A Love Letter

Thursday usually is the day I want to dress in absolute comfort. It is the day I volunteer in my daughter's Kindergarten class.  I avoid anything that would prevent me from bending down or sitting on the floor comfortably or too low cut or delicate to withstand the innocent pulling of young children.  I have seen other bloggers who are teachers, looking gorgeous in their pencil skirts.  I am always curious how they manage to do that.  Maybe they are upper grade teachers.  I love pencil skirt, but  try getting down to the eye level of 5 year olds, it can be a difficult task.  

(Outfit detail: Top: Nordstrom Caslon color block tee. Cardigan: JCREW Bottom: Vince Camuto Riding legging. Boot: from Hong Kong 10 years ago.)

On aiding day, I also make sure I go to bed extra early the night before.  I tend to be very impatient with kids when I didn't have enough sleep.  

Today's greeting is something I haven't seen in the past few month.  They each take off a shoe and put in the center of the circle.  Starting with the child of the day, they pick up a shoe, match it up to the owner and say Hi!

Thursday routine usually consist of writing and making pretzels and choice time.  While the pretzel starts to get a bit boring for me now that we are onto letter "M".  I also realize the mistake of wearing black.  The dusting flour shows too well on the black pants.

Writing time is always fascinating to me.  The classroom takes a free spirit approach during writing.  Children write, or mainly draw at this stage, anything that they might fancy.  It is amazing to see the different ideas flourish during this time.  You definitely see the difference between boys and girls.  While girls carefully details out rainbow, flowers, dog,  princess, or other beautiful things and write things like "I like flowers" or "I love you",  boys boldly explodes not only with colors and lines, but also sound effects during the process of making laser guns,  black hole, or ninja and write things like "blizzard", "Poke ball (as Pokemon's weapon)" or some other fancy sci-fi world that completely out of my comprehension.  

Choice time is always the children's favorite.  Today it seems everyone is into making something.  The crafts table became really crowded.  There are a group making airplanes and flying ships.  Later two boys ask me if they can go outside to test out their results.   I thought that would be a good idea and accompanied them to the kiner yard.   Today is a very windy today.  One flied and the other one plunged like a rock with all the stables. I ask them to observe why one worked and point out the winds and hollow body and why the other one not (it was a chunk of paper with lot of stables)  Another group was making shields and swords. 

My daughter generally love making something. but today she was busy writing something on a chair.  There were no room on the table.   Since she didn't complain about it, I let her be.  A while later, she handed me a letter, with a hand made envelope:

 

Oh, I love you too, baby!

Ah weekend!

After running around like chicken without a head the whole week, I am so glad it is finally weekend!

We had a blast last weekend at the beach even though the weather is somewhat cold. But that is just the norm for northern California beach.  I laughed so hard every time the kite plunge its nose to the sand.  Hubby eventually got pretty good at it.

(In the picture, my daughter is wearing JCREW fedora hat ($9.99 here),  JCREW terry sweat shirt, Disney small world skirt, really love the print)


Happy weekend!

Parent training

My daughter's school parent training starts today.  3 hours each week for three week.  It landed on the group meeting time so I end up taking the PTO for those hours and then make up the hour later at night.  On top of that, I am running a low fever, which makes my head turns into a bucket of water, every time I move, it feels like jello inside, and it hurts. However, the training is rather interesting. The thing about parenting is that it didn't come with a manual, so it is nice to get this free training from school and you might be able to apply that later at other environment.

This is a completely child center school.  The basic philosophy is that children are naturally curious, so if we provide the support and nurturing environment, they will blossom.  Whether the flower came out to be the kind you like is a different story, but they will blossom. We, the parents and teachers,  should respect them as individuals, appreciate their uniqueness, tuning to their needs, allowing them to grow at their own pace and trusting their good will when the behavior occurs. They emphasize on the whole child approach. Their emotional growth is just as important as academic and art.  So it is OK to eat in the time originally scheduled for math or art if they needed to take a longer time to hash out the emotional conflicts rise during recess, because emotional growth is just as important. They want the children have a safe environment to express themselves and explore.  They will not be judge for their capabilities, but instead, their efforts.   They encourage cooperation rather than competition.  I think that last part really turn some parents away from enrolling in this school.

OK, easier said then done, right?

There is also an interesting discussion on what the difference between encouragement and praise.  In this school philosophy, praise is less desirable than encouragement. Why?

Because praise is external and a reward.  It focuses on the end product.  It is result of comparison to others. When you praise, you are judging. As a result, children's self worth depends on others, and wanted more and more praise.  Some fears not being praised and became afraid to try when things become difficult.

Encouragement however is a gift. It focus on progress and effort and is very specific.  Children learn to appreciate their own special qualities and feel capable, loved and appreciated.

So what is the language of encouragement?

We want the encouragement to describe the specific. It acknowledges effort.  It notices the uniqueness and looks for the positive. It is important not to give and then take away.  I find this particular point especially important because I tent to do that. Instead of saying "you must feel like a big girl putting the shoes on yourself, but let me fix it;". You can always tell the second part later.

So how do I apply all I learned in the class at home even though it is meant for the classroom?

I tell my daughter at night when she is practicing piano that she tried very hard to play this difficult new song.  I told her I notice she had curve her finger 5 better than last week when she move her fingers closer to the edge of the key. I told her it is OK it isn't perfect yet because the recital still 1 month out, she'd be really good by then.  I told her sympathetically that those transition from natural note to sharp note are really hard and I couldn't do the half of what she does.   Did it worked?  For most part of the night, she didn't fuss too much.  However,  at the end, when she is tired and losing her core strength, it is the fried lima beans push her through the finishing line.  1 song 1 bean.  *grind* Philosophy always worked better on paper.

Aka "mule"

A co-worker told me her niece came visit from China through a summer camp.  First day coming to the states, the teacher took them to Union Square in San Francisco. The group of ten to fourteen year old went to a shopping spree, buying on average 6 or 7 regular price coach bags.  One boy even bought a channel for his mom. My first reaction was "wow, I don't even own a channel bag, those children are spoiled."

Hubbie's comment after hearing the story: aka mule -- I think that refers to some kind feature you can enhance yourself  to carry more weapons and goods in the Fallout game he played.

He's got a point.  Those bags are probably not for the kids themselves, but for the family and friends.  Parent probably ask them to bring those back because it is authentic and cheaper than in the China market.  They could probably even resell them at a higher price.

Still, it feels wrong.

If parents spend money to send your children abroad.  What is the purpose?  I thought they would want to let the children experience the culture.  It would be more meaningful to walk along the twisted street of lombard, or hop on a cable car, or witness the iconic golden gate bridge.  Shopping at Union square and be weight down by those luxury goods early in the trip just didn't seem to fit into my idea of camp. Adding the airfare and camp fee, I am not sure it is even economical.

Having said that, I did spend my birthday checking out the anthro store at Union square.  They have so much more selections than the Santana Row store, especially the sale items. Some items are sold out on line.  I end up getting the Mementos Maxi Dress with the birthday discount.  I think most likely I will end up wearing it on the weekend.  Somehow maxi dress says weekend and vacation to me. Is that just me? Will you wear maxi dress to work?

Dress: Nordstrom ECI print maxi dress.  Necklace: Anthropologie Curiosity Shoppe Necklace

Somehow pencil skirt spells work more seriously. I wasn't much of a pencil skirt person, but lately I had grown to love it.

Top: Expanding Horizons Tank
Bottom: JCREW Ikat skirt
Shoes: Anthropologie

We build the city

Hope everyone had a refreshing monday!  Weekend surely pass by quickly.

My daughter was at camp Galileo last week.  The theme is "Lost in forbidden city".  They gave a presentation on Friday afternoon, showing various craft they made.  Her age level built Chinese Pagodas and a building like thing(not sure what it was, but it looks like a parking garage to me :) They also make kite and mold a small cup.   My daughter end up building one level extra for everything they asked her to build.  Go above and beyond, that is the right spirit! One of the project for older kid did is to use recycle material to build a King's play ground. I thought it was kind of fun.  Even though the camp had it for older age kid, I thought it is totally doable for 5 year old too.

So here is what we end up making over the Saturday morning. We have a swing, a slide, a monkey bar and a place to crawl.

It was fun. My daughter probably had more fun playing with it than her real playground toys.

I am actually surprised how difficult it is for children this age to understand 3 dimension.  She really thinks 2 dimension of everything. I ask her how many poles she will need to make her monkey bar and she said two.  So I told her to look at the table as a model and that helped.

I also received my on line order from anthro Friday too.  I ended up returning most of them due to sizing issues.  Boy, I gained weight....  The only thing I kept was the Fiery Crossback Tank. The color of this top is very vibrant. Material is soft and comfortable.  The back is the best part but it is also the most troublesome because you'll need the right bra. So I just cover it up with the cardigan.

I got an Anthro's birthday discount too, however, I don't have anything I desperately wanted at the moment.  I wish my birthday is in the winter.

Nordstrom Half Yearly Sale

Nordstrom is having a half yearly sale for women and kids right now and you get double the reward points if you have a nordstrom card.  Here are some of my picks.


Willow & Clay Short Sleeve Print Dress  I like the shape of this dress. It reminds be the Betty dress sold out at Madewell at one point. Carol from In pursuit of the pretty things did a review on this a while back.  I'm not sure how I would feel about the polyester material because I order it on line, but with it on sale, I am going to give it a try.

Trixxi Eylet Trim Dress The dress doesn't look good on the picture and it is not on sale,  but it is super cute in real life.  Our local Nordstrom put it on the manikin and it was sold out within 2 days.  We walked by when we were doing a fitting for my daughter's shoes.  The one on the manikin was the only one left.  I must admit I felt embarrassed buying junior dress. But the fabric is heavy enough and hey, it is got a Bow and stripe and Eyelet, How can I resist? It is a bit on the short side since it is a junior sizing so I will wear legging with it. I took a 5 but I could zip up to 3.

For those of you have little ones who outgrown their shoes in lighting speed, I highly recommend Tsukioshi kids  shoes, especially if they have somewhat of a wide feet.  Those shoes are super light weight and super comfortable.  They are even machine washable!  No break in needed.  My daughter wears them 80% of the time comparing to other shoes she had.  They are a bit pricy and doesn't go on sale very often, but really worth it.  Keep in mind they do run half size bigger than other brand.  Apparently the 40% off Mary Jane for toddler is already gone.  I felt lucky to got 2, my daughter's current size and the next size up, but hey, there are always chance for pop backs.

Tangled

It may be a while before I post any OOTD pictures because I had a bad hair cut recently. I have to figure out how to make it work. I heard a nice blow dry would fix almost any bad haircut, but I am sure how yet.

Getting a hair cut is always risk especially if you are trying out a new hairstylist.  We recently discovery a hairstylist near our home.  The biggest advantage is that she cuts hair super fast.  For men, 4 minute per hair cut and it is cheap.   I had send hubby, my son, my daughter and my mom to her as a guinea pig. All of them were satisfied with her.  So I  gave her a try.  I didn't quite like the way she did it with mine because the layer she did was a bit too harsh.  Hubby had convinced me to go to her again.  He said since she is cheaper and faster, maybe we can afford to tweak it till we are satisfied.  Sounds good, right?  Well, the thing is that once you cut it too short, you can't do anything but waiting for it to grow back. So I am really kicking myself for giving her the second try after not totally impressed the first.

So here is a backlot OOTD picture before the haircut.  It has seem that the navy/martime style is in season now.  This is my take on it with what I have.

(Top: Anthropologie Topsy Henley Bottom LOFT Navy Twill Sailor Skirt Necklace: Kate Spade Seahorse Pendant.)

On the same topic of hair, my daughter is very fascinated by the Rapuzel story even though she hasn't watch the movie yet.

This is actually supposed to be a puzzle, because she hide her name in the picture, Can you spy the letters? She is very pround when my attempt of finding the letter V fails the first few time.  Then of course, I thought the unicorn was the letter E. 

Just a quick edit for today:  Lisa from CONFESSIONS OF A CALL CENTER GAL just awarded me with the Stylish Blogger Award.  What a surprise!  Thanks Lisa, I am so flattered.  I will have to wait for tomorrow to do the rest with what you supposed to do with the award, but I am so happy to get this award.  It is a nice pick me up.  

let's go to the zoo

Last weekend, the whole family took a trip to the zoo.  While watching the elephant feeding, one of the elephant started to take a dump.  It was "amazing" and "disgusting" according to my daughter's friend. It must made quite an impression on the kids, because this is what she draw. (see the orange dump on the green grass?)

Here is an outfit picture.  I finally bought the tote bag from Nordstrom  to replace my fallen apart computer bag.  It is big enough to hold my laptop and a few other things.  I may have to get a computer sleeve later to protect the laptop because it kept rub against my water bottle.

Top: JCREW cami Sweater: Anthropologi Breezy Dot cardigan. Skirt: Ann Taylor Lace skirt. 
Bag: L.A.M.B. tote

Sakura

Today is hot.  88 degree when I step out of the office. Hard to believe it is not even April. The Japanese weeping flowering cherry we planted last spring was in full bloom right now.

I wish the weather will last through the weekend, but the forecast calls for rain. 

Have you ever read a love story where the two lovers were made for each other, but then one of them are too high class and the other is too poor so they couldn't be together? A happy ending usually ends with after many years, with the change of the era or after a war, they finally met again by chance, or by destiny.

This how I felt about this medallion dress.  It is like a long love affair.  I got this dress last spring but return it because it was too expensive even for the sale price.  However I do like the bright lime color and the fit was good.  In the winter when I was browsing the sales, I saw it mark down to $19.99.  I pick it up without any hesitation this time.  It was cold and so it just sits in the closet, till now.


Dress: Anthroplogie Medallion Dress
Cardigan: Anthropologie bloom lattice cardigan
Belt: Ann Taylor Loft
Shoes: Seychelles 'Amethyst' Peep Toe Pump

A day off (includes a Nostalgic Asterisks Dress Mini review)

Before I start let me say this.  I am totally in awe of stay-home mothers.  They are so busy all the time and yet manage to maintain their calm and patience.  A lot of people including their dear husband probably don't even realize it.  They do this day after day without much vacation.  For those of you stay home everyday caring for your little ones and the family, please please give yourself a break from time to time because you so deserve it.

I took the day off because my daughter had the day off.  Her school was having parent teacher conference.  I didn't want to stress out about watching her at the same time working and risk losing my temper. It is supposed to be her day off too. So what did I end up doing all day?

Driving.... Driving in the rain....

That is how I felt I spend my whole day. Here is the detail run down.

My daughter got up really early in the morning.  Ever notice kids always get up early during weekend on non-school days?   I made her breakfast and then help her with the new tune for her piano class a little bit.  We played a few round of Zingo in between and it is time for her dentist appointment.

We drove to the dentist place in pouring rain.  Luckily she didn't get cavity this time.  Yay! We then went to a pizza joint I saw from yelp for lunch.  My daughter loves pizza but doesn't get to eat it often because of her brother's wheat allergy problem.  I thought it would be a nice treat.  Turns out she is so used to school's cheap pizza, she doesn't quite appreciate the Chicago style thick crust.

Back home picking up my badge so we can get cooperate discount, we headed to the Children's discovery museum. Time really flew by fast there.  To the right is the end product we made using colorful pipes.  On our way back, rush hour traffic started already and it was worse when it rains.  After eating a bottle of yogurt for snack and changing to her tutu, we rush to the ballet class and only to find out we forgot her ballet shoes. I  told her to go in first and rush back to get her shoes.  By then I was totally late for the parent teacher conference which is schedule tightly at 15 minutes after her ballet class starts.  I called the school to notify them my lateness while sitting in front of the red lights.  By the time I got to there,  my allotted 20 minute slot is almost over. Luckily she had two teachers, so one was able to talk to me while the other talks to the parent in the next time slot

I walked out the school and it is 5:30.  Wait... how did the day go by so quickly? I felt I haven't even done much.  I haven't had any time for myself.  At least at work I get a break at lunch and in the afternoon, I get myself a cup of coffee.


Her school is close to Anthro store so I went ot return a few things.  Normally I just walk out without trying on and this time I decided I deserve to have a little break.  This is what I picked.


Nostalgic Asterisks Dress


The vibrant red color of the dress is what grabs my attention at first.  The print is modern and not overwhelming.  Cotton, check, machine wash, check, side pocket, check, lined, check.  All the elements I like about anthro dress are there.  Thanks to the elastic in the back, I was able to fit into 2 without much problem even though it is size zip.  However the chest area fits poorly on me.  Maybe I am just too flat chested or maybe the spigetti strap is too long.  The front area sags and lumps like an empty pouch.  Not flattering. Although it doesn't work for me, it does look gorgeous on other blogger .  See it on Roxy  and Kay  and Liz.

After dinner, just when I got ready to call it a day.  my daughter said, "mommy, didn't you promise to buy me a gift if I don't have cavity in the next dental exam?"  Yes I did, and that was half year ago.... They never forget.  Sometimes parent really owe their children.  

"Can we go?" 

"Now?" 

"Pleaseeeeeeee?"

OK, I do owe her.

Twin sets - OOTD

This morning after shower, my daughter walked in and ask if I have a long sleeve navy dress.

It turns out I do.

Somehow at this age, she likes everyone to dress the same.  In the past she felt exited if the whole family wore jeans one day.  I think somehow it gave her a sense of belonging and comfort.

I would had preferred wearing jeans on weekends, something like this.

Tee: Anthropologie stripe henley
Cardi: Anthropologie Before 5  Cardigan
Bottome: Gap Jeans
Boots: Hush Puppies


I also felt silly because she insist that we should wear exactly the same thing,  or as identical as our wardrobe allowed.  On the other hand, I don't mind humoring her on a lazy Sunday morning just to see her smile.

So here is today's outfit came out her highness's dictatorship.

My daughter's outfit : I am listing hers first because this is what she throw on and make me copied.  After this, she happily announce: "That is great! Now we can be twins" I'd felt much happier if I hear this 15 years down the road.

Dress: JCREW jersey dress
Cardi: JCREW Chiffon Bow Cardigan
Legging: Gap
Boots: Nordstrom
Belt: borrow from her Disney princess Jeans.

My outfit:

Dress: JCREW jersey dress

Cardi: JCREW Dulphine open cardigan

Belt: Anthropologie Soft Bow Belt

Shoes: Hush Puppie

Tights: JCREW dotted tights

Pin: Borrow from a JCREW skirt

Doodle for Google

Have you notice how Google changes their logo due to the occasion for the day?  It is truly a array of beautiful artworks.   Around this time of the year, Google also have a competition call Doodle for Google every year for the students to exercise their artistic talent to design their logo.  The finalist gets to put their work on google's web page for one day along with the scholarships. You can find out all the details on how to enter your little artist on the website provided above.  You can also see an array of artwork in this them here.

My daughter is still too young to enter this contest,  but she did her version of her own in the art class the other day. While she is totally missing this years design theme of "What I’d like to do someday…" I really enjoyed her work.  I especially like how she use "e" as a hamlet. :-)

 I think her version should be named "The world according to Evelyn". That horse like thingy at the right top corner, b.t.w, supposed to be a unicorn.  She was quite offeneded when I ask innocently "is that a horse"?

Well, while playing with the template features of blogger.com, I accidentally lose my original template and I don't like what it is right now. I can't quite revert back because I didn't back the original up.  Well, it will take sometime before the skin turns to something to be desired...


Last I leave you with an outfit from this past weekend.  This is my favorite pair of jeans after the previous one got a hole on the butt.   Oh, how I wish I can wear that to work, but as casual as our company are, I didn't felt  it is appropriate to wear salvage jeans :( but they are super comfortable.

Top: Anthro don't remember the name
Bottom: JCREW Selvege jeans,
Cardigan: JCREW cashmere crewneck sweater

Chinese New Year performance

My daughter's school had a Chinese New Year performance today.  She attends a bilingual school and her Chinese is much better than English at this age. She told me the teacher said they need to have their hair in Chinese bun. So this is how she look leaving the house today.

The pre-school's main hall is decorated with the Chinese new year craft kids make.  My daughter's class made paper plate bunny for the year of Rabbit.

The artistic part of the performance is very questionable, but my daughter try to sing as loud as she can  :-)   It almost sounded like she is yelling.  

After the performance they each get rewarded with a self-made red pocket filled with gold coin chocolate.  She was generous enough to share it with us.

One thing I am proud to say is that although both of us are working, we rarely miss any of school event.  It is one of the flexibility of working in the engineering field. You make up what you need to do at night.  I am also proud of Hubby for attending all those events because I knew there are a lot of men don't attend those events even though they have that flexibility.  They felt their wife had already represent them and therefore unnecessary for both to be there.  I felt it is very important for men to witness the little steps their kids, not only for the kids, but also for themselves too.  

Oh, what fun it is to ride

on a Plasama car!

Have you seen a plasma car?  This little car is so light and nimble but uses no power. All you do is twist twist twist, wiggle wiggle wiggle your handle :-)

I first saw some mom posted it on the a Chinese forum and thought about buying one for the kids.  However hubby objects to it so I had to backed off.  His reason is that the kids are old enough to ride a bike, what fun would it be for something simple like this.

We again saw it at A friend's daughter's birthday party and both my boy and girl had a blast with it and hubby was totally sold on this.

And no competition because you can ride together. (I guess you can still fight about who gets the driver seat)

We pick one up from Costco the next week and had kept it in-door.  It runs even more smoothly with the hardwood floor.  This little thing is so nimble.  A full 360 turn in the messy kids room is not a problem.

And it is sturdy.  So finally I couldn't help getting on it myself any more.

We twist and we laugh and we go to pretent super markets and trying to back up to the tiny space between the two couch as our parking spot.

If you need to buy a gift to kids, you should consider this one.

Late Slip

Today we have to get a late slip at school for our son.   Somehow we were extra unlucky on our way.  We hit every red light on, not a single one escaped.  My daughter sings every time we hit a red light because she believes if she sings, it will make the traffic light turn green faster.  Oh, well, superstition starts early.

So we were 5 minute late by the time we got to the classroom.  We drop our son off at the classroom and then headed to the administration office.  My daughter goes in, takes a deep breath, and sum up all her courage and said to the lady in the front desk in her somewhat still baby-like voice:

"I need a late slip."

After a long pause, as if she needs another big breath, she add,

"for my brother".

The lady in the front office was very amused. So was I.  I hope when she gets to kindergarten, we don't  have to get many late slips for her.

Here is an OOTD picture.  I just want to show off all the good deals I have got lately, haha.  Have you been buying things out of your wishlist just because they are on sale?  I was doing that with Anthro second cuts.  I just couldn't resist.  For example, with this Anthro Formally Layered Cardigan, I don't know how many times I pass by it and every time I saw the two layer, I thought, hmm, that just looked really weird.  Along came the second cut, I just had to try it on and end up liking it.  It is rather thin so the look is a bit deceiving if you are expecting something warmer.  Otherwise, it is rather nice, drapes nicely and very fall like.

Spec:

Cardigan: Anthro Fromally Layered Caridgan. $39.99
Top: Anthro In Flight Tee $9.99 (still available in both sky and moss Item number is 18421016)
Pants: LOFT knit black pants $29.99
Shoes: Matisse Women's 'Holmes' Booties $52.99. ($96.99 now at overstock.com)

Sale season starts early?

There seem to be many deals going on right now.  Many offers 30% discounts.  Gap just finish their round of Give and Get promotion.  Right now JCREW has save extra 30% on sale items promotion using the JCREW promotion code. I didn't see anything particularly stand out for myself but did get to score something for my son.  Many are gone instantly like the military jacket for $38.   Still available is the Boy's Sherpa hoodie

Jcrew's Sherpa hoodie is of very good quality.  I have bought other brands of similar product, such as Crazy 8 and Gap, none has the quality that would remotely compare.  It is very warm, enough for the winter here in SF bay area and is super soft.  It withdands many wash without getting thin out.  Of course this is a gender neutral piece that can easily pass down to my daughter.  Highly recommend it for its quality.  With the discount it came out to $30.24.  It is still expensive.   Considering boys don't get to have many cloth,  I felt it is worth the splurge on a few piece he constantly wears.

Ann Taylor also has the friends and family 30% off promotion.

I strongly recommend the Luxary Drape Wrap.  I have a thing for unstructured wraps.   This is such an interesting piece because it can be wear in so many different ways  and is very soft and warm.  I got the gray color after drooling over it for sometime  and loved it.  The current addition of carmel color adds lovely warmth to the tone.   It is slightly itchy so I would wear a long sleeve inside though.


I have also noticed that the store sometimes have the sale item cheaper than online so if you have time it is probably better to go to the store.

Men's wear fashion?

Men's wear inspired clothing has always been around.  There is the boyfriend chino, or boyfriend cardigan, then there is Men's suit inspired dress.

I myself was never really into any of those trends, mainly because I had such a straight figure and the slouchy pants usually make my already petite figure even shorter.

On the other hand,   I totally love it when Crew cut uses boy's cloth on their girl models.  They are so cute!

Oh, and how I love when my daughter wears her brother's pass down cloth.  Maybe because most of the time she is such a girly girl, wanting to wear a dress and be pretty all the time. It was a new fresh look she is still too young to appreciate herself.  So what is my daughter wearing? Top: Gymboree turtle neck sweater, Bottom: CREW cut boy critter chord pants (pass down from my son). Hat: Gap Shoes: Hello Kitty glitter ballet slipper from target

I think at this age, they can pull off wearing anything.

Beauty and the Bird and the Haloween horror

Photo taken at school Halloween parade.  Dress: Southern Bird Dress, Cardigan: J CREW Cashmere Vneck Cardigan, Vest: JCREW puffer vest, Belt: Via Spiga Studded Belt (buy it here)

Hope everyone all had a blast during Haloween weekend. This is a catch up post from the Halloween. Hubbie has been out of town for a week. Without me spilling my complains like crazy, I tell you this much, taking care of an autistic 6 year old and a needy 4 year old by myself is very exhausting. Every early morning of last week, one of them gets a nightmare and cries.

So what is a halloween without a horror story, right? Well, our horror story was -- actually a gross one. Remember the cute Mickey pumpkin we had?

Mickey's ear fell off on Halloween!

Hubbie had put it on top of the fridge before he left for China for a week. He was worrying the kids will mess with it. There were nails used to secure mickey's ear to his head so we didn't want them to accidentally get hurt.

The room temperature is too high. Mickey melted into a puddle of water and the ear falls off because of the main pumpkin gets so soft. We didn't notice till my daughter screamed. Of course clean up is a bit troublesome with some water leaked into the freezer session and froze.

Despite the little misfortune with our pumpkin head, we had a pretty fun Halloween. My daughter is her usual princess.  Last year she was a fairy.  What else? Disney marketing team should pad themselves in the back.

Here is a Maryln Monroe post.

Here is my handsome transformer at his school parade.