Big Day!

Today was a big day for the Chin kids! Amelia decided that she was ready to have her ears pierced, so we headed down to the mall and she got a pair of gold hearts in her ear lobes. She was so proud of herself, and she didn't even cry!

Colin started a new karate class today. He got a short private lesson to begin, and he learned a couple of stances. He's really excited about the class, and I'm lovin' this new outfit!

Jack didn't get to do anything exciting, but here's a cut pic of him anyway!

Pick Your Own

My Mom is in town, and she loves fruit, so we took our annual excursion into New Jersey to pick blueberries and pie cherries. It was a beautiful day, and the fruit was fabulous! We picked nearly 10 pounds of blueberries and almost 25lb of cherries! The kids were amazing this year, and I don't think anyone picked any green blueberries. Jack even picked, and he probably ate 74% of what he got.

The pie cherries were so good, and we were excited to get home and make this! Mike polished off this piece minutes after I took the photo.

Piano Recital #2

Amelia has been taking piano for 8 months now, and was very excited to participate in her second recital. She was a little more nervous this time, but did a wonderful job. We're proud of her! We're also thrilled with her talented teacher. Thanks, Jenny!

Field Day

Amelia's school had field day, and I took some fun photos of the event. She was so excited, and loved every minute of it!

With her game face on.

Didn't you love these parachute things in elementary school?

Amelia with her best friend.

Watching field day really wears Colin out.

After the Show

Dinner at Maggiano's with Grandpa Chin and Grandma Debi who flew out just for the occasion!

Posing after the show with all the flowers she got. I think all these flowers might have been the best part of the whole thing for Amelia!

Holding the flowers from Grandma and Grandpa, and getting ready to give them to Amelia.

Debi let Colin pick out some flowers to give Amelia that would be just from him. He was really proud of these colorful daises and held them during the whole show.

Swan Lake

This year Amelia's ballet studio put on Swan Lake, and Amelia got to be a French princess. She loved her costume so much, especially the gloves! Here are some pics that Mike was able to take at the dress rehearsal.

Field Trip

Mike went with Colin's class on a field trip to a lovely nearby wildlife preserve. They had a great time checking out some animals and being together. Colin made a cool hat at school to wear on the trip, and here he is modeling it with Mike.

Jack-in-a-bed

Our last child moved out of the crib and into a toddler bed. Huge milestone!

Mother's Tea

My favorite part of Mother's Day since we moved here is the Mother's Tea at the preschool! Colin made me a darling pin and a wonderful card. Here are some photos from the event.

Colin with his wonderful teacher.

Chugging milk from a real teacup.

This year Colin wasn't interested in singing with his class at all. Here he is taking a break from the hard work of standing around!

Sarah's Yard

We spent a lot of time in Sarah's wonderful backyard with the kids.

Blowing bubbles.

Doing Easter egg hunts.

Firing stomp rockets and releasing rocket balloons.

Chasing down rockets. Once again, Amelia's hair seems to have it's own personality!

Easter in Indiana

We had a wonderful trip to Indiana during Amelia's spring break. It was a long drive for me without Mike, but totally worth it!

We were there during Easter, so poor Mike had to watch the kids find their Easter baskets like this.

Kids running in to see what the Easter bunny brought. Amelia's hair really has a life of its own!

Playing with the new toys.

All ready for church in matching outfits.

Amelia the Reader

At Amelia's school this year they've had a reading program that encourages the first graders to read over 100 books during the school year up to this point. Amelia read and read and kept track of everything, and managed today to earn the "Golden Apple Award." She got to go into school early to choose one of the library's brand new books for the librarian to put a name plate inside with her name and achievement on it. She also got to be the first person to check out the book, and got to take home a real apple and a little golden apple. The book is called "Miss Lina's Ballerinas." Here's a photo of her getting her name in the book.

Day in DC

Last week we took a little overnight trip to DC to check out the cherry blossoms. We really enjoyed it! We hit the road Thurs. night and put the kids straight to bed in our hotel room. In the morning we turned on the TV while we were getting ready and before I could change the channel the boys spotted a monster truck rally. They'd never seen one before, but they were positive that it would be great, so I let them watch it with the sound off. I truly think it was Colin's favorite part of the whole trip! We got on the Metro pretty early and made it to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms and the Jefferson Memorial (which I've never seen before). It was rainy, which added some excitement for the kids and kept some of the crowds away. We also made it to the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum before heading back to Philly. It was such a fun and easy trip that we vowed to go back soon.