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Since we moved to China, we never spend Father’s Day with Jim. He generally has his bachelor’s Father’s Day in Shanghai. This year, he is on a dive boat with Emerysn…loving life. The girls and I are generally in Nebraska to spend Father’s Day with my Dad. This year, we are in California to spend the day with Jim’s Dad, Papa. Nancy had a lovely meal (and Nancy ALWAYS has a lovely meal) for Papa. Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 227 user reviews.
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On this Saturday, we went to San Francisco to play. First stop is Gotts hamburgers at the Ferry Building. After lunch, Eleri enjoyed an all natural ice lolly as we walked back to the car. It is a nice photo with the Bay Bridge. After lunch, Terri and I went shopping at Athleta – I needed some skorts for our trip to Chicago. Andy took Eleri to the park up the hill to play for the time we were shopping. A great place for Andy and Eleri to be…not shopping!! After walking around and enjoying the day in the City, we went to an early dinner at Little Star pizza. Little Star does not take reservations AND the place is small. We enjoyed some good pizza before heading home. Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 158 user reviews.
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Hum, 47…getting up there in age as 50 is right around the corner! My birthday fell on a Sunday this year. I love Sundays in California. We start the day with the farmers market to stock up on organic strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and salad…everything we have been missing in China. Our usual shop stops at the Apple store to “play” and the candy shop to “buy”. We enjoy lunch outside at Main Street Burgers. Eleri is not much of a red meat eater so we stop by Andale’s for her chicken tacos to enjoy. Today, we had to rush our Sunday farmers market as Terri, Eleri and I have tickets to see Mary Poppins playing in San Jose. We left the chore of putting away the market buys to Andy. The musical was delightful – a fun way to spend a birthday afternoon. After the musical, we went to a birthday pizza dinner. It has been a good birthday weekend celebration. The celebration began with birthday dinner at Mimi and Papa’s on Friday, Napa on Saturday and Mary Poppins on Sunday. You can always count on family to make you feel special! Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 218 user reviews.
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My birthday falls at the very end of school. Therefore, it gets lost in the school shuffle, pack and fly home. This year, Eleri and I flew home on June 8…a bit odd flying with only one child. Emersyn and Jim are off on their Thailand dive adventure on June 9. Emersyn and Jim will fly to California on June 22. Every year for my birthday Terri and Andy treat me to a day in Napa. Terri knows my birthday has been lost in the shuffle and tries to make it special. We had a beautiful day in Napa. We always have lunch in downtown Napa at Gotts for a hamburger. We started with a new winery, William Hill, my new favorite place to wine taste. It is a bit more to wine taste, but so enjoyable. They gave us our own bench sitting area. This is EXTRA nice as at some wineries you are fighting elbow space at the bar! They bought special popcorn for Eleri…and more special popcorn and then some special cheese. The view from William Hill over the vineyards was beautiful. Next, we visit Foilo, now my second favorite place to wine taste. They were having a private function on the back deck…so we were fighting elbow space at the bar!! After Foilo Winery, we went to downtown St. Helena for some quick shopping before our dinner reservation. We all enjoy tasting and buying olive oil at Olivier. After our shop, we had my birthday dinner at the Farmstead. This was my first time at this restaurant and it was very good. For dessert, we had the cookie plate topped off with a candle. Another fun day in Napa! Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 248 user reviews.
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Anther fun year at Concordia. Emersyn finished her second year at middle school as a 6th grader and Eleri was a 2nd grader for the 2011-2012 school year. Wearing a daily uniform does bring fun to free dress days. This post is a fun recap of the year. June 7: Last Day of School May 22: Just Because for Eleri Eleri sporting her new short hair cut. She wanted to cut it off short. She loves it! May 21 – May 25: MS Spirit Week The middle school students have Spirit Week to dress in fun themes each day of the week. Monday – Celebrity Day: Emersyn went as Kelly Clarkson, but most people thought she was Taylor Swift. Tuesday – Summer Vacation Day: That was a fun and easy one. Wedenesday – Wacky Day: Always fun to be wacky! Thursday – Favorite Teacher Day: Emersyn chose Ms Poppel, of course. Friday – MS Field Day: Ready for the sports of the day. Emersyn was on the green team. Eleri in her uniform. ES students didn’t get the same fun wacky dress this year. May 22: Just Because for ES Students May 4: Splash Day for ES students Eleri had a fun afternoon with Splash Day for ES students. See post at Splash Day. March 19: Emersyn’s Skirt Uniform Emersyn ask me to buy her a uniform skirt. She looks so “middle school” grown up in her skirt and boots. March 16: St. Patrick’s Green Day Dress Free dress in green. Both girls were up early so I could braid their hair. Emersyn wanted a goddess braid. She wears her hair in a pony tail EVERY day. It is nice to see her beautiful hair flow free! Eleri made her hat last night. I attempted to help her, but I never have any good ideas…only Jim…even if they are the same ones as mine! Needless to say, Jim has become the “making King” in the house. March 8: Middle School Free Dress Day Eleri did not have free dress today. She has grown this year resulting in “floods” for her pants. She wears colorful warm socks to keep her ankles warm. New uniform pants for her next winter. March 2: Free Dress for Charity Free Dress Day was for Charity. Each child gave 10rmb ($1.60) to the Will Foundation if they chose to dress for the cause. It is a brilliant way to raise money for charity. February 14: Valentine’s Day Red & White Dress Emersyn and I made cupcakes (chocolate with white frosting and sprinkles) for her class for Valentine’s day. As a family, we have been watching the Brady Bunch – Emersyn’s inspiration for her hairstyle (makes you smile – doesn’t it). Eleri has a Valentine’s party in her class today. Other Moms were bringing treats so I did get a break. Eleri and I spent the weekend making Valentine’s for her class. I traced the hearts and cut them out. Eleri wrote on them and taped them to a lollipop. December 9: Just Because for ES Students ONLY Eleri had free dress, but Emersyn did not. A quick photo as we were running for the lift! November 22: Just Because Eleri had a field trip today, therefore, she was required to wear her trip shirt. Eleri was given free dress day the following day which was also the Thanksgiving feast for the 1-2 community November 18: Book Character Parade Book Week is always a fun week at school for the ES students. The week ends with a book character parade dressed as a favorite book character. Eleri went as “Pinkalicious.” See post at Book Character Day. October 21: International Day The PSO International Day is a day for the children to visit various tables/booth representing different countries. This is a parent sponsored event. The different countries represent the variety of students attending Concordia. The girls dressed in red, white and blue for the day. October 18: Just Because Eleri has a style all her own. She wanted to put pins in her jeans. I said yes, but she had to wear an older pair as I am the practical one. If she puts holes in the jeans, she won’t wear them…but you never know with Elle. She put the 10 pins in herself. No photo of Emerysn this free dress day. She has been home with strep throat all week. September 20: Just Because Emersyn went with practical – she has tennis lessons after school, so she wore her tennis gear. Eleri went with funky. August 30: School Photos This is the only day I get veto power on hair and dress. Both girls picked out simple tops for their school photos – perfect. No veto power was issued! Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 206 user reviews.
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Another end of the school year. Everyone is busy with last performances, school parties, adult parties and packing. I asked the girls to go to their rooms to pull some clothes they wanted to take home. Eleri came out in five minutes. I asked if she was done and she said, ” yes, come and see”. She had the following items for the entire summer: 1 pair of shorts I asked if she needed more and she said no, she didn’t want to take too much. I think she has been around the pack police, Jim, too long!! I ALWAYS take too much and things I don’t wear! Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 295 user reviews.
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Eleri had her music concert on Emersyn’s birthday! Since it was Emersyn’s birthday, Emersyn invited Michelle and Isabel to dinner and to spend the night (no school tomorrow). We enjoyed an early dinner at Pistorlera’s. We rushed to school to get Eleri to her performance at 6:30. The performance was cute, but hard to take photos. The kids did a lot of signing and dancing in the ES motor skills room. There were four classes of 1st & 2nd graders performing. The concert lasted about 45 minutes – perfect to enjoy the song and dance. Eleri was all smiles for her performance. Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 235 user reviews.
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Roxi is officially ONE on May 31. We picked her up in Sacramento on August 6 to process her paperwork for her journey to Shanghai. Then, we watched her grow! She had five days to enjoy the backyard in California – to lie in the grass and chase the girls. She made the journey to Shanghai with Jim – a very long journey. Her favorite place in the kitchen is under the cabinet – still is today as she squeezes under the cabinet. Roxi liked to sit in the circle of the table…but she doesn’t fit anymore. Roxi and haircuts. She was a little fluff ball at the end of August before her first hair cut. The Chinese groomers love to fluff her. Every time she comes back from the groomers, we are not sure she is OUR Roxi. But, once she is wet, she is back to OUR mop top Roxi Beds…Roxi has three. She has her first bed given to us by the breeder, Susan. This blue one remains under the Kitchen cabinet. She has her brown bed in the living room – she blends into this one. Roxi has her bagel bed “For Your Dog Only (FYDO)” from Berkeley. This is Roxi’s sleeping bed. I require only one important item in a dog bed – the cover MUST come off to wash. I was amazed at how many expensive dog beds did not have this feature. I brought the bed back to China with me on our Halloween trip to America. She loves this bed. Eleri loves to run down the hallway with Roxi chasing and biting at her to dive into Roxi’s bed. Roxi has a many friends here at Yanlord. The “dog park”, the area we have claimed for the dogs to run, is under our window. Roxi will sit in the window to see if she can see her friends. Amazing is that you can tell which dog it is from 29 floors up. If Jim has Roxi at the weekend dog play date, I can stand in the window to pick out all the dogs, but harder to tell people from the 29th floor. The dogs have discovered the water. Now, they are wet every weekend after the play date. Sometimes all three are wet – Roxi, Emersyn and Eleri. Roxi is in “dog heaven” on the weekends. Roxi with the girls. Standing tall – how quickly Roxi grew! Roxi is long and lean. She is very tall when she stands on her back legs. Roxi growing taller than Eleri. Roxi growing tall with Emersyn. The first year with Roxi. The girls are thrilled to have Roxi – the best birthday present ever!! Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 155 user reviews.
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May 31 and Emersyn is TWELVE – next year she will be our teen! I made cake #4 yesterday. I am putting the mixer away until October (Jim’s birthday). After four cakes in May and baking every weekend in April for charity, I am done! For the first time, I sprinkled the cake with instructions for lots of sprinkles. I even licked the beaters – no little beater eaters around. Emersyn had her Drama Showcase last night, therefore, we did not come home from school until 9pm leaving no time to decorate a cake. School day on this Thursday for the birthday girl, but no school tomorrow – some Chinese holiday for Children’s Day. It is also Roxi’s birthday. Roxi is ONE today. Michelle decorated Emersyn’s locker which made her feel special. Emersyn shared the cake with her classmates. Since the class enjoy the charity cupcakes in April, the kids was excited to see my chocolate cake with chocolate frosting! Michelle was her helper to pass out cake. Emersyn with her teacher, Ms Poppell. Emersyn had Ms Poppell as a 1st grade – our first year at Concordia. Emersyn has grown just “a bit” since the 1st grade! The end of school year is busy with performances. Eleri had her music concert at 6:30 pm. Emersyn invited Michelle and Isabel to join her in a birthday dinner. We celebrated Emmy’s birthday dinner at Pistolera’s in Jinqiao before rushing off to school to hear Eleri sing! Michelle and Isabel came home with us for a sleepover. Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 219 user reviews.
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Emersyn has drama this semester. The MS Students have drama half the year and art the other half. The semester with drama is closed with a drama showcase. Everyone must participate, therefore, it is an excellent opportunity for the shy children to get on stage…not that our girl is one of the shy ones! Three classes were performing tonight. Emersyn’s class presented, “The Making of…A Backstage Look at Commercials”. Emersyn shared the stage with Matthew Yee and Brandon Paradiso. The three of them were opening a candy shop. They asked members of the audience to participate. Of course, the students called up their favorite teachers, Ms Poppell and Mr. Stone. Emersyn called Jim up to the be the radio. Jim almost didn’t make the showcase because of out town customer meetings. Eleri was so disappointed Emersyn didn’t pick her. It was fun to see the students perform. Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 262 user reviews.
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