gung hay fat choy!

Happy New Year!, originally uploaded by jwlphotography.

Happy New Years!

The kids love Chinese New Year. Getting money in red envelopes is always a good thing. I miss those days of waking up in the morning and being presented with red envelopes, oranges, and candy.

Tahoe

I can't remember the last time I've seen snow. Getting to show the kids and letting them play in it was such a great experience. Surprisingly the drive wasn't too bad. Took about 3 hours driving at a leisurely pace. I did have to stop a few times to soak in some of the scenery though. 

Snow!

The sky was such a gorgeous blue. 

if a pine cone falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?



All bundled up.









Kayla was definitely having a good time.



The boots were awesome, kept her feet dry and warm. I can't say the same for myself. Reminder to self, never wear jeans to play in the snow.











"So, why can't I eat yellow snow again?"

practice makes perfect.

practice makes perfect., originally uploaded by jwlphotography.

We're taking the kids to Lake Tahoe this weekend. This will be the first time in the snow for them. I can't wait to see how they react to it. Hopefully it will be like this:



We went out and bought these little boots for Kayla, and unfortunately they only had black ones. She still loves them though.

aaaaa-aaaaa-choo

aaaaa-aaaaa-choo, originally uploaded by jwlphotography.

Yup.....kids are sick.....again.... I hope they get better before our trip to Tahoe next week. It always starts with Kayla, then me, then either Selina or Kristin. Kristin is usually pretty resistant to whatever germs Kayla brings home, but this time, she got hit too. Sick or not, the kids are still running around, singing, and fighting.

Speaking of fighting, we had a discussion with Kayla's teachers at school. We were told that Kayla was punching another child in school. It sounded pretty serious, as the teacher was saying that Kayla was "pounding the other child with her fists". I'm not sure where she is picking up on this behaviour, but she is bringing it home too, hitting her sister and even us. Sweet, innocent Kayla is not so innocent anymore. Terrible 2's, here weeee go!

bigfoot

bigfoot, originally uploaded by jwlphotography.

Goodness gracious.....Kristin is growing so fast, especially her feet. We went shopping this weekend and she's wearing size 11's now.

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Big feet or not, she's such a sweetie. Yesterday was Selina's birthday and Kristin woke up bright and early (earlier than Kayla which is unheard of), came to our room, stood by Selina, and said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!"

wouldn't it be great.....

wouldn't it be great pt. 2, originally uploaded by jwlphotography.

if someone invented a kid washing machine. I would pay a pretty penny for something like that.

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So today when I went to pick Kayla up from daycare, her teacher comes up to me and goes, "You know, Kayla just had a time out 20 minutes ago and was crying and screaming." 

In my head I wasn't thinking, OK, what did she do now. Instead of thinking about what Kayla had done, I was wondering, really, a time out, AND she cried?!? You see, time outs no longer work on Kayla. We can put her in a corner, we can threaten her all day long, but time outs just don't work anymore. I'm not sure why, but when we punish her by putting her in a corner, she just sits there like nothing happened and even smiles sometimes. We now have to employ another tactic. Food. Yes, food. She loves to eat, especially fruits and vegetables. So instead of threatening her with a time out, we just say "Ok, no fruit for you", or "No snacks for you". And it works!

After her teacher had told me that Kayla was crying during her time out, I had to spill the beans that time outs don't really work on her. She agreed with me and said "Yeah, they usually don't work with her, but today she started crying and screaming at the top of her lungs. I don't know why. I was getting the snacks ready for the kids and told her she would be last at getting her snacks since she was in time out."

I guess I should have told her sooner.