HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY BRYCE!

We are not sure how long we will have Bryce with us. He has brought so much joy to our family that it would be so wonderful if he were to stay forever. But the reality is that we will have to wait and see what happens. Until then, we are just enjoying him and trying to provide him with a safe and loving environment to grow. And make some happy, new memories too!

There is a picture of Daniel and his cousins sitting in front of the huge Mickey outside of the Disneyland Hotel that Bryce looks at everyday and points to. Yesterday for his birthday we found that Mickey and took his picture in front of it. He was thrilled to see it in person!

My big boy posing with Pluto before brunch.
Goofy comes to the rescue and escorts Daniel to the bathroom!
He looks much more smaller in pictures! Eventually Bryce warmed up to Goofy and rubbed his nose, gave him a high five.
Celebrating with friends and family!
Where in the world but Goofy's Kitchen can you get a peanut butter and jelly pizza?
The three "free" babies ate way more than the 8 year old boy that had to pay!

The sounds of the street performers and... a PSP game.

I love THOMAS THE TANK!  Everything Bryce got was perfect! Lots of learning "tools" to work and ... 

a chocolate Elmo cake too!

CAKE!!!

Adventures in California...

We went to California Adventures today. The great thing about having Disney passes is that you don't have to stay the entire day, wear the kids out, and push to get your money's worth. So we just go for a few hours and then we are out! It's a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Waiting in line for 20 minutes for a ride that is over in 30 seconds! I kid you not! We even chose to wait a little longer to sit in the front seat (Daniel is a big... "I want to sit in the front," kind of kid), and you can do that at Disneyland, if you are willing to wait it out.
Guess who got front row floor seats at the Playhouse Disney live show? Bryce is such a big Disney fan and was amazed by the show... bubbles, music, and Mickey! What more can an almost 2 year old ask for?

MY STUDENTS AND AN 80'S RAPPER...

The Black History Program this year at school was truly a history lesson.  It was long, but a very well thought out and wonderful journey of history.  So Daniel is suppose to dress and dance to the 80's.  Having mom that lived through the 80's, I decided to use NKOTB photos to help inspire his outfit, since he refused to wear his Aladdin (think MC Hammer) costume!

Mom made him a vest, high tops from NYC, curly hair-natural.
My students with their usual group shot in the garden.

This was the 3rd performance of My People, by Langston Hughes,

and it was late in the afternoon, but still as wonderful.

MAKING COOKIES FOR CLASS!

Daniel's class assignment for Valentine's Day was to bake cookies for a Friendship Exchange... of course this couldn't have been a more busy day: guitar lessons, mommy had a conference with teachers on the computer, homework needed to be done, baths, dinner, and then... 
cookie time!  Thank goodness PoPo was able to lend a helping hand!
Pouring in the mini m&ms into the dough!
Um, maybe I should test one them out...
After the first batch went in, mommy had to finish the rest, but it all worked out!

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY ALEXANDRA!!!

Happy Birthday to sweet Alexandra!
She is a Valentine's Day baby!
We love you and hope you have an
amazing and happy, happy birthday today!

HERE WE GO AGAIN...(the unlucky toilet revisited)

Here we go again...

I know there is something going on with the toilet in the main bathroom. I just know it! First Daniel sends Leonardo (the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, not the painter or actor) back into the sewer via the toilet in the main bathroom. = Goodbye $240 to the plumber who rescued him.

Then a year later, the DS that Daniel just couldn't put down, accidently fell into the same toilet in the main bathroom. Although it was rescued quickly, the DS decided it was done. =Goodbye $129.

So why would this be any different for Bryce? We couldn't figure out why the toilet in the main bathroom was draining so slow. We tried to "fix" it, but after a few days, it became apparent that we couldn't do the job alone. Maybe it just needed a good snake?

Now we know what happened to the bobble head Spiderman that Daniel had been looking for this past week. =Goodbye more $$$ it's not like I needed to buy anything for a new 2 year old or anything. The plumber happily took care of that.

Next time, maybe we will just replace the toilet?

MAKING NEW MEMORIES...

Bryce has been obsessed with our Disneyland photos around the house.  So we decided to make new memories today!
We picked up Tia, who gave Daniel a lesson in hair products!
On the tram to the Magic Kingdom!
Staring at the pictures of Mickey and friends...
We're in! And strapped in nicely to prevent bolting!
Tia aims to zap the evil guy on the Buzz Lightyear ride...
In the front row of It's a Small World...

"Oh, my I didn't know he would be so tall!"
Bryce bursted out in tears when he got up to Mickey! Go figure, this was his idol... on paper!
Getting tired and needing to be carried by Tia...
Nice relaxing bath before bed...

CHINESE NEW YEAR DINNER #2

Instead of going out, we stayed in with yummy food from Sam Woo's and mom's homemade soup and shrimp/scallop dish! 

Someone wanted to play DS instead of eat, while someone else was daring and tried a little of everything!
Bryce loved meeting Auntie Vickie! He cried when they left!

BRUSH, BRUSH, BRUSH YOUR TEETH!

More Pictures!

Spiderman and his new sidekick!

Giving Lucy some lovin'

Gotta give some love to Katy too!

This is a very special robot from England!

Playing and dancing with the keyboard...

And bangin' on Daniel's drum set too!

A NEW KID IN TOWN...

So I get a phone call from my social worker today at lunch. She had a possible placement. He is either 2 or 3 (not sure about the age right now). Long history that I won't get into now, but appears to be developmentally okay.  The only thing was he needed a quick placement... LIKE NOW!  So fast forward to 5 hours later at home...

Daniel and Bryce... someone was a bit jealous.

Very sweet kid who loved to imitate the big boy

doing things that Spiderman does, 

but mommy doesn't like!

Please wish us luck!  It's not a done deal, we are just

playing it one day at a time, but he is a cutie

and loves music just like Daniel does!

Tia's in Town!

Okay, so Tia's in town, but she will only allow certain pictures of her to be made public! Silly Tia! She is in from Boston where she now lives with her young, retired, hubby. We are thrilled to have her here because we didn't get to spend much time with her this summer. We had dinner at Harold & Belle's. Here she is with mommy. I know how to take pictures!
Here is a picture I took of Tia and me. This was the only picture she "approved". She has a cool phone and I was trying to watch ABC News on it during dinner (since I don't eat much). We are hoping to spend the weekend with her and get her the carrot cake cupcakes she likes so much.