Ayden's Love

Our family went shopping the other day and Ayden did the cutest thing. We were at Marshalls trying on shoes for Taylor. Ayden had wondered off and found this pair of shiny red dress shoes. I heard Ayden say, "Mommy, I found shoes my size. It's a 7." She proceeded to put on the shoes and admire them in the full length mirror. I heard a number of customers comment to her how nice the shoe looked (to which I did hear her respond with thank yous). The look on her face and how she was modeling was priceless.

When Taylor and I finished, I asked Ayden to put the shoes away. She asked if I could buy the shoes for her. Since she did not need another pair of shoes (especially red ruby shoes), I told her we would not be buying them. She reluctantly took the shoes off, gently set them back on the self and stood by them to admire them one last time. As we left the shoe department I turned over to see Ayden leaning into the shoe (she was close enough to kiss them) and I heard her whisper in the sweetest voice, "I love you". I just about busted out laughing.

I don't think I've ever heard her say those three words to anyone and mean them as genuinely as she did when she spoke them to the shoes. It was cute and disturbing at the same time. We ended up going back to Marshalls a week later to return something and Ayden made a b-line right back to her beloved shoes. I did end up buying them for her. After all, it was on sale for only $10.00. I hope I'm not enabling a bad behavior.

To think that my child is 5 and she knows to love material things. For anyone who knows Ayden, she especially loves dresses (long and big), shoes (the shinier the better) and jewelry (the sparklier the better). I know we didn't teach this to her. I guess some people are just born knowing they want the finer things in life.

It's Been A While

It's been tough making time to update. With my MBA in full swing it's hard to find even just one spare moment. With each semester class condensed into 4 & 5 week sessions, each week is filled with numerous chapters of reading, papers and quizes. I've been staying up till 1:30am almost every night and getting up early to study on the weekends even though I'm going to bed so late. I've been walking around with a headache caused by sleep deprivation. Anyway, so much as happened in the last month. Here are some fun pictures. I'm trying not to let school get in the way of my time with the girls.

12/12/08 - Taylor had her first concert. She loves playing the flute. She can spend hours playing Hot Cross Bun. She did an awesome job. Visit Taylor's blog to hear more about it and to see pictures (see link to the right or type in taylorsuabyi.blogspot.com). Ayden's been very silly lately. This is what she resorted to when she became bored with Taylor's concert. The video is 2 mintues long. The first minute is just the band. Right around the 1 mintue mark is when Ayden appears. You can move the video clip to the 1 minute mark to skip the band.


12/11/08 - I gave my first public speach to a group of 40 women on the topic of Hmong women in the corporate sector. Though the women were there to hear me speak, their feedback, enthusiasm and kind words moved me. I felt so blessed to be among such amazing Hmong women. I had a number of people come up to me after my presentation to comment on how I inspired them. Amazing how when you speak the truth and from your heart how that changes other people. In addition I've been asked by two different research projects to be interviewed. I feel like I'm just not worthy of such wonderful attention and respect.

12/6/08 - We put up our Christmas decorations. It was a wonderful time. Now that the girls are bigger, I love their excitement. We played Christmas music and the girls baked brownies all by themselves. This was hard for me to do as I'm quite the control freak. What a way to spend a crisp winter Saturday. Here is a picture of the girls helping out and a clip of Ayden being silly. They are trying to get snowflakes up on the dinning room windows.

12/5/08 - JJ Hill Hmong New Year. I was the Committee Chair of the JJ Hill Hmong New Year event and Kong was the MC. The event was very successful. I tried a new approach this year. Instead of just inlisting the help of teachers, I tried to incorporate the Hmong families at JJ Hill in the planning phase. Needless to say, the more people you involve, the more stressful the event becomes. Either that or the more people you involve, the more control you lose hence teh stress. All in all the event was great fun. We are truly bless to be a part of such a wonderful and supportive school community. We even made $1,000 which will go towards funding next year's event. Here is a picture of Kong and the girls. It was a family effort this year. Kong was part of the planning throughout the entire process. I could not possibly do it without his support. Taylor and her classmates learned how to Hmong jump rope and helped demonstrate that activity. Ayden dressed up but was too shy to participate in the fashion show : ( 12/4/08 - Pictures from Thursday night activites. Taylor at dance and Ayden at gymnastics. Judging from Taylor's dance clip, I'm not sure how these girls will be able to put a routine together for the final show in the spring. I had a good laugh watching. I guess it's not how good you are at what you are attempting but how much you enjoy it. Is that are real saying? I think I might have made it up to justify the money I put into it : )

11/22/08: We went hunting at the Schmidt farm in Bonduel, WI. We had a great time. The girls went pigeon hunting with Kong in the barn, they got to drive the green machine (pictured below) and drive for deer in the woods. They even got to shoot the pellet gun at soda cans. Uncle Phil was wonderful with the girls and even took them with him to register deer. Afterwards he took them to the Ponderosa (Grandma Schmidt's main farm) to pet the cows. The best part...buying candy at the gas station. Go figure! The girls had a great time and want to do it again next year. And the answer is yes...everyone has to wear blaze orange. That is, everyone who does not want to be mistaken for deer!10/30/08: It was really warm this past Halloween. Here is a picture of the girls after we carved pumpkins and a picture of them in their Halloween costumes. Ayden was Wonder Woman and Taylor was a goth fairy.

The Moon, Venus & Jupiter

(This photo is how we actually saw the moon, Venus and Jupiter - except the planets were even closer yet to the moon)

As Taylor, Ayden and I walked out of school at 5:50pm to attend Kuk Sool Won on December 1, 2008 we noticed two very, very bright stars in the sky. We had a discussion around if the two bright stars were Tristan and Yvaine from Stardust (best movie ever). As we were talking, out of the blue, a woman from about a blocks distance yelled over to us, "That's Jupiter and Venus by the moon!" She told us that this only happens every 27 years. It was an amazing and beautiful sight. The planets were brighter than any star we had ever seen. There was nothing in the sky or words that could compare or describe just how magnificent this sight was.

The girls and I planned on taking a photo after class but when we got home the planets had shifted. It was wonderful that we got to share this moment together. I guess it's not every 27 year this event occurs. It's actually much longer. We'll see Venus and Jupiter again but not the way they were displayed tonight until November 18, 2052. The girls and I wrote a letter about our experience and sealed it in an envelope so that we can read about this moment when it occurs again in 44 year. I'll be 79 then, Taylor 53 and Ayden 49. I feel teary eyed already : (