Hello 2016

2016 is the year of the monkey! I am so excited to celebrate Chinese New Year here. That is the big holiday. We have already been invited to two celebrations and have plans to go down and explore China Town. I think getting into Chinese New Year last year was foreshadowing our coming here. We are somewhat well versed on it now so we know some of the traditions. I am really excited for the lion dance, and especially excited to see Cosette doing it. She did a pretty good one last year. We had a blast with all the Chinese New Year activities last year.

2016.....I am ready to make a lot of personal changes. I really want to develop good habits this year. It will be ten years since I graduated from High school this year and I have been thinking about what I have been doing these last ten years. I want to change some of the bad habits that are still lingering around from college so I can feel healthier and happier. Onward and upward to being the person I want to be. Maybe since we have been moving in I have been in survival mode. Lyndon's work has been super busy. It slowed down around the New Year, but has picked right back up. It's me and the kids twenty four seven. I am tired and I want to get passed this survival mode I have been in. I am focusing on getting to bed on time. I have set an alarm for my bedtime and this week I have been getting into bed much earlier. It is working! Progress is being made, sort of. Getting in bed is easy, but falling asleep is hard sometimes.

First photo of 2016. We were not planning on staying up till midnight because we are boring old fogies, but somehow we did. So tired.....

Grateful for this handsome hubby of mine. It was really nice to have some time with him during the holidays. We managed to squeeze in dinner one night this week between work and home. We do what we can.

Super awkward kissing photo. This is what happens after midnight when you are getting to that slap happy stage of consciousness.

Cosette started school this week. She is going to a local school down the street from our condo. So far she has not complained about going. I was going to start her later in the week, but she wanted to go right away. She has to wear a uniform, which was no surprise. On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday she wears her uniform dress, and on Tuesday, Friday she wears her gym uniform. And she had to have white closed toe shoes. She goes Monday through Friday in the afternoon for three and a half hours.Which is a lot less than what she was doing in New York. She was so excited, but got nervous right before it started. She went in without any hesitation and was excited to see us when it was time for pick up. Once she gets into the classroom routine things will be better. We went to the Daiso (the Japanese dollar store here) and picked up her colored pencils, and pencil case so she is now has everything that she needs. I met one of the mother's of her class mates after class and we had a nice talk. Fingers crossed we made a new friend, at least we have a friendly face to say hello to. This Mom has three kids one of which is close in age to Henry, so hopefully play dates are in our future.

You have to pay for schools here, so that is why she is going to a local school. It is way less expensive and you still get a great education. We really take education for granted in the US. Education here is a lot more intense. Lots of reading and writing and not as much play. As long as she is happy and learning is what is important. There are always other options if it's too much for her. I have faith in her. I do not think she would want to stop going because she loves school. She loves the educational and social aspect. She still talks about her teachers and classmates from Pre-K in NYC, so I am sure once she gets the routine down all will be well. I am writing this only two days of her attending. There is plenty of time for her to get adjusted. I am going to miss her. We won't be going out and doing as many outings as we usually do now. We will still go and explore, but not as much.

Finished her first week of school! I am really proud of her. This has probably been the biggest challenge she has had. She is the only non Asian kid in the whole school and sticks out like a sore thumb. She is making friends. I dropped her off one day and a little boy was waving animatedly to her. Her teacher says that every day she is doing better with the routine. I hope that she can continue to love school. She asked why she had to go to school one day this week. I told her that school and learning are really important and she comes from a "long" line of educated women starting with her Great Great Grandma, Memaw. Memaw begged and begged to go to school when she was Cosettes age and was allowed to. She eventually went to college and only had two dresses with her. She would wear one one day and wash the one she didn't wear that day and the next day do the same thing. She graduated and became a school teacher. Then my grandma and mom both went to college, and I finished my degree. That really resonated with Cosette. Partly because she only has two dresses for school, haha. When I told her that part of the story she said "just like me". Now she is really wants to go to college, haha. We got her course schedule on Friday and now know what she does everyday. She has forty minutes of Mandarin everyday! It's going to be a very interesting school year for her. 

Going in for class. The teacher checks every student's temperature when they enter the class room.

It's just me and the boys in the afternoons. It's been interesting. Henry is learning how to play with babies. He is giving Raphael a "drink" here.

2016 we hope you are good to us.