Friday Fashion tips by Lily

Weather you're going to school, or headed out to extinguish a fire, be sure to wear something sparkly. Wear something sparkly every day if you can. (Even if it means wearing the same outfit two or three days in a row.)

Always make sure to change your shoes seconds before you have to head out the door to pick up older siblings from school. Make sure the shoes don't match, are too little, and always, always put them on the wrong feet. I've found that this particular method of dressing is sure to draw lots of attention.

10 Years

2 Movies in 1 day

We don't go to movies. Maybe once a year, but we only go if we have a movie gift card. Last weekend however, we went to 2 movies in 1 day. We went to one in the morning with my family, and then to a drive-in movie with Tyler's brother, wife, & kids that same evening. (Picture's stolen from Jami's blog).
Saturday we went up to the Cabin with all Tyler's family for a fun day, then off to a small town near Park City to watch THE best fireworks ever. They were gigantic, and loud, and scary. Luckily they weren't quite as scary as the ones last year that exploded before they left the ground.

Daily Morning Surprises

We didn't set Lily's crib up in our new house, which means she is free to roam the house at night. I suspected at our rental that Lily had never slept an entire night. My suspicions have been confirmed now that she is crib free. I often hear her roaming the house at night. I can hear her tapping in the hallways in her dance shoes, spinning in circles on the wood floor in her sandles, and doing what ever it is that she does to make so much noise in her room through our supposedly sound proof wall we put up between our bedroom and hers. Every night we put her to bed in her pajamas. Last night she wore her sponge-bob nightwear, this morning when she emerged from her bedroom she was dressed in Ella's dance costume, ballet slippers, matching headband, and all. I know that she had to search high and low last night for this costume, as I had hidden it on the other side of the house in the laundry room. It's fun to see what she is wearing each morning. It is not so much fun to hear her up and about all night, and worry that she is not getting enough sleep.

Today we met over at the Sweet Tooth Fairy to celebrate Mayci's birthday. After-wards we went for a quick swim, then headed over to see a sneak peak of the 24th of July parade floats. We love being able to see all the floats up close.

How many babies could you fit in your family room?

Ella: Mom, This is such a big empty room. Why is it empty?
Me: Eventually we will save enough money to buy some furniture to put in here.
Ella: Or some babies. Think of how many babies we could fit in this room. We could put so many babies in this huge room. Let's fill the room with babies.

Apparently we have different plans for the Family room.

Friday Fashion tips by Lily

Fashion tip by Lily: It's okay to mix flowers & colors as long as you're smiling cute. P.S. Ballet slippers go with everything!

First Grader

Ella started First Grade today. It's hard to believe that she's already in First Grade, especially since Kindergarten ended a week ago. She spent her summer vacation moving into our new house. She has two teachers this year, an English teacher and a Chinese teacher. I peaked into the Chinese classroom this morning and I really wanted to stay. There were so many cute little Chinese things in it. I just love oriental packaging & products. I think Ella's going to love it too.

Update

We have not moved yet. Lucky for us, we were able to stay in our rental for a few extra days. Unlucky for us, we packed the toys almost a month ago.

July 3rd

Last night we went to the Sandy Parade. We got lots of candy.

Lily thought we were going roller-skating and dressed accordingly.

We played with cousins from both sides of the family.

Then we watched fireworks. This picture makes me laugh.

My friend Bacon

Lily: Mommy, I wike Bacon.
Me: You like Bacon?
Lily: NO! I wanna see Bacon.
Me: You want to see Bacon?
Lily: NO! Bacon my friend.
Me: Megan? Your friend Megan?
Lily: Uh huh! I wike Bacon.

Ni Hao

Ella only has 4 days left of school, then she’s out for the summer... that is if you can call a week off of school “summer vacation”. She will start 1st grade a week after school ends. CRAZY! We are getting excited though. Ella is enrolled in the Chinese program at her school which starts in 2 weeks. She will have an English teacher for 1/2 a day & a Chinese teacher for 1/2 a day. Her Chinese teacher will only speak Chinese. I have to admit that I am a little bit nervous about it.

We have a book club in our neighborhood that I attend (whenever I can). This month the book we are reading is "Wild Swans." It didn't sound like a very interesting book, but since I knew that Ella would soon be learning all about the Chinese culture, and since I know very little about the Chinese culture; I decided to check the book out from the library. I figured I'd skim through it, and learn more about it from Book Club (since I have very little time to devote to book reading these days.) I made the mistake of reading the first chapter. Right from the start this book is very captivating. There are so many interesting things that I didn't know about the Chinese culture. Everyone in the book is changing their name whenever they want. How cool is that? It's also very interesting to read about the Chinese culture through the daughter of parents who are both members of the Communist Elite.

Luckily I found the book at a Yard Sale for only $1, since my book is due back to the library, and I'm only half way finished; and I probably shouldn't read anymore until after our house is finished.

I've been letting Ella watch Kai-lan videos on the internet to get her excited for the Chinese program. It's working. She can relate to Kai-lan. Kai-lan, like Ella, is obsessed with Dinosaurs.
Lily has gotten into the show as well. She has learned to say "Hello" in Chinese.
I wanted to show off Lily's Chinese speaking skill's right away.

Me: Lily, show Grandma that you know how to say "Hello" in Chinese. Can you say "Hello" in Chinese?
Lily: Hello in Chinese.

Ha ha, she really knows how to say it; I promise she does.