February Fun

I've been procrastinating getting back to the blog, for no good reasons, but here's a review of the past few weeks.  We had a blast at Great Wolf Den with the Chazanoffs, and here's one and only pic to show for it!  Warm water truly feels so much better when snow is in your view out the window!

Beatrice was so happy with her class Tet party, which included Pin the Tail on the Monkey,

rolling and eating a goi cuon,

creating a lunar calendar,

and a dragon parade through many classrooms:

The next morning, a fresh spring roll and a bowl of cheerios combined for a perfect Vietnamese-American breakfast!

The New Year party at Marianapolis was postponed a week due to snow, but we took in the rescheduled event:

The Tet face paint led to Valentine's face paint, a request for the Fire & Ice festival downtown, where it was way too cold (teens below zero!) for pictures!

and my hubby made me an amazing Valentine's dinner:

Bea had a week off for vacation and she had a lot of fun and kept busy, including this play-in-the-snow-before-it-melts playdate with Samm, right before she got a fever for three days:

and this pic off the school website shows me a little girl whose face isn't looking so little anymore!

Tet Countdown....

Winter Has Hit!

The calendar is just about ready to turn to February, and this month has been fun and gone by so fast.  We went to my alma mater last weekend to see the Lady Huskies obliterate Temple.  Bea put on some blue & white and some bling for the game and practiced her "GO UConn!" cheer.  We had so much fun.  I think her favorite parts of the trip though were the bookstore and the ice cream.

We FINALLY got some snow this weekend, though our measly 6" didn't compare to the blizzard that hit the family in DC.  It was enough for me though, and this girl was happy to get out and taste some New England snow:

 this guy was not so sure about what all the excitement was about...

And this was sitting on my cell phone from a random moment a few days ago when Bea was on the iPad and the sun was streaming in.  I snapped it and realized that the camera is sometimes a crystal ball showing me the future.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Creativity Strikes Again

When Bea was really little, I rarely gave her toys to entertain herself in the car or when we went to people's houses. At age 2 she entertained herself on a two-hour car ride with nothing but a baby wipe in her hand, folding it, pretending it was God knows what, having a ball.  Well that creative streak has continued and her new hobby is fashion design.  She turns toilet paper and/or Kleenex into some amazing dresses, headwraps,and even shoes, as evidenced by this runway model that I found hanging around this week.

                                                    and here's a handbag from the same line:

and a quick funny....when I recently was asking  that  she stop imaginative play/conversation because we were going to visit people and I wanted her to talk "to real people about real things," she pulled up a pretend phone to her ear, said "alright...." in a very dejected voice, then pretend dialed and ordered "one ticket to reality please..."

The Twelve Days of Christmas (vacation, that is)

Christmas vacation 2015 was wonderful.  We drove down to Maryland in time

for Liza and Steve's famous Christmas Eve gathering, but before that we snuck in a showing of Star Wars while Bea and Miles saw Alvin and the Chipmunks next door with Lolo and Lola.  Here's Bea in the lobby showing her enthusiasm for the next Kung Fu Panda movie:

and here's the family in Old Town Alexandria on Christmas Eve.  So much fun!

We were able to attend a Filipino Simbang Gabi mass with my in-laws at their church on 12/23, which was a very beautiful event, and midnight (10:00) mass on Christmas Eve as well.  Christmas morning and afternoon were lazy, present-opening hours with Lolo and Lola and the Dirksens, then at night we headed to cousin Ronnie's where I blew out candles on a cake and didn't take one photo!

On the 26th, we headed into DC to the Natural History Museum.  Beatrice loved it!  She is at the perfect age to enjoy the mammals and evolution exhibits:

She and Anthony went into the Butterfly Pavilion:

then we headed to the Hirschorn Gallery and saw some funky Modern Art:

B. does ultraviolet:

so does A:

At dusk we headed to the Obamas for the tree display.  So beautiful!

and we found our CT tree!

That night we went to the light display at nearby Watkins Park and Lolo and Lola and we all enjoyed the funky glasses we got at Lowe's putting 3D santas, reindeer, and snowflakes around all the lights:

In between all the busy-ness, Bea and I got a couple books read, perhaps the highlight of any vacation to me:

Sunday we headed home but stopped in Philly for cousin Tina's holiday party:

Finally, we were back to home-sweet-home where, after unpacking and catching up with mail and groceries, Bea and I had a lazy morning sketching and reading at Victoria's Station. It had been far too long!

After a sleepover "Brodeur Christmas," New Year's Eve, and seeing the Fulcos on New Years, we caught up with Rachel on Saturday afternoon at the mall halfway between our homes. These two always make me smile:

And then we were off to meet BERNIE SANDERS in Worcester!  These shots were taken while waiting in line outside, just moments before the senator shook my hand and asked "Who is this lovely young lady?" to Bea.  She of course turned to me, so I answered and he said "Hello there Beatrice. Nice to meet you."  Hopefully Bea can say one day that she spoke to the future President of the United States!

We only made it to the overflow room, but it didn't matter because we had our brush with fame!

 

Last but not least, here's a clip of one of several "talents" that Bea did for the Brodeur Christmas talent show.  Her cartwheels have really improved!  She also played "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" on the piano, and sang a solo version of  "Joy to the World."  My shy girl is not so shy about performing!