Arts and crafts fun at Lunar Fest.

***This post was obviously supposed to follow the Lunar Fest post, and I have no idea why I neglected to publish.***

SS is not an arts and crafts child, she is obviously action oriented. When arts and crafts incorporate chaos and destruction SS will be on board. The kid surprised me at the Lunar Festival. She wanted to do everything in the children's village and more than once.  That was something that would never happen at the celebrations in San Francisco and Los Angeles. It would be impossible to have an arts and craft area for so many little ones. 

It was hot for this time of the year that day. I was grateful to have the Hummer to keep SS comfortable.  Unlike this picture I was able to keep her with her back to the sun.  SS had Parmesan and garlic swirl fries. Never had them like that and they were yummy. I texted P a picture and he asked how would SS ever eat all that. She did with little help from JJ and I. She then tore into the rice, noodle and teriyaki beef plate. If there's over priced food SS is hungry. 

After lunch we headed over to the Children's Village not knowing what to expect. They had so many activities, and the children could choose to take them home, work on them there, or have the volunteers half complete them.  SS took the color yourself calendars to complete at home. She loved the chopstick activity. 

The guy in the pic above also did SS's tattoo

SS chose year of the dragon for this activity even though the horse was available. She remembered her Mama was born in the year of the dragon.

Another fun station.

The color your fan activity came in handy.

Cooling off and recharging the cell phone at the library.  SS decided to work on another activity, the lucky coin purse.

The anime crowd was out in force.

This group did an amazing job with the drums and most were women. I need to add the video later, they were amazing.

P could not stop laughing when he saw this picture. As a matter of fact, whenever he sees it he has a fight of laughter, tears and all. Why?  Because he thinks SS looks like an old Asian lady.

Here P, happy?

This lantern activity was our last, and SS was very upset that it was time to go home. The kids used their thumbprints to decorate a dragon lantern. It reminded me of SS's footprint on our adoption papers. I was very disappointed that SS was not interested in learning how to write her name in Chinese.  That was the one activity I felt was the most important. I also did not like how dismissive she was of the idea. That led to another round of she really needs to go to Chinese School talk. We need to look for other options other than Saturdays and so far away. 

SS looks all happy here but she had a fit when it was time to leave. We still needed to drop by our old house in UCR student housing, since JJ had not been there in a while. It was nice going back and man, that huge backyard and awesome huge tree would have been awesome for SS to play around. The tiny house not so much.

SS received her first Valentine this year.

When SS and P arrived home yesterday she was holding what I thought was a Valentine project she made at school or at B&G.  I was mistaken,  it was a gift from her boy friend S. That's right, her boy friend, not her boyfriend. I don't recall if we have addressed her B&G admirer (there are many more, but this kid is intense) before, and I'm too lazy to read my own ramblings. The boy lacks pigmentation, I was shocked the first time I saw him. I know daddy's girls end up marrying a guy like their dad. I never considered myself one, until Papi's and P's similarities were brought to my attention. OMG, they are about the same height, string beans (Papi until death, P when we met), have the same posture and lack of rear end. And they are the only men, other than my son, whose hand I can hold comfortably. But SS, your Baba while fair skinned, can be outside longer than ten minutes without suffering third degree burns. Seriously that is how fair skinned that kid is.

S took a liking to SS last summer and the boy has not stopped liking our daughter. He brings her snacks, even though there is a strict no food sharing policy. S brings her super hero stickers, cards, and drawings.  He begged for her phone number, but since we only have cells, he came up empty handed. No way are we giving our phone numbers to a six year old (other than SS).  We must admit that Mr. Lack of Pigmentation did a good job trying to woo our daughter with his Valentine.

It appears that Mr. S could not find an A , but that did not keep him from giving his giant whatever it is to SS. He simply wrote the A, and that IS the cutest part about his creation. Mr. S, we appreciate your efforts, but our daughter is not permitted to date until she is 47. Heck yeah, we are in absolute denial and not looking forward to middle and high school.

B&G Clubhouse Reopening.

SS has been excited about the reopening of the B&G clubhouse. It was September 24 when the fire forced the closing and we are sure that SS was not the only kid happy to have more space. Last night as we were cuddling with SS P asked me if he had mentioned that SS was in the club's flyer. No, I did not know, because I am certain we were not asked. I usually worry about things like that but P quickly dismissed my concern. He said it was on the door and probably made just for that purpose. I asked P to ask for a copy, heck if  my kid is pictured I should get a copy.  I was not quite prepared for what I found when I got home. The flyer was not made just for the door, it's the flyer they circulate all over to promote the club. And there was my daughter in all her uncombed hair glory smiling at me. I'm still not sure how to feel about it.  It's not like SS is the only Asian child at the club and they needed her to be the token kid to represent her race. It's difficult to get out of my social worker paranoia, and must admit that I am glad it is not what I do now. But it's still there, especially with SS being so young.  Still, not too thrilled about it, but it's what we get with parenting SS. And that childcare as low as $46 a week??????? We were both saying WTF, that does not even cover two days for us.

It rained last night and it continued to drizzle during the day. SS was so happy because it was chilly enough in the evening to wear her purple coat. She just loves this coat and would not even take it off indoors. It reminded me of when we moved and she threw a fit as we were about to pack her coat. She cried so much that although we were in a hurry we left that wardrobe box opened until SS fell asleep.  We think she's had it for almost 3 years now, and it still fits.

They had a game where SS won a hush puppy, not the shoes, but the delicious, artery clogging fried goodie. SS loves those things.

I swear we thought SS was in the computer room watching a movie as we waited for the ceremony to begin. Then P says, "what the heck is she doing up there?" I turned around to see the director getting our attention, and holding our daughter's hand. He then picked up SS and introduced her to the crowd, and asked them to say hi to her. I did not get the beginning because I was as stunned as P was. The looks we got as she ran towards us were priceless. And if there was a doubt as to who I was, SS later ran to me while yelling Mama, excited to show me her mini parfait.

Yes those two plain looking, wall flowers are my parents. It's been a rough six years for them and one would think they'd be used to it by now.

Pleased to meet you, my name is Arroz Blanco.

2014 is the year of the horse.

Last Saturday we went to the Pan-Asian parade and festivities to celebrate Chinese New year. I did not know what to expect and made sure to be at the end of the parade route early. I should have taken notice that it's only the fourth year the event has been held.  That and the fact that we are in the Inland Empire, not LA. That suited me just fine because I don't do huge crowds with SS without P.  It was the shortest parade that I have ever seen, but just long enough for an antsy SS. She gets out of sorts when her Baba is not with us in outings. We stayed until around 3:00 pm and SS was disappointed because she wanted to see the fireworks. As much as I love the girl and indulge her, I was not ready to wait four hours for fireworks.

Much to SS's delight they had about eight lion/dragon dances. 

SS showing her approval of the massive firecracker display. It's rather embarrassing when your child's volume exceeds that of the firecrackers.

There were also a lot of martial arts groups, and SS totally wanted to join this school once she saw this boy doing some impressive moves with his sword. Sure, why not, she is already shooting arrows.

Drums, oh boy there were lots of drums.

马新年快乐

Mǎ xīnnián kuàilè

Mongolian Dance

Of course we had the talk again about Saturday Chinese school. I know we have a responsibility to ensure SS learns Mandarin, or at least becomes familiar enough. It is the only thing we regret about moving since SS was on the list for an excellent Mandarin immersion program. And I'm well aware that it's worth the sacrifice. I just wish it was not only me making said sacrifice, since P won't have Saturdays off any time soon. 

And there it is, cultural appropriation.

Dude in the middle, either do the sumo wrestler thing all the way or not at all. That ensemble was sillier than the mawashi (sumo loin cloth) and butt cheek exposure.

SS's top came in very handy, it has a super hero, it's red (perfect for any Chinese celebration), and it's a rash guard with SPF 50 protection (Hello Maui). 

Community hero day.

Today was Community Hero day at SS' school, and she chose to be a firefighter.  It was also Flag Day Friday and the kids wore their assigned college shirts. Every classroom has adopted a university as part of this year's college bound program. We had never heard of the Georgia Bulldogs, but it's rather fitting, since SS resembles a bulldog at times.  It was fun watching the outdoor assembly, and even more fun watching SS totally run with the hero description. Apparently firefighters go around saving lives while hamming it up like SS's favorite super heroes.  As usual there were not many kids dressed up today, and I gave SS the option to change into regular clothing as to not stand out. I got an immediate heck to the no Mama in response. Dear lord, what the heck was I thinking offering her to blend in? As if it will ever happen.

Ax in hand ready to break a door in and rescue those inside. What? There's no fire? OK, get that, but why should that prevent me from breaking in one of the many house doors around here? Oh,  trespassing is illegal.

Oh come on, there has to be one kid in one of these classrooms waiting to be rescued. What? I can't break school doors down either? What the heck kind of hero are these people if there is no wanton abject destruction?

I did not take her ax away because of the silly no weapon ban, but because I was afraid SS would lose it then we would have to hear her whine all weekend.Our daughter reminded us about the no weapon rule, and I calmly explained that the adults would have to explain to ME why is a plastic ax, part of a firefighter costume considered a weapon. Just like her father poo pooed on the no masks ban on Halloween, because hello the mask makes the costume. Hmmm, what are the odds our blatant disregard for rules is going to bite us in the rear end in the future?

Oh, you are still here silly Mama.

SS and her teacher, and darn it the college's color complimented SS's attire so well.

Only seven kids dressed up out of  how many hundred? How sad. We do wonder what were the girls on the right supposed to be. When I asked about the girl in black (who has been a royal witch to SS, even making fun of her "boy" outfit this morning) SS responded "She was dressed as a nothing." I'm sure SS meant as nothing, but it cracked me up anyway. SS further explained "she just likes to get her face in everything."  Ms. Ubiquitous at her finest, but also damn right.

After a two month hiatus SS returned to archery this afternoon. It was really cold and and windy.  I'm in shock she made it through the hour.  The poor thing remembered her assigned bow, arrows and that was about it.  It was painful to watch her struggle those first 20 minutes.  It was like she had never shot before. If she is still in archery by the end of the year we are going to get her private lessons during the hiatus. Man, doesn't she look cute, yet tough and a bit scary in this picture? Love it.

We are glad that SS ended her class on a high note. P was able to enjoy HD video courtesy of my awesome Xmas present. It was JJ's first time watching SS and he was very impressed. I think he texted pictures to almost everyone he has known in Northern California. He was very proud of his sister and she was on cloud nine.

A thunderous treat.

SS deserved a treat for her progress with reading during her winter break. But this girl has way too many toys, costumes, and a season pass to Knott's. I told P that another toy was just plain crazy, and before his brain could malfunction forget about another Lego set. We have to do some serious weeding of toys that need to go in the trash or be donated. We decided to treat SS to dinner and a movie. Thor The Dark World was playing at the cheap theater and it was perfect. It's not a new movie, but so much better to watch on the big screen. We also allowed SS to bring her Thor helmet and oh so freaking cool electronic Thor hammer.

We had Thai for dinner at the same restaurant we celebrated P's birthday last year. We were the only customers there, except for a few coming to pick up take out. It's a good thing we knew the food was excellent, otherwise we might have gone elsewhere. It was also a school night and only fly by the seat of their pants parents do the dinner movie thing on such a night.  It was a very nice dinner, but SS was on display from the moment we walked in.  The three women running the place that night could not stop looking at her, and finding everything SS did (or didn't) so damn cute, and awwwww worthy. We are pretty accustomed to the attention and there are times when we do not even notice. That wasn't the case that night. There's something so unnerving about being constantly watched. The waitress came to our table way too many times to ask us (actually SS) if everything was OK. SS also chose that night to chow down rice and noodles like a famine victim. Believe us, it is so weird to look up from your plate to find three well meaning women looking at you like a zoo creature.

While waiting for the movie to start SS got a look at more super hero movies coming down the pike. She enjoyed posing with the posters and talking about all the fun she is going to have watching.  The movie is not something I would have wanted to see, but SS made it worth our while. She entered wearing her helmet and holding her hammer, totally in super hero mode. Then as usual ended up on my lap for most of the movie. We also failed to think about the fact that the hammer does not have an off switch. Really, for that price? SS was uncharacteristically amenable to leave the hammer on the floor to not disturb during the movie.

The best part was at the end when we allowed SS to reach for her hammer during the credits. She put on her helmet (somehow displaced during the movie), then held her hammer up, just like Thor.  The  the lighting looked mighty cool in the dark theater. Much to the amusement of the adults, and jealousy of the kids there. That little dude with the cool hammer. On the drive home we were discussing how lucky we are that we do not have to sit through D*sney Princesses movies. That would really suck and take all the fun out of parenting. 

P still insists that SS REALLY needs a blond wig. Working on it dude, be patient.

Guys, I could have brought one of my Captain America shields for this photo op.

So small, so delicate, so violent.