Beautiful Moments: February 2008

My last post was actually written a few days ago but I just finished it today. So I thougt I'd go back and mention Valentine's Day. The house was all cleaned up so I was very relaxed and spent a lot of time with the kids. Ellie and I made a heart cake together...pink, of course. Tyler was very sweet and made me a special dinner. He made cheese cake (which didn't even crack on the top!) and chicken cordon blu (sp?) with onion soup served on the side. We fed the kids mac's and cheese and put them to bed early. Tyler then sent me to dress up for our "date". We had a lovely candle light dinner and drank sparkling cider. We even had lovely live entertainment as Evan, from his bed, serinaded us with his precious singing voice.

I have a feeling I won't be on here much. I think every couple of weeks is going to be my max! Sorry, I'm just busy and I figured time with the kids and Tyler needs to come first. But I am thinking of all of you!

Anyway, last week my mom came to visit and we celebrated Tet. Tet is when the Vietnamese celebrate the new Lunar year. We decorated with yellow flowers (I couldn't find the kind they decorate with but I tried) had a traditional Vietnmese meal, let the kids do sparklers left over from the 4th, and gave them "lucky money" in red envelopes. The Vietnamese sometimes set pictures of their ancestors on the family altar, pray to them, and invite them back for the new year. However, for obvious reasons, we don't want to promote ancestor worship in our home. So instead we set out a picture of my grandpa who passed away a year ago and we shared memories of him as well as some of our great grandparents. We have also decided to buy a rose every year in honor of Ethan's first parents. They will always be a part of our lives and I thought it would be a neat time to remember them.

The Vietnamese meal we had was very good. We had chicken kah (sp?) over rice which is a very typical meal. Served rice soup on the side along with boiled broccoli which we dipped in a lime and ginger sauce. The sauce was so good my mom drank hers! We also had the traditional coconut candy as well as candied orange peels that we dipped in dark chocolate. It was a lot of fun to prepare and eat.

I got the recipes from a Vietnamese cook book I just got. The cook book is WONDERFUL. It's easy to use, and she really helps you know how to find and prepare things here in America. I love to just sit and read it because of all the cultural things she adds. It was a little pricier but I highly suggest it to all of you parents who have adopted from Vietnam. It's called Into the Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen.

Sorry, I'm not trying to sound like a advertisement! On to the fun stuff...

Ellie loves to sit and write. She writes all these words to which her spelling is hilarious. I'm also finally being consistant in teaching her to read and she's doing amazingly!

Ellie had all her Cubbie friends sign her cast.

Ethan loves to watch daddy play.

(most of you are probably wondering if I, like everyone else, constantly mix up my children's names. Saddly, yes. If you notice the above picture you will see it is NOT Ethan. I'll leave it the way I wrote it though just to let you in on the terrible truth that I'm human...)

Both my grandparents gave us money for Christmas and this is what we bought. I've always wanted one and I absolutely LOVE it. We use it all the time at Walmart and the mall. The boys love it too and have discovered the sun shade is a great foot rest! This stroller is great until the boys start hitting and bitting eachother...