Hidden Chinese Talent

While in TX, Dad and Young gave the kids kiddy chopsticks. They were SO excited to use them that they begged for a dinner of rice- easy!

Addie was totally into it- and did SO well! Not only can she copy Kai-Ann's Chinese on TV , but she is clearly talented when it comes to Chinese food as well!


SCORE!!!


Alden's technique is a bit more "western"- lol!


And the end result- as it so often is with Alden- a bit of a mess....

Meeting Students

Since I teach for an online school I don't often get to see my students, but during the last week, I was able to meet 4 of them! It was so neat to meet them, talk with them, and learn more about them as people.

First on Wednesday, we drove to Potomac Mills and met at Ikea with Nicole and her Mom. The kids were a bit shy, but warmed up and had a blast shopping with Nicole.


In Dallas, we met up with Collin (the red-head) at the Bass Pro Shop. The loved this- they got to see fishes, eat ice cream and spend time with some fun boys.


The next day, we traveled to Canton, TX and spent some time with Hannah and her family- they have 8 kids! Alden fell in love with their sandpit- and Hannah and her brother Alden's age, enjoyed filling the dump truck with sand, dumping it out, filling it, dumping out, etc. Addie had a blast playing with their daughter who was her age- swinging on the swing set and playing with their baby dolls. After some playtime, we had lunch with the family- a true Texas-Style lunch- yummmmm! It was nice to spend time with this fun family.


After lunch, we headed to Palestine and there Emma-Evelyn and her family met us to have a late lunch for them and for us to snack. They definitely traveled the farthest- all the way from Louisiana! The kids LOVED Emma-Evelyn and her older sister, Maddie-Margaret.


It was so much fun to meet these few students!

Texas Time!

The kids and I have had an amazing trip to Texas! We went to Texas to celebrate Nonnie Dee (my Grandma's) 81st birthday.

We went with our good friends Karen and Hannah- here we are checking in for our flight! The kids were SO excited!


All ready to go- look at the 3 cute rolling back-packs.



Having dinner while waiting for our flight- so cute!


Keeping an eye on our plane- making sure it doesn't leave without us.

Busy playing on the flight- the kids were all SO good- here Addie making a snowman family!

These 2 holding hands- they have such a love-hate relationship. We were very thankful to have use of Karen's brother's truck- it fit all 6 of us- Karen, Hannah, Addie, Alden, me and Karen's Dad- whew!

The night we had 2 Hannah's- we had such fun spending a day in Dallas before we left for Palestine in the morning.

We met-up with a family that I teach- the kids had a blast playing! Here we are with Hannah, my student- Alden LOVED playing in their sandbox! After we played, we had a super yummy lunch prepared just for us, in true Texan style- lots, and lots of food!

And once we left Hannah's family, we met-up with another student, Emma-Evelyn and her family the kids LOVED them, too.

Finally we made it to Nonnie Dee's house- here they are putting on a piano show for us all!

Addie and Aunt Carolyn busy with puzzles

Alden, aka The Joker, playing with Aunt Carolyn

We visited the Texas Railroad, but it was closed- still, Alden loved seeing the real Choo-Choos!

Visiting Regan Park- the big building is where Nonnie Dee went to Jr. High- and below this is where an old park was- were my Dad and I played as kids- this one is new and in a slightly different location.

4 Generations

Addie modeling her 2 new gifts- Monkey Jammies from Aunt Carolyn and snazzy shoes from MarMar Young

Addie swinging on the PopPop Swing- what fun!

Toasting Nonnie Dee- yay!

A Celebration Dinner- thanks to Aunt Cindi- yum!

The Birthday Girl

Nonnie Dee had plenty of enthusiastic help opening her gifts!

Addie, aka Tinkerbell, flying in to say good-night

The whole clan

Playing with bubbles in the back yard- PopPop Old was such a hit with the kids- they are still talking about all the fun they had with him!

A new family pic

Alden attempting to fill PopPop's shoes....

Working puzzles together

We were supposed to leave Dallas early Tuesday morning, but due to the chance of snow flurries, our flight was canceled and we were rebooked for 7pm. We filled the day with fun at the mall playground, naps and some fun at Karen's parent's house.

After playing on the playground, we rode the carousal- what fun! Hannah looked like she was riding the horse, but at the last min, she changed to the rooster!

Proof that I was there, too!

Finally we made it to the airport- and we got to ride a "choo-choo" to make it to our gate- the kids loved it!

At 10:40pm, we made it home and were thrilled to find both Daddies waiting for us!! It was a great time visiting family- and we enjoyed the generous hospitality offered to us by Karen's parents- we got to eat at some yummy restaurants, they loaned us a car, and let us stay with them. We had an amazing time in Texas- yee-haw!

Valentine's Days

In true Perreca Fashion, we have been able to spread out the love from Valentine's Day!

We started off on Friday with making a cake for Mommy and Daddy can cupcakes for the kids- these pics are just hilarious, which is why I posted them. Actually, the kids had a blast!

Alden needing more hearts


Just too funny for words....


I promise you, she isn't choking....


The finished product of the cake- too bad it didn't taste good....


Showing which cupcake is hers


And once it was all done, we snuggled on the couch together to watch some Olympics!


The following day the kids got their Valentine's Day gifts from Al and me- balloons! (Thanks, Karen for the tip that they were at the Dollar Store!) The kids LOVED them so much that the said balloons had to be tied onto their beds at night, so they could "sleep" with them! I love how simple pleasures still make my kids happy!

Addie and "her" frog


Alden and "his" monkey- he is already a bit deflated since the 2 of them had been fighting a bit...


And here is poor Kierke having the 2 balloons shoved in her face- she takes a lot, the poor dog....

Lost Pics

As you might recall, we "lost" our camera about a week ago. Well, it was found!! Yay!! While Ruby was beautiful- she cost money, so back she went. Where was our camera? In Al's ski jacket pocket! He never holds the camera- so we think one of the kids must have taken the camera and put it in his coat. The point- we are glad to have our old camera back!

Here are the pics we had taken with it- it was such a fun time with the kids, I'm glad to have these memories now!

Al- super creative- thought about trying to use the kayak as a sled! Great idea, sadly, it didn't really work as the snow was too deep... Addie SO excited to give it a try!


At the top of the hill on the amazing, old-fashioned sled that Al had slicked up! We were super popular- everyone wanted to use our sled as it was the only one that made it down the hill- and it went FAST! Here Alden is ready to go with Al.


SO sweet- Alden LOVES his Daddy- on the way back up the hill with the sled.


Here Mommy is taking off with both kids!