Snow and other fun

We've been having lots of fun lately just being home, being together.  Simple stuff that gives us lots of chances to talk about and be "our happy family"-Van's favorite phrase of late.

Picture Day for Handsome Zak

 Snow night in case the snow was gone by morning

 Van's first school "dance"...must have green hair and a best buddy 

 Van's class pet "Ribbit" spent a weekend with us and all the frog pals

The Greatest Show on Earth

We surprised the boys with tickets to the circus...their very first one.  I don't think they knew what to expect.  Zak talked about going to the zoo during the car ride downtown so I guess I hyped the animals a bit too much.  The pre-show that Ringling offers lets the kids go down on the show floor and meet the performers, participate in the action and see the animals up close.  That was fantastic.  Our guys chose not to join in on any of the group activities but they sat front and center for all of it.  It really gave us a chance to overcome that nervous energy that follows us to most events like this.   By the time we took our seats and bought our mandatory overpriced souvenir, they were ready for the action.  And what  action it was, almost two hours of fast paced fun and excitement.  They still haven't decided what their favorite was...Van is still talking about the elephants, Zak liked the fire hoop jumping  (no surprise there!) and of course the Dragon!
PS for all my clown-fearing friends, no clown phobias in this family but chinese noses aren't so well suited for that clown prop!

Brotherly love for Valentines

Just checked out Photoboother.com....fun!

My Funny Valentines

They are keeping me on my toes these days for sure...always on the go, always talking and almost always being silly.  Love, love, love my Valentines.

 Our awesome homemade glow stick Valentines 

 When did he get so grown up?

Our annual Valentine photo with love shirts from Fairy Godmother!

Pre-Valentine for Van

Van came home with a little note in his backpack.  It was from a girl in his class and it said XXX (protecting the name of the innocent just seems the right thing to do here) hearts Van.  It had a drawing of Van and XXX on the front and inside a picture of their apparent future house and some flowers.  Adorable for sure.  Even cuter, Van informed us that another girl actually presented him with the note on behalf of XXX.   Hoping heartbreak is not in our future.

Year of the Dragon

We've been celebrating in style already and still have a couple more fun events to come.  Dumplings, long noodles, red envelopes and of course the lion dance.  Happy New Year to all!

My Sweetie Pie

Zak aka "sweetie pie" has a girlfriend.  Her name is Lily.  She had a Romp and Roll birthday last week and he was right there with her to celebrate.  They really are adorable together.  "Sweetie Pie" and "my Lily" sittin' in a tree...don't think they are kissin' just yet tho!