Animal Friends

Sophia and a small portion of her stuffed animals.

Sophia and Juliet pretending to be puppies; Adam is taking them for a walk.

Sophia and her animals "on the train."


Juliet and her animals "on the train."

The girls love their stuffed animals and they love to pretend to be animals. Here are a few pictures to prove it.

Sleeping Beauties

Juliet with her puppies: Woofie and Fetch

Sophia with her bunnies: Bunny Bun and Baby Bunny Bun

Sophia and Juliet share a room, and they love it. On most nights, they talk and giggle themselves to sleep. I love to listen to them. I also think they look like little angels when they sleep.

Conversation with Juliet

Juliet (getting out of the car): Oh, look! The moon followed us home. I didn't even realize that!

Adam: Oh, that's great! Juliet, I love hearing you talk.

Juliet: Thanks. I do have a beautiful voice.

Happy Vietnamese New Year!

I occasionally go to a nail salon near our house called "Nails Only." It is nice, inexpensive, and owned by a Vietnamese couple. I am on their mailing list. This year we received an invitation from the owner to attend a Vietnamese New Year's celebration at a restaurant, Lucky Dragon, for a small fee. I thought it sounded great. So we went. It lived up to my expectations. It was a large event with almost 500 people in attendance (we were 4 of about 20 non-Asian people). At first there was several speeches, including one from guest speaker Senator Amy Klobuchar (who I shook hands with!). There was also traditional and modern Vietnamese music.

Then there was the dragon dance, which was as fabulous as it sounds. Sophia and Juliet were absolutely mesmerized. At one point, a red dragon came close to us; Juliet hugged Adam tight and exclaimed, "Daddy! Hide! Hide!" Once she understood that the dragons were just kids in a costume, she became obsessed. Over and over again she asked if she could wear the dragon costume. Finally, Adam told her they could try to make one at home. I do not know exactly how that is going to happen!

After the dragon dance, our seven course meal began. The girls tried the first few courses and then were too full. I sat next to an interesting women named Phuc (pronounced fu), who is a librarian at the Richfield library near our house. I am going to email her tomorrow, because she plans all of the fun Asian cultural activities at the library and wants to include us! Sophia and Juliet sat very patiently during the three hour dinner, and said they had a great time.

Course #2: Potstickers. Yum!

The Dragon Dance

Juliet ate a lot of her seafood soup. Sophia tried one bite, but only because I made her!



Dragon Sophia. She made the mask at school when they were talking about the Chinese new year.

More of the Dragon dance. Sophia stayed on the chair and kept her distance.

Waiting for dinner. I purchased my Vietnamese dress over ten years ago when I was in a Vietnamese wedding of one of Adam's friends. In the past, I wore it all of the time. I dusted it off, and lo and behold, it still fit!

Juliet Can Write Her Name!

Adam has been helping her learn to write (I have been helping her learn her letters and sounds). Juliet has been doing a great job learning her letters. Now, she can write her name! She has been able to write her name at home for the last few weeks. But when we got this picture from school with Juliet's name written on it, we knew that she REALLY knew how to write her name! It really is so rewarding being able to teach your kids. Their little brains really want to learn.

Birthdays!

On January 29, Juliet turned 3 and Adam turned 38 (Sophia was telling the teachers at school that he was turning 48). It is hard to believe that lil' Miss Juliet is now three years old! On Saturday, we had a little birthday party for her at build-a-bear at the Mall of America. The mall was unusually crazy and crowded, but it was fun. Juliet's friends Maxwell and Jackson joined in the fun, too. The next day, we had brunch with the Heffelbower gang at Uptown Cafeteria. It was so much fun. And as you will see from the pictures, the cotton candy given to the birthday crew made it extra fun.

Juliet enjoying her cotton candy at the Uptown Cafeteria. I can only assume that her mouth is wide open behind this puff of cotton candy.


The Heffelbower gang.

Juliet quickly became a sticky mess.

Lindsay and baby Whitney, who slept the entire time.

Juliet in a birthday outfit from Jada, Jon, Jackson and Maxwell.

This picture is not staged. It looks like their entire heads have been eaten by cotton candy.

Yum!

Sophia and Juliet playing with their new American Girl doll outfits from Green Bay Grandma and Grandpa.

Sophia was so, so, so excited to give Juliet the birthday present that she picked out herself: a little brown beagle puppy, which Juliet named "Fetch."

Sophia also made Juliet a card at school. She drew a picture of Humpty Dumpty falling off the wall. I am not sure who was more excited about Juliet's birthday--Juliet or Sophia!