Preschool Graduation

Here's Ben with his preschool backpack.   This backpack has now been retired.

 There was a graduation party at his school for the students only - Izzie's class prepared a special song.  His class also had photos done at a studio.

He looks like he should be walking across the stage at a university with that gown on!  The books, for all those who are wondering, are Arsenal, Lord of the Rings, another copy of Arsenal, and The Odyssey by Homer. (No, Ben did not choose the books!)  I wonder if they used those books for every student, or if those were the only English ones they had.

First grade is a whole different ball game compared to last year.  Ben is doing really well in his classes and is happy.  He has even started taking piano lessons once a week.  We are very proud of you for learning so much at preschool, Ben, and for adjusting so well to first grade!

Preschool Christmas Program 2011: Ben's Speech

Better late than never, right?  Here is Ben's speech from the preschool Christmas program.

Vancouver 2012

The end of January and beginning of February the kids and I flew to Vancouver  for a few weeks.  (Colin was finishing up a Korean course so we left him in the country.)  The adults enjoyed homemade ice cream, singing together, and playing games and talking after the kids were in bed.  The kids enjoyed "nibblies,"  remote-control cars, playing at Sam's school, riding bikes and going to Lonsdale Quay.   

 I think Julee was doing gymnastics in front of the TV to get the kids to look for this one.

Not bad Dad - I'd trust you with my camera again... but it's still funny how much hedge I cropped out!  When I compare this picture to all the indoor pictures I'm so glad we decided to go outside to take it.

The whole gang at church the day of Evie's dedication - smiling and (more or less) looking at the camera!

Habits

Izzie is trying very hard to break her habit of sucking her thumb.  Some days she tries harder than others.  Sometimes when we "remind" her  to take her thumb out of her mouth she carefully reminds us that, "I used to have a bad habit of biting my nails, but then I broke that habit!"  The word broke is always accompanied by a vigorous chopping motion to indicate the force and speed with which she dispatched her bad habit to whatever place it is bad habits go to die.  The funny thing I have never seen her bite her nails!  (Probably because she was too busy sucking.)  No, nail-biting was a habit of Ben's and he has indeed broken it - quite a while ago...

only to replace it with odd finger contortions.

Still, we are proud of Ben for not biting his fingernails anymore, and proud of Izzie for trying to stop sucking her thumb.  

Arirang Fantasy

Ben and I did this for fun.  A Korean TV station put together a virtual choir and aired it just before Christmas.  We recorded ourselves at home and submitted it.  (Ben is wearing pajamas, and I recorded myself after everyone else was asleep!)  We didn't get to see it on TV, but I downloaded the video.  See if you can spot us!  There are sightings at: 20 seconds, 1:32, 1:56, 2:14, 2:24 and 2:39.

So, having just watched the video I posted, I realized how hard it was to see!  To watch a much better quality one go to this link:  Arirang Fantasy

And here is a link to the promo they made for it: 27 different countries, and 290 people's voices... Arirang Fantasy Promo