I can read!

2 weeks ago, while reading bedtime stories to Joshua, we suddenly realized he was able to read.  Seemed to just happen overnight, going from guessing words by looking at the first letter, to actually decoding the letters and figuring out what the words were.



And in Chinese as well:


Joshua will just be walking along, but when he sees a book, will stop, sit down, and start reading.

Doing homework on a Sunday afternoon

Christmas tree

Boys were very excited to decorate the Christmas tree and prepare for Christmas year.

Bagels at church

Our ritual of bagels and juice before church.

Grandma and Grandpa's Foliage Trip

Time to retire the double stroller

The boys can now both bike along with me when I go for a run.  Woo-hoo!

I like school!

It's been so nice and a big relief to see that Joshua is really enjoying school.  He loves learning Chinese--which I was afraid he would be intimidated by.  But he is flourishing, singing songs, writing characters in the air, and teaching the rest of the family the things he is learning every day.  :)

Video chatting with mom

When mom is away, she can still babysit over Gchat while dad makes dinner!

October beach day

We had a freak heat wave on Sunday, so we played hooky and hit the beach for one last time this year.

Diggin in the sand is their #1 activity

Trying to hit us with wet mud was #2

Hot Pursuit

Joshua's latest iPad passion has shifted from Angry Birds to "Need for Speed, Hot Pursuit", a police car chasing game.

Boys' life

Riding the shuttle home after school.

Going to the lego store with grandparents.

Making pancakes with mom--I don't know why they're not wearing clothes!

Boys' bikes parked and locked outside Taekwando practice

Mandarin Immersion School

Joshua has completed 1 1/2 weeks of his mandarin immersion school and so far, so good.  When I asks him if he understands what his teacher is saying to him, he says, "No, I just follow their hand motions."  He asked me the other day if he could also go to the "afterschool" program, so I guess he's enjoying school enough to want to spend even more time there.

Money

Joshua is very conscientious of money, making money, counting money, saving money, spending money.

The other day when we were at the bakery looking Annette's birthday cake, he declared that he had $7 saved up from his job and toe nail money.

He gets $1 a week if he does a good job of getting ready in the morning (get dressed, eat breakfast, ready to leave for school) ; and this is gross--for not chewing on his nails, Annette has promised him lump sums like 3 or 4+ dollars.

Apple picking

Eeny Meeny

This morning at breakfast, both boys wanted Annette to sit next to them. So instead of fighting, I overhead Joshua suggest to Sam to use eeny meeny to decide who would get Annette. And since they haven't figured out the secret of eeny meeny miney mo yet (start with the other guy), they genuinely use it all the time when faced with an arbitrary decision.

Later, while shopping for their potty training prizes, Samuel was torn between picking the green trailer tractor truck, or the blue one. He couldn't decide, so finally, he just kneeled down in the middle of the store aisle, in front of his trucks and started to count slowly, "Eeny, meeny, miney mo....". The green one won.

Ireland

Joshua had a wonderful time in Ireland. He said at one point, "I want to move to Ireland!" He enjoyed playing with his new friend Matty, loved buying things with his new currencies: Euros and Sterlings, playing at the beach, and the "rock quarry" in Hamish's yard. I was impressed with what a good traveler he has become, except for his car sickness. Thankfully, the only time he vomited was right after his last car ride in the airport parking lot (and not in Hamish's car!).

Dusk at Rossnowlaugh, on the west coast of Ireland

Fun at Carnfunnock Country Park in Larne

Climbing the hills behind the caravan in Donegal

Looking for cockles and mussels.

Joshua's taekwondo promotion

Lego contest

Joshua is really hoping to win the summer Lego flag building contest this year. His entry:

Taekwando

We signed Joshua up for Taekwando to help with his gross motor skills and he's really enjoying it.

Birthday party at the MFA

Summer Picnic

The boys share a room

We've embarked on a new phase in our family life--the boys are sharing a bedroom! Despite extensive coaching, it didn't go so well the first night (as expected?). Samuel stayed up an extra 2 hrs, so excited about moving out of a crib, and sleeping in a new room. We eventually had to move him back to his old room and his old crib. But that was last night.
Tonight, Samuel talked himself to sleep, saying things like, "I'm going to put you in the crib forever!"
Joshua, told him, "Stop talking Samuel! I'm going to ignore you!"
Both they both fell asleep eventually. :)

Father's Day

My boys woke me up on Father's Day and presented me with this lovely Angry Birds Card that Joshua designed.










And nothing says celebration better than ice cream!

Love the summer

Why I love summer:


Picnics outside




The sandbox




Balloon animals at the park!




Back to the playgrounds.




The beach




Spray pools.




Carousels

Joshua's Joan Miro piece

Mother's day

For mother's day, we went to a little cafe at Central Square, and enjoyed brunch alfresco with mom this year.

Raincoats

The boys got a bunch of smiles from people passing by while walking the streets, wearing rain coats and holding hands.

Easter Egg Hunt

The boys were joined by 2 of Joshua's old preschool friends (and another little brother).

Joshua Soccer

Scholastic book club time

This is what happens when the school book order comes in. Not an accident that almost all the books are about cars and firetrucks.

Lego fire station set

Joshua likes to create his own "Lego sets", where he spend hours thinking up a design and then look through all his cannibalized Lego pieces to build his new creation. This is his new fire station set, which he will package in a box and sell to you for the low price of two hundred million dollars!