We've had quite the year in 2013 - we were so busy that I didn't have time to post - obviously! LOL! If you were on Facebook, though, you were on the roller coaster along with us.
Life is crazy busy in the Kwong household. The kids have a nice balance of friends, school and activities... I love seeing how happy they are...
Ryan is 13 years 5 months old. He's an 8th grader at Our Lady of the Rosary. I can't believe that in 6 months, he will be graduating and I'll be the mother of a high schooler! GAH! He retired from baseball last year so he's now focused on school and being an active member of student council. He takes Hip Hop class after school on Wednesdays and has started showing interest in the space program after enjoying a field trip to the Chabot Space & Science Center and taking a 6 week course after school hosted by Chabot. Jerrod, Joshua, Tyler, Nicholas and Alessandro are still numbered among his best friends. Being a typical teen, dude likes to go to bed late, sleep in until after noon, and mumble under his breath about how I drive him nuts. :) It's hard to believe my kiddo is taller than me now! His feet are bigger, too! Crazy to think my lil' guy is growing into a young man.
Kiana is 11 years 8 months old. Dance, fashion, texting, Rainbow Loom and Dance Moms are her most favorite things. Her BFF is Tyliah... some of her other besties are Irene, Fiona and Rashida. The transition to middle school has surprisingly been a good one. She has terrific teachers and a supportive counselor and AP. I could not be more pleased. Girlfriend is driven and determined to get straight A's which makes me very happy. (As a former CSF honor roll chick, I love that she takes pride in her grades.) When she is not at school, she's dancing... seriously... all the time! :) Currently, she is taking Jazz, Contemporary, and Ballet with Stretch & Strength class and a TDC sesh each week. (5 classes + solo/small group rehearsals) This January marks 2 years since Kia started dancing. In that time, she has grown leaps and bounds! You must watch her dance sometime! She is amazing!!! Kia is starting her 2nd season with TDC (TruDance Company). She is part of the Junior team (ages 8-12). She has 4 competition routines: 2 small groups (jazz & lyrical), a large group (lyrical) and a solo. I'll share her comp schedule in another post. :)
Kaili is 10 years 5 months old. She blows me away with her creative talent. She is still dancing but has chosen to focus on her two favorite genres: Tap and Hip Hop. Tap is her love... Next week, she starts training with Miranda who is absolutely brilliant! It will be a nice change for her. She took a 2 month hiatus from dance to pursue other interests and it has given her the opportunity to recharge. Chef KK has started cake decorating classes through Michael's. She is pretty good at it, too! It is her dream to open up her own bakery/restaurant. In addition to dance and baking/cooking, K is passionate about singing. She hopes to join the show choir someday at the middle and high school levels. She still loves all things miniature and loves to do arts and crafts in her spare time.
Melody is 4 years 11 months old as of right now. I can't believe my itty bitty is going to be 5 in less than 2 weeks! She is funny and very bright. She loves to dance and sing, and create vlogs... yes, you heard me, girlfriend enjoys making videos! She is inspired by all the YouTubers that she watches and would love to have her own show. I'll post one to share soon. Miss Thang is incredibly curious, hysterically silly, and insanely creative. Her imagination and the way she thinks trips me out! She's the only child I've ever known to name her dolls and stuffed animals with names with uncommon sounds. I can't pronounce the names she comes up with but she can, and she remembers all of those names! Fortunately, she keeps the "boring" names for the toys that we play together. Lizzie (her American Girl), Miss Coca, Mr. Carrot & Mrs. Broccoli, and Baby Alive (I can't pronounce the name she gave her) are her current favorites.
Stan is busy busy busy. I admire his dedication to his work but admit that it would be nice to see him before bedtime. I wish he would see his friends more often... but they are just as busy as he is with work and their families. He is very much into pointing out all of life's teachable moments. Very different that he was when we had toddlers and "little kids" in the house. The man has the patience of a saint! I know that all 5 of us push his buttons. Dude still is a hard core gamer, Warriors/Giants/49'ers & Bay Area sports fan, tech savvy guy.
The youngest members of our family are our bunnies: Mochi, Caramel & Cupcake. We lost Mocha last May very suddenly. The kids miss her terribly. Thankfully, with the addition of Caramel & Cupcake 6 months ago, we've been able to bring some joy back to the kids and to Mochi, who was suffering from depression. (Yes, they have feelings, too!) Mochi is our lil' guy. He's chill and keeps his pen relatively neat. He's my Mochi Man! Caramel (aka Houdini) likes to jump his (very high) fence and roam the family room. I'm fine with that as long as he doesn't get himself into trouble. Now that he and Cupcake have been spayed/neutered, they will be able to co-habitate again in one large pen. They just need another week or so to be healed. Cupcake is our lil' diva girl. She's similar to Mocha in personality. Doesn't like to be picked up but loves to be pet. She and her brother love fresh veggies and eat like crazy. They're pretty big now, too! (Mochi only likes pellets, hay and carrots... everything else that is fresh is a total repellant to him.)
Me? Overprogrammed, underpaid (haha!), exhausted... but happy. I keep busy transporting kids around town all day long. I'm back to work as a Remote Stylist for an awesome company called Stitch Fix. I style clients from all over the US. It's super fun! I work up to 29 hours and I am exclusively working from home. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I put in 2 hours in the morning and 3-4 in the late evening. I'm still active as a volunteer at Eastin. Notsomuch at the other kids' schools. I am co-Room Parent for Room 209, co-docent as well... I also am working a lot of 5th grade programming for end-of-the-school-year. I am on Yearbook committee and still day-of coordinator (7 years running strong) for our annual Jog-a-Thon. You can see I'm doing much less than I have in the past... and I appreciate it! :)
Well, that's the skinny on how we're all doing. :) Now that you're caught up on us, I can start blogging again. :) Enjoy!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment