Wonders of Raising Aria

love this!

2010-03-06T21:11:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite artist is holding a contest. I love her print and would love to win it!

http://happydoodleland.blogspot.com/2010/03/print-give-away-alert.html

Wish me luck!

Crafty.

2008-02-07T18:35:00.000-08:00

One of Aria's favorite craft products is a bag of pipe cleaners. She loves them and she's very creative with them. I've gone through 3 bags in 2 months. She has free reign to them and will make random things throughout the day when she feels creative. This also means that there are pipe cleaner creations throughout the house. I was in the bathroom the other day, looked down and there was an Aria creation on the counter. I don't have the heart to thrown any of them out so they'll just slowly grow in numbers lie tribbles from a Star Trek episode.

New Year.

2008-02-06T08:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year! I decided to treat Aria and myself to some dim sum for lunch. I ordered way too much and now we're stuffed. Aria's favorite dim sum are Ha Gow (shrimp dumplings) and steamed b.b.q. pork buns.
We're going to have dinner with A.'s family at at a local noodle and dumpling restaurant. Yum more food.

Deadline looming.

2008-01-22T21:41:00.000-08:00

I've been preoccupied for the last 3 days doing a freelance illustration for my friend's magazine. She's a senior editor for an Asian magazine. It's very sweet of her to ask me to do this since I've been so out of the graphic loop since I've became a stay-at-home mom. The art is to accompany a poem on a two page spread. That's why the middle is blank. I'm not too thrilled with the left side of the art but I do like the right. So glad I finished it within before the deadline. The artwork has been fedex and will hopefully arrive at her office tomorrow morning. Hope they like it.

Long time.

2008-01-22T21:28:00.000-08:00

Long time no blog. So much has happened since my last post. The most impactful event was a death in the family. I don't want to go into details but I happened very unexpectedly and Aria and I flew up north to deal for the funeral. I was surprise by how much Aria understands death. I guess that's not surprising since she has seem the passing of her Great Grandfather on A.'s side and her baby brother in the recent years. She understands that death means that the individual is gone from our present lives but not from our hearts. She believes in a heaven where all people and animals go after live. She explained everything to me so clearly too.

Sat.

2008-01-06T17:27:00.000-08:00

We're cruel parents. Even though Aria's still sick we took her out for dim sum on Sat. with our friends and their children. The sad part was, Aria slept through the whole meal and ate nothing. We headed off to the mall afterwards so the kids can play together. We got there a little before our friends and while Al was carrying Aria around, she threw up on him. He had to do a makeshift cleanup job. My poor daughter is still not feeling well. She pepped up after that and played with Alicia for alittle bit. We headed home soon afterwards where Aria threw up some more.

Aria pretending to be Ariel The Mermaid.

Tony pushing Aria, Alicia and Ian.

Yuck.

2008-01-06T17:19:00.000-08:00

I guess Aria caught a bug something and we were not prepared for the outcome. Friday night, right as A. and I were tiptoeing out Aria's room, I heard a gurgling sound coming from Aria and I knew, knew, knew, knew, that she was vomiting. I didn't understand how she could be sleeping one sec. and the next be vomiting every ounce of food that she ate that day up. I was endless and I, like an idiot, stood there and watch. My reflexes failed me. The cleanup was very disgusting. I love my daughter but the stench made me want to hurl. A. had the unpleasant job of cleaning the vomit off of her. I had the even worst job of cleaning the vomit from her bed, clothes, and bed sheets. Sign.

Skirball Friday.

2008-01-06T17:17:00.000-08:00

Yes, we hit Skirball for their Noah's Ark exhibit after not going for 2 weeks. This time I took my friend's daughter Isabelle with us. Isabelle is a year older than Aria and Aria really enjoys playing with her. They had a blast at the exhibit and we left after a couple of hours. I took them home where they played for another 4 hours.

In the kitchen area of Noah's Ark.

She found some new stuff animals to love. Thankfully, I didn't have to buy them at the gift store.

Big hug.

Those crazy girls are trying to catch the raindrops.

What to do on New Year's Eve.

2008-01-02T22:07:00.000-08:00

If you're in our shoes, you'll call up Alice and have her and her kids meet up at Ikea! Well, we met up at a bookstore, read some books and them strolled across the street to Ikea to have lunch. The place was packed. Guess everyone had the same idea that we did. Afterward, we hung out at the kids' area where the kids played. Alice, Cassidy and Michael soon left us. We purchased a few things (sheepskin rug, pink frames and some cards) and capped off our visit with vanilla ice cream cones. Yum!

The girls are crazy. I told them to pose for me in front of the giant Christmas balls outside of Ikea and Aria started to breakdance. Cassidy soon follow suit. Why can't they just stand there and smile nicely???

Here's another one of Aria's freestyle moves.

For Sue.

2007-12-29T15:39:00.000-08:00

Interested??? It's yours.

Squirrelly.

2007-12-29T15:27:00.001-08:00

Today, I made this squirrel from this book that I ordered online a few months ago. It took me longer than expected but Aria and I are both satisfied with the end product. I'm so glad that I actually made something from it!

The book with the squirrel.

Post Christmas gathering.

2007-12-29T10:26:00.000-08:00

I met up with some of my friends for a potluck the day after Christmas. I wanted to avoid the whole shopping madness and just mellow with good friends. My friend Lina hosted the event at her house. Unfortunately, I was unable to cook any food (long story, something to do with a gas leak) and just purchase some Chinese noodles at my local Chinese food place. Lina, being the great cook that she is, made yummy chicken curry. Alice brought lasagna, Patrice made her famous coconut cake, Marylou brought mac & cheese, Keiko made pasta salad. God, what a feast.
Aria has known these kids for the majority of her life. I've seen each of them grow into their own unique selves. I hope they become life-long friends, especially Cassidy and Aria.

Everyone was very excited for the Cassidy's arrival, especially Aria. She literally sat by the door for a half an hour waiting for her to arrive. I was slightly concerned with her behavior because she was getting pretty sad, but as soon as Cassidy showed up, Aria perked right up. From left to right, Cassidy, Josh, Aria, Monty, Mandy and her cousin Emma.

The kids decorated their own gingerbread man. Let's just say that it was very messy and chaotic. Everyone wanted more gumdrops and there were alot of fingerlicking going around. I hope Aria didn't catch anything.

After the chaos, Zoe, Cassidy and Aria ate their creations.

Christmas recap.

2007-12-29T09:13:00.001-08:00

We had a pretty mellow Christmas this year. It consisted of alot of eating and having a lovely time with the people we love most. We had a few dinners with A.'s family and had lunch with Alice and her family on Christmas day.
Boy did Aria get alot of gifts. My sister gave her (not excluding me and A.) tons of stuff. The bottom of our tree was so packed with gifts that it was pretty hard to maneuver around at times. Majority of the toys that Aria got are still in its box because she's so engrossed with playing with one or two new toys. I think I'm going to hide most of them and bring them out for her throughout the year. Aria received clothes, Littlest Pet Shop activity center, more Littlest Pet Shop animals, Leapfrog's My First Computer in pink, Barbie RV, geez the list goes on. A. gave me a Canon Photo Printer. I haven't used it yet but A. did. The printout looks great and A. said it's super easy. It's pretty shop to shop for A. so I just got him a few comic books, a Batman lego set, and clothes. Overall, we had a very Merry Christmas. Cheesy but it's true.

We made dumplings from scratch at A.'s grandmother's house. They were delish! Here's a picture of Aria's grandparents. They're old pros at making dumplings.

Aria got to make one too, without the fillings.

This is Aria's favorite present. My sister gave her a build-a-bear machine (after I told her not to) .

This is one of the presents that I got Aria and I thought it'll be a hit. I was wrong. It's still sitting here unopened. Ariel's head is bigger than Aria's.

We had lunch with Alice and her family at Marie Callendar's. It was the only place that was open on Christmas day. We gave Cassidy a Belle baby doll. I have no clue what they're laughing at.

Princesses on Ice.

2007-12-29T09:10:00.000-08:00

One of the planned highlights for the end of this year was to take Aria to see Disney's Princesses on Ice. I wasn't sure if Aria could handle sitting through over 2 hours of this but since she loves the princesses so much I decided to take her. Photos were prohibited but everyone was using their cameras so I jumped into it too and snapped away. Aria had an okay time but I think we're going to skip it next year and do it the following year. She was still very antsy in her seat some of the times. She also said that the show was 'bad' because of the fireworks at the end and that they 'always forget about Pocahontas'. She's a tough one to please.

Aria wore her mermaid costume to the event.

The finale when all the characters came out in pairs.

The 'dreaded' fireworks.

Visitor.

2007-12-22T09:20:00.000-08:00

My little sis came down for a visit a couple of weekends ago. She came bearing gifts for Christmas in two suitcases (she's too generous). We spent alot of time shopping and perusing stores when she was her. It's one of my favorite activities with her. One of the highlights of her visit was our trip to see Wicked. We got A.'s mom to babysit and we caught a Sunday afternoon show at the Pantages Theater. Boy, was it great. I don't want to give up the ending but everything ties in so well with the movie Wizard of Oz. It was an awesome musical. Even though we had nose-bleed seats and there was a 6+ feet husky woman sitting in front of us, the musical was breathtaking. A definite must see.

Sleep.

2007-12-14T14:29:00.000-08:00

A. found Aria in this position last night when he went into her room to check on her.

She fell out of her bed and somehow secured enough stuff animals from around her to make a pillow and went right back to sleep. I asked her about it today and she has no memory of the whole event.

No Skirball Friday.

2007-12-14T14:11:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm tired of going to The Skirball for the Noah's Ark exhibit and decided to take a couple weeks off from going there. Instead we invited Cassidy over for a playdate. Worked out great because Alice needed someone to watch her while she takes Michael to his toddler class. It's been so long since she's been over at the house. In the span of 5 hours we ate Mac & Cheese and grapes, watched Little Mermaid, made a foam angel, made a gingerbread house, snack on goldfishes and played with Littlest Pet Shop pets. Great fun.

This is the gingerbread house that Aria decorated. It's made from graham crackers held together by frosting. It's only a flat line roof because I don't have the ingenuity to make an arch one. Isn't the snowman the cutest?

Santa comes visiting.

2007-12-14T13:17:00.000-08:00

Santa made a surprise visit to Aria's Kindergarten Enrichment class on Weds. afternoon. He sat patiently with each child and passed out candy canes. Then he made a speedy exit back to The North Pole.

Back to college.

2007-12-10T15:16:00.000-08:00

We went to a Choices fair held at UCLA last Saturday. The fair was to give the general public information on the magnet schools that are accessible within our school district. It was good to be back on campus and to see how much things have changed. I couldn't help but feel old though with all the young students walking around. Aria had a blast on campus. After the fair, A. took her to the arcade and they hung out there for an hour while I went to the student store. We had lunch and then we walked around to tcheck out the campus. It was really chilly but we wanted pictures of Aria on some of the famous campus landmarks. We would love to have Aria attend UCLA when she's older and it'll be so cool to have pictures of her when she's young next to the Bruin Bear. Let's hope she gets admitted in! Oh, the pressure...

The famous mascot.

At Royce Hall.

Another Skirball Friday.

2007-12-10T14:27:00.000-08:00

Yipe, we went to Skirball again for the Noah's Ark exhibit last Friday. This time we invited my friend Patrice and her son Joshua along. Josh, being a boy, played a tad too rude for Aria's taste. It was interesting to see how Josh played and how Aria played. Aria's such a girly girl. I couldn't keep up with Josh. He was a everywhere. I got tired trying to keep up with him.

Aria and Josh playing with the zebra display.

Aria's ark project consisted of cats only.

Weekend update.

2007-12-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

We had a busy weekend a few days ago. On Saturday, we started off with the monthly Home Depot Kids' workshop where Aria (well it was really A.) made a little serving tray. Very cute. They we swinged by a leather store to pick up a couple of YMCA vests for A. and Aria now that they're in a 'tribe' - dad & kids group. Those suckers were expensive! His was almost $60 and hers was $25. Hopefully, they'll stick with that Y program for the next 4 or 5 years. They also picked up some real water buffalo teeths to use as decorations for the vest. Kinda gross when you know they're real teeth but they are kinda pretty. Aria also picked out a real rabbit skinned fur. I don't think she totally understands how the fur came about, she thinks that the fur was shaved off the rabbit rather than the fatal truth. She's too young to handle that truth. The fur is currently being used as a cape.

After that we went to our usual YMCA craft class and then right to the mall. We decided to cave and let Aria get a Build-A-Bear. I usually avoid that store when we hit the mall because I know she would love the idea of making her out bear but I always thought she was too young and might not remember the experience. Now that she's older, I decided that to finally let her make one. I took her there on a weekday just to let her see the options but I told her that she can only do it when daddy was around because I want to make it a family experience. She took that with stride and left the store empty-handed. Then all you would hear around the house leading up to the actual day was, 'Is daddy staying home today? I want daddy to stay home so we can go to Build-A-Bear." or "Daddy, please stay home so we can go to Build-A-Bear."

The Build-A-Bear experience was fun but I wish we could have done it on a weekday when it was less crowded. Aria ended up picking a bunny instead of the poodle that she had wanted when we went to scope out the place. Of course she picked out the mermaid outfit and a Hello Kitty outfit for her bear. She also picked up some red sparkling Wizard of Oz - Dorothy shoes for her bunny. She named her new bunny Peachy Pie. Have to say the whole experience was very fun (and expensive). We might make this an annual thing and let her make a new friend every Christmas.

Checking out the leather store. You can see the rabbit fur in her hand.

Welcome to Build-A-Bear.

Hmmm... I think I want her.

Don't forget her heart.

Giving Peaching Pie a good bath.

She's clean!

Dressing Peachy Pie in her new mermaid costume.

Peachy Pie is dressed.

Entering Peachy Pie's info so that she can get a birth certificate.

One Sunday, we went to a new church. I came highly recommended from my friend Maggie. I've been wanting to go to church on a regular basis because I'm seeking the sense of community and the friendship that our family can make there. The sermon was nice and the regular attendees were okay. I was worried that Aria might not like Bible study but she did well and said that she enjoyed it. We're definitely going back now. After church, we headed over to our local park where Aria and A. met up with their YMCA group to participate in our neighborhood Christmas parade. We've seen the parade for the past 3 years now but this is the first time that Aria is going to take part in it. I drove down to the end of the parade so that I can give them a lift back. I met them halfway on the parade route and finished the walk with them. We didn't know that we were suppose to bring a wagon so I was very proud of Aria because she actually walked part of it without complaining about having to be carried.

Here's Aria's group.

This is the way that Aria waves to the crowd. Check out the new vests. A. assembled them himself with beads and water buffalo teeth.

A. and Aria walking the parade route.

We ran into Santa during the parade.

Rain.

2007-11-30T18:02:00.000-08:00

I woke up to a nice surprise this morning - it was raining. Aria took it as a sign to try out one of her raincoats. The first one I found happened to be a fireman's jacket. It fixed perfectly and Aria had a blast playing in the rain.

Ho, Ho, Ho.

2007-11-29T17:42:00.000-08:00

We went to the mall after school let out today and took Santa pictures. I convinced my friend Lisa to do it too. Here are the results:

Here's Nathan with Santa. Love his striped socks. He's so cute. Santa's not bad either.

Aria's really wearing a Halloween costume that I got a couple of years back. I purchased it on a whim because I love the fabric but it was way too big for Aria. I've had it in the closet and today is the first time she's worn it out.

Happy!

2007-11-28T19:12:00.001-08:00

I took Aria with me to the mall to return an impulse buy from The Disney Store. We saw the cool Enchanted display and just couldn't walk away empty handed. ( I wasn't really spending more since I did return something. ) She loves the new movie and her new doll.

Thanksgiving weekend 2007.

2007-11-23T19:37:00.001-08:00

We went to A.'s brother for Thanksgiving dinner and brought along 2 pies from Marie Callender's for dessert. I was still suffering from a stomach flu so I wasn't 100% in the chowing department. The food was good. Julie (sister-in-law) made all the traditional grubs. There was a turkey, creamed spinach, mixed veggies, mash potatoes, gravy and bread. We ate and played and then headed home.

Bella in front of her tree.

At the kiddy table. They were hungry.

Friday morning, I headed over to Target at 6AM to partake of the sales. I didn't score too much except an air hockey table. Yes, I'm crazy. We live in a small house and we lack the space but I've always wanted one ever since I was little because my cousin had one and he wasn't very good at sharing. I shopped with Alice so that made the whole event fun. After Target we headed over to the mall and hit The Disney Store, Macy's, JcPenney's and a few others. Overall, I got some great deals but I'm no where near down with my holiday shopping.

Guess what movie we saw this weekend??

Enchanted!

It was great! We saw it with Alice and Cassidy and the kids understood the whole movie without any 'whys'. I highly recommend it. We had another Thanksgiving dinner but this time at my house. I cooked my turkey on Sunday night and had A.'s parents over. I also made mash potatoes, asparagus, stuffing, sausages. A.'s mother brought over chinese style sweet rice, my favorite! I want to learn how to make it but she said I need an electric rice cooker - which I don't owe, so I guess I can only enjoy it during the holidays when she makes it.

Another Skirball Friday.

2007-11-23T19:36:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, (no, no, the one before Black Friday) I arranged to take another mommy (Nicole) and her daughter (Kara Lila) to Skirball. I met them in my Mommy & Me class and invited them when she approached me with a question about Skirball. It's so much easier to show someone the Noah's Ark exhibit than to try to explain it. Too complex.

We stayed a couple of hours and left content as usual.

What do you see when you look in the belly of this bear?

Hmm.....

The scene of another polar bear! Too cute!

It's a puppet of a Japanese fox.

One of the camels that'll great you at the entrance of the Ark.

Parking structure wall.

The high point and the low point of this visit for me was when I saw Wil Ferrell. I'm usually not one to be star-struck, but he's one of my favorite comedian. I willed myself to approach him and talk to him. He was very reserved but did respond that "yes, he was Wil Ferrell" and "no he will not take a picture with me". : (

So I snuck in a picture of him when he wasn't looking.

There's Wil Ferrell!

Seeing the doc.

2007-11-15T08:21:00.002-08:00

Aria had her 4 years old appt. a couple of days after her B-day and she's doing fine physically. She's in the 10th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight. She received 2 shots, one of them the flu vaccine. It was the first time that I saw the doctor clean her ears. Boy, I was shocked by what size of the nugget that came out of her right ear. It was pretty massive. She was not amused by the procedure.

Aria turned 4!

2007-11-15T08:21:00.001-08:00

My little girl turned 4 on Nov. 11th! Geez, I can't believe that she's only been part of my life for 4 years, yet time slips by so fast, I don't want her to grow up so soon. I just want to keep her forever-young so that I can always pick her up and hug her close to me. These have been the best four years of my life because of her. Life before her seems so insignificant.
To celebrate, we threw Aria a party at home and invited around 18 of her friends. The total attendance was well over 50 which included siblings and parents. It would have been no problems if the weather would had cooperated with us. But that Sunday happened to be the only day out of the week that was overcasted and coo. The place where we reserved the jumper with refused to let us rent a jumper because of the weather and we ended up having to cram over 50 people inside our house for the party. Thankfully my sister drove down from Sac. Town and helped me with the set up and the last minute tables setups. The mermaid that we hired was awesome. She kept everyone entertained with a wonderful magic show and great face paintings. She stayed for an hour and a half. I had an art activity and a pinata. The party lasted for over 3 hours before the bulk of the people started leaving. I apologized to everyone profusely for the cramped spaces and hoped that they all had a good time.

The kids were mesmerized with Ariel's magic show. Check out how cramped my living room was.

Doing some arts and craft.

Waiting to get their face painted.

Picture with Ariel. Aria refused to look in the camera. Surprise, surprise.

During pinata time.

Waiting to blow out the cake.

Teacher conference.

2007-11-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

I had a parent/teacher conference on Weds. regarding Aria's school progress. The report was very positive. She's doing great on every aspects. She's got great fine motor skills etc. I did bring up the fact that I worry about Aria's willingness to make friends. The teacher told me to not worry and that she'll come into her own. Let's hope so.

All plugged up.

2007-11-07T10:08:00.000-08:00

We're having plumbing problems and until it's fixed, my life is at the mercy of the plumber. He didn't come yesterday for our scheduled appointment. This morning, the company claimed that that appt. didn't exist. I threw a fit and she said that someone will come within the hour. 2 hours and another phone call later, the plumber is finally here. I don't want to chew him out but come on, what happened to good customer service??Now all my schedule events are all screwed up. I hope I can make it to Aria's teacher conference. Arrr...

Michael turns 2!

2007-11-05T12:11:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Michael's 2nd birthday on Sunday. Alice picked Underwood Farms to host the occasion. It never entered my mind to host a party there but after experiencing Michael's party I think it's the best party location ever. They offered a horse drawn wagon ride around the farm, animals to feed, endless pony rides, moon bounce, wooden train play area, god, there's so much more. And unlike all the other indoor playgrounds, we were permitted to stay the whole day, after the 2 1/2 hours of shaded party pavilion time. The party was simply awesome. I'm thinking of doing Aria's party there next year.

Here's the birthday boy and his mom Alice.

Aria playing with Michael on hay ride.

Aria on a pony ride.

Joshua is so cute.

Cake time.

I think A. told them to make faces here. Lovely.

Enjoying cake. Check out the frosting on Cassidy's face.

Moon bounce.

Outside the moon bounce.

This is Antonio the Donkey. He was so sweet and gentle. Aria really enjoyed feeding him from the palm of her hand.

Aria and Joshua went on a tractor ride in individual cars. I got scared when I saw the tractor disappeared from my line of vision and were gone for a good 5 mins before returning. Good thing they enjoyed it.

Skirball Friday.

2007-11-02T17:04:00.001-07:00

We did our usual Friday Skirball trip except this time we invited allow my friend Keiko and her son Monty. Monty likes Aria alot more that the other way around. She tolerates him. She's so selective with her friendships. If the kid's younger or a boy, she's less willing to play with them. I hope this thinking will stop soon. I want her to have more friends and I don't know how this is going to translate when she enters kindergarten when there are less supervision. I don't want her to be a loner or lacking in friends.
Overall, they had a good time. They did run around together towards the end of the trip but Aria refused to give him a hug goodbye. Oh well.

She made a beautiful artwork with rubbings. It's a keeper.

They ran around a bit at the outside patio.

Sushi.

2007-11-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

"Look what I made in school and I'm going to share it with you!"

A fellow mom brought in all the ingrediences to school and Aria and her classmates each made a sushi roll. It's her first time making and eating sushi. She actual ate 1/3 of it. Pretty impressive for a picky eater.

Halloween continued.

2007-11-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

Halloween night was filled with activities. Based on a Maggie's suggestion, we went to a free Halloween Carnival held at her church. We were pleasantly surprised with the event. They offered so much stuff to do. They offered carnival games (prizes were pieces of candy), jumpers, bumper car rides (Aria was too young to ride them), magic shows (very boring and long, we're going to skip that next year), and a room filled with balloons (Aria refused to go in because of her fear of popping balloons). We stayed way too long and by the time we go home it was almost too late to go trick-or-treating. Even though it was pass 9 PM we still headed out for more fun. Aria can't miss the trick-or-treatin'. We did a couple of blocks and were rejected at a few houses but we came home with alot of candy. I didn't pass out one single piece of candy this year because we were so busy. A. too alot of it to his work but we saved some for home. I'm going to have to jog more to work it all off.

This is Aria's costume for her afternoon Kindergarten Prep. class.

She loved this game. She swinged the string over, waited a few seconds and yanked back the ple and it came attached with a piece of candy.

She tried soccer. Didn't do very well but still got a piece of treat.

Waiting in line. She's wearing her Ariel wedding dress.

I think this is her favorite game - put the colored ball in its corresponding slot.

School parade.

2007-10-31T11:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!! Have to say, Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love that Aria is older now and can appreciate and participate in all the fun. Aria's school held a Halloween Parade yesterday and today. Aria went as a Mermaid yesterday and Snow White today. Kids from all classes walked around the school yard showing off their costumes. They they went inside the church to perform five songs. Afterwards they went and trick-or-treated in a couple of rooms. The church part was hilarious to me. Parents were mobbing the stage to take pictures, flashes from cameras going off everywhere. It felt more like the Oscars than a kids' recital. After awhile, I gave up the fight for any spot even remotely close to the front. I sat in the back and enjoyed the show.

Yesterday's costume - Little Mermaid.

Here's Aria in the parade.

Check out this teacher's costume.

Where's Aria?

Today's costume - Snow White.

Elise also dressed up as Snow White.

Here's Aria leading today's parade.

Where's Aria???

One of the happiest places on earth.

2007-10-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

I met up with my friend Lisa and her son Nathan at one of my favorite places this morning - Ikea. Granted, I hate crowds, especially rude people, but Ikea, on a weekday morning, is fun and is not crowded with the usual weekend craziness. We had the 99 cents breakfast with a cinnamon roll and juice then perused the aisles for a couple of hours.
I got Aria a couple of new comforter sets, The Fabler Kalas (my pick) and The Minnen Bard (her pick - she loved the tiny princess characters). I also picked up a couple of frames for her room, a rug, a fleece blanket that was on sale and a pack of magazine holders. We capped off our visit with a yogurt cone and some great talks with a good friend.

Candy galore.

2007-10-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

We went to another Halloween Festival last Sunday. Aria's school and the church that it's situated on held a Truck-n-Treat event in the parking lot in the late afternoon. Aria wore her Dorothy costume and carried a big bag. I was fun to see some of her teachers getting involved in the festival by decorating their cars and even donning a costume. We rean into a couple of Aria's classmates also. She was very brave and didn't hesitate to go up to each car and ask the owners for candy. We ended up with so much candy. I'm going to be consuming chocolate candy for awhile. I'm not complaining.
After we got home, A. decided to carve up the larger of the 4 pumpkins that we have this year. He picked a subject close to his heart - Batman. It turned out pretty good too. According to A. there will be more carved pumpkins to come.

We ran into Alicia.

Helping herself to more sugar.

Here's Teacher Debbie, one of Aria's teachers.

Aria with Debbie, the director of her preschool.

Picture of her having fun, getting free candy.

We ran into Zoe (devil girl) and Dakota (another Dorothy).

Aria really liked this girl's costume. Her mom made it from foam and fabric. Very impressive.

Here's some cute decorations. I want that masked bear.

The end result.

Visit to the hospital.

2007-10-29T01:04:00.000-07:00

We visited A.'s grandmother this pass Sunday morning. She's currently in the hospital after suffering a stroke 2 weeks ago. A.'s parents were also there. A.'s grandmother is doing well but she has lost some mobility to her left side of her body. The doctors are feeding her via a feeding tube to better monitor her progress. Aria was allowed to go up with us to see her great-grandmother. Because we've explained to Aria ahead of time, she wasn't weirder out by the tubes or her great-grandmother's lack of mobility.

I left my camera in the car so I wasn't able to take any pictures while we were there. I missed the opportunity to capture 4 generations of A.'s family together. I also missed capturing moments of Aria tenderly holding her great grandmother's hand and her stroking her face and forehead. A.'s grandmother only speaks Mandarin so I or Aria wasn't able to communicate with her. Aria didn't understand why her great grandmother was in the hospital but she did try to make her feel better by comforting her in small ways. She tried to tuck her blanket in for her. I was so touched when I saw that.

I hope A.'s grandmother makes good progress so that she can be moved back home. She looks so small and frail in that hospital bed.

Harvest Festival.

2007-10-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

Our local YMCA held a Harvest Festival today from 3 PM till 6 PM. We got there 15 mins. before 3 to attend our first ever Shasta Tribe of YMCA. The concept is similar to MOMS Group except this group involves mainly dads and their off springs. The tribe meets once a month at someone's home and do one monthly activity locally - ie: participating in the local Christmas parade or attending today's YMCA Harvest Festival. We were able to take a group picture, receive patches and pick a pumpkin before attending the festival. I met some really nice parents and I hope that participation in this group will lead to some good friendships for myself and for Aria.

The Harvest Festival was awesome. The Y sure knows how to make partying fun for everyone, especially the little kids. They had various tables with games like horseshoe toss, ring toss, hunt for the golden chocolate bar, and treasure hunt. They also offered a pet petting area, relay races, face painting, trunk-n-treat and even pony rides. There were so much candy handed out. If you tried a game you'll get a piece of candy even if you don't win. I love that idea. Granted we got tons of candy now but Aria's self esteem went up the roof. I also got a great sense of community from the whole event.

Cassidy, Michael and their father Alain made a surprise appearance so we were able to hang out with them through the whole event. Cassidy came as a bride, Aria was a mermaid and Michael refused to wear a costume. I mainly took care of Michael, while the guys took care of the girls. I love the fact that Michael feels safe with me and will allow me to carry him and take care of him. He doesn't do that for alot of people.

Unfortunately, the event was cut short due to some light sprinkling. We left tired but very happy. I secretly laughed with gleam at all the chocolate that I get to steal from Aria's candy bag.

Here's a picture of all the kids from all the tribes of YMCA.

Aria petted a rat.

OMG, we ran into Teacher Jen, Aria's first teacher at the Y. She's moved on to better things but still remembers us.

During a tossing game. She missed but still got candy. Score!

We ran into Bat Girl during the Trunk-n-Treat event.

Here's Teacher Whitney. She teaches Aria beginning ballet and jazz.

The mermaids. That's Teacher Dion and her 2 daughters. Teacher Dion taught Aria Creative Moment. She's a great teacher but had to take a leave of absence because she found out that she had breast cancer and had to get a mastectomy. She's still not strong enough to come back to teach. I really miss her but glad to see that she's doing better.

Look it's Cat in The Hat! She even got the fish in the bowl.

I don't know what she's doing.

Those crazy girls.

On the pony ride. Both Cassidy and Aria took good care of Michael and made sure that he didn't fall out.

At the small animal table, checking out the rat.

Alicia's 4th B-day.

2007-10-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

Alicia turns 4 today and she had her party at Under The Sea. We were 20 mins. late to the party (too much fun at the YMCA craft class) but still managed to have a good time. The kids got to dress up in either a pirate or a mermaid costume and Ariel The Mermaid made an appearance. They did a treasure hunt, magic show, parachute time, and face painting. Wow, that place can sure cram alot in for a 2 hour period. I was pretty impressed the operation of the place. I may even consider it for Aria's birthday next year if she's still into mermaids then.

I made this card for Alicia's birthday.

Anthony, Alicia, Zoe, and Aria.

During parachuting time.

Aria, Savannah and Alicia during cake cutting time.

Party planning.

2007-10-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

Aria's 4th birthday is coming up and I've started the planning process this weekend. We decided to have her party here at the house verses an indoor playground. I booked her a mermaid, a princess jumper, 3 tables and 30 chairs. I also decided to stamp her birthday cards instead of purchasing them from a store. Since I'm a newbie at this whole stamping thing I totally under estimated the amount it would take to make 18 cards. I thought 3 hours. Boy was I wrong. From conception to completion, the whole project took me 11 hours. I basically did an all-nighter to get this done because I would not have time to do it later. Basically, I haven't slept at all since the previous day. I'm such a procrastinator. Well, the cards are done and they're going out today. Here's the end product.

All 18 cards lined up.

Slight variations - I'm mailing the blue border ones to the boys, pink borders to the girls.

Here's the inside of each card.

A close-up. I hand-colored each of the objects.

Another Skirball Friday.

2007-10-19T23:25:00.001-07:00

Yipe, we hit Skirball today. This time it was with Maggie and her daughter Alicia and son Ilan. I think everyone had a good time, at least that's what Maggie told me. Aria and Alicia played well together as usual. I was their cheerleader/mediator at times. At one point poop jokes were exchanges, so at least the kids had their laughs.

Some serious arts & crafts taking place. Check out Aria's cutting technique - hmmm.

This is the start of the poop poop jokes.

I forget why their hands were raised. Something to do with poop.

Aria got a chance to hold Ilan while Maggie and Alicia went to the restrooms. She did pretty well, didn't drop the baby once.

At the archaeological dig. The girls were able to find 'ancient' pottery.

Another year older.

2007-10-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

My birthday is today. I am creeping ever so closer to the big 40. I had a pretty peaceful day today. I receive a few phone calls from friends and A.'s mother congratuating me on my special day. My only earrand was to take Aria to the YMCA for 2 classes. The highlight of my day was when Aria went and presented me with a birthday gift. She took her Easter basket that she won earlier this year and gave it to me. We never gotten around to opening it till today. She was so sweet. We patiently opened the bag and examined every box of candy. She said she know that I love candy and she wants to share it with me. She's so sweet.

She has been mentioning that I was to get an ice maker for my birthday. What??? I have no idea why she thinks I would want that. I told her that I don't want an ice maker. I guess the news got back to A. because I asked her if that's what I got and she said "no". "Daddy said no to getting you an ice maker." Next year, I'm just going to tell her what I want and have it 'accidentally' leaked to A.

She hinted that she and A. were going to give me another gift later. I drilled her about what it was and she said she can't tell me. She did tell me that I was to receive a Cinderella card. When A. came home from work, A. presented me with my Birthday gift. He got me a GPS. The only reason why Aria didn't tell me what I was getting was because she didn't know what a GPS was. If she had known she would have snicked.

Aria decided that I needed a birthday cake and a pinata. Since I had neither, she decided to make me a cake and set up a mock pinata. The cake was made from chocolate ice cream, pieces of chocolate bar and cookies. She wanted candles for me but she said she couldn't because "I can not touch matches or I'll burn". Funny girl. I loved how she kept on calling me 'Birthday Girl' and how considerate she was to me. This is one of the best birthdays ever.

Here's my birthday cake that Aria made for me.

Fall Carnival.

2007-10-14T16:36:00.000-07:00

The school across from Aria's preschool held a carnival this weekend and we checked it out yesterday. Aria still wasn't 100% but she was getting better.

It was a day of firsts for Aria. It was the first time she rode a ferris wheel. A. always thought it was too scary for her, I thought otherwise. Aria enjoyed the ride, she rode it twice. Aria won her first carnival prize all by herself. We were so excited for her She was so proud too.

We spent 4 hours and over $40 at the carnival and had a good time.

First ride of the day.

Look, Aria won a goldfish. She won it with her last ball too. A. and I both tried to win one but couldn't. Aria's got the magic touch.

Her second ride.

She decided to do an arts & craft project and picked a kitty to paint.

Here's the finish product.

She fished for a bag and got this one.

pumpkins

2007-10-12T17:39:00.000-07:00

Aria has been sick for the last couple of days. She even missed school yesterday. Unfortunately, I had to go to her school for a parents/teacher meeting so I had to bring her with me. Yesterday her temperature topped 101.9 and she has lost her voice. Today, her temperature is better but she still refuses to talk and has been making clicking sounds with her mouth to communicate with me - 1 click for 'no' and 2 for 'yes'.

I had made plans to go to a local pumpkin patch farm with Maggie and her children. I didn't want to flake on Maggie and since Aria's temperature was back to normal I decided to take her. Aria was definitely not her normal self. She was more sluggish and wanted me to carry her more. I didn't mind. One day soon, she'll be too heavy for me to carry. I'm going to cherish these days where I can carry and snuggle with her for as long as possible.

The farm was pretty small and we found out once we got there that all the fun stuffs like the hay ride, mazes, jumper were not open to the public until 2 pm. They reserved the mornings for school groups etc. We walked around for a bit, picked up some pumpkins and went to pick up lunch. I met up with Maggie again at a local park where we ate our lunches and let the kids play. Aria mustered up enough energy to eat an entire turkey and cheese sandwich from Arby's. Yum... Arby's...

After lunch I took Aria to get her 6 months checkup at the dentist. Yeah, no cavities but I have to brush her gum lines better because they bleed easily. The dentist gave me so bad news though. She might need to have jaw expander later on because her teeth are so compacted. I instantly got an image of the young Willie Wonka's contraption from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. My poor kid's going to look like a freak. The dentist told me otherwise and that the expander is not visible. I looked it up once I got home and was slightly relieved from what I read online. Still Aria's going to have to go through alot for straight teeth. Poor kid.

Alicia and Aria.

She's not her usual self. She still feeling sluggish and refused to smile.

Aria picking a pumpkin. I told her to put it back because it was so pricey.

She's actually smiling here.

Check out the cute piglets. They were so friendly. They came right up to the fence, oinked and asked to be petted.

Feeding a goat.

I stuck her on a tractor.

Alicia and Aria. Aria stuck a pumpkin in her jacket and you can see it if you look closely.

We ended up buying these two little pumpkins. The bigger ones were pretty expensive. I'm going to get my big ones from the grocery store instead.

Enjoying the swings.

Another weekend.

2007-10-09T23:46:00.000-07:00

We had an interesting weekend. Saturday was crammed with tons of activites. First we went to the Home Depot Kids' Workshop. Aria (with tons of help from A.) made a fire truck. The cool part was the local fire dept. came by with two of their fire trucks and hung out with the general public. We had an oppurtunity to check out the fire trucks up close. Afterwards we headed over to our usual YMCA arts & craft class. We made scarecrows. After that we rushed over a street fair held in my neighborhood. Great thing about this fair is that the sense of community that I get from it. We checked out the vintage cars on display and Aria had the chance to ride on a pony and do even more arts & craft at the YMCA booth there. I was all crafted out after that.

After the fair, I drove dropped A. off at the airport for his weekend excursion to Vegas. He does an annual trip there with his buddies from school to gamble, drink and do guy things. He came back on Monday. I didn't ask him too much about his vacation. I figure what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Just glad he's back.

She actually enjoyed it! She refused to ride a pony up until she was over 3.

We ran into Morgan from our YMCA classes.

We also ran into Dakota. They decided to have a little talk on the sidewalk.

Look at the paint job under the hood.

Showing off a craft project.

More Skirball.

2007-10-09T23:41:00.000-07:00

We've hit Skirball for 2 consecutive Fridays now. I'm kinda 'Skirball'ed out. The previous Friday, Aria and I went to Skirball with my college girlfriend Julie and her 2 daughters, Erin and Kira. Erin is only 3 months older than Aria so they played great together. I wish I had more time to talk to Julie though. We were busy keeping the girls in check. We closed the place out.

Erin, Aria and Kira after a nice lunch.

Aria and Erin playing inside.

Aria and Erin playing outside.

Last Friday I hit Skirball with my friend Leda and her daughter Julia and son Thomas. This time we only stayed for 2 hours. The kids played well together, not great like last week. Aria and Julia just didn't have the same chemistry that Aria and Erin had together. Oh well. I need a break from Skirball.

Thomas. He hardly ever smiles.

Aria loved this monkey. She saw it at the gift shop and wanted it. I convinced her to wait.

Julia is such a ham.

Weekend recap.

2007-10-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

We had a fairly busy weekend.
On Saturday, we saw a Saturday morning performance of the of Sleeping Beauty at the Whitefire Theatre . Alice, Cassidy and Michael also joined us. The whole play was an hour long and the kids sat through it without an incidence. Aria was even brave enough to go up on stage a couple of times for some kids/actor interaction. Great fun. After the play the kids were allow to go and get autographs from each of the actors. Aria was able to take pics with Sleeping Beauty and The Prince.

Afterwards, we had lunch at Roman's. Aria and Cassidy insisted on sitting at their own table. They were so well behaved that we went next door for a dessert of cookies and milk. I ended up eating way too much as usual. We capped our Saturday afternoon with our usual visit to Lakeshore for their free arts and crafts.

Saturday night happened to be our turn for date night so we dropped Aria off at Alice's around 4 to catch a 4:30 showing of 3:10 to Yuma. What a great movie. Also helped to have Christian Bale playing one of the main characters. He's a hottie. After the movie, we ate at our usual Japanese sushi place and picked Aria up afterwards. She had a blast at Cassidy's as usual. Alice mentioned that Aria was very polite and well-behaved. I don't know if that's entirely true but I was glad to hear that everyone had a fun time. The girls reenacted the Sleeping Beauty play from that morning and transformed Alice's living room into a big stage. There were pillows everywhere. Alice turned down my offer to help her clean up.

On Sunday, A. took care of Aria all day while I went to an all day stamp camp. A demonstrator selling Stampin' Up products threw the 5 hours course at her home. I've been to another one of her sessions before where she was selling Creative Memories products. I came away from that event feeling that I wasn't meant to be a scrapbooker. But I didn't feel that way with stamping. I loved Sunday's class! I think stamping is my new passion. I love the fact that I can create something with paper, ink and stamps and the project can be completed in a short period of time vs. scrapbooking where I feel there's alot more planning, endless pages after pages, etc. I might actually make Aria's birthday invites this year. Can't wait to start.

Waiting for the play to start. That's Aria's stuff dog Bingo. Cassidy's right next to her.

Some kids went up on stage to sing 'Itsy Bitsy Spider'. Michael, Cassidy's 20 months old brother actually went up too. He's behind the girl in the blue shirt.

Here's one with flash.

Picture with Sleeping Beauty.

The Prince.

She made this at Lakeshore. Don't ask me what it is, I don't know. Please excuse the way she's sitting.

I made these! Aren't they beautiful??

....

2007-09-26T23:47:00.000-07:00

There was a moment during class today that made me feel really sad and sad for Aria. The teacher asked the kids to raise their hands if they are an older brother or sister. Alot of hands went up but Aria's remained down. I cringed inside because Aria could have been a big sister and she should have been one of the kids to raise her hand.
Then she asked the kids to raise their hands if they are a younger brother or sister. Of course Aria isn't one of those either. She just sat there observing.

Dressing up as a bride.

2007-09-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

Bit of Pasadena history.

2007-09-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

We went to Family Fun Day at The Pasadena Museum of History on Sunday. The museum transformed their outdoor garden into 'Main Street' with areas for a bakery where we can decorate cupcakes, a clothing store to try on vintage clothing, a restaurant for waiter races, a silent movie theater, a bicycle shop to ride bikes, and a drugstore where we can buy ice cream. They gave us free play money to spend at each location. So fun. I don't think too many people knew about it because the place was not crowded at all.

Aria was reluctant to try the waiter race and the bike ride but after A.'s prompting (for at least 15 mins.), Aria gave them both a go and had a blast at each. We closed the place out.

Dressing up.

Trying out an antique car. We found out later that we weren't suppose to be on it. Oops.

Decorating her cupcake. She picked all chocolate- chocolate cupcake, chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles. I predict that she's going to be a chocoholic like her mom.

During the waiter race against A. She won.

She was able to actually go for a spin on this around the garden.

Friday.

2007-09-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

Skirball is becoming our regular Friday event. I took Aria to Skirball last Friday and I invited a new friend and her 2 children along. Her name is Jasmine and she has a 3 years old daughter named Vivian and a 15 months old boy named Alex. Ideally, I would like Aria and Vivian to play well together so that Jasmine and I can talk and watch baby Alex. Well, realistically, Aria loathes Vivian and doesn't want to have anything to do with her. This spurs Vivian on and makes her want to bug Aria even more. Vivian would insist that Aria hold her hand while walking. Aria would shake her off and walk on with her head up in the ear. Then Vivian would cry and complain to Jasmine about Aria, etc. Augh.... I got a headache after the 3rd time that this happened and decided to make some space between them. Secretly, I was glad that Aria refused to touch Viv's hands because Viv's a nose picker (and sometimes a finger licker, yuck). I would like Aria to make more friends regardless if they're younger than her or smaller than her. To cap off a bad day, Aria accidentally shoved Vivian resulting in Vivian falling and one of her pink Croc flying off her foot. There was alot of screaming from Vivian after that. I put Aria into time out and made her apologize. I am so sadden by the fact that Jasmine and my friendship is stunted because our kids can't play together well. She also commented on it so I guess we will not be having anymore playgroups together. I met Jasmine in one of Aria's YMCA class so we'll still see each other weekly but I got a feeling that we're not going to meet up outside of the Y anymore.

Forgot to mention that Aria had a play date right before the Skirball visit and that went great. We were at Julia's house and Julia and Aria had tons of fun doing dress up. Wish she was friendly with Vivian too.

This is Vivian, Aria's 'nemesis'.

Different variations.

2007-09-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

Sat. night.

2007-09-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

We watched Cassidy and Michael again last Sat. as part of our swap. Alice is going to watch Aria a few Sat. from now. Once again it went well. Michael didn't even cry when he got dropped off. The girls ran right into Aria's room and began some serious playing. I had purchased Aria a new mermaid costume earlier in the day so Cassidy was able to wear Aria's old one and they were both able to be mermaids throughout the night. The only obstacles I had was trying to put Michael to sleep. I had to rock him for a really long time and boy, he is a pretty hefty baby. By the time I was able to put him down, Alice and her hubby Alain came back from their date. The evening was too short.

At Toys R Us, on the Bat mobile.

The mermaids. I really like Aria's new mermaid costume. It gives her room to grow into and it's long-sleeved. She can wear it for Halloween if she wants to. Best part, it was only $20!

vacation.

2007-09-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

We went up north to Sacramento a few weekends ago to visit my younger sister. It was a nice break before we hopped back into our hectic schedule of preschool, evening classes, YMCA classes etc. We did alot in the 4 days that we were there. We went to Fairytale Town, Marine World, a Bridal Expo, watched a movie in the park and ate at tons of different places. Aria was also able to go for a long swim with daddy while I hung out with my sister. Overall, great fun for everyone.

On the big cheese in Fairytale Town.

In the pumpkin coach.

Aria and my sister.

As Dorothy from Wizard of Oz.

We won these at Marine World. Only the pink dog came home with us. We've got too many stuff animals at home as is.

Waiting for our plane to head back to L.A.

First day back.

2007-09-05T17:02:00.000-07:00

Aria started her Kindergarden Enrichment Class today at our local Adult School. She's been attending that same school since she was 10 months old by being in various Mommy & Me class. This will be the last one in the series. After this, she'll be off to kindergarten. (sniff. sniff..) Boy, she's come a long way. I remember that it was not too long ago when she would freak out if I'm not by her side. Now she's content with the fact that I'm in the same room and can play peacefully without me hovering over her.

The first day of class went smoothly enough given the fact that there were 29 kids and their mommies. Cassidy (Aria's best bud) and Zoe also happen to be in the same class. In fact there were alot of familiar faces in the crowd, alot of kids and their moms from our previous classes. The kids behaved well given the fact that some of them are missing their naps or just had a full morning of preschool. Aria's fall school schedule doesn't really take effect until next week when she starts preschool. It's going to be interesting next week. Her days are filled with activities up till 4 PM with only Friday as her day off. Poor thing, I'm tired just thinking about it.

Aria and Cassidy.

Aria, Zoe & Cassidy. Look! they're not fighting!

Waiting for class to start. See the chaos?

Labor Day Weekend update.

2007-09-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

I can't say it enough, God, it's hot! Yes, it's been a sweltering weekend. This is also the last weekend before Aria starts school again. She's going to have one very busy schedule. I wanted us to have a relatively relaxing weekend before the chaos starts up.

On Saturday, we took Aria to Home Depot to try our hands on their free kids' workshop event. Aria made a football peg shelf this month. Then we headed out to Santa Fe Dam located in Irwindale. Maggie and her hubby invited us to join them and a local church group there. It was swelter out there too but at least Aria was able to cool off by swimming in the man made lake. She enjoyed the water while I decided to stay on the shore. I'm not too fond of getting wet. We stayed for almost 4 hours and decided to head home. We later had dinner with A.'s friend Mauricio at an all-you-can-eat Korean B.B.Q. restaurant. I was too busy eating to take any pictures. I walked out of there smelling like meal and loving it. Aria ate really well there, surprisingly. She's now a new fan of bulgogi.

On Sunday, we went to Skirball. Aria is still not tired of the place even though we were just there 3 days ago. I, on the other hand, can skip that place for a couple of weeks. Afterwards, we met up with A.'s parents who were babysitting Bella and Layla. We all hang out at A.'s brother's place and went out for dinner.

Monday was a day of relaxation for me. I didn't leave the house once. A. took Aria to the Y for 3 hours of swimming while I lounged at home in front of the T.V. I accidentally got sucked into an Anthony Bourdain marathon on The Travel Network and spent hours journeying with him through Indonesia, Hong Kong, Scotland, China, and Guana. Love his personality and his take on different culture. I especially liked his hour episode on Hong Kong. Makes me nostalgic for my homeland. I hope Aria will have the opportunity to experience the culture there one day.

Painting her project at Home Depot.

The girls (Aria & Alicia) gave Tony (Alicia's dad) a back massage.

Alicia and Aria.

At the Skirball. This is one of my favorite sculptures there.

They had a performance group in the outside court. Aria was able to play an instrument with the band.

Here she is picking up poop again. This time with a mop.

Doing arts and craft with Bella.

Layla.

Zuma.

2007-08-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

We went to Zuma Beach last weekend with a couple I met through Aria's school. Their daughter Alicia was in Aria's class last year. They play well together but their friendship is no way as close as Aria's friendship with Cassidy. Aria and Alicia will not be in the same class next year but I hope to keep having play dates with her and her mommy because they're really nice peeps.
Zuma was wonderful, so much cooler than where we live. We had a good time eating, lounging, and playing in the sand. Aria even got to fly a kite. It stayed up really well. I hope this isn't our last visit to the beach for this summer.

Sand time.

More sand time. She likes to get her legs buried in sand and pretend that it's a mermaid's tail.

Flying a kite.

Meet Maggie, Tony and Alicia. They also have a baby boy named Ilan. He's not in this picture.

Here's Ilan. He's been eating sand. Gross.

Hot, hot, hot.

2007-08-30T23:13:00.000-07:00

I was freakin' 100+ degrees today. Taking her to The Y during the middle of the day is not fun. Thankfully, we got invited over to a friend's house afterwards to partake of her pool. Yeah! It was very refreshing. Aria took on her own style of swimming. Everything she learned from her lessons went down the tube. I don't know what she was doing but she managed to stay afloat. Towards the end of the playdate, she refused to get out. I felt bad because it was hitting 7 PM. My friend needs to make dinner! I was finally able to scoop her out and apologized to my friend for staying so late. I hope she invites us again.

My crazy girl too 2 noodles and created a canoe with paddles. She paddle from one end of the pool and back.

Skirball on Wed.

2007-08-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

Now that we're members to Skirball, I'm trying to take Aria there on a weekly basis. Try is the key word. I haven't been able to do it. We've only gone 3 times since we've joined. We did make it there this week though. Here's some pics from our visit. Boy, that place does not disappoint.

The ark.

Here's Aria sending the animals up the plank by turning the wheel.

More animals.

Here Aria is picking up poop, fake poop really. Why doesn't she do that at home????

Sitting on the alligator.

I love this poster.

The sheep takes a nibble.

Fashion show.

2007-08-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

Aria decided to put on an impromptu fashion show for me by rummaging through my pile of clean laundry and putting together 4 different outfits. She would run up to me in a new outfit, tell me to take pictures of her while she posed and run right off to change into her next outfit. Too funny.

Summer update.

2007-08-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've updated. The only excuse that I have is that I've been really, really busy. No lie. I can't believe the summer is almost over and Aria will be back in school soon. We've done so much this summer already.

Aria finished a session of summer school. She also finished 2 levels of swimming lessons. (That's 4 weeks of daily swimming lessons!) Towards the end, I was pretty darn sick of taking her to the pool. I have to admit, the lessons were amazing. Aria's a bonafide swimmer. She can swim halfway across the pool, roll over to catch more air and roll back and continue swimming to the other side. I'm not a swimmer and have commented to her how I can't swim (and refuse to learn, don't like getting wet). Aria would reply back, " I'll teach ya. I'll save you from drowning." She probably can too.

Aria is doing even more YMCA classes now then before summer started. She's taking 2 ballet classes, 2 tap classes, a creative movement class and an art class. She alway amazing me with how well she's doing in each class. I remember when we first joined the Y and how distraught I was over her lack of concentration and focus. She sure have changed. She may not be the best in her classes but I will give her an 'A' for effort. As long as she's trying her best to learn, I'm happy.

We've also because members of The Skirball Cultural Center recently. I did it after my visit to their Noah's Ark exhibit. It's a new permanent exhibit that depicts the bibical Ark and the various animals that are on it. Hundred of artists were recruited to use mainly recycled or found items to create all the animals. Visitors are welcome to touch and explore the Ark. Aria loves going there so I decided to become a member so we can go there regularly.

Last weekend was also a pretty crucial weekend for both me and Aria. It was the first time that I was away from Aria for more than 10 hours. I went on a 'women only' excusion to Lake Arrowhead with 3 other friends while Aria stayed home with A. We rented a cabin that was both near the Lake and the Village (Lake Arrowhead's version of a town) and shopped, ate and relaxed all weekend. I had a very relaxing weekend in comparison to A.'s. He spent Saturday with the husbands from my group at California Disney. On Sunday, he took Aria to Skirball for a few hours, then he took her to Zoe's 4th Birthday party and after that Aria and A. had dinner with A.'s father. I'm tired just thinking about his weekend. I'm very fortunate that A. is such an wonderful dad. He did an awesome job while I was away. I couldn't help feelig alittle guilty while I was there that A. and Aria wasn't there with me to enjoy the trip too. Lake Arrowhead is so family oriented. There were so many things that Aria would have loved to do there. Can't wait to go back with the family.We still have a trip up to Northern Cali coming up in a few weeks. Gotta clean house. I'm embarrassed by how cluttered it is and I gotta get it done before we go away so our house sitter isn't too shocked when she comes over.

Shake, rattle & roll.

2007-08-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

We were hit with a 4.5 earthquake around 1:00 AM this morning. A. and I were watching a movie on cable. Minutes before it happened, Moo-Moo (our dog) demanded to be let out of the house. I didn't think too much of it at the time but in hindsight, I'm sure she sensed the impending quake.

When the quake struck, I was paralyzed on the sofa. A., being the great dad that he is, ran into Aria's room to save her life. All I could think about when the quake was taking place was, "are all my vintage toys okay? did any of it topple off the shelf?" I did run into her room right after A. took off into her room but I'm still guilty of being a bad mom for not thinking of Aria first. I guess I know A. will take care of her, I'm just trying to save Aria's inheritance.

Sunday picnic.

2007-07-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

Aria woke up really early this morning and decided to have an indoor picnic. She took out a red blanket and laid it out need the patio doors. Then she went and retrieved some plastic cups, a plate, a canister of potato chips and some oatmeal chocolate chips cookies and started started setting up. After laying it all out, she invited us over to her picnic. We obligingly sat down for a meal of water, cookies and chips. Aria came up with a poem during the picnic to convince us to eat more cookies:

Chew, chew, chew...
Chew, chew, chew...
It's good for you.

It worked. We consumed it all. It was a lovely picnic.

Mission accomplished.

2007-07-24T16:53:00.000-07:00

I got all 8 of the Hello Kitty Happy Meal toys. It took me many trips over a 4 weeks period but I've accomplished it with Aria's help. Actually, we did more than required. I got a complete set, Aria has a complete set and I got 6 out of 8 for my sister. If you do the math, that's 22 Happy Meals. Yes, I'm all Happy Mealed out. (Burp) The things I do for Hello Kitty.

Cassidy and Aria at one of the countless trips to Mickey D's.

Weekend birthday party.

2007-07-23T14:17:00.001-07:00

We had a pretty fun weekend. We did our usual YMCA class and venture to Lakeshore for their free arts and craft event. We also attended a birthday party for Giulianna who turned 4. She and her family just came back from a year abroad in Spain. They were going to stay there for at least 3 years but things didn't work out and they decided to move back to the States. It's been a whole year since we've seen each but we didn't have a hard time reconnecting. They threw a pool party for Giulianna and Aria's swimming lessons sure came in handy. She had a blast in the pool. The kids played well together and I had a good time drinking red wine under the giant mulberry tree.

Aria and Giulianna, the Birthday girl.

A Giulianna sandwich.

Halloween in July.

2007-07-23T13:54:00.000-07:00

I finally found a Dorothy costume for Aria through Ebay. The shoes are from Target. Let me tell you, it was not easy finding that dress. Most of the Dorothy dresses are pretty expensive. I paid more that I want to but it has finally arrived. Aria is estatic with the whole costume. She's been wearing it around the house alot which is great since I'm getting my money's worth.

Swimming update.

2007-07-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

Aria just finished her 2 weeks-half an hour a day swimming class and I have to say that I'm really blown away by the progress. She's a real swimmer now. She can swim at least 5 feet by herself, without a floatation device, head in the water. That school is amazing. I compare it with this other school that I've been taking Aria to since she was one and this new school is so much better. The teachers are so professional and they're no nonsense. No playing in the water, it's all about drills. I've signed Aria up for level 2 which starts up in 2 weeks. I need a little break away from driving her there everyday. It's pretty time consuming and it breaks the day in half and I can't seem to do much afterwards. Next session will be in the morning so I can have the rest of the day to do things with her.

Cassidy, Aria & Zoe.

Intense.

2007-07-10T16:52:00.001-07:00

Aria started her intensive swimming classes at a new swim school yesterday. The course goes for a half an hour a day, for 2 weeks straight with the weekends off. I'm very impressed with the progress and we're only going on day 2. All the kids (except for one and thankfully it's not Aria) can keep their heads in the water with their eyes opened and jump into the water and submerging their heads. The teachers are amazing. All the kids are paying attention and following orders. Aria's best friend Cassidy and her friend Zoe are taking the class with her. That helps. I think it also helps that she's been taking regular weekly swimming lessons at another place. But this place rocks! I highly recommend it. This school guarantees that each child will be able to swim, unassisted, from 5 - 12 feet by the end of the 2 weeks session. Can't wait to see the end results to see if it adds up.

Waiting for class to start. There goes that crazy pose again. These two are really into Ariel, The Little Mermaid. Can you tell?

She's in the water...

her head's in....

she's done it!

Zoe, Cassidy and Aria after class.

The Simpsons + Aria.

2007-07-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

After hours.

2007-07-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

Sunday night, we hit the bookstore and purchased some bargain books for Aria. They we dined at Wood Ranch (even though we had Wood Ranch the night before at Cassidy's party). It was pretty late after the meal was over but we still wanted to walk around for a little bit, so we snuck into the closed mall (well the doors were left open but all the stores were closed). It was fun exploring a place after it's been closed. We had the whole mall practically to ourselves and since all the stores were closed we didn't and couldn't spent any money. We just did window shopping. Free entertainment.

In front of the Disney Store. That's Aria's pose when I told her to say 'cheese'.

Same pose, different store.

She's giving a thumbs up sign.

She actually pretended that she was manipulating the keys on the iPhone. Good thing she's not old enough to ask for one yet.

She was in heaven. I was extremely glad that this place was closed.

I sat her in front of the photo kiosk and used their setup. She refused to pose properly.

Party at Cassidy's!

2007-07-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

We went to Cassidy's 4th Birthday party on Saturday. Oh my, what an awesome party. The food was catered by Wood Ranch, A.'s favorite meat place. The jumper was enormous (I want the same one for Aria's birthday), there was an great sand castle project for the kids and ice cold Heinekens for the adults. Everyone was happy. We were one of the last couple-with-kid to leave. The childless adults stayed later to partake of the empty jumper for games of naked sumo wrestling.
j/k.

Aria and Cassidy doing the sand castle project. Recipe is sand and glue.

The pinata.

The cake. Oh my god, was it good.

Blowing out the candles.

One of the party favors.

Here comes Kitty.

2007-07-07T16:20:00.000-07:00

I'm in Hello Kitty heaven. We went to McDonald's this morning to satisfy A.'s craving for a McDonald's breakfast (blah) and we spotted Hello Kitty as the new Happy Meal toys. Yeah!!!
I'm a big fan and a collector. I tried sweet-talking the cashier to sell me the whole set of 8 today but the office door was locked. I told him that I'll be seeing him soon. Guess I'm going to be eating McDonald's Happy Meals for awhile till I get the whole set. 2 down and 6 more to go!

4th of July recap.

2007-07-04T22:11:00.000-07:00

We spent our 4th of July at the mall avoiding the 100 degree heat. We met up with A.'s parents at the food court and spent 6 hours at the mall just lounging, talking and shopping. There was an awesome sale at The Disney Store and Aria benefitted from it greatly. She now is the proud owner of a gigantic Little Mermaid flush. Highlight of our day was when Aria rode on a double decker merry-go-around that was located inside the mall. She picked a dolphin to ride on and had a blast on.
We asked Aria if she was interested in going to view fireworks and she said 'no' because she's afraid of the noise. This will be the first time in 3 years that we did not go see fireworks on the 4th of July. To my surprise, a neighbor behind us set off alot of fireworks and we were able to view it all from the comfort of our couch at home. Nice way to cap off a midweek holiday. 2 more days to go till the weekend.

Simpson

2007-07-03T07:35:00.001-07:00

Saw this on Jen's site and decided to give it a try.

This is what Aria would look like if she was a Simpson's character. Pretty funny.

Arrival.

2007-07-02T17:35:00.001-07:00

One of our 2 existing moths has finally broken out of his cocoon. Aria has been playing with it all afternoon. One more cocoon to go. I hope we get fertilized eggs from the 2 so we can start the whole ordeal all over again next Spring.

Only Aria would take a baby moth and turn it into a living belly ring.

Puppy love.

2007-07-02T08:51:00.001-07:00

We had a B.B.Q. last night and A.'s friends came over to partake of the goods. One of his friend brought over his 2 weeks old puppy named V.J. He was so freakin' adorable. The little thing is hand fed with a bottle every 2 hours and would sleep the rest of the time. Too cute. Aria was very gentle with him. She's very good with animals and will do great with a small dog. No new pets for us though. We'll just have to visit V.J. instead.

Aria and V.J.

V.J.

Vu, the proud dad.

Aria trying her hand at feeding V.J.

Happy drunk.

Sloppy drunk.

She was just posing. She did not consume any alcohol. The bottle was empty. She understands that alcohol consumption is for adults only. Please don't call the child protective services on me.

Summer.

2007-06-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

Summer is here in full swing. I've been keeping Aria busy with playdates, outings to local areas and summer school. I can't believe Aria has already finished her 2nd week of summer school. It's still the same school with one of the same teachers and same students from her previous class. Things have not gone well for her unfortunately. She threw a major tantrum at school yesterday and even the director couldn't calm her down. I showed up to pick her up from school to see Aria huddled in the corner of her classroom balling her eyes out and refusing to be touched by anyone, even me. That hurts. I couldn't even calm my own child down. She has never threw a tantrum like this except for one previous time from home and that was because she had to go to school. I think school is affecting her in a negative way and she is not able to verbalize it to me. I'm so frustrated with the whole thing because the school that she is in is one of the best ones around. Where can she go from there???
On a happier note, she's doing great in swimming and that's only after a few sessions once a week. The teacher said she's the best swimmer in her class. I'm hoping that they will promote her to the next level soon. I'm also starting her in an intense swimming course where she goes everyday for 2 weeks, excluding the weekends at another swim school. The owner of that school claims that most kids, after completion of the program, will be able to swim 5 - 12 feet on their own. I'm can't wait to see that take place.

About time.

2007-06-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

One of my (their really Aria's) three silkworms is finally spinning a cocoon. It's taking forever. I don't know if it's because I started raising them so late in the season or if they're not getting enough warmth but they've been lagging in their developement by a couple of weeks. I was pleasantly surprised this morning to find the biggest of the silkworms busy at work making his new home. Only 2 more to go!

Finished products.

2007-06-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

I got most of my ceramic pieces back. I write most because I still have 2 pieces that needs to be fired and another of my pieces has been donated due to a tragic accident in the kiln.

My covered jar got fused with someone's massive mistake. He used the wrong type of clay and ruined not just my piece but 2 other classmates' pieces as well. I was very angry over it when I found out and that jerk didn't even apology. I agreed to donate it to one of the classmate because she wanted her piece for her daughter and if we had tried to separate the piece with a hammer, everything would have shattered.

Heart cup.

Little bird.

3 leaves plate.

Another 3 leaves plate.

Yet another 3 leaves plate.

Last 3 leaves plate of the semester.

Leaf plate, this one went to my sister.

Ginko plate. The leaf didn't come out very well because the glaze was matte.

Butterfly plate. I don't like the glaze.

Updates.

2007-06-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of postings and updates lately. I've been busy finishing off both of our school year (my ceramic class and Aria's preschool). Also Aria's been a handful for the past couple of weeks. A few weeks ago she threw a massive tantrum right before school. She refused to go and A. and I had to hold her down to even change her. She fought us, yanked A.'s hair and even bite my arm. I was sooo shocked by her behavior. I considered not making her go but she only had 2 classes left and she already skipped the previous class. She cried all the way there. I kept on asking her why she refused to go and she wouldn't tell me. The director had to comfort her for 20 mins. before she messed back with her classmates.
A. thinks Aria is not enjoying school because she doesn't have any friends there. I think he might be right. All the kids are in clicks and Aria's not in any of them. I've been trying to set up some playdates for her outside of school but this school year is over already and I don't really know any of the moms well. It breaks my heart to hear Aria say that certain kids are not nice to her or that some of them don't talk to her. I can only do so much for her in terms of setting up playgroups but Aria needs to be more outgoing and social and that's something that I don't know how to teach her.
Aria has been giving me major attitude at times. I don't know why she's doing this. She's so stubborn too and there's no convincing her out of it if her mind's set on something. I love my little girl but I really wish she was more easy going. She's like a little adult at times. Here's an example. I was driving along and we were discussing how she's a lucky girl and then I made an abrupt stop at the light and Aria immediately said, "I'm not so lucky anymore because you (referring to me) made that stop and shook me." Something along that line... A. laugh his ass off, I chuckled but geez, what 3 years old would say that?! She's so cynical at times.
Well, during my break from posting, we took advantage of the great weather and visited alot of places. We hit California Disney, Huntington Library, and Kidspace (twice), with Alice, Cassidy and Michael. We also did a birthday party, went to a couple of fairs and enjoy a wonderful visit from my sister. I'm post some pics when I get a chance.
Aria also started her swimming lessons and will be starting summer school next week. I'm poopled. I'm going to have some chocolate.

Silkworm progress.

2007-06-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

And now there are three. Yes, I started off with 20+ little guys and they've literally died down to three. I'm a horrible silkworm farmer. I don't know why the majority of them didn't make it. I think I fussed with them too much. Hopefully, my three remaining silkworms are not all male or all female and they will produce some eggs for me for next year so I can start the whole ordeal all over again.

One of them is huge. She loves them equally.

Lastest member of the banking society.

2007-05-14T12:40:00.000-07:00

We signed Aria up for her own savings account last Saturday. The process took forever but now all her money is in a safer place than before when it was sitting in a box in our living room. I don't think she understands the whole saving idea yet but she had a fun time going to the bank and getting her little savings book.

Counting out her twenties.

Aria and her new book.

Lunch date.

2007-05-10T08:02:00.000-07:00

We had a lunch date with Alice, Cassidy, and Michael on Tues after Aria's class. We met up at an Indian restaurant and ate till we were stuffed, well at least the adults did, the kids just caused havoc. Kidding, kidding, Aria and Cassidy were a handful though. They were also not big fans of Indian food. We capped off the meal with a Jamba Juice run. Aria loves Jamba Juice. It's one of the few ways to get her to consume fruit. Afterwards we went over to the Korean market next door to pick up on some essentials.

Waiting for their Strawberry Wild.

Supervising the making and the distributioin of their Strawberry Wild .

Enjoying their Strawberry Wild.

Here's Aria stocking up on her favorite Korean cookies. We got all four since that's how many she wanted.

On another note: new Star War stamps are being released by the USPS on May 25th. Go pick some up!

This week's creations.

2007-05-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

This one is not done yet. It's a covered container. I'm going to put a knob on the top.

Sunday outing.

2007-05-07T10:39:00.000-07:00

We visited the Huntington Library on Sunday. The weather was just right, any hotter and I would have wanted to stay home. The Huntington Library is pretty expansive. I visited different gardens that I've never seen on my previous trips there. The first garden that we hit was the kids' water garden. Hands down the best garden for kids anywhere. They have different gardens within the kids' garden to keep all the kids occupied. Aria loved the one area that generated fog-like mist. I think my favorite was the Japanese garden. It contained a bamboo forest (I love bamboo!!), pagodas galore, a zen garden, and a huge koi pond with arched bridges. Oh, and they had an amazing collection of bonsais. Unfortunately, the place was closing down for the night or I would have stayed there longer to take in more of the beauty.

One of the kid's fountains.

Very cool, magnetic interactive sculpture.

The water fogger.

Check out the size of that leaf.

I love the details in this bench.

At the Japanese garden, in front the koi pond.

Bamboo forest.

Bonsais.

They've hatched!

2007-05-07T09:43:00.000-07:00

The silkworms have finally hatched out of their eggs. I checked on them Sunday morning and they were little black lines, no bigger than half the length of my fingernail, crawling around the box. I worried about them all day because I didn't know where to go to get mulberry leaves. Luckily, I found a mulberry tree on someone's front yard, across the street from the local elementary school. I rang the doorbell to ask for permission to pick some leaves but no one was home. So, in desperation, I stole some. I had to, my silkworm babies were going to starve to death!
This morning, the silkworms have change slightly. They've developed some greyish markings from their heads down. The little guys are growing on me.

Voom voom.

2007-05-04T15:40:00.000-07:00

I had the one of the best Mommy & Me classes today. It was so fun. The teacher had called me a few days ago to remind me to bring a box to school that's big enough to fit Aria in. Thankfully I had one lying around in the garage. Today, I lugged it to class and found out that we were to paint the box, decorate it and turn it into a car. The class was very chaotic because there were 30+ kids and 30+ adults trying to paint gigantic boxes. Aria picked purple (of course) to paint her box. I had to force her to use pink on the front panel. 45 mins before the end of class, everyone brought his or her 'car' into the classroom for the indoor drive-in and to eat popcorn. How cool is that?? It was so cute to see all 30+ kids in their own individual cars watching Elmo on t.v. It was very quite while the movie was going on. Very fun.

Aria with her purple paint.

Waiting for the movie to start.

After class I took Aria to the library to return some books and to check out new ones. Alice surprised me by showing up there with Cassidy and Michael. She went to pick up some fastfood while I watched Cassidy and Aria at the play area. We ate at a park table and the girls had a blast as usual.

Playing babysitter.

2007-05-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

I watched over Cassidy and Michael yesterday because Alice got tickets to a taping of American Idols. Since I'm not a fan, I don't understand the whole hoopla. Alice, on the other hand, was very excited and couldn't contain her excitement when I saw her this morning for our morning run (after a three week hiatus, that's another story). She dropped her kids off at 12:30 PM and her hubby picked them up around 7:15 PM.

It was fairly easy watching three kids at one time. They Michael made it especially easy for me since he's such a mellow kid. He followed me around the house and kept me company. I couldn't help myself from hugging him, he's so adorable. It was sooo easy to put him down for a nap too. I just laid him down Aria's Ariel sleeping bag and he dripped off to sleep in a snap of a finger. The girls played extremely well together. No fights except for little issues of sharing. They played dress up, snacked, pulled out and played with every possible toys and books in Aria's room, watched part of a Mermaidtopia movie, went outside to bothered the dog and finally had dinner. Best part was there were no crying, no wounds or boo-boos, no accidents. I can be trusted to watch other people's kids again.

Michael playing with the school bus. There's a neat little car & train table in the front and he played with that for a long time.

Cassidy and Aria in Aria's bed.

Being goofy.

Again.

Cassidy was trying to get Moo-Moo to come to her. I'm pretty impressed with Cassidy's behavior toward Moo-Moo considering the fact that she's not a big fan of dogs. Her dad is allergic so she doesn't come in contact with furry animals much. She was scared of Moo-Moo last time. Yesterday, she opened up to her and wanted to pet her.

This week's creations.

2007-05-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

Both of these are in greenware stages (before firing). I'm going to take them to class tonight. I hope the teacher fired some of my previous works so I can get to the next stage of glazing. Then I can take them home! I did bring home my first glazed piece last week but I'm too embarassed to show it. It's not pretty. A. is being sweet and has been using it as his cereal bowl.

Those are butterflies.

I did this last night. It took me 3 hours since I did it from hand and I don't know how to use a pottery wheel.

Scorcher of a weekend.

2007-05-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

The weekend's temperature was extremely hot. We hit 98 degrees on Sat. Thankfully, Sunday was slightly cooler. I am sooo not ready for the summer heat. What happened to Spring?? On Sat. we did the usual YMCA classes and them Lakeshore. Afterwards I walked with Aria to the elementary school down the street to check out their Spring Carnival. The carnival was wrapping up but I was able to get Aria some cotton candy. I think she has tried a little bit of some a while back but she's never had one of her own to hold. I don't want to get her hooked on it but ever since she has seen the movie Aquamarine, she's always been curious about it. (There's a scene in the movie where the mermaid Aqua gets a hold of cotton candy for the first time and uses it as a powder puff). She has been asking for it for a while now. Aria held her cotton candy in her right hand all the way home. She took one small bite of it, made a funny face and gave the whole thing to A. That was the end of that.

Aria and A. also went to Layla's 2nd birthday party early Saturday evening. I decided not to go and stayed home to work on ceramics. She came home happy but with a bruise below her right eye. She apparently ran into a table.

The infamous cotton candy. Looks like it's attacking her before it gets attacked.

The birthday girl Layla, Bella & Aria.

On Sunday we went to a garden show. It was a small event, totally not what I expected. We were pretty disappointed with the lack of booths and entertainment. I was thinking of leaving after 30 mins. but Aria told us she wanted to stay for the hoola dancers. We waited in the sweltering heat and were not disappointed. The dancers were made up of girls and women from a local dance studio. They were pretty good. A. asked me if I was interested in trying it but I think I rather stick with ceramics. I don't have to show my belly in ceramics.

We met these kids at the fair and they were very sweet to Aria especially the 9 years old girl Lacy. She literally picked up Aria and carried her around.

Aria found some rollie pollies at the fair.

The hoola dancers.

Insects galore.

2007-04-28T17:09:00.000-07:00

Check out what A. caught a few days ago.

I found it on the handle of my car. This thing is HUGE, it's the size of my palm. I think it's a grasshopper, A. thinks it's a locust. I'm not sure. The thing flies so I guess it's not a grasshopper, right? All I know is that it scares the crap out of me. Don't worry, we released it last night and it flew, happily away.

We also received some silkworm eggs in the mail a week ago. They're all ready to be hatched in a week or so.

Week 1

Parent/Teacher Conference.

2007-04-25T10:09:00.000-07:00

Yep, I had my first parent/teacher conference regarding Aria yesterday. It went well. The teacher told me that Aria's motor skills are great, that she's a smart girl. It takes her a bit to warm up because she's not a morning person but she does fine after she a while. I voiced my main concern about Aria's social interaction with other kids. She really doesn't have any friends in her class. I don't want her to be 'the loner' in her class. Her teachers told me that she's doing fine and that she parallel plays fine with other kids. Their words are reassuring but I still wish she was more social. If it wasn't for her great friendship with Cassidy, I would worry alot more. Unfortunately, Cassidy goes to another preschool and Aria just hasn't struck up any friendship similar to the one that she has with Cassidy at her current preschool. I think I need to set up some playdates for Aria.

Doing lineup right before going back into their class.

Waiting to do tap.

Heel, toe, tap.

She's doing much better in her tap class. I'm not putting her in May's recitel but I think that it's the right decision because I don't want to put any pressure on her to perform well. I just want her to have a good time.

This week's creation.

2007-04-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

I was only able to produce this piece all of last week. I'm trying to make it few versions of this as gifts. I'm bring this to class tonight and hopefully it'll get to go into the kiln this week.

Fair and farm weekend.

2007-04-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

Our local YMCA offered a Kid's Day event on Saturday to basically offer summer programs. I didn't sign Aria up for anything because I want Aria to have an easy summer vacation this year. We're not going to commit to much except for swim lessons. It's for selfish reasons really. I want to spend more time with Aria before she gets older and she's more immerse into a schedule.

On Sunday, we headed to The 15th Annual Farmwalk at Pierce College. We had a fun time there last year and this year did not disappoint. Except for a little sprinkle, we had a good time seeing the horses, cows, pigs, sheep, and lambs. Aria was very brave around all the animals and wanted to pet all of them. She might make a great vet when she grows up.

Aria and I participated in a cooking demonstration at the fair. Chef Mel taught us how to make a fruit salad.

We ran into Jen, Aria's first ballet teacher. It was so nice to see her again.

Here's Aria tackling the huge air-filled obstacle course/jumper. She didn't want to do it at first but once she was on it, she refuse to stop.

At Farmwalk - Aria feeding hay to a cow. Check out that tongue.

Adorable baby lambs.

More cow petting.

There were alot of weird statues at one location of the college. Aria is chilling with prostitutes?? It gets weirder than this. Scroll down.

Here's a pioneering family without the man. Maybe he's out on the range.

Ah... I have no clue what this scene's about. An abduction scene?? Pretty creepy. I didn't know how to explain it to Aria. She's mesmerized by the weird heads on the bottom.

Professional pics.

2007-04-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

A nice little surprise besides today's school event was Aria's school picture package. They finally arrived in her cubby. These are Aria's first professionally taken pictures. Yes, I'm a terrible mom for not taking Aria to the photo studios regularly to have her pictures taken. It's just that I feel that I do a good if not better job at capturing Aria's personality through my own pictures. I take tons and tons of pictures of her, usually on a daily basis so I don't think she's missing out on the lack of pictures. Also, Aria's not a natural in front of the camera. It's really hard to get her to smile or to even look at the camera so I would hate to subject her to annual trips to the photo studio just for some shoots.

Aria's first professionally taken individual picture. He got her to smile!

Class picture. I'm not a big fan of this picture. If you look carefully only one out of fourteen kids is smiling. It's kind of a sad picture, so somber and gloomy.

Aria's in the middle top roll. The two adults are Aria's teachers.

Picture of Aria's new school bus.

2007-04-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

Big thanks to my little sis for the awesome purchase and to A. for putting it together. It's staying in the room permanently because we can't get it out of the doorway without taking it all apart and that's not happening.

Party at school.

2007-04-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

Aria's preschool hosted a Mommy/Grandma/Aunties' Day party today which ran for the first half of school. There were tables set up for arts & craft and a table with snacks. Aria and I headed right for the snack table and ate 2 mini chocolate muffins and some juice before we tackled any crafts. We can't refuse an offer of free food, especially when it involved chocolate.
For arts & craft we decorated and potted 2 plants and made handprints on heart shaped wooden cutouts. Aria painted a couple of paintings and played with bubbles. Very fun overall.

Aria with her first potted plant. She picked the flower and the container, both of which are purple. Surprise, surprise.

Here's our finished handprints on a wooden cutout.

Potting her second plant. I had to force her to use a pink container, anything besides purple again.

The massive bubble container.

Finally.

2007-04-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

We (mainly A.) finally put this together. Picture to come later.

Lunch playdate.

2007-04-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

My friend Lina threw a potluck lunch playdate at her house today to celebrate 2 of our friends' birthdays. I made a veggie noodle dish because one of my friend is a vegetarian. Alice couldn't make it but I brought her daughter Cassidy to the party to help Alice out by babysitting Cassidy for the afternoon but mainly because I knew Aria would have a better time if her 'best' friend was there. It was fun to chat with a few friends and let the kids tire themselves out (especially when it's not in my house). Hope we have more of these in the future.

from left to right: Patrice (belated Birthday girl), Marylou (Birthday girl) and Lina.

The spread. Don't be fooled by the picture, Aria only ate one fish stick for lunch while Cassidy, in the background, ate 3 corn dogs, carrot, fish stick and noodles.

My friend Soumya, the vegetarian and her 2 sons. That's my dish that she's scooping from.

The kids: Josh, Dalia, Aria, Cassidy, Emma and Amanda.

Aria, Cassidy and Josh.

The ride home.