Happy 9th Birthday, Kayli!

Starting with donuts for breakfast, and a bag filled with yummy treats for her friends at school, this kid is sooooo excited...

She's been asking me for days if I remembered to get her a present for her birthday (I don't think she trusts my memory, smart girl) So, yesterday, when I went to get her after school, and she told me that her 2 pocket take-home file folder was ripped, and she had to throw it away, and could I make sure that we got another one right away, I said "Weeeell, you know how you've been asking me if I got you a present for your birthday? Now, I've got the PERFECT idea!!! What color would you like? Bwaaaa haa haa! Ohh, how I love a great set-up like that. Naturally, she did not find this as funny as I did. (The memory still makes me laugh out loud, hahahha).
She had a wonderful birthday at school, as she brought tootsie roll pops for all her classmates. Her buddies, Lily and Linsey, popped into my classroom before the bell rang to wish Kayli a" Happy Birthday" and give her a special birthday sticker, pencil, and paper badge!  At the end of the school day, Kayli was allowed to choose a friend to accompany her around the school building as she passed out her birthday treats to previous teachers, office staff, the principal, etc. They all gave her special birthday prizes like stickers and candy. Mr. K gave her a super duper birthday pencil that has a big birthday cake for an eraser, WOWEE ZOWEE! Everyone loves a cool pencil! Kayli was thrilled to be walking around the building, laughing and giggling with her good friend, Alyana...

the fancy bag, that Kayli is holding, is a gift from her godmothers! I let her open their gift this morning at breakfast. Their gift was a beach/summer theme, with this bag filled with things like goggles, insulated water bottle, darling snack container, some money to be specifically used to buy Kayli a swimming suit, and some extra money to put in Kayli's college fund! Oh, the thought of summer, with so much "Winter" around us, makes us smile! This brightly colored, hand beaded bracelet was in the gift bag, and put on immediately. As you can see, a girl just can't have too many bracelets...

That night, Kayli and I had a small family birthday celebration at home, and she was pleasantly surprised to see that I DID NOT get her a take-home folder for her birthday, hahaha. (I  slipped a new bright purple take-home folder on her desk this morning while her class was out of the room for specials) She was thrilled with my choice of gifts for her...

the big gift was the wheelchair set for her dolls that also included a little cast for her doll's foot, and a pair of crutches. Kayli got busy putting Ling in her cast and handing her a miniature American Girl magazine to make her feel better!

 Kayli's Aunt Marion, Uncle Jim, and cousins Jake and Nick, got her a real American Girl magazine subscription for her birthday. She can't wait to get her first magazine in the mail! In the meantime, Ling will be happy to share...

BTW, Kayli got some AWESOME gifts from her Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Good Friends like Nickolaus and Kaitlyn. Here are just a few of those gifts...

At the BIG family gathering, Kayli got to share a birthday celebration with her cousin Jake, both being February birthdays...

birthdays are BIG events in this family, always have been, always will be! We all carry on the tradition that our parents began, that a birthday should be celebrated in a big way! Life is too short not to celebrate things BIG!
On her big day, Kayli remembered to grab the pencil and run upstairs to mark her growth on the royal growth chart behind her bedroom door. She is 48 1/2" tall. She's gained 2 1/2" in the last year! So, basically, my girl is about 49" and 49lbs. A pound per inch!  My little girl is growing up fast!

Stay tuned for the next post...the American Girl Doll Birthday Party with classmates!

My Nine Year Old

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea! How did you get to be 9 already?

Let it Snow!

What is Winter without the wonderfully unexpected "snow day"?!!! It's simply magical!!! Just one day can have that effect. Imagine what three days can do...

Yes, that is a block of Ice that Kayli is holding!

my turn...

the next day, I opened the back door to this...

darn, I'm in my pjs and slippers, but I have to shovel a path for poor Sprinkles because she literally planted her feet and refused to step into this! She is NOT amused by all this snow!

we hung out in our jammies 'til lunchtime. My neighbor, the nicest person ever, offered to snowblow my driveway...Halleluia! We headed down the block to our favorite hill, and on our way we picked up a neighbor girl and her mom, then, met up with another mom and her kiddo! Woohoo, a sledding party...

Kayli and Tai...

Lookout Tai, here comes your mom...

Kayli and Ainsley...

We packed a whole lot of fun into a "window" of about an hour. This was more than enough time to safely play without entering the danger zone of frostbite, with these extremely cold temps! The kids had snow filled boots because of the deep snow. They also had frozen cheeks from going down the hill face first...

later that night, back in our warm jammies, Kayli and I sat by a warm fire, Ahhhh...

and we went on to have one more snow day, for a total of 3 whole snow days!!!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Or...as they say in Mandarin: "Xin Nian Kuai Le!"
Once again, we had two celebrations to attend this year, and two opportunities for Kayli to perform with her choir from Families Blessed w/the World's Children. The first event was put on by the Kansas City Chinese Association, and included a traditional Chinese dinner followed by a fabulous show, that included the children in Kayli's Chinese choir! The "roaming photographer" even took a few pictures of Kayli and me and posted these on the KCCA website.
At the end of the show, all the children were invited to come up on stage to receive a traditional Chinese red envelope with money inside! (In China, as part of the new year celebration, all the children receive small red envelopes containing money, from their adult friends and family) Kayli was thrilled to receive a whole dollar! Woohoo! We both enjoyed this fun night out!

passing the time with Tai while waiting for the show to start...

showtime...

getting her red envelope...

I love the green silk dress that Kayli wore this year! It had beautiful shimmering gold and pink flowers in the material. This was a dress that I bought years ago while I was in China. I bought several sizes of these dresses, in different colors, knowing we would have just these occasions to wear them!

Now, it was time to start planning for the next big celebration, sponsored by Families Blessed w/the World's Children. This year, they would have catered Chinese dinner, entertainment, photo booth, kid raffles, and even a silent auction!
There was a huge turnout for this big event, in spite of the fact that the whole city was a sheet of ice!
Kayli and I claimed a spot at a table near the stage, then went to have some fun, perusing all the items at the raffle and auction tables. Later, we were both thrilled to find that I "won" the privilege to purchase two auction items, and Kayli won one of the raffle items! I was thrilled to get this beautiful handmade Valentine quilt...

aaaaaand, an Asian gift package that included this beautiful set of cloissonne chopsticks...

a royal blue silk purse, a small embroidered silk case for a throw pillow, and a small photo album with Asian silk cover...

aaaaand, two beautiful cloisonne bracelets...

Kayli's exciting raffle prize was this tiny snap-shut silk case with mirror that she can keep her tiny lip gloss and other essentials in...

the children's choir performed on stage, and the "awww factor" once again brought out an overwhelming applause from the audience!
It was so sweet watching the bigger kids helping the little ones while performing on stage...

there was a fun photo booth where you could try on a hat, and take some silly photos...

the Grand Finale of the evening was my favorite simulated firecrackers! Everyone was given a small sheet of bubble wrap. There was an official countdown, then everyone began stomping on their sheets of bubble wrap all at the same time. The audio effect was like that of exploding firecrackers!!! It was soooo much fun! What a great way to usher in the New Year!!!
Then, while the adults helped stack chairs, and move folding tables, etc. the kids had some WILD free time...

What a night! Happy New Year!!!