The girls play when Daddy is away

  Trung went on another ski trip with the guys, this time to Lake Tahoe, so it was just me and the girls again for the weekend.  Saturday, we spent most of the time at home; the girls got to play their electronic devices since it was the weekend.  We also made blueberry muffins and walked to the library to get some new CDs, movies, and books.  Sunday, we woke up at a decent hour, especially for Daylight Savings, and got our free Krispy Kreme doughnuts before heading out to Orange County to meet up with Mike and his family.  39 hours without Trung actually goes by faster than I thought!  :)

 

 Alexis joined us at the table for the first time for dim sum at Happy Harbor

  Mike had a lot of estrogen around the house for the day

Reading to Alexis from the baby books that I used to read to the girls

Trying out the recommended duck salad from Brodard...yum!

I guess the girls don't mind if I start eating.  :P

Sophie's swim class

Sophie wouldn't swim because she said that her legs were tired, probably because her little body was worn out from battling a stomach flu the last two days.  At least her basic skills are still pretty good.

I think the kicks would be more effective "under" the water

Floating sea star

Willy Wonka

 After eight weeks of theater class, Lydia had her "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" performance today.  She spoke one line (which of course, I missed recording) and had a few scenes where she stood around, but I was still very proud.  Lydia came a long way from her second class...I poked my head into the auditorium to see how the class was going that day only to find my sobbing daughter.  The teacher said that she was probably shy, but who really knows what was going through her head.  After weeks of practicing her line and visits to Menchies for frozen yogurt after class, Lydia was brave enough to go on stage and perform.  Even though I mainly enrolled her in the class to help with her extras work, the class also helped her self-confidence, which is a definite bonus!

 

Hiding out backstage

Lydia's big "oompa loopma" dance; she told me later that it was the wrong one.  :P

The end

On set in Pasadena

Lydia hasn't worked for awhile, so when I got the text Friday for a job opening, I almost would have taken it regardless of the show.  Well, not really, but it certainly was a bonus that it was a show that I regularly watched...Revenge.  With Trung in Florida and a 8 AM call time, I had to ask three people to watch Sophie throughout the day.  I dropped her off at 6:50 AM at Weiru's place, who then dropped her off at 8:45 at Dominic's place.  After school, Lalaine took her to a park and got home right around the same time that I showed up at 5:15.  It was a very long day with several takes, but the kids got to play on a playscape while filming and the craft services (food) was certainly one of the better ones.  I even got to see my buddy Madeline Stowe, who I would like to think recognized me; she smiled in my direction at one point in time.  Maybe I'll see her again at coffee and talk to her then...then again, maybe not.   

 

 Lydia's samba girl Halloween costume

Emily getting all made up

The kids played on a portable playground; Emily is in the hoodie on the far right

Prayers for Ba

Trung left this afternoon for Tampa to see his father, who just got out of the hospital yesterday after suffering a minor heart attack a few days ago.  After performing a scope, the doctor discovered that Ba has two fully blocked arteries and one that is 50% blocked.  Open heart surgery was an option that both he and Ma (my mother-in-law) chose to forgo as he is 79 and the risk is high for his age.  Ba is now back in the comforts of his own home and in the loving care of his wife, taking it one day at a time.  Please keep Trung and his family in your thoughts and prayers as they go through this difficult time.

Even smiling when he's all hooked up; we love this dear man!

The first time I met Ba back on Christmas Day 2003.

Sundaes on Friday

I purchased a Ben and Jerry's livingsocial voucher of 4 sundaes for $12 a few months back and decided to invite Sophie's classmates after school to help redeem them.  13 of her 19 classmates showed up and it was pure chaos.  It didn't help that the noise just bounced off the parlor walls either.  Still, it was a great way to start off the weekend, especially since it was the warmest day in weeks!(hitting almost 80 degrees)

 

Ice cream = big smiles

Back in the water

The girls started swim class this week and thankfully, the weather warmed up just in time.  Lydia is in Fish and seems to be more advanced than at least half of her classmates; Sophie is in Minnow A and though she is much smaller than everyone else, she will now kick off from the wall without hesitation.  Looking forward to seeing the girls progress this year!

Lydia passed the swim test by swimming free style without stopping for the whole length of the pool!  Now she can play in the pool without adult supervision (indicated by the green wristband).

Forward kicking

Backward kicking

Swimming like a fish

Twi-hard fan

Ever since I watched the first Twilight movie, I have been a huge fan.  Yes, I have read all the books (twice!) and yes, I sighed when Robert Pattison first appears on the screen in each Twilight movie.  So, when Kellan Lutz aka Emmett, walked by me at Target today, I was especially excited.  Even when I wasn't 100% sure it was him, Weiru assured me that his arms were money makers; no guy works out like that without getting paid for it, so it had to be him.  :P

 

Kellan was in the check-out line behind me

Still trying to take a decent picture of him

Lydia on Disney

Lydia's very first "job" on Disney's "Dog with a Blog".  She is on the right of the main red-headed little girl.

Lydia's second "job" on another Disney show, "Crash and Bernstein", for yet another six year old's birthday party.  She's in the front row on the far left, and I remember being driven nuts over her non-stop sucking of the prop necklace.  Anyhow, Lydia was picture-picked for this job, meaning that she was picked based on her picture in the casting agency's database.  Not that she gets that many jobs (we haven't accepted any since the beginning of the year because one required her to be able to catch a football and the other was on the same day as her first play date with her BFF), but I've decided to accept only jobs that she's picture picked or jobs on shows that I watch.  I have to draw the line somewhere, though Sophie can take any job that she can get because her school is not as strict about attendance and roles for her age are rare.

Birthday party in the park

We attended Sophie's classmate Pierre's fifth birthday party today at Memorial Park.  It was quite a windy, cool day, but the kids had fun at the play structure and didn't have much to complain about.  The food was simple (pizza, hot dogs, and macaroni and cheese), but the sides were so good; I felt like I was eating the entire time.

 Sophie was once again the only female classmate that was invited to the party.

 The birthday boy

 

Enjoying Ninjago cupcakes in a tent