying the fireworks and I have attached a video for you to see as well. The video does not do justice, but I hope you enjoy!!