xiao yue

2012-02-02T18:29:00.001-08:00

Happy anniversary Johnny and Dianne!

2012-01-15T07:37:00.001-08:00

From orange beach, alabama

A few more Christmas pictures

2012-01-08T12:49:00.001-08:00

Matteo turns 3 -- reptile party

2012-01-07T15:01:00.001-08:00

I had a hard time looking at the snakes, but Phee didn't mind at all.

2012-01-07T12:40:00.001-08:00

2011-12-31T11:35:00.000-08:00

a balmy christmas day!

2011-12-31T07:06:00.000-08:00

2011-12-31T06:51:00.000-08:00

The Birthday
girl with her bud, Superboy.

halloween

2011-11-01T04:07:00.000-07:00

phee's fourth birthday

2011-10-31T17:12:00.000-07:00

2011-10-20T04:17:00.000-07:00

Ike's first day of high school
other pictures: Phoebe and Cousin Evie at the Apple Festival in North Carolina

Hike in the mountains

2011-07-11T14:26:00.000-07:00

someone's a little tired........

happy fourth

2011-07-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

for aunt sheryl

2011-06-26T15:11:00.001-07:00

Summer is good. No homework, all that stuff.

And who says ten years's age difference is a problem? So tonight during dinner, isaac said, hey xiao, let's have a movie marathon tonight. Sid the science kid, old blues clues...i just delivered popcorn and ice cream to the two of them.

Xiao really looks up to her big brother

2011-06-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

2011-06-10T06:24:00.000-07:00

2011-05-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

2011-05-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

my little writer working hard at another writers' conference

phee's fashion statement. a fingernail file as barrett. one must be very still for that to work.

a girl and her monkey

phee's buddy

2011-04-26T16:06:00.000-07:00

Xiao's "Sweet buddy" as she calls him, Owen. Here they are at Splash Park for the annual school party.

easter

2011-04-24T17:46:00.000-07:00

three easter egg hunts. two dresses. endless chocolate. phee with noora at her egg hunt. phee and nanny. phee and isaac.

picking mulberries

2011-04-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

noora, sienna and phee.

Lazy Weekend at the Lake

2011-03-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

Spring break for ME!

And, Phoebe took time off as well. Here's Phee and her best lake buddy, Caden. Water's still a bit chilly, but that's no big deal.

Quotes of the day from Phoebe:

"Some people like jungles, some people don't."

And:

"Reindeers will give you termites."

Phoebe's Favorite Band

2011-02-27T11:55:00.000-08:00

The Blue Vendetta (Phee's big bro and friends) are the featured entertainment at Uptown Saturday Night (notice the carnival lights in the background).

2011-02-26T17:42:00.000-08:00

Phoebe and Audrey Hepburn are the only people we know who choose to dress like this on a Saturday afternoon.

dancing in the street

2011-02-20T10:25:00.000-08:00

70 degrees, a stroll through town

a princess makes her "arts"

2011-02-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

hair cut

2011-01-05T05:16:00.000-08:00

2010-12-30T12:15:00.000-08:00

She may be a princess, but she still wears her helmet.

hair cut

2010-12-30T11:59:00.000-08:00

hair styling is hard work...yawn...

Someone decided to give herself a trim, but only on one side. She said she wanted it like "Cindawedda."

2010-12-26T14:59:00.000-08:00

Top photos are Tucker and Isaac performing in a little Christmas Eve jam. The bluriness adds to the magic, of course.

At left is Phoebe Xiao on her new Skuut on Christmas Day, a beautiful day in the 60s......and lo and behold were there three snow flakes spotted in the 30 degree weather today!

2010-12-26T10:45:00.000-08:00

Peking Duck and Moo shu for Christmas Dinner, a tea party with a pig.

Happy New Year

2010-12-24T04:06:00.001-08:00

[it wouldn't be a christmas tree without an auburn tiger on it, now would it?]

Xiaoyue has her own crew of reindeer: Comma and Cupid and Darnit and Bitzen.....Good names, I think. We're looking forward to tomorrow.

halloween

2010-11-08T13:24:00.000-08:00

Phee was a ballerina. Noora a nice ghost, sienna a bug. Ike, a zombie.

Disney

2010-11-08T04:07:00.000-08:00

i would have never thought i'd be standing in the princess line at MK, but let me tell you, we had a blast. all Phee wanted to do was see Cinda-wedda, and we were going to make sure she did, by golly. she had been hauling around a tiny cinderella action figure all day, so she presented it to the princesses. funny stuff.

Phee turns three

2010-10-31T11:44:00.000-07:00

Pink icing, chocolate cake. A Horse on top. Those were the specifications for Xiao's birthday cake. Guestlist: Noora, Luca and Mateo, Gemma. Lots of fun.

playing around with the iphone hipstamatic...

2010-10-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

2010-08-24T04:52:00.001-07:00

at least there's the water!!!!

2010-08-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

Check out our little swimmer....

2010-08-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

sure miss ya, NM

last days in new mexico

2010-08-23T17:13:00.000-07:00

Dang, we've been home for a few weeks now, and sure miss it. It's 94 in the shade. Ugh...

phee wanted to eat outside tonight (as pictured above in NM), but we were like -- unless you want to melt along with the food...

2010-07-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

2010-07-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

new mexico

2010-07-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

2010-06-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

"Chitago"

2010-06-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

visiting uncle greg, auntie sher. taste of chicago, phee's fave cows at Lincoln Park Zoo. Unc Greg finally got her into the Millineum Park fountain despite the chill in the air. A tired little girl.

2010-06-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

shedd aquarium, chicago chinatown

teaching cousin ted to snap fingers

2010-06-26T18:43:00.000-07:00

visiting phee's great grandma

2010-06-22T19:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Isaac!

2010-06-13T05:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks for taking care of the laundry..........

beach day

2010-05-31T17:20:00.001-07:00

2010-05-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

2010-05-27T04:37:00.001-07:00

battlebands1.wmv

2010-05-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

easter

2010-04-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

2010-03-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

2010-03-27T16:57:00.000-07:00

2010-03-26T17:31:00.000-07:00

suddenly the weather is perfect

we'll enjoy it because we know how ugly it can get a little later on down the road........

2010-03-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

yard work with dad

2010-03-24T17:10:00.000-07:00

Where Dada Doe?

(phee's latest phrase)

This was taken about three weeks ago when it was amazingly still chilly here..,

2010-03-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

This is an older picture. Last year this time as the azaelas are just coming out. But I ran it through titt shift generator -- the freebie app for iphones (on my desk top instead) and can you believe this ? I used the vignetting setting. Can't wait to play around more.

2010-03-16T16:44:00.000-07:00

Phoebe points to the clouds. "Clouds." Yes! I say, because it's the first time she's done that.

We chat about them. The color. Can you touch them. I ask: "Do clouds fly?"
"No00000," she says. "Boirds fly."

And, one more thing...The moon sleeps in the fort (Castillo de San Marcos). When the cat doesn't show up, he also is asleep in the fort. And, of course, the clouds. They sleep at the fort.

2010-03-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

i just love this coat

2010-03-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

2010-03-04T14:57:00.000-08:00

We're a little hesitant about leaving phee alone with the kitchen table after watching the chinese acrobats at epcot....

friday afternoons

2010-02-26T17:04:00.000-08:00

no real need for a title on this one

2010-02-21T13:38:00.000-08:00

Block Masterpieces

2010-02-19T03:19:00.000-08:00

Phee's new evening ritual. Building cities.

play "footfall" with isaac

2010-02-19T03:09:00.000-08:00

Feeding the shadows

2010-02-18T17:35:00.000-08:00

They eat palm berries, bits of dirt, sticks.

a girl and her pig (aka La la the pig)

2010-02-18T17:29:00.000-08:00

She loves

the pig

because if you

give a pig a

party.....

2010-02-18T17:17:00.000-08:00

animal kingdom

2010-02-02T06:39:00.000-08:00

here's xiao with aunt MA and Uncle Ron. And, though we saw other animals, it's easier to photograph a goat than a running giraffe.

2009-12-30T14:52:00.000-08:00

phee and pappa, phee and her new baby doll jogging stroller

Phoebe in Red

2009-12-13T16:54:00.000-08:00

Finally cold enough to wear the cute coat from the Chicago cousins! Thanks, Sheryl. We miss you.

first full sentence

2009-12-11T17:17:00.000-08:00

as in subject verb noun:

"I need shoes," and then when she opened the closet and saw she indeed had shoes, said, "I has shoes."

2009-12-07T03:15:00.000-08:00

Xiaoyue's first trip to Disney. That's our friend Sophie (aka Peeeeyaa as Phoebe calls her) who traveled down from Maryland, and big bro.

halloween

2009-11-01T09:51:00.000-08:00

someone wasn't too interested in wearing her costume, which was no big surprise. she doesn't like ordinary shirts from target, why in the world would she want to wear a pair of wings and a tutu? she wore the wings on friday, then only wanted to carry them around on saturday. i did manage to get the cute hair thingie (i made that!) in her hair long enough for a few pictures.

happy birthday, little wood nymph!

2009-11-01T04:06:00.000-08:00

look who's cooking

2009-10-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

happy

2009-09-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

i love these pictures.
one of xiaoyue's new words?
happy.

2009-09-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

Barely able to get a post in these days. I'm happy to have a job (and a perfect one I might add!, but squeezing in the time is crazy! It's been a hectic week but things should wind down as the freshies (freshman....) get the hang of things and all....

Phee is doing great at her new "school." She's adjusting well from part to full time. She has a new buddy named Ollie, and I can't wait to post some pics of the two together. They apparently crack each other up! I just realized that i double posted a pic! Oh, well. double the cuteness.

2009-08-27T04:28:00.000-07:00

Last summer while we sat the Beijing airport awaiting our flight to Changsha to meet Xiaoyue, we met a Chinese student name Jinnie. She and my parents talked and talked for hours (we were stranded there for quite a while). Turns out Jinnie had just graduated from college and wanted to pursue a master's degree in English literate in the US. I teach English, and so we talked about where she might go to school, etc. Long story short, she is visiting us this week! She is attending graduate school in California and wants to go after her phd. Yesterday she toured St. Augustine, dined at the Columbia, and hunted for shark's teeth at Vilano. Here she is with Xiao and Nanny.

Visiting great gramma

2009-08-25T04:48:00.000-07:00

In early August, we traveled to Alabama to see family. Phee loved seeing her aunts and uncles, second cousins and 92-year-old great grandmother. She and Phee shared blueberries and read together.

One year ago today......

2009-07-28T10:54:00.001-07:00

a festive fourth

2009-07-06T08:26:00.000-07:00

as the hords began to gather next door at the castillo, we had our own cookout and fireworks.

the big fireworks were great (not as great as chama's....) and loud! Phee slept right through them, windows rattling and all.

happy birthday isaac

2009-07-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

helping bro blow out the candles

12 candles aflame

2009-07-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

birthday celebrations at the lake with the boys

2009-06-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

Phee loves the flowing peanut grass in the yard

playing with light

2009-06-26T12:51:00.001-07:00

amazing how the 3 p.m. Florida sun can turn a wet wipe into a hot box

playing in the baby pool

2009-06-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

Summer fun with bro

boxing fun

2009-06-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

aunt sara gave xiaoyue this wonderful set of nesting boxes with fairy tales and fabric insets. it's become one of her favorite activities to stack these boxes, and it's hilarious to see the way she makes these leaning towers with toys propped here and there.

a year ago today.........

2009-06-09T09:14:00.000-07:00

Today

June 9, 2009 front yard

[approximately] april 2008

dao xian county SWI

this was the first picture i saw. those tiny red shoes!

at 1:35 p.m. to be exact last June 9, i got a phone call from Lisa at La Vida. i remember it vividly. even where i was sitting at the dining room table. i scratched notes on a piece of paper. i called craig who was at petco, my parents, some friends and then i had to walk over to the school to get isaac. lisa was emailing the pix, and i wanted to view it with isaac and not alone. it was the day before the last day of school and that morning, i had been maniacally checking the rumor queen and pretty much knew the call was coming, just didn't know when. i'd also gone that morning to isaac's fifth grade breakfast/awards ceremony, and was happy to have had that distraction. Now, it's hard to believe this little baby's face has grown into such a sweet, happy child, full of smiles. We love you Xiaoyue!

big bro isaac

2009-06-03T10:07:00.000-07:00

isaac's band had a gig last weekend at the cultural council's kid art show. My other kids' (www.juiceupthetruesay.blogspot.com) poems were on display on the windows of the gallery. come to think of it, i need photograph those. anyway, here's our Isaac on bass, isaac g. on vocals, julian on lead.

2009-05-29T05:44:00.000-07:00

swimming at gramma's

2009-05-29T05:36:00.000-07:00

my little artist

2009-05-29T05:01:00.000-07:00

baby in a bowl

2009-05-03T16:52:00.000-07:00

i know. i'm a writer, but no time to write blog posts. this is obviously mainly a photo blog for family and friends...anyway, phoebe xiaoyue has just started a morning "school" and she's doing great. i'm thinking of doing a password-protected thing as soon as i can figured out how to do it.....and family folk: i'll send you an email, and anyone else, just email me at my regular email or juiceupthetruesay@yahoo.com and i'll get you the password, etc.

i'm sure it won't be anytime soon. it took me two weeks to paint my home office. twenty minute increments.

2009-05-03T15:15:00.000-07:00

2009-04-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

pretty spring day

2009-04-11T13:33:00.001-07:00