Happy Birthday Ethan!

I can't believe Ethan is 7 years old. It seems like it was yesterday that he was just born. Well, this year he wanted to celebrate with his friends at Peter Piper and to share some cupcakes with his classmates at school. He also made several requests for dining out on his birthday, specifically at Denny's and Red Robin. He got them all and is one lucky boy!

First Day of School for our First Grader

The Tooth Fairy has Arrived

Ethan's first tooth fell out today, well daddy pulled it out as it has been hanging loose for a few weeks now. With the beauty of You Tube, daddy found an effective way of pulling the tooth out with dental floss. It came off with one tug. Good job daddy! Ethan was excited as he was ready for the tooth fairy to come. Looks like the wait was worth it.

No Cavities

It's time for a visit to the dentist again and it went smoothly. The kids did just fine with the teeth cleaning, though Hayley had a hard time with the X-rays. But the best part of the visit for me was "no cavities". Thanks to dad's hard work of flossing and brushing daily.

Kindergarten Graduate

I can't believe the school year is almost over and Ethan is graduating from Kindergarten! What a great year it has been. He has had the privilege of having a wonderful teacher and teacher's assistant and has learned so much. We are so proud of him!

Sunflowers - by Ethan Koh

Ethan brought home his version of Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers from school today. 

I am Blue

Today Ethan brought home his self portrait of "I am Blue".

Star of the Week

Ethan's kindergarten class has Star of Week every week where each student gets to present a poster with their favorites and it was Ethan's week this week. Here is what we came up with:

Ethan's Art Work

Ethan is bringing home some interesting art work from his art class from school. So far I have been very impressed by the work. I was pleasantly surprised by what he was telling me today about what he learned in art class. They are learning about Claude Monet and no more Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso! I was like, wow! You know all these names! What do you think of these pieces?

My Kindergartener

Ethan's Kindergarten school picture came in and here it is! Such a big boy now....

Cheeeze...

Hayley's first school picture. It's funny how she and Ethan had the same smile when Ethan took his first school picture back in 2009.

Safari Through the Rainforest

I volunteered at Ethan's school today for a "cooking" project - really it was just getting the ingredients ready for a safari trail mix of cashews, chocolate chips, dried bananas, dates and coconut. The kids made a bag made from paperbags for their trail mix snack and they each had a safari hat and binoculars. They all looked so cute! After getting their snacks together, they prepared for a safari treck down the rainforest (hallways of the school) where they looked at all the different rainforest animal pictures posted on the wall. They each got a surprise of either a monkey, boa constrictor, frog, butterly, etc. After a long treck, they sat down for some snacks. They also performed a couple of songs about the rainforest and I learned about the 4 layers of the rainforest - forest floor, understory layer, canopy layer and emergent layer. What a fun day!

Happy Birthday to Gung Gung 公公

Birthday card for Grandpa Chia 公公 from Ethan and Hayley.

Happy Birthday Po Po 婆婆

Birthday card for Grandma Chia Po Po 婆婆 from Ethan and Hayley

First Day of Kindergarten

Ethan started Kindergarten today at Bright Beginnings School. He was very excited and seems to like his teacher. It's so funny seeing him with a big backpack, but at the same time, it is so neat to see him with responsibilities of putting his things away in appropriate places in the classroom. He did it with no hesitation (unlike at home) and was actually very proud of it. My baby is growing up!

Ethan's First Music Ribbon

Ethan completed his first Skills Survey at the East Valley Yamaha Music School and received his results and ribbon. Everyone got their results after they performed at the Summer Recital.

Chinese Class Graduation

Ethan completed his Chinese class today at Tzu Chi Foundation and his class did a performance for the parents. They did great and celebrated with some yummie snacks at the end.

New Toothbrush

Ethan has been using the Sonicare for kids toothbrush for a while now. We decided it is time for Hayley to have one, so now they both have it and they have their own color.

Well Child Visit for the Kids

It's time for Hayley's 3-year old and Ethan's 5-year old well child visits. Both are doing well. Hayley weighed in at 27.6 lbs (10%) and is 35.25 inches (10-25%). We tested her for peanuts just to see where we're at. Hayley did great during her blood draw and didn't even cry! Ethan weighs 39.4 lbs (25-50%) and is 43 inches (50%). They were both happy as there were no shots!