11 Years Old!

Not sure how my sweet pea can actually be turning 11, but something tells me that I better just "hang on for the ride ahead!"
This sweet girl, this tween of mine, who is beginning to see the world through a different pair of eyes. This girl, who is showing so many signs of independence, yet needs me more than she knows. This girl,who will walk the halls of a middle school next year, the true start of adolescence. The true test of standing strong for what she believes in, and knows to be right and just, and dare I add, "safe?' Oh, my, so much lies ahead for us both. So much of my own adolescence relived through a girl that is my opposite. How many similarities will there be, regardless of the fact that I was the poster child for extroverts, while my sweet pea walks the path of the quiet child, introverted but a leader amongst her followers. This "quiet entertainer" of mine. I think we will both be just fine!
Happy Birthday to the other half of my heart!

A "magic wand" from her Godmothers (to take to Harry Potter World when we go to Universal Studios)

Each wand is made out of a certain type of wood that represents a different kind of personality. Kayli's wand is made out of an IVY wood, which is suited for the following personality type:
Ivy wood is associated with tenacity, stamina, and endless patience. Ivy people are strong and determined; they set goals and achieve them. Ivy people should take care that their ability to easily overcome obstacles does not lead them unwittingly into ever more challenging situations.
Amongst other things, I gave Kayli a "snitch" necklace, as in the snitch ball with wings that is captured during a game of Quiditch from the Harry Potter stories...

we have been listening to the whole Harry Potter series on audio/CD, every night before bed.

This was the first year that I did not host a huge themed birthday party at our house for Kayli's friends! Kayli decided, instead, to invite a few of her closest friends to the community pool for poolside party! This meant...I bring a cake and single serve ice cream cups...we sing Happy Birthday, then I turn the girls loose into the pool for a couple of hours! They played tag in the lazy river, climbed the rock wall, jumped from the high dive, and slid down the tube slides. Perfect party for a bunch of tweens! 

then, of course, there was the family celebration, which included Jake's Bday...

Happy Birthday Kayli and Jake!

Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year...the year of the Monkey! Next year will be Kayli's big year as a Rooster, so we'll have to do something extra special when the next Chinese New Year rolls around. This year, we bought tickets to a venue that we have loved the last few years. The organization called "Families Blessed with the World's Children" hosted a Chinese New Year Celebration that included lots of fun activities for the kids, a full Chinese dinner, entertainment, and a silent auction. The people that belong to this group are such wonderful people, so welcoming and kind and fun! Here are some pictures I took throughout the night...

in one room there was a Chinese artist instructing people on how to paint a panda picture like the ones above. Kayli and I discovered that it was WAAAAY harder than it looked, as it required very precise management of the water to ink/paint ratio...

moving on to some colored pencil/marker art...

Kayli brought her money for purchasing raffle tickets...

the dinner was delicious...

then came the entertainment, there was dancing...

there was singing...

the group above was a volunteer group of young children adopted from China, who learned some very cute songs in Chinese to sing for the audience. This is the same choir that Kayli sang with when she was younger. 

Next, all the kids in the audience were invited to come up on stage, participate in a traditional Chinese act of bowing before receiving the traditional red envelopes which contained Chinese money.

Next, came the part that Kayli told me was her ALL TIME FAVORITE part of the night...the Traditional Chinese Lion Dance...

this performance is incredibly dynamic! The characters are so lifelike as they duck and bow at people while they march and dance around the room to the drum beats!

Finally, to top off the evening, everyone received a sheet of bubble wrap. Then, following a count down, everyone would stomp on this bubble wrap at the same time, making popping sounds to simulate firecrackers!

the bonus of the evening for me was that I earned the top bid on an auction basket that was Asian themed, containing things like wall hangings, a small scrapbook with a Chinese silk on the front cover, a special painting donated by "Miss Lily" who is a talented artist and dance teacher, and an assortment of other Asian themed nick nacks.

What a great time we had tonight, ushering in another Chinese New Year!