tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67191582009-06-23T11:57:01.038-05:00Personal history of two beautiful girls, Emma and AnnyaXunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.comBlogger492125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-12881030994507636052009-06-23T11:45:00.002-05:002009-06-23T11:57:01.051-05:00

The time we waited for is finally here. Winter is gone. Time for shorts, bathing suits, barbecues and air conditioning. Emma and Annya love to play in the water and sand. We almost lost Emma at the Indiana Dunes. We had to convince Annya that covering her sisters head with sand wasn't a very good idea. The girls did great at the water park. Emma decided to go down a large water slide with

Louishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149593644712368847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-73250808910039605242009-06-23T10:02:00.006-05:002009-06-23T10:21:00.039-05:00

The little kaleidoscope of my little world just kept turning. May was again passed in a blur. June? In June, I uprooted, yet again, my big, noisy family of young and old to the little town of Portage in Indiana. The little kids and the elder parents are happy with the enormous space. We did gardens, flower gardens and vegetable gardens. My mom threw into the ground whatever seeds from the last

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-60170151556339800842009-06-14T08:40:00.002-05:002009-06-14T08:51:06.048-05:00

Dad, boys like to play Spiderman & Batman. Girls like to play Fairy Tails.Yes, boys and girls are different.Dad, I know the difference between a baby boy and a baby girl.How can you tell the difference between a baby boy and a baby girl?Dad, I just look at the clothes, A baby girl will be wearing a dress.You are right, baby boys and baby girls are different...Annya has become very aggressive

Louishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149593644712368847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-92052107215690721462009-06-07T09:27:00.003-05:002009-06-07T10:02:11.028-05:00

Annya has improved drastically with her communication skills. She understands questions and can reply. It is so much fun communicating with a two year old. She listens to every word you say and can understand meanings to words she hears for the first time. Were still working on the potty training, she is about 80% trained. Once in a while she will have an accident. I try to be stern with her and

Louishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149593644712368847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-65749379033809373762009-05-25T22:19:00.007-05:002009-05-26T11:41:54.316-05:00

Why? I almost forgot.At the barn near Lincoln Park Zoo, where Annya was climbing through a giant egg shell.Birthday cakes made for Annya and Louis.

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-69588272182094414332009-05-25T20:17:00.002-05:002009-05-25T20:31:41.345-05:00

When Emma was two, she delighted and amazed us with her abibility of reciting a good number of Chinese ancient poems (we have videos for proof). She has always always been a non-stop singer and giggler. She sang and sang, on and on; she giggled and giggled, for no obvious reasons ... Her teacher told us that she had never met any happier student ...Now Annya!!!Annya is amazing. Currently she is

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-16252305260326535122009-05-24T19:15:00.004-05:002009-05-24T19:50:10.427-05:00

School is just about over. Emma has done very well. It appears that my daily reading to her has paid off. She was accepted to Skinner Elementary School. Mom might deserve a little credit, but were not going to tell her. All year long we received emails from her Teacher telling us how well she is performing. We decided to give Emma one whole week off. She will be attending Summer Camp. We are

Louishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149593644712368847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-32124858313884836522009-05-16T21:33:00.004-05:002009-05-16T21:54:06.459-05:00

Annya has over come some type of un invited Virus. She suffered all week long with high fever and temper tantrums (we suffered with the temper tantrums). She finally over came her fever on the fifth day just like the Doctor said. Thank my God that she didn't have to go to the Hospital on the sixth day.Emma is doing fine and thinking about marriage. This is a little conversation we had about

Louishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149593644712368847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-56140087193851354362009-05-05T23:59:00.002-05:002009-05-06T00:23:33.415-05:00

Dad, do you think these flowers will live? (Dandelions in a cup of water)Emma, why are you bringing weeds into the house?These are not weeds, they are beautiful yellow flowers. They are yellow, but not beautiful.There are so many beautiful yellow flowers outside. I like to blow the yellow flowers when they turn white.Please don't blow the yellow flowers in front of our house. Yellow isn't my

Louishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149593644712368847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-69394029993920308282009-05-05T13:59:00.003-05:002009-05-05T14:15:56.034-05:00

April is supposed to be a beautiful month. The April this year in Chicago is a little cold, a little damp. Still it gradually warms up, occasionally sent us a lot of warm sun. Trees and flowers and grass finally woke up and turned green and opened up the beauty.The spring indeed has come.April is a little crazy for me, in a good way though. The past two months, I am probably one of the busiest

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-16546508848680723632009-04-20T14:45:00.002-05:002009-04-20T15:02:14.342-05:00

Giants and Witches seem to want to appear in the darkness in the little mind of Emma. There is no problem during the day. Just don't let the house get dark and everything will be fine. At night time, we need to keep the lights "open" so that a Giant or a mean Witch won't bother us. It is a nice tool to use to get the girls to go to bed. Turn off one light at a time and they will know it is

Louishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149593644712368847noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-48518404643152723852009-04-08T17:49:00.003-05:002009-04-08T18:03:37.975-05:00

On Feb. 27th, Emma was scheduled to take the CPS tests, one for gifted programs, one for classical schools. One is supposedly talent assessment, the other evaluation of your current "academic achievement". I have always thought she was talented and well-into kindergarten level. Her teachers always give her glowing reviews, and she can just pick a book and read it though (if there are big

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-34583267259802425572009-04-08T16:35:00.002-05:002009-04-08T16:49:19.124-05:00

Night one:Dad when we die, where are we going to go?We are all going to heaven.Are we going to live with Jesus?Yes, we are going to live with Jesus.Can we come back to Chicago with Jesus?Yes, you and Jesus can come back to Chicago.Night two:Dad, can I talk to you?Yes.Come closer Dad.Ok.Dad, Mom said not to believe anything you say.Why?Mom said that when she dies she is going to come back to

Louishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149593644712368847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-38103238573331552032009-03-20T17:06:00.002-05:002009-03-20T17:10:37.773-05:00

Four months, that is the time that I dated Louis before I got married on Monday, March 16th, 2009. My mom picked the date, saying it was a double-lucky day. It is Feb 22nd by the Chinese Lunar calendar, it is my dad's birthday. Sure. I could use the date. Wedding is a magical thing for little girls like Emma. Princesses get married all the time then happily ever after. People get married with

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-39620722891659608382009-03-06T15:24:00.001-06:002009-03-06T15:41:47.306-06:00

Emma's drawing, she said it is for the song: May there always be blue sky May there always be sunshine May there always be mamma May there always be me

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-81743961837825911412009-02-17T16:50:00.002-06:002009-02-17T16:52:03.647-06:00

The past few weeks we have had a birthday party for me and a very pink overly sweetened Valentine. On my birthday, I got great many great drawings from Emma. On each one she wrote "mom, I love you". We made a giant cake, wasted quite some money on very junky frostings, candy decorations and candles and sparkles. Sure the two little kids had a good time. Surprisingly Annya has no taste for cake at

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-56025102336277933852009-02-05T12:27:00.003-06:002009-02-05T13:01:27.034-06:00

Sometimes Emma and I have very serious conversations on some very big topics. Like the following:Conversation in the evening before my birthday:Mommy, how old will you be tomorrow?38. Is that old?It is old. (I pretended to cry) Mommy I do not want you to be old I do not want you to die (Emma was almost crying)Oh, 38 is not very old, just a little. Mommy will you look the same tomorrow?Yes. Mommy

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-7632201838946211622009-01-27T10:25:00.001-06:002009-01-27T10:25:41.730-06:00

When I was little, Chinese new year meant a great deal. You get to wear new / fancy clothes, there would be a plenty and a variety of tasty food, you are supposed to look red / happy, you get red envelops with money, sometimes you even get substantial amount of money especially when you are bigger. The time when I was about to go to college, I got hundreds of Huans. For a few years after I came

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-24298458456857556512009-01-23T07:00:00.002-06:002009-01-23T07:03:52.249-06:00

Teacher's comments on Quarter 2:Emma has grown so much this term. She has become more sociable and comfortable with her friends. Her handwriting and drawing skills continue to be excellent. We are working to strengthen her decoding skills, so that she may become a more fluent reader. She has a strong grasp on numbers and has great critical thinkings skills. We are also working on her ability to

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-78103883604174128922009-01-18T07:50:00.001-06:002009-01-18T08:09:11.855-06:00

So the streak of holidays have run its course. Emma now is back to her school, I am back to work, and Annya is back to her schedule, whatever it is. As usual, I have to think hard to remember what I did for the holidays. My memory does not come back in conversations, a hurried "How was your new year's day?". It comes in some unexpected moments, a little girl passing while staring at me with all

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-7418516171623788952009-01-09T04:31:00.003-06:002009-01-09T04:34:06.623-06:00

A little email conversation between Emma's teacher and me today:Ms. Caunca:Hi Xun!Just a quick little, happy note. Emma came in this morning so happy and beaming. The first thing she said to me as she grinned, "I have a shirt on underneath that says, 'I'm the Big Sister" and she is so proud of it. I feel she is so proud of being a big sister and she talks about Annya so much. Yesterday we had the

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-55554653182612747612009-01-01T10:48:00.001-06:002009-01-01T10:59:23.630-06:00

What is holiday if there is not a lot of videos?

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-65937776754054176182008-12-23T09:53:00.003-06:002008-12-23T10:01:04.353-06:00

Children, especially little girls, in pink dresses, pretty bows, can screw up a performance anyway they would like to, still people would love them.So on Friday, Emma and her preschool classmates, performed on stage. Elements of performance were really scarce, especially the Navitivity play, where they dressed up as angels, sheeps, Mary and Joseph, however, what they did were no more than

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-87200079912024299262008-12-19T10:51:00.000-06:002008-12-19T10:52:31.856-06:00

Having moved to Lakeview for over 3 months now. Winter has quietly taken hold, with snow, snow and more snow. I often fret about the house. So do my parents. It is old, feels cold. It is old, there are quite a few things that are not functional. It is dark and inefficient. It uses a lot of gas and electricity. It is big yet feels small. My parents often lament that it is not as good as my old

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719158.post-20972444623025981042008-12-10T07:20:00.001-06:002008-12-10T07:22:09.850-06:00

Xunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827442827009516164noreply@blogger.com2