Aiim

March 26, 2009.

2009-03-26T23:13:00.004-04:00

Today is Andy's birthday. I made him a full course dinner with self-made noodles!! Is fun and I am glad that both Andy and the kids enjoy it!!

Can't believe that we've finished out Classical Conversations for this school year already. Ivan learnt a lot from this Christian Based program. Along with this, we also enrolled with GVA (Georgia Virtual Academy), is an online program and is FREE, http://www.k12.com/ the teacher who is guiding me is wonderful. We have been blessed with wonderful people around us.

August 19th

2008-08-19T13:11:00.002-04:00

We have been preparing ourselves to get into different programs for this homeschool year. Ivan will keep on practising in the swim team, 2 times a week. He enjoyed watching Michael Phelps competing in the Olympics. He is continuing in reading lots of books from the library. Every Monday is our Library day, Ivan loves to go there and choose 2 videos and find books that interested him. This week, he chose books about "teeth" ; since his two lower teeth came out behind his milk teeth, the dentist pulled out two of his milk teeth and he is interested in what's going to happen with all his teeth. Ivan is also very much into animals, he loves all kinds of animals and animals books are one of his all time favorite. As for Isabella, she loves Elephant, don't know why but she just love looking at it and reading about it and we borrow books about elephant for her this week.

We have develop a new habit, we are having devotion every morning and have a memory verse pick out from Ivan. We all memorized it and even Isabella is doing a good job with it. Really thank God for giving us this routine of the day.

It's August!!

2008-08-03T23:46:00.005-04:00

Oh, it has been a month already since my last post. I have been really busy and is really hard to find time to upload pictures. I need to be more consistent and organized.

For the past month, we have done a lot. Ivan keeps swimming and practise with his swim team friends every other day. Both Ivan and Isabella are very tanned. We've been to the Homeschool Expo and finally pick a curriculum for Ivan, it is called Classical Conversation, http://www.classicalconversation.com/ . We are really excited about it. I believe that I will learn a lot from teaching Ivan and Isabella along the way. Thank you Lord for giving me a chance to learn again along with my kids. It's been very rewarding too see them grow.

Ivan also joined the library vacation reading program, he was so excited and read 20 books by himself for the first week. Within a month time, he read more than 70 books. I am so proud of him. Isabella also pick up this great habit and love to look at books. Thank big brother, Ivan.

Helen, GA

2008-07-07T20:27:00.005-04:00

Helen, Georgia, is a great place to visit. Is only 1.5 hours away from where we live and the small town is very pleasant!! This time we went there with my parents and spend an afternoon there. We ate a very authentic German lunch and go tubing for 1.5 hours. It was so fun!! Ivan and Isabella had a great time. A few years ago, we went tubing with our fellowship and Ivan fell asleep in my tube and this time, Isabella did the same thing too!! How cute, they are!!

See our little princess, she is copying Ivan's pose!!

A nice warm family picture!!

I love this cute picture too!!

Look at mom and Andy!! See how relaxing they are!

As for me, I am working hard with two little kids!! But it was so fun!!

Oh!! They are so so cute!! Aren't they?!

Isabella falling asleep!!

Daddy and Ivan!

Guess who is this relaxing lady is!!

I Love this picture!! Thanks mom!!

2008-07-07T20:07:00.002-04:00

Remembered last year on Isabella's first birthday, we held a big gathering with lots of people. The reason for that gathering is to thank all the people around us for loving our two kids and caring me when I was so sick during the pollen season and while Andy was working like a dog during that same period of time. This year we just had our old tradition - not doing much on their birthdays but the whole day was with all the family members and dinning with Mr and Mrs Lo (our dear Uncle and Auntie) and of course Uncle Max and Auntie-to-be Alice. We are also trying to limit presents and use the presents' money to help people around us thru http://oxfamunwrapped.oxfam.org.hk/ and www.worldvision.com. We think that is that our kids will learn more from these loving action also.

But of course, we still enjoy the gifts from our dear friends and relatives. This year Isabella got some very cute clothing, a pair of very cool shoes, and a build-a-bear gift card!! She loves her little bear " lovey" dearly and that bear is CHAMP, A champion fur kids. When you buy CHAMP, this beary special bear, $1 goes to an organization that support children's health and wellness. That is meaningful too!!

Thanks Auntie Eileen from Singapore!! This outfit is so cool!!

Isabella's little "Lovey" on the stroller.

Isabella wants Ivan to have the same thing and was crying loudly while Ivan didn't have one to bring home. What a sweet little sister!!

Ivan and the BIG Fish

2008-07-06T21:57:00.004-04:00

I Found it!! Ivan and the BIG fish!! It was 2005 January and the fish was caught by Mr Andy Lo. Look at Ivan, he is so so cute and chubby!!

Ivan and Mr Andy Lo!! Ivan and is a very attentive little kids. He can sit still for the whole dinner!! He is super good!! =) I am proud of you Ivan!!

Happy Birthday, Isabella!!

2008-07-03T20:51:00.003-04:00

June 23rd was Isabella's birthday!! Here is the cake that me and Ivan made for her.

We are happy to see Isabella turning 2!! Is our tradition to celebrate our kids birthday with family members and Mr and Mrs Lo (our great family friends). This year, we made a cake for Isabella and cooked an organic meal for our Birthday girl and our guest!!

Great Fish

2008-07-03T20:45:00.003-04:00

We brought home lots of fish and shrimps from Destin, FL. Some of them are caught by Andy and some by my father. Here is the big fish that Andy caught, Red Snapper!! See how proud Isabella is!!

I had a picture of Ivan carrying a Grouper in year 2005, let me try to find it and post it up !!

Andy cooked the Red Snapper in his favorite way, Curry Fish Head!! Looks Great!! It tasted very good too!!!

Destin part III

2008-07-03T20:33:00.003-04:00

Auntie is our main chief for the whole trip!! WOW, she is good!!! Cooking for 12 people!! Is really hard!! Thanks Auntie!!

The loves of my life!!

It was a relaxing trip overall!! The kids got to spend some quality time with people who loves them. We love to travel and try to learn while we travel too!! =)

Destin part II

2008-07-03T20:24:00.003-04:00

The second day, Max and the Ng's family join us!!
Isabella posting again!! haha!!
Ivan dug a huge hole and Isabella got in there!!
These are the crabs!! They looked beautiful!!

Ice-cream place at Seaside!! Look closely, you can see Isabella really wants to taste that Huge Ice-cream!!

This is the very first time we went with a big group of people. It was fun and the weather is just great. Not too hot and with some clouds to shade us out too!! Ivan and Isebella both love their Uncle Max and Auntie-to-be Alice. They got to spend 4 days with them was an experienced for them.

Destin!! Here we come!

2008-07-03T20:09:00.006-04:00

Destin, Fl is one of our family's favorite!! This year we are going with my parents, Max and Alice, and Alice's family from HK. We drove about 6 hours and the kids are acting really good. They read books, play Leapster games, nap and eat during that 6 hours. Andy is the driver for our trip, he borrowed an audio book from the Library and listened to it to keep him wide awake. We had a wonderful time, lots of swimming and playing at the beach. A new thing that we did this year is night time crabbing. It was so much fun!! We caught lots of crabs with just a flash light and a nest. Ivan caught a lot of little fishes with his flash light and his nest too. We had a wonderful time!! Can't wait to go there again!

On our way to Destin, FL!!

Isabella's favorite: SAND!!

Andy went for a 10 hours deep sea fishing trip!! He needs to destress!! haha!! And guess what!! He caught us lots of BIG fish!! Great job, daddy!!

Swimteam

2008-07-03T19:53:00.007-04:00

Ivan joined the LTF Swim Team this summer. Here are the Boys 6 and under.

Ivan preparing for his backstroke race!!

Warming up for the race!

Coach Patrick is a really nice and loving coach. This year we won the 1st place for our Division!! Yeah!! Go Penguins!!

Swimming is a great sport!! At the beginning, Ivan is hesitated, the practise was hard, the water was freezing cold. Now, he is loving it!! Hard work pays off!! Ivan eats more and getting healthier too!!

My Kids' Great Dad

2008-07-03T18:07:00.001-04:00

Ivan and Isabella got a great Dad!! He tries to be with them whenever he can. Andy works in the office and sometimes work at home. Both Ivan and Isabella love to see his daddy. Andy will try to fit in with their schedules. Therefore, you will see him in most of the pictures coz he tries to finish his work while they are resting, studying and sleeping; and join us whenever he can.

Daddy, we love you and we know that you have done a lot for us. THANK YOU!!

Thanks, Honey!! You have shown the love of God thru your acts to us.

A nice sunset

2008-07-03T17:57:00.002-04:00

We love sunset! On one afternoon, we spent some quality time with Ivan and Isabella at our backyard and here are some nice pictures of Isabella.

A Normal Day

2008-07-03T17:18:00.001-04:00

Have you ever wondered what we usually do on a normal homeschool day? This is what we are doing: Swimming

Making cake, well tasting too!!

Watching Educational TV :this time is the Olympic VCD in Mandarin

(Thank you - Great Auntie Pauline)

Sharing God's word (Ivan just got his 1st big boy advantage Bible)

Story Time

Enjoying themselves

Riding in their Car Seats

Playing with friends

Playing in the sand box

Studying and learning

Eating

Enjoying her food

Playing Balls

Playing with Daddy

Of course, we can't fit everything above in one day but we usually do 80% of the above activities each day. Look at their faces, they are enjoying it!! They love spending times with us and we love teaching them and loving them 24/7.

Stone Moutain Family Day

2008-07-03T16:52:00.001-04:00

Story Time

Isabella posing

Ivan aiming

Stone Mountain Park is a great place to visit. Ivan and Isabella both love to run around, kick some balls and do hiking. We went there in early May and had a great time there. We purchased a family package last year and everything is included in the package. By visiting the park 2 times, it is already paid for. We did our first mini golf with both Ivan and Isabella, we went up to the top of the mountain and had a great time there!!

It's been a while

2008-07-03T16:32:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since my last update.... well, having two little ones is hard to find time keep it up. But I will try my best in the future. We have done a lot within the past few month. Will load all the pictures up soon and let you all know about it!

Baking Day

2008-05-14T23:39:00.001-04:00

Our two cute Bakers

Putting the Wheat in the machine

They are making a dough!!

Here it is!!

Today we went to the Great Harvest Bread Company for a baking lesson along with our homeschool support group. Ivan had a wonderful time, learning lots of new information and having some hands on experience in how to bake. Isabella, she is eagered to join the group even thou she is not even two yet!! She tries her very best to fit in the group and join in as much as possible!! Is a very rewarding experience for me for I am seeing my kids eager to learn anything!! =)

Swimteam

2008-05-13T22:15:00.001-04:00

Ivan has been in the swimteam for a week now. He loves to swim but the weather is a little crazy these days. He is so skinny and with no fats to spare and their practise is at the outdoor, therefore he is freezing cold. We think this is a great trainning for him. He is doing better and better each day with his backstrokes and freestyle!! And the most important part is , Ivan is enjoying it!! =)

As for Isabella, she is my tough little princess. I need to have extra energy to deal with her. She is now in the copy cat stage and she loves her big brother dearly. She is now like a mini Ivan.

A Good Start!

2008-05-12T19:38:00.001-04:00

Today, I decided to start doing something that I am not familiar with, writting this Blog. The reason for this blog is to update our relatives and friends about our homeschool life in the States. Ivan and Isabella are my two precious babies. God put this homeschool idea in our hearts before Ivan's birth. Homeschooling is not a paved road, it is full of obstacles and challenges. But the most important thing is God is with us all the time. With the support of our family members, I believed that we can raise two happy and well trainned kids!!