A HARD DAY'S NIGHT

As I am updating Mimi's blog at this moment, I turned around to find that both Mimi and "Butcher's" is passed out cold. While it is true that we have had a busy day not to mention week, it is still not over yet. Ever since Butch has had the works done to him, he has mellowed out just a smidgen. Even he tagged along with us everywhere we went this week, but like I said the week is not over yet. This morning my friend/neighbor Michelle called (they too moved from California. Boy there are a lot of former Californians up here!!!) and suggested that we could take Mimi and Spencer to the Seattle Children's Museum tomorrow. Fortunately both Mimi and Spencer are early risers so we will probably leave around 9 in the morning and try to beat the traffic. Then on Friday Blake is having his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese and then afterward she will go with Blake's family to the airport to pick up his grandma and go back to his house for a sleepover. Meanwhile dad and I will be attending a job function up in Everett. The project that dad has been working finally completed their design for the Everett Hospital and they are having a celebration at some historical landmark. Will have to tell you about it later, I am having a brain fart now. Then on Saturday Mimi and dad will go for her ski lesson and Sunday will be a make up ski lesson and a birthday party. Then next week it will go back to our regular schedule plus one more birthday party on the weekend. PHEW!!!

MOTHER/DAUGHTER DAY

Today started off with gymnastic class this morning. Due to the fact that it is the second Winter break, the kids are out of school this week and because of it Mimi was the only one in her class today. Along with Mimi there were two other boys Adam and Liam in another class. So all in all, the three kids had a private lesson today. Adam and Liam are cousins and both of their families moved up here to Washington from Riverside, California just shortly after we did. Come this June it will be 2 years for us. As it turns out Liam's family lives in Issaquah and Adam's family lives just one block from us. Usually its their grandma that brings them to the gym but this morning it was Adam's mom Elizabeth who brought them. Both of the boys and Mimi always have a blast when they are waiting for their classes to begin. We exchanged addresses so maybe next week Mimi will be able to have playdates with them. Then maybe we will be able to introduce them to Erin's brother Liam since they are all of the same age of 4 years old. It seems that Mimi has several birthday parties this month that she has been invited too so I thought that it would be a great idea if we would go to South Center Mall for lunch and then try to pick out a couple of birthday presents. Unfortunately we could not find anything woth buying but on the upside we were able to have a delicious lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. The Mango Mai Tai wasn't too shabby either. By the time we got home it was already evening and Blake had called so Mimi went over for a while. Meanwhile I still had a few errands to do and so Keri said that it would be ok for Mimi to stay with them for a couple of hours. Going to the nail salon was one of the things on my list. Imagine my surprise when in popped Keri to say that Mimi and Blake were in the car while she went next door to pick up a Papa Murphy's pizza (take 'n' bake). My, my, my we do live in a small town!

EL CORPORAL

When the party was over, we came home for about one hour till it was time to go over to the gym for a make up gymnastic class in the evening. Of course Blake had to come with us cause he hates to miss out on any fun just like the rest of us. He too is getting over the virus and his mom Keri wanted him to come home but he does have a silvery tongue and talked her into letting him come along with us. I think he may by a lawyer in the future, who knows??? As usual, at they gym we saw our other China friends Rhonda and her daughters Emma and Elsie who were already down on the floor, then there was our former neighbor who we just left at the party, Kelly. Kelly's two boys Josh and Cole were at the party and her daughter Jaelyn is a gymnast. By the time practice was over, we were starving! Dad arrived home just a short while after we did so over to El Coporal's it was for a delidious Mexican dinner then bed.

MORE OF NATALIE'S BIRTHDAY

Natalie's birthday party was held at the 321 Bouncy House in Bellevue. The stinky part about having a birthday in the Winter season is that you can never plan on having a party outside. It has to either be at your house or somewhere else indoors. However yesterday was absolutely gorgeous outside. It was just like the title song of the tv show "Here Come The Brides" for those of us who can remember. All of the kids had tons of fun. Even mom got into the act.

NATALIE'S

Monday (yesterday) was Natalie's 8th birthday. Her family also moved up here several years ago from Orange County, California. Although everyone in our neighborhood is sooooo very nice, Natalie's dad Scott and Mimi's dad really clicked because they are close in age and have the same interests. Sometimes little Scotty will ask little Greggy for a playdate on a Saturday night.

PLAYDAY WITH SARA

Sunday afternoon was our monthly buddhist meeting at Daphne's house. We all had loads of fun. Our theme this month/year is The Bucket List. On the previous Friday evening, we women got together at Hazel's for a pot luck dinner and watched The Bucket List as some of the women had never seen it. I saw it together with dad when it came out on Demand but it sure was good to see it again. My bucket list is definitely getting longer and longer by the day. When all was said and done, dad, Sonia and myself stayed around and had a playdate with Daphne while Mimi, Sara, Pepito and Tasha watched Madagascar. It was definitely a lovely day.

VALENTINES DAY 2009

Valentine's Day started off with a phone call from Mimi's BFF Samantha in California. Samantha is recuperating from a broken leg and will be out of comission for several weeks. A short while back Mimi had sent her a care package to help Samantha feel better. It was filled with all sorts of candy and toys that Mimi herself really likes. Later in the afternoon grandma and grandpa came over to the house for a delicious homemade Chinese dinner. Grandma brought Mimi a box of chocolates, the bear (Fuzzy) was given to her by dad and the Yorkie (Pretty) was given to her by mom. Pretty comes equipted with bowl, dog bone, cape, carrier and a leash. So now Mimi won't have to steal Butche's leash.